All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After eight weeks of recovery time, Aric Almirola will be returning to the cockpit of the No. 43 Ford this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Almirola was injured at Kansas Speedway in early May, suffering an acute compression fracture to his T5 Vertebra in his back after a vicious multi-car crash with Joey Logano and Danica Patrick. Entering Turn 1 on lap 200, Logano appeared to have something break on the right-front of his car, which turned his Ford to the left, making contactRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor In news that had been expected since Matt Kenseth announced he would not be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing last week, the organization announced on Tuesday that Erik Jones would be returning in 2018 to take over the No. 20 Toyota that Kenseth currently drives. “Matt (Kenseth) has been a tremendous asset to our organization over the past five seasons both on and off the track,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “He’s been a great teammate and a great ambassador for ourRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Richmond had been long rumored as the next in line to undergo a capital improvement project and on Tuesday morning, International Speedway Corporation made those rumors a reality as they announced a $30 million renovation and rebranding plan for the 0.75 mile track to be in place by September 2018. The project, which will be called “Richmond Raceway Reimagined,” follows the lead of other ISC tracks, as Daytona International Speedway finished its “Daytona Rising” project in 2016 and Phoenix Raceway’s current improvements are scheduled toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Heading into Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway, Brad Keselowski was considered by many as one of the favorites given his three wins at the track in the past six years, but after an early exit, Keselowski did not hold back on his thoughts about everything that had transpired, giving everyone some valid points to ponder for the future of the sport. Starting the day in 10th place, Keselowski struggled in the first stage, failing to finish in the top-10, but things would get evenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Still without a win halfway through the 2017 season, Matt Kenseth now has other things to worry about as the second half of the year plays out, like where he might be driving next season and beyond. During a Friday morning media session at Kentucky Speedway, Kenseth was asked about his plans for 2018 as his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires at season’s end and the 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion was quick to mention that he didn’t think that he’d beRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip down to Daytona Beach, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series hits the halfway mark of the 2017 season as they head up to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 18 on the schedule, under the lights on Saturday night for the running of the Quaker State 400. Kentucky first joined the Cup Series schedule in 2011 and has played host ever since, with three different drivers claiming victory in the five races held at the track so far. The track was known asRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor While the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has only been racing at Kentucky Speedway since 2011, both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series have been racing at the track since 2001 and 2000, respectively. With that being said, the focus of this week’s “Throwback Thursday Theater” will spotlight one of the best finishes ever at the track that happened in the Xfinity Series, the 2002 Kroger 200. With rain threatening scheduled Saturday night start of the race, the field was ableRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona provided action and excitement from beginning to end, culminating in Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. scoring his second win of the season. Along with Stenhouse’s win, there were some other storylines leaving the World Center of Racing. Making Mississippi Proud With his second win of the season and second in as many restrictor plate races, Stenhouse becomes the fifth driver to obtain multiple wins this season, giving himself some added insurance for the playoffs. While some might have listed DaleRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Every year, the underdog teams of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circle the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega as their chances to finish in the top-10 or contend for a race win, and Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 was yet another example of those tracks serving as the great equalizer. Along with Michael McDowell finishing fourth, two other underdog teams, Front Row Motorsports (David Ragan) and Beard Motorsports (Brendan Gaughan), brought home top-10 finishes, with their respective sixth and seventh place finishesRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor At a track where he had triumphed 17 times over the course of his career, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. came into Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona looking to put some of his restrictor plate magic to good use and try to win one more time on the 2.5-mile track, but the stars just didn’t align for Earnhardt as two crashes would relegate him to a 32nd place finish. After two straight top-10 finishes in the races leading into Daytona, followed up by a poleRead More