All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The first five races of the season haven’t exactly gone to plan for Austin Dillon, but Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville was just what the doctor ordered for the fourth-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver as he was able to score his best finish of the season with a fifth-place result. In this race one year ago, Dillon brought home a fourth-place finish, so the driver out of the Richard Childress Racing stable has learned how to get around the treacherous half-mile in recentRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville was shaping up to be a promising day for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his No 88 team, but a late race crash would put an end to his hopes for his first top-10 of the season, relegating him to a 34th place finish instead. Martinsville serves as one of Earnhardt’s better tracks on the circuit, with one win, 13 top-five finishes, 18 top-10 finishes, 972 laps led, and an average finish of 12.9 in 33 starts entering the day, soRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Late in the going in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville, Christopher Bell looked to be in the catbird seat with the lead in the waning laps, but after contact with a truck at the tail-end of the lead lap, Bell’s shot at the win was gone and he had to settle for a third-place finish. After winning at Atlanta, Bell was looking to make it two wins in a row by adding a Martinsville grandfather clock to his trophy case. StartingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After winning his seventh championship last fall, Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 team haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire through the first five races of 2017, but this weekend’s trip to Martinsville Speedway could be just what the doctor ordered. Entering Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville, Johnson has only finished in the top-10 once this season and sits 17th in points. However, Martinsville ranks as one of his best tracks on the circuit, second only to Auto Club Speedway in average finishRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor A fixture on the NASCAR schedule since 1949, Martinsville Speedway has provided numerous memorable moments over the years and in this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”, we’ll take a step back three decades to the running of the 1987 Goody’s 500 and the wild finish that would follow. Geoff Bodine would start the 500 lap event on the pole and held onto the point for the first 71 laps before ceding the lead over to Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip would lead 21 of the nextRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After completing the Western swing, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the first short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic half-mile, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only way to pass will be the move we all know andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As first reported on Twitter by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Atlanta Motor Speedway will not repave their 1.5 mile track for next year’s race, electing instead to postpone their plans for at least a year. The track, which has not been repaved since it was reconfigured in 1997, has shown increasing signs of wear over the years and as a result has been revered by drivers for its challenging race conditions, including heavy tire fall-off and cars slipping and sliding around on the worn-out surface. EvenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It may have taken him nearly two years, but Clint Bowyer finally made it back into the top-five at the end of a race after finishing third in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Bowyer had not finished in the top-five since finishing fifth at the 2015 Bristol night race, a drought of 52 races, but with Stewart-Haas power behind him, Bowyer is definitely back to having fun behind the wheel again. “It was just a good weekend,” said Bowyer.  “I appreciate everybody’sRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Early on in Sunday’s Auto Club 400, it looked as if Brad Keselowski wouldn’t be in contention for the win by the time the checkered flag flew, but as he and his team have done so many times in the past, they persevered through the adversities to bring home a second place finish on the day. Starting from third place, Keselowski’s troubles started from the drop of the green flag as outside polesitter Denny Hamlin couldn’t get going on the start, causing Ryan Newman toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor On the day he makes his 600th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will have his work cut out for him as he will have to start from the rear of the field in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 after discovering a cut tire. Under the new rules this season that drivers have to start the race on the tires they qualified, Earnhardt will have to vacate his 19th place starting position to join some other big names at the rear ofRead More