All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For much of the second Can-Am Duel at Daytona, it looked like it would be Dale Earnhardt, Jr following the lead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott to score the win after qualifying on the front row for the Daytona 500, but Denny Hamlin had other plans as he was able to execute a late race pass to take the lead and the win. “It was great. Great car. Got a great push there for Austin (Dillon). We worked really well together that entireRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Chase Elliott kicked off Speedweeks last Sunday by scoring his second consecutive Daytona 500 pole and the sophomore Hendrick Motorsports driver continued his hot streak on Thursday night by winning the first of the two Can-Am Duel races. “We had such a fast NAPA Chevy tonight. I didn’t think anyone was going to help us there at the first part of the race and I had a couple of good pushes to get us out front. Eddie did a great job on top of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into the 59th running of the Daytona 500 this Sunday, it’s time again for another edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater,” in which we’ll take a look back at a race from Daytona’s past. This week’s edition features one of the greatest upsets ever in the “Great American Race” – the 1990 Daytona 500, which saw underdog Derrike Cope pull off the win after a dominant day from Dale Earnhardt went awry with half a lap to go. Earnhardt claimed a front row starting spotRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As the 59th running of the Daytona 500 looms ahead, the drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will all be gunning for the opportunity to call themselves champions of the “Great American Race”, but for Michael Waltrip, this race takes on another dimension as it will be his last behind the wheel. After making his 784th career start in the Cup Series, Waltrip will be hanging up his helmet at the conclusion of Sunday’s race, bringing his 32-year driving career to an endRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It could be a long Speedweeks at Daytona for Jimmie Johnson and rest of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates. Reminiscent of their troubles at Daytona and Talladega last season, it seems their problem of spinning out all on their own has resurfaced in Sunday’s running of the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona. Last season, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Chase Elliott spun out on their own in the Daytona 500 off of Turn 4, as well as similar incidents at Talladega later in the season. ThoseRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It’s that time of the year again. After a long offseason, NASCAR is back in action for the 2017 season with the running of the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona, an annual exhibition race that kicks off two weekends of racing activity at the World Center of Racing. The Advance Auto Parts Clash, which is scheduled for an 8:00 pm ET start on Saturday night, has held various names over the years, from starting as the Busch Clash beginning in 1979 through 1998, whenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Ahead of the start of the 2017 NASCAR season next weekend at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR took the opportunity to unveil the stage lengths for not only the season openers for all three national series, but also for the remainder of the season. The new format, which was unveiled with much pomp and circumstance last month in Charlotte is geared toward making the racing more exciting throughout each event in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Ahead of their 2017 race dates, Dover International Speedway has announced that they will be adding additional SAFER barriers to the one-mile concrete oval. The facility will gain approximately 1,800 feet of SAFER barriers, which will place the barriers along the outside walls on the frontstretch and backstretch, as those areas are currently unprotected. With the new SAFER barriers, the outside walls around the entire track will now be protected by the energy absorbing walls. “Continued improvements to our facility, particularly in the areas ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a return to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series last season, Regan Smith found himself without a ride for the 2017 season, but on Thursday, the 33-year old New York native was able to land a part-time entry in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Ricky Benton Racing. Starting with the season opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona, Smith and RBR will have a 12 race schedule for the 2017 season. The team will run the first six races of the season,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Safety in NASCAR just took another step forward. On Wednesday, the sanctioning body announced a partnership with American Medical Response to move toward a dedicated traveling safety team for the first time in their history. While not quite as big the Holmatro Safety Team that the IndyCar Series uses, NASCAR will now have a dedicated safety chase vehicle that will roll out to any accident scene along with the other safety vehicles that have been used previously. AMR will provide a state-licensed doctor and paramedicRead More