All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Close, but no cigar. On a day that featured plenty of chaos, Pato O’Ward kept his nose clean and found himself at the right place at the right time to be in contention for the win in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, only to have the win snatched from his grasp at the last minute. Running behind leaders Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin, O’Ward cycled into the lead when the two collided and took each other out, setting the stage for what looked toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Less than 24 hours ago, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Chase Elliott would be out of the car for the weekend at Las Vegas after suffering a leg injury while snowboarding in Colorado. On Saturday morning, the team provided an update on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the path forward for the No. 9 team while he recovers. Hendrick Motorsports president and general manager Jeff Andrews explained that Elliott had suffered a fractured tibia in the accident and successfully underwent a nearly three-hour surgery onRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a thrilling race in Southern California last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will make the trip up Interstate 15 to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week, with Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 marking the second leg of the West Coast swing. Las Vegas began its life on the NASCAR circuit as a 1.5-mile oval with 12 degrees of banking in 1998, but following the 2006 running of the race, the track underwent a massive reconfiguration that saw progressive banking put in place with the new banking rangingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Farewell, old friend. Auto Club Speedway, which was once maligned by the NASCAR fan base and has since become one of the favorites on the schedule, will hold its final race on the two-mile layout this weekend with Sunday’s running of the Pala Casino 400. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997, still holding onto the same asphalt that was present when the first carsRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Five years, seven months, 18 days. That’s how long it has been since Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. last tasted victory in the NASCAR Cup Series, but in Sunday’s Daytona 500, he broke his winless streak in the most epic fashion, surviving double overtime to win the 65th running of the Great American Race. Always a threat on the superspeedways, Stenhouse has been in position late in the running in NASCAR’s biggest race a number of times only to fall by the wayside forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – So close, yet so far once again for Justin Allgaier on a superspeedway. Allgaier, the elder statesman at JR Motorsports, has been in the running for a win at both Daytona and Talladega several times over the course of his career, only to see it fall from his grasp for one reason or another. This time around, it was partly due to teammates not sticking together and part bad timing for the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet to bring home theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Brad Keselowski is no stranger to the top of the leaderboard on a superspeedway and that’s exactly where he found himself in Saturday’s final practice session for the 65th running of the Daytona 500. Piloting his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford around the 2.5-mile track in 47.071 seconds, 191.201 mph, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion staked his place at the top and would not be moved for the remainder of the 50-minute session. “We made some really good improvements,” Keselowski said.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Just like old times. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson may have taken a two-year detour into open wheel, but in 2023, he’s back behind the wheel of a stock car and back to his old self, topping the board in the first practice session of the Daytona 500 weekend on Friday evening. Johnson came into the week at Daytona International Speedway needing to qualify into Sunday’s 65th running of the Great American Race, which he did with ease on WednesdayRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – “We’re winning the fucking 500.” There is certainly no lack of confidence in Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team heading into Sunday’s 65th running of the Daytona 500. After a highly publicized move to RCR and Chevrolet over the offseason, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion could be in his best position yet to finally add a win in the Great American Race to his already impressive resume. RCR is no stranger to success on the superspeedways andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two wildly different paths, same result. After a combined 300 miles of racing in the two Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night, the 40-car field for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 is now complete, with defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith and Conor Daly punching their ticket for Sunday. Racing in the first Duel race, Smith was able to breathe a sigh of relief early on after finishing eighth in his race, ahead of seven-time CupRead More