All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the rain started to fall Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the racing that came in the early laps of the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix was entertaining, but quickly devolved into chaos. A number of cars had made off-track excursions during the first stage, but as the second stage began, things took a turn for the worst as the rain piled up and visibility was reduced to nearly zero. The high-speed backstretch at COTA leading into the breaking zone at Turn 12 became calamityRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Serving as the United States home for Formula 1 since opening in 2012, the Circuit of The Americas plays host to some good ol’ American Muscle this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series comes to town for the inaugural running of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. The 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course sitting just outside of Austin, Texas is one of a handful of new tracks for the Cup Series to visit in 2021 and the first of five road course races that will take place throughRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Mile. Bristol on steroids. No matter the nickname, Dover International Speedway lives up to the hype as being one of the most physically demanding racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. One of the only two concrete tracks currently in use by NASCAR’s top division, drivers have likened a lap around the one-mile oval to riding a rollercoaster, as they drop off the straightaways into the turns before rocketing back uphill on corner exit. By the time the checkered flag flies, it’s as ifRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor A decade ago, Dover International Speedway showed its true colors in the late stages of the 2011 running of the NASCAR Xfinity Series 5-Hour Energy 200, leading to one of the craziest crashes seen at the one-mile concrete oval. As the laps wound down, Carl Edwards seemed to have the race in the bag, holding a steady lead over the other dominant driver of the day, Joey Logano. That is until Michael Annett spun out on the frontstretch with three laps to go, pushing the raceRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Martin Truex, Jr. was in a league of his own during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington, but in the closing laps of the Goodyear 400, Kyle Larson did his best to give the 2017 series champion a run for his money, eventually coming home with a runner-up result. Starting the day in 14th place, Larson worked his way up to fourth by the end of the first stage, but following a pit road speeding penalty, he would be back at square one for theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway, it looked as if Noah Gragson would be walking away with another $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus following his fourth-place finish in the Steakhouse Elite 200. That is, until his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet failed post-race inspection, leading to a disqualification and ruining his streak of winning the first three Dash4Cash bonuses. Per NASCAR Xfinity Series Managing Director Wayne Auton, Gragson’s car failed Section 20.14.c of the rulebook, which states: “All suspension mounts and mounting hardware must notRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Like Doc Brown and Marty McFly in Back to the Future, the NASCAR Cup Series is time traveling this week, making the jump from the future with the unveiling of the Next Gen cars to celebrating the past with Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. A staple of the Cup Series since 1950, there are many elements to Darlington that make it a special track. From the egg-shape of the track that features one end narrower than the other as a result of building the track aroundRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Darlington, March 1988. Proving that persistence pays off, Lake Speed finally made good on his last name that seemed destined for a racing greatness by dominating at one of the toughest tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit to capture what would be his one and only win at NASCAR’s highest level. Before getting his start in NASCAR in 1980, Speed’s greatest claim to fame was winning the World Karting Championship in LeMans, France two years prior, defeating a future three-time Formula 1 champion, the lateRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor They say things are bigger in Texas. As witnessed at the start of Sunday’s XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, so are the wrecks. Coming to the green for the second race of an NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader in the Lone Star State, chaos erupted in the back half of the field, when Pietro Fittipaldi made contact with Sebastien Bourdais, sending him for a spin and collecting several other cars in the process. Among those involved were Fittipaldi, Bourdais, Dalton Kellett, Ed Jones, Alexander Rossi, TonyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Coming into Saturday’s Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, rookie driver Scott McLaughlin had never made an NTT IndyCar Series start on an oval, but he sure didn’t drive like one en route to a runner-up finish. The three-time V8 Supercars champion and newest member of the Team Penske stable is a part of a star-studded rookie lineup in IndyCar this season, along with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and Formula 1 veteran Romain Grosjean, but McLaughlin is the only one of the threeRead More