All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It never rains in the desert, but when NASCAR comes to town, it’s almost a guarantee. For several hours prior to the 2015 running of the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, the rains fell, pushing the race that was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon into the night. While the 312-mile event finally got underway under the lights, the field would be racing the rain just as much as each other throughout the evening. Early on, it looked as if KevinRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the NTT Data IndyCar Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into the 2019 season opener at St. Petersburg. Age: 32 Team: Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Years in IndyCar: Eight Career Wins: Six Career Podiums: 16 If James Hinchcliffe’s 2018 results were in a line graph, the resulting image would almost resemble a heart rate monitor with all of the highs and lows that the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver experienced last season. Things got off toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has been visiting Las Vegas Motor Speedway for more than two decades, but this weekend’s race at the track is likely one of the most anticipated at the facility in years with the introduction of the new aerodynamic package that will make its full debut on the 1.5-mile track. Though the new package was rolled out for the first time last week in Atlanta, it wasn’t the full package that includes the aero ducts in the front end of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads west to start the West Coast Swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, we’ll take a step back in time for today’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” to the 2006 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 and the closest finish to ever occur at the 1.5-mile track. In the final race on the original configuration of the track, it looked to be another Roush-Fenway kind of day as Greg Biffle led the field to green from the poleRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the NTT IndyCar Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into the 2019 season opener at St. Petersburg on March 10. Age: 28 Team: Team Penske Years in IndyCar: Seven Career Wins: 10 Career Podiums: 22 After winning the title in 2017 in his first year with Team Penske, Josef Newgarden entered last season looking to make it back-to-back championship wins and while it was a successful season, the Hendersonville, Tenn. native ultimately fell short ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Kyle Busch may not have been having any fun in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver sure did make a show out of his misfortunes on the 1.5-mile track. A day after crashing his primary car in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, Busch would have to start the 334-lap event at the back of the field in a car that he had yet to turn a lap in. Despite the setback, Busch made theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After last Sunday’s barn burner of a finish in the Daytona 500, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads to Georgia for this weekend’s running of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With a track surface that is old and worn, having not been repaved since its reconfiguration in 1997, Atlanta always gets rave reviews from drivers who enjoy slipping and sliding around on the worn out asphalt. The track has been unpredictable when it comes to which driverRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been great brother duos to race in NASCAR over the years, but one of the best was the combination of Bobby and Terry Labonte. Back in November 1996, the two got to showcase their talents in the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Terry entered the race with a slim 47-point advantage over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon after finishing third at Phoenix the week prior. He had done so while nursing a broken left hand that was injured in a practice crash. WhenRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – “It’s the most emotional and the biggest win I’ve ever had in my life, in anything,” Joe Gibbs said after the 61st running of the Daytona 500. Less than a month after the loss of J.D Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing came into the 2019 season with a motto: “Do It for J.D.” And they executed that almost to perfection Sunday, with Denny Hamlin capturing his second victory in the Great American Race, followed by Kyle Busch and Erik Jones securing a podiumRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When the checkered flag was finally in sight Sunday night, Michael McDowell was fed up with the lack of respect his Ford teammates were showing him throughout the Daytona 500 and he had one goal in mind: win the whole damn thing. And he nearly pulled it off, bringing home a top-five finish for himself and Front Row Motorsports – McDowell’s first top-five since Daytona in the summer of 2017. Restarting fourth on the second attempt at an overtime finish, McDowell lostRead More