All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor There are numerous adjectives that can be used to describe this weekend’s race on the new Charlotte Motor Speedway road course: unpredictable, volatile, treacherous, chaotic, etc. Once thing is for sure as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ventures into the unknown, it’s going to be a hell of a ride. In an effort to spice things up this season, Charlotte officials elected to switch from running another race on the 1.5-mile oval to creating what they are calling the ROVAL, incorporating both the high banksRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After five years with JTG Daugherty Racing, AJ Allmendinger will be leaving the seat of the No. 47 car at the end of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Though Allmendinger inked a five-year contract extension back in 2015 that would have kept him behind the wheel through 2020, the team announced Tuesday that they would be releasing him from his contract. “AJ Allmendinger has been a valuable asset to the growth of our company, and we are grateful for his professionalism with ourRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Ever since Elliott Sadler announced he would be stepping away from full-time driving at the end of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the rumor mill has been churning with his replacement at JR Motorsports for 2019 and beyond. Today that question has been answered. In an episode of its popular JRM360 video series, the team announced that Noah Gragson would be taking the step up to the Xfinity Series next year to take the reins of the No. 1 car that Sadler is departing. “Noah’s provenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “I just want to have fun,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said before Friday night’s race at Richmond Raceway. After the checkered flag flew in the Go Bowling 250, it was mission accomplished in his return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series as he brought home a fourth-place finish after leading the most laps. Even after being out of the race car since the end of last season, when he said goodbye to full-time racing, Earnhardt picked up right where he left off as soon as the racing actionRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following a wild opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in Las Vegas, the championship contenders head back to the East Coast this weekend to take on Richmond Raceway in their inaugural playoff date. Often described as the perfectly designed racetrack by drivers, the 0.75-mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side-by-side racing that will take place throughout the event. Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Ryan Newman may have claimed the victory in the 2003 Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond Raceway, but the story of the night was the clash of Old School vs. New School in Ricky Rudd and Kevin Harvick that transpired in the closing laps. Before taking a dive into their incident that Saturday night in September, we have to go back in time a few years further to the 2001 running of the race, when Rudd and Harvick had their first run-in, which ended onRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor All year long, the talk of the NASCAR world has revolved around the “Big Three” and everyone wondering who would be the fourth driver to join then in the championship race at Homestead in November. Well, that question has been answered and it’s Brad Keselowski. Prior to the last few weeks, two drivers in the “Big Three”, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, had delivered a three-peat of wins, and now that group has a new member in Keselowski. In addition to making it three in aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When looking at the 10 races that make up the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway would not have been the one many circled to give the drivers competing for the championship the most issues, but by the time the checkered flag flew, more than half of the 16 playoff drivers ran into problems of some sort. Kyle Larson kicked things off with a blown tire early in Stage 1, but luckily for him, he was ableRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Not even halfway through the opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and two drivers contending for the championship will leave Las Vegas with Lady Luck not on their side. On lap 147 in Sunday’s South Point 400, Kevin Harvick, who entered the day as the co-points leader suffered a blown tire in Turn 1 sending him hard into the outside wall and collecting fellow playoff driver Erik Jones in the process. The crash would relegate Harvick and Jones to 37th and 38th,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Viva Las Vegas…again? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in the track’s history, Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be hosting a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this season as they kick off the 10-race Playoff stretch with Sunday’s running of the South Point 400. 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 bankingRead More