All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Early on in the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona, Christopher Bell found himself sitting sideways in his pit box with the entire field passing him by. By the time the checkered flag flew, all of that was in his rearview mirror as he brought home a third-place finish in overtime. Bell started the day in sixth-place and though he finished the first stage outside the top-10, things took a turn when the field hit pit road. To make matters even worse, BellRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – It’s safe to say Chase Elliott has a knack for restrictor plate qualifying as the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet laid down a blistering lap of 194.095 mph to score his fourth career pole in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, all of which have come at either Daytona or Talladega. “I didn’t know it was that fast,” said Elliott. “Our Hooters Chevy has been nice all weekend.  We made a couple of changes actually at the end of that lastRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Through the first 17 races of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, there have only been six drivers to visit victory lane, leaving 10 playoff spots up for grabs heading into the home stretch of the regular season. Enter Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, which presents an opportunity for a new winner on the season to punch their ticket to the postseason. Restrictor plate racing plus an overabundance of drivers hungry for a win means the 160-lapRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Moving into unison with the other two manufacturers, Toyota announced on Thursday evening that they will be running a sportier looking car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019 as the swap over from their current Camry model to the Supra. Toyota has fielded the Camry since joining NASCAR in 2007, earning four manufacturer championships, two driver championships, and 143 wins, but with a production model of the Supra getting released next year, the manufacturer thought the timing was right to bringRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following last Sunday’s instant classic in the Windy City, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to where it all began, Daytona International Speedway, for this weekend’s 59th running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the third restrictor plate race of the season. From 1959 until 1987, the 160 lap, 400 mile shootout at the World Center of Racing, then called the Firecracker 400, was held on July 4th, even if the holiday fell in the middle of the week. Beginning in 1988, the raceRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With an aggressive on-track persona, Jimmy Spencer was given the nickname of “Mr. Excitement” early in his racing career, but it wasn’t until the 1994 Pepsi 400 at Daytona that he really lived up to it. Entering the Independence Day classic, four drivers had been the class of the field all season long, with Ernie Irvan leading the way ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin, but by the time the checkered flag flew, it was Spencer who stole the show. Earnhardt and LoyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Disappointed. One word summed up how the Sunday’s Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway wound up playing out for Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing team. After one of the best races in recent years for the newest member of the four-car organization, Almirola saw what could have been a race winning car dropped back to 25th place at the end of the race due to two unscheduled pit stops for loose wheels. “Our car was super fast, especially out in clean air,” said Almirola.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After spending the past seven years as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener, Chicagoland returns to its mid-summer roots this weekend as they get set to host Sunday’s Overton’s 400. The track, which joined the circuit in 2001, only hosts the Cup Series once each season, boasting banking of 18 degrees as well as a curved back straightaway that allows drivers to carry their momentum around the entirety of the track. Having not been repaved in its 18-year history, the track also allows forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor These days, Jimmie Johnson is known as a seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion driving for Hendrick Motorsports, but back in the early 2000’s, Johnson was a relative unknown driving for Herzog Motorsports trying to make a name for himself. That all changed at Chicagoland Speedway in July 2001 with the running of the Hills Brothers Coffee 300. Prior to the 2001 season, Johnson was best known for his crash at Watkins Glen in 2000 after he lost his brakes heading into Turn 1, whichRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For third-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott, Sonoma Raceway has been one of his worst tracks throughout his career, but on Sunday, that all changed with a fourth-place finish on the 12-turn, 1.990-mile road course. “It was a lot more fun, this trip out here, than it was the last two times,” Elliott said. “I made a lot of gains, personally, I think, for me at this track. It’s been one of my worst. To come here and have pace on Friday andRead More