All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Halfway through last season, Matt DiBenedetto made the choice to bet on himself if he was going to have any future in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The Grass Valley, Calif. native announced he was leaving Go Fas Racing, the team he had been with for the two seasons prior, without a place to land for the 2019 season. That gamble could pay off in spades if this season goes to plan. Not long after he made the decision to lookRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. left last July’s race at Daytona as Public Enemy No. 1, having been involved in more than a few of the multi-car crashes that defined the 400-mile race. Despite the criticism, Stenhouse noted his only regrets from that night are that he didn’t get to make a trip to Victory Lane when all was said and done. “The only issue I had with July is we didn’t win,” Stenhouse said. “I could care less what the perception of everybodyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After winning his first Cup Series championship last season, Joey Logano is counting his blessings heading into Sunday’s season opener at Daytona as he looks to not only win his second Daytona 500, but also get his title defense off on the right foot. “I tell everyone every day that I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Logano said Wednesday morning at Daytona 500 Media Day as he recounted the path his career has taken. “I started too young. I made aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor In a move that has been a long time coming, NASCAR is making a major shift in the way it deals with post-race inspections and penalties across all three national series, announcing Monday that it will be tearing down vehicles after the checkered flag falls and if found illegal, penalties will be handed out then and there. Should those infractions be found in the winning car, the guilty party would be disqualified, resulting in a last-place finish and the loss of all benefits from the win/finish,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 33 Years in Cup: 16 Career Wins: 51 Biggest Accomplishment: 2015 Cup Series Championship A part of the “Big Three” in 2018, Busch seemed destined to add a second Cup title to his resume after scoring eight wins on the season, but ultimately fell short of that goal in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 34 Years in Cup: 11 Career Wins: 27 Biggest Accomplishment: 2012 Cup Series Champion After a handful of near-misses last season, it looked as if Brad Keselowski would be heading into the Playoffs without a win, putting himself behind the eight-ball when it came to the postseason. Then came the Southern 500 at Darlington, and theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The rollercoaster ride that has been the offseason for Ross Chastain continued on Thursday as he was confirmed to have a full-time schedule in the Xfinity Series for 2019 with both JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing. Chastain was originally scheduled to race full-time for Chip Ganassi Racing in their No. 42 entry, but sponsorship woes forced the team’s closure and left the Alva, Florida native without a ride in NASCAR’s second tier series. Fast forward to Thursday when Blake Koch, who was going to drive theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 39 Years in Cup: 13 Career Wins: 10 Last season was a banner year for Clint Bowyer, as he finally broke through for his first wins with Stewart-Haas Racing en route to his best points finish since 2013. The Emporia, Kansas native absolutely dominated at Martinsville in April, leading 215 of the final 216 laps ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 25 Years in Cup: Four Career Wins: Zero Cup wins, One Xfinity Series win Extending the Hendrick Motorsports Daytona 500 pole streak to four years, Alex Bowman got his 2018 season off to a hot start by laying down the fastest lap in qualifying, eventually leading 13 laps in the race before finishing 17th. In hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The newly formed Spire Motorsports team, which took over the charter formerly held by Furniture Row Racing, is hitting the ground running in 2019, signing 21-year old Quin Houff to take the reins of its No. 77 entry starting with the fourth race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season at ISM Raceway. Though Jamie McMurray will race for the team in the Daytona 500, Houff is scheduled for “roughly half” of the 36-race schedule, according to a team release. The exact races in whichRead More