All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Though Kevin Harvick has made ISM Raceway in Phoenix his own personal playground over the last several years, the March 2016 running of the Good Sam 500 came down to a matter of inches for him to be able to continue his dominance in the desert. As the laps wound down, Harvick looked to have the win within his grasp for the eighth time on the one-mile oval, holding a decisive lead over second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with just six laps remaining. However, a blownRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Since Furniture Row Racing announced they would be shutting down at the end of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, the dynamic duo of Martin Truex, Jr. and Cole Pearn have been rumored to be moving in house to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2019. After months of speculation, the move is now official as the team announced that Truex and Pearn would be taking over the No. 19 Toyota next season. “Anytime you have an opportunity to bring two people of this caliber intoRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Kevin Harvick’s bid for a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship took a detour on Wednesday after the sanctioning body handed down penalties stemming from last Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick had locked himself into the Championship 4 at Homestead with his Texas win, which was his eighth victory of the season, but his No. 4 Ford was found to have an illegal spoiler in post-race inspection at the NASCAR R&D Center. Because of the infraction, which violates Section 20.4.12 of the NASCARRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a barnburner of a finish at Martinsville last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Lone Star State and Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the AAA Texas 500 and the second race of the playoff semi-finals. First joining the circuit in 1997, the 1.5-mile Texas track has provided some great racing over the years as the original track surface wore down over the years. Prior to the 2017 season, Texas went through a reconfiguration, dropping the banking in Turns 1Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the first eight years of its existence, Texas Motor Speedway had just one race weekend a year, but starting in 2005, the track was granted a second date in the playoffs and the racing at the 1.5-mile track certainly didn’t disappoint the first time out. Heading into the race, Tony Stewart led the points standings by 43 points over Jimmie Johnson, with Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Ryan Newman rounding out the top-five championship contenders. Newman may have won the pole, but he had toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “He may have won the battle, but he ain’t winning the damn war,” Martin Truex, Jr. said after the conclusion of Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville. Minutes earlier, Truex, who had driven from the back of the pack to the lead on the last lap, found himself at the receiving end of Joey Logano’s bumper in Turn 3, dropping him from a chance at a win and a berth in the Championship 4 at Homestead to a third-place finish. While Logano was celebrating his winRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Though Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports may be losing Lowe’s as a sponsor at season’s end, the organization announced Sunday at Martinsville that they have found a new sponsor to take over starting in 2019 Lowe’s announced their departure from the sport back in March, forcing HMS to find a new sponsor for the No. 48 car for the first time since 2002. After seven months of looking, Ally Financial came to the forefront and they will sponsor the team full-time for the next two seasons.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip out to America’s Heartland, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the final short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic half-mile, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. Sunday’s race will mark the start of the three-race playoff semi-finals that will trim the eight-driver playoff fieldRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Since 1949, NASCAR has raced at Martinsville and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to the shortest track on the circuit this Sunday for the First Data 500. Before focusing on the present day and the opening race of the Round of Eight in the MENCS Playoffs, we’ll revisit the 2001 Old Dominion 500 – a race that gave NASCAR on ESPN analyst Ricky Craven his first career Cup Series win. As rain set in on the scheduled Sunday race date, the race wasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Entering the 2018 version of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Chevrolet had four drivers in the postseason with a shot to make a run to the championship race at Homestead. With two rounds complete, the Bowtie Brigade has seen all but one of their Camaros eliminated from the Playoffs. Jimmie Johnson met his fate at the Charlotte Roval, while Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman exited stage left after Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. Standing alone as the only Chevrolet left in the postseason isRead More