Cup Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – The last qualifier in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Michigan International Speedway will be first to the green flag on Sunday afternoon. The final driver to make an attempt, after shadows started to shroud the track, Brad Keselowski covered the 2.0-mile distance in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford in 37.801 seconds (190.471 mph) to knock Kevin Harvick off the provisional pole for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After last weekend’s race at Watkins Glen saw Chase Elliott go back-to back on the upstate New York road course, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Michigan for the second time this season to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the Consumers Energy 400. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this raceRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Fuel mileage seems to come into play more often at Michigan International Speedway than any other track on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit and a decade ago, that’s exactly how everything played out on the two-mile speedway in the Irish Hills. Two months prior to the running of the Carfax 400 in August 2009, a fuel mileage thriller resulted in Mark Martin taking home the checkered flag after Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle fell by the wayside in the closing laps when theirRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Both Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones, two drivers in subject of silly season rumors all season, continue their string of top-five runs this summer after Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen. Despite all talks involve on Kyle Busch being erased off both William Byron and Bubba Wallace’s Christmas list due to separate incidents and Martin Truex, Jr.’s second attempt of chasing down race winner Chase Elliott coming up short. The other two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates had a quiet afternoon at Watkins Glen International in NewRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Jimmie Johnson weathers collision, sees Playoff position improve WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Nineteenth wasn’t what Jimmie Johnson wanted in his first race with Cliff Daniels as his crew chief, but solid runs in the first two stages of Sunday’s GoBowling at The Glen were enough to lift the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion into a tie for 16th in the series standings, the last spot eligible for the postseason Playoffs. Johnson started the race eighth and finished sixth in the first stage.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto shined once again as he scored a top-10 finish at Watkins Glen International. The driver of the No. 95 Procore Toyota Camry broke into the top-10 on the final restart of the Go Bowling at the Glen on lap 66. DiBenedetto picked off several positions on the chaotic restart. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver passed Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski as the field jockeyed for position. DiBenedetto then battled Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Blaney for position.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – It was a striking case of déjà vu. In a replay of Last year’s GoBowling at the Glen, Martin Truex Jr. chased pole winner Chase Elliott lap after lap around the 2.45-mile road course, using everything in his arsenal to try to deprive Elliott of his second straight victory at the track. Nothing worked for Truex, who crossed the finish line in the wake of the winning No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, .454 seconds in arrears. Elliott logged his secondRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Chase Elliott isn’t racing differently on road courses. He’s just racing better. And on Saturday, Elliott returned to Watkins Glen International with a vengeance, taking a giant step toward another victory at track that gave him his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win last year. Elliott covered the 2.45-mile layout in 69.287 seconds (127.297 mph) to edge Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a trip to Pocono last weekend that saw Denny Hamlin score his third win of the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stays in the Northeast as they go road course racing this weekend in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen. The Cup Series raced at Watkins Glen in 1957, 1964, and 1965 before returning to the track full-time in 1986, utilizing the “short course” layout initially, but after a series of violent crashes at the end of the long back straightaway, theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The 1996 running of the Bud at The Glen had it all. A hometown hero brought the fans to their feet en route to the final victory of his career, while a legend was on a mission to prove he was still one of the toughest drivers in the garage. Two weeks prior to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series visit to Watkins Glen, they were racing at Talladega Superspeedway, when disaster struck for Dale Earnhardt, who was leading at the time. Earnhardt was turned head-onRead More