Cup Category

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR announced Wednesday a well-received change in its national series qualifying procedure beginning with this week’s triple-header at Dover International Speedway. Going forward, qualifying will feature single-car runs as opposed to the group procedure used by NASCAR for the past five seasons and up to this point in 2019. The modification was well-received by teams and NASCAR is hopeful a return to the tried-and-true format used for decades will improve the show both competitively and for the fan’s sake. TheRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Garrett Smitley will have a familiar sponsorship adorned in his NASCAR rides as Victory Lane Quick Oil Change returns as a primary sponsorship for three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and three Xfinity Series races this season. The Michigan based company will be in Smithley’s Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for both Michigan races and at the fall Texas race in November. On the Xfinity side, it’ll be in his JD Motorsports’ No. 0 Camaro at Kentucky, the Charlotte Roval and Phoenix. Additionally,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Not since the days when the Earnhardt family reigned supreme on the restrictor plate tracks has a cheer from the crowd been as a loud as the one that echoed throughout the Talladega Superspeedway grandstands after Chase Elliott scored his first victory on the 2.66-mile superspeedway in Sunday’s GEICO 500. While Atlanta Motor Speedway is technically Elliott’s home track, being situated near his home town of Dawsonville, Georgia, the fans at Talladega made it clear their track is just as much aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was “Damage Inc.” on the final lap of Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama that ended in violent blows for several drivers, putting a damper on what was considered a thrilling 188-lap race. The situation began to unravel once the red-flag was lifted due to a multi-car crash on Lap 182 that ended with Matt DiBenedetto plowing into the back end of Chris Buescher in Turn 2. This led to the race restarting with just four laps to go. The chaos began toRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The ultimate equalizer known as Talladega Superspeedway proved to be an ultimate breakthrough result for two of this year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders Daniel Hemric and Ryan Preece. Both drivers have shown flashes of brilliance in the first nine races, but luck has hampered their results. Sunday’s GEICO 500 changed all of that as both rookies scored their maiden top-fives in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after surviving the intense competition and violent crashes. After having a heroic Daytona 500 that can beRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent A decision to block one run cost Joey Logano a chance at victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500. In a highly competitive race at Talladega Superspeedway Logano was out front on the final restart in the No. 22 Money Lion Ford Mustang. The Team Penske driver successfully held off runs from Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, and Daniel Suarez without losing the top spot. However, when he blocked a run from Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott squeezed beneath defending series champion. Logano slidRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – After the checkered flag flew in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brendan Gaughan couldn’t help but smile, noting how much fun he just had driving his way to an eighth-place finish on the day with his underdog team. “I was telling the guys, ‘I don’t know what y’all think is so tough about this. I show up once every three months and drive into the top-10!’ This stuff is easy,” Gaughan said. “I miss this sport. It is a lot ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – After putting himself in a position to win Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Kurt Busch had good reason to be hard on himself when his path to victory didn’t come to fruition and he was left with a sixth-place finish when the checkered flag flew. “I feel like we had a great day with our Monster Energy Chevy. I just didn’t deliver the win,” said Busch. “I felt like I had it in my hands and let it drop. I didn’tRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Chase Elliott seized the lead in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway during a four-lap shootout to the finish and took the checkered flag under caution after Kyle Larson barrel-rolled behind him. Elliott’s victory broke a Chevrolet drought in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series dating to last October at Kansas Speedway and broke a seven-race Ford stranglehold on the 2.66-mile track. The first driver not from Team Penske or Joe Gibbs racing to win this season, Elliott crossed the stripe aheadRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Picking up significant speed from the first round of knockout qualifying to the second, Austin Dillon won the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Covering the 2.66-mile distance in 49.734 seconds (192.544 mph) in his No. 3 Chevrolet, Dillon edged first-round leader Aric Almirola (192.131 mph) for the top starting spot by .107 seconds. In Saturday’s first round, Dillon had run 192.108 mphRead More