Cup Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will mark the 100th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start for Ty Dillon in a career that has stretched back to the 2014 season. After getting his start on a part-time basis driving for his grandfather at Richard Childress Racing, Dillon moved over to Germain Racing full-time in 2017, where he has remained ever since. Though the younger Dillon brother has yet to visit Victory Lane, he noted Sunday’s milestone coming at Talladega would be aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Two weeks ago, seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson was making his inaugural start in the Boston Marathon. Back at the race track for the first time since completing that grueling event, the race that Johnson called “awful and amazing at the same time” could be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to his on-track performance. “I had a goal in mind to run a certain pace and tried to hang onto it,” Johnson said of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Uncertainty surrounded the first day of on-track activity at Talladega Superspeedway, with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series getting their first glimpse at the new post-restrictor plate aero package that will be used at the 2.66-mile facility as well as Daytona for the foreseeable future. The new package features a tapered spacer instead of a restrictor plate, making it the first race since 1987 to feature the horsepower sapping device. To counteract the increase in horsepower, about 100 more than the teamsRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It was the last question reporters asked Martin Truex Jr. on Friday before opening practice at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and it was the biggest smile they received. How important was it for the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion to score his first win of the season – and first since joining Joe Gibbs Racing team – two weeks ago at Richmond, Va.? “It definitely felt good’’ Truex said, adding with a grin. “It was nice to go into an off-weekend with a winRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – With the first off weekend of the season in the rear-view mirror, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series gets back to business in grand fashion as they get set to take on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. Racing at Talladega has always been crazy from the time the track opened back in 1969. From the driver boycott of the first race that led to unknown driver Richard Brickhouse scoring his one and only win in theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Everyone knows Talladega Superspeedway as the biggest, baddest track on the circuit that has produced amazing racing and a plethora of memorable moments since its inception, but half a century ago, the 2.66-mile behemoth of a track in Alabama was just getting its start, and it was a controversial one at that. With the success of Daytona International Speedway, the first superspeedway project for Bill France, Sr. 10 years earlier, NASCAR’s founder wanted to go even bigger and with that, the dreams of Talladega tookRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The perfect birthday gift has been given five days early to Justin Haley as Spire Motorsports announced Tuesday the 19-year-old will make his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Talladega Superspeedway. Sunday’s GEICO 500 will not only mark Haley’s debut, it’ll also be his 20th birthday as he’ll be strapping in the No. 77 Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. F.O.E. was Haley’s sponsor during his Gander Outdoors Truck Series career and earned all three of his wins with last season with thatRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Recent winning history on the Talladega Superspeedway high banks has been dominated by a distinctive blue oval. Ford drivers hold a seven-race winning streak as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Alabama for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the winningest stretch for a manufacturer in more than a decade of competition on what is ironically considered one of the most unpredictable venues. Not only has Ford owned the party inRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Despite the speed of his No. 3 AAA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was evident, Austin Dillon could only muster a top-10 finish at Richmond Raceway. Throughout the final run of the Toyota Owners 400, Dillon powered forward. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver picked off his competitors one by one. As other drivers, like Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, lost the handle of their cars in the waning laps, Dillon made quick work of them. Dillon had one of the fastest cars on track, butRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Saturday night’s victory in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway was a first for Martin Truex Jr.—and more of the same for Joe Gibbs Racing. Truex won his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on a short track in his 81st try and in the process picked up his first victory with joe Gibbs Racing since moving from now-defunct Furniture Row Racing between seasons. At the same time, Truex gave JGR its third straight victory in NASCAR’s top series andRead More