Cup Category

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s exactly the kind of unmistakable momentum you want with one race remaining before the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin. And so in that sense, perhaps the timing of Brad Keselowski’s first win of the season Sunday night at Darlington Raceway makes up for the near-misses he’s had earlier in the year. What a positive statement it was for Keselowski, who swept the weekend’s races at the historic track – hoisting not only the Cup trophy on SundayRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – By a matter of inches, Brad Keselowski won the race off pit road under the final caution in Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. That narrow margin was all the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford needed to secure a stunning victory in one of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ marquee races. On the flip side, Keselowski’s first victory of the season left Kyle Larson bitterly disappointed. Larson led 284 of the 367 laps in additionRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Throughout the first two stages of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington, Kyle Larson looked to be untouchable, but the waning laps went exactly the opposite way the No. 42 team expected and he would have to settle for a third-place finish instead. For 284 laps, Larson’s Chevrolet led the way, but within the last 60 laps of the race, the yellow flag flew three times, erasing his advantage each and every time. When the final caution came out with 24 laps left, it came downRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor To say that Jimmie Johnson has had a rough go of things in 2018 would be an understatement and Sunday’s race at Darlington only added insult to injury as a mechanical failure resulted in a 39th place finish. Johnson, who sits 15th in points, just ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, needed an issue-free race to be able to aid his chances of making it into the Playoffs, but he got anything but that in the Southern 500. From the start of the weekend,Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  Despite multiple obstacles, Jamie McMurray still finished inside the Top-10 in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver made up ground on the final two drivers still not locked into the Playoffs. McMurray was inside the Top-10 in his No. 1 McDonald’s 50 Years of Mac Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at different points of the race. That appeared to come to an end on lap 261, when the Chip Ganassi Racing driver nearly missed pit road. A commitment lineRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin started his Bojangles’ Southern 500 title defense in the best possible way, grabbing the pole position in the final round of Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at Darlington Raceway. Hustling his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the 1.366-mile track in 28.332 seconds (173.571 mph) in the money round, Hamlin edged Kyle Larson (173.411 mph) by .026 seconds to claim the top starting spot for Sunday’s race (6 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXMRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Maybe it took that victory lane celebration two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway to remind fans and competitors that Kurt Busch is a player in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship run. It was the first win for Busch, 39, since the 2017 Daytona 500, but it capped off a summer run where the former Cup champion has earned six consecutive top-10 finishes and moved up from seventh in the championship standings to fourth; with two regular season races remaining beforeRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It’s been a fittingly sentimental kind of week for Denny Hamlin leading into Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at the historic Darlington Raceway. Hamlin is the defending race winner and statistically brings the highest driver rating to the 1.3-mile track known for being so difficult it’s nicknamed “Too Tough To Tame.” In fact, last year Hamlin, 37, swept the nostalgic NASCAR weekend – also hoisting his fifth Xfinity Series race trophy as well. All five victories came from the pole position, too. And in theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a weekend off to recharge the batteries before making the final 12 race push to finish off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Darlington Raceway has been a staple of the Cup Series since opening in 1950 for its annual Labor Day weekend event with the Southern 500 being held on that date until a controversial decision was made to move theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway has always been a special race for those in NASCAR, with a win in the 500-mile slugfest on the track “Too Tough to Tame” residing on the bucket list for nearly every driver and team that has ever turned a lap around the 1.366-mile oval. Entering the 1985 edition of the Southern 500, the pressure of winning at the storied track was ratcheted up even more for Bill Elliott, as a $1 million payday awaited him at the end ofRead More