Cup Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – On two straight laps late in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick nudged the No. 18 Toyota of race leader Kyle Busch with his front bumper. Busch retained the lead. But Harvick took more aggressive action on Lap 295 of 301, tagging Busch’s car in the center of Turns 1 and 2. Busch slid up the track as Harvick powered the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford into the topRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The story of the season has been about Stewart-Haas Racing’s winning ways. For pole sitter Kurt Busch, it appeared he had the car to finally snap a 54-race winless streak and give the team its eighth win of the season. That all ended when a pit miscue cost him several track positions and he ultimately wound up eighth in Sunday’s Foxwood Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With 74 laps to go, Busch relinquished second and made his penultimate pit stop under green.Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer For the first time since joining Stewart-Haas Racing, Aric Almirola has earned a top-five finish. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver once again appeared to have a chance to record his first victory since 2014 in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Prior to the final caution on lap 258, Almirola had been leading in the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion. Under yellow, a slow pit stop dropped the Ford Performance driver from the lead to third on the runningRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  A calm final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 turned violent for Michael McDowell. With just under 30 minutes left in the session, the Front Row Motorsports driver spun into the outside wall in turn three at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. McDowell’s team will go to a back-up car for Sunday’s race. McDowell never sensed that something was wrong with his No. 34 Starkey Hearing Foundation Ford Fusion on just his seventh lap of the session. When he braked,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Early bird Kurt Busch ran his best lap of the day in the final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to earn the top starting spot for Sunday’s Foxwoods 301 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The first driver on the track for decisive Round 3, Busch covered the one-mile distance in 28.511 seconds (133.591 mph) to edge reigning series champion Martin Turex Jr. by .019 seconds. Truex willRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season rolls on as they head from last weekend’s race on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway to the flat, one-mile oval that is New Hampshire Motor Speedway. First joining the Cup Series circuit in 1993, the 1.058 mile oval that has progressively banked turns from two to seven degrees is one of the more difficult tracks on the schedule as the flat nature of the track makes track position key with passing at a premium. After getting to enjoy twoRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After the tragic passing of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin in separate incidents earlier in the year due to stuck throttles at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, NASCAR made the decision to implement horsepower robbing restrictor plates that are normally used at Daytona and Talladega for the September 2000 race on the flat one-mile oval. Broadcaster Dick Berggren set the scene prior to the race, highlighting the unknown territory that teams and drivers were venturing into that day. “In the wake of two fatal accidents here, NASCARRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – AJ Allmendinger didn’t hold back when he talked to reporters during a break in Tuesday’s road course test session at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I think there’s going to be a lot of contact, for sure,” Allmendinger predicted. “Through the infield, it’s pretty narrow. In general, through the infield, I think there’s going to be contact.” The bus stop chicane on the backstretch may be the most challenging section of the 2.28-mile course. Drivers will carry tremendous speed into those two quick cornersRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Over the past three weeks, Ryan Blaney hasn’t finished better than 18th, but on Saturday night at Kentucky, that all changed with a strong runner-up performance for the Team Penske driver. “It’s a positive, that’s for sure,” said Blaney.  “I thought we were in a good spot there restarting fourth and Martin struggled a little bit the first couple laps and I thought I could get by him, but just couldn’t quite get a run on him.  His car came in and mine kind of fadedRead More

By Lee Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Kentucky – Martin Truex Jr., made it a clean sweep at Kentucky Speedway this weekend. After starting from the pole, Truex won all three stages and successfully defended his victory from last year’s Quaker State 400. Truex led 174 laps en route to his fourth win of the season and his 19th career victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. “What a hell of a night this was,” Truex said. “We try to do this every single week but that just shows youRead More