Cup Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Now that the 2017 NASCAR season is complete and the year is drawing to a close, we’ll take this opportunity to take a look back at the year that was. Today, we’ll tackle Part One of the 10 most memorable moments of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Calls it a Career After 18 seasons behind the wheel in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. hung up his helmet at the end of the 2017 season, retiring fromRead More

Christmas is less than a week away! If you are looking for some great last minute gifts for the special race fan in your life, or if you are a looking to drop a hint to your family, we have the perfect guide for you. While you can’t get Kimi’s car with a great big bow on it, our selection below has something for everyone, just in the nick of time. Piloti Shoes For the fan who wants to feel like their favorite driver, enjoys taking their car to theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After being a Ford team for the past eight seasons, Richard Petty Motorsports will be ditching the Blue Oval for a Bowtie for the upcoming 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. On Friday, the long rumored alliance with Richard Childress Racing was confirmed by the team, allowing the No. 43 team to take up residence on the RCR campus in Welcome, NC and change manufacturers over to Chevrolet. RPM will also receive chassis and engineering support from RCR, as well as engines from ECR.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor NASCAR will continue the trend of cost-cutting measures in 2018 as the sanctioning body announced roster limits to the number of pit crew and at-track crew members for each team on a given race weekend. Rosters will be broken down into three categories: Organizational, road crew, and pit crew. The organizational category is comprised of the competition director, technical director, team manager, IT specialists, etc. Starting next year, only three to four people in this category will be allowed at the track. For Monster EnergyRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer A grueling 36-race season saw Kyle Busch record five victories and lead 2,023 laps but fall less than one second short of earning the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. Despite his best efforts over the 34-lap green-flag run to the checkered flag, Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Carmel Toyota crossed the line .681 seconds behind fellow Championship 4 competitor and Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. in Sunday’s Ford Eco-Boost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch led four times for 43 laps and appeared to have theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The road has been long and full of trials and tribulations, but Martin Truex, Jr. and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team are Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champions. Leading the way in almost every statistical category throughout the 2017 season, Truex came into the season finale at Homestead as the championship favorite, but it would take the same drive and determination that they have always shown to carry them to the title. Truex himself noted that they did not have the fastest carRead More

Editor’s note: This is the third of a four-part series focusing on why each of the Championship Four will end Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title in hand. By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer With five victories, 13 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes, eight poles and almost 2,000 laps led in 2017, most wouldn’t describe Kyle Busch’s season as “trying.” But that’s exactly how the 32-year-old driver described it when asked for one word to represent the season during Championship 4 media availability inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Editor’s note: This is the second of a four-part series focusing on why each of the Championship Four will end Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title in hand. Martin Truex, Jr. enters Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the championship favorite, but there’s more to it than just his on track accolades this season. Heading into the final race of the season, Truex is enjoying the best year of his career, with seven wins (half of hisRead More

By Brant James, NASCAR Wire Service MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Kevin Harvick’s two wins this season are fewer than any of the other three drivers eligible to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His Stewart-Haas Racing team needed half a season to finally find its footing after switching from Chevrolet to Ford. Martin Truex Jr. remains the most consistent, most consistently able to strong-arm a weekend for a Toyota contingent that has been the prime manufacturer of the season. Harvick isn’t concerned. AndRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Ahead of this weekend’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway that will see one of four drivers walk away with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy, we’ll take a step back to 2004 and the first year of the Chase format, along with the drama that played out in the season finale to deliver Kurt Busch with his first Cup championship. With Sprint/Nextel taking over the series title sponsorship from Winston at the end of the 2003 season, a new championship format was introduced, calledRead More