Cup Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Viva Las Vegas! After spending the first two weekends of the 2018 season in the southeastern United States, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads west for the first leg of the West Coast swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Sunday’s running of the Pennzoil 400. Las Vegas began its life on the NASCAR circuit as a 1.5 mile oval with 12 degrees of banking in 1998, but following the 2006 running of the race, the track underwent a massive reconfigurationRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Las Vegas is a city built on gamblers, so a bit of gambling would only be natural when NASCAR rolled into town back in March 2014. Except this time, the gamble didn’t quite work out for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as his fuel tank ran dry a half a lap from the finish, allowing Brad Keselowski to streak by for the win. “Sorry buddy, I tried,” Earnhardt’s crew chief Steve Letarte said over the team radio. “Good job, man,” Earnhardt replied. “That’s a tough loss there.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the third time in as many weeks, the famous No. 43 car piloted by Darrell Wallace, Jr. will have a new sponsor adorning the quarter-panels after Richard Petty Motorsports announced that The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will come on board for this weekend’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “The Cosmopolitan is one of the coolest places on the Strip,” said Wallace Jr. “Everything that is a part of the resort is the best of the best of Vegas. I enjoy going toRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  With more and more sports embracing technology and streaming services, is NASCAR missing out on this growing trend? While NASCAR does stream its National Series races on the Fox Sports Go app, the NBC Sports app, and some of the regional races on FansChoice.tv, there are other streaming options the sanctioning body could be looking into. Just by asking race fans to get some feedback, I’ve come up with two different options for NASCAR to join the streaming trend. Once again, I don’t know theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Hendrick Motorsports didn’t have its finest performance in recent memory after the four-car stable was unable to lead a lap during Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Dating back to last season, it marked the second time in three races they’ve failed to put their cars in front of the field. Despite an off performance, it didn’t stop William Byron from having fun on the worn out surface, beating Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr. as the highest finishing full-time rookie in 18th.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – On Sunday night, after 17 barren years, Kevin Harvick finally completed the second chapter of his love affair with Atlanta Motor Speedway. In the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, Harvick delivered a proper thrashing to the rest of the field, leading 181-of-325 laps and beating runner-up Brad Keselowski to the finish line by 2.690 seconds. Early in 2001, after Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a last-lap crash in the DaytonaRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Had it not been for the dominating day by Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski could have been celebrating two wins in a row at Atlanta Motor Speedway. However, it was still a successful day for the No. 2 team in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 as they ended the day with a runner-up finish, along with a stage win. “I had a blast today,” said Keselowski. “Just really, really working your tail off in the car. It’s kind of old school. “We were good, butRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway resulted in three wrecked race cars for Jimmie Johnson, including one in last Sunday’s Daytona 500 when he was involved in a multi-car accident on Lap 60. Johnson left Daytona Beach “really bummed out” and headed for a few days with his girls at Disney World before arriving at the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Hampton, Georgia track has suited Johnson well during his career. Leading all active drivers with five wins and a 105.4 driver rating, it appeared toRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 seemed to a return to form for Clint Bowyer. Bowyer ran up front for much of the 500-mile race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He finished third, a part of a Ford Performance sweep of the top three finishing positions in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. In the final 25-lap run to the finish, Bowyer restarted inside the top-five. His No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion held station on the old, worn-out track surface. Bowyer defended against charges fromRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It’s been a rough afternoon for Martin Truex, Jr. and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team, the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champions, as pre-qualifying inspection at Atlanta Motor Speedway went from bad to worse for the Denver, Colorado based team. Failing inspection after three separate trips through NASCAR’s new Optical Scanning Station, the team was penalized with the loss of car chief Blake Harris for the weekend, as well as being docked 30 minutes of practice time. Fearing a fourth failure andRead More