Monster Energy Cup Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Talladega may not be the Round of 12 elimination race any longer, but the mammoth 2.66 mile superspeedway is still a huge wild card and will go a long way toward determining which drivers will be in position to move on to the next round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. 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 scoringRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer All season long, tracks have been paying tribute to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will be retiring from full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition at the end of the 2017 season. At Talladega Superspeedway, where the Earnhardt name is synonymous with success, an unexpected tribute will be on track. On Monday, Brad Keselowski announced via his blog (found here) that he would pay tribute to his friend, and former boss, with a special paint scheme. Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion will mimic theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer How can a former champion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs fly under the radar? Brad Keselowski found that it was not difficult after ending the day mired in 15th. Keselowski was never a factor in the Bank of America 500. He finished just inside the top-15 after funning there throughout the entire day. Keselowski may have avoided trouble in his No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion throughout the entirety of the event, but he was one of the slowest of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down who’s hot and who’s not after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend. Today, we break down the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. WINNERS Martin Truex, Jr. – The wins just keep on coming for Truex and Furniture Row Racing. 2017 has been a career year for the No. 78 team and Truex added another victory to the win column on Sunday at Charlotte. Truex may not have had the best qualifyingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Don’t count Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as a fan of the traction compound that was used during Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte. The compound, which has been used with mixed results at Speedway Motorsports, Inc. tracks this season, was laid down in the second and third grooves at Charlotte, but things didn’t quite gel between the cars on track and the ability for the compound to increase grip. Trouble with the PJ1 compound started on Friday in practice when a handful of drivers, includingRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – The only thing typical about Martin Truex Jr.’s performance at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the win. The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team screwed up in qualifying on Friday—a rare occurrence in a remarkable season for the series leader. Truex failed to score points in the first stage of Sunday’s Bank of America 500, the first race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 12. That marked the first time since Daytona in July that Truex had finished outsideRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After two finishes outside the top-15 to finish out the first round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Kevin Harvick turned things around as the second round started at Charlotte by winning two stages, leading the most laps, and finishing third in Sunday’s Bank of America 500. Harvick kicked the weekend off with a strong qualifying effort to start the race in third place and he was able to find the lead for the first time just 52 laps in. He would thenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Entering Charlotte Motor Speedway as one of the favorites to move on in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the path forward for Kyle Busch isn’t looking quite as certain after several encounters with the wall that left him with a 29th place finish and took a big bite out of his points advantage over the cut-off line. “It stinks to give up points,” said Busch. “We came in here and thought we had a good shot to run in the top-10 and weRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – In a race where most of your competition is up front the entire day, a driver needs a strong finish, and one driver who got just that is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry was a fixture inside the top-10 the entire race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Hamlin, the polesitter for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway finished fourth after running just outside the top-five for much of the day.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – For the second week in a row Chase Elliott has come one spot shy of scoring his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Elliott was never far from the lead throughout the Bank of America 500. Elliott was consistently one of the best cars, in the No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet SS, during the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He battled with the likes of Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and eventual race winner Martin Truex, Jr. while never falling lower than fifthRead More