Cup Category

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer A flat tire, contact with the wall, and lap traffic could not keep Trevor Bayne from reaching a career milestone with a top-10 finish. For the first time in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, he earned top-10 finishes in back-to-back races. Bayne bounced up and down through the field in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. Bayne finished in seventh after an eventful second-half of the Bristol-night race. He had a hard-fought battle with Jimmie Johnson as he moved up through theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Week in and week out, Erik Jones has impressed throughout his rookie season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and on Friday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway, Jones took another step forward by scoring his first career pole. With the clock winding down, Jones’ lap of 14.981 seconds, 128.062 mph, propelled him to the top of the board and into position to clinch the pole. Though a few other drivers took a shot at Jones’ fast lap, they weren’t quite quick enough to bestRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After bouncing around from team to team over the last few years, Chris Buescher’s future looks much more stable after announcing that he has signed a multi-year contract to stay behind the wheel of the No. 37 Chevrolet with JTG Daugherty Racing for the foreseeable future. Buescher first came on the scene in the ARCA Series back in 2009 and he was able to win the championship in that series in 2012 before getting picked up by Roush-Fenway Racing to drive in the NASCAR XfinityRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a top-five run in the first practice session of the day, Ryan Blaney backed up the speed he had shown earlier on Friday by posting the fastest speed in the final practice session for Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Blaney topped the board with a time of 14.926 seconds, 128.554 mph and was followed by fellow young gun Kyle Larson, who timed in with a lap just .057 seconds slower. In four starts at Bristol, Blaney hasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor In preparation for tomorrow night’s running of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers took to the track for their first of two practice sessions on Friday morning, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch leading the way. It has been an eventful week for Hamlin thus far as he welcomed his second daughter into the world Tuesday before heading to Bristol for the race weekend, where he was victorious inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Heading into Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott clings to one of the last three points positions to be able to make it into the playoffs for a second year in a row, but with three races still to go and the unpredictability of racing on the high banked half-mile, the fact that Elliott has yet to win a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race looms large over the 21-year old Hendrick Motorsports driver. As the points sit, Elliott holds a 62Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway will mark the final time that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will participate in one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races as a full-time driver in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Before strapping into the cockpit for both the Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the high banked half-mile, Earnhardt took some time to reflect on Bristol and just what the track has meant to him over the years, from coming toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley this weekend for the annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a showdown under the lights on the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” that is sure to leave sheet metal twisted and tempers flaring once these drivers get done battling for 500 laps on the high-banked bullring that is called “The Last Great Colosseum.” Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race each August, theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As the summer continues to crawl toward an end, the annual Bristol Night Race looms large as an August staple, as drivers throughout the garage area have the race on their bucket list to win. For one driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., he will be strapping into the cockpit on a full-time basis one final time this weekend, driving double duty in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the Bristol high banks. With that in mind, let’s takeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down the top storylines from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This week, we break down the Pure Michigan 400 from Michigan International Speedway. The Two-Mile King There’s something about two-mile tracks that just fits Kyle Larson’s driving style. Since breaking though for his first Cup Series win at Michigan last August, Larson is undefeated on two-mile tracks, winning at Auto Club Speedway earlier this season, followed up by a sweep of both Michigan racesRead More