Cup Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After the tragedy of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series returned to the track at Dover International Speedway a week and a half later for the first race back, with teams, drivers, and fans all banding together to help the nation heal. With American flags flying up and down pit road, in the grandstands, and showing on various cars and driver’s helmets, the sport got back to business with the running of the MBNARead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a trip to New England for the second race in the Chase, the Round of 16 comes down to this. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Dover International Speedway for the running of the Citizen Soldier 400, which will determine which drivers will join Martin Truex, Jr. and Kevin Harvick in the next round. As one of the only two concrete tracks on the NASCAR schedule, the one mile high banked oval that is Dover has always drawn similarities to Bristol and isRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – For all appearances, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. were going to settle Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 between them. Truex led a race-high 141-of-300 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kenseth led 105. From a restart on Lap 249 until the fifth caution of the race on Lap 285, the Toyota drivers ran 1-2, with Kenseth playing defense from the lead and Truex trying every trick he knew to get past Kenseth’s No. 20 Camry. Truex would dive insideRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With wins in the last two races at New Hampshire prior to Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300, confidence was high among Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 team that a three-peat was a strong possibility, but the team would have to settle for a runner-up finish instead after their strong run was undone by late cautions. Taking the lead for the first time at lap 179 from his defacto teammate Martin Truex, Jr., who had led 141 of those first 178 laps, Kenseth looked to beRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Remember last week, when Kevin Harvick was trapped a lap down at Chicagoland Speedway, finished 20th and fell out of the top 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings? Remember last year, when Harvick crashed at Chicagoland and ran out of fuel while leading at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and had to win at Dover to advance in the Chase? That’s all moot, now that Harvick redeemed himself with a victory in Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into New Hampshire, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies, especially those in the Chase, were looking for strong finishes, but all were left with disappointment at the conclusion of Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300. After almost spoiling the Chase party last weekend at Chicago, Ryan Blaney brought home the top rookie finish at New Hampshire with a 12th place finish, which is about where Blaney had been running throughout the day. Though Blaney and his team did not make the Chase, theyRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Larson tends to undersell his prowess at short tracks in general and at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in particular. To hear him tell it, you would never suspect that the driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet finished third and second in the first two of his five starts at the Magic Mile. And on Saturday, in final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN) – the secondRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Carl Edwards never had the reputation as a spectacular qualifier – until this year. On Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Edwards ran 135.453 mph (28.119 seconds) in the money round of knockout qualifying to earn the top start spot in Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN), the second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The Coors Light Pole Award was Edwards sixth of the year, doubling his previous single-season best. It wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – A wreck in practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was the last thing Austin Dillon needed. After a 14th-place finish last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the first race of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Dillon needs a strong run at New Hampshire to escape the bottom four in the standings. But with the Round of 16 elimination race looming Oct. 1 at Dover, Dillon had his weekend start catastrophically at the Magic Mile, site of Sunday’s BadRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer The first race of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has come and gone, and with it a plethora of storylines have unfolded in the paddock. Teams that laid dormant throughout the summer have suddenly come to life, while drivers that entered as favorites to hoist the Sprint Cup at the end of the season have suddenly found themselves in a hole after facing unexpected issues. Martin Truex, Jr., stamped his name into the second round of the Chase with a victory inRead More