Cup Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service The odds against Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 producing another first-time winner are relatively heavy. When all track activity was washed out on Friday, the starting field for the race was set according to owner points, and the top 10 starters in the field, from pole sitter Kevin Harvick through 10th-place Matt Kenseth, all have at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory this season. Why is that significant? Because in the last 14 races at Darlington, 10 of the winners have come from theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After missing six races while recovering from a concussion, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will miss the remainder of the 2016 season as he continues his recovery. On Friday, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Earnhardt had not been medically cleared to race for the final 12 races of the year. “I wish I could return to the No. 88 team this season. To say I’m disappointed doesn’t begin to describe how I feel, but I know this is the right thing for my long-term health and career. I’mRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With Darlington next up on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, it’s time again for another edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”. Our “Lady in Black” edition will recap the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington that many will recall as the photo finish between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch. Darlington has always been known for its rough and tumble style of racing, with the drivers battling not only each other, but the treacherous track as well. When the series headed to Darlington in MarchRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Brad Keselowski finished third at his home track in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400, but the result comes with a fine after NASCAR assessed Keselowski’s No. 2 team with a P2 level penalty. Keselowski was docked 10 points and crew chief Paul Wolfe was fined $15,000 after the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion’s car failed post-race laser inspection at Michigan International Speedway. Team Penske owner Roger Penske was also docked 10 points in the owner’s standings as a result of the penalty. However, neither Penske norRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a weekend in Michigan, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Darlington Raceway has been a staple of the Cup Series since opening in 1950 for its annual Labor Day weekend event with the Southern 500 being held on that date until a controversial decision was made to move the race away from Labor Day weekend in 2003. After 12 years away from its LaborRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JIMMIE JOHNSON ENCOURAGED DESPITE PIT ROAD SNAFU BROOKLYN, Mich. – Despite a pit road problem that ruined his winning chances, Jimmie Johnson was surprisingly chipper after his sixth-place run in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan Speedway. Johnson led 37 laps, four fewer than race winner Kyle Larson, but the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion lost 10 seconds on pit road when his second can of fuel failed to engage properly with the intake during a green-flag stop from the lead on LapRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – In the last few laps of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, tears began to well up in Kyle Larson’s eyes. When Larson subsequently took the checkered flag to win the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of his career, the emotion was all but overwhelming—and for good reason. The victory came in Larson’s 99th start in the series, long after most observers expected Larson to record his first win. It also broke a 99-race drought for Chip GanassiRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With just three races remaining in the regular season, all eyes were on the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies to see how they would fare on the fast two-mile oval at Michigan International Speedway and whether the other rookies could join Chris Buescher in the win column. Picking up right where he left off in June, Chase Elliott was stellar throughout the weekend at Michigan as he looked for redemption from his near win at the track earlier this season. Elliott started the dayRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Michigan, the impetus for all three manufacturers to run well is accelerated as two of the three, Ford and Chevrolet, are located down the road in Detroit, while Japanese based Toyota always looks to steal the show from the hometown favorites. On Friday, the manufacturer wars heated up ahead of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 as all three manufacturers were well represented in the top-three of the lineup for the race. Though Toyota gained the upper hand inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After dealing with rain and the Bristol night race being postponed to Sunday afternoon last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads north to Michigan to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the Pure Michigan 400, which marks three races remaining in the regular season. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this race for braggingRead More