Cup Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gears up for their race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend, we’ll take a look back as we do each week at a race from New Hampshire’s past in this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater.” This week, we’ll go in depth on the very first race at the track – the 1993 Slick 50 300. The track first opened in 1990, with the Busch Series becoming the first NASCAR national series to compete at the track. AfterRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Of all of the tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, one track in particular stands out for the drivers and teams that fly the Chevrolet flag and that is Kentucky Speedway. Heading into Saturday night’s race, Chevrolet had not been able to score a win in the first five Cup Series races held at the track and were optimistic that this weekend would be the time that their first win would come. Heading into the weekend, Chevrolet drivers had scored eight top-five, 22Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – Brad Keselowski had his mojo working in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Saving just enough fuel to get to the finish line, Keselowski eked out a heart-thumping victory over Carl Edwards to win his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and his third at Kentucky Speedway. But this was not the same bumpy, abrasive Kentucky Speedway where Keselowski went to Victory Lane in 2012 and 2014. This was a repaved, reconfigured 1.5-mile intermediate track fraught with treachery,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The newly repaved and reconfigured Kentucky Speedway was rough on several drivers throughout the field, from champions on down, but for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies, the track really had it out for them on Saturday night, as four of the five rookies would run into major trouble. The rookies were holding their own in the early going, but on lap 89, the first set of rookies would suffer Kentucky’s wrath. Ryan Blaney’s car got loose in Turn 3 on lap 89, makingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway, there were a lot of unknowns with the newly repaved and reconfigured track surface, but it didn’t take long for the track to claim its first victims. Jimmie Johnson, who had never won at Kentucky in five previous starts, had troubles with the track from the time his No. 48 team unloaded, spinning out and crashing his primary car in practice and having to break out his backup car for the race. Though Johnson would be ableRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – Sometimes it pays extra dividends to be the points leader. That was certainly the case on Friday afternoon, when rains earlier in the day constricted the on-track schedule at Kentucky Speedway. Because practice time was more important to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams than time trials, the sanctioning body opted to cancel qualifying for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) in favor of an evening practice session at the recently repaved and reconfigured 1.5-mile track. This weekendRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With Brad Keselowski’s dominant win at Daytona in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 and his Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, coming home fourth, team owner Roger Penske had nothing but good things to say about the duo that has combined for four wins on the season. Keselowski proved he would be a threat for the win at Daytona early on, taking the lead for the first time on lap nine and staying in the lead for 115 of the 161 laps in the race. TheRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Brad Keselowski had an excellent solution for the massive wrecks that scrambled the finishing order of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He stayed ahead of all of them. Leading 115 of 161 laps in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, Keselowski sped away from his pursuers after a restart in overtime and posted his third victory of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in thoroughly convincing fashion. The victory was Keselowski’s first at Daytona andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega, there is always a chance that a driver might get caught up in a crash that ends their night prematurely and for the 2016 Sprint Cup Series rookie class, that is exactly what happened in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Throughout the first 89 laps of the race, three of the four rookies (Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Chris Buescher) had made their way through the field intoRead More

By David Westergreen, Fan Column The first NASCAR race I ever watched was the 2001 Daytona 500. While it is a race well remembered for its last lap, what is often forgotten is the 49 lead changes among 14 drivers and underdog winner. Performances by Ward Burton and Sterling Marlin bringing Dodge back to the forefront for the first time since 1979 at Daytona are lost to the memories of Dale Earnhardt. This was my first experience as a fan. I did not see any one of Dale’s 76 winsRead More