Cup Category

By Brad Keselowski, NASCAR Wire Service Some drivers relish Talladega. Some drivers hate it. I still remember this time—it was probably 2003—and there was this video game called “NASCAR Racing 2003 PC.” And I would run it and have a great time. There was this online community, and we would race all kinds of different tracks. It was a lot of fun, but there weren’t a lot of great drivers. I wasn’t a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver then, but I was a decent online racer. We’d go toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor While short tracks have been the order of the month of April, the calendar now turns to May and with it comes the biggest and baddest track on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. 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 scoring his one and only win in theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – It took Joey Logano all afternoon to drive from the back of the field to the front in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Logano started from the rear after a post-qualifying transmission change, but when the checkered flag waved after Lap 400, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was at the head of the field, having held off a banzai charge from teammate Brad Keselowski during a 19-lap green-flag run. Logano took the lead for theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After finishing fourth in the 2017 Daytona 500, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has been leaving a lot to desire for Aric Almirola. Since Daytona, Almirola has had only one Top 15 finish as the series entered Richmond International Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400. In the first practice, Almirola placed his No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion a disappointing 27th on the charts. Qualifying was not much better as Almirola missed moving on to round two, ending up 25th on the grid. InRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Growing up just 20 miles from Richmond International Raceway, Denny Hamlin has always run well at his hometown track, scoring three wins at the 0.75-mile oval over the years. Though Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 did not result in a win for Hamlin and his No. 11 team, they were still able to come away with their best finish of the season after ending the day in third place. Through the first seven races of the season, Hamlin would either finish inside the top-10 or findRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For Roush-Fenway Racing, 2017 has been a year of resurgence after a poor outing last season led to off-season restructuring for the team. Leading the charge thus far for the team’s return to relevance has been Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Sunday’s race at Richmond was just another example of how far the team has come in so little time. After qualifying fourth, Stenhouse was strong early in the going in the 400-lap event as he held steadfast in the top-five, but contact with the TurnRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Joe Gibbs Racing has had their hands full this season as they still search for their first win as an organization, but Richmond International Raceway looked like it would be the place for one of their drivers to finally break through, given that the team had won the three previous races at the track heading into Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400. Leading the JGR charge through the weekend was the elder statesman for the team, Matt Kenseth, who blazed his way to the pole on FridayRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway was a mixed bag for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. All of the rookies have had previous experience at Richmond in other NASCAR Series. Two of the ROTY contenders ran relatively well, others fell short. Daniel Suarez had the best starting position of the five rookies, placing his No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry 11th on the starting grid. Early in the final stage, Suarez nearly hitRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Matt Kenseth won’t have to come from the middle of nowhere, as he did last Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started 22nd, charged toward the front in the closing laps and finished fourth. Quite the contrary. In Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (on FOX at 2 p.m. ET) at Richmond International Raceway, Kenseth will lead the field to the green flag in the ninth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season after winning the pole during Friday’s knockoutRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When looking through the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage area, the number of drivers that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has had an impact on throughout his career is countless. Martin Truex, Jr. is a prime example of that, as Truex may have never gotten his shot to make it to the Cup Series contending for wins and championships if not for the connection between himself and Earnhardt. Having made only a handful of starts for his family team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series between lateRead More