Monster Energy Cup Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie class, all eyes were on Chase Elliott to see if he would be able to advance onto the next round of the Chase, but when the checkered flag flew, it was another rookie that took home top billing from Talladega. So, which rookie was it that finished the best at NASCAR’s biggest track? That would be Brian Scott and his No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports team. Entering the day, Scott’s previous best finish was a 12th place resultRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Just 13 points to the good entering Sunday’s Round of 12 cutoff race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Martin Truex Jr. gave himself as much of a cushion as possible, winning the pole for the Hellman’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway during Saturday’s knockout qualifying session. Seventh in the Chase standings, and 13 points ahead of Joey Logano and Austin Dillon, Truex covered the 2.66-mile distance in 49.508 seconds (193.423 mph) to claim the Coors Light Pole Award forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – In a sense, Chase Elliott comes to Talladega Superspeedway with the greatest amount of freedom, simply because he has the largest challenge to overcome and the narrowest path to do so. After unfortunate results at Charlotte and Kansas, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year points leader is 12th in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, 25 points behind Joey Logano and Austin Dillon, who are tied for eighth. After the Hellman’s 500 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN),Read More

SHOW #433 – Guest: Ryan Reed – We recap the Kansas race weekend, Jimmie Johnson calls out Stewart-Haas, NASCAR FINALLY considering limiting Cup in XFinity, Dale Jr. may be a hoarder, Truex gets a hood, testing at Homestead, and a full Talladega Superspeedway BLAH! Preview. Hosted by Toby Christie along with Kerry Murphey   DOWNLOAD HERE CREDITS: Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Toby Christie Executive Producer: Kerry Murphey Music: Russell Nash Audio Director Voice Over: Thomas Moog SUBSCRIBE FREE HERE RSS FEED RADIO STATIONS CLICK HERE SUBSCRIBE FROM iTUNES: Take us withRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor In the late 1980’s, Bill Elliott and his Harry Melling owned Ford Thunderbird was a dominant force at the restrictor place tracks, with his brother Ernie Elliott serving as engine builder and supplying a powertrain that was unmatched throughout the NASCAR Winston Cup Series garage. Elliott had won the season opening Daytona 500 in 1985 and tacked on additional wins at Atlanta and Darlington in the weeks that followed, but when the series rolled into Talladega in May, Elliott and his team would leave everyoneRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With the NASCAR Xfinity Series taking a couple of weeks off before getting back in action at Texas in November, Roush-Fenway Racing driver Ryan Reed will be taking the opportunity to test the waters in the Sprint Cup Series this weekend as he will be making his debut in NASCAR’s premier series by attempting to make the field for Sunday’s Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Reed will bring the No. 99 car back to the Sprint Cup Series for the first time since Carl EdwardsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The Round of 12 all comes down to this. After races at Charlotte and Kansas to set the stage for Sunday’s elimination race, the 10 drivers not locked into the next round will battle the massive 2.66 mile superspeedway for the right to be able to advance to the Round of Eight when the checkered flag falls on Sunday. 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 ledRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase drivers were in need of a good run at Kansas Speedway in the wake of the chaos at Charlotte Motor Speedway. One such driver that needed to make up some ground in the Hollywood Casino 400 was Joey Logano. Logano entered the Kansas race weekend 11th in the Chase standings, six points behind the Chase cutoff for the Round of Eight. In practice, Logano looked like his weekend would be lackluster. He was 12th in the first practice, 18thRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – He did it again. Last in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings and faced with an uphill struggle to make the Round of 8, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team did what they do best—win with their backs to the wall. Moments after a restart on Lap 238 of 267, Harvick cleared Carl Edwards for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away to win Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 byRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In the first race of the Round of 12 last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott led 103 laps before a wreck on Lap 258 ended his day and put the rookie driver three points behind the final transfer spot to the Round of 8 heading to Kansas Speedway. Elliott qualified 13th for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and was one of just three Chase drivers that started outside the top-12. Elliott cracked the top-three at Lap 121 and passed KevinRead More