Cup Category

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After the elimination race at Dover International Speedway in 2015, Jimmie Johnson shocked the NASCAR world as he was eliminated from the Chase for the Championship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Fast-forward to 2016, and Jimmie Johnson firmly raced his way from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. As attention was set on the four drivers that had been eliminated from the Chase, as well as race winner Martin Truex Jr., Johnson’s team showed life that has been missing from theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – It was a Martin Truex Jr. blowout, a Jamie McMurray blow-up and a Jimmie Johnson “We blew it again.” Truex cruised to a decisive victory in Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, a race that pared the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field from 16 drivers to 12. Winning for a fourth time this season, a second time at Dover and the seventh time in his career, Truex was without peer after a pit road snafu on LapRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Dover, Chip Ganassi Racing found its two cars straddling the line to be able to advance onto the Round of 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, with Kyle Larson just above the line and Jamie McMurray just below it. While the team was confident that they could get both of their cars into the top-12 in points by the time the day was over, it would be the opposite of that after a rough day for both Larson and McMurray.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover, it was the tale of two races for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies as just one of them left the Monster Mile with a good run, while the others left disappointed. Chase Elliott, who came into the day without a win but a decent point advantage over the Round of 12 cut-off did exactly what he needed to throughout the race, starting ninth and running a clean race, staying out of trouble over the course ofRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship started with optimism for 16 drivers and teams. After Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, the championship aspirations for four of those 16 have come to an abrupt end. Tony Stewart, who is in his final season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was one of the four drivers eliminated from the 2016 Chase following the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway. Stewart, who never showed the speed to contend for a win on Sunday, endedRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor What a year it’s been for 26-year-old Austin Dillon. The driver who won championships at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series levels, looked to be out of his element in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the past couple of seasons. Fast forward to Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, and Dillon was busy racing his way into the round of 12 of the 2016 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. Dillon entered the day with a five-point deficit toRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano, who are all in the 2016 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup, were scheduled to run the Xfinity Series race Saturday at Dover International Speedway. When weather cancelled all on-track activity Saturday, NASCAR announced that the Xfinity Series event would be moved to Sunday morning at 10 a.m. ET, just before the Sprint Cup Series race. This essentially meant that three of the 16 drivers running for the most prestigious championship in American motorsport had one hell ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service If you don’t consider Martin Truex Jr. one of the favorites to win this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, you haven’t been paying attention to the first two races in the Chase. Truex won the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway and had perhaps the fastest car a week later at New Hampshire, though he dropped to seventh at the finish after a late restart. Now he comes to Dover, the track closest to his childhood home in Mayetta, N.J., full of confidence—and notRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service As a Sunoco rookie in his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chase Elliott has found the first two playoff races surprisingly “normal.” Elliott comes to the elimination at Dover tied for ninth in the standings, 16 points ahead of Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon, the first two drivers below the cut line. But Elliott expects that, as the rounds of the Chase progress, the intensity will ratchet up significantly. “I think the further you get into it, the more it is goingRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – For the second time in the first three Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races this year, rain played havoc with Sprint Cup qualifying, forcing cancellation of Friday’s knockout time trials for the first elimination race of the playoffs. This is the third straight Sprint Cup event at Dover for which qualifying has been cancelled because of rain. With the field set by the rule book, Brad Keselowski, whose No. 2 Team Penske Ford leads the owners’ standings, will start Sunday’sRead More