Monster Energy Cup Category

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The competitiveness of AJ Allmendinger and the small JTG/Daugherty Racing team has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. After a 13th-place finish last week at Daytona, Allmendinger found himself 19th in the championship standings, just 16 points from the Chase cutoff. However, Allmendinger’s championship aspirations took a huge beating in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. The night, which eventually spiraled out of control, started with optimism, as Allmendinger lined up from the 19th starting spot. But afterRead 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

SHOW #418 – Guest: Joe Garner, author of Jeff Gordon His Dream, Drive, & Destiny – We also recap Daytona, the BIG ONE, is NASCAR related to Muppets?, Jimmie Johnson does charity stuff, Tony Stewart gets oval dirt, NASCAR makes it to Jeopardy, and tons of fun as always. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie 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:Read More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer One year ago, two days of on-and-off rain plagued the NASCAR triple-header weekend at the Kentucky Speedway.  Attempts at drying the track became an agonizingly long and frustrating process as persistent weepers came up through the surface. It was at that moment that Speedway officials realized that it was time for drastic measures. The track surface, that had survived fifteen winters of freeze/thaw cycles and become as bumpy as a washboard, would be replaced. More than 17,000 tons of asphalt was torn out and hauledRead 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 Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Every year it becomes harder and harder to believe, but after another solid effort Saturday night, Kurt Busch still hasn’t won a race at a restrictor plate race. Busch started the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona from the 10th position, but he quickly asserted himself as a contender for the win. He knifed his way to the top-five early and would stay there virtually all night long. As Brad Keselowski dominated the night, Busch methodically held put in the top-five and just bided his time.Read 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 Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer This time one year ago, Austin Dillon finished in seventh in the Coke-Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway after getting airborne and slamming into the catch fencing as the field came to the checkered flag. Dillon’s car was torn in half, flopped back onto the racetrack, where it was then hit by a spinning Brad Keselowski. Multiple pit crews including Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s and Casey Mears’ immediately ran out to check on the driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chervolet SS. Fast forwardRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was an unusually mellow restrictor plate race, until it wasn’t. On lap 89, all hell broke loose when Jamie McMurray received a tap from Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet. McMurray broke loose and spun into an entire field of drivers going 200-miles-per-hour. In all, 19 drivers couldn’t avoid piling into what turned out to be ‘the big one.’ The big one in Daytona. #CokeZero400 https://t.co/L9ke8AOcEZ — NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 3, 2016 Among those involved were several driversRead More