Monster Energy Cup Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After two uncharacteristically poor finishes in the first two restrictor plate races of the 2016 season that resulted in the loss of his beloved car nicknamed “Amelia”, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. heads into Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 hoping to make a return to Daytona’s famed victory lane. Heading into Daytona, Earnhardt has been close to victory lane throughout the season, but his first win in 2016 has eluded him thus far. Sitting 12th in points with 10 races remaining until the start of the Chase,Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Earlier this season, it was announced that Matt Kenseth’s current majority primary sponsor — Dollar General — would not return as for the 2017 season. This led many to wonder if the 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion would find enough sponsorship to keep the No. 20 Toyota competitive all of next year. Thursday, DEWALT Tools ended that speculation and announced that they will be expanding their role as a sponsor with Kenseth and the Joe Gibbs Racing team as a whole. DEWALT will add fourRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Earning millions of dollars, collecting numerous prestigious trophies, and having the support of an unrelenting fan base; just another day in the life of a NASCAR driver. But before you drift away into a day dream about how great it would be to chase the checkered flag at Daytona, be sure to check out the aftermath Kevin Harvick is dealing with following last Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway. Here is a tweet sent out by Kevin Harvick on Wednesday: Today’s pre draining foot status… #nastyRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Of the 10 races remaining until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins, Daytona International Speedway could be the one that flips the entire championship hunt on it’s side. With Tony Stewart’s unexpected victory this past weekend in Sonoma, there are now 11 winners in the first 16 Sprint Cup Series events this season. That total could easily be 12 after this weekend, as Daytona is a complete crapshoot, where even the biggest underdog has a decent shot at contending for a victory. That beingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a barn burner of a finish last weekend at Sonoma, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads back to where it all began in Daytona for Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero 400. With Tony Stewart returning to victory lane at Sonoma before rolling into Daytona, we’ll throw it back to the last time this happened with the running of the 2005 Pepsi 400 and Stewart finally scoring his first win at the famed superspeedway. Throughout his career, a victory at Daytona had eludedRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Not many people in the NASCAR universe are as charismatic or genuinely liked as Kerry Tharp. Tharp, who has served admirably as NASCAR’s Senior Director of Communications for several seasons, will move to a new job as Darlington Raceway’s track president starting Juky 1st, the track announced with a press release on Wednesday. The always engaging Tharp vows to carry on the historic tradition of one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks. “I am deeply humbled and honored to have this opportunity,” Tharp said. “I love theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor NASCAR has announced penalties stemming from the chaos that broke out in last week’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Drivin for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park. John Wes Townley, who drives the No. 05 truck for Athenian Motorsports and Spencer Gallagher, who drives the No. 23 truck for GMS Racing each have wallets that are quite a bit lighter today after their on track wrestling match this past weekend. Townley, who first charged at Gallagher to start the fight was fined $15,000, while GallagherRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor In the midst of celebrating his first win in three years, Tony Stewart took a moment at Sonoma Raceway to look ahead to the future once he steps out of the driver’s seat for the final time when the checkered flag flies at Homestead in November. Stewart’s departure at season’s end marks the second top tier driver to step away from the cockpit in as many years with Jeff Gordon vacating the No. 24 car at the end of 2015. With both Stewart and GordonRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Is Tony Stewart having fun yet? In his last year of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, Stewart came to Sonoma Racing asserting on Friday he wasn’t having much fun driving a Sprint Cup car. That all changed in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the 1.99-mile road course, where Stewart bulldozed Denny Hamlin into the outside wall in Turn 11, executing a dramatic last-lap pass for his first victory since June 2, 2013 at Dover. In the three years since that victory,Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Recently, road courses have not been kind to Denny Hamlin. In the last 12 road course races, Hamlin has had an average finish of 29.1. However, the weekend started promising after Hamlin qualified in sixth for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Hamlin slid back to ninth after the first caution, but never fell out of the top ten. Hamlin then settled into the ninth position until the second caution waved on lap 46. On the restart, Hamlin worked his way into the lead.Read More