Cup Category

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The NASCAR Hall of Fame voting committee had their work cut out for them as they had to narrow 20 legendary names down to just five who would make it into enshrinement for the Hall’s 2017 Class based on their on-track accolades. There were many deserving candidates on this year’s ballot, but there were five that stood out above the rest according to the voters. Benny Parsons Parsons was an incredible driver, as he amassed 21 victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, including theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Joey Logano looked like the runaway championship winner heading into Martinsville last fall, until a retaliatory crash at the hands of Matt Kenseth sent Logano’s chances for his first championship skidding into the wall. Many preseason polls had Logano as the favorite to hoist the Sprint Cup at the conclusion of the 2016 season. However, prior to the All-Star race this past weekend, things hadn’t been going according to plan for Logano and his No. 22 team. Through 12 races, it looked like Logano wasRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor News broke Monday, that Dollar General will not be back in 2017 as the primary sponsor of Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota Camry, which is fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing. This comes on the heels of Kenseth’s first win of the season two weeks ago, and the overall insanely stout start to the season by the entire JGR team. Immediately upon hearing this news, people were saying that this means that there is something wrong with NASCAR if the current top team can’t keep theirRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – This year, two drivers transferred from the Sprint Showdown to the Sprint All-Star race. The two drivers who won the Sprint Fan Vote were Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick. After qualifying was rained out, the starting grid was set by owner’s points, putting Elliott in the seventh position and Patrick in the 19th position. Elliott held on to the seventh position for much of the first segment. Patrick held station as well until after the mandatory two tire green flag pit stop.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. –When the format for this year’s All-Star race was announced, no one could have predicted just how bizarre the race would play out. Brad Keselowski was second fastest in practice, but started in sixth after qualifying was rained out and the starting grid was set by owner’s points. Meanwhile teammate Joey Logano was fifth fastest and started eighth. Keselowski started segment one in sixth and sat there for much of the segment. Keselowski slowly moved forward as others peeled off to make theirRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer After an impressive start to All-Star weekend on Saturday morning with the rain-delayed Sprint Showdown, all eyes were on the new NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race format to see if it could equal the excitement from the preliminary race, but the new format fell well short of expectations as the Showdown overshadowed the main event. The Sprint Showdown started off with a photo finish between Trevor Bayne and Chase Elliott in the first segment of the All-Star preliminaries as Bayne made a daring three-wide pass forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – At the end of a wild and crazy Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Joey Logano got the upper hand in an intense battle with last-chance qualifier Kyle Larson and took home the million-dollar prize as the winner of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Trying to block the stronger car of Logano in the closing 13-lap final segment of the race, Larson buried his car into Turn 1 as Logano edged ahead. Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet got loose and sailed upRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The night started off great for Tony Stewart, he gave the command for the field to start their engines from inside his racecar, and it just felt like he was going to have a good night. A little over an hour later, Stewart was just lucky he was able to walk away unscathed after a vicious crash on lap 70, which ended the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion’s final Sprint All-Star Race. But Stewart wasn’t in a thankful mood after climbing from his destroyed No. 14 Chevrolet SS. StewartRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Clearly, Ryan Blaney had one of the strongest cars in Saturday’s Sprint Showdown, but a restart violation with one lap left in the race’s first 20-lap segment squelched his hopes of advancing to the Sprint All-Star Race. Blaney was in hot pursuit of leader Chase Elliott when NASCAR called a caution on Lap 15 because of Michael McDowell’s spin through the infield grass. To begin Lap 20, the one that would decide the first transfer position, Blaney and Elliott entered the restart zone side-by-side.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Different week. Different circumstances. Same driver. Last Sunday at Dover International Speedway, Kyle Larson was chasing Matt Kenseth for the win in the AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Larson treated Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, with the utmost respect, taking great pains to run the veteran driver as cleanly as possibly. Kenseth won, with Larson trailing him in second place by a fraction of a second. But that was not the case on Saturday morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway,Read More