Monster Energy Cup Category

By NASCAR Wire Service Mother Nature might be the only person who can stop Kevin Harvick from winning at Phoenix International Raceway. Last fall, the No. 4 Chevrolet driver appeared to be on his way to his fourth consecutive victory at the one-mile track, leading 143 of the 219 laps when rain brought out a caution as he was leaving pit road. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was slightly ahead of second-place Harvick on the track, earned the win when NASCAR called the race due to the precipitation. Harvick will tryRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The third NASCAR round from Las Vegas Motor Speedway is over, and after a long hiatus from Victory Lane Brad Keselowski made his long awaited return in the Kobalt 400 on Sunday. 1) Weather Someone somewhere was throwing every odd obstacle at the NASCAR community on Sunday. First, there was rain. Then, there was intense gust of winds. Later, there was a sandstorm that hit so hard that the cameras from the FOX telecast were shaking, which made it where we were barely able to seeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Overcoming a pit road speeding penalty with daring late-race strategy, Brad Keselowski broke a 33-race drought with a victory in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Keselowski passed Las Vegas native Kyle Busch with five laps left to win for the first time since the fifth race of 2015 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion beat Team Penske shopmate Joey Logano to the finish line by .675 seconds, as Busch lostRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Kyle Busch made the move of the race to get the lead in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but a huge vibration in the right front of his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota hurt his winning chances in the closing laps. From the sixth position on a restart on Lap 224 of 267, Busch took Jimmie Johnson and eventual race winner Brad Keselowski three-wide into Turn 1, climbed to third place off Turn 2 and roared pastRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor It had been a long dry spell — 33 races to be exact — since Brad Keselowski had reached victory lane in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Sunday in the closing laps of the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Keselowski looked ready, willing and able to do anything it took to snap the streak. Keselowski started the day from the fourth position, and for the majority of the day he drove smart. He didn’t push the issue, and he just hung around the top-five all race long. Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer With one of the best rookie classes in recent memory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series occurring during the 2016 season, each week we’ll take a look at the five rookies battling for Rookie of the Year and track their progress throughout the season. In this week’s edition of the “Rookie Report,” the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is on deck and in true Las Vegas fashion, some of the rookies had a much better roll of the dice than the others. LeadingRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief A contender for a possible win, misfortune struck Matt Kenseth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Following a restart on lap 224 of Sunday’s Kobalt 400, heavy winds and aggressive racing took shape as the field jockeyed for position. Kenseth was running on the inside of Martin Truex Jr.’s when the backend of his No. 20 began to spin around in Turn 1. As a result, rookie Chase Elliott collided with Kenseth. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch made contact as well, but the damage was too severeRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Roush Fenway Racing has taken a beating over the last few seasons due to their collective horrible production on the racetrack, but one of their drivers — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — is quietly putting together the best start to a season of his career. Stenhouse had a 22nd place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, which wasn’t too impressive, but at the 1.5-mile race tracks, which make up the majority of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, Stenhouse has looked pretty good so far. LastRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday was red-flagged following a three car crash in Turn 2 with 63 laps to go. One of the victims of the crash was Roush Fenway Racing’s Darrell Wallace Jr., who had been running around the top 10 up till the wreck. The incident took place when Cody Ware spun in Turn 2, and as he slid down the track a sideways Wallace approached. The bumper of Ware’s No. 25 Chevrolet caught the right-rear of Wallace’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Kyle Busch is the only driver to have won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the pole position, a feat he accomplished in 2009. But Busch won’t have that opportunity in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at the 1.5-mile race track (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX). Busch was 24th in the first round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session, barely advancing to Round 2. Ultimately, he qualified 23rd at 192.795 mph, considerably slower than brother Kurt Busch’s pole-winningRead More