Monster Energy Cup Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It had been a long wait for Hendrick Motorsports to return to Daytona 500 victory lane, but at the end of Monday’s rain-delayed running of the Great American Race, it was a 1-2 finish for one of the winningest organizations in NASCAR Cup Series history. Not since Dale Earnhardt Jr’s 2014 victory had a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet captured a win in the season opening spectacle, but 26-year-old William Byron was the driver to get it done at the World Center of Racing – capturing his firstRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It’s never an ideal way to kick off a NASCAR season when a driver’s Daytona 500 ends in less than 10 laps. The case was proven on Monday when a Lap 5 crash collected seven drivers in the tri-oval, ending a few of their days and their dream of hoisting the Harley J. Earl Trophy. Of those involved were former Daytona 500 winners Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon, as well as Daytona 500 rookie Carson Hocevar. Also involved were Ryan Preece, Kaz Grala, John Hunter Nemechek,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Rain, rain, go away. The 66th running of the Daytona 500 will have to wait 24 hours after inclement weather that has had a stranglehold on the Daytona Beach are for the majority of the weekend will not be relenting anytime soon, forcing NASCAR to postpone the race to a 4:00 pm ET start on Monday. The Daytona 500 postponement joins the NASCAR Xfinity Series race that had already been moved from Saturday to Monday, setting up a doubleheader to kick offRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Their names are synonymous with reaching the pinnacle of NASCAR Cup Series racing as champions, but all of them have one glaring hole in their resume – a win in the Daytona 500. Like so many that have come before them in search of capturing a victory in the biggest race in all of stock car racing, it has been a journey for each and every one of them, with near misses and heartbreak all along the way in the search forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If the Toyota teams had any doubts about its new NASCAR Cup Series body for the 2024 season, those fears appear to have been put to rest over the past two days at Daytona International Speedway. After an abysmal showing in qualifying Wednesday night that Toyota officials described as “disturbing,” things turned around in a big way once its teams got into the draft on Thursday night, sweeping both of the Bluegreen Duels qualifying races and then claiming the top eight spotsRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –The start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series is officially here and with it comes the biggest race of the season – the Daytona 500. For 66 years, drivers have been making the pilgrimage to the Daytona high banks to win the sport’s most prestigious race and write themselves into the record book as Daytona 500 champion. Many have attempted it, but only a select few have been able to hoist the Harley J. Earl trophy in victory lane at the end ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With a deft move to the inside in the final corner of the first of two Bluegreen Vacations Duel 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday night, 19th-place starter Tyler Reddick took the checkered flag and earned the inside second-row starting position for Sunday’s DAYTONA 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). And by the skin of his teeth, in that same Duel, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and recent NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jimmie Johnson edgedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Throughout the majority of the first Duel race Thursday night at Daytona, it appeared everything was going the way of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson in his bid to make it into the field for the 66th running of the Daytona 500. Barring something unfortunate, it seemed Johnson was on easy street, running near the front of the field in the early going and playing it safe near the back after a round of green flag pit stops, but withRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  – Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona mark one of the most nerve-wracking nights of the NASCAR Cup Series season, with a place in the starting field for the Daytona 500 up for grabs or a ticket home for those less fortunate. For the 66th running of the Great American Race, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over four drivers not yet locked into the 40-car field. By the end of the night, two drivers will punch their ticket into Sunday’s main event,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Ford has struck the first blow of Speedweeks. Despite rolling into Daytona with the unknown of its new Mustang Dark Horse body for 2024, the Blue Oval brigade will have the best seat in the house to start Sunday’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 after Joey Logano and Michael McDowell locked out the front row in pole qualifying on Wednesday night. Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 champion and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, powered his No. 22 Team Penske Ford around the 2.5-mile superspeedway inRead More