Cup Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Half of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is now complete as Atlanta Motor Speedway comes calling this weekend to kick off the second half with Sunday’s running of the Quaker State 400. Atlanta’s aging racing surface, which had been in place since 1997, held together as long as possible, but the 260 laps around the 1.5-mile track last July were the last on that particular surface as the track underwent a repave and reconfiguration for the 2022 season. The 24-degree banking in the turns wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service PLYMOUTH, Wis. – It was a dogfight between two drivers, pure and simple. It was Tyler Reddick who outdueled pole winner Chase Elliott in the intense mano-a-mano battle in Sunday’s Kwik Trip 250 at Road America. The victory was Reddick’s first in the NASCAR Cup Series, making him the fifth first-time winner this season. As the 13th different winner this year, Reddick shrank the Playoff bubble by one position. With seven races left before the cutoff race at Daytona, there are currently three PlayoffRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Defending race winner Chase Elliott couldn’t have asked for a better start to July 4 weekend at Road America. Making up more than three tenths of a second over the final three corners at the 4.048-mile road course, Elliott narrowly edged a disappointed Chase Briscoe for the pole position for Sunday’s Kwik Trip 250 (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Running late in the final round of Saturday’s time trials, Elliott navigated the mammoth circuit inRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Last season, the NASCAR Cup Series made its return to Road America, a 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course weaving through the Wisconsin countryside and once again will be the destination for Fourth of July weekend with Sunday’s running of the Kwik Trip 250. As the third of six road course races on the 2022 schedule, the 62-lap event will be yet another test for the Next Gen car and could provide a chance for a driver not yet locked into the Playoffs to punch their ticket withRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After a Stage 3 spin, Ryan Blaney was able to bounce back to finish third in Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Throughout the 300-lap race, Blaney was consistently in the top-10 and racked up 10 stage points to his name with a third-place outing in Stage 1 being the highlight. Despite having a solid run, Blaney struggled matching the pace the Joe Gibbs Racing trio of Martin Truex, Jr., who won the first two stages, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, laid on the competition. TheyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Just call him “Concrete Chase.” Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway threw everything it could at Chase Elliott, but when the checkered flag flew, it was the No. 9 Chevrolet that was victorious for the second-time this season – both on concrete tracks. “Just so proud of our team because we kind of had a setback there about halfway and we were able to get our NAPA Chevy dialed back in and get back in the mix,” Elliott said. “It was a longRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – The lone off weekend of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season could have been just what the doctor ordered for Bubba Wallace and 23XI Racing. Kicking off the year with a runner-up finish in Daytona, it’s been all downhill for Wallace and the No. 23 team since, scoring just one other top-10 finish through the first 16 races of the season, with the bad luck that seems to follow him culminating in a 36th place finish at Sonoma two weeks ago. After hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – With just 10 races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Ryan Blaney has yet to make the trip to Victory Lane in a points paying event. Though that might not be such a big deal for the driver sitting fourth in points, the debut of the Next Gen car this season has shaken things up, leading to 12 different drivers punching their ticket to the postseason with a win. As it stands, only four spots remain up for grabs to seeRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Count Mother Nature as a Denny Hamlin fan. After Hamlin posted the fastest time in the first round of qualifying with a lap of 29.848 seconds, 160.413 mph, heavy rain moved in over the 1.333-mile concrete oval, forcing NASCAR to cancel the second round of qualifying. As a result, Hamlin’s first round speed was enough to deliver him the pole – his second of the season. “We didn’t start off practice that stellar, but with every run we made, we just kept gettingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Will he stay or will he go? That has been the question of late for Martin Truex Jr’s tenure in the NASCAR Cup Series. After being noncommittal on his future behind the wheel of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the 2017 series champion announced his decision Friday at Nashville Superspeedway with three simple words. “I’ll be back.” Truex explained that over the course of the past six months, he had taken a lot of time to look back over his careerRead More