NASCAR Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Since winning the Daytona 500, the 2017 season has been a rollercoaster of a ride for Kurt Busch and his No. 41 team, with the team getting on streaks of top-10 finishes, but following those up with streaks of sub-par finishes. Saturday night at Bristol, it was a rollercoaster of a ride all over again for Busch. Starting the day in 25th, Busch, who won his first career Cup Series race on the Bristol high banks, struggled with handling issues in the early going, butRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As the regular season continues to wind down, the playoff picture is still very volatile, with three drivers currently in on points, while others on the outside looking in try to win a race and lock themselves in. Heading into Bristol, Matt Kenseth was one of the drivers inside the top-16 as a result of his points position, but the 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion would face his biggest battle in his quest to make the playoffs. The driver that would be hisRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway was a tale of two races for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. All five of the ROTY contenders have experience at ‘The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.’ Erik Jones was the best rookie for the second week in a row, finishing second in the No. 77 5-hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota Camry after running inside the top-five all night long. Jones led a race-high 260-lapsRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer A flat tire, contact with the wall, and lap traffic could not keep Trevor Bayne from reaching a career milestone with a top-10 finish. For the first time in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, he earned top-10 finishes in back-to-back races. Bayne bounced up and down through the field in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. Bayne finished in seventh after an eventful second-half of the Bristol-night race. He had a hard-fought battle with Jimmie Johnson as he moved up through theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – No one else had a chance. Other NASCAR XFINITY Series competitors in Saturday night’s 36th Annual Food City 300 might have brought fast race cars—runner-up Daniel Suarez certainly did. But polesitter Kyle Busch had a checkered-flag-seeking missile, and after a restart with eight of 300 laps left, he crossed the finish line 1.181 seconds ahead of Suarez, notching his record 91st victory in the series, his fifth in nine starts this season and his ninth in 25 events at Bristol. The race’s secondRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Brendan Gaughan is fed up, and he’s just not going to take it anymore. After a late race wreck took him out of contention for at least a top-10 finish for the second week in a row, Gaughan called his shot for next week’s race at Road America, proclaiming that he was going to go out and win the whole damn thing. Last weekend at Mid-Ohio, Gaughan got ran off course late by eventual race winner Sam Hornish, but was able to rebound to finishRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor While Kyle Busch was running away with the win in Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the fight was on behind him to see which of the series regulars would be able to come out on top. Leading the way were the two JR Motorsports teammates, Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier, as they came home third and fifth behind the two Cup Series regulars of Busch and Daniel Suarez. Throughout the night the JRM duo and the Joe Gibbs Racing carsRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For Cole Custer, a 10th-place finish in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway is a welcome change from last weekend. Compared to last weekend, Custer ran inside the top-15 all night long. Bristol was a quiet race for the driver of the No. 00 Haas / One Cure Ford Mustang. Custer hovered around 10th for much of the night. As Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers surged forward, he fell in line behind them. This can be seen in Custer’s stage finishes, 11thRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Week in and week out, Erik Jones has impressed throughout his rookie season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and on Friday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway, Jones took another step forward by scoring his first career pole. With the clock winding down, Jones’ lap of 14.981 seconds, 128.062 mph, propelled him to the top of the board and into position to clinch the pole. Though a few other drivers took a shot at Jones’ fast lap, they weren’t quite quick enough to bestRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Kyle Busch’s quest for the weekend three-peat at Bristol just got a little easier. Driving his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Busch streaked to the pole during the rain-shortened 20-minute qualifying session for Friday night’s Food City 300 with a lap of 15.090 seconds, 127.157 mph, for his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the season in his ninth start. The pole also marks the 63rd time that Busch will start at the top of the board in the Xfinity Series. “It’s just aRead More