NASCAR Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After 18 seasons behind the wheel in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will hang up his helmet at the end of the 2017 season, retiring from NASCAR and bringing his driving career to a close. A mainstay in the Cup Series since 2000, Earnhardt has 26 career wins under his belt, including two Daytona 500 victories, 149 top-five finishes, 253 top-10 finishes, 13 pole positions, and a career average finish of 15.7 with 603 starts through Monday’s race at Bristol. InRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – A week off and an extra day at Bristol did nothing to break Jimmie Johnson’s momentum. Grabbing the lead from Kevin Harvick on Lap 480 of 500 in Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnson stayed out front for the final 21 laps and beat Clint Bowyer to the finish line by 1.199 seconds. The checkered flag was Johnson’s second at the .533-mile short track, his second straight this season and the 82nd of his career in the Monster EnergyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Clint Bowyer’s career resurgence in 2017 took another step forward on Monday as the Emporia, Kansas native was able to leave Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway with a second place finish, his best finish since a third place result at Auto Club Speedway last month. Bowyer started the day in ninth place, but was unable to finish inside the top-10 in either the first or second stage as he battled handling issues that had him hanging onto the lead lap. On lapRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Speeding penalties may have put a damper on the day for Kyle Larson and Martin Truex, Jr., but the two drivers that led the most laps in Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway did not let that stop them from rebounding to finish in the top-10. After starting on pole, Larson led the first 202 laps of the race, capturing the stage win in the first stage before giving up the lead to Truex at lap 203. Truex would go on to leadRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After finishing ahead of fellow Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders at Texas Motor Speedway, Ty Dillon carried a little momentum into Bristol Motor Speedway. Weather was an issue throughout the weekend, forcing Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying to be canceled. As a result, Dillon started 24th on the grid, behind fellow rookies Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez. In the first practice for the Food City 500, Dillon placed his No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS 20th on the speed charts. He was 28thRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a fifth place result at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago, it looked like things were starting to turn around for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his No. 88 team, but a mechanical failure during Monday’s rain-delayed race at Bristol would put an end to his hopes of scoring another good finish. Starting the day in 20th after qualifying was rained out, Earnhardt had his work cut out for him with the unknown conditions on the concrete surface of Bristol’s high banks and was onlyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As expected for much of the week leading up to Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol, the rains that were forecasted for race day came with full force, drenching the half-mile bullring and postponing the race until Monday. The 40 car Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series field will now get ready to race at 1:00 PM ET on Monday afternoon, with the race being shown on FOX and broadcast on PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It’s Mother Nature and we saw it coming on the radar forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Erik Jones found the ideal way to atone from a mistake in Saturday’s Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but it took a bump-and-run for Jones to complete his comeback at the .533-mile short track. Recovering from a Lap 230 pit road speeding penalty that sent him to the back of the field, Jones worked his way to the front through a series of quick cautions and muscled Ryan Blaney out of the way to take the lead onRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the toughest short tracks on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. For Quin Houff, the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol was the perfect place to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut. Houff has two wins in the CARS Super Late Model Tour and finished fourth in the championship points standings in 2015, his rookie season. He also participated in the 2016 Kulwicki Driver Development Program. In the first and only practice session of the weekend, Houff was 31st fastestRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a rollercoaster ride through the first six races of the season, Daniel Hemric and his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team finally had things go their way at Bristol Motor Speedway, as the rookie leaves Thunder Valley with his first top-five of the year and $100,000 richer after winning the Dash 4 Cash bonus. Hemric started the day in 10th place and moving up eighth place by the end of the first stage. Stage two would be even more fruitful for the rookie asRead More