Cup

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Michael McDowell has been a force to be reckoned with in qualifying on superspeedways this season and he was back at it again at Talladega, banking his second pole position of the season. With a lap of 52.609 seconds, 182.022 mph, McDowell put his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the front row for the third time on a superspeedway in 2024. For teams like Front Row and drivers like McDowell, Talladega is one race that they circle as an opportunity andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – To fuel save or not to fuel save, that is the question. Coming out of the Daytona 500, one of the major talking points was the rising prevalence of fuel saving at superspeedways and the effect it is having on the racing at those types of tracks. It appears more of the same will be true when the green flag drops on Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega. The overwhelming consensus from the driving corps will be that fuel saving will be the dominantRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. — From deep in the heart of Texas to Sweet Home Alabama. Following last weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series is on to the biggest and baddest track on the circuit – the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. Since opening its doors in 1969, the track just off Interstate 20 in Eastern Alabama has been a wild card on the schedule with the unpredictable nature of superspeedway racing on full display over the past half-century,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Finally. After riding a winless streak for more than a year and a half, Chase Elliott is back in victory lane in a NASCAR Cup Series race after winning Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Coming close to breaking the streak on a handful of occasions since his last win at Talladega in October 2022 and having to overcome an injury that kept him sidelined for a number of races in early 2023, things finally came together in theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – So close, but so far. Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway came down to a battle between two drivers holding the longest winless streaks in the NASCAR Cup Series in Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski. Elliott may have won the battle, breaking his winless streak and taking the trip to victory lane, but Keselowski can walk away with his head held high after delivering a runner-up finish for the team that bears his name. Still there is work toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Larson has been all about going fast this week. Fresh off a rain-shortened day of NTT IndyCar Series testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday for his attempt at the Indianapolis 500, Larson is back to his regularly scheduled duties of driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Larson was no worse for wear once he arrived in the Lone Star State, setting the fast time in qualifying on SaturdayRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Larson has been the master of qualifying lately in the NASCAR Cup Series and Texas Motor Speedway was no different as he claimed his third straight pole. Larson hustled his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around the 1.5-mile quad-oval in 28.366 seconds, 190.369 mph to rocket to the top of the scoring pylon to score the pole position for Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400. “It was a pretty intense qualifying session,” Larson said. “I felt like the track was really slickRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – The Lone Star State comes calling this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400. Texas first joined the circuit in 1997, but back in 2017 went through a reconfiguration, dropping the banking in Turns 1 and 2 from 24 degrees to 20 degrees, as well as widening the racing surface from 60 feet to 80 feet. Meanwhile, Turns 3 and 4 remain banked at 24 degrees and 60 feetRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – William Byron has a penchant for milestones, and in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, he got another. Last year Byron picked up the 300th NASCAR Cup Series victory for Hendrick Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway. On Sunday, in a race that went to overtime, Byron led an unprecedented 1-2-3 finish for owner Rick Hendrick at the 0.526-mile short track, as the organization celebrated its 40th anniversary in NASCAR’s premier division. In front of a throng of employees and supporters gathered inRead More