Cup

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – A driver without a signed contract for 2018 won the pole position for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN) with a record lap — giving a timely birthday present to his crew chief. In the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session, Kurt Busch covered the 1.5-mile distance in 26.877 seconds (200.915 mph) to top the previous record lap of 200.111 mph posted by Tony Stewart in 2014. In a third round thatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service With full-time driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. behind the wheel, Richard Petty Motorsports will have a new sponsor on the vaunted No. 43 car in the 2018 Daytona 500 and at least two other events next year. Click n’ Close, a division of Texas-based Mid America Mortgage has entered a partnership agreement with RPM as well as signing on as the “Official Mortgage Provider of NASCAR.” “I’m excited to run in my first Daytona 500,” Wallace said. “And I think most of you guysRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Chase Elliott admitted that he is still upset with Denny Hamlin following last week’s late race incident at Martinsville. With two laps remaining in the First Data 500, Elliott was en route to his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory until Hamlin put an aggressive hit to his rear bumper and sending Elliott’s No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet into the wall and with a 27th-place finish. The outcome led to a heated exchange on pit road. During Friday media availabilityRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Erik Jones is hungry for that elusive first victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. A rookie this season while driving for Furniture Row Racing, Jones is poised to move to Joe Gibbs Racing as he replaces Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Toyota Camry in 2018. While teammate Martin Truex Jr. has enjoyed a banner season with seven wins en route to the overall points lead with three rounds to go, Jones has put together a roller coaster campaign ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some choice words for Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage – and the horse he rode in on. In fact, Earnhardt’s choice words were expressions of gratitude for thoughtful gifts to the driver of the No. 88 in anticipation of his last appearance at TMS in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Bedecked in a lighted cowboy suit and hat, Gossage – NASCAR’s own Rhinestone Cowboy – pranced into the TMS Media center atop a horse to deliver news of the largesseRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a barn burner of a finish at Martinsville last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Lone Star State and Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the AAA Texas 500 and the second race of the playoff semi-finals. First joining the circuit in 1997, the 1.5 mile Texas track has provided some great racing over the years as the surface wore down as each season passed. For the second time the season, drivers will get a crack at the trackRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series drivers get back to work this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, it’s time once again for “Throwback Thursday Theater”. In this week’s edition and in honor of his final trip to the Lone Star State, we look back at the first wins for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in both series, which both came at Texas in 1998 and 2000. Through the first six races of Earnhardt’s rookie season in the Xfinity Series in 1998, Earnhardt had reboundedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With William Byron moving to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the No. 24 team for Hendrick Motorsports in 2018, there was one piece of the puzzle missing. Who would be his crew chief for his upcoming rookie season? On Wednesday, the mystery was solved as Darian Grubb, who currently returned to the pit box as crew chief for Kasey Kahne and the No. 5 team on an interim basis, was named as full-time crew chief for Byron next season. Byron currently drives forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week, NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down who’s hot and who’s not after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend. Today, we break down the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. WINNERS Kyle Busch – There was only one driver that was truly happy after Sunday’s race at Martinsville and that was Kyle Busch, who won for the fifth time this season and punched his ticket to the championship race at Homestead. Busch would lead for 184 laps on the day, butRead More