Cup

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a weekend in Michigan, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Darlington Raceway has been a staple of the Cup Series since opening in 1950 for its annual Labor Day weekend event with the Southern 500 being held on that date until a controversial decision was made to move the race away from Labor Day weekend in 2003. After 12 years away from its LaborRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Brad Keselowski was determined to record his first victory at his hometown track Sunday, but ultimately after leading 14 laps on the day, the driver from Rochester Hills, Michigan settled for a third place finish in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. To add insult to injury, Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion failed the post-race Laser Inspection System (LIS). Any penalties won’t be announced until later on this week, but typically this infraction has been matched with a P3 penalty, which comesRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Several weeks ago, NASCAR history was made when Truck Series rookie William Byron, Xfinity Series rookie Erik Jones, and Sprint Cup Series rookie Chris Buescher swept the weekend in their respective series. It was the first time that rookie drivers had ever swept a three-race weekend in NASCAR National Series history. This weekend, three more drivers added their names to the record books for the first time. Brett Moffitt scored his first career victory in the Camping World Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway (MIS),Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JIMMIE JOHNSON ENCOURAGED DESPITE PIT ROAD SNAFU BROOKLYN, Mich. – Despite a pit road problem that ruined his winning chances, Jimmie Johnson was surprisingly chipper after his sixth-place run in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan Speedway. Johnson led 37 laps, four fewer than race winner Kyle Larson, but the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion lost 10 seconds on pit road when his second can of fuel failed to engage properly with the intake during a green-flag stop from the lead on LapRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Tony Stewart’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season may go in the books as his most memorable. After a hellacious start to the season that saw the three-time series champion sidelined for the first eight races with a severe back injury after an offseason incident in a sand dune in California, Stewart has come back to win his first race since 2013 in dramatic fashion at Sonoma. Now after months of consistent racing, Stewart has officially secured himself a berth in the 2016 Chase for the SprintRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – In the last few laps of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, tears began to well up in Kyle Larson’s eyes. When Larson subsequently took the checkered flag to win the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of his career, the emotion was all but overwhelming—and for good reason. The victory came in Larson’s 99th start in the series, long after most observers expected Larson to record his first win. It also broke a 99-race drought for Chip GanassiRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With just three races remaining in the regular season, all eyes were on the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies to see how they would fare on the fast two-mile oval at Michigan International Speedway and whether the other rookies could join Chris Buescher in the win column. Picking up right where he left off in June, Chase Elliott was stellar throughout the weekend at Michigan as he looked for redemption from his near win at the track earlier this season. Elliott started the dayRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Ryan Newman has made it into the Chase for the Sprint Cup field in each of the past three seasons, and two years ago he nearly won the championship. But with two races remaining until the 2016 Chase begins, Newman finds himself in a precarious position — outside the cutoff line. In the midst of a 112-race winless drought, Newman finds himself 15 points behind Jamie McMurray for the final Chase Grid position. Heading into Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Newman wasRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Two-thirds of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is in the books, and for the most part Toyota has had a stranglehold on the rest of the field. But over the last couple of weeks, it appears that perhaps Toyota drivers won’t simply run uncontested into Homestead. Kevin Harvick, who hadn’t won a race since the middle of March, finally reached victory lane again last weekend in his No. 4 Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway. After the race at Bristol was over with, thereRead More