Alex Bowman Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Since the Next Gen car made its debut in the NASCAR Cup Series earlier this year, drivers have been concerned with the severity of the impacts they have been feeling in the cockpit. This week, those concerns were amplified even further when it was announced that Alex Bowman would have to sit out of Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway while he recovers from concussion-like symptoms following a crash last weekend at Texas. Bowman’s absence marks the second driver in the last 10Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – It appears the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will be full of wild card races. Following a chaotic race at Texas last week, the gauntlet continues this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway with Sunday’s running of the Yellawood 500. Since opening its doors in 1969, the 2.66-mile track just off Interstate 20 in Alabama has been a wild card on the schedule with the unpredictable nature of superspeedway racing on full display over the past half-century, leading to some of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Alex Bowman will not be driving his No. 48 Chevrolet on Sunday at Talladega after Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday that he has been dealing with concussion-like symptoms since a crash at Texas last weekend. In the closing laps of the second stage in last Sunday’s race, Bowman cut a tire and spun into the Turn 4 wall. Despite the damage sustained by the impact, he was able to limp the car to pit road, where his crew got it repaired enough to get him back inRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Out of the three races in the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Texas Motor Speedway was supposed to be the least chaotic, but it was anything but for those still in the title fight. Drivers had hoped to bank a good finish in Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 to kick off this stretch of races on a high note, but for some of them, they will have a hole to dig out of over the course of the nextRead 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 to kick off the second round of the Playoffs with Sunday’s running of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500. 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 andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn.— A Ford driver hadn’t won a pole position at Bristol Motor Speedway in more than 10 years, but that changed radically on Friday afternoon when Aric Almirola snagged the top starting position for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In the final round of time trials, Almirola covered the .533-mile distance in 14.946 seconds (128.382 mph) to become the first NASCAR Cup Series pole winner at Thunder Valley since Greg Biffle claimedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Driving the same car number that carried teammate Kurt Busch to victory in the May race at Kansas Speedway, Bubba Wallace claimed a dramatic win at the same track in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the second event in the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Wallace regained the lead on Lap 225 after the final cycle of green-flag pit stops at the 1.5-mile track and stayed out front for the final 43 circuits as his car owner, DennyRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – During Saturday’s qualifying session at Kansas Speedway, NASCAR Cup Series drivers soon migrated to the top of the track—which was fine with notorious rim rider Tyler Reddick.  The last of 10 drivers to make a qualifying run in the final round, Reddick knocked Joey Logano off the provisional pole and claimed the top starting spot for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the series’ second Playoff race (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  In the money round, ReddickRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor One race down, nine to go. The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs enter its second week as the title contenders move on to Kansas Speedway looking to punch their ticket into the next round by winning Sunday’s running of the Hollywood Casino 400. Among those drivers in the running for the Bill France Cup, six of them are previous winners at Kansas, with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano having won at the track in recent years. Kansas Speedway hasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – In a race that had more twists and turns than a Victorian melodrama, Erik Jones put the vaunted No. 43 Chevrolet back in Victory Lane for the first time since 2014.   In a remarkable run to the finish in the season’s first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race, Jones held off Denny Hamlin in a 20-lap run to the finish to win the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway for the second time.   The Sunday night race took its toll onRead More