Aric Almirola Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent BRISTOL, Tenn. – If there was any pressure mounting on Ryan Blaney to win, the Team Penske driver hasn’t noticed. While Blaney’s teammates, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have visited victory lane for a combined five times, he has yet to find victory lane in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. The driver of the No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang last won at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval last season. Blaney is the only driver in the top-10 in the championship pointsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson played a late game of King of the Mountain in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Bristol Motor Speedway. After 38 drivers made qualifying runs, it was Hamlin who was left at the top of the peak. Larson was the 34th driver to take to the track, and his impressive lap at 129.004 mph (14.874 seconds) put him on the provisional pole for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ETRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Under bright blue skies in East Tennessee, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got its first look at Bristol Motor Speedway ahead of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. After what was a mostly one groove race in Thursday night’s Truck Series race at the track, it was much of the same in first practice on Friday. Erik Jones, who led both Xfinity Series practices on Thursday, was once again at the top of the board in the first ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Chase Elliott isn’t racing differently on road courses. He’s just racing better. And on Saturday, Elliott returned to Watkins Glen International with a vengeance, taking a giant step toward another victory at track that gave him his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win last year. Elliott covered the 2.45-mile layout in 69.287 seconds (127.297 mph) to edge Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service No practice made perfect on Saturday at Pocono Raceway. Without benefit a mock qualifying run in practice, Kevin Harvick nevertheless made a decisive run to the pole for Sunday’s Gander RV 400 at the Tricky Triangle (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Qualifying near the end of the session, Harvick navigated the 2.5-mile distance in 51.707 seconds (174.058 mph) in beating out second-place qualifier Joey Logano (173.377 mph) by a whopping .203 seconds to secure his first Busch Pole AwardRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Daniel Suarez saved the best for last in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Friday at Kentucky Speedway. The 27-year-old driver from Monterrey, Mexico, was the last to run a qualifying lap at the 1.5-mile track, and he used the opportunity to Knock Stewart-Haas Racing teammate off the provisional pole for Saturday’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.) Suarez covered the distance in 29.254 seconds (184.590 mph) to beat out Almirola (183.799 mph) for the topRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As the dark clouds and lightning descended upon Daytona International Speedway Sunday afternoon, Justin Haley climbed out of his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet feeling like it was perhaps divine intervention. He was first on the scoreboard at the time Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 was red-flagged for lightning 33 laps short of the intended 160-lap distance. Two hours and 12 minutes later, the 20-year old Indiana native was celebrating his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup win – inRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – The Ford drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series apparently took the words of Edsel Ford II to heart. At a dinner with Ford drivers on Thursday night, the member of the Ford Motor Company board of directors emphasized the importance of putting a Mustang in Victory Lane after Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). On Saturday morning at the 2-mile track, Joey Logano took the first stepRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service With a dominating performance at a track he has learned to love, Kyle Busch cruised to his fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in Sunday’s Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway. Busch led a race-high 79 of 160 laps—including the final 21 after a cycle of green-flag pit stops—in collecting his second straight win at the 2.5-mile triangular track and his third overall, all three of which have come in the last four events after years of frustration at the TrickyRead More