Aric Almirola Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Chase Elliott seized the lead in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway during a four-lap shootout to the finish and took the checkered flag under caution after Kyle Larson barrel-rolled behind him. Elliott’s victory broke a Chevrolet drought in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series dating to last October at Kansas Speedway and broke a seven-race Ford stranglehold on the 2.66-mile track. The first driver not from Team Penske or Joe Gibbs racing to win this season, Elliott crossed the stripe aheadRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Picking up significant speed from the first round of knockout qualifying to the second, Austin Dillon won the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Covering the 2.66-mile distance in 49.734 seconds (192.544 mph) in his No. 3 Chevrolet, Dillon edged first-round leader Aric Almirola (192.131 mph) for the top starting spot by .107 seconds. In Saturday’s first round, Dillon had run 192.108 mphRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Uncertainty surrounded the first day of on-track activity at Talladega Superspeedway, with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series getting their first glimpse at the new post-restrictor plate aero package that will be used at the 2.66-mile facility as well as Daytona for the foreseeable future. The new package features a tapered spacer instead of a restrictor plate, making it the first race since 1987 to feature the horsepower sapping device. To counteract the increase in horsepower, about 100 more than the teamsRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – With the first off weekend of the season in the rear-view mirror, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series gets back to business in grand fashion as they get set to take on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. Racing at Talladega has always been crazy from the time the track opened back in 1969. From the driver boycott of the first race that led to unknown driver Richard Brickhouse scoring his one and only win in theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Recent winning history on the Talladega Superspeedway high banks has been dominated by a distinctive blue oval. Ford drivers hold a seven-race winning streak as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Alabama for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the winningest stretch for a manufacturer in more than a decade of competition on what is ironically considered one of the most unpredictable venues. Not only has Ford owned the party inRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Friday was “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” for all four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers after going through the ropes with NASCAR’s latest qualifying format. Fast forward to Sunday, all four drivers delivered stellar results in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, but each had an adventurous day that became one fascinating tale to the next. Out of the four SHR drivers, Clint Bowyer stole Friday’s headlines after letting out his raw emotions about the latest system after Ryan NewmanRead More

By Lee Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Texas — A fast car can cure a lot of mistakes. Just ask Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. The reigning Daytona 500 winner overcame a slew of penalties—some self-inflicted—to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Although the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry got down, he was never out of contention. Hamlin led three times for 45 laps en route to his third win at Texas, his second win of the season and the fourthRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Qualifying in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has become the true hot bed of controversy in recent weeks. Many drivers have been critical, but for one team, they’re as vocal than most and that’s Stewart-Haas Racing, who’s quartet competitors of Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Daniel Suarez endured the emotions and drama the latest qualifying format provided Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. The best way to describe the session is none other than Clint Eastwood’s classic 1966 film “The Good, the Bad andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – With surgical efficiency, Joey Logano continued his domination of knockout qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. Saving his car and his tires for the final round of Saturday’s time trials at the .526-mile short track, Logano won the pole for Sunday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a lap at 97.830 mph (19.356 seconds). Driving the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, Logano edged Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver Aric Almirola (97.643 mph) for the top starting spot byRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Let the debate begin. Recovering from a pit road speeding penalty with the help of a timely caution, Kyle Busch collected his 200th NASCAR national series victory with a dominating win in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. At the same venue that gave Busch his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2005, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota beat runner-up Joey Logano to the finish line by a comfortable 2.354 seconds to earn his 53rdRead More