Bank of America ROVAL 400 Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – A year after coming agonizingly close to winning at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Jimmie Johnson got the Bank of America Roval 400 weekend started on the right foot Friday by posting the fastest time in first practice with a lap of 1 minute, 20.968 seconds. Kyle Larson was second on the leaderboard, followed by William Byron, Clint Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, and defending race winner Ryan Blaney. Outside of the top-10, Playoff drivers finishedRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The scenario for Sunday’s much-anticipated Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course provides exactly the intensity NASCAR fans want, but for the Playoff drivers competing to advance to the Round of 12 – the recently added road course also presents high anxiety. Coming into Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) the four Playoff drivers currently ranked outside the top 12 in the driverRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent The highlight of the day for Chase Elliott was a third-place qualifying effort as he flew under the radar at Richmond Raceway. Much like Las Vegas one week ago, the Federated Auto Parts 400 was nearly identical to the Spring race at Richmond. With just three natural cautions, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid drivers had little chance move up the running order. Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 started with track position, but ultimately couldn’t keep it. At the end ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s 61st annual running of the Daytona 500. Age: 25 Years in Cup: 3 Career Wins: Two Entering last season, Ryan Blaney was viewed by many as a driver that can strive for multiple race wins with Team Penske after showcasing his worth with the Wood Brothers. That was the case on multiple occasions, but luck was against him and heading into his second season inRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s 61st annual running of the Daytona 500. Age: 43 Years in Cup: 17 Career Wins: 83 Championships: 7 Things come in threes, that’s the best way to describe Jimmie Johnson’s underwhelming 2018 campaign. Now entering his 18th full season, Johnson won’t have three things that’s been synonymous with the sport’s juggernaut — his 16-year winning streak, Chad Knaus as crew chief and Lowe’s as his primaryRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Now that the 2018 NASCAR season is complete and the year is drawing to a close, we’ll take this opportunity to take a look back at the year that was. On the docket today is Part One of the 10 most memorable moments of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. 20 Years Later: Austin Dillon Returns No. 3 to Daytona 500 Victory Lane In 1998, Dale Earnhardt finally broke through with his first win in the Daytona 500 after coming so close for so manyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor One is the loneliest number for Joe Gibbs Racing after Sunday’s running of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The powerhouse organization entered the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with three legitimate shots at a title run with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones, but as the first round of the playoffs reached its conclusion this past weekend, both Jones and Hamlin met an early end to their postseason. With subpar runs in the first two races of the roundRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Let’s face the obvious, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course known as “The Roval” delivered. It fit their bill as being one of the most chaotic weekends in NASCAR history. It didn’t matter how experienced a driver was on road racing because the Roval was a game of survival. Some flat out struggled like Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace, who appeared to have wrecked every car they’ve competed, which has to be annoying for both young competitors, but they’re not alone. Even the best road racersRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Running inside the top-10 normally wouldn’t mean that Chase Elliott flew under the radar, however, the dramatic last lap meant that his run was quietly forgotten. While teammate Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex, Jr. spun in the final corner, and Ryan Blaney won, Elliott quietly finished the race in sixth. Elliott finished inside the Top-10 after a strong qualifying effort put his No. 9 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 fourth on the grid. In the chaotic finish to the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte MotorRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Survive and advance. For Kyle Larson, never were those three words more meaningful than Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway when a late race crash seemed to doom his chances to move on in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but he wound up advancing on by the skin of his teeth when all was said and done. Larson entered the day with a healthy 17-point lead over the cut-off line having finished second and seventh in the first two races ofRead More