Bojangles Southern 500 Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Maybe it took that victory lane celebration two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway to remind fans and competitors that Kurt Busch is a player in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship run. It was the first win for Busch, 39, since the 2017 Daytona 500, but it capped off a summer run where the former Cup champion has earned six consecutive top-10 finishes and moved up from seventh in the championship standings to fourth; with two regular season races remaining beforeRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It’s been a fittingly sentimental kind of week for Denny Hamlin leading into Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at the historic Darlington Raceway. Hamlin is the defending race winner and statistically brings the highest driver rating to the 1.3-mile track known for being so difficult it’s nicknamed “Too Tough To Tame.” In fact, last year Hamlin, 37, swept the nostalgic NASCAR weekend – also hoisting his fifth Xfinity Series race trophy as well. All five victories came from the pole position, too. And in theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a weekend off to recharge the batteries before making the final 12 race push to finish off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR 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 theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the top-30 drivers in the series leading into the 60th running of the Daytona 500. Age: 37 Years in Cup: 13 Career Wins: 31 2017 was another season of consistency for Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 team, finishing the year sixth in points, but for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran and 2016 Daytona 500 champion, the focus turns to 2018 and trying to finally breakthrough for thatRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Penalty day in NASCAR has come following the race weekend at Darlington Raceway and this week’s penalty announcement is a doozy, with drivers from both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series feeling the wrath of the sanctioning body. Denny Hamlin made headlines across the sport with his sweep of both races on the historic track, including a monster comeback in Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, but now both of those wins have been ruled as encumbered by NASCAR due to issuesRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down the top storylines from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This week, we break down the Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway. Comeback of the Year? After winning Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Darlington with a last lap pass on Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin headed into Sunday night’s main event looking for the weekend sweep, but despite having one of the fastest cars on track, he almost gave the win away. Hamlin would lead 121Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin made a huge mistake on Sunday night. Then the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota made an even bigger comeback to win one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races. Running down race leader Martin Truex Jr. from 20 seconds back after missing the entrance to pit road on Lap 313 of 367, Hamlin won the Bojangles’ Southern 500 for the second time, finishing off a sweep of the throwback Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series/NASCAR XFINITY Series weekend atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Despite suffering a flat right-front tire with two laps to go at Darlington, taking him out of contention for his second straight Southern 500 win, Martin Truex, Jr. will leave the track “Too Tough to Tame” with the consolation prize of the regular season points championship, giving him an all-important 15-point bonus for the playoffs. “It was definitely a bittersweet night for us, to come up just two laps short there, blow a tire at the end after having no issues with tires all nightRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a weekend off to recharge the batteries before making the final 12 race push to finish off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR 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 moveRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Throughout the night in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Chevrolet, sporting a Cale Yarborough throwback paint scheme, was a familiar sight at the front of the field, but a late race pit road miscue ended Harvick’s hopes for a second Darlington win. Starting on pole after qualifying was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Hermine, Harvick took off in the lead like a bullet from a gun when the green flag dropped and was untouchable for the first 93Read More