chase elliott Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, which has had various name changes and format changes over the years, having recently been known as the Sprint Unlimited, will have a new name and format for the 2017 running of the event that is reminiscent of the early years of the race. On Wednesday, Daytona announced that the race, which began its life in 1979 as the Busch Clash, will be known as “The Clash” for next season. The race held the Busch Clash monikerRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Saving his best effort for the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Phoenix International Raceway, substitute driver Alex Bowman won the pole for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC), the race that will determine the Championship 4 drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Filling in behind the wheel of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bowman covered the one-mile distance in 25.619 seconds (140.521 mph) to win the first CoorsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The Round of 8 all comes down to this. After last week’s rain delayed race at Texas, the stage is set for the final race of the round to determine which drivers will move onto Homestead and which drivers will see their championship hopes vanish in the Valley of the Sun. Phoenix has resided on the Cup Series schedule since 1988, but the track looks completely different than it did 28 years ago, having undergone a reconfiguration back in 2011. The reconfiguration added progressive bankingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a trip to the smallest track on the circuit for some great racing at Martinsville last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the Lone Star State and Texas Motor Speedway to continue with the Round of 8 in the Chase with Sunday’s running of the AAA Texas 500. First joining the circuit in 1997, the 1.5 mile Texas track has provided some great racing over the years, especially as the track surface has worn out over time. With the new low downforceRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie class, all eyes were on Chase Elliott to see if he would be able to advance onto the next round of the Chase, but when the checkered flag flew, it was another rookie that took home top billing from Talladega. So, which rookie was it that finished the best at NASCAR’s biggest track? That would be Brian Scott and his No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports team. Entering the day, Scott’s previous best finish was a 12th place resultRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – In a sense, Chase Elliott comes to Talladega Superspeedway with the greatest amount of freedom, simply because he has the largest challenge to overcome and the narrowest path to do so. After unfortunate results at Charlotte and Kansas, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year points leader is 12th in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, 25 points behind Joey Logano and Austin Dillon, who are tied for eighth. After the Hellman’s 500 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN),Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The Round of 12 all comes down to this. After races at Charlotte and Kansas to set the stage for Sunday’s elimination race, the 10 drivers not locked into the next round will battle the massive 2.66 mile superspeedway for the right to be able to advance to the Round of Eight when the checkered flag falls on Sunday. 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 ledRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In the first race of the Round of 12 last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott led 103 laps before a wreck on Lap 258 ended his day and put the rookie driver three points behind the final transfer spot to the Round of 8 heading to Kansas Speedway. Elliott qualified 13th for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and was one of just three Chase drivers that started outside the top-12. Elliott cracked the top-three at Lap 121 and passed KevinRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a weekend at home in Charlotte for the Bank of America 500 that left some Chase contenders scrambling, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads west to America’s Heartland to take on the fast, treacherous 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway for this Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the second race of the Round of 12 in the Chase. First joining the circuit as a relatively tame 1.5 mile track with 15 degree banking in the turns, Kansas underwent a massive reconfiguration in 2012 that transformed it into aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – It was a Martin Truex Jr. blowout, a Jamie McMurray blow-up and a Jimmie Johnson “We blew it again.” Truex cruised to a decisive victory in Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, a race that pared the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field from 16 drivers to 12. Winning for a fourth time this season, a second time at Dover and the seventh time in his career, Truex was without peer after a pit road snafu on LapRead More