chase elliott Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover, it was the tale of two races for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies as just one of them left the Monster Mile with a good run, while the others left disappointed. Chase Elliott, who came into the day without a win but a decent point advantage over the Round of 12 cut-off did exactly what he needed to throughout the race, starting ninth and running a clean race, staying out of trouble over the course ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service As a Sunoco rookie in his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chase Elliott has found the first two playoff races surprisingly “normal.” Elliott comes to the elimination at Dover tied for ninth in the standings, 16 points ahead of Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon, the first two drivers below the cut line. But Elliott expects that, as the rounds of the Chase progress, the intensity will ratchet up significantly. “I think the further you get into it, the more it is goingRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – For the second time in the first three Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races this year, rain played havoc with Sprint Cup qualifying, forcing cancellation of Friday’s knockout time trials for the first elimination race of the playoffs. This is the third straight Sprint Cup event at Dover for which qualifying has been cancelled because of rain. With the field set by the rule book, Brad Keselowski, whose No. 2 Team Penske Ford leads the owners’ standings, will start Sunday’sRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a trip to New England for the second race in the Chase, the Round of 16 comes down to this. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Dover International Speedway for the running of the Citizen Soldier 400, which will determine which drivers will join Martin Truex, Jr. and Kevin Harvick in the next round. As one of the only two concrete tracks on the NASCAR schedule, the one mile high banked oval that is Dover has always drawn similarities to Bristol and isRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into New Hampshire, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies, especially those in the Chase, were looking for strong finishes, but all were left with disappointment at the conclusion of Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300. After almost spoiling the Chase party last weekend at Chicago, Ryan Blaney brought home the top rookie finish at New Hampshire with a 12th place finish, which is about where Blaney had been running throughout the day. Though Blaney and his team did not make the Chase, theyRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer The first race of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has come and gone, and with it a plethora of storylines have unfolded in the paddock. Teams that laid dormant throughout the summer have suddenly come to life, while drivers that entered as favorites to hoist the Sprint Cup at the end of the season have suddenly found themselves in a hole after facing unexpected issues. Martin Truex, Jr., stamped his name into the second round of the Chase with a victory inRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – You could see it coming from a mile-and-a-half away. On new tires, Martin Truex Jr. rocketed around the outside lane after a restart in overtime at Chicagoland Speedway and pulled away to win Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, the opening race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. With the victory—his first at the 1.5-mile track, his third of the season and the sixth of his career—Truex also rocketed into the Chase’s Round of 12. But Truex wasn’t satisfiedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Entering the first race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the two rookies in the 16 driver playoffs were hoping for a solid finish to be able to propel themselves into the second round in two weeks time, while the others were hoping to play spoiler. On Sunday afternoon, both scenarios nearly came true for the rookie class. Chase Elliott, who was making his first start at Chicago and his first appearance in the Chase, showed that he was ready to be inRead More

It’s that time of the year again. After the 16 driver field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was set last weekend at Richmond, the intensity of the season is about to ramp up over the final 10 weeks of the season as we’ll whittle the championship field down to four at Homestead to see which driver will walk away with the title at season’s end. As a refresher, there will be three rounds of eliminations before the Championship Four is set. The Round of 16 will includeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor On Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, none of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies had a stellar night, but for two of them, they were able to survive the chaos to race their way into the 16 driver Chase for the Sprint Cup field when the checkered flag flew. The two rookies that were able to move on to the postseason were Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher, both of whom had a rough go of it during the 400 lap race, but were ableRead More