Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With the announcement that Greg Biffle was leaving Roush Fenway Racing after the 2016 season, the inevitable has happened and the team announced on Tuesday that they would field only two cars for the 2017 season after fielding three for the past four seasons. Returning to the team next season will be Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to field the No. 6 and No. 17 cars, respectively. Bayne will once again have crew chief Matt Puccia at the helm, while Stenhouse will have aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Showing speed throughout the day, Carl Edwards looked to be primed to capture his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday, but it was not to be for Edwards and the No. 19 team after a crash on a restart with 10 laps to go brought their championship hopes to a screeching halt. Falling short of the championship in 2008 and 2011, Edwards was one of the fastest cars throughout the race weekend and had the confidence to try and redeem himself in theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Roger Penske is on the cusp of history in the 50th anniversary of his organization and three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves is ready to witness it firsthand. The longtime Verizon IndyCar Series veteran was part of a 1-2-3 Team Penske sweep this season, with Simon Pagenaud claiming the title. With a long offseason playing out during NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, the 41-year-old Brazilian has been able to keep up with the progress of fellow Penske driver Joey Logano, who isRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It all comes down to this. After 35 race weekends, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season comes down to one final race to determine the champion. Four drivers head into Homestead-Miami Speedway and the Ford Ecoboost 400 with an equal shot at the championship, while the other 36 drivers in the field are simply looking for a win to cap off the season. Since its reconfiguration in 2003, Homestead has provided some great racing on its progressive banking on one of the true ovalsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Five years ago, Carl Edwards entered Homestead with a chance at his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship only to lose in a heartbreaking tiebreaker to Tony Stewart. After winning at Texas two weeks ago, Edwards will now have his shot at redemption as one of the four drivers in the mix for the championship. Entering the final three races of the 2011 season, Edwards had built an eight point lead over Stewart, only to have Stewart’s herculean effort of winning two of the lastRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When looking at the four drivers in the Championship 4 at Homestead, each of the drivers has just as good of a shot at claiming the title, but upon further inspection, Carl Edwards could have the upper hand in the season finale. That is if the statistics are to be believed. Not only is Edwards in the midst of his best season since joining Joe Gibbs Racing, he is also having his best season since falling just short of the title as a result ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the championship finale, so with the 2016 season coming to a close, we’ll take a look back at a race from Homestead’s past in this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater.” This week, the focus will be on the 2005 Ford 400, a race that featured a championship battle still up for grabs, drivers making their last starts, and the closest finish ever at the 1.5 mile track. Entering the 36th race ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Anytime the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway, one driver immediately comes to mind and that driver is Kevin Harvick. As the perennial favorite to win on the desert mile, Harvick was a big favorite to win Sunday’s Can-Am 500 and advance to the Championship Four. However, Harvick and his No. 4 team fell short of that goal and were eliminated from the Chase for the first time since the elimination format was implemented. A 20th place finish at Martinsville followed upRead 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 For much of the first half of Sunday’s rain-delayed AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Joey Logano looked to be untouchable, but when all was said and done, the driver of the No. 22 Ford came up just short as he finished second on Sunday night. After starting on the outside of the front row, Logano got the jump on polesitter Austin Dillon when the green flag flew at lap six, pulling away from the field with ease to lead the next 25 lapsRead More