Dale Earnhardt Jr Tag

By: Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Two weeks ago at Dover, Kyle Larson took a painful master class in restarts from Professor Jimmie Johnson. In Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Larson graduated with high honors, using a series of exceptional restarts to win his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season and his second in a row, dating to last August, at the two-mile track in the Irish Hills. At Dover, Larson lost a race in which he had the dominantRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After finishing a dismal 38th at Pocono last weekend after blowing two engines during the race weekend, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. headed into Michigan looking to bounce back and bounce back is exactly what he did as he was scored ninth when the checkered flag flew. Aside from the Pocono finish, Earnhardt’s finish on Sunday marks finishes of 11th or better in three of the last four races, giving his No. 88 team some momentum heading into a summer stretch that will be crucial for hisRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Entering the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan in June 2012, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had gone four long years since his last trip to victory lane, which came in the same race on Father’s Day in 2008. With the weight of the world on his shoulders and his rabid fan base willing him to victory, Earnhardt silenced the doubters with a dominating win on the two-mile oval. With a freshly repaved track greeting the drivers as they arrived at Michigan, speeds immediately began to skyrocket onRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a barn burner of a finish at Pocono last weekend that culminated in Ryan Blaney taking the Wood Brothers back to victory lane, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the FireKeepers Casino 400. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this race for bragging rights.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway provided one of the more memorable races at the 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track in recent memory, with Ryan Blaney scoring his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win for the legendary Wood Brothers. To go along with Blaney’s win, here are five of the top storylines leaving the Tricky Triangle. The Young Guns are Taking Over 2017 has been the year of the young gun. Though drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex, Jr. haveRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Running his fastest lap of the day in the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying, Kyle Busch won the pole position for Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway (3 p.m. ET on FS1) by a comfortable margin. The only driver to top 179 mph in three rounds of time trials, Busch covered the 2.5-mile distance at the triangular track in 50.237 seconds (179.151 mph) to earn his second Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his thirdRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After taking on the Monster Mile last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads north to Pennsylvania this weekend for the first of two 2017 dates at Pocono Raceway and Sunday’s running of the Pocono 400. With only three turns, instead of the four turns at all other ovals on the circuit, Pocono is definitely one of the most unique tracks on the schedule. The three turns all have differing banking with Turn 1 and its 14 degree banking modeled after the now-defunct TrentonRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, the regular season of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is now halfway over. The 400-lap event on the one-mile concrete oval once again provided some of the best racing of the year, so without further ado, here are five of the top storylines leaving the Monster Mile. Jimmie Johnson Just Keeps Rewriting the Record Books Though Kyle Larson and Martin Truex, Jr. dominated the majority of the race at Dover, it was Johnson that came outRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Armed with a new crew chief and a gas tank that held just enough fuel to get him to the end of 600 miles with less than a second to spare, Austin Dillon won the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series of his career and put the vaunted No. 3 Chevrolet back in Victory Lane for the first time since 2000. Working for the first time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with crew chief Justin Alexander, Dillon was one ofRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Several weeks ago, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had announced that 2017 would be his final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. With just one top five and Top 10 finish, Earnhardt was looking for some momentum as the series rolled into Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Off the truck, Earnhardt’s No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet SS team were looking for speed as they were 22nd in the first practice. In qualifying, the Hendrick Motorsports team improved to 19th on the startingRead More