Denny Hamlin Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Denny Hamlin blitzed the Watkins Glen road course with the fastest lap of the day on Saturday to win the provisional pole for Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), pending post-qualifying inspection on Sunday morning. Hamlin covered the 2.45-mile distance in 70.260 seconds (125.534 mph), edging Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch (125.427 mph) by .060 seconds. First-round leader Chase Elliott was third fastest in the final session at 125.421 mph,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Watkins Glen International, the races staged at the 2.45-mile road course in upstate New York have been known for both the hard racing and the violent crashes that come on the fast seven-turn layout. Back in August 2011, the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen delivered that and more. After getting delayed until Monday due to rain, Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger led the field to green for the first of 90 scheduled laps. AllmendingerRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Thanks to a double disqualification of two of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ so-called “Big Three,” Daniel Suarez earned the first Busch Pole Award of his career. In the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying at Pocono Raceway, Suarez navigated the 2.5-mile track in 50,851 seconds (176.988 mph) to claim the top starting position when the cars of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch failed post-qualifying inspection. Both Harvick and Busch had posted faster laps than Suarez, but Harvick’s No. 4Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Early bird Kurt Busch ran his best lap of the day in the final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to earn the top starting spot for Sunday’s Foxwoods 301 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The first driver on the track for decisive Round 3, Busch covered the one-mile distance in 28.511 seconds (133.591 mph) to edge reigning series champion Martin Turex Jr. by .019 seconds. Truex willRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season rolls on as they head from last weekend’s race on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway to the flat, one-mile oval that is New Hampshire Motor Speedway. First joining the Cup Series circuit in 1993, the 1.058 mile oval that has progressively banked turns from two to seven degrees is one of the more difficult tracks on the schedule as the flat nature of the track makes track position key with passing at a premium. After getting to enjoy twoRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip down to Daytona Beach, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is just past the halfway mark of the 2018 season as they head up to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 19 on the schedule, under the lights on Saturday night for the running of the Quaker State 400. Kentucky first joined the Cup Series schedule in 2011 and has played host ever since, with just four different drivers claiming victory in the seven races held at the track so far. The track wasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following last Sunday’s instant classic in the Windy City, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to where it all began, Daytona International Speedway, for this weekend’s 59th running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the third restrictor plate race of the season. From 1959 until 1987, the 160 lap, 400 mile shootout at the World Center of Racing, then called the Firecracker 400, was held on July 4th, even if the holiday fell in the middle of the week. Beginning in 1988, the raceRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer The Overton’s 400 was almost a case of going from worst to first for Martin Truex, Jr. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver had plenty of speed, but not enough to contend for the victory. After the final restart, Truex battled with Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and eventual race winner Kyle Busch. He pushed Logano into the lead with his No. 78 5-hour Energy / Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry. Truex hovered just outside the top-five for theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After spending the past seven years as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener, Chicagoland returns to its mid-summer roots this weekend as they get set to host Sunday’s Overton’s 400. The track, which joined the circuit in 2001, only hosts the Cup Series once each season, boasting banking of 18 degrees as well as a curved back straightaway that allows drivers to carry their momentum around the entirety of the track. Having not been repaved in its 18-year history, the track also allows forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Using a contrarian strategy that included bluffing Kevin Harvick onto pit road earlier than planned in the final stage of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, Martin Truex Jr. pulled off a convincing victory in the 16th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. On Lap 73, during the final stage of the race, Truex’s crew chief, Cole Pearn, ordered the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota to pit road. On the spur of the moment, Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, optedRead More