Denny Hamlin Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – It’s been a historical two weeks for Brad Keselowski. The No. 2 Ford driver executed a hard-nosed pass of Denny Hamlin with two laps remaining in Monday’s rain-delayed Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard to win his first race at prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one week after visiting Victory Lane in the “crown-jewel” Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Keselowski earned Team Penske its first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at the track to go with the storied organization’s 17 IndianapolisRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer came within three laps of winning the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard. However, a late race restart left the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver spinning his tires. On the final restart at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Bowyer restarted on the outside of Denny Hamlin in the No. 14 Mobil 1 / Rush Truck Centers Ford Fusion. However, while Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Possibilities Toyota Camry surged forward, Bowyer struggled. His Ford bogged down, stacking up the outside lane asRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – The 2018 calendar has reached September and with it comes one of the marquee events on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, the 25th running of the race at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. First joining the circuit in 1994, the track has provided some classic moments and some that the powers that be would rather forget. The track’s relatively flat surface, combined with narrow corners and high speeds, makes passing a premium on theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – By a matter of inches, Brad Keselowski won the race off pit road under the final caution in Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. That narrow margin was all the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford needed to secure a stunning victory in one of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ marquee races. On the flip side, Keselowski’s first victory of the season left Kyle Larson bitterly disappointed. Larson led 284 of the 367 laps in additionRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Brad Keselowski took the lead in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway when the two cars in front of him tangled off Turn 2. That was all the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford needed to collect his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at the Track Too Tough to Tame. From a restart on Lap 91, Keselowski chased pole winner and race leader Ross Chastain, who won the first and second stages in his maiden runRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin started his Bojangles’ Southern 500 title defense in the best possible way, grabbing the pole position in the final round of Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at Darlington Raceway. Hustling his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the 1.366-mile track in 28.332 seconds (173.571 mph) in the money round, Hamlin edged Kyle Larson (173.411 mph) by .026 seconds to claim the top starting spot for Sunday’s race (6 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXMRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It’s been a fittingly sentimental kind of week for Denny Hamlin leading into Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at the historic Darlington Raceway. Hamlin is the defending race winner and statistically brings the highest driver rating to the 1.3-mile track known for being so difficult it’s nicknamed “Too Tough To Tame.” In fact, last year Hamlin, 37, swept the nostalgic NASCAR weekend – also hoisting his fifth Xfinity Series race trophy as well. All five victories came from the pole position, too. And in theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a weekend off to recharge the batteries before making the final 12 race push to finish off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Darlington Raceway has been a staple of the Cup Series since opening in 1950 for its annual Labor Day weekend event with the Southern 500 being held on that date until a controversial decision was made to move theRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer It’s the 24th race of the season and three full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars have combined to score nine victories. The Xfinity Series returns to Darlington Raceway for the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW 200. The return of Cup drivers, throwback paint schemes, the battle to make the Playoffs, and stage racing are just some of the storylines heading into the 24th race of the season. Coverage for the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW 200 is scheduled to start Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Darlington has been on the XfinityRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson, a close second to Kyle Busch in the 2018 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, took the first step toward avenging that loss—and a handful of others—with a pole-winning effort in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at the .533-mile short track. In the final round, Larson covered the distance in 15.015 seconds (127.792 mph) to complete a sweep of the three rounds in the session. In winning his first Busch Pole Award at Thunder Valley, hisRead More