Denny Hamlin Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The front row for next Sunday’s 60th running of the Daytona 500 is set. For the fourth straight year, a driver from the Hendrick Motorsports stable will start the Great American Race from the pole. This go around it was Alex Bowman’s turn, taking the No. 88 Chevrolet to the top of the board with a fast lap of 46.002 seconds, 195.644 mph. The pole is the second of the 24-year old’s career. After serving as the simulator driver for Hendrick over the past twoRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It’s that time of the year again, folks. After a long offseason, NASCAR is back in action for the 2018 season with the running of the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona, an annual exhibition race that kicks off two weekends of racing activity at the World Center of Racing. The Advance Auto Parts Clash, which is scheduled for a 3:00 pm ET start on Sunday afternoon immediately after Daytona 500 qualifying, has held various names over the years, from starting as the Busch ClashRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the top-30 drivers in the series leading into the 60th running of the Daytona 500. Age: 37 Years in Cup: 13 Career Wins: 31 2017 was another season of consistency for Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 team, finishing the year sixth in points, but for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran and 2016 Daytona 500 champion, the focus turns to 2018 and trying to finally breakthrough for thatRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Now that the 2017 NASCAR season is complete and the year is drawing to a close, we’ll take this opportunity to take a look back at the year that was. Up on the docket today, we finish off the 10 most memorable moments of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Jimmie Johnson Ties Cale Yarbrough Despite his late season struggles, Jimmie Johnson was on fire in the first half of the year, capturing three wins early on. His third win of the year cameRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It all comes down to this. After 35 race weekends, the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR 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 trueRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week, NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down who’s hot and who’s not after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend. Today, we break down the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway WINNERS Matt Kenseth – The old man has still got it. In what may have been his final race at Phoenix, Kenseth took it to the youngsters, showing them he has still got plenty in the tank when it comes to driving a race car. After announcing last week that he wouldn’tRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Runner-up finishes have been the storyline of Chase Elliott’s sophomore season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, with the 21-year old Georgia native coming close to victory time and time again. On Sunday at Phoenix, Elliott would fall just short of both the win and being able to advance to the championship race on a must-win day for him and his No. 24 team. “We were so close to having another shot next week,” said Elliott. “But man, I can’t say enough for ourRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney got what he needed in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session—but only by a thousandth of a second. In the final round, Blaney covered the one-mile distance at Phoenix Raceway in 26.098 seconds (137.942 mph) to edge Denny Hamlin (137.936 mph) by .001 for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Can-Am 500, the final race in the Playoff’s Round of 8 (on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET). With the Playoff field set to be trimmed fromRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The Round of Eight all comes down to this. After last week’s race at Texas, the stage is set for the final race of the round in Phoenix to determine which drivers will move onto Homestead and which drivers will see their championship hopes vanish in the Arizona desert. Phoenix has resided on the Cup Series schedule since 1988, but the track looks completely different than it did 29 years ago, having undergone a reconfiguration back in 2011. The reconfiguration added progressive banking to theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Denny Hamlin did almost everything right on Sunday afternoon. Despite his best efforts, however, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota left Texas Motor Speedway in a good-sized hole. Hamlin started Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 from the front row beside pole winner Kurt Busch. He led the first 46 laps, 65 overall. Hamlin was in the top spot for the final restart on Lap 289 and rolled home in third place behind winner Kevin Harvick and runner-upRead More