Denny Hamlin Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After the kickoff to the West Coast swing last weekend in Las Vegas culminated in a victory by Martin Truex, Jr. to mark the third different winner in the first three races of the season and also featured a post-race pit road brawl, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Valley of the Sun this weekend to take on the Camping World 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Phoenix has resided on the Cup Series schedule since 1988, but the track looks completely differentRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Viva Las Vegas! After spending the first two weekends of the 2017 season on the East Coast, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads west for the first leg of “NASCAR Goes West” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Sunday’s running of the Kobalt 400. Las Vegas began its life on the NASCAR circuit as a 1.5 mile oval with 12 degrees of banking in 1998, but following the 2006 running of the race, the track underwent a massive reconfiguration that sawRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After last Sunday’s barn burner of a finish in the Daytona 500, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads to Georgia for this weekend’s running of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With Atlanta being the first non-restrictor plate track on the 2017 schedule, the track will be the first to employ the new lower downforce rules package, which includes a few reductions from last season’s low downforce package, namely with a smaller rear spoiler, front splitter, asRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For much of the second Can-Am Duel at Daytona, it looked like it would be Dale Earnhardt, Jr following the lead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott to score the win after qualifying on the front row for the Daytona 500, but Denny Hamlin had other plans as he was able to execute a late race pass to take the lead and the win. “It was great. Great car. Got a great push there for Austin (Dillon). We worked really well together that entireRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Entering the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Advanced Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway, 2016 winner Denny Hamlin looked to be a favorite to win. In a blind draw, Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Wheeler, drew the second starting position for the annual exhibition race. After electing not to participate in the first practice session, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry was fastest in the second practice. The bulk of the second practice session saw manufacturers drafting exclusively. As the first segment of raceRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It’s that time of the year again. After a long offseason, NASCAR is back in action for the 2017 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 an 8:00 pm ET start on Saturday night, has held various names over the years, from starting as the Busch Clash beginning in 1979 through 1998, whenRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Another ripple effect of Carl Edwards leaving the sport, is where do his former sponsors go? Obviously Arris will be sticking around to sponsor Daniel Suarez’s Rookie of the Year campaign, but what about the other affiliated sponsors from the No. 19 team? Sports Clips — who had sponsored Edwards for the last couple of years, has announced via their website that they will be moving their primary sponsorship over to Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry for two races, and they will adorn theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor To say the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season had a plethora of storylines would be a complete understatement. The past year was jam packed full of disappointment, excitement and utter unpredictability. Here are five of the top moments from the season: 5. Dale Jr.’s concussion Dale Earnhardt Jr. is always a big story, whether he is winning races and contending for championships or as was the case this year suffering injuries. Earnhardt had a hard accident at Michigan which jarred his head. He racedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, which has had various name changes and format changes over the years, having recently been known as the Sprint Unlimited, will have a new name and format for the 2017 running of the event that is reminiscent of the early years of the race. On Wednesday, Daytona announced that the race, which began its life in 1979 as the Busch Clash, will be known as “The Clash” for next season. The race held the Busch Clash monikerRead 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