Erik Jones Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Under bright blue skies in East Tennessee, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got its first look at Bristol Motor Speedway ahead of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. After what was a mostly one groove race in Thursday night’s Truck Series race at the track, it was much of the same in first practice on Friday. Erik Jones, who led both Xfinity Series practices on Thursday, was once again at the top of the board in the first ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley this weekend for the annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a showdown under the lights on the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” that is sure to leave sheet metal twisted and tempers flaring once these drivers get done battling for 500 laps. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race each August, the intensity gets cranked to 11. The aggressiveness thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Both Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones, two drivers in subject of silly season rumors all season, continue their string of top-five runs this summer after Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen. Despite all talks involve on Kyle Busch being erased off both William Byron and Bubba Wallace’s Christmas list due to separate incidents and Martin Truex, Jr.’s second attempt of chasing down race winner Chase Elliott coming up short. The other two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates had a quiet afternoon at Watkins Glen International in NewRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – It was a striking case of déjà vu. In a replay of Last year’s GoBowling at the Glen, Martin Truex Jr. chased pole winner Chase Elliott lap after lap around the 2.45-mile road course, using everything in his arsenal to try to deprive Elliott of his second straight victory at the track. Nothing worked for Truex, who crossed the finish line in the wake of the winning No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, .454 seconds in arrears. Elliott logged his secondRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a trip to Pocono last weekend that saw Denny Hamlin score his third win of the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stays in the Northeast as they go road course racing this weekend in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen. The Cup Series raced at Watkins Glen in 1957, 1964, and 1965 before returning to the track full-time in 1986, utilizing the “short course” layout initially, but after a series of violent crashes at the end of the long back straightaway, theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent In a back-up car, Kyle Larson climbed from the back to a top-five finish in the Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway. In Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series overtime, Larson’s No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was one of several cars in the top-10 not questioning the fuel mileage. On the restart, he was stuck behind Erik Jones. Larson cleared Martin Truex, Jr. as he battled Jones into turn one. However, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver had to back out of the throttleRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Thanks to a fast No. 11 Toyota, a feel for fuel economy and a first-ever application of traction compound to the asphalt at Pocono Raceway, Denny Hamlin rediscovered the magic at the Tricky Triangle that marked his spectacular debut in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2006. Leading a 1-2-3 finish by Joe Gibbs Racing drivers—none of whom, surprisingly, was Kyle Busch—Hamlin passed teammate and race runner-up Erik Jones on Lap 144 and saved enough fuel to last through an overtime that carriedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service No practice made perfect on Saturday at Pocono Raceway. Without benefit a mock qualifying run in practice, Kevin Harvick nevertheless made a decisive run to the pole for Sunday’s Gander RV 400 at the Tricky Triangle (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Qualifying near the end of the session, Harvick navigated the 2.5-mile distance in 51.707 seconds (174.058 mph) in beating out second-place qualifier Joey Logano (173.377 mph) by a whopping .203 seconds to secure his first Busch Pole AwardRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Seven weeks after their first trip to the “Tricky Triangle,” the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series makes their second visit of the season to Pocono Raceway for Sunday’s running of the Gander RV 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 Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 andRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Not too surprisingly, as NASCAR heads into the final contests to set the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, the races have been high on drama – both on the track and for the championship implications. Weekly shake-ups in the standings are becoming the norm, and that most favored of old sports clichés, “one race at a time,’’ may actually have found its legitimacy as drivers close out the regular season. In the past four weeks, three drivers – AlexRead More