Erik Jones Tag

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 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 Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – “Old guys rule!” screamed 40-year-old Kurt Busch after he took the checkered flag in an action-filled Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch’s first victory since the 2017 Daytona 500 overshadowed a miraculous drive by brother Kyle Busch, whose car came back to life after a Lap 2 wreck like a relentless horror movie villain. Starting on the inside lane, Busch grabbed the lead from Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer on a Lap 478 restart,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finally got their chance to take to the Bristol Motor Speedway high banks on Friday with a pair of practice sessions for the drivers and teams to get everything sorted out ahead of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. In the first session Friday morning, Chase Elliott led a trio of Chevrolets to the top of the board, posting a fast lap of 15.151 seconds, 126.645 mph. He would be followed by Kyle Larson andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR 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 that theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After last weekend’s race at Watkins Glen saw Chase Elliott score his first career win, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Michigan for the second time this season to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the Consumers Energy 400. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this race for bragging rights, especially this weekendRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – History will record that Chase Elliott won his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race by a whopping 7.560 seconds over reigning champion Martin Truex Jr. That description, however, doesn’t do justice to Elliott’s magnificent drive over the final 32 laps of Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen, with Truex hounding him every inch of the way before running out of fuel with two corners left. “Holy cow, I don’t know what to say—just so thrilled, so emotional, so much relief,”Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip to Pocono last weekend that saw Kyle Busch score his sixth 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, the trackRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – A post-qualifying inspection failure? No problem. A starting position deep in the field for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway? Just another challenge for Kyle Busch to overcome. Holding off a determined charge from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez in two late restarts—the first after a brutal wreck that sidelined Bubba Wallace—Kyle Busch powered his No. 18 Toyota to his sixth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, tying fourth-place finisher Kevin Harvick for the series lead.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – In his last start of the season, Kyle Busch got the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory he coveted most. Holding off a charge from Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones—who started the race in place of ailing Noah Gragson—Busch, the pole winner, powered his No. 51 Toyota across the finish line 1.469 seconds ahead of Jones’ No. 18 to win the Gander Outdoors 150 at Pocono Raceway. The number “51” had added significance on Saturday. In winning for the secondRead More