Erik Jones Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was a tale of two races for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Of the five of the ROTY contenders, only the two BK Racing drivers have no previous experience at ‘The Track Too Tough to Tame.’ Erik Jones was the best rookie for the third week in a row, finishing fifth in the No. 77 5-hour ENERGY / Rookie Salute Toyota Camry after running inside the top-10Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – On a throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, with a move he termed “a throwback to Dale Earnhardt,” Denny Hamlin won his fifth NASCAR XFINITY Series event at the Lady in Black—all from the pole. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota grabbed the lead from Joey Logano after a restart on Lap 147 of 148—one beyond the scheduled distance—and when Logano got inside position on the final circuit and surged ahead into Turn 3, Hamlin responded with aRead More

By Reid Spencer. NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – In a race fraught with tension, and with a pack of drivers with desperate agendas chasing him to the finish line, Kyle Busch held off Erik Jones to complete a sweep of all-three NASCAR touring series with Saturday night’s keystone victory in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. In winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series main event at the .533-mile concrete track, Busch capped a long weekend that saw him win Wednesday’s NASCAR Camping WorldRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway was a tale of two races for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. All five of the ROTY contenders have experience at ‘The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.’ Erik Jones was the best rookie for the second week in a row, finishing second in the No. 77 5-hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota Camry after running inside the top-five all night long. Jones led a race-high 260-lapsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Week in and week out, Erik Jones has impressed throughout his rookie season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and on Friday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway, Jones took another step forward by scoring his first career pole. With the clock winding down, Jones’ lap of 14.981 seconds, 128.062 mph, propelled him to the top of the board and into position to clinch the pole. Though a few other drivers took a shot at Jones’ fast lap, they weren’t quite quick enough to bestRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a top-five run in the first practice session of the day, Ryan Blaney backed up the speed he had shown earlier on Friday by posting the fastest speed in the final practice session for Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Blaney topped the board with a time of 14.926 seconds, 128.554 mph and was followed by fellow young gun Kyle Larson, who timed in with a lap just .057 seconds slower. In four starts at Bristol, Blaney hasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor In preparation for tomorrow night’s running of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers took to the track for their first of two practice sessions on Friday morning, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch leading the way. It has been an eventful week for Hamlin thus far as he welcomed his second daughter into the world Tuesday before heading to Bristol for the race weekend, where he was victorious inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor 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 on the high-banked bullring that is called “The Last Great Colosseum.” Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race each August, theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down the top storylines from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This week, we break down the Pure Michigan 400 from Michigan International Speedway. The Two-Mile King There’s something about two-mile tracks that just fits Kyle Larson’s driving style. Since breaking though for his first Cup Series win at Michigan last August, Larson is undefeated on two-mile tracks, winning at Auto Club Speedway earlier this season, followed up by a sweep of both Michigan racesRead More

By Matt Crossman, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Sitting in his racecar during a red flag delay near the end of the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Kyle Larson pondered the possible routes to an overtime victory. He was in fourth-place and would restart for the final two-lap shootout behind leader Martin Truex Jr. Larson hadn’t had a fast racecar all day at Michigan International Speedway, but he thought with a gutsy move on the restart, he could steal a win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup SeriesRead More