Erik Jones Tag

After squeaking out the fastest lap in the second round of Thursday night’s knockout qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick left no doubt when it counted. Touring the 1.5-mile track in 27.918 seconds (193.424 mph) to post the fastest lap of the day in the final round, Harvick claimed his first Coors Light Pole Award for the Coca-Cola 600 and his second overall at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet will lead the field to green in NASCAR’s longest race on Sunday afterRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – So far, the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has not lived up to the expectations of many for Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender Erik Jones. 11 races into the season, Jones has just one Top 10 finish, an eighth at Phoenix Raceway, and three DNFs at Daytona, Richmond, and Talladega. The first practice for the 2017 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was a bright spot for Jones and his No. 77 5-Hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota CamryRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – The Monster Energy Open presented several with the opportunity of transferring into the NASCAR Monster Energy All-Star Race. A stage win in any of the three stages will transfer a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver into the main event. In the final stage, only green flag laps count. Also, winning the fan vote while also having a car in ‘raceable’ condition will transfer a fourth driver into the All-Star Race. Clint Bowyer started from the pole in his No. 14 HaasRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – With only 16 drivers qualified for the Monster Energy All-Star Race, 24 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will attempt to either race their way in by winning one of the three stages in the Monster Energy Open or by winning the Fan Vote. All teams participating the Monster Energy Open were given one set of the softer ‘option’ tires to practice with should they transfer into the All-Star race. The drivers that are currently leading the Fan Vote (in alphabetical order)Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway was a battle against loose conditions for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Several found their cars to be so loose that it affected their position on track. Of the five ROTY contenders only Gray Gaulding has no previous experience at Kansas. Daniel Suarez qualified the best of the rookies once again, placing his No. 19 STANLEY Toyota Camry 15th on the starting grid. Suarez ran well often,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After winning his first career pole on Friday, Ryan Blaney headed into Saturday night’s Go Bowling 400 at Kansas as one of the favorites to be able to contend for the win and after a strong run from the driver in his sophomore season, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team would bring home a fourth-place finish when the checkered flag flew. Blaney would lead the first nine laps of the race before ceding the lead over to eventual race winner Martin Truex, Jr., butRead More

By Aaron Bearden, NASCAR Contributor Phew. The last few weeks sure have been fun, haven’t they? Ever since the conclusion of the West Coast Swing – another solid stretch of the schedule – NASCAR has gone on a tour of many tracks that fans and media alike seem to clamor for, often putting on thrilling races in the processes. The past five races have seen all three of the schedule’s short tracks, a superspeedway race and just a single 1.5-miler, which was itself interesting due to the wild-card nature ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “Talladega: World’s Fastest Junkyard,” quipped FOX Sports announcer Mike Joy after an 18-car crash broke out on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile superspeedway with 19 laps to go in Sunday’s GEICO 500. Couldn’t have summed it up any better. After a relatively quiet race by Talladega standards through the first 170 laps, the inevitable “Big One” was coming and when it came, it certainly was big. Coming off Turn 2, AJ Allmendinger, who was running third, made contact with the second-place driver, Chase Elliott, turningRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was an adventure for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Of the five ROTY contenders, two drivers, Corey LaJoie and Gray Gaulding, have no previous experience at Talladega. Gaulding has no previous experience at any restrictor plate track. Ty Dillon placed his No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS 28th on the starting grid. A caution midway through Stage 2 allowed Dillon to take an alternate strategy. he moved up toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service   TALLADEGA, Ala. – Aric Almirola charged into the lead with four laps left in Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway and held off Elliott Sadler at the finish to win the third NASCAR XFINITY Series race of his career.   With the Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr. plowing into the inside backstretch wall behind him on the final lap, Almirola held the top spot to the finish, beating Sadler, the series leader, to the finish line by .142 seconds.   The win wasRead More