Erik Jones Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Lone Star State comes calling this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Texas Motor Speedway to kick off the penultimate round of the Playoffs with Sunday’s running of the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Texas first joined the circuit in 1997, but back in 2017 went through a reconfiguration, dropping the banking in Turns 1 and 2 from 24 degrees to 20 degrees, as well as widening the racing surface from 60 feet to 80 feet. Meanwhile, Turns 3 and 4 remain banked atRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service An opportune caution and a sudden rain shower helped make Bubba Wallace the second African-American driver ever to win a NASCAR Cup Series race. Wallace held the lead in Monday’s rain-delayed YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway when Ryan Preece turned into the outside wall off the bumper of Chris Buescher’s Ford to cause the fifth caution of the event. As the cars circled under the yellow, rain drenched the 2.66-mile race track. NASCAR brought the cars to pit road on Lap 118 of aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson celebrated victory in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race with a burnout on the frontstretch at Bristol Motor Speedway, as tempers flared between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott on pit road. With an assist from Elliott, who took Harvick’s line at the .533-mile concrete track and slowed his progress, Larson made the winning pass on Lap 397 of 400 and sealed his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. At the other end of the spectrum, Aric Almirola,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Sunday’s opening stage of the Cook Out Southern 500 had chaotic moments involving NASCAR playoff drivers. One negatively impacted by the madness was Michael McDowell, the first to have a mulligan in the Round of 16. Entering the backstretch on Lap 31, McDowell went from gaining track position to losing everything in front of the competition. Consequently, his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang slammed the Turn 2 wall. It was already game over for the Daytona 500 champion as he’ll leave Darlington RacewayRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service INDIANAPOLIS – The first NASCAR Cup Series road course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was full of drama – for A.J. Allmendinger, who led only the last two laps of overtime to secure his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday, and for those who fell short of the cherished trophy in an action-packed final few laps. Denny Hamlin was leading the race on the final restart with two laps to go before being hit from behind by rookie Chase Briscoe in Turn 10,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a two week break while the Olympics played out half a world away, the NASCAR Cup Series is back in action this weekend with Sunday’s running of the Go Bowling at The Glen, marking a return to the Upstate New York track for the first time since 2019. 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 ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Two races in two days. Double the fun. Pocono Raceway will host a doubleheader weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend, with the running of the Pocono Organics CBD 325 on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 a day later on Sunday afternoon. 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 1Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Like Doc Brown and Marty McFly in Back to the Future, the NASCAR Cup Series is time traveling this week, making the jump from the future with the unveiling of the Next Gen cars to celebrating the past with Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. A staple of the Cup Series since 1950, there are many elements to Darlington that make it a special track. From the egg-shape of the track that features one end narrower than the other as a result of building the track aroundRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Joey Logano made history on Monday afternoon. Leading the final 61 laps in the face of a determined charge by Denny Hamlin, Logano won the rain-delayed Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the first dirt-track race for the NASCAR Cup Series since 1970. But there won’t be that long a gap in the future, given that BMS executive and general manager Jerry Caldwell announced during the race that NASCAR will return to the Bristol dirt in 2022. Logano grabbed the lead fromRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson left little to chance Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leading a race best 103 laps and pulling away to a convincing 3.156-second win over former NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski to win the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube – his first victory in two years. Larson, 28, of Elk Grove, Calif. became the quickest winner in Hendrick Motorsports long and esteemed history, taking the checkered flag in only his fourth start in the team’s famous No. 5 Chevrolet. ItRead More