Erik Jones Tag

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

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Had the original 2021 schedule held, the NASCAR Cup Series would have been heading down I-95 to Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced some changes, meaning NASCAR’s top division will be staying in Daytona for another week. After last weekend’s running of the Daytona 500 on the oval, it’s the track’s 3.61-mile, 14-turn road course that will be the focus this Sunday for the running of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253. The 70-lap race will be the third for the Cup Series on theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The penultimate round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs hits the halfway point as Texas Motor Speedway and the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 comes calling this weekend. On Sunday, the stock car racing elite will take on the 1.5-mile track with a pair of six-shooters, a cowboy hat and a berth in the Championship 4 on the line should any of the remaining playoff drivers find themselves in victory lane when the checkered flag falls. After last weekend at Kansas, which saw Joey Logano claim theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In only his fifth NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott is proving himself a road course master, easily besting the field Sunday at the Charlotte ROVAL and more importantly, the 24-year old continues to establish himself as a perennial championship contender. Elliott’s win in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 Playoff race was his fourth consecutive road course victory, a mark of excellence shared only with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon, who won six straight road course races. It’s his second consecutive winRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer History was made in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as the NASCAR Cup Series finally got a shot of competing in the rain on race day. Well, sort of, because rain wasn’t a factor compared to Saturday’s wet and wild Xfinity Series race. In fact, the track was actually beginning to dry before the conclusion of Stage 1, so that monumental moment didn’t last. That didn’t meant the race lacked any mayhem because there were plenty of wet spots thatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service For the second time in as many seasons, Denny Hamlin broke Matt DiBenedetto’s heart, before NASCAR removed the pathos from the situation with a post-race ruling. At the end of a third overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, Hamlin beat DiBenedetto to the finish line to win by .023 seconds—roughly two feet—in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the 2.66-mile track. But NASCAR erased the close call by penalizing DiBenedetto for forcing William Byron below the yellow line separating the racing surface fromRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Let me make this clear about Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, I’m not holding back. Denny Hamlin wins a long and controversial 200-lap, three-overtime saga by just 0.023 seconds over Matt DiBenedetto and like last August at Bristol, the racing crowd jeered the now 44-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at the expense of Matt D coming up short of a maiden win. Gutted for DiBenedetto, but that’s just the way life is sometimes. Stuff isn’t meant to be and will have to wait another weekRead More