Erik Jones Tag

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

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With a career record of 0-for-21 coming into Sunday night’s South Point 400 at his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch may have felt like a “long shot.” But with fortunate track position late in the race and some sure-bet restarts at the front of the field, Busch can now count himself a Vegas winner. The victory was a high stakes haul, automatically earning a position for Busch in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – moving the 2004 series champion fromRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In a battle of two of stock car racing’s titans, Kevin Harvick swapped the lead with Kyle Busch and held off the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion over an intense string of closing laps to win Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Harvick picked up his ninth victory of the season, his second of the Round of 16 in the Playoffs and his third at Bristol. The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford finished .310 seconds ahead ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Angry and broken hearts galore during Saturday’s Bristol Night Race where a lot was on the line. Some things ended up being the same as Kevin Harvick scored his ninth win of the year, leaving him just a victory away of being the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to get at least 10 wins in a single campaign. Not only that, it was a 500-lap event filled with chaos as hoods popping, tires vibrating and even a little rivals battling it out for everyRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Joey Logano and Erik Jones share an odd bond in their captivating NASCAR careers and that’s being ousted by Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano was replaced by Matt Kenseth at the end of the 2012 season and landed a home with Team Penske where he won a Daytona 500 and a Cup Series title since. Meanwhile, Jones is about to be replaced by Christopher Bell next season and yet to find a ride. During Wednesday’s portion of NASCAR Playoffs Media Day, Logano went into greater detail aboutRead More