Jeffrey Earnhardt Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When it comes to Darlington, the treacherous track is tough for rookies and veterans alike, with one small miscue liable to end your chances for victory in a hurry. For the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies, Darlington was a mixed bag, as just one of them was able to score a top-10 finish, while the others weren’t as fortunate. The best of the rookie class for the second week in a row was Chase Elliott, who started the night in 11th place, but workedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With just three races remaining in the regular season, all eyes were on the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies to see how they would fare on the fast two-mile oval at Michigan International Speedway and whether the other rookies could join Chris Buescher in the win column. Picking up right where he left off in June, Chase Elliott was stellar throughout the weekend at Michigan as he looked for redemption from his near win at the track earlier this season. Elliott started the dayRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For even the most seasoned veteran, the treacherous high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway can be a tough task, so the stellar 2016 rookie class had their work cut out for them in the late summer classic. The race which was postponed due to rain after 48 laps were completed on Saturday night, ran to completion on Sunday afternoon, but Sunday proved to be much tougher than Saturday night under the lights, as Chris Buescher claimed the best finish of the rookies with aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The newly repaved and reconfigured Kentucky Speedway was rough on several drivers throughout the field, from champions on down, but for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies, the track really had it out for them on Saturday night, as four of the five rookies would run into major trouble. The rookies were holding their own in the early going, but on lap 89, the first set of rookies would suffer Kentucky’s wrath. Ryan Blaney’s car got loose in Turn 3 on lap 89, makingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After leading a career-high 51 laps at Pocono last weekend en route to a fourth place finish, Chase Elliott came into Sunday’s race at Michigan looking to improve on that as he continued to be in the hunt for his first win. Elliott started the day in 10th and flexed his muscle early and often, working his way to the lead over Joey Logano on a restart at lap 117 and looked to be one of the cars to beat as the laps clicked off.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After rookie Alexander Rossi won the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day, all eyes were on the standout rookies of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to see if they could make it two rookie wins on the day. While none of the five rookies in the field were able to end the night in victory lane, NAPA Auto Parts, which sponsored Rossi in the Indianapolis 500 and also sponsors rookie Chase Elliott and his No. 24 Chevrolet wound up with the top rookie finish atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer On a day that saw several of the contenders suffer issues throughout the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies saw the opportunity to pounce and came close to claiming victory, only to fall just short. Leading the way for the rookie class was Chase Elliott, who had his work cut out for him to start the day, but found himself hunting for the race lead and the win in the closing laps. Elliott started 13th after qualifying wasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer There must be something in the water in Virginia. Just like Martinsville three weeks ago, the five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies all struggled at some point in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond. With the spring Richmond race reverting to a day race for the first time since 1997, the bright sunshine beating down on the 0.75 mile short track created handling difficulties for all of those in the field, rookies and veterans alike. Falling a lap down early with an ill-handling car, ChaseRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer After scoring his best career finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series last weekend at Texas, Chase Elliott and the other Cup Series rookies headed into Bristol ready to get a crash course in racing on the half-mile bullring. All five rookies started outside of the top-15 and although Bristol seemed to have their number early on, most of them found a way to turn things around by the time the checkered flag flew. Leading the way once again was Elliott, who fell two lapsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer With one of the best rookie classes in recent memory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series occurring during the 2016 season, each week we’ll take a look at the five rookies battling for Rookie of the Year and track their progress throughout the season. In this Auto Club Speedway edition of the “Rookie Report,” Chase Elliott finds himself at the top of the rookie mountain once again. With his sixth place finish in the Auto Club 400, Elliott posted his best finish of the seasonRead More