Kasey Kahne Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – The 2018 calendar has reached September and with it comes one of the marquee events on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, the 25th running of the race at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. First joining the circuit in 1994, the track has provided some classic moments and some that the powers that be would rather forget. The track’s relatively flat surface, combined with narrow corners and high speeds, makes passing a premium on theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the first time in the history of the Brickyard 400, the defending champion won’t compete in the 160-lap contest. Due to lingering effects of extreme heat exhaustion from last Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, Leavine Family Racing announced Thursday that Kasey Kahne has been ruled out to compete in the No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Regan Smith has been tapped to replace Kahne at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start thisRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Seven weeks after their first trip to the “Tricky Triangle,” the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series makes their second visit of the season to Pocono Raceway for Sunday’s running of the Gander Outdoors 400. 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 1 and its 14-degree banking modeled after the now-defunct Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 and itsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – To say that 2018 has been a struggle for Kasey Kahne and Leavine Family Racing would be an understatement, but on Saturday night at Daytona, the No. 95 team nearly made all of their troubles disappear as they were in the running for their first win all the way down the stretch, eventually ending the race with a fourth-place finish. “It was great,” said Kahne. “We had a strong car. The Thorne Chevrolet was really strong. Figured it out in the secondRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a wild war of attrition that went to two overtimes, Erik Jones outdueled Martin Truex Jr. on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway to seize the first victory of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. In a Coke Zero Sugar 400 that went eight laps beyond its scheduled 160, Jones passed the reigning series champion on the backstretch of the final lap and held on to win by .125 seconds. Jones battled back from damage sustained in a multicarRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following last Sunday’s instant classic in the Windy City, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to where it all began, Daytona International Speedway, for this weekend’s 59th running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the third restrictor plate race of the season. From 1959 until 1987, the 160 lap, 400 mile shootout at the World Center of Racing, then called the Firecracker 400, was held on July 4th, even if the holiday fell in the middle of the week. Beginning in 1988, the raceRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After getting to enjoy a much needed week off, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back in business with a little road course racing. This week, the series makes the trek out to California wine country to take on the 1.990 mile Sonoma Raceway, a 12-turn technical road course situated about 30 miles north of San Francisco. This week’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 consists of 110 laps, which calculates out to 218.9 miles, or 350 kilometers. Over the years, the course at Sonoma Raceway has goneRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After two weeks at home in Charlotte, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back on the road this weekend as Pocono Raceway and the Pocono 400 are calling. 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 1 and its 14 degree banking modeled after the now-defunct Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 and its nine degree banking modeledRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor While Pocono doesn’t always produce the greatest racing, with the field getting strung out more often than not, there are a few exceptions to the rule. The 2010 Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 was one of them. Though the race began much like every other race at the “Tricky Triangle”, as the laps wound down, the action cranked up. After the start of the race was delayed by rain, three drivers, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Clint Bowyer, asserted themselves as the cars to beat, leading allRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Following an early morning rain storm, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series had just one practice session on Saturday morning to complete their preparations for NASCAR’s longest night, the Coca-Cola 600. When all was said and done, Joe Gibbs Racing’s sophomore driver, Erik Jones, led the way in his Toyota with a lap of 28.870 seconds, 187.045 mph, around Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson clocked in second, 0.059 seconds behind Jones on the time sheet. Jones also had the fastest 10-lap average inRead More