By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — Nine drivers were unable to take a qualifying lap on Friday for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. All nine were stuck in the technical inspection line after failing on their first pass through. Among the nine drivers were some really big names like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne. Saturday morning, those drivers got their first shot to prove how fast their cars really are, and spoiler alert some
Read More By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer Many people have argued for years that 1.5-mile tracks are too cookie cutter. Well, they can’t claim that about Texas Motor Speedway anymore. This offseason, the track underwent a massive repaving and re-profiling which flattened the banking four degrees on one end of the track, which now gives crew chiefs a dilemma of what end of the speedway to adjust their cars for. In opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, the new track layout bit several of the sport’s top drivers. In all three drivers
Read More By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip to the smallest track on the circuit for some great racing at Martinsville last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Lone Star State and Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. First joining the circuit in 1997, the 1.5 mile Texas track has provided some great racing over the years as the surface wore down as each season passed. However, this go around, the track will be a completely different animal as the
Read More By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – In Sunday’s STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, everything worked – but nothing more than Brad Keselowski’s race-winning No. 2 Ford. Yes, that’s right, a Ford. The car maker found Victory Lane at the .526-mile short track for the first time since Oct. 20, 2002, when Kurt Busch won at NASCAR’s oldest and smallest premier series track in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Keselowski and runner-up Kyle Busch swapped the lead during the final 64-lap green-flag run,
Read More By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After winning his first Martinsville grandfather clock in this race one year ago, Kyle Busch looked primed to accomplish that feat for the second year in a row after leading the most laps in Sunday’s STP 500, but with handling issues plaguing him in the final stint of the race, he had to settle for a runner-up finish instead. Busch started the day in 10th place and took over the lead for the first time under caution on lap 109. Though it was just for
Read More By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After completing the Western swing, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the first short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic half-mile, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only way to pass will be the move we all know and
Read More By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Days after NASCAR decided against penalizing Austin Dillon for his run-in with Cole Custer at Phoenix, penalties were still a hot topic when the drivers arrived at Auto Club Speedway and Danica Patrick, who has felt the wrath of NASCAR in the past, weighed in on the penalties, or lack thereof, from the sanctioning body. In 2015, Patrick was fined $25,000 and penalized 25 points for wrecking David Gilliland under caution at Martinsville and just last year earned a behavioral penalty from NASCAR for leaving
Read More By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last time the NASCAR Xfinity Series visited Auto Club Speedway, Austin Dillon took home the victory in thrilling fashion, leading only the final lap. Dillon passed Daniel Suarez who ran out of fuel, and Kyle Busch who had blown a tire with only a straightaway to spare. Darrell Wallace, Jr. was the highest finishing NASCAR Xfinity Series regular in third. The last time a NASCAR Xfinity Series regular won at Auto Club, and was running exclusively in the Xfinity Series was Scott Riggs in
Read More By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix to kick off the Western swing, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wraps up their venture to the West Coast this weekend as they roll into Southern California to do battle on the two mile Auto Club Speedway in Sunday’s Auto Club 400. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the two mile oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997. The track has gone through
Read More By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – When the winner of Sunday’s Camping World 500 was announced, officials might have thought for a moment that they got the wrong envelope, a la Warren Beatty at the Oscars. But, no, there was no mistake. Ryan Newman was the unexpected winner of the fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season after a late caution gave his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing team the chance to break a drought dating to 2013. Staying out on old tires for
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