martin truex jr Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor For the second year in a row, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the banks of the Mississippi River to take on World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for Sunday’s running of the Enjoy Illinois 300. Located just across the river from St. Louis, the 1.25-mile oval resembles the layout of Darlington Raceway from overhead, with different radius corners on either end of the track. Turns 1-2 are also banked differently than Turns 3-4, providing a unique challenge for the drivers to tackle. The massive demandRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Finally.  Breaking a 59-race drought in Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney gave team owner Roger Penske his first same-year sweep of IndyCar’s biggest race and NASCAR’s longest. With a dominant No. 12 Team Penske Ford that gained long-run speed as the race progressed, Blaney led a race-high 163 of 400 laps and held off polesitter William Byron for his first victory on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval and the eighth of his career. A day after JosefRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The rebirth is nearly complete. North Wilkesboro Speedway, which had sat dormant for many years until a groundswell of support emerged to bring the track back from the dead, officially makes its return to the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend with the running of the NASCAR All-Star Race. First joining the circuit in 1947, the 0.625-mile oval served as a mainstay on the schedule for nearly 50 years before being shutdown following the 1996 season, as its race dates were shipped off to Texas Motor SpeedwayRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Undeterred by any supposed disadvantage facing Group B qualifiers in Saturday’s final round, Martin Truex Jr. put down an enviable lap in winning the pole position for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Truex covered the 1.366-mile distance in 29.028 seconds (169.409 mph) to edge fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace for the top starting spot in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Wallace was .012 seconds behind Truex at 169.339 mph.   In theory, theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Denny Hamlin didn’t tap-dance around the tap that helped him to a much-needed victory at Kyle Larson’s expense in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. On the final lap, after an intense chase that began with a restart on Lap 221 of 267, Hamlin closed in on Larson’s Chevrolet and further loosened an already loose race car. Slight contact from the right front of Hamlin’s Toyota turned Larson into the outside wall as Hamlin streaked pastRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service You could say NASCAR’s stop at Dover (De.) Motor Speedway was “All in the Family;” a kin-to-win kind of weekend.   Martin Truex Jr. answered his younger brother Ryan’s NASCAR Xfinity Series victory on Saturday with a win in Monday’s rain-delayed Wurth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race – the fourth win of his career at the one-mile oval he considers his “home track.”  Truex, who started 17th in the 36-car field after qualifying was cancelled due to weather, methodically worked his way forward in the No.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Mile. Bristol on steroids. No matter the nickname, Dover Motor Speedway lives up to the hype as being one of the most physically demanding racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. One of just a few concrete tracks currently in use by NASCAR’s top division, drivers have likened a lap around the one-mile oval to riding a rollercoaster, as they drop off the straightaways into the turns before rocketing back uphill on corner exit. By the time the checkered flag flies on Sunday’s runningRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Denny Hamlin will have the best seat in the house when the green flag waves on Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega after scoring the pole. The two-time winner at the 2.66-mile superspeedway propelled his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the top of the scoring pylon with a lap of 52.979 seconds, 180.751 mph to capture the first superspeedway pole of his NASCAR Cup Series career. “This was the first one for sure. I was well aware this was my first speedwayRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Kyle Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports team gambled on a late race two-tire pit stop to give him a fighting chance for the victory, and he took the opportunity and drove away to a commanding 4.142-second win in Sunday’s NOCO 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. It was the 2021 Champion’s first victory at the famed half-mile track; making the pass for the win in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy with 30 laps remaining, but then having to holdRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After playing in the dirt last weekend, it’s back to the asphalt this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series gets set for Sunday’s running of the NOCO 400 at Martinsville A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic half-mile in southern Virginia, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over the course of the afternoon and is a place where bent sheet metal and hurt feelings are all but inevitable. Given that Martinsville serves as the final raceRead More