Matt Kenseth Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Driver Matt Kenseth and crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine—both champions at NASCAR’s highest level—will become the newest Modern Era members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, along with ageless Hershel McGriff, who was elected from a group of five Pioneer Division nominees. Long-time NASCAR executive Mike Helton also was named the recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR during the announcements made by NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. Kenseth and Shelmerdine wereRead 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 David Morgan, Associate Editor The final two races that make up the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will be a gauntlet for the drivers still in championship contention with races at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval set to wreak havoc on the Playoff field. Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega is the first wild card race that will have to be dealt with, as the unpredictable nature of superspeedway racing will likely throw a wrench into even the best laid plans and leave some of the Playoff driversRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs gets underway with a trip out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the South Point 400. While the Cup Series has already run on the 1.5-mile track earlier this year, it will be a vastly different environment the 12 championship contenders are walking into on Sunday, not only weather-wise, but also with the absence of fans due to the ongoing COVID-19 precautions. The 267-lap race will be crucial to the second round ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes to an end right where it all began back in February as Daytona International Speedway is set to host Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. With three spots in the Playoffs still up for grabs, those drivers who have yet to lock themselves in will have to make it through the gauntlet at the World Center of Racing to punch their ticket into the postseason. Of the drivers still looking to race their way in, ClintRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Mile. Bristol on steroids. No matter the nickname, Dover International Speedway lives up to the hype as being one of the most physically demanding racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit and plays host to yet another doubleheader weekend that has found it’s way onto the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for two separate races in May and August, the two events will now take place in two 311-lap events on Saturday and Sunday to make up two of the finalRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Normally Michigan International Speedway’s two annual NASCAR Cup Series races would take place roughly two months apart, but this year, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic means both races will take place over one weekend. Double the fun. The first race of the weekend on August 8 will be the rescheduled Firekeepers Casino 400, originally planned for June 7, with the Consumers Energy 400 taking place the following day on August 9. With these races taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturersRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a rare Thursday night race last weekend at Kansas, it’s back to regularly scheduled programming as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. First joining the Cup Series circuit in 1993, the 1.058-mile oval that has progressively banked turns from two to seven degrees is one of the more difficult tracks on the schedule as the flat nature of the track makes track position key with passing at a premium. As has beenRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor In the fall of 2015, the term “quintessential NASCAR” was coined by then NASCAR CEO Brian France with the genesis of the phrase coming after a late race incident between Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Both drivers found themselves in contention as the race played out, with Logano running in the top-five for the majority of the race and Kenseth leading 153 laps on the day. A restart with 20 laps to go placed the two drivers onRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Moving away from Charlotte for only the second time since its conception, the NASCAR All-Star Race heads to Bristol Motor Speedway Wednesday night for one of the most anticipated races in the event’s 35 year history. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but with $1 million on the line for the winner, the intensity should get cranked to 11. The aggressiveness that the drivers will show on the high-banked bullring that is called “The Last Great Colosseum” to take home the coveted Bristol trophy and theRead More