Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Kevin Harvick took the first step toward getting back on the right side of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff cut line, winning the pole for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Harvick, who trails fourth-place Joey Logano by 14 points entering the second race of the Round of 8, toured the 1.5-mile track in 28.465 seconds (189.707 mph) to win his second Busch Pole Award atRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Let the head games begin. A week removed from a run-in on track at Martinsville that led to a post-race scuffle on pit road, it’s still game on between Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has moved on to Texas Motor Speedway and Sunday’s running of the AAA Texas 500. To his credit, Hamlin owned up to his part of the on-track incident that wound up leading to the fracas that included both drivers, pitRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Just this week, 25-year-old Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney took to social media to acknowledge and chide some media prognosticators, who may not have penciled him to still be Playoff-eligible and a win away from his Championship 4 debut. But he is. And more than that Blaney is liking the good vibes of his No. 12 Team Penske Ford’s Playoff showing. Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is a venue whereRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The penultimate round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs rolls on to Texas Motor Speedway after a drama-filled race at Martinsville a week ago. 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 on the AAA Texas 500. First joining the circuit in 1997,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano have had their fair share of run-ins both on-track and off over the years and Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, the tension between the two flared back up. Both drivers had a decent day going with the two running in the top-10 as the laps were winding down in the first race of the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Then as they were running side-by-side with about 50 laps to go, Hamlin ran wide offRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – It took a post-race fracas on pit road to distract from the dominance of Martin Truex Jr., who led a career-best 464 laps in winning Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway and punched his ticket for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race. The 2017 Cup Series champion took the lead from pole winner Denny Hamlin off pit road on Lap 30 under the first of 11 cautions and held it the rest of the way, save for aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Round of 8 is on. Following a barn burner of a finish at Kansas last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for Sunday’s running of the First Data 500. A win by any of the eight drivers still in contention for the title and they punch their ticket to the championship race at Homestead. 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 overRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Twelve drivers entered Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas still in the running for the championship, but by the time the checkered flag flew, four of them were on the outside looking in as their hopes for a title were erased. Starting the day, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, William Byron, and Clint Bowyer were the four drivers in the danger zone, sitting 18 points or more below the cut-off line, with all of them in a virtual must-win situation. Among the four, only Elliott wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – As Denny Hamlin was finishing off a dominating day in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott stole perhaps an even bigger prize—a spot in the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Hamlin, who led 153 of 277 laps, crossed the finish line .128 seconds ahead of Elliott in a second overtime to secure his fifth victory of the season, his second at Kansas Speedway and the 36th of his career. But theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Daniel Hemric may be out of the Playoffs and out of his ride at Richard Childress racing next year, but that didn’t stop the driver of the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet from winning the pole position for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In Saturday’s time trials for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 elimination race, Hemric covered the 1.5-mile distance in 30.329 seconds (178.047 mph) to earn the topRead More