Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Alex Bowman found himself on an island as he was the lone Chevrolet in the lead with an onslaught of Fords behind him heading down the backstretch on lap 106. With Joey Logano leading the Blue Oval brigade and closing in on the Hendrick Motorsports entry in a hurry, Bowman moved down the track to try and halt the momentum of Logano and the others, but the closing rate was too much to overcome. As soon as Logano made contact with Bowman’s rear bumper, itRead More

By Holly Cain,NASCAR Wire Service It was a dramatic day for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers in Monday’s rain-delayed 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway – with all 12 championship-eligible drivers involved in some way in an assortment of wrecks, including three versions of the track’s famous “Big One.” The race ultimately came down to a photo finish between a pair of Ryans. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney beat Roush-Fenway Racing veteran Ryan Newman to the finish line by a foot – .007-seconds – to take the victoryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Two factors threw the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs into chaos on Monday afternoon—Talladega and Ryan Blaney. By .007 seconds—the sixth closest finish in series history—Blaney edged Ryan Newman to win Monday’s rain-delayed 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, which took a big bite out of most other Playoff contenders and set up a scramble for the six remaining spots in the Round of 8 next Sunday at Kansas Speedway. With his first victory of the season, his first at TalladegaRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – In a helter-skelter finish at the end of Lap 55, William Byron held the lead to win Stage 1 of Sunday’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway to advance his cause in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The winner of Stage 2 and the race, however, won’t be decided until Monday. Rain arrived during the first stage break and sent fans in the frontstretch grandstands scurrying for cover. A subsequent break in the rain wasn’t long enough to dry theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Led by pole winner Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports reasserted its domination of superspeedway qualifying on Saturday at Talladega. The winner at Talladega in April, Elliott toured the 2.66-mile track in 46.692 seconds (192.707 mph) to win his second Busch Pole Award at Talladega, his fourth of the season and the eighth of his career. Hendrick Motorsports swept the top four starting spots for Sunday’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Alex Bowman qualified second atRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Back in the spring, Chase Elliott gave the fans at Talladega a thrill by scoring the victory. Nearly six months later, the Hendrick Motorsports driver is hoping to channel some of that same energy into another win on the 2.66-mile superspeedway to punch his ticket to the next round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. This time around, a good performance is needed even more after retiring just six laps into the Round of 12 opener at Dover last weekend,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – The opening day of on-track activity at Talladega Superspeedway was all about practice, with both the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolling out for a pair of 50-minute practices for both series. Austin Hill, Harrison Burton Lead Toyota Truck Series Practice Sweep While the first half of the opening Truck Series practice featured single car runs and a few drivers teaming up in tandems, business really picked up in the latter half of practice as multipleRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Round One of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs had the Charlotte ROVAL as the big wild card and this weekend the wild card race of the second round of the Playoffs looms large as the series rolls into Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s running of the 1000Bulbs.com 500. Racing at Talladega has always been crazy from the time the track opened back in 1969. From the driver boycott of the first race that led to unknown driver Richard Brickhouse scoring hisRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson celebrated his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in two years Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, taking the checkered flag in the Drydene 400 by a convincing 1.578-seconds over Martin Truex Jr. and securing himself and his Chip Ganassi Racing team their first ever berth in the upcoming Playoff Round of 8. Larson’s friend and polesitter Denny Hamlin finished fifth after leading a race best 218 laps. But perhaps the two golf buddies would agree, on this Sunday, Larson’s longRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It was a friendly golf wager made good on the race track. Denny Hamlin began marking his 500th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race start this weekend with a record pole-winning speed Saturday afternoon at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. And Hamlin earned his – and Toyota’s – second pole of the season by a mere .003-seconds over the very guy he made that all-in-fun wager with – Kyle Larson. “I got him, I got him,’’ Hamlin said smiling after qualifying for Sunday’s DrydeneRead More