Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After 26 regular season races to set the 16-driver field, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Chicagoland Speedway for the opening salvo of the playoffs and Sunday’s 17th annual running of the Tales of the Turtles 400. As one of the newer tracks on the circuit, having joined in 2001, the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway finds itself front and center as the playoffs begin. The track, which only hosts the Cup Series once each season, boasts banking of 18 degrees as well as aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With Silly Season in full force, another domino fell on Tuesday as Danica Patrick announced that she will not be returning to the driver’s seat of the No. 10 Ford and Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018. Patrick’s contract with SHR went through 2018, but was contingent on her having sponsorship to be able to continue with the team. As the weeks and months have gone along, it became more and more likely that sponsorship opportunities were not lining up for Patrick and her future with SHRRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Smithfield Foods, which has sponsored Richard Petty Motorsports and Aric Almirola since 2012, will be leaving the famed No. 43 car at the end of the 2017 season and heading over to Stewart-Haas Racing as a primary sponsor next season. The announcement made Tuesday was short on details, but noted that more information, including the driver who will be added to the Stewart-Haas Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stable will be announced at a later date. Currently, Stewart-Haas fields cars for Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer,Read More

NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – A caution on Lap 397 of a scheduled 400 in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 turned what looked like a coronation for Martin Truex Jr. into an unexpected overtime victory for Kyle Larson, as the field of 16 drivers was set for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Truex, the regular season winner, had a comfortable lead over Larson when Derrike Cope brushed the outside wall with three laps left in regulation. Larson won the race off pit road after the lead-lap carsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Heading into Saturday night’s regular season finale at Richmond, it was win or go home for the drivers sitting outside of the top-16 prior to the Federated Auto Parts 400. Ultimately, none of those drivers on the outside looking in were able to capitalize by the time the checkered flag flew and will head home without a shot at the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship and wondering what they could have done over the first 26 races to change their fortunes. Among theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway was the final chance for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to make the Playoffs. All five of the ROTY contenders have had previous experience at Richmond. Erik Jones was the best rookie for the fourth week in a row, narrowly beating out Daniel Suarez for sixth in the No. 77 SiriusXM Toyota Camry after running inside the top-five all night long. A missed shift on theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Like a strange scene out of a ‘B-Rated’ Comedy movie, Matt Kenseth’s Federated Auto Parts 400 ended because of an ambulance. Kenseth, who had been battling for a much-needed victory, came close to seeing his title chances evaporate after 257 laps. No one could have predicted the chain of events that would befall Kenseth’s No. 20 Hurricane Harvey Relief Toyota Camry. It started when Austin Dillon punted Danica Patrick entering turn one. Patrick went for a long, lazy spin that brought out a caution, however,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After 500 miles around the historic Darlington Raceway last Sunday, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway for the final regular season race that will set the 16 driver field for the playoffs with Saturday night’s running of the Federated Auto Parts 400. Often described as the perfectly designed race track by drivers, the 0.75 mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side by sideRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor This weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway for the regular season finale to cement which 16 drivers will head into the playoffs with a chance at the championship, but four years ago, this race and NASCAR as a whole was rocked by a race manipulation scheme dubbed as “Spingate.” Entering the race in September 2013, there were 10 drivers vying for the final five Chase spots, four of which would go to the drivers in the top-10 in points andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Penalty day in NASCAR has come following the race weekend at Darlington Raceway and this week’s penalty announcement is a doozy, with drivers from both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series feeling the wrath of the sanctioning body. Denny Hamlin made headlines across the sport with his sweep of both races on the historic track, including a monster comeback in Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, but now both of those wins have been ruled as encumbered by NASCAR due to issuesRead More