Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Entering the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan in June 2012, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had gone four long years since his last trip to victory lane, which came in the same race on Father’s Day in 2008. With the weight of the world on his shoulders and his rabid fan base willing him to victory, Earnhardt silenced the doubters with a dominating win on the two-mile oval. With a freshly repaved track greeting the drivers as they arrived at Michigan, speeds immediately began to skyrocket onRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a barn burner of a finish at Pocono last weekend that culminated in Ryan Blaney taking the Wood Brothers back to victory lane, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the FireKeepers Casino 400. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this race for bragging rights.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After 13 starts with BK Racing, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Gray Gaulding will not compete for the team in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. This comes one week after it was announced that crew chief Patrick Donahue and BK Racing would part ways after Pocono and Doug George would assume crew chief duties of the No. 23 Toyota Camry. Behind the wheel of the No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry this weekend will be Ryan Sieg, who made his PremierRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway provided one of the more memorable races at the 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track in recent memory, with Ryan Blaney scoring his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win for the legendary Wood Brothers. To go along with Blaney’s win, here are five of the top storylines leaving the Tricky Triangle. The Young Guns are Taking Over 2017 has been the year of the young gun. Though drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex, Jr. haveRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last two weeks have been dismal for former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski. At both Charlotte and Dover, he crashed out early. As the series headed to Pocono Raceway for the Pocono 400, Keselowski was looking to turn his luck around. In the first practice, Keselowski showed speed in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion, placing himself sixth on the speed charts. The Team Penske driver also qualified sixth. Crew chief Paul Wolfe worked on the car, improving Keselowski toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor So close, yet so far for Kevin Harvick. Still looking for his first win of the 2017 season, Harvick entered Pocono looking to not only score his first win at the 2.5 mile triangle-shaped track, but to finally get in the winner’s column this year. Unfortunately for the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, his visit to victory lane will have to wait after coming up just short on Sunday afternoon, as he finished second on the day behind winner Ryan Blaney. Starting theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Even without crew chief Adam Stevens on top of the pit box at Pocono, Kyle Busch looked to be well on his way to his first win of the season, but with an interim crew chief at the helm, it would be a late race pit call that would be the downfall of the No. 18 team on Sunday. Starting on pole after a blistering qualifying run on Friday afternoon, Busch and his team showed they weren’t going to let Stevens four-race suspension hinder theirRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway was relatively quiet for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Of the five official ROTY contenders, both BK Racing drivers, Corey LaJoie and Gray Gaulding, have no experience at the 2.5-mile ‘Tricky Triangle.’ Erik Jones started 15th in his No. 77 GameStop / Cars 3 – Driven to Win Toyota Camry. Jones’ Furniture Row Racing team elected to pit late in the stage, allowing Jones to lead 17 laps.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With the low downforce package for 2017 leading to higher corner entry speeds this season, drivers have been having to use more brake than ever to be able to slow their cars down to be able to make the corner and on Sunday at Pocono, brake issues came to the forefront early and often. As speeds at the end of Pocono’s long frontstretch were in the 205 mph range, the brakes were getting a big workout as drivers had to slow down nearly 40 mphRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 1998 Pocono 500 was a big day for Owensboro, Kentucky with not one, but two of their native sons in the field at the Tricky Triangle an in contention for the win. When the checkered flag flew, Jeremy Mayfield would come out on top, while his boyhood idol and fellow Owensboro native, Darrell Waltrip, continued a career resurgence by coming away with the final top-10 finish of his career after battling for the win with Mayfield. The 200 lap race would get off toRead More