Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When looking back at all the memorable moments Darlington Raceway has produced, all of them aren’t confined to just the Southern 500. Back when the track held two events each year, the spring race produced just as many memorable moments of its own. The CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 in April 1979 was one of those events. Richard Petty, driving his famous No. 43 STP car, and Darrell Waltrip, who then drove the No. 88 Gatorade machine for DiGard Racing, staged a battle for the agesRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Matt DiBenedetto was 12 laps away from a lifelong dream being realized as he held the lead in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota, that dream would not come true as Denny Hamlin passed him on lap 489, leaving DiBenedetto to watch Hamlin’s car pull away through his windshield en route to the victory. A dejected DiBenedetto fought back tears on pit road afterRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – The first thing Denny Hamlin did after winning Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race at Bristol Motor Speedway was apologize to the man he beat to the finish line in the 24th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. With 11 laps left in the grueling 500-lap event, Hamlin drove to the inside of Matt DiBenedetto and cleared him from the lead. Roughly three minutes later, Hamlin crossed the stripe .502 seconds ahead of the No. 95 LeavineRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Earlier this week, Matt DiBenedetto finally got the news he had been dreading. Despite being in the midst of a career year, he would not be returning to the driver’s seat of the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota next season. The Grass Valley, California native classified the news as “devastating” when it was released, but after some time to process what had happened, the always optimistic DiBenedetto did his best to keep a smile on his face despite the uncertainty thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Clint Bowyer heads into Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway clinging onto the last place in the Playoffs for dear life with just three races left in the regular season. After finishes of 20th or worse in three of the last four events, any misstep by the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford could spell doom for his hopes of making it into the postseason with a chance to contend for the championship. “SnakebitRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson played a late game of King of the Mountain in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Bristol Motor Speedway. After 38 drivers made qualifying runs, it was Hamlin who was left at the top of the peak. Larson was the 34th driver to take to the track, and his impressive lap at 129.004 mph (14.874 seconds) put him on the provisional pole for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ETRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Under bright blue skies in East Tennessee, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got its first look at Bristol Motor Speedway ahead of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. After what was a mostly one groove race in Thursday night’s Truck Series race at the track, it was much of the same in first practice on Friday. Erik Jones, who led both Xfinity Series practices on Thursday, was once again at the top of the board in the first ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley this weekend for the annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a showdown under the lights on the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” that is sure to leave sheet metal twisted and tempers flaring once these drivers get done battling for 500 laps. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race each August, the intensity gets cranked to 11. The aggressiveness thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Bristol Night Race is always a race that is circled on the calendar each year for the sheer entertainment value the event provides and the classic moments that have occurred in the race over the years. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. started on the front row for the August 2002 running of the famed race in front of a packed house. When all was said and done, the fans would be sure to remember what would transpire in the 500Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Two drivers misfortunes became one man’s tremendous gain. That man was Daniel Suarez, who finished fifth in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. After facing near disaster during Saturday’s final practice when a tire went down, Suarez’s quiet race day led to his third top-five this season and the first since the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ last visit at Michigan in June, where he scored a fourth. More importantly, Suarez cut down his deficit from 23 down to six markers with just threeRead More