Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – In Sunday’s STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, everything worked – but nothing more than Brad Keselowski’s race-winning No. 2 Ford. Yes, that’s right, a Ford. The car maker found Victory Lane at the .526-mile short track for the first time since Oct. 20, 2002, when Kurt Busch won at NASCAR’s oldest and smallest premier series track in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Keselowski and runner-up Kyle Busch swapped the lead during the final 64-lap green-flag run,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After winning his first Martinsville grandfather clock in this race one year ago, Kyle Busch looked primed to accomplish that feat for the second year in a row after leading the most laps in Sunday’s STP 500, but with handling issues plaguing him in the final stint of the race, he had to settle for a runner-up finish instead. Busch started the day in 10th place and took over the lead for the first time under caution on lap 109. Though it was just forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The first five races of the season haven’t exactly gone to plan for Austin Dillon, but Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville was just what the doctor ordered for the fourth-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver as he was able to score his best finish of the season with a fifth-place result. In this race one year ago, Dillon brought home a fourth-place finish, so the driver out of the Richard Childress Racing stable has learned how to get around the treacherous half-mile in recentRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville was shaping up to be a promising day for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his No 88 team, but a late race crash would put an end to his hopes for his first top-10 of the season, relegating him to a 34th place finish instead. Martinsville serves as one of Earnhardt’s better tracks on the circuit, with one win, 13 top-five finishes, 18 top-10 finishes, 972 laps led, and an average finish of 12.9 in 33 starts entering the day, soRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After winning his seventh championship last fall, Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 team haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire through the first five races of 2017, but this weekend’s trip to Martinsville Speedway could be just what the doctor ordered. Entering Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville, Johnson has only finished in the top-10 once this season and sits 17th in points. However, Martinsville ranks as one of his best tracks on the circuit, second only to Auto Club Speedway in average finishRead More

By Beth Lunkenheimer, NASCAR Contributor Dale Earnhardt Jr. just completed his 600th career start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series last weekend at Auto Club Speedway. During that time, the 42-year-old has 26 career victories, including two Daytona 500 wins. Oh, and that doesn’t include that he is also a 14-time Most Popular Driver. “I just wanted to drive. I wanted to race cars for a living. I wanted to do it well enough to be able to afford to make a living doing it,” Earnhardt said. “I didn’tRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor A fixture on the NASCAR schedule since 1949, Martinsville Speedway has provided numerous memorable moments over the years and in this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”, we’ll take a step back three decades to the running of the 1987 Goody’s 500 and the wild finish that would follow. Geoff Bodine would start the 500 lap event on the pole and held onto the point for the first 71 laps before ceding the lead over to Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip would lead 21 of the nextRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After completing the Western swing, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the first short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. 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 over 500 grueling laps. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only way to pass will be the move we all know andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As first reported on Twitter by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Atlanta Motor Speedway will not repave their 1.5 mile track for next year’s race, electing instead to postpone their plans for at least a year. The track, which has not been repaved since it was reconfigured in 1997, has shown increasing signs of wear over the years and as a result has been revered by drivers for its challenging race conditions, including heavy tire fall-off and cars slipping and sliding around on the worn-out surface. EvenRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series completed its ‘West Coast Swing’ with the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, Joey Logano looked to rebound after a 31st place finish at Phoenix Raceway. After unloading off the truck, Logano placed his No. 22 AAA Southern California Ford Fusion fifth in the first practice session. By the time qualifying started, Logano’s Team Penske Ford was one of several teams, including defending champion Jimmie Johnson, that were struggling to get through inspection. Unfortunately for Logano, timeRead More