Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It may have taken him nearly two years, but Clint Bowyer finally made it back into the top-five at the end of a race after finishing third in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Bowyer had not finished in the top-five since finishing fifth at the 2015 Bristol night race, a drought of 52 races, but with Stewart-Haas power behind him, Bowyer is definitely back to having fun behind the wheel again. “It was just a good weekend,” said Bowyer.  “I appreciate everybody’sRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Early on in Sunday’s Auto Club 400, it looked as if Brad Keselowski wouldn’t be in contention for the win by the time the checkered flag flew, but as he and his team have done so many times in the past, they persevered through the adversities to bring home a second place finish on the day. Starting from third place, Keselowski’s troubles started from the drop of the green flag as outside polesitter Denny Hamlin couldn’t get going on the start, causing Ryan Newman toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor On the day he makes his 600th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will have his work cut out for him as he will have to start from the rear of the field in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 after discovering a cut tire. Under the new rules this season that drivers have to start the race on the tires they qualified, Earnhardt will have to vacate his 19th place starting position to join some other big names at the rear ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Days after NASCAR decided against penalizing Austin Dillon for his run-in with Cole Custer at Phoenix, penalties were still a hot topic when the drivers arrived at Auto Club Speedway and Danica Patrick, who has felt the wrath of NASCAR in the past, weighed in on the penalties, or lack thereof, from the sanctioning body. In 2015, Patrick was fined $25,000 and penalized 25 points for wrecking David Gilliland under caution at Martinsville and just last year earned a behavioral penalty from NASCAR for leavingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor These days Jimmie Johnson is considered one of the greatest of all-time with seven championships and 80 wins to his name, but there was a time when the California native was a fresh faced rookie just looking to make a mark on the sport. As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Auto Club Speedway this weekend, we’ll take a look back at the 2002 NAPA 500 in this week’s “Throwback Thursday Theater”, where Johnson scored the first of his many wins. Johnson signedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Following the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix, penalties were expected to come down from NASCAR for post-race inspection issues and on Wednesday afternoon, the sanctioning body laid out the penalties that they had handed down to the teams involved. Brad Keselowski had finished fifth at Phoenix, but after the race, his No. 2 team did not pass weights and measures, failing the post-race rear wheel steer on the Laser Inspection Station. As a result, Keselowski’s finish will be encumbered and crew chiefRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix to kick off the Western swing, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wraps up their venture to the West Coast this weekend as they roll into Southern California to do battle on the two mile Auto Club Speedway in Sunday’s Auto Club 400. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the two mile oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997. The track has gone throughRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Erik Jones’ No. 77 Furniture Row Racing team did everything right in Sunday’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix International Raceway—except for predicting how many cars would take two tires versus four on the final pit stop before overtime. Jones was running fifth when a melted bead caused Joey Logano’s right front tire to explode and sent the No. 22 Ford of the polesitter into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 307 of a scheduled 312. Jones took four tires under theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Add another runner-up finish to the tally for Kyle Larson and his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team. After finishing second in three of the previous four races entering Sunday’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix, Larson finished as the runner-up once again for the third week in a row with another strong performance in the Valley of the Sun to come away as the points leader Starting the day in fourth place, Larson ran inside the top-10 for the majority of the day, even takingRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor It was looking like a story book finish to a whirlwind week for Kyle Busch as he had a three second lead in the waning laps of Sunday’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Then a cut tire by Busch’s biggest current rival, Joey Logano brought out a caution which ended Busch’s chances for his first win of the year. Busch started the day from the ninth position. The driver of the No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry worked his way to sixth early in theRead More