Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For Daniel Suárez, it has been a long and winding road to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Suárez first entered the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series in 2011 while also competing full-time in the NASCAR Mexico Series. In the K&N Pro East Series, the results were not what Suárez was expecting. He earned just two top fives and six Top 10s in 16 races between 2011 and 2012. At the same time, Suárez earned 12 top fives and 16 Top 10s in the NASCARRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As the 59th running of the Daytona 500 looms ahead, the drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will all be gunning for the opportunity to call themselves champions of the “Great American Race”, but for Michael Waltrip, this race takes on another dimension as it will be his last behind the wheel. After making his 784th career start in the Cup Series, Waltrip will be hanging up his helmet at the conclusion of Sunday’s race, bringing his 32-year driving career to an endRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor No this isn’t a recycled article from years past, there will be an all Hendrick Motorsports front row for the 2017 Daytona 500. On a week where all of the talk was about how fast the Ford and Toyota race teams were, it was Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. who stood above the pack when it came to single car qualifying runs for the biggest race of the year. Earnhardt, who is making his return to the sport after missing the second-half of last yearRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Entering the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Advanced Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway, 2016 winner Denny Hamlin looked to be a favorite to win. In a blind draw, Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Wheeler, drew the second starting position for the annual exhibition race. After electing not to participate in the first practice session, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry was fastest in the second practice. The bulk of the second practice session saw manufacturers drafting exclusively. As the first segment of raceRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor He may not have a ride for the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, but Alex Bowman continues to showcase his talents in every opportunity he gets. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is usually the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS, told his team and sponsor that Bowman deserved to run the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona — a non-points race designed to reward pole winners from the season before. Bowman won the pole in the fall race at Phoenix while fillingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It’s that time of the year again. After a long offseason, NASCAR is back in action for the 2017 season with the running of the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona, an annual exhibition race that kicks off two weekends of racing activity at the World Center of Racing. The Advance Auto Parts Clash, which is scheduled for an 8:00 pm ET start on Saturday night, has held various names over the years, from starting as the Busch Clash beginning in 1979 through 1998, whenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Ahead of the start of the 2017 NASCAR season next weekend at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR took the opportunity to unveil the stage lengths for not only the season openers for all three national series, but also for the remainder of the season. The new format, which was unveiled with much pomp and circumstance last month in Charlotte is geared toward making the racing more exciting throughout each event in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Ahead of their 2017 race dates, Dover International Speedway has announced that they will be adding additional SAFER barriers to the one-mile concrete oval. The facility will gain approximately 1,800 feet of SAFER barriers, which will place the barriers along the outside walls on the frontstretch and backstretch, as those areas are currently unprotected. With the new SAFER barriers, the outside walls around the entire track will now be protected by the energy absorbing walls. “Continued improvements to our facility, particularly in the areas ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Safety in NASCAR just took another step forward. On Wednesday, the sanctioning body announced a partnership with American Medical Response to move toward a dedicated traveling safety team for the first time in their history. While not quite as big the Holmatro Safety Team that the IndyCar Series uses, NASCAR will now have a dedicated safety chase vehicle that will roll out to any accident scene along with the other safety vehicles that have been used previously. AMR will provide a state-licensed doctor and paramedicRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 36 Years in Cup: 11 Career Wins: 7 Biggest Accomplishment: 4 wins in 2016 A stellar 2016 season saw Martin Truex Jr. tie a career best with eight top-five finishes and set career bests with four wins, five poles and 1,809 laps led. The four wins included two of the sport’s crown jewels, the Coca-ColaRead More