Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Two weeks ago, seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson was making his inaugural start in the Boston Marathon. Back at the race track for the first time since completing that grueling event, the race that Johnson called “awful and amazing at the same time” could be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to his on-track performance. “I had a goal in mind to run a certain pace and tried to hang onto it,” Johnson said of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Uncertainty surrounded the first day of on-track activity at Talladega Superspeedway, with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series getting their first glimpse at the new post-restrictor plate aero package that will be used at the 2.66-mile facility as well as Daytona for the foreseeable future. The new package features a tapered spacer instead of a restrictor plate, making it the first race since 1987 to feature the horsepower sapping device. To counteract the increase in horsepower, about 100 more than the teamsRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It was the last question reporters asked Martin Truex Jr. on Friday before opening practice at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and it was the biggest smile they received. How important was it for the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion to score his first win of the season – and first since joining Joe Gibbs Racing team – two weeks ago at Richmond, Va.? “It definitely felt good’’ Truex said, adding with a grin. “It was nice to go into an off-weekend with a winRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – With the first off weekend of the season in the rear-view mirror, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series gets back to business in grand fashion as they get set to take on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. Racing at Talladega has always been crazy from the time the track opened back in 1969. From the driver boycott of the first race that led to unknown driver Richard Brickhouse scoring his one and only win in theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent The first time that Jeffrey Earnhardt will face double-duty in his career comes at the track synonymous with the family name, Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt will pilot the No. 18 iK9 Toyota Supra in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Money Lion 300 for Joe Gibbs Racing. In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500, he will drive the No. 81 Xtreme Concepts Toyota Camry for XCI Racing, which is making their premier series debut. Despite 154 combined starts across all of NASCAR’s National Series, Earnhardt hasRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Recent winning history on the Talladega Superspeedway high banks has been dominated by a distinctive blue oval. Ford drivers hold a seven-race winning streak as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Alabama for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the winningest stretch for a manufacturer in more than a decade of competition on what is ironically considered one of the most unpredictable venues. Not only has Ford owned the party inRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Despite the speed of his No. 3 AAA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was evident, Austin Dillon could only muster a top-10 finish at Richmond Raceway. Throughout the final run of the Toyota Owners 400, Dillon powered forward. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver picked off his competitors one by one. As other drivers, like Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, lost the handle of their cars in the waning laps, Dillon made quick work of them. Dillon had one of the fastest cars on track, butRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Saturday night’s victory in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway was a first for Martin Truex Jr.—and more of the same for Joe Gibbs Racing. Truex won his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on a short track in his 81st try and in the process picked up his first victory with joe Gibbs Racing since moving from now-defunct Furniture Row Racing between seasons. At the same time, Truex gave JGR its third straight victory in NASCAR’s top series andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Where the short tracks are concerned, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team appeared to have turned a corner. And on Friday afternoon at Richmond Raceway, Harvick got through the corners better than everyone else in winning the pole position for Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the .75-mile track (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The Busch Pole Award was Harvick’s third at Richmond, his second of the season and the 27th of his career, settingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Short track races have defined the last month of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule with two out of the last three being held on tracks less than a mile in length. This weekend, Richmond Raceway joins the short track party with Saturday night’s running of the Toyota Owners 400. Often described as the perfectly designed race track by drivers, the 0.75 mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger trackRead More