Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Kyle Busch seemed to be unstoppable en route to the win Sunday at ISM Raceway, but Ryan Blaney sure put up a hell of a fight in an effort to give Team Penske a victory sweep on the day. “We’ve been poised to have days like this, contend for wins and run top 5 it just hasn’t happened this year,” said Blaney.  “We haven’t gotten the finishes we deserved and this is more like it, so that was good.  This is a good place to startRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – There was an air of inevitability to Kyle Busch’s closing run in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway. Busch was tracking down race leader Ryan Blaney after restarting fourth on Lap 239 of the fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. Running in Blaney’s wake for 37 laps, Busch finally made the winning pass on Lap 296 of 312 and nursed his car to the finish line. Busch’s third victory at the one-mile track and his 52nd in theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent After being a non-factor the last two weeks, tire strategy earns Jimmie Johnson a top-10 finish in the Ticket Guardian 500. The seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion ran inside the top-10 throughout much of the race at ISM Raceway. Johnson and his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team led by crew chief Kevin Meendering elected to take two tires under caution with 91 laps to go. On not one, but two ensuing restarts, he held his own in the melee at theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Road rage consumed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell as fists flew during Busch Pole Qualifying. The two drivers were angry with each other after an incident on track at ISM Raceway. After the incident, Suarez confronted McDowell on pit road. McDowell shoved Suarez before grabbing him by the throat. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver quickly turned the tables, throwing the Front Row Motorsports driver to the ground before the crews intervened. In the first round of qualifying for the TicketGuardianRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney ended the day the way he started it—with the fastest car at ISM Raceway. After leading opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice with the quickest lap of the day (141.716 mph), Blaney put his No. 12 Team Penske Ford on the pole for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at the one-mile track. Blaney covered the distance in 25.480 seconds (141.287 mph) in the final round of knockout qualifying to outpace Chase Elliott (140.045 mph) by a comfortable .203 seconds. The BuschRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The West Coast swing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolls on this weekend with a trip to Arizona and ISM Raceway in Phoenix for Sunday’s running of the TicketGuardian 500. With two races with the new aero package under their belts in two different low horsepower configurations, drivers and teams get their first crack at the high horsepower configuration that will feature 750 horsepower and the standard larger spoiler, but not the aero ducts. In addition, the Cup Series will see the new trackRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It never rains in the desert, but when NASCAR comes to town, it’s almost a guarantee. For several hours prior to the 2015 running of the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, the rains fell, pushing the race that was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon into the night. While the 312-mile event finally got underway under the lights, the field would be racing the rain just as much as each other throughout the evening. Early on, it looked as if KevinRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – It was a victory for Joey Logano. It was a victory for Team Penske. It was a victory for NASCAR’s new higher-downforce, lower-horsepower competition package, which debuted in full flower on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In a pitched battle between teammates, Logano held off Brad Keselowski on the final lap of the Pennzoil 400 to score the second straight victory for Team Penske and the second straight for the new Ford Mustang, which was introduced into the Monster Energy NASCARRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent After Hendrick Motorsports was ‘out to lunch’ a week ago, Chase Elliott rebounded with a top-10 in the Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver went to battle on track, avoiding several close calls in the incident-free race. In the final 100-lap stage, Elliott’s No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 restarted inside the top-10. With the new aerodynamic package on display, drafting, especially side-drafting was key. Elliott battled with Aric Almirola throughout the firstRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Sporting his 1999 NASCAR Southwest Series championship-winning paint scheme in front of his home crowd, Kurt Busch’s homecoming was a success after a wise pit strategy put him in front for 23 of 267 laps, and scored a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Throughout the afternoon, Busch’s No. 1 Star Nursery Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had his work cut out for after starting 28th and was outside the top-10 in the first two stages, with one of the adjustments made hisRead More