Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It’s a dream come true for 37-year-old Kevin Meendering, who will become Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief beginning in 2019 after spending the last three seasons calling shots at JR Motorsports for Elliott Sadler in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Meendering will be Johnson’s second ever full-time crew chief after having Chad Knaus for 17 seasons, and during Thursday’s press conference, he spoke about this opportunity of working with the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. “Oh, it’s great. I’m excited for this opportunity for sure,” Meendering said.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer “I have to say ultimately, it’s Rick’s call. It’s Hendrick Motorsports. We’ve had a lot of very open conversations and discussions but in the end, Rick is the one that makes the decisions,” Jimmie Johnson said on who made the call to split up a 17-year partnership with crew chief Chad Knaus. A day removed from the bombshell news of the NASCAR season took place, both Johnson and Knaus spoke for the first time about the announcement Thursday. It’s no secret the legendary duo has hadRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Just days after the heart wrenching loss of Davey Allison to a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series returned to the 2.66-mile track for the 1993 running of the DieHard 500. Following a stirring pre-race tribute to Allison involving his family, the 43 drivers that made up the field that day strapped in for what was going to a barnburner of a race under the scorching July sun. Bill Elliott won the pole, with Ernie Irvan starting alongside for the 188-lap affair.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer What fans expected to be a career-long partnership will no longer be as the legendary duo of seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus will split at the end of the season after 17 seasons together. Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday that changes were made in both the No. 48 and No. 24 teams for the 2019 season. Knaus will now make the calls for William Byron, while current Xfinity Series crew chief Kevin Meendering has been promoted to becomeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Leavine Family Racing took another step toward their future on Wednesday as the team announced they would be swapping manufacturers to Toyota and bringing Matt DiBenedetto on board to drive their No. 95 Camry in 2019. Since first joining the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ranks in 2011, LFR has run with both Ford and Chevrolet, but the new announcement will put them in some of the best equipment they’ve had to date, as the deal includes a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. “We’re thrilledRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The state of Washington has officially hit its lowest point in terms of NASCAR drivers from the Evergreen State. It has been over 24 hours since Kasey Kahne’s stated his less ideal farewell from competitive stock car racing. The announcement was regarding Kahne not being medically cleared for the rest of the season due to extreme heat exhaustion, denying the 18-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner the opportunity to finish out his career on his own terms. With that, it marks the true end ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Since taking a step back for medical reasons five weeks ago, Kasey Kahne and the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing team had held out hope that their driver could return to the cockpit to finish out the remainder of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season on his own terms, but alas, it was not to be. News came down Tuesday that Kahne was not medically cleared to return to the racecar following his battle with severe dehydration that left him in bad shape at theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – What looked like a Stewart-Haas Racing victory parade for much of Sunday afternoon ended in a wild overtime scramble, with Chase Elliott taking the checkered flag in the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway. On considerably older tires, Elliott pulled ahead cleared runner-up Denny Hamlin through Turns 1 and 2 after a restart on Lap 403 and powered his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet across the finish line .265 second ahead of Hamlin’s Toyota. With the victory—his second of the seasonRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Both Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola had a shot at the win Sunday at Dover, but by the time the checkered flag flew, the two drivers were left with nothing but heartbreak. All four Stewart-Haas Racing cars were strong throughout the day, with Kevin Harvick dominating and the remainder right behind him, but when Harvick had to make an extra trip down pit road late in the race, it looked as if Almirola was in the catbird seat to finally be able to break through forRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was the “Kevin Harvick Show” for the first 320 laps, but an unscheduled pit stop changed his entire day and he never regained the lead back. Instead of celebrating his eighth win of the season, it was a salvageable rally for the spring winner, as he ended up sixth in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway after leading 286 of 404 laps. Before making his race-changing stop, Harvick cruised his way towards two stage wins, and had pulled away from his Stewart-Haas RacingRead More