Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season will roar to life with a Sunday doubleheader on February 10 at Daytona to signal the start of Speedweeks. Once again this year, Cup Series qualifying and the Advance Auto Parts Clash exhibition race will kick off a week of action leading up to the 61st annual Daytona 500 the following Sunday. On Thursday, the sanctioning body released the eligibility requirements and drivers that have met those requirements for the two-segment, 75-lap event. This year’s eligible drivers will conformRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Days after announcing his official departure from Stewart-Haas Racing, Kurt Busch has landed a ride with Chip Ganassi Racing for the upcoming 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, taking over the No. 1 Chevrolet. In his 20th season in NASCAR’s top division, Busch will be bringing Monster Energy on board as a primary sponsor and he will team up with Kyle Larson in the team’s two-car stable. “I am tremendously proud to be joining Chip Ganassi Racing and the prestigious group of alumni,” said Busch.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Matt Tifft is moving up to the big leagues in 2019 as Front Row Motorsports announced Tuesday that he would be joining the organization’s three-car effort in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, piloting the team’s No. 36 entry full-time. The 22-year old native of Hinckley, Ohio will be joined by David Ragan and Michael McDowell in the team’s other two Ford Mustangs. “Today is a huge moment in my career, announcing my move to the Cup series,” said Tifft. “This has been a dream ofRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Veteran Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series crew chief, and team owner, Tommy Baldwin, Jr. will attempt the 2019 Daytona 500. After a little over a one-year hiatus, Tommy Baldwin Racing will return to the Premier Series of NASCAR. TBR competed full-time from 2009 to 2016. In 2017, the team scaled back to part-time competition following the sale of Baldwin’s charter. The team will once again compete part-time, running between five and seven races with the aim of returning to full-time competition in 2020. Crew chief,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The nighttime was definitely not the right time for Kevin Harvick in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As one of the favorites coming into the season finale, Harvick, who struggled to find speed in practice, was back to his dominant self in the early stages of the race, but as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, so did his chances at a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title. “We had a daytime race car,” Harvick said. “When it got dark,Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The talk of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season was all around the ‘Big Three’ of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Rightfully so, given that the trio went to victory lane in 20 (Busch – 8, Harvick – 8 and Truex – 4) of the 35 races heading into Sunday’s championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On paper, the deck was stacked against the Middletown, Connecticut native. Logano was the only driver of the Championship 4 without aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – If there was a sentimental favorite to win the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship, Martin Truex, Jr. and Furniture Row Racing were that favorite. With the impending closure of the team at the end of the season, it would have been a storybook finish to see Truex, crew chief Cole Pearn, owner Barney Visser and the entire organization raise the trophy for the second year in a row before riding off into the sunset and into the annals of NASCAR history.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – After 17 seasons together, Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway was the closing of a chapter in Jimmie Johnson’s career as it marked the final race that he and crew chief Chad Knaus would be paired up and the final time that Lowe’s would serve as the primary sponsor on the No. 48 Chevrolet. To commemorate the end of an era, Johnson’s car was decked out in the same Lowe’s paint scheme he sported back during his rookie season, his uniform matched the one heRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. –With eight victories heading into Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Busch was having a career year, tying a personal-best mark with victories and setting career-highs in top-fives (21) and top-10s (27). However, Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota lacked rear grip throughout the race and struggled on pit road. It was an atypical performance from one of the strongest teams of the season when it counted the most. “We just didn’t have the rear grip thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer With so much emphasis on the Championship 4, three drivers may have strapped into their cars for the last time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The three of subject were AJ Allmendinger, Matt Kenseth, and Jamie McMurray, whose careers are up in the air after completing their last races in their current rides in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. Their results might’ve been what defined each of their seasons, with McMurray in 18th and Allmendinger in 19th, while sixth-place KensethRead More