Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – On a night of important milestones, in a car hastily repaired after a brush with the wall during qualifying, Kyle Busch held off Kevin Harvick to win Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway to advance to the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. After a pitched battle against Brad Keselowski that lasted 21 laps, Busch made the winning pass for the lead on Lap 364 of 400 at the .75-mile track. Busch’s first victory in aRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – It’s been a mixed bag of emotions for NASCAR Playoff driver Chase Elliott this week. He received fantastic news that one of his major corporate sponsors, Hooters, would be re-upping with his Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet team through 2021. He also arrived at Richmond Raceway on Friday with a more immediate task at hand – righting his 2018 playoff ship. Elliott, 22, who crashed out and finished 36th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Las Vegas MotorRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Brad Keselowski makes no apologies for hoisting the last three trophies in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, despite not dominating any one of the races – at Darlington, S.C., Indianapolis or the playoff opener at Las Vegas last week. A win is a win. Is a win. …in Keselowski’s case. And that last win, at Vegas, moves the veteran Team Penske driver into the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs. It’s high confidence and big expectations for the 2012 CupRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following a wild opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in Las Vegas, the championship contenders head back to the East Coast this weekend to take on Richmond Raceway in their inaugural playoff date. Often described as the perfectly designed racetrack 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 track with the side-by-side racing that will take place throughout the event. Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Ryan Newman may have claimed the victory in the 2003 Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond Raceway, but the story of the night was the clash of Old School vs. New School in Ricky Rudd and Kevin Harvick that transpired in the closing laps. Before taking a dive into their incident that Saturday night in September, we have to go back in time a few years further to the 2001 running of the race, when Rudd and Harvick had their first run-in, which ended onRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor All year long, the talk of the NASCAR world has revolved around the “Big Three” and everyone wondering who would be the fourth driver to join then in the championship race at Homestead in November. Well, that question has been answered and it’s Brad Keselowski. Prior to the last few weeks, two drivers in the “Big Three”, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, had delivered a three-peat of wins, and now that group has a new member in Keselowski. In addition to making it three in aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When looking at the 10 races that make up the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway would not have been the one many circled to give the drivers competing for the championship the most issues, but by the time the checkered flag flew, more than half of the 16 playoff drivers ran into problems of some sort. Kyle Larson kicked things off with a blown tire early in Stage 1, but luckily for him, he was ableRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – In a war of attrition that caused a multitude of problems for the majority of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders, Brad Keselowski emerged unscathed with his third straight victory in the series and the 500th triumph for Team Penske in all forms of racing combined. Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Playoff opener for NASCAR’s foremost series, went to overtime, lasting five laps longer than the scheduled 267. But Keselowski held the top spot through threeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Not even halfway through the opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and two drivers contending for the championship will leave Las Vegas with Lady Luck not on their side. On lap 147 in Sunday’s South Point 400, Kevin Harvick, who entered the day as the co-points leader suffered a blown tire in Turn 1 sending him hard into the outside wall and collecting fellow playoff driver Erik Jones in the process. The crash would relegate Harvick and Jones to 37th and 38th,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After five seasons that included a Championship 4 berth, Ryan Newman announced Saturday that he’ll part ways from Richard Childress Racing at the end of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, vacating the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Newman confirmed his future on Twitter, describing his tenure at RCR as an enjoyable experience and wishes them the best going forward. “We were able to put competitive cars on the race track, qualify for the playoffs on multiple occasions and make a strong run for theRead More