Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – For Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., his objective in Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard is simple – win or go home. Sitting just outside the top-16 in points and not within striking distance of Alex Bowman and Jimmie Johnson to be able to steal one of their playoff spots strictly on points, Stenhouse will have to find his way to Victory Lane to make his way into the postseason still eligible for the championship. With only a win paving the way into theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Matt DiBenedetto shocked the NASCAR world on Thursday with news that he would be leaving Go Fas Racing, his home for the last two years, to seek opportunities elsewhere for the 2019 season. Of all of the silly season dominoes to fall, DiBenedetto’s news was unexpected to say the least, but as his announcement on Twitter stated, he believes the move is the correct one for his career going forward, especially as other young drivers are getting opportunities elsewhere and advancing their careers forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – After Thursday’s announcement that Kasey Kahne would not be making the trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend to defend his Brickyard 400 crown, the 18-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner took the time on Friday morning to detail exactly what is going on health-wise and his outlook for returning to the car for the remainder of the season. Everyone remembers the story of how Kahne won last year’s race at Indianapolis all while being dehydrated and cramping up severely. It turns outRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – The 2018 calendar has reached September and with it comes one of the marquee events on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, the 25th running of the race at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. First joining the circuit in 1994, the track has provided some classic moments and some that the powers that be would rather forget. The track’s relatively flat surface, combined with narrow corners and high speeds, makes passing a premium on theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the first time in the history of the Brickyard 400, the defending champion won’t compete in the 160-lap contest. Due to lingering effects of extreme heat exhaustion from last Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, Leavine Family Racing announced Thursday that Kasey Kahne has been ruled out to compete in the No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Regan Smith has been tapped to replace Kahne at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start thisRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – 25 years in, the Brickyard 400 may be a shell of its former self, but back in 1994, NASCAR hitting the track at the prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway had the sports world buzzing. In their first foray around the 2.5-mile speedway that had been reserved for open wheel cars since 1909, the drivers and teams put their stock cars through the paces over a jam-packed weekend of action, leading to a hell of a show when the green flag flew on Sunday for theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Less than a year after ascending to the top of the NASCAR mountain, Furniture Row Racing announced Tuesday that the team will be closing its doors at the conclusion of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, citing a lack of funding to be able to field a competitive team. “This is not good for anybody,” said team owner Barney Visser. “The numbers just don’t add up. I would have to borrow money to continue as a competitive team and I’m not going to doRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – By a matter of inches, Brad Keselowski won the race off pit road under the final caution in Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. That narrow margin was all the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford needed to secure a stunning victory in one of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ marquee races. On the flip side, Keselowski’s first victory of the season left Kyle Larson bitterly disappointed. Larson led 284 of the 367 laps in additionRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Throughout the first two stages of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington, Kyle Larson looked to be untouchable, but the waning laps went exactly the opposite way the No. 42 team expected and he would have to settle for a third-place finish instead. For 284 laps, Larson’s Chevrolet led the way, but within the last 60 laps of the race, the yellow flag flew three times, erasing his advantage each and every time. When the final caution came out with 24 laps left, it came downRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor To say that Jimmie Johnson has had a rough go of things in 2018 would be an understatement and Sunday’s race at Darlington only added insult to injury as a mechanical failure resulted in a 39th place finish. Johnson, who sits 15th in points, just ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, needed an issue-free race to be able to aid his chances of making it into the Playoffs, but he got anything but that in the Southern 500. From the start of the weekend,Read More