Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Ryan Blaney’s Ford ended the day in Texas looking like he had been through a demolition derby, but even with the damage, Blaney was still able to come away with a top-five finish. After winning Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race and dominating two out of three stages in last year’s Texas spring race, Blaney was one of a handful of drivers everyone agreed would be in the hunt for the win. But Sunday was anything but smooth for Blaney and hisRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Erik Jones and his No. 20 Reser’s Toyota Camry race team delivered in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, finishing a season-best fourth after leading 64 of 334 laps. It’s Jones first top-5 of the season and improved from 12th to 11th in points, 123 markers behind points leader and race winner Kyle Busch. “The Reser’s Camry was really good. We didn’t qualify where we wanted to this weekend,” said Jones. “It was kind of a – kind ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway has not been kind to drivers that have found themselves in contention for a decent finish in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. After blown tires ended the day early for Martin Truex, Jr. and Kyle Larson, a handful of other contenders saw their races come to a close just as the final stage began. When the green flag flew at lap 177, Kyle Busch, who was up near the lead got loose and started backing up through theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – In Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, blown tires became public enemy No. 1 for two drivers that were among the favorites, Martin Truex, Jr. and Kyle Larson. When it comes to 1.5-mile tracks, Truex, Jr. had been one of the most consistent over the past year and a half, not finishing outside the top-10 since the 2016 season finale. Unfortunately for Truex and Furniture Row Racing, that streak would come to an end at Texas as heRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Heading into Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, it’s clear that Stewart-Haas Racing is the team to beat, just as they have been on 1.5 mile tracks all season long. With wins in three of the last four 1.5-mile tracks, dating back to last November at Texas, and a perfect record on these types of tracks thus far in 2018, Kevin Harvick leads the way for the team. Stewart-Haas as a whole has been extremely fast from the start of the weekendRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor While the Blue Oval Brigade ruled on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing made their presence known in the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session of the weekend on Saturday morning. The JGR duo of Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin would come out on top during the frigid 55-minute practice, as Suarez turned in the fastest speed of the weekend at 27.136 seconds, 198.998 mph. Hendrick Motorsports also turned some heads in practice as William Byron and Jimmie JohnsonRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It’s been a banner day for Kurt Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing at Texas Motor Speedway. Earlier on Friday afternoon, the Las Vegas native put down the fastest lap in practice, followed by two of his SHR teammates, and qualifying for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 was more of the same as Busch was at the top of the board at the end of the first round of qualifying, with two of his teammates in tow once more. While there were two other rounds scheduled, MotherRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For Clint Bowyer, his win two weeks ago at Martinsville has been just what the doctor ordered for him and his No. 14 team at Stewart-Haas Racing. Entering this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, it’s clear that he and the organization as a whole are still riding the wave of momentum that comes with winning in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and breaking a 199-race winless streak in the process. “Man, everybody knows everything that comes with a win,” said Bowyer. “We haveRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It was another case of déjà vu at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon as Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford continued to show off their speed in the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice of the weekend. Three of the four Stewart-Haas cars, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer led the way for the Blue Oval brigade, with Busch’s fast time of 27.523 seconds, 196.200 mph topping the board. “(Turns) three and four are an incredible sensation,” Kurt Busch said of the Texas reconfigurationRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Through the first decade of racing at Texas Motor Speedway, there had not been a repeat winner, with 12 different drivers taking home the patented six-shooters and cowboy hat from victory lane, but when the Cup Series rolled into the Lone Star State in April 2007, that was all about to change. Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton would lead the field to green, with Gordon dominating the first 153 laps of the race, leading 146 of them. On lap 154, a new contender emerged inRead More