Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer In the midst of a frustrating season and Lowe’s leaving at the end of the 2018 season, Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus, the main man who has made the calls since his rookie season in 2002, will continue in his role through 2020 as reported in a Saturday press conference at Kentucky Speedway. Knaus told the media that his contract extension had recently been made, and despite the duo being winless in 41 races, he’s never questioned leaving Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports. “No, notRead More

By Lee Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Kentucky – Martin Truex Jr. didn’t need a dress rehearsal to put on a pole-winning performance at Kentucky Speedway on Friday. His lack of mock qualifying runs in practice did not affect the ultimate result – his first Busch Pole on the 1.5-mile track. The defending winner of the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart executed the fastest lap in Round 3 to win the pole for Saturday night’s race at the 1.5-mile track (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). ForRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Last Saturday night at Daytona, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. found himself as Public Enemy No. 1 among some in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage area after being involved in a series of crashes throughout the duration of the race. A week later, Stenhouse and his run-ins on the 2.5-mile superspeedway were still front and center in the mind of Kyle Busch, who was involved in one of the multi-car crashes that Stenhouse helped trigger. Busch expected a call from Stenhouse, who owned up to hisRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer SPARTA, Ky. – In an uncharacteristic fashion, Hendrick Motorsports has been struggling in 2018. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman, who makes his 100th career Cup start this weekend, has often been the best of the Hendrick contingent in recent weeks. Bowman enters the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway set to make his 29th start with Greg Ives as his crew chief. In that time, Bowman has earned one top-five, 10 top-10s, and two pole positions, including this year’s Daytona 500. After alternatingRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  SPARTA, Ky. – By virtue of his win at Daytona International Speedway, Erik Jones is now locked into the 2018 Playoffs. However, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver will still have to contend with “the big three”: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and defending champion Martin Truex, Jr., all of whom have dominated the season so far. Jones and his No. 20 Freightliner Toyota Camry team have only earned 39 Stage Points this season. He is 16thamong drivers that have earned Stage Points, with hisRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip down to Daytona Beach, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is just past the halfway mark of the 2018 season as they head up to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 19 on the schedule, under the lights on Saturday night for the running of the Quaker State 400. Kentucky first joined the Cup Series schedule in 2011 and has played host ever since, with just four different drivers claiming victory in the seven races held at the track so far. The track wasRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After earning back-to-back Top-10s in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the first time, Jesse Little will now make his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Kentucky Speedway. Little will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Premium Motorsports in the Quaker State 400. Premium Motorsports earned its’ best finish of the season, 11th, last weekend with Jeffrey Earnhardt behind the wheel. Little’s one-race deal will also be the 200thstart for the fifth-year Cup team. “I’m very humbled by this opportunityRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – To say that 2018 has been a struggle for Kasey Kahne and Leavine Family Racing would be an understatement, but on Saturday night at Daytona, the No. 95 team nearly made all of their troubles disappear as they were in the running for their first win all the way down the stretch, eventually ending the race with a fourth-place finish. “It was great,” said Kahne. “We had a strong car. The Thorne Chevrolet was really strong. Figured it out in the secondRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a wild war of attrition that went to two overtimes, Erik Jones outdueled Martin Truex Jr. on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway to seize the first victory of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. In a Coke Zero Sugar 400 that went eight laps beyond its scheduled 160, Jones passed the reigning series champion on the backstretch of the final lap and held on to win by .125 seconds. Jones battled back from damage sustained in a multicarRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Attrition. A word that once again defined the annual Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida Saturday. Unless its JTG Daugherty Racing, who were not only among a dozen cars without terminal damage, the two-car operation scored their first-ever double top-five finish with drivers A.J. Allmendinger and Chris Buescher finishing third and fifth respectively. During second overtime, both drivers were in solid position to possibly stop the Toyota duo of Martin Truex, Jr. and Erik Jones, and perhaps bring theRead More