Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series return for Matt Kenseth could not have been worse. Through no fault of his own, Kenseth’s first run in the No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Fusion at Kansas Speedway was far from stellar. The 2003 Premier Series Champion struggled throughout the entirety of the KC Masterpiece 400 race weekend. In the waning laps of the race, Kenseth had found himself mired deep in the field, three laps down. On a restart with 14 laps to go, the Roush FenwayRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kevin Harvick, nicknamed NASCAR’s “Closer,” earned his moniker on Saturday night at Kansas Speedway, passing reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. on the next-to-last lap to add the KC Masterpiece 400 to his collection of victories this season. Charging from sixth place and chasing race leader Martin Truex Jr. after a restart on Lap 259 of 267, Harvick found speed in the top lane with five laps left and passed Truex on the outside through Turns 3Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After a four-year hiatus behind the wheel, Parker Kligerman will return to the driver’s seat in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Kligerman will strap into the Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 Toyota Camry at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Kligerman last competed in NASCAR’s Premier Series for Swan Racing. In a short 10-race stint, the Westport, CT native earned an impressive 18th-place finish in his debut at Texas Motor Speedway. Since the closure of Swan Racing, Kligerman has become a journeyman driver,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a stirring duel for the win in the spring 2012 race at Kansas Speedway, the track underwent a massive reconfiguration that was completed by the time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returned to the track in October. With the facelift, the track turned from a tame 1.5 miler to a treacherous beast that did its best to chew up and spit out as many race cars as possible in its opening weekend. Mark Martin and Aric Almirola would be the two cars to getRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following a visit to the Monster Mile last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series sets up shop at Kansas Speedway for Mother’s Day weekend and Saturday night’s running of the KC Masterpiece 400. First joining the circuit as a relatively tame 1.5 mile track with 15 degree banking in the turns, Kansas underwent a massive reconfiguration in 2012 that transformed it into a much more treacherous track with variable banking ranging from 17 to 20 degrees in the turns. Since then, the track hasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It’s penalty day again in the world of NASCAR and Wednesday was a doozy, with the sanctioning body handing down a wide range of penalties to teams across all three national series. The first teams to be hit by the NASCAR penalty hammer were those of Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Dillon. Bowyer and Suarez, who finished second and third in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism, were found to have violated rules surrounding the rear window of their respective cars. Bowyer’s car didRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer When Landon Cassill competes in the Monster Energy All-Star Race weekend and Coca-Cola 600 race weekend, he will have a new sponsor onboard. Dairi-O, a North Carolina restaurant chain, will adorn his StarCom Racing No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. This will be Dairi-O’s first foray into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Cassill has 15 career starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with two top-20 finishes. His best Charlotte finish came in 2012 when he finished 18thdriving for BK Racing. Cassill also has seven Monster EnergyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Ever since Clint Bowyer moved to Stewart-Haas Racing last year, he has been undergoing a career renaissance and Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway was just another example of that as he brought home a runner-up finish behind teammate Kevin Harvick. With one win already under his belt this year, Bowyer was looking for more when his No. 14 team rolled into the Monster Mile. Starting the day in 12th, Bowyer quickly climbed into the top-10, where he would remain for the majority of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It’s been an up and down few days for Kyle Larson and his Chip Ganassi Racing team at Dover, but when the checkered flag flew on Sunday, Larson brought home a top-10 despite all of the setbacks. On Friday, Larson rocketed to the pole with a lap of 22.770 seconds, 158.103 mph, and things were looking up for the No. 42 team heading into race day. However, multiple pre-race inspection failures would put the team behind the eight-ball to start the race. Due to theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The “Monster Mile” is unforgiving, no matter who much experience a driver has in NASCAR. For sophomore Daniel Suarez, it has treated him exceptionally well, scoring a sixth and eighth-place finish in his two previous trips. During Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, Suarez embodied a solid performance, equaling his career-best finish from Watkins Glen last season of third-place. It’s Suarez’s first career top-5 on an oval, and second overall in his young career. Not only he accomplishedRead More