Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. finally found the extra speed he needed at ISM Raceway. Saving his best lap for the final round of knockout qualifying on Friday at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert, Truex sped around the circuit in 26.288 seconds (136.945 mph) to win the pole position for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 (3:30 ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Truex beat Kyle Larson (136.643 mph) by .058 seconds to earn his firstRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer ISM Raceway isn’t just Alex Bowman’s home track, but the site where his racing career positively changed after capturing his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole at Phoenix in November 2016. Bowman returned to the site of his career-defining weekend on Friday and looks to improve from his career-best sixth-place finish in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500. In his last Cup trip to the “Valley of the Sun,” Bowman was a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who sat out the final 18 races of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor New name, still the same old Phoenix. For now. After the kickoff to the West Coast swing last weekend in Las Vegas culminated in a second straight domination by Kevin Harvick, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Phoenix this weekend to take on the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway. Phoenix has resided on the Cup Series schedule since 1988, but the track looks completely different than it did 30 years ago, having undergone a reconfiguration back in 2011. The reconfiguration added progressive bankingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor This weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads into Phoenix for the second race of the West Coast swing. In this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”, we take a look back to the race that started it all in the Valley of the Sun, the 1988 Checker 500. As the series headed into Phoenix in November of 1988, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace were locked in a championship battle that had seen Wallace gaining on Elliott’s lead over the last quarter of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The NASCAR penalty hammer has dropped on Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 team at Stewart-Haas Racing after the team’s dominating win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday. The team was found to be in violation of Sections 20.4.8.1 (Rear Window Support and Structure) and 20.4.18 (Rocker Panel Extensions) in post-race teardown at the NASCAR R&D Center. A rear window support brace was found to have failed and did not meet NASCAR specifications for keeping the rear window glass rigid at all times. Also,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Go Fas Racing and Matt DiBenedetto have found themselves in sponsorship trouble heading into Sunday’s race at ISM Raceway, but the NASCAR community has banded together to make sure they will make it to the grid for the TicketGuardian 500. Starting with a tweet from DiBenedetto on Tuesday morning, alerting the world of their predicament, the effort started picking up steam, with fellow drivers and others in the sport pitching in to help out the small team make it to the track. Though Go FasRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After finishing 24th in the Daytona 500, D.J. Kennington and Gaunt Brothers Racing will return to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at ISM Raceway. Kennington will drive the No. 96 Northern Provincial Pipelines Toyota Camry in the Ticket Guardian 500. The race marks the first non-restrictor plate entry for Gaunt Brothers Racing. The team has made the Daytona 500 in both 2017 and 2018. The race on Sunday, March 11, will mark the team’s third start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. “It’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS, Nev. – If you thought last Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta was an aberration on old asphalt, think again. Kevin Harvick was every bit as dominant on the newer asphalt at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, racking up impressive numbers in winning Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, the third event of the season. In winning his second straight race and his second at the 1.5-mile track, Harvick finished 2.906 seconds ahead of runner-up and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch. Third-place finisher KyleRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer After Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. may want to make a stop at the roulette wheel at one of the numerous Vegas casinos and put his money on the number four. Truex qualified fourth, finished fourth and is fourth in the championship standings after the Pennzoil 400. While on paper it may appear to have been an uneventful day, it was anything but for the 2017 Cup Series champion and defending race winner. Truex finishedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Hendrick Motorsports’ woes continued in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 Presented By Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after Chase Elliott was collected in a two-car crash on Lap 183. Entering Turn 4, Kurt Busch’s No. 41 Haas Automation Ford stepped out and darted right into Elliott, resulting in both cars slamming into the wall and ending their afternoons with disappointing results. Elliott, who finished 34th, said he was an innocent victim and wasn’t able to avoid Busch. “I think he just got loose in theRead More