Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Three races, two dominant wins, leave Ford Performance on top of the three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series manufacturers. Ford Fusions took six of the top-10 finishing positions in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Stewart Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick took the victory, his 100th career win across NASCAR’s top three series. Prior to the season, many expected Ford Performance to be at a disadvantage. This was based on the domination of Toyota’s 2018 Camry last season and the brand-new Camaro ZL1 for Chevrolet.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 team, but the seven-time champion was able to rebound to a 12th place finish. After qualifying 14th, pre-race inspection issues, which saw the team fail inspection three times, led to the ejection of car chief Jesse Saunders and forced Johnson to start the race at the back of the field. “I’ve never been in this situation,” Johnson said. “Last weekend, there wereRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS, Nev. – With a respite from strong gusts in the final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying on Friday at windswept Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney posted the fastest lap of the day to earn the pole position for the third race of the season. After covering the 1.5-mile distance in 28.200 seconds (191.489 mph)-the fastest lap of the day-Blaney will lead the field to the green flag in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Kyle Larson led the way during Friday morning’s pre-qualifying practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Larson ran five laps at the 1.5-mile circuit, eking out last week’s winner Kevin Harvick by 0.037 seconds with a lap time of 28.323 seconds, 190.658 mph. “This year, after having the test and after having the year we had last year that really helps your confidence,” said Larson ahead of the 55 minute session. “We know comingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ryan Blaney acquired a new primary sponsorship on Friday after Team Penske announced that BODYARMOR Sports Drink will bare its name in the No. 12 Ford Fusion for the annual Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 7. The partnership between BODYARMOR and Blaney began last season, but it’ll mark the first time the natural flavored hydrating drink will be on the track for a race weekend, beginning at Kansas Speedway on May 12 as Blaney’s associate sponsor. After Kansas,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Viva Las Vegas! After spending the first two weekends of the 2018 season in the southeastern United States, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads west for the first leg of the West Coast swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Sunday’s running of the Pennzoil 400. Las Vegas began its life on the NASCAR circuit as a 1.5 mile oval with 12 degrees of banking in 1998, but following the 2006 running of the race, the track underwent a massive reconfigurationRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Las Vegas is a city built on gamblers, so a bit of gambling would only be natural when NASCAR rolled into town back in March 2014. Except this time, the gamble didn’t quite work out for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as his fuel tank ran dry a half a lap from the finish, allowing Brad Keselowski to streak by for the win. “Sorry buddy, I tried,” Earnhardt’s crew chief Steve Letarte said over the team radio. “Good job, man,” Earnhardt replied. “That’s a tough loss there.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the third time in as many weeks, the famous No. 43 car piloted by Darrell Wallace, Jr. will have a new sponsor adorning the quarter-panels after Richard Petty Motorsports announced that The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will come on board for this weekend’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “The Cosmopolitan is one of the coolest places on the Strip,” said Wallace Jr. “Everything that is a part of the resort is the best of the best of Vegas. I enjoy going toRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Teams in all three of NASCAR’s National Series were penalized following the race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Lug nuts were the main culprit, accounting for three of the four penalties that NASCAR issued on Wednesday. Following the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, the race winning car of Kevin Harvick was found to have an improperly installed lug nut. Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Rodney Childers was fined $10,000 as a result. The same lug nut issue was found afterRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  With more and more sports embracing technology and streaming services, is NASCAR missing out on this growing trend? While NASCAR does stream its National Series races on the Fox Sports Go app, the NBC Sports app, and some of the regional races on FansChoice.tv, there are other streaming options the sanctioning body could be looking into. Just by asking race fans to get some feedback, I’ve come up with two different options for NASCAR to join the streaming trend. Once again, I don’t know theRead More