Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series drivers get back to work this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, it’s time once again for “Throwback Thursday Theater”. In this week’s edition and in honor of his final trip to the Lone Star State, we look back at the first wins for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in both series, which both came at Texas in 1998 and 2000. Through the first six races of Earnhardt’s rookie season in the Xfinity Series in 1998, Earnhardt had reboundedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With William Byron moving to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the No. 24 team for Hendrick Motorsports in 2018, there was one piece of the puzzle missing. Who would be his crew chief for his upcoming rookie season? On Wednesday, the mystery was solved as Darian Grubb, who currently returned to the pit box as crew chief for Kasey Kahne and the No. 5 team on an interim basis, was named as full-time crew chief for Byron next season. Byron currently drives forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week, NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down who’s hot and who’s not after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend. Today, we break down the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. WINNERS Kyle Busch – There was only one driver that was truly happy after Sunday’s race at Martinsville and that was Kyle Busch, who won for the fifth time this season and punched his ticket to the championship race at Homestead. Busch would lead for 184 laps on the day, butRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The sun went down, the new lights came on, and all hell broke loose at Martinsville Speedway. In a wild overtime finish that took Sunday’s First Data 500 to 505 laps at the .526-mile short track, Kyle Busch beat Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader Martin Truex Jr. to the stripe by .141 seconds to take the checkered flag and earn a spot in the Nov. 19 Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As Busch crossed the finish line, a multi-car wreckRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Everyone wants the chance to spoil the party and pull off the upset in the Playoffs. Clint Bowyer just missed playing the spoiler in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Bowyer did however miss the carnage at the end of the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, scoring a top-five finish. Bowyer marched his way up they running order throughout the entirety of the race. A last lap, last corner bump to Denny Hamlin started a chain of events that saw the frontstretch becomeRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer  Prior to the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Brad Keselowski called the race a ‘must-win.’ After missing victory lane, the 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion will be forced to fight through both Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway to make it to the Championship Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway. For a while, it looked as if Keselowski had called his shot, as he swept both stages of the, earning 20 additional points. On a late restart, however, contact between Keselowski and Chase ElliottRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Racing on short tracks, Martinsville in particular, tends to amp up the aggressiveness in the closing laps and in Sunday’s First Data 500, Chase Elliott found himself on the receiving end of the aggressive driving by Denny Hamlin, ending up in the wall and putting a damper on the end of a stellar day for the No. 24 team. Elliott, who led 123 laps on the day, looked to be in the catbird seat for his first career win and a ticket to Homestead asRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip out to America’s Heartland, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the final short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic half-mile, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. Sunday’s race will mark the start of the three-race playoff semi-finals that will trim the eight driverRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “They touch once! Twice! Drag race! Jimmie Johnson!” When looking back at memorable moments at Martinsville Speedway, the duel between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the spring of 2007 is often near the top of the list. The race, which featured the much maligned Car of Tomorrow in only its second outing, would turn into a Chevrolet showcase with the four drivers that dominated the race all driving a car with a bowtie on the grill. Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Denny Hamlin,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The famed No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports will have a new face behind the wheel full-time in 2018: Darrell Wallace, Jr. After impressing the team in the four races he ran while filling in for the injured Aric Almirola earlier this year, RPM announced that Wallace will get his shot to run full-time for the team beginning in 2018. “This is a dream come true to race for ‘The King’, Richard Petty Motorsports, the iconic No. 43 and for all the fans and partnersRead More