NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Nearly three months have passed since the checkered flag waved at Phoenix to close out the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, but it’s that time of the year again when a new season beckons. After the debut of the Next Gen car last year brought about a record-tying number of winners, teams have had the offseason to get their cars ready for another lap around the country that will take them to some familiar places and some new ones as well. As we gear up forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The end of an era. Kevin Harvick has been a mainstay in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2001 and on Thursday, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver announced that the 2023 season would be his last behind the wheel of the No. 4 Ford. In the 22 years that Harvick has been competing at NASCAR’s highest level, he has remaining a consistent title contender season after season, winning 60 races along the way and capturing the 2014 series championship. “There is absolutely nothing else in the world thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor New year, new name. At the conclusion of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, it was announced that Jimmie Johnson had purchased an ownership stake in Petty GMS and would be making his return to the cockpit on a limited basis starting in 2023. On Wednesday, his involvement with the team took another step forward as the team unveiled its big rebrand on the Today Show on NBC, with the team now carrying the name of Legacy Motor Club to pay homage to its past identityRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – After a season of career-firsts – a maiden victory and a dramatic lap to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race – Ross Chastain insisted he felt more hopeful than disappointed after coming up short of hoisting his first major racing trophy on Sunday. Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet finished third in the Phoenix Raceway season finale – 1.2-seconds behind the winner, and newly-crowed 2022 series champion Joey Logano. After moving forward from a 25th-place starting spot on theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. – Lap 200 was when the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race saw its chaotic shakeup and it involved Chase Elliott. Following a multi-car crash in Turn 4, the field went to war once again with Elliott slowly getting better as the race went on. Compared to his Championship 4 competitors, Elliott’s pit crew were getting the job done and helped him gain valuable track position. Elliott restarted fifth and went on the attack towards the Dogleg, to the point he clipped part of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Heading into the NASCAR Cup Series season finale, Joey Logano made it clear that his team would be the favorite to bring home the championship when all was said and done. On Sunday, he proved those prophetic words to be true with a dominating run at Phoenix Raceway to score his second title for Team Penske and the No. 22 team. After starting on pole, Logano made it known early on that whoever claimed the championship at the end of the night wouldRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ty Gibbs will not participate in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix due to the passing of his father, Coy Gibbs Coming a day after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship on the one-mile oval, Gibbs was preparing to complete his relief driving duties for 23XI Racing when the news broke that the 20-year-old would not be in the car. Just prior to the start of the race, Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed that Coy, 49, had passed away in his sleepRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. — 35 races down, one to go. Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track at Phoenix Raceway for the 2022 season finale, bringing this season to a close and crowning a champion. Heading into this year’s championship race, it will be a battle between two former champions and two drivers making their first appearance in the Championship 4 to see who will be hoisting the Bill France Cup when the checkered flag falls. Whittled down from the 16 original title contendersRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Since sustaining a concussion at Texas in late September, Alex Bowman has been on the sidelines, but make his return for his home race Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. The Tuscon, Arizona native detailed the struggles he went through from the week following the crash to the announcement of his return a week ago. Bowman explained that while he felt fine up until mid-week following the Texas crash, his condition quickly went downhill, leading him to seek concussion treatment. “Wednesday night, I realized thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – As the grizzled veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, Joey Logano showed his fellow title contenders how it was done Saturday at Phoenix, scoring the pole for Sunday’s championship deciding race. The 2018 series champion posted a lap of 26.788 seconds, 134.389 mph to jump to the top of the board ahead of his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to put himself in the best position possible when the green flag drops. “It keeps the pressure on them,” Logano said. “That’sRead More