NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor One wild card race down, one to go. A crazy afternoon at Talladega, as expected, wreaked havoc on the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, putting a number of championship contenders in dire straits with just one race remaining before the postseason field is cut from 12 drivers to eight. Heading into the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, only Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin are truly safe having already clinched their spots in the next round. Busch automatically advanced with his win at Las Vegas, while Hamlin punchedRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Let me make this clear about Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, I’m not holding back. Denny Hamlin wins a long and controversial 200-lap, three-overtime saga by just 0.023 seconds over Matt DiBenedetto and like last August at Bristol, the racing crowd jeered the now 44-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at the expense of Matt D coming up short of a maiden win. Gutted for DiBenedetto, but that’s just the way life is sometimes. Stuff isn’t meant to be and will have to wait another weekRead More
By David Morgan, Associate Editor The final two races that make up the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will be a gauntlet for the drivers still in championship contention with races at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval set to wreak havoc on the Playoff field. Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega is the first wild card race that will have to be dealt with, as the unpredictable nature of superspeedway racing will likely throw a wrench into even the best laid plans and leave some of the Playoff driversRead More
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service New tracks, road courses and a dirt race—NASCAR fulfilled its mission of expanding its sphere of influence with the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, announced Wednesday afternoon. With the addition of road course races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Tex., and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., NASCAR has doubled the number of road-course events on the schedule—retaining the races at Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the Charlotte Roval. For the first time sinceRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The most anticipated day in NASCAR history has been tremendously spoiled, but it doesn’t mean the excitement and disappointment levels have waned. It’s the exact opposite because the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series calendar looks drastically different. There’s so much to digest with various announcements involving multiple tracks over the past 24 hours have left not just NASCAR, but also the NTT IndyCar Series community buzzing. SCHEDULE: 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Depending on who you are, you’re either thrilled with the drastic changes on next season’s calendarRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The hometown kid has finally done it, Kurt Busch had two amazing restarts but more importantly, crew chief Matt McCall’s pit call got the job done in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Like his last three wins, the 2004 Cup Series champ made the show exciting for the folks at home when it matters most and doesn’t have to worry about the stress of scratching and clawing to make the Round of 8 because he has punched his ticket with that emotionalRead More
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With a career record of 0-for-21 coming into Sunday night’s South Point 400 at his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch may have felt like a “long shot.” But with fortunate track position late in the race and some sure-bet restarts at the front of the field, Busch can now count himself a Vegas winner. The victory was a high stakes haul, automatically earning a position for Busch in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – moving the 2004 series champion fromRead More
By David Morgan, Associate Editor The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs gets underway with a trip out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the South Point 400. While the Cup Series has already run on the 1.5-mile track earlier this year, it will be a vastly different environment the 12 championship contenders are walking into on Sunday, not only weather-wise, but also with the absence of fans due to the ongoing COVID-19 precautions. The 267-lap race will be crucial to the second round ofRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Right in the middle of Monday Night Football, three-time Daytona 500 champion and the GOAT Michael Jordan announced they’ll be pairing up to start a brand new single-car NASCAR Cup Series team beginning next season with Bubba Wallace behind the wheel. In fact, deciding a driver was the easiest part of the whole ordeal as Hamlin, who ironically had previous beef following the final lap of the 2018 Daytona 500, described how far Wallace has grown as a competitor and as a person. “Bubba has shownRead More
By David Morgan, Associate Editor Bristol Motor Speedway hosted the first elimination race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Saturday night, marking the end of the road for four drivers and their championship aspirations. Several drivers entered the night within striking distance of the top-12 in points, but when the checkered flag fell Cole Custer, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto, and Ryan Blaney would be the unlucky drivers to get the axe. All four came into the Bristol Night Race with ground to make up in the points battle, butRead More