NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto scored a much needed third-place finish in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway after restarting in eighth with two laps remaining. The wild restart saw DiBenedetto giving tremendous push on Cole Custer, gaining some spots along the way. That exact push into Turn 1 played a pivotal role towards the 22-year-old’s sudden charge and mesmerizing four-wide pass for the race win on the last lap. With the race win was unfolding in front of DiBenedetto, he had a battle ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Kevin Harvick has come close to winning at Kentucky Speedway over the years only to fall short in the end and Sunday’s Quaker State 400 was yet another example of how elusive a victory at the 1.5-mile track has been for the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion. Coming into the race with the momentum of two wins in the two weeks prior, Harvick would be looking to finally get the monkey off his back at Kentucky, but despite his third-place start, handling issues quickly came intoRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR Cup Series rookie Cole Custer pulled off a daring four-wide pass for the lead on the final lap to earn the victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway – the first rookie to win in NASCAR’s premier series in four years. Custer, who restarted fifth on a restart with two laps to go, made his way forward – daring to go high on track to the outside of a three-wide challenge for the lead among Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Kentucky is known for horsepower of a four-legged kind with the state hosting the prestigious Kentucky Derby each year, but back in 2011, the state gained a new kind of horsepower when the NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Kentucky Speedway for the inaugural running of the Quaker State 400. After years of lobbying for a Cup Series date to go along with the Xfinity Series and Truck Series races the track had been hosting since opening its gates in 2000, the Speedway Motorsports Inc. owned trackRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR announced Wednesday its latest batch of races for August, highlighted by the Daytona International Speedway Road Course as all three national touring series and the ARCA Menards Series are set to compete there for the first time. Initially planned for the Busch Clash next year, the 3.56-mile road circuit will kick start a busy month for “The World Center of Racing” as it’ll host two race weekends in a span of three weeks, highlighted with Cup’s regular season finale being held at the 2.5-mile superspeedwayRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It has taken some time for Matt Kenseth to shake the rust off in his return to NASCAR Cup Series competition, but Sunday at Indianapolis, he certainly looked like the driver of old, bringing home a second-place finish – his best showing of the season. Replacing Kyle Larson behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Kenseth was able to come out of the gate with a top-10 at Darlington in mid-May, but in the races since, had struggled to even crack theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Denny Hamlin appeared to be well on his way to finally capturing a win at Indianapolis, but once again had the victory snatched from his grasp. Leading Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 with seven laps to go over eventual winner Kevin Harvick, Hamlin had a comfortable lead as the laps wound down, but heading into Turn 1, the right-front tire let go on his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, sending him hard into the outside wall. The hit was violent enough to cause flamesRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was a banner day for Stewart-Haas Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday as three out of its four cars finished in the top-five with Kevin Harvick scoring his third Brickyard 400 victory. Aric Almirola crossed the line in third while Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Cole Custer finished a career-high fifth. SHR’s trio survived the 161-lap madness Indy provided as tire issues eliminated several top contenders, including Denny Hamlin who was leading with 8 to go. When the dust finally settled, it was HarvickRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In an action-filled afternoon of NASCAR Cup Series racing in Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records, Kevin Harvick held off the field in a overtime sprint to the finish line to earn his fourth victory of the season, and his second consecutive and third overall win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To celebrate the big victory, Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team climbed the front grandstand fence – reminiscent of the fence celebration his team owner, IndianaRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A disastrous moment occurred on pit road during Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, collecting several cars and injuring a crew member. Pit road was open on Lap 14 when things got ugly at the back of the field. Michael McDowell was entering into his pit stall, but the lack of visibility at a very narrow pit lane caused several drivers bunching up and plowing into each other. In the end, it collected Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Corey LaJoie, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., MartinRead More