NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Lightning struck near Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday night. Bad luck didn’t, where Chase Elliot was concerned. After two crushing defeats since the re-opening of NASCAR’s 2020 season May 17 at Darlington, Elliott got to the checkered flag without incident and won the rescheduled Alsco Uniforms 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile intermediate track. In an event contested at 500 kilometers (312 miles), Elliott passed fading Kevin Harvick for the lead on Lap 181 of 208 and cruised to a 2.208-second victoryRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, it was a common sight to see the Wood Brothers and Petty Enterprises battling it out for the win, but in the following decades, both teams found themselves in a slump. All of that changed when the NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Bristol in March 2001 with Elliott Sadler and John Andretti driving the famous No. 21 and No. 43 cars for the Wood Brothers and Petty Enterprises, respectively. As the Food City 500 played out, several drivers took their turnsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service A hard rain at Charlotte Motor Speedway, described by FOX Sports broadcaster Mike Joy as “the party guest that will not leave,” forced postponement of Wednesday night’s Alsco Uniforms 500 NASCAR Cup Series race until Thursday. The eighth Cup race of the season and the fourth since the hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic will be run Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET. FS1 will televise the event, with PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio providing radio coverage. In addition, because of travel and setupRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Hours after bringing home his best finish of the season with a runner-up result in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson received the news that his No. 48 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection, resulting in a disqualification. The disqualification drops Johnson to last in the running order for Sunday’s race and means he will also have to start the next Cup Series race, which takes place on Wednesday at Charlotte, from the tail end of the field. NASCAR Cup Series managing director Jay FabianRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service A late caution set Brad Keselowski up for victory in NASCAR’s longest race—and set Chase Elliott up for a second straight crushing disappointment. In Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, which went to overtime for the second time in its history, Keselowski surged ahead after a restart on Lap 404 and beat Jimmie Johnson to the finish line by .293 seconds to win a race that stretched to 607.5 miles, longest in NASCAR history. Elliott led Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford by 1.6 seconds beforeRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Chase Elliott was just two laps away from doing something his father Bill never accomplished in his NASCAR Hall of Fame career — winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Then his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron happened. Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE had his eye on a seventh career Cup Series triumph set in stone with a comfortable 1+ second lead over Brad Keselowski. That was until Byron’s left rear tire cut down and spun in Turn 2, bringingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The Bowtie Brigade showed up during Sunday’s Busch Pole Qualifying for tonight’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as they occupy the first three rows with Kurt Busch being the top Chevrolet driver. Busch earned his 28th NASCAR Cup Series pole after clocking in at 29.790 seconds (181.269 mph) to dethrone eight-time Charlotte winner Jimmie Johnson off the top spot. Not only it’s the 2004 Cup Series champion’s first pole with Chip Ganassi Racing, it’s also his first since the 2018 fall race at Talladega. FollowingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a successful week to reopen the 2020 season at Darlington, the NASCAR Cup Series heads back to home base at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 61st running of the Coca-Cola 600. Sunday should have been a day full of racing with the Formula 1 race at Monaco and the Indianapolis 500 preceding Sunday night’s race, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, only NASCAR will be in the spotlight, with both qualifying (2:00 pm ET) and the race (6:00 pm ET) taking place in oneRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Denny Hamlin became the season’s second multi-time winner, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota earning the rain-abbreviated Toyota 500 NASCAR Cup Series victory Wednesday night at Darlington Raceway. This year’s Daytona 500 winner Hamlin took the lead during a late race caution – opting to stay on track while most of the other front-runners pitted for fresh tires. Hamlin held off the field on the ensuing restart with 29 laps remaining and was out front when the final yellow flagRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Wednesday night madness struck at Darlington Raceway between NASCAR’s biggest figures in terms of popularity. Kyle Busch ended up finishing second in the Toyota 500K, but it was far from the biggest story after a miscalculated game of clearing a competitor backfired, costing Chase Elliott a shot of a win. In what would be the final green flag action, Busch and Elliott were chasing down Denny Hamlin, who was running on older tires, for the race lead with 29 laps remaining. Coming to the frontstretch, ElliottRead More