NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After two uncharacteristically poor finishes in the first two restrictor plate races of the 2016 season that resulted in the loss of his beloved car nicknamed “Amelia”, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. heads into Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 hoping to make a return to Daytona’s famed victory lane. Heading into Daytona, Earnhardt has been close to victory lane throughout the season, but his first win in 2016 has eluded him thus far. Sitting 12th in points with 10 races remaining until the start of the Chase,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a barn burner of a finish last weekend at Sonoma, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads back to where it all began in Daytona for Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero 400. With Tony Stewart returning to victory lane at Sonoma before rolling into Daytona, we’ll throw it back to the last time this happened with the running of the 2005 Pepsi 400 and Stewart finally scoring his first win at the famed superspeedway. Throughout his career, a victory at Daytona had eludedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor In the midst of celebrating his first win in three years, Tony Stewart took a moment at Sonoma Raceway to look ahead to the future once he steps out of the driver’s seat for the final time when the checkered flag flies at Homestead in November. Stewart’s departure at season’s end marks the second top tier driver to step away from the cockpit in as many years with Jeff Gordon vacating the No. 24 car at the end of 2015. With both Stewart and GordonRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Is Tony Stewart having fun yet? In his last year of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, Stewart came to Sonoma Racing asserting on Friday he wasn’t having much fun driving a Sprint Cup car. That all changed in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the 1.99-mile road course, where Stewart bulldozed Denny Hamlin into the outside wall in Turn 11, executing a dramatic last-lap pass for his first victory since June 2, 2013 at Dover. In the three years since that victory,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway, one driver at the top of everyone’s list of potential winners was AJ Allmendinger, who has run exceptionally well on the 12-turn California road course over the years only to have lost the race for one reason or another. With a second place start, Allmendinger looked to be in prime position to make the most of the race in an effort to score his first win at the track and moved into the lead over polesitter Carl EdwardsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After an impressive start to the season for the 2016 rookie class, all eyes were on Sunday’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma as it served as the first road course race of the season and would be a tough test for the rookies to continue their streak of strong finishes. As it has for rookies throughout the years, Sonoma was the source of many struggles for the 2016 rookie class on Sunday, with none of the four rookies finishing inside the top-20. Coming outRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – As proficient as Kyle Larson has been on high-banked ovals, you might be tempted to discount his chances of getting his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory on a road course. Then there’s his lack of experience at venues like Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International. Interestingly, Larson credits his dirt-track background with the ability to get a quick handle on road courses. “I don’t have hardly any road course experience,” Larson acknowledged on Friday at Sonoma. “My first road courseRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After an off weekend for Father’s Day, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gets back to business this weekend as they get set to take on the first of two road course races on the 2016 schedule. Before the focus turns to Sunday’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, we’ll take a step back in the past for this week’s “Throwback Thursday Theater” to the 1995 Save Mart Supermarkets 300 and the lone road course win for a legend. Taking place on the track’s originalRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gets back to work after taking Father’s Day weekend off, they head to the west coast for the first road course race of the season, the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. The 1.990 mile Sonoma Raceway, a 12 turn technical road course situated about 30 miles north of San Francisco, has played host to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 1989 and has gone through a series of changes since opening its doors 27 years ago. WhenRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – In the second race that featured NASCAR’s new lower-downforce package, Joey Logano lowered the boom—again. There was one major difference between Joey Logano’s victory in Sunday’s FireKeepers 400 at Michigan International Speedway and his win May 21 in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. This one counted in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings and punched Logano’s ticket into the Chase. But it remained abundantly clear that Team Penske already has a handle on the aerodynamic configuration the sanctioning body isRead More