NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Dover, Chip Ganassi Racing found its two cars straddling the line to be able to advance onto the Round of 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, with Kyle Larson just above the line and Jamie McMurray just below it. While the team was confident that they could get both of their cars into the top-12 in points by the time the day was over, it would be the opposite of that after a rough day for both Larson and McMurray.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover, it was the tale of two races for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies as just one of them left the Monster Mile with a good run, while the others left disappointed. Chase Elliott, who came into the day without a win but a decent point advantage over the Round of 12 cut-off did exactly what he needed to throughout the race, starting ninth and running a clean race, staying out of trouble over the course ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For Jimmie Johnson, Dover represents both a place where he has had a lot of success over the years, but has also been his Achilles’ heel recently. With elimination from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup still a possibility on Sunday, Johnson heads into the Citizen Soldier 400 hoping luck is on his side this time around and he’ll be able to move on to the Round of 12 by the time the checkered flag flies. This time last year, Johnson looked to beRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After the tragedy of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series returned to the track at Dover International Speedway a week and a half later for the first race back, with teams, drivers, and fans all banding together to help the nation heal. With American flags flying up and down pit road, in the grandstands, and showing on various cars and driver’s helmets, the sport got back to business with the running of the MBNARead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a trip to New England for the second race in the Chase, the Round of 16 comes down to this. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Dover International Speedway for the running of the Citizen Soldier 400, which will determine which drivers will join Martin Truex, Jr. and Kevin Harvick in the next round. As one of the only two concrete tracks on the NASCAR schedule, the one mile high banked oval that is Dover has always drawn similarities to Bristol and isRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With wins in the last two races at New Hampshire prior to Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300, confidence was high among Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 team that a three-peat was a strong possibility, but the team would have to settle for a runner-up finish instead after their strong run was undone by late cautions. Taking the lead for the first time at lap 179 from his defacto teammate Martin Truex, Jr., who had led 141 of those first 178 laps, Kenseth looked to beRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into New Hampshire, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies, especially those in the Chase, were looking for strong finishes, but all were left with disappointment at the conclusion of Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300. After almost spoiling the Chase party last weekend at Chicago, Ryan Blaney brought home the top rookie finish at New Hampshire with a 12th place finish, which is about where Blaney had been running throughout the day. Though Blaney and his team did not make the Chase, theyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After taking on Chicagoland Speedway to kick off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR’s premier division heads to New England for the second time in 2016 to take on the flat one mile oval that is the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in this weekend’s Bad Boy Off Road 300. First joining the Cup Series circuit in 1993, the 1.058 mile oval that has progressively banked turns from two to seven degrees is one of the more difficult tracks on the schedule as theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With NASCAR invading New England for the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, another edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” is upon us. As we look back at races from New Hampshire’s past, this week’s focus is on the 2001 New Hampshire 300, a race that featured a great battle for the win between two Gordons, Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon, leaving one ecstatic with the win and the other fuming at what might have been. The raceRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Entering the first race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the two rookies in the 16 driver playoffs were hoping for a solid finish to be able to propel themselves into the second round in two weeks time, while the others were hoping to play spoiler. On Sunday afternoon, both scenarios nearly came true for the rookie class. Chase Elliott, who was making his first start at Chicago and his first appearance in the Chase, showed that he was ready to be inRead More