NASCAR Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Thanks to the unintentional generosity of the dominant driver in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, opportunistic Brad Keselowski won the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. Kevin Harvick led 292 of the 325 laps at the 1.54-mile track, but a pit road speeding penalty under caution on Lap 311 sent him to the back of the field for the final restart. That gave Keselowski the chance he needed, and on Lap 319 he surged past KyleRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Matt Kenseth may not have won Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the 44-year old driver from Cambridge, Wisconsin had to feel great in finishing third. Kenseth started the race from the 16th position and by lap 10 he appeared to have a decent car as he had moved up to 12th. During a pit stop at lap 36 though, Kenseth was busted for speeding heading into pit lane. After a pass through penalty, Kenseth fell to 31st one lapRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Luck has not been kind to Dale Earnhardt Jr. through the 42-year old driver’s first two races back after missing the final 18 races of last season with a concussion. At Daytona, Earnhardt was swept up in a crash while he was leading The Great American Race. Fast forward to this weekend’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta, and the horrid luck continued for NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver. Earnhardt rolled off the grid Sunday from the 12th position, and over the first run on tiresRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Kevin Harvick saved his best lap for the best possible moment on Friday afternoon, putting his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford on the pole for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX). In the third and final round of knockout qualifying for the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, Harvick toured the 1.54-mile track in 29.118 seconds (190.398 mph) to post the fastest lap of the entire qualifying session.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Michael Waltrip had a puncher’s chance and gave it his best shot on Sunday. The two-time Daytona 500 champion announced last month that the 59th edition of ‘The Great American Race’ would be his last in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition. However in his 30th appearance of the event, the 53-year-old Kentucky native made the most the moment and drove to an impressive 8th place finish at the same track that broke his 462-race winless streak. After starting the day in 30th,Waltrip avoided disaster in theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – His car damaged in a wreck on the backstretch and held together with tape, Kurt Busch grabbed the lead on the final lap of the 59th Daytona 500 on Sunday and took the checkered flag in the Great American Race as a capstone to a checkered career that has trended upward since Busch joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. In a race that featured the first test of a new three-stage race format in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series—and featuredRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Following in the footsteps of a legendary father in motorsports is good in one aspect, as it usually opens doors for you that most drivers won’t have an opportunity to open. However the downfall of carrying on a legacy is having lofty expectations from a fan base that want you to be as good as your father. Chase Elliott’s father — Bill — was one of the greatest to ever drive around Daytona International Speedway. The elder Elliott won the Daytona 500 twice (1985 and ’87)Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor For the past 57 years, Daytona International Speedway has relentlessly and unbiasedly chewed up and spit out thousands of racecars. A lot of times, the driver who dominated the race at this intimidating 2.5-mile track finds themselves in a sadly predictable late-race melee which nearly always happens in restrictor plate racing. Until 2017, there was no real actual silver lining for those who led the majority of the event only to be wiped from the final running order. Enter NASCAR’s new Stage Racing Format. Regardless ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For Ryan Reed, there’s magic in the air at the Birthplace of Speed. Reed went to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway in February 2015 and hadn’t won since—until Saturday night, when he held off Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran Kasey Kahne in overtime to claim victory in the Powershares QQQ 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series season opener. With the race going four laps past its scheduled distance of 120 laps, and with the series running NASCAR’s new three-stage eventRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer A new entitlement sponsor for the Cup Series, competition enhancements and the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the track are just a few of the major story lines heading into the Daytona 500. Motorsports Tribune spoke with Chicagoland Speedway President Scott Paddock to discuss his thoughts heading into Sunday’s Great American Race. New Entitlement Sponsor In January, Monster Energy became just the third company to serve as the entitlement sponsor in NASCAR premier series history, replacing Sprint. “I think it’s exciting for the industryRead More