Quaker State 400 Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The end of an era. With the oldest track surface in NASCAR, having not been repaved since it’s 1997 reconfiguration, Atlanta Motor Speedway always gets rave reviews from drivers who enjoy slipping and sliding around on the worn-out surface. To come home victorious in Sunday’s Quaker State 400, drivers will have a war on two fronts to battle. First, tire management will play a big role in the final outcome of the race with the abrasiveness that the track offers over the course of a run.Read More

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 There was a time I’ve seen social media comments about Ross Chastain having a golden ticket to Kurt Busch’s No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing ride after 2019 because the 40-year-old’s deal is a one-year contract. After a thriller in Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway where Kurt eked out his younger brother Kyle Busch, no way that’s going to happen. In fact, Kurt’s 31st Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory might’ve been his finest performance yet, further proving a point of making teams better. Yes,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway wasn’t the night for pole sitter Daniel Suarez to make it three straight races won by a first-time winner, as he finished eighth at the 1.5-mile circuit. After dominating the first 49 laps of the evening, a set of bad luck ranging from different strategies to a speeding penalty knocked him out of contention. Following the opening caution caused by Chase Elliott on Lap 47, Suarez brought his No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang to pit road for theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Denied victory at Daytona by an inopportune pit call last Sunday, Kurt Busch drove like lightning in a two-lap overtime dash to the finish to win Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Swapping sheet metal with brother Kyle Busch as the siblings battled for the victory throughout the overtime, Busch collected his first victory of the season in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. The 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion won for the first time at Kentucky and theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano appeared destined to win at Kentucky Speedway, until the caution waved with five to go. Following the final cycle of green flag pit stops, Logano found his No. 22 Shell / Pennzoil Ford Mustang behind Kyle Busch. The Team Penske driver continued to pressure Busch until he captured the lead in the Quaker State 400. Logano extended his lead to just over a second when the caution waved with five laps to go for a spinRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Daniel Suarez saved the best for last in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Friday at Kentucky Speedway. The 27-year-old driver from Monterrey, Mexico, was the last to run a qualifying lap at the 1.5-mile track, and he used the opportunity to Knock Stewart-Haas Racing teammate off the provisional pole for Saturday’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.) Suarez covered the distance in 29.254 seconds (184.590 mph) to beat out Almirola (183.799 mph) for the topRead More