Ricky Stenhouse Jr Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – When the news came down earlier this week that Roush-Fenway Racing would be making a driver change for its No. 17 entry in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for 2020, current driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was just as shocked as the rest of the garage area that he would be out of a ride when this season comes to a close. “Yeah, pretty blindsided,” Stenhouse said of hearing the news. The Olive Branch, Mississippi native added that last Wednesday was businessRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A reunion will come into fruition for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series as Roush Fenway Racing announced Wednesday the sudden signing of Chris Buescher piloting the No. 17 Ford Mustang, replacing Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. after eight seasons. Buescher drove for RFR in all of his 74 Xfinity Series starts, including two full-seasons from 2014-15 where he scored three wins and brought the team’s final series title in 2015. Since moving to Cup in 2016, the Prosper, Texas native raced for Front Row Motorsports and JTG DaughertyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Under bright blue skies in East Tennessee, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got its first look at Bristol Motor Speedway ahead of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. After what was a mostly one groove race in Thursday night’s Truck Series race at the track, it was much of the same in first practice on Friday. Erik Jones, who led both Xfinity Series practices on Thursday, was once again at the top of the board in the first ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Erik Jones earned third-place in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway the hardest way imaginable and that’s overcoming multiple setbacks. Whether it’s a speeding penalty or multiple incidents with several drivers, Jones made the most of rallying back to equal his result from last Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky. Even if he described his good day as a sloppy one from his viewpoint. “We got good stage points in the first stage and finished well at the end. The Stanley CamryRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It’s a must-win situation for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. if he wants to make the playoffs after a heavy crash ended his race in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. On Lap 136, the fourth caution came out when Stenhouse’s left front tire blew up and smacked the backstretch wall, destroying the right side of his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang and will be credited with a 36th place result. The direct cause of Stenhouse’s issues was contact with Erik Jones heading intoRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With 42 laps remaining in Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, dark clouds closed in on the 2.5-mile superspeedway and as it always happens when weather threatens, the intensity ratcheted up and the inevitable “Big One” struck. Austin Dillon and Clint Bowyer had hooked up in the draft to find their way to the front of the field when Bowyer ducked low from second place to try and take the lead for himself. Dillon threw an untimely blockRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Martin Truex Jr. survived an early brush with the outside wall and a frenetic restart with five laps left to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On a race that featured 16 cautions—most since the record 22 in 2005—Truex made a four-wide pass to the inside coming off Turn 2 on Lap 396 of 400 at the 1.5-mile track and beat runner-up Joey Logano to the finish line by .330 seconds. The victory was Truex’s third of theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was “Damage Inc.” on the final lap of Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama that ended in violent blows for several drivers, putting a damper on what was considered a thrilling 188-lap race. The situation began to unravel once the red-flag was lifted due to a multi-car crash on Lap 182 that ended with Matt DiBenedetto plowing into the back end of Chris Buescher in Turn 2. This led to the race restarting with just four laps to go. The chaos began toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Picking up significant speed from the first round of knockout qualifying to the second, Austin Dillon won the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Covering the 2.66-mile distance in 49.734 seconds (192.544 mph) in his No. 3 Chevrolet, Dillon edged first-round leader Aric Almirola (192.131 mph) for the top starting spot by .107 seconds. In Saturday’s first round, Dillon had run 192.108 mphRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Uncertainty surrounded the first day of on-track activity at Talladega Superspeedway, with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series getting their first glimpse at the new post-restrictor plate aero package that will be used at the 2.66-mile facility as well as Daytona for the foreseeable future. The new package features a tapered spacer instead of a restrictor plate, making it the first race since 1987 to feature the horsepower sapping device. To counteract the increase in horsepower, about 100 more than the teamsRead More