Ryan Blaney Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Over the 36-year lifespan of the NASCAR All-Star Race, the annual non-points exhibition has been run at a track other than Charlotte Motor Speedway only twice, but on Sunday night, that number grows as Texas Motor Speedway gets set to host the $1 million showdown for the first time. A total of 21 drivers will compete in the six-round, 100 lap event, with eligible drivers including those who won a points-paying racing in 2020 or 2021, full-time drivers that have previously won an All-Star Race, andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Score another sweep for Kyle Larson, who dominated an action-filled Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Through a spate of late accidents and restarts, Larson held off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott and three-time Sonoma winner Martin Truex Jr. to claim a second-straight race in which he also swept both the first and second stages. The victory was Larson’s first at the 2.52-mile road course, his third of the season and the ninth of hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the rain started to fall Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the racing that came in the early laps of the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix was entertaining, but quickly devolved into chaos. A number of cars had made off-track excursions during the first stage, but as the second stage began, things took a turn for the worst as the rain piled up and visibility was reduced to nearly zero. The high-speed backstretch at COTA leading into the breaking zone at Turn 12 became calamityRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Mile. Bristol on steroids. No matter the nickname, Dover International Speedway lives up to the hype as being one of the most physically demanding racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. One of the only two concrete tracks currently in use by NASCAR’s top division, drivers have likened a lap around the one-mile oval to riding a rollercoaster, as they drop off the straightaways into the turns before rocketing back uphill on corner exit. By the time the checkered flag flies, it’s as ifRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – In the final stage of Sunday’s Goodyear 400, Kyle Larson turned a Martin Truex Jr. cakewalk into a study in suspense, but Larson couldn’t keep Truex out of Victory Lane in the 12th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. Truex swept the first two stages and led 248 laps to win his third event of the season and remain the only multiple winner in the series this year.  But after the final sequence of pit stops, Larson — who gainedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been some interesting race sponsorship names in the past, but Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway certainly tops them all – and will no doubt garner many laughs along the way. A result of a contest by Busch Beer to support American farmers, fans that donated to the cause were able to put in a name for the race, which would eventually be whittled down to four finalists. The choices came down to The Busch Latte 400, Nectar of the Cobs 400,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega was déjà vu all over again for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team. In a repeat of the race last Fall at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, DiBenedetto was leading on the final lap in overtime only to see another driver snatch victory from his grasp, leaving him wondering what else he could have done to turn the tide in his favor to finally break through and win a NASCAR Cup Series race. DiBenedetto was a constant fixture atRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Despite sustaining damage in an early wreck, and despite leading only one lap in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski nailed down an opportunistic overtime victory in the 10th event of the NASCAR Cup Series season. Surging to the front on the final lap, after fellow Ford driver Matt DiBenedetto abandoned the bottom lane and gave Keselowski a clear run to the front, Keselowski claimed his first victory of the season, the 35th of his career and his sixth at Talladega, tyingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a three-race stretch of short tracks, the second quarter of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule begins with a visit to Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. The first nine races of the season have embodied unpredictability, with eight different winners in the first quarter of the season. That trend is likely to continue this weekend as superspeedway racing, especially at Talladega, is all about unpredictability. Since opening its doors in 1969, the 2.66-mile track just off Interstate 20 in Eastern AlabamaRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The last month of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule has been all about the short tracks, with Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway wrapping up a three race stretch at tracks under 1 mile in length. Often described as the perfectly designed race track by drivers, the 0.75-mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side-by-side racing that will take place throughout the event. After missing out onRead More