Tales of the Turtles 400 Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Chase Elliott finished second at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday to give his No. 24 team a strong start to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but the momentum from the runner-up result was dampered on Tuesday as the team was hit with an L1 penalty from the sanctioning body for an improper modification to the rear spoiler. NASCAR noted in their penalty announcement that the team violated Section 20.20 of the rule book (Modification of components to affect the aerodynamic properties of the vehicle).Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer  How can seven-time and defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson fly under radar in the Playoffs? By being outside the top-10 throughout the entire weekend until the final stage of the Tales of the Turtles 400. Johnson had a quiet weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. He finished eighth, but was 11th at the end of both stages. Unlike some of his fellow Playoff competitors, Johnson had flawless pit stops for his No. 48 Lowe’s / Hitachi Chevrolet SS. Throughout the entire race passingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down the top storylines from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This week, we break down the Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Truex Shreds the Competition Martin Truex, Jr. entered the playoff opener at Chicago with four wins in his pocket, the regular season championship, and a boatload of playoff points at his disposal. Things couldn’t possibly get any better for the driver of the No. 78 Toyota, right? Well, it did. For theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Remember all those playoff points that were supposed to carry regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. through the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs? He didn’t need them—not after what turned out to be a dominating victory in Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400, the Playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway. Truex’s fifth victory of the season, his second straight at Chicagoland and the 12th of his career was hardly a cakewalk, even though the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing ToyotaRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Prior to Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the first race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Joe Gibbs Racing elected to swap the pit crews between the No. 18 and No. 19 cars, giving Kyle Busch the crew that had been working with Daniel Suarez and vice versa for the crew that was working with Busch, as they moved over to service Suarez’s car for the playoffs. The swap was supposed to help Busch in his efforts to beRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was the first chance for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to play the role of spoiler in the Playoffs. All five of the ROTY contenders have had previous experience at Chicagoland. Daniel Suarez was the best rookie in the No. 19 STANLEY Toyota Camry, finishing 12th. Suarez was the only ROTY contender to finish on the lead lap after running inside the top-15 all dayRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the second year in a row, the opening race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Chicagoland Speedway has been just what the doctor ordered for Chase Elliott and his No. 24 team. Heading into Chicago, just one point separated Elliott from the bottom four in the playoff standings, but when all was said and done in Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400, the 21-year old would be in a much more comfortable spot, scoring a runner-up finish when the checkered flagRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After 26 regular season races to set the 16-driver field, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Chicagoland Speedway for the opening salvo of the playoffs and Sunday’s 17th annual running of the Tales of the Turtles 400. As one of the newer tracks on the circuit, having joined in 2001, the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway finds itself front and center as the playoffs begin. The track, which only hosts the Cup Series once each season, boasts banking of 18 degrees as well as aRead More