Up to Speed Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Eastern Pennsylvania comes calling this weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaves the comfort of home in Charlotte for Pocono Raceway and Sunday’s running of the Pocono 400. With only three turns, instead of the four turns at all other ovals on the circuit, Pocono is definitely one of the most unique tracks on the schedule. The three turns all have differing banking with Turn 1 and its 14-degree banking modeled after the now-defunct Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 and its nine-degree banking modeledRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The weekend before Memorial Day marks the beginning of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series traditional two-week stop at NASCAR’s home base of Charlotte, North Carolina and the 1.5-mile quad oval that is Charlotte Motor Speedway. First up on the two-week stopover in the Queen City is the Monster Energy All-Star Race, a non-points event that has served up more than its fair share of exciting moments in its 34-year history. What is now the All-Star Race began as “The Winston” in 1985 and wasRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Since 2014, Kansas Speedway’s spring race has found a foothold in the schedule occupying the Mother’s Day Weekend slot and once again this year, will play host to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on Saturday night with the running of the Digital Ally 400. First joining the circuit as a relatively tame 1.5 mile track with 15 degree banking in the turns, Kansas underwent a massive reconfiguration in 2012 that transformed it into a much more treacherous track with variable banking ranging from 17Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – With the first off weekend of the season in the rear-view mirror, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series gets back to business in grand fashion as they get set to take on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. Racing at Talladega has always been crazy from the time the track opened back in 1969. From the driver boycott of the first race that led to unknown driver Richard Brickhouse scoring his one and only win in theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Short track races have defined the last month of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule with two out of the last three being held on tracks less than a mile in length. This weekend, Richmond Raceway joins the short track party with Saturday night’s running of the Toyota Owners 400. 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 trackRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Following last weekend’s first short track race of the season at Martinsville, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to a 1.5-mile track with Sunday’s visit to Texas Motor Speedway for the running of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. First joining the circuit in 1997, the 1.5-mile Texas track has provided some great racing over the years as the surface wore down as each season passed before being repaved and reconfigured prior to its 2017 race dates. As a refresher, the reconfiguration affected Turns 1 andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After weeks of aero package this and aero package that, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to some normalcy this weekend as they head to Martinsville Speedway for the first short track race of the season and Sunday’s running of the STP 500. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic half-mile, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only way to pass will beRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The annual NASCAR Goes West campaign reaches the end of its three week run this weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Southern California for Sunday’s running of the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the two-mile oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997. During its 20+ years on the circuit, the track has gone through ownership changes, as well as expandingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The West Coast swing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolls on this weekend with a trip to Arizona and ISM Raceway in Phoenix for Sunday’s running of the TicketGuardian 500. With two races with the new aero package under their belts in two different low horsepower configurations, drivers and teams get their first crack at the high horsepower configuration that will feature 750 horsepower and the standard larger spoiler, but not the aero ducts. In addition, the Cup Series will see the new trackRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has been visiting Las Vegas Motor Speedway for more than two decades, but this weekend’s race at the track is likely one of the most anticipated at the facility in years with the introduction of the new aerodynamic package that will make its full debut on the 1.5-mile track. Though the new package was rolled out for the first time last week in Atlanta, it wasn’t the full package that includes the aero ducts in the front end of theRead More