Up to Speed Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip down to Daytona Beach, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is just past the halfway mark of the 2018 season as they head up to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 19 on the schedule, under the lights on Saturday night for the running of the Quaker State 400. Kentucky first joined the Cup Series schedule in 2011 and has played host ever since, with just four different drivers claiming victory in the seven races held at the track so far. The track wasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After getting to enjoy a much needed week off, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back in business with a little road course racing. This week, the series makes the trek out to California wine country to take on the 1.990 mile Sonoma Raceway, a 12-turn technical road course situated about 30 miles north of San Francisco. This week’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 consists of 110 laps, which calculates out to 218.9 miles, or 350 kilometers. Over the years, the course at Sonoma Raceway has goneRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The first five races of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West were all contested at tracks that are 1/2 mile or less. That’ll change Saturday as 31 cars are scheduled to compete in the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. It’s the tour’s only road course of the season, and certainly a wild card on the series calendar. More so that five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers are added into the mix. The five are Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman and WilliamRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After last weekend’s race at Pocono saw Martin Truex, Jr. score his second win of the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway, in Sunday’s running of the FireKeepers Casino 400. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this race for bragging rights. The two-mile speedway tends to favor the teamsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After two weeks at home in Charlotte, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back on the road this weekend as Pocono Raceway and the Pocono 400 are calling. 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, NASCAR Editor Memorial Day weekend for many is a time to reflect on the sacrifices given by the servicemen and women in our nation’s military and to celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer, but for race fans, the weekend means more than just that. Memorial Day weekend means that the greatest weekend in all of motorsports is upon us, with three different styles of racing taking place in three locations all in one day. This Sunday begins with Formula 1 at Monaco, followed by the Indianapolis 500, andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following a visit to the Monster Mile last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series sets up shop at Kansas Speedway for Mother’s Day weekend and Saturday night’s running of the KC Masterpiece 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 17 to 20 degrees in the turns. Since then, the track hasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following a wild Talladega weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series hits the road back toward the mid-Atlantic as they set their sights on Dover International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. Dover began its life as an asphalt track back in 1969, but in 1995, the track was converted to concrete, making it one of only two on the circuit. As one of the two concrete tracks on the NASCAR schedule, the one-mile high banked oval that is DoverRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a rain delayed race at Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend produced one of the best races of the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads to another short track, the third in the last four weeks, with Saturday night’s running of the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. Following a three-year experiment of running the spring Richmond race on Sunday afternoon, this race will return to Saturday night under the lights this year following an uproar from the fans andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After completing a trip out to the West Coast, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the first short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. 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 be the moveRead More