Up to Speed Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Two races into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the first round comes down to the Monster Mile to determine which 12 drivers move on with their shot at the title still intact. 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. The one mile high banked oval has always drawn similarities to Bristol and is often referred to as “Bristol on steroids”.Read 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

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After 500 miles around the historic Darlington Raceway last Sunday, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway for the final regular season race that will set the 16 driver field for the playoffs with Saturday night’s running of the Federated Auto Parts 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 track with the side by sideRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a weekend off to recharge the batteries before making the final 12 race push to finish off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Darlington Raceway has been a staple of the Cup Series since opening in 1950 for its annual Labor Day weekend event with the Southern 500 being held on that date until a controversial decision was made to moveRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley this weekend for the annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a showdown under the lights on the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” that is sure to leave sheet metal twisted and tempers flaring once these drivers get done battling for 500 laps on the high-banked bullring that is called “The Last Great Colosseum.” Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race each August, theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip to Pocono last weekend that saw Kyle Busch score his first win of the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stays in the Northeast as they go road course racing this weekend in the I Love New York 355 at The Glen. The Cup Series raced at Watkins Glen in 1957, 1964, and 1965 before returning to the track full-time in 1986, utilizing the “short course” layout initially, but after a series of violent crashes at the end of the longRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a marathon race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Pocono Raceway for their second visit of the 2017 season as they get set for Sunday’s running of the Overton’s 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 afterRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a night race on the repaved Kentucky Speedway last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads to New England this weekend for Sunday’s running of the Overton’s 301. First joining the Cup Series circuit in 1993, the 1.058 mile oval that has progressively banked turns from two to seven degrees is one of the more difficult tracks on the schedule as the flat nature of the track makes track position key with passing at a premium. With that in mind,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip down to Daytona Beach, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series hits the halfway mark of the 2017 season as they head up to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 18 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 three different drivers claiming victory in the five races held at the track so far. The track was known asRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads into week 16 of the 2017 season, the series gets ready to make its first right hand turns of the year. 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 courseRead More