NASCAR Erik Jones

365 posts

Ryan Blaney Wins First Career Pole by a Whisker

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, signs a backdrop during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 12, 2017 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Improving in each round of knockout qualifying in relation to other cars, Ryan Blaney won the pole for Saturday night’s Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1), claiming his first career pole by a mere 0.009 seconds over Joey Logano.

During a Friday qualifying session in which 11 cars failed to make it to the grid because of inspection issues, Blaney toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 28.481 seconds (189.600 mph) in the final round to earn the first Coors Light Pole Award for the No. 21 Woods Brothers Ford since Ricky Rudd earned the top starting spot at Talladega in April 2004. Continue reading

Last-lap Pass Lifts Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to Victory at Talladega

There’s no longer a goose egg in the win column next to Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s name.

With a last-lap pass in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Stenhouse collected his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in his 158th start and delivered the first win for Roush Fenway Racing since Carl Edwards triumphed at Sonoma in June 2014. Continue reading

Aric Almirola Powers to NASCAR XFINITY Series Win at Talladega

Aric Almirola charged into the lead with four laps left in Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway and held off Elliott Sadler at the finish to win the third NASCAR XFINITY Series race of his career.

With the Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr. plowing into the inside backstretch wall behind him on the final lap, Almirola held the top spot to the finish, beating Sadler, the series leader, to the finish line by 0.142 seconds. Continue reading