NASCAR Cup Series

Team Penske announced today that BODYARMOR Sports Drink has agreed to a multi-year extension that extends and expands its partnership with the No. 12 Ford Mustang team and driver Ryan Blaney through the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season and beyond. The 2018 season marked the first-ever race team partnership for BODYARMOR, which has enjoyed a personal relationship with Blaney since 2017.

When Furniture Row Racing announced that they would cease operations Tuesday, my first reaction was shock. But as the news sunk in I realized that it should not have come as a surprise but rather another indicator that NASCAR’s efforts to reduce the cost of operating a team at the premier Cup Series level are failing miserably.

I had such high hopes for NASCAR, at least since July. That is when NBC came on board, and presented the long sought after broadcast crew that could keep fans glued to the track simply by the strength of their commentary. We have waited years for that to happen, and it is crucial for a sport that has yet to solve some on-track competitive issues and more than a few off it. If the racing is not spell binding, then the commentary damn well better be if you hope to have anyone watching.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is making its only trip to the 2.5-mile rectangular-oval Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. Matt DiBenedetto and the No.32 Go Fas Racing Ford will be carrying Anest Iwata's red, white, and blue scheme introduced earlier this year at Chicagoland Speedway. This race, the 26th of the NASCAR season, will mark the final race of the NASCAR regular season.

Bragging Rights and Points… With the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) regular season coming to an end this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), the regular-season champion will be formally announced. Camry driver Kyle Busch heads into Sunday’s race 39 points ahead of the second-place driver. While the regular-season title would be nice, it’s not just for bragging rights as the regular-season champion is awarded 15 playoff points heading into the Round of 16 which is set to open at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 16.

Darlington Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 10th in Sunday night’s 500-mile event at Darlington Raceway, overcoming ill-handling conditions and a late-race pit road penalty to notch his 13th top-10 of the 2018 season. Hamlin, the defending race winner, captured his third pole of the 2018 season and led the field to green on Sunday, showing the way for the first 11 circuits around the “Lady in Black” before falling outside the top five.

Voting for the 2018 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Most Popular Driver Award presented by Hooters officially opens today, Wednesday, Sept. 5th at 12:00 noon ET. Fans can cast a vote for a single driver once per day at www.nascar.com/mostpopulardriver or on the NASCAR Mobile app. Votes shared by fans on Facebook and / or Twitter count double.

Richard Childress Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ... In 67 previous Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has posted two pole awards (Kevin Harvick in 2003 and Jeff Burton in 2006), three wins (Dale Earnhardt in 1995, Harvick in 2003 and Paul Menard in 2011), 12 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes. RCR Chevrolets have also been atop the leaderboard for a total of 268 laps and with the exception of one, each entry has been running at the finish of every event at the Brickyard, dating back to the inaugural race in 1994.

Last call! Only a few days remain for Talladega Superspeedway fans to save up to $10 per ticket with advance-priced ticket options for the highly-anticipated NASCAR Playoff doubleheader weekend, Oct. 12-14, featuring the 1000Bulbs.com 500 and Talladega 250.

Alex Bowman on what makes Indianapolis unique: “It’s kind of like Loudon in that it’s just awkward in a stock car. It’s four corners that are obviously very separated. There is not a lot of grip, there is no room for error, it’s super flat. It is just hard to make speed. It’s not necessarily hard to drive, it’s just hard to make speed. We were pretty fast there last year in the wheel-force test, so that gives me a little confidence because I struggled there a little bit in the past. Just really looking forward to getting there, and again, I haven’t been there in a couple of years racing but being there in a Hendrick Motorsports car, it should be fun.”