NASCAR Cup Series

Click n' CloseTM, the "Official Mortgage Provider of NASCAR®" and Richard Petty Motorsports, in partnership with the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and the Performance Racing Network (PRN), announced today a joint partnership with Victory Junction, establishing the "Fastest Lap" Award at the completion of each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in 2018 on both radio networks.

After winning last weekend’s Clash for the ninth time, Ford will be looking for its 16th victory in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Ford, which owns a seven-race restrictor plate win streak, has won the event five times in the last nine years and boasts four previous race-winners in its lineup with Kevin Harvick (2007), Trevor Bayne (2011), Joey Logano (2015) and Kurt Busch (2017).

Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott won the two Can-Am Duel races Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway, securing second-row starting positions for Sunday’s 60th annual DAYTONA 500 (TV – FOX; Radio – MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the season-opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Chevrolet’s Camaro ZL1 earned its first win Thursday evening, delivered by Chase Elliott in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway.

GRAMMY-nominated and GMA Dove Award-winning Southern Gospel quartet Ernie Haase + Signature Sound, an Atlanta fan favorite, will return by popular demand to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the fourth time to perform the national anthem ahead of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, Feb. 25.

Trevor Bayne returns to the sight of his first career NASCAR victory and one of the biggest upset wins in sports history; Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Bayne scored the historic victory in the 2011 running of the Daytona 500. Running up front for virtually the entire race, the young driver held off the field in a feverish green-white-checkered finish to earn his place in the annals of NASCAR history. Bayne capped off a dominant Speedweeks effort by becoming the youngest winner in the history of the “Great American Race” at 20 years and one day old.

Richard Childress Racing (RCR) will improve racing times with ANSYS (NASDAQ: ANSS) through a new, multi-year partnership. RCR will leverage ANSYS Pervasive Engineering SimulationTM software to more accurately predict machine performance and enhance vehicle speed on the race track by enabling a true digital twin of a race car.

After advancing to round two of qualifying, Stenhouse placed ninth overall scoring him in the fifth position in Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel 1, which will set the field for the Daytona 50

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion -- HOW EXCITED WERE YOU TO SEE LAST SEASON END AND THIS YEAR START GIVEN YOUR STRUGGLES LAST YEAR? “Very. Last year was more of a struggle than any of us expected for sure. I thought toward the end of the year that we started to make some speed back in our race car. We started to run good, had a good run at Miami and Texas and those places. That was encouraging. To get down here and have a good run in the Clash and have all three Penske cars up front was fun to see. Making sure one of us at least won it – I was hoping it was me – but to have a 1-2 finish for Team Penske was great.”

Monster Performer: Kurt Busch Eyes Daytona 500 Repeat - Kurt Busch led only the final lap in last season’s Daytona 500, putting his No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford in Victory Lane in Monster Energy’s first race as entitlement sponsor.