NASCAR Cup Series

Erik Jones views his last race at Charlotte Motor Speedway as a major step forward in his 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season and the driver of the No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Toyota sees Sunday’s Bank of America 500 as another opportunity to progress.

The Round of 12 begins this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway with four Ford drivers from different organizations still in the championship hunt. Ryan Blaney (Wood Brother Racing), Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing) remain in contention. Here’s a look at where each stands going into Sunday’s event and how Ford has fared in this annual race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join Brad Paisley at Paisley’s JR Nation Appreci88ion concert presented by Wrangler and Nationwide on Saturday night at zMAX Dragway; The concert is FREE to ticketholders for Sunday’s Bank of America 500

Dover Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 35th in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway after brushing the wall on lap 374 of the 400-lap race following a broken axle on the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota.

That's why Elliott is taking time out from his run at a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship Thursday to visit via Skype with sports marketing students at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

Given the current landscape of sports in the United States, there are two questions that remain unanswered. One, will there be an NFL team that finally signs Colin Kaepernick? And two, will there be a NASCAR team that finally gives Bubba Wallace a chance to be a regular in the Monster Series?

Hendrick Motorsports' 19 wins at Charlotte are tied with Dover International Speedway for second for the organization's most at a track, behind only Martinsville Speedway with 24 wins. The Charlotte victories have come via seven different drivers -- Johnson (eight), Gordon (five), Darrell Waltrip (two), Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte, Casey Mears and Kahne.

Bayne makes his 11th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Bayne’s best finish in the MENCS at Charlotte is 16th in May of 2013 and 2017, respectively.

Stenhouse Jr. has 11 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with an average starting position of 20.0 and average finishing position of 20.3.

Brad Keselowski drove his No. 2 Alliance Trucks Parts Ford Fusion along with Charlotte Motor Speedway pace cars, a Bojangles’ Legend Car, Richard Childress Racing show cars and NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Garrett Smithley in a speedway show car during a “Laps around Uptown” parade through Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday