NASCAR Cup Series

Let's be real here — driving a car around a track at 100+ miles per hour is a dangerous occupation even at the best of times. It doesn't take much to send one of these thousand-pound wheeled monsters into a tailspin that can damage other cars, the track and, of course, the drivers behind the wheel.

Talladega Superspeedway has hosted 96 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) races since it opened in September 1969. Over that time frame, a Chevrolet has pulled into Gatorade Victory Lane an astounding track record 40 times. When NASCAR roars into Talladega for the Alabama 500 playoff event on Sunday, Oct. 15, Chevrolet and the bowtie brigade are hoping to add another notch in the Talladega belt.

Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Smithfield Ford team will head to New Hampshire for the final fall event at the mile-track. The team has some good finishes at the short track. They struggled with the handling earlier this year but have worked on getting a good setup to unload this weekend.

“We spent several hours in the simulator on Monday trying to figure something out for this week. We aren’t riding this year out or giving up. We’re going to keep working hard the rest of the season. I’m looking forward to New Hampshire – it’s a fun track. It’s flat and it’s kind of tricky to get around, but it’s fun.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at New Hampshire

Everyone is super excited about going to Loudon, New Hampshire for the big event on Sunday. Okay, Alan Gustafson is not. Is not going, that is. Chase Elliott was second in Chicago, leaving him sixth in points. That was then. Now, he is eighth in points. If your car fails post-race inspection, sometimes they take away 15 points, along with your crew chief for a week.

Roush Fenway Racing returns to northern New England as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) prepares to tackle New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the second time in the 2017 season. A Roush Fenway Ford has earned nine victories at the 1.058-mile oval. Also, it is pronounced ‘Cahncahd,’ not ‘Concord.’

Chicagoland Recap: Denny Hamlin notched his 12th top-five finish of the 2017 season after finishing fourth in Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs kick-off race at Chicagoland Speedway, capitalizing on a well-balanced #11 FedEx Office Toyota and efficient green-flag pit stops from his #11 FedEx crew to maintain his position at the front of the field throughout the entire duration of the 267-lap event.

Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team roll into New Hampshire this week for the second race of the NASCAR Playoffs 10th in the championship standings after an 11th-place result at Chicagoland Speedway.

Erik Jones and the No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota team look to Sunday’s ISM Connect 300 to make up for an early exit the last time they were at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Richard Childress Racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ... Richard Childress has four victories as a team owner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with Robby Gordon (2001), Kevin Harvick (2006) and Clint Bowyer (2007 and 2010). In 121 starts at the 1.058-mile oval, Childress also has two pole awards, 16 top-five and 40 top-10 finishes with 10 different drivers including Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton, Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Green, Gordon, Harvick, Ryan Newman, Steve Park and Mike Skinner.