NASCAR Cup Series

Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team head into the Monster Energy All-Star weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway needing a stage win in the preliminary Monster Energy Open to earn a berth in the main event.

Pocono Raceway and JR Motorsports will partner for a host of cool, fan-focused events in 2017, including the JR Nation Block Party prior to the Pocono 400 on June 9. This marks the second year of the partnership.

Martin Truex Jr. is prepping for two all-star events this week, both being conducted in North Carolina,1500 miles from Denver where his NASCAR Cup Series team is based.

Ford will be looking for its second straight win in the All-Star Race after Joey Logano took the checkered flag last year. Currently, there are five Ford drivers locked into the main event – Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Three of the remaining four spots will be filled by stage winners in the Monster Energy Open while the final position goes to the winner of a fan vote.

Four All-Star Wins for RCR ... Richard Childress Racing has won four Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race events, most recently in 2007 with Kevin Harvick. Dale Earnhardt won the event in 1987, which included the legendary "Pass in the Grass." Earnhardt also went on to claim the checkered flag in 1990 and 1993.

1. Kyle Larson: Larson finished sixth in the GoBowling.com 400, posting his seventh top 10 of the season. He leads the Monster Energy Cup points standings by 44 over Martin Truex Jr.

This year’s NASCAR Hall of Fame class might just be the toughest to choose yet. This is the first list of nominees where nobody really jumps out as a slam dunk candidate; compare that to last season which had Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, and especially Benny Parsons, all kind of above the rest of the field.

Kansas was a scheduled 400-mile contest but, truth be told, the highlight of this one arrived with 50 to go. It came in the form of a busted brake rotor, three destroyed cars, and a driver being airlifted to a local hospital. The event itself was just another 1.5-mile track, cars spread out hither and yon, and a generic sponsor non-iconic name attached. However, as they reached the 200th lap, we witnessed what could happen on this track, any track, to jerk us back to reality.

Martin Truex Jr. made the pass on Ryan Blaney to win Saturday nights GoBowling 400 at Kansas Speedway. Truex Jr. led a race-high 104 laps in route to his second victory this season and his first at Kansas.

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with a select group of media last weekend at Kansas Speedway to discuss the upcoming All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway