NASCAR Cup

It’s been almost a week since Chase Elliott had a near miss on his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in the Daytona 500, but that doesn’t mean the disappointment has faded.

Kevin Harvick saved the best for last. The 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion turned in the fastest lap in the final round of qualifying, nabbing the pole for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Georgia has been “peachy” to Hendrick Motorsports in recent memory. The four-car outfit owned by Rick Hendrick has won the last three races at Atlanta Motor Speedway behind the efforts of Kasey Kahne (2014) and Jimmie Johnson (2015-16).

The last time Atlanta Motor Speedway was repaved, iPhones were still a decade away, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was well under 8,000 points, and the average loaf of bread hovered around $1.

Tony Stewart needed to retire to win the Daytona 500. From runner-up through DNFs, he failed to win NASCAR's marquee race. Stewart's NASCAR career ended without a win in 17 tries in the Daytona 500.

Returning to action from a concussion that sidelined him for the second half of the 2016 season, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was leading Sunday’s Daytona 500 at the halfway point, having passed Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson...

Chase Elliott thought he would be celebrating the first Cup victory of his career in the prestigious Daytona 500. Instead, he wound up a passenger in a car driven by his father out the gates of Daytona International Speedway after a crushing defeat.

Kurt Busch survived a wild race to score his first-career Daytona 500 victory with a last lap pass over a sputtering Kyle Larson to put his Monster Energy-sponsored Ford in victory lane in the inaugural event for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

The good news for NASCAR is that all signs indicate Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a legitimate shot to win the Daytona 500.

In Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ran 30 laps at Daytona International Speedway, second only to the 36 posted by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne.