Race Weekend Central

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Ryan Blaney Dominates, Jimmie Johnson Wins at Texas

2017 Texas I Cup Jimmie Johnson Checkered Flag Matthre T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

Who’s In The Headline Once Ryan Blaney faded, Jimmie Johnson got his NASCAR groove back Sunday at one of his favorite places: Texas Motor Speedway. In a dramatic drive from the back to the front, Johnson earned his seventh win in 28 starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. It was the top story in a Hendrick Motorsports resurgence that leaves them …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500

2017 Texas I Cup Chris Buescher Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew Thacker/NKP)

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? If you were to look at the finishing order, you’d think I was crazy to pick out the driver who finished 21st and the first car one-lap down, but Chris Buescher had an impressive day behind the wheel of the new second team for JTG Daugherty Racing. After …

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Darrell Wallace Jr. Posts 5th-Straight 6th-Place Finish

2017 Atlanta Nxs Darrell Wallace Jr Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

When Darrell Wallace Jr. took the checkered flag in Saturday afternoon’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, he posted his fifth-straight sixth-place finish. After struggling through much of last season with just three top fives and nine top 10s and finishing 11th in the standings, Wallace opened the year with a dismal 33rd-place …

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Cole Custer Scores First Top-5 Finish of the Year

2017 Daytona Xfinity Zach Catanzareti Cole Custer

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Cole Custer scored his first top-five finish of the season Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway when he took the checkered flag in fifth. Behind the wheel of the No. 00 Ford for the newly-created Stewart-Haas Racing XFINITY Series effort, Custer started sixth and had to bide his time to enter the top 5. He …

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Erik Jones Dominates XFINITY Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas

Nascar Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Erik Jones dominated and his second XFINIT Y Series win at Texas Motor Speedway in the My Bariatric Solutions 300 Saturday afternoon, leading 112 laps along the way to a half-second margin of victory over Ryan Blaney. “We really didn’t make many adjustments. (Chris) Gabehart (crew chief) did a great job last night trying to …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: 5 Drivers That Stand Out 2 Races In

2017 Atlanta Cwts Johnny Sauter Barry Cntrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell / NKP)

Around this time each year, I feel like it’s required to, once again, complain that there are way too many off weeks early in the season.  At this point, that argument falls on deaf ears. I mean, sure there’s that extra race in Atlanta to follow-up the season-opener, but that momentum is stopped cold just …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: Jordan Anderson’s Power of Persistence

2017 Cwts Atlanta Jordan Anderson Truck

(Photo: Jordan Anderson)

The Camping World Truck Series may be off-track until April, but you can bet one driver is working double-time, hoping to find a way to get back on track when the series reaches Martinsville on April 1. After an incident at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, Jordan Anderson, who made his Truck Series debut at …

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Atlanta Penalties Announced; 3 Crew Chiefs Suspended

Aj Allmendinger 2017 Daytona 500

(Photo: Joseph Wolkin)

NASCAR dropped the hammer on three teams following violations found at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. AJ Allmendinger’s 26th-place result was ruled an encumbered finish after loose lugnuts were found in post-race inspection. As a result, the No. 47 team has been docked 35 driver and owner points for the violation, and crew chief Randall …

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Pace Laps: Harvick’s Speeding Issues, Kyle Busch Dominates XFINITY and Christopher Bell Sends a Message

2017 Atlanta Nxs Pack Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick was literally too fast for Atlanta Motor Speedway – Leading 293 of 325 laps, pole-sitter Kevin Harvick looked to be home free in his second race with Ford. Lightning-fast pit stops, the top spot on every restart and playoff points in both stages. It sure was a perfect day …

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Friday Face-off: What Was to Blame for Daytona Carnage?

Kyle Busch Erik Jones Matt Kenseth Daytona

(Photo: Bruce Nuttleman)

This year’s Daytona 500 saw 15 drivers fail to finish due to wrecks. Is that the result of plate racing, the segments, simply coincidence or… what? Is the damage clock the right length or do you think that was also the culprit? Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: In the 500, it was plate racing more than …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: 4 Reasons to Tune In to the 2017 Season

2016 Cup Homestead Miami Speedway Johnny Sauter Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Racing in Stages Let’s just get to the elephant in the room right away. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock throughout the offseason, by now you’re well aware that perhaps the biggest news came in the form of an announcement that each race of the season would be broken into stages. No, it’s not …

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