Race Weekend Central

4 Burning Questions: NASCAR, Stop Paying Barstool

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

What now? Over the weekend of June 26-28, 2020, clips began to resurface online of Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports’ founder and president, straight-up using racial slurs on old Barstool videos. In response to this, Portnoy released a three-minute video response where he essentially doubled down on his behavior, outright refusing to apologize to people he …

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4 Burning Questions: Who Will Be in the Cup Playoffs?

Folds of Honor QuikTrip 400

(Photo: NASCAR Media/Getty Images)

Who will be in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs? Last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway marked the halfway point of the 26-race regular season. As such, it’s about time to take a step back and look at what the playoff picture will be, before the dog days of summer truly begin with …

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4 Burning Questions: Can Ryan Newman Pull Off the Win at Talladega?

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Should there be less practice time? There has been a lot of talk over this past week as to how much practice NASCAR teams should have after the COVID-19 situation subsides. Fans want no practice due to how exciting the racing is without it. Drivers want some practice, but definitely a very limited amount of …

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3 Burning Questions & An Open Letter to You, a Keyboard Warrior

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: NKP)

Hey, random social media person. You’ve been pretty busy this week, haven’t you? There’s been so many news stories that you’ve decided that you must comment on, even though, in many cases, you have neither the grammar nor the critical thinking skills to actually say anything on the topic. Just stop. Stop. Because nobody important …

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4 Burning Questions: Road to the Playoffs

2019 Atlanta Cup Daniel Hemric Pack Racing Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

What will NASCAR need to do following July to stay-on-pace to make the playoffs work? On Thursday, June 4, NASCAR revealed its current schedule through the end of July and the first weekend in August. BREAKING NEWS: NASCAR announces next installment in return to racing schedule. Details: https://t.co/c0Oof32GGq pic.twitter.com/Osjbyruoh1 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 4, 2020 …

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4 Burning Questions: What’s Next for the Truck Series?

2020charlottencsracingnascarmedia(4)

(Photo: NASCAR Media/Getty Images)

What was wrong with the Coca-Cola 600? The TV ratings are out for the Coca-Cola 600, and they don’t look very good. .@FoxTV earned a 2.4 rating and 3.96 million viewers for Sunday's @CocaCola 600 at Charlotte, per @ShowBuzzDaily, down from 2.6 rating/4.26M last year. ➖ Sunday's race was slightly delayed/faced competition from #TheMatch, which …

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4 Burning Questions: Chase Elliott vs. Kyle Busch is Supposedly a Thing

2019 Daytona Clash Cup Chase Elliott Alan Gustafson Nkp

What’s next for Chase Briscoe? One of the best finishes I’ve ever seen occurred in the rain delayed NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway this week. The first race for the series in over two months, the finish was a classic duel between Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe. A final lap that'll go down …

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4 Burning Questions: Rear Quarter Panel Numbers Are Stupid

The NASCAR Cup Series races the Track Too Tough To Tame in the 2019 version of Darlington Raceway's Southern 500. (Photo: NKP)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Is it truly safe to go back to racing? This is the biggest gamble in NASCAR’s history. Really the only other one it can be compared with was when all the drivers tried to unionize in 1969 and Bill France decided to just have a 500-mile race anyway on an extremely dangerous racetrack with mostly …

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e4 Burning Questions: A Look Back on the Pro Invitational Series

2020 Idover Ncs William Byron Burnout Nascar Media

(Photo: NASCAR Media)

Was the Pro Invitational Series a Success? The NASCAR Pro Invitational Series will hold its final scheduled race this Saturday. On a date where NASCAR was originally planning on holding the first night race in Martinsville Speedway history, it will instead be sanctioning its first race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, albeit a virtual version, in …

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4 Burning Questions: Is Matt Kenseth Ready for 2020 Cup Racing?

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Series, Bristol

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Wait, Matt Kenseth? This week, Chip Ganassi Racing made a bit of a surprising announcement. The news, first broken by Adam Stern of Sports Business Daily, will see the 2003 champion race in NASCAR for the first time since 2018, where he was brought onto the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing on a …

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4 Burning Questions: NASCAR Needs to Answer Before a ‘Coronarace’

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Editor’s Note: This column was originally posted on April 24, 2020. Since then, NASCAR has officially announced they’ll return to the track effective May 17 at Darlington Raceway. More details can be found here. How exactly would testing work? The first to throw their hats into the idea of NASCAR holding a race, beside Florida …

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e4 Burning Questions: Where Can Kyle Larson Go from Here?

2020 California Ncs Kyle Larson Face Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

What’s next for the eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series? On Wednesday, April 15, NASCAR announced details for its next event in the Pro Invitational Series, a 150-lap event on Sunday afternoon at the virtual Richmond Raceway. FOX, NASCAR and their esports division have apparently decided that the key to having more watchable races is to …

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