Race Weekend Central

Up to Speed: True Bristol Divides NASCAR Drivers and Fans

2016 Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Bristol

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade NKP)

Despite a losing battle with Mother Nature Sunday, Bristol Motor Speedway provided plenty of action for NASCAR fans this week. Saturday’s XFINITY Series event was the most successful attempt to date at restoring Bristol’s bottom groove. The application of PJ1 TrackBite to the low line through its turns held up well over the afternoon, causing …

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Up to Speed: Disparate Results for Chip Ganassi Racing

2018 Jamie Mcmurray Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Up until Sunday’s Monster Energy Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, Jamie McMurray’s 2018 season had been one disastrous race after another. His teammate, Kyle Larson, had enjoyed mostly good results this year, managing to avoid major trouble in any of the first six races. But in the Lone Star State, Chip Ganassi’s drivers found …

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Up to Speed: Too Many Pretenders Heading for the Playoffs

2018 Las Vegas I Cup Ryan Blaney Pack Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

It is hard to believe that NASCAR’s postseason championship format has gone through five different versions in 15 seasons.  The latest revision involved last year’s introduction of playoff points that drivers can earn throughout the season and carry with them through the different rounds of the postseason. Playoff points were a positive change, but the …

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Up to Speed: No Urgency Necessary for Alex Bowman & William Byron

2018 Las Vegas I Cup William Byron Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Remember last year’s Brickyard 400? The ending of the race was a hot mess. A multi-car crash brought out the yellow flag with 10 laps left in the scheduled distance, ending a long green flag run.  From then on, it seemed that even NASCAR’s best could not go more than one lap without triggering another …

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Up to Speed: The Rest of Stewart-Haas Racing

2018 Las Vegas I Cup Aric Almirola Alex Bowman Racing Rusty Jarrett Nkp

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett / NKP)

Kevin Harvick’s three wins in a row have captured the attention of the NASCAR world in the last few weeks, and he was in the headlines again at Auto Club Speedway.  But this time, it was following contact with Kyle Larson that triggered an odd accident. It left Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing with a crumpled …

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Up to Speed: When Happy Gets Angry

2018 Las Vegas I Cup Kevin Harvick Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Kevin Harvick won last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, scoring his second straight victory of the 2018 season.  He won in dominant fashion, leading 214 of 267 laps.  Nobody was off to a better start than Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing crew, and the team was heading to ISM Raceway, where Harvick had won eight times before. …

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Up to Speed: Be Concerned About Pit Guns

2018 Daytona Cup Ryan Newman Pit Stop Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Just a reminder: we are three races into the 2018 NASCAR season. The way that teams are performing now might have little-to-no bearing on the rest of the year.  Recall Joe Gibbs Racing’s slow start to 2017 and the seemingly dire outlook of its drivers’ championship hopes.  By the playoffs, JGR and its associates at …

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Up to Speed: Solving the Atlanta Weather Problem

Paul Menard Rain

[Photo: Zach Catanzareti]

Before the competitors of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series could do battle against each other at Atlanta Motor Speedway, they had to battle Mother Nature. The Sunday forecast looked pretty grim throughout the week, calling for rain all day. Fortunately, the sanctioning body moved the start time up one hour, started the track drying …

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Up to Speed: Wild & Young Racers Steal the Show at Daytona

2018 Daytona Cup Zach Catanzareti Erik Jones

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

If the Daytona 500 is any indication, the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season could be one of the wildest in years. Granted, making any predictions about an entire season based only on the first race is a dangerous game.  The Daytona 500 is unlike any other race on the NASCAR schedule, and restrictor plate …

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Up to Speed: Will Rising Young NASCAR Stars Contend for the Championship?

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fl Usa Wednesday 22 February 2017 Chase Elliott Ryan Blaney World Copyright: Matthew T. Thacker/nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

After a wave of 2017 retirements, a youth movement has turned into a tsunami, in position to take the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series by storm.  The top division of professional stock car racing is awash with fresh talent, poised to be a major storyline as soon as this Sunday’s Daytona 500. Most of the …

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Up to Speed: Is Martin Truex Jr. the New Dale Jarrett?

2017 Nascar Monster Cup Series, Homestead

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

If there is one thing that NASCAR fans of all stripes love, it is comparing the careers of different drivers.  Martin Truex Jr.’s career took on a new dimension Sunday after winning his first championship at NASCAR’s highest level.  Whatever else Truex accomplishes in his career, he will always be tied to the select group …

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Up to Speed: One More Win for Matty Ice

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Series, Martinsville

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

In a racing career that has spanned more than 20 years, Matt Kenseth has accrued his fair share of nicknames. While racing on the short tracks of the Midwest as a teenager, he became known as “Matt the Brat” by defeating his older competition.  NASCAR fans dubbed him “The Robot” after watching several years of …

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