Top Dog I might have to change the name of this column to The Nemechek House if rookie John Hunter Nemechek keeps up his current streak. Since racing resumed, the Front Row Motorsports driver has been the best in class four times in a five-race span. But perhaps this shouldn’t come as that much of …
Top Dog John Hunter Nemechek stole the show in the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington last week. But that was just the beginning for his team at the top of the underdog class. Front Row Motorsports has really taken over the group, with Michael McDowell being the highest such finisher in race No. …
Top Dog John Hunter Nemechek is a rookie, a fact that bears mentioning for two important reasons. First off, you may have forgotten his status since the season started what feels like a decade ago. Secondly, he didn’t look much like a rookie at Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon. The Front Row Motorsports driver tamed …
NASCAR history can be measured in several ways, whether it be decades, the presence of certain drivers or various championship point formats. For myself and many others in the NASCAR industry, there is the way things were before 2001 and the way things were after it. It’s debatable, but I’d argue that no full season …
1. Martin Truex Jr. has not finished better than 14th in the first four NASCAR Cup Series races. What is wrong in the No. 19 camp? Frank Velat: Over the course of the opening four races, two crew chiefs have proved their value. One, Paul Wolfe, has done so by doing everything right. The other, Cole …
Top Dog Ty Dillon keeps popping up at the top of this list, much in the way that Matt DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher have in recent years. The difference between those drivers and Dillon is that Ty seems to be interested in building a long-term future at his current team. Both are getting better together, …
Top Dog I’m not good at predicting the future. But last week, I wrote that I anticipated our underdogs faced a tough task if they wanted to steal the spotlight in southern California. Unfortunately, this time my outlook couldn’t have been more accurate. Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway was a disappointment for the underfunded …
Top Dog Ty Dillon has been on a roll of late. Granted, underdog teams don’t necessarily see the type of eyebrow-raising streaks that other teams with extensive resources put together in terms of wins and top-five finishes. But Dillon continues to be instrumental in helping the long-time backmarker wind up a little closer to the …
Top Dog David Ragan said that he was looking forward to spending more time at home when he announced his retirement from full-time racing last fall. While he certainly didn’t mention running the Daytona 500, it remained a possibility. He’s probably glad it did, because Ragan scored his 16th career top-five finish in the NASCAR …
A Crowded House The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series kicks off its 26th season of competition on Friday night and the division finds itself in a unique position. It appears to be the healthiest of the three major touring levels in terms of participation and the number of entries compared to the available …
The Unusual Suspects Like every other team, NASCAR underdog operations across all three national touring series have made the trek to the Florida coast for another Speedweeks. The Xfinity and Truck teams still have some time to shake the sand out of their boots, but Cup crews have already been shaking down their cars for …
The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season marked Michael McDowell‘s second with Front Row Motorsports. The veteran driver has been plugging away, steadily improving in his effort to be known for more than a jarring demonstration of the safety improvements of the Car of Tomorrow more than a decade ago. The trials and tribulations of a …
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