Race Weekend Central

Happiness Is: Fireworks, Family Fracas & Roots

#42: Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet Camaro Credit One Bank Spins After Contact With #18: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Skittles Red White & Blue Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

Kyle Busch & Kyle Larson at Chicagoland, 2018 (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The Fourth of July gave many people a midweek summer respite, a chance for food, fun, family (however you consider it), and likely fireworks of some sort.  For those who are able to enjoy taking the rest of the week off, cheers. For everyone else whoʻs back at the grind, do what you can. The …

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Slipstream Saturday: The Austrian Grand Prix

Formula One Grand A1 Red Bull Ring General Bronze Sculpture 3313161

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria (credit: Getty Images)

Welcome to the second race in the Formula 1 Triple Header.  The travel from Le Castellet, France, to Spielberg, Austria, is not too bad for a back-to-back weekend schedule, tallying around 700 miles.  Usually, the series would break and everyone would recuperate for the next stage of the worldʻs leading racing circus. Instead, teams will …

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Happiness Is: Axioms, Divos & Bowie

Chase Elliott 2018 Mencs Cup Series, Sonoma

Chase Elliott (Photo: Danny Peters)

We just had an interesting weekend of racing with Formula 1 returning to France, IndyCar racing at Road America in Wisconsin and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series running rampant near Californiaʻs wine country. That put all three series on road-course specific tracks, and all three seemed to bring about a similar sense of racing. …

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F1 Slipstream Saturday: The Return of the French Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo 01 1

Daniel Ricciardo (credit: Getty Images)

This weekend marks a return of Formula 1 to France, the most popular tourist destination in the world.  The series took a 10-year break from racing in the country after financial troubles scuttled the event in 2008.  Prior to the eventʻs departure from the schedule, the race had been held at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours …

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Happiness Is: A Break & Open Wheel

#14: Clint Bowyer, Stewart Haas Racing, Chevrolet Camaro Haas 30 Years Of The Vf1 Celebrates In Victory Lane Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Since when did Michigan become Pocono — aren’t rain-shortened races the pride of the Pennsylvania track?  No matter. So now we head into an off weekend with that race at Michigan being the last memory. No wonder people are concerned about the ratings.   No worries, race-winner Clint Bowyer is here to keep things interesting: …

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Happiness Is: Half, TTs & Maple Leaves

2018 Cup Dover Zach Catanzareti Jimmie Johnson Chad Knaus

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

No pithy babbling to get the column going this week.  Just meat and potatoes. Or kale and tofu. Enjoy. Let’s get happy.   Happiness Is…Half.  The Cup race last weekend at Pocono Raceway signaled the second half of the ‘regular’ season has begun, and with it the top of the pecking order has become rather …

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Happiness Is: Challenges

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

Kyle Busch doing that winning at Charlotte thing (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

For being the best day in racing, this past Sunday seemed to be a little bit of a letdown.  Monaco. Indy. The 600. These are supposed to be marquee events that not only captivate the indifferent, but ones that are supposed to celebrations of each sport and yet for all their heft the results seemed …

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Happiness Is: Packages, Miles & A Finale

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fl Usa Sunday 11 February 2018 Danica Patrick, Premium Motorsports, Godaddy Chevrolet Camaro World Copyright: Nigel Kinrade Nkp

Bon Voyage, Danica (Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

The announcement for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, class of 2019, seemed to come out of nowhere.  That doesn’t mean that it probably hadn’t been on the docket for months, but rather that it does bring a kind of funny realization.  It’s the kind of feeling that comes as no real surprise yet at the …

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Happiness Is: Connections & Technology

Mirrors

Ferrari's mirrors turned out to be a little too un-mirror-like (credit: Getty Images)

It’s that time of year again when NASCAR stays near its home and plays in the backyard.  It’s a metaphorical backyard cookout, complete with hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, probably someone who whines, and the unsatisfactory feeling that once it ends that you don’t feel either full or at peace with yourself.  The food tasted …

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Happiness Is: Quiet, Pastels & Forgotten Names

#22: Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Shell Pennzoil And #21: Paul Menard, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford Fusion Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

Joey Logano leading a quiet race (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Spencer Gallagher won the first race of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career this past Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.  The ebullient driver, raw and giddiness exuded palpapatle joy during his post-race interview.   The reaction from other drivers and those calling the broadcast, which should be noted were other drivers, also seemed to embrace the win, …

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F1 Slipstream Saturday: Whither Lewis Hamilton? The Azerbaijan GP

Lewis Hamilton Australia 2018

Lewis Hamilton (Credit: Getty Images)

The Formula 1 season is beginning to roll along as the series makes its way to the streets of Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.  This race is the fourth of the season, which means it stands as a certain marker for performance. That is to say that teams should have shaken down their 2018 …

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