Race Weekend Central

Beside The Rising Tide: And Then, There Were Four NASCAR Races Left

2017 Martinsville Cup Zach Catanzareti Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Dale Earnhardt Jr.

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

A couple weeks ago one blustery and cool evening, I went to put some laundry into the back of my Jeep. A gust of wind slammed shut the Cherokee’s door, trapping my right thumb and index finger between the door frame and the whole rest of the truck. To make things that much more special, …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: NASCAR Making the Rules Up as They Go… Again

2017 Chicago Cup Kurt Busch Helmet Barry Cantrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell/NKP)

Let me start by saying I cannot summon up my normal degree of rage when I disagree with calls NASCAR has made from this weekend. Anytime a restrictor plate race concludes and I don’t have to start working on a driver obituary or try to gather information on fans injured in the grandstands (like after …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: NASCAR’s Blue Plate Special

2018 Michigan I Cup Pack Racing Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

There’s a place in nearly every small town across America, or at least there still was during those years I was making a somewhat feeble attempt at growing up. In our town, it was the local Wawa, which is sort of like a 7-Eleven for people in the Philly area other than the coffee doesn’t …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: Random Notes on the ROVAL

2018 Cup Charlotte Roval Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

If you’re old enough that you hear the term “anticipation” and you still think Carly Simon and not catsup the lead up to Sunday’s ROVAL race probably had you whistling that old hit single. As I noted last week there was a whole lot of hype leading up to the Cup series first race on …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: Now, For Something Completely Different – A ROVAL

2018 Charlotte Cup Test Chase Elliott Bob Leverone / Getty Images

(Photo: Bob Leverone/Getty Images)

Be careful what you wish for… you just might get it, or so I’m told. After all, when you asked your parents for a pony, you didn’t specify you wanted a pet you could ride, not a freezer full of equine meat with a little belled collar added for irony. When you told your dad …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: A Brand-New NASCAR

2017 Charlotte All Star Cup Ryan Newman Pack Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

While I’m hardly prehistoric, this old world of ours is, in fact, a very different place than where I grew up. Thanks to my lifelong fascination with fast, loud cars, I recall back in the days when car makers released new or improved car models in September. Back then, there was great public interest to …

Read more

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard

#2: Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Discount Tire Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The Key Moment Denny Hamlin took the lead from Clint Bowyer by pitting two laps earlier than the No. 14. He seemed to have the car to beat Bowyer when a pair of backmarkers, Landon Cassill and Jeffrey Earnhardt, wrecked with six laps to go and bought out a caution. Brad Keselowski was able to …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: Texas Two-Step Treading on Toes

2015 Texas Motor Speedway Cup Nascar Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Don’t you hate when that happens? There’s two events you’re eager to participate in and they invariably end up scheduled for the same date and time. For years I’ve dealt with that issue with one of my sister’s birthday parties falling on or around the same day as the Daytona 500. My saving grace is …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: Just Walk Away, Renee

#95: Kasey Kahne, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet Camaro Procore Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Kasey Kahne’s decision to retire Thursday (Aug. 16) from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing took me by complete surprise. It is perhaps overstating the moment to say it sent shockwaves through the sport. But at very least, it sent large ripples across a pool of eligible drivers trying to make or remain within NASCAR’s elusive …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: The Most Wonderful Night of the Year

2015 Nascar Cup Bristol Nkp Photo

(Photo: John Harrelson / NKP)

Author’s Note: Monday marked the 29th Anniversary of Tim Richmond’s death. Thus there is an entire generation of new fans who never got to see Richmond’s artistry at the wheel on the road courses or his epic Southern 500 win on a rain slick track in Darlington in 1986, perhaps the most masterful bit of …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: NASCAR, How The Mighty Have Fallen

#9: Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Napa Auto Parts Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

BRIAN FRANCE NEWS Some of you will be surprised that I didn’t write an acerbic column this week discussing Brian France’s arrest for both a DWI and drug possession in Sag Harbor, N.Y. over the weekend. While my personal disdain for France remains high, frustration from what I’ve termed his “reign of terror” since taking …

Read more

Beside the Rising Tide: Laughing at the Frozen Rain

2017 Charlotte I Cwts Pack Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

One definition of “insanity” has been widely misattributed to Albert Einstein, Mark Twain and Ben Franklin. Whomever coined the definition, it is said that insanity is repeating the same failed behaviors over and over expecting a different result. If that’s the case, one can only conclude the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is …

Read more