Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Deals With Track Issues, While Knoxville Brings Kevin Swindell to the Booth

Ryan Blaney leads a pack of cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway, July 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

By today’s standards, last weekend was a rarity. You had a split weekend with the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series teams racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, while the Camping World Truck Series was at Knoxville Raceway. The Cup race wasn’t all that unusual for Atlanta, just shorter, which I didn’t really welcome. The Truck race …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Road America Presents Some Issues

Kyle Weatherman and Jeremy Clements race at Road America, July 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Last weekend was an excellent time if you like road racing. NASCAR had the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series at Road America, while INDYCAR was at Mid-Ohio. Finally, you had IMSA at Watkins Glen. I’ll be honest and admit that literally nothing was there from the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen weekend. All but …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Plays the Thinkin’ Man’s Game at Pocono

2021 Pocono I Cup Denny Hamlin pack racing Pocono Doubleheader weekend James Gilbert Getty

(Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

Last year, NASCAR created one of the most exhausting weekends in motorsports with its doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway. In reality, it is a quintuple-header with two NASCAR Cup Series races, plus events for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series over three days. If you get seemingly any …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Sports Gets Back in Gear in Nashville

Chase Elliott leads a pack of cars at Nashville Superspeedway, June 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

This past weekend saw the first major race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway since 2011. You probably saw the various clips posted by NASCAR, FOX Sports and NBC Sports of Pastor Joe Nelms and his invocation that gave thanks to, among other things, Roush and Yates getting together, R07 engines (from Chevrolet) and his “smokin’ hot …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: The All-Star Race Was Convoluted. FOX Sports 1 Just Wasn’t Good Enough With Explanations

NASCAR All-Star Race action from Texas Motor Speedway, June 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The All-Star Race has been jumping around recently, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the 2021 schedule was released, Texas was one of the most lenient states regulation-wise, so it was granted the race, which was moved to June. Anyone that lives in Texas, or keeps track of potential weather conditions, knew going in …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Sonoma Brings Increased Action, Good and Bad Times

Joey Logano leads a pack of NASCAR Cup Series cars at Sonoma Raceway, June 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Back in the mid-1990s, I really looked forward to NASCAR making the yearly haul out to Sonoma Raceway for 300 kilometers around the 2.52-mile road course. I thought that the race was too short at the time. So did Papyrus. When then-Sears Point Raceway was included in the NASCAR Racing Track Pack in 1995 (note: …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Memorial Day Spectacular Brings Lukewarm Action, Questionable Decisions

NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 green flag 2021 Charlotte Motor Speedway NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Memorial Day Weekend is a busy time for race teams and for many people. Typical years have big Memorial Day celebrations. A lot of those events have been wiped out because of either the COVID-19 pandemic, or by weather (nothing quite like 48 degrees for a high the day of the Indianapolis 500). For race …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Dover Brings Hendrick Domination That FOX Didn’t Make Better

2021 Cup Dover Aerial Shot (Credit: NKP)

Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography

This year, Dover only gets one crack at NASCAR. When the circus visits the high-banked concrete oval with the oldest racing surface in Cup (the concrete, originally nicknamed “White Lightning,” has been in use since 1995), you never really know what’s going to happen. With the lower downforce package in play, it means that the …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Darlington Presents Challenges to FOX

Race action in the 2021 Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, May 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photgraphy)

Throwback weekend is a great time. I’ve never been to Darlington, but I have a standing offer to go and stay with my friend’s parents if I ever go. Had they kept the Southern 500 in early April, I would have taken them up on it. Even with two dates, the schedule doesn’t really work …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Thoughts on Loose Wheels in Kansas

Corey LaJoie, Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe race three-wide at Kansas Speedway, May 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Kansas Speedway is a venue that can often be quite pedestrian. Then again, since the track was reconfigured in 2012, it has shown some teeth from time to time. You never know when it’s going to come out and bite you. Sunday was not really one of those days. Prior to the race, FOX Sports …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Sports Takes on Talladega

Xfinity Series race at Talladega, pack racing, stands, view from infield. Photo Sean Gardner/Getty

(Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

Talladega is a bizarre place, filled with some of the wildest and wooliest of NASCAR fans. Most of the time, they’re a great, knowledgeable bunch. Sometimes, they do things that make the whole fan base look bad. The clips shown of Jeff Gordon’s car being pelted with beer cans during the Put It Out! segment …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Richmond Fits Recent Trends, FS1 Sees Jennifer Jo Cobb Pull a Boris Said

2021 Cup Richmond Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, and Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Racing (Credit: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images via NASCAR Media_

Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images via NASCAR Media

Last weekend, NASCAR traveled to Richmond Raceway for a doubleheader and spectators ended up with two completely different races. The NASCAR Cup Series event was relatively clean, which was expected going in. But it ended up being even cleaner than I thought it was going to be with just a handful of incidents. Meanwhile, Saturday’s …

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