Race Weekend Central

Beside the Rising Tide: Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

A funny thing happened in Philadelphia near my home base this week.  Of course, the usually litany of not so funny things happened as well, including a huge church fire, the usual list of shootings of innocents that is totally unacceptable, the annual flocking of the shoe-bees to the shore for the Labor Day weekend …

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Beside the Rising Ride: Man at the Top 2

2019 Phoenix I Cup Ricky Stenhouse Jr Nkp

(Photo: NKP)

The Peter principle is a longtime cautionary career warning. It states that within a hierarchy, men or women will tend to rise to their level of incompetence. Thus, a hotshot entry level management new hire might do a bang-up job drawing notice and praise from his superiors. As such, he gets a promotion further up …

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Beside the Rising Tide: August and Everything After

Kyle Busch, Erik Jones Battling For Lead Bristol

(Photo:: John K Harrelson / NKP)

I’ll spare you the sleigh bells, slurred toasts and hymns sung slightly out of tune, but for longtime, hardcore stock car racing fans, the argument can be made this is in fact the most wonderful time of the year. With Michigan out of the way, the magical mystery tour that is the 2019 Cup schedule …

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Beside the Rising Tide: Remembering Tim Richmond, Part 1

1987 Riverside Tim Richmond Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Editor’s note: Senior writer Matt McLaughlin is off this week to celebrate a milestone birthday. Which one? We’ll let him tell it when he returns if he so chooses. In the meantime, please enjoy one of his classic columns from the past, the first of a two-part series paying tribute to Tim Richmond. It’s been …

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Beside the Rising Tide: NASCAR Saves the Universe 

2019 Kentucky Mencs Joey Logano Kyle Larson Aric Almirola Ryan Blaney Erik Jones Racing Nigel Kinrade Photography

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

I guess I’ve gotten a bit slovenly in cleaning out my inbox at the end of every hard day’s night. Time-to-time I’ve been told I can be a bit obtuse. Well, I’ve been told I can be a bit obtuse more than I’ve been told I tend to be oblong anyway.  I’ve also been told …

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Beside the Rising Tide: Feels Like the First Time 

Justin Haley poses with his trophy after winning the summer NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona, July 2019. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Rather unexpectedly, NASCAR’s top three touring divisions have welcomed some first-time winning drivers and teams lately.  On Thursday night (July 11) at Kentucky Speedway, Tyler Ankrum drove his David Gilliland-owned Toyota to victory, a first for both the rookie driver and the team. It was only Ankrum’s 12th start in the Truck Series, as he …

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Beside the Rising Tide: New Antiques Made Daily

2019 Daytona Mencs Rain Christian Koelle

(Photo: Christian Koelle)

Back at the turn of the century, my sister and then-brother-in-law lived in rural Vermont. I took a lot of road trips to visit them and a lot of road trips while I was visiting, rather a necessity in that nothing of consequence was near their home unless you want to count a bad-tempered creek …

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Beside the Rising Tide: Headed Out to Pasture 

2019 Mencs Sonoma Pit Road

Photo: Danny Peters

It would seem the generation(s) that came after mine haven’t embraced the automobile with the rabid obsession of me and my contemporaries. I have several nieces and nephews who, though in their mid-to late 20s, still don’t have a car … or a driver’s license for that matter. I got my learner’s permit the day …

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Beside the Rising Tide: Curious and Curiouser 

2019 Texas Gots Johnny Sauter Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

NASCAR’s Gander Outdoor Truck Series often provides the best racing of any given weekend’s slate. But if you go by the ratings and attendance at the truck events, the series seems to be teetering on the precipice of obscurity few envisioned when the series made its bombastic debut back in 1995. After all, the three …

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Besides The Rising Tide: The 1973 Daytona 500 – A Father’s Day Tribute

2017 Daytona I Nxs Sunset Barry Cantrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell/NKP)

Editor’s Note: This article was originally run on the Father’s Day weekend of 1996, and Matt runs it again every year at this time in memory of his Dad. A belated Happy Father’s Day to one and all … The 1973 Daytona 500 probably doesn’t top most fans’ lists as the greatest running of the …

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Beside the Rising Tide: A Long Time Coming (Back)

Nascar Gander Outdoors Truck Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Last week, someone (Bill B) asked in the comments section below my column if that particular column about Pocono had run a week late. Uh, no Bill, that one was fresh off the grille. (And yes, the crash at Pocono that ended Bobby Allison’s career was in 1988, not ’89 as I stated. My apologies.) …

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Beside the Rising Tide: Pocono, NASCAR’s Problem Child Speedway

2019 Cup Pocono Zach Catanzareti William Byron

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Say what you will about Pocono Raceway and the “unique” challenges it offers both racers and meteorologists, but I’ve never heard it called a “cookie cutter” layout like all those 1.5-mile tri-ovals modeled after Charlotte that now dominate the Cup schedule the way dandelions take over a spring time lawn. I’ve been following this sport …

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