Race Weekend Central

NASCAR 101: Top 10 Most Wins in Truck Series History

2018 Las Vegas CWTS Kyle Busch Truck John K Harrelson NKP

(Photo: John K. Harrelson/NKP)

All right, we can quit wringing hands over whether or not Kyle Busch will top Ron Hornaday Jr.’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win count. It’s done. He did it. After last weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch moves into sole possession of the most wins in Truck Series history, dating back the circuit’s …

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NASCAR 101: Ross Chastain Ran Every Lap in Daytona — Yeah, All of Them

You might have missed the following statistic in the hustle and bustle of Speedweeks, which tends to have so many storylines throughout the week(s) that certain developments feel like ages ago once NASCAR arrives at Atlanta Motor Speedway, even if it’s only been about a week or less. Denny Hamlin‘s win? Check. Michael Annett? Check. …

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NASCAR 101: Keeping Up With 2019 NASCAR Driver Changes

2018-Chicago-CUP-pack-racing-NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Look. Hey. Look. Check this out. Click the link. “Whew. What an off-season, right?” the naive-as-all-hell NASCAR 101 columnist wrote in February 2018, blissfully unaware of what was to come. Hahahahaha. Haha. Ha. 2019 is a whole other animal. You thought last year’s list of pre-Daytona International Speedway changes were long and hard to keep track …

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NASCAR 101: Final Goodbyes

2014 Chicago CUP Jimmie Johnson Chad Knaus CIA

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

The end of a season always brings change. When the year comes to a close, several relationships, careers and streaks end as well. This weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be no different. We will say goodbye to a countless number of drivers, crew chiefs, teams and sponsors. Some of them, we may never see again, …

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NASCAR 101: Who Didn’t Return to NASCAR in 2018?

NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC Friday 6 October 2017 Sam Hornish Jr, PPG Ford Mustang World Copyright: Rusty Jarrett NKP

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett/NKP)

Things seemed bleak this time last year in NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was about to run what was scheduled to be his final NASCAR race as a full-time driver, and no one was quite sure if Matt Kenseth would ever slide into the driver’s seat in a national series again or not. Sure, Earnhardt had …

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NASCAR 101: Our Storylines of 2018, Revisited

#2: Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Autotrader celebrates his win Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

In November 2017, this space revisited its topics from the entirety of the NASCAR season up to that point, analyzing particularly some of the guesswork and predictions and seeing if any of them held true, if records were broken and so on. Well, it’s November, and if it ain’t broke, don’t write the 100th story …

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NASCAR 101: The 5 Longest Active Careers in the Cup Series

2018 cup richmond zach catanzareti matt kenseth

Old Guy Matt Kenseth does not have the longest current Cup career (Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Though he’s known these days more for his role on TV broadcasts, Hermie Sadler continues a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career that dates back over two decades this weekend when he steps into Premium Motorsports’ No. 7 car at Martinsville Speedway. Sadler, brother of multi-time NASCAR winner and XFINITY Series regular Elliott Sadler (well, …

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NASCAR 101: 5 K&N & ARCA Drivers Who Could (Or Should!) Make Their National Series Debuts This Year

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

NASCAR’s national series roster got just a little bigger this week thanks to a pair of announcements regarding driver debuts at Martinsville Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series. Tyler Ankrum will make his series debut with DGR-Crosley in the team’s No. 54, while Chase Purdy will attempt to make his first Truck Series race …

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NASCAR 101: An Illustrious History of the Inaugural Winner

#12: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Menards/Pennzoil Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Since NASCAR decided to put the Charlotte ROVAL in its own statistical category, last week’s winner Ryan Blaney became just the fourth driver this century to score a win in an inaugural race. That’s right, the Charlotte ROVAL was just the fourth new track that NASCAR has introduced to its schedule this century. Going to a …

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NASCAR 101: What’s the Latest for Silly Season 2019?

Daniel Suarez 2018 MENCS Cup Series, Sonoma

(Photo: Danny Peters)

Every week, it seems like there’s a new development in Silly Season for 2019. AJ Allmendinger‘s out, Noah Gragson‘s in, Jamie McMurray‘s out, Daniel Suarez is… uh, somewhere? Maybe? It’s enough to keep your head spinning for the duration of the 2018 playoffs. Never in recent memory has a Silly Season been this, well, silly. …

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NASCAR 101: Other Drivers Who’ve Come Out of Retirement to Race Again

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL USA Sunday 18 February 2018 Dale Earnhardt Jr on the Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Nationwide Chevrolet Camaro pit box World Copyright: Barry Cantrell NKP

(Photo: Barry Cantrell/NKP)

One of the many things we’ve learned about NASCAR in 2018: take any — any! — retirement announcements with a grain of salt. Or, you know, at least really read the fine print. Throughout 2018, multiple drivers have announced their retirement from full-time competition, such as Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne. The key word there, …

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NASCAR 101: Who’s Most Likely to Progress Out of the Cup Playoffs’ First Round?

2018 cup new hampshire zach catanzareti kyle busch

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

This year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, which begin this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marks the fifth time in which the series has employed an elimination-based format to help decide its champion at the end of the season. Starting in 2014, the series cooked up different rounds throughout the playoffs that eliminated …

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