Race Weekend Central

NASCAR 101: The Little Team from the Mattress Factory

Martin Truex Jr Checkered Flag Homestead

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP)

What is a journeyman? Barney Visser is a journeyman in every sense of the word. On Tuesday, news broke on the upcoming closure of Visser’s team, Furniture Row Racing. A true rags to riches story, Visser and FRR became one of the most inspiring stories ever seen on stock car racing’s biggest stage. The Vietnam …

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NASCAR 101: Here Are the 2018 Darlington Throwback Schemes

Brad Keselowski Darlington 2017

(Nigel Kinrade Photography)

NASCAR is back at Darlington Raceway, and that can only mean one thing. Well, OK, multiple things. Including throwbacks! The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and XFINITY Series take to the track this weekend at Darlington, and many of the teams entered will sport paint schemes that recall bygone eras of NASCAR. Some of those are …

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NASCAR 101: Here’s How the XFINITY & Truck Series Fields, Points Are Changing Next Year

2018 Xfinity Bristol Zach Catanzareti John Hunter Nemechek

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Six years ago, the landscape of the NASCAR XFINITY Series was quite different. For one thing, the series wasn’t called that. The naming rights were then awarded to Nationwide, which held its sponsorship until 2015, when XFINITY came aboard. Back then, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver involvement was in no way curtailed, with drivers …

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NASCAR 101: 5 Drivers Who Could Take Over for Kasey Kahne at Leavine Family Racing

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Folds Of Honor Quik Trip 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Ga Usa Sunday 25 February 2018 Kasey Kahne, Leavine Family Racing, Procore Habitat For Humanity Chevrolet Camaro World Copyright: Rusty Jarrett Nkp

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett/NKP)

The latest Silly Season domino to fall occurred earlier today (Aug. 16), when Kasey Kahne announced he will step away from full-time NASCAR racing at the end of the 2018 season. Kahne, 38, tweeted that racing full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019 and beyond “was just something that I couldn’t commit …

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NASCAR 101: All Right, Chase Elliott Won — Who’s Next?

2018 Watkins Glen Cup Chase Elliott Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

When Chase Elliott finally pulled into Victory Lane in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series last weekend at Watkins Glen International, it checked off a few boxes. First, Elliott’s maiden win, which had been awaited since he broke into the series full-time in 2016. Then there was his nearly 100-race losing streak, one that’s quite …

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NASCAR 101: Most NASCAR Cup Series Starts, Active Drivers

2018 Cup Pocono Zach Catanzareti Jimmie Johnson

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Last weekend, Jimmie Johnson completed his 600th race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, dating back to his first start in 2001. That includes an extraordinarily long consecutive starts streak, 597 entering this weekend at Watkins Glen International, that stands among some of the series’ best (though far from its all-time best). With a …

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NASCAR 101: Meet the Canadians on the National Series Circuit

2018 Daytona Xfinity Zach Catanzareti Alex Labbe

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

The entry list for Saturday’s US Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway in the NASCAR XFINITY Series features a name many fans may not recognize if they don’t follow the NASCAR Pinty’s Series or have an encyclopedic knowledge of Camping World Truck Series fields in the mid-2000s: Peter Shepherd. Shepherd, 31, will make his XFINITY debut …

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NASCAR 101: One-Off Team Wins

Nascar Camping World Truck Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

It isn’t every day that someone pulls off what Chase Briscoe did last night at Eldora Speedway. Briscoe, a part-time competitor in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Roush Fenway Racing in 2018, returned to his old stomping grounds — the Camping World Truck Series for a one-night-only affair (at least, for now), winning the Truck …

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NASCAR 101: Erik Jones’ Path From Here

2018 Las Vegas I Cup Erik Jones Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP_

For the first time, Erik Jones is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner. It took until the exact halfway point of the 2018 season, but Jones, who boasted multiple wins in the XFINITY and Camping World Truck series prior to his Daytona International Speedway triumph, is the maiden first-time winner of the year, doing …

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NASCAR 101: Who Has the Most Poles in NASCAR Among Active Drivers?

2018 Las Vegas I Cup Ryan Newman Car John K Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrelson / NKP)

For the first time in 10 years, Paul Menard is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole winner. At Chicagoland Speedway last weekend, the driver of Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 parked his Ford at the front of the starting grid after emerging atop the scoring pylon after qualifying. Despite an eventual 13th-place finish (and …

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NASCAR 101: 5 Former Drivers Who Traded the Helmet for the Microphone

Fox Broadcasters

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2014)

This weekend at the Chicagoland Speedway marks the first for newly retired NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the broadcast booth as he makes his debut for NBC Sports. Even though he has been in the booth at times before, such as in 2016 when he was sidelined due to a concussion suffered mid-season, this …

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NASCAR 101: Meet the 4 Drivers Making Their Truck Debuts at Gateway

2016 Nascar Bristol

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

It’s summertime, which means the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will occasionally split from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and run some races on its own here and there. The third-tier series’ latest Cup-less edition comes this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park, and as expected, the race’s entry list is full of some interesting …

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