Race Weekend Central

5 Points to Ponder: Is NASCAR Having a Next Gen Short Track Crisis?

Chase Elliott leads a pack of NASCAR racecars at Martinsville Speedway, April 2022. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

1. Is it too soon to panic about the Next Gen car ruining short track racing? Houston, we have a problem. Or rather, Martinsville, we have a problem. As NASCAR has shuffled around its schedule the past few years, a common refrain among fans was that more short track races would be a good thing. …

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5 Points to Ponder: NASCAR Was a Few Years Early on the Whole Young Guns Thing

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

1. Sure hope no one wrote off Chase Briscoe after his rookie season Chase Briscoe had what you could politely call a nondescript rookie NASCAR Cup Series season in 2021. In his first full-time campaign in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Briscoe recorded only three top-10 finishes — all on road courses, where he …

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5 Points to Ponder: Something to Talk About, Daytona 500 Edition

Nascar Cup Series

#2: Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Discount Tire, #23: Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, Toyota Camry McDonald’s, #12: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Menards/Blue DEF/PEAK, #43: Erik Jones, Petty GMS, Chevrolet Camaro FOCUSfactor

After a challenging couple of years for NASCAR, the one unmistakable feeling as the green flag flew this past Sunday (Feb. 20) was that stock car racing was back.

5 Points to Ponder: Where Should the 2023 Clash Be Held?

Busch Clash

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Coliseum on February 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

1. The Clash at the Coliseum was one heck of an exhibition … It’s difficult to overstate how wild it was watching this year’s Busch Light Clash, something I’ve never thought in any previous NASCAR season. “They actually did it,” was the overwhelming thought any time the mind wandered over the weekend. A quarter-mile track, …

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2021 NASCAR Top Storylines: Brad Keselowski Has Penske Swan Song, Takes on Ownership Role with Roush Fenway

Brad Keselowski poses with Jack Roush as the duo announce their partnership beginning with the 2022 Cup Series season. (Photo: Action Sports Photography)

(Photo: Action Sports Photography)

By definition, it’s not possible for something to be unthinkable and yet totally expected at the same time. If it was, however, the way Brad Keselowski‘s 2021 season played out would qualify. On the track, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about Keselowski’s 2021 NASCAR Cup Series campaign. He visited victory lane, something he’s done every …

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5 Points to Ponder: Feuds, Second Chances and the Metaverse

Kevin Harvick ROVAL 2021

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

1. ROVAL win might have been the most impressive yet for Kyle Larson If you picked Kyle Larson to win the Bank of America ROVAL 400 before the weekend, you weren’t exactly going out on much of a limb. Hendrick Motorsports’ brightest currently shining star (yes, sorry Chase Elliott) isn’t just having the best season …

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5 Points to Ponder: Sorry We Took You for Granted, Bristol

Kevin Harvick fights with Chase Elliott at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Photo: NKP)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

1. Did we all just fall in love with racing at Bristol again? It’s probably not fair to say NASCAR fans in general had soured on Bristol Motor Speedway. There’s always a strong outcry of “more short track races” whenever thought pieces are concocted on how to “fix” the Cup Series schedule, and it’s hard …

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5 Points to Ponder: Does Momentum Make Ryan Blaney a Championship Contender?

2021 Cup Daytona Ii Ryan Blaney Wins Nkp

Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography

1. How much does momentum matter going into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs? Asking for a friend named Ryan Blaney. (Note: Blaney and I are not actually friends, having spoken exactly once, but he is a likable gent.) The 27-year-old Team Penske wheelman entered the 2021 season never having won more than one race in …

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