Race Weekend Central

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kasey Kahne Uses Beneficial Pit Call and Strong Restart to Capture Brickyard Victory

2017 Indianapolis Cup Kasey Kahne Team Kissing Bricks Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

Who’s in the headline – Kasey Kahne has been rumored to be out of his ride for two or three years. While the talk seems to be more intense of late, Kahne and his No. 5 team have kept their nose to the grindstone. A fortunate pit call on lap 148 in the Brickyard 400 …

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Up to Speed: The Changing of the Hendrick Motorsports Guard

2016 Pocono Cup Jimmie Johnson Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Zch Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Hendrick Motorsports was riding high in 2014. Jimmie Johnson just came off winning a sixth championship.  Jeff Gordon was having his best season in years and had reemerged as a top title contender.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his second Daytona 500 victory and snapped a winless streak that had carried on for over a year.  Kasey …

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Dale Jr. on Alex Bowman: ‘I Feel He Will Have Great Success’ in No. 88

2017 Indianapolis Cup Alex Bowman Dale Earnhardt Jr. Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

The largest card in the 2017-18 NASCAR silly season was answered last week when Alex Bowman was announced as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s replacement at Hendrick Motorsports for 2018. Following years of low-budget teams in the XFINITY and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Bowman will have the opportunity he’s (and his family) been waiting for when …

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Voice of Vito: Knowing When To Fold ‘Em and Top NASCAR Silly Season Rides Revisited for 2018

Nascar 2017 Cup Jason Ratcliff Matt Kenseth Nascar (photo: Nigel Kinrade / Nkp)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Chasing Amy Following the unveiling of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Darlington throwback scheme on Tuesday, Junior Nation was at odds with one another, as well as an Earnhardt. What, they didn’t dig the AC Delco scheme that Junior piloted to two consecutive titles in 1998 and 1999? Sorry, wrong Earnhardt. It’s actually Dale Jr.’s wife, Amy, enduring …

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Alex Bowman to Drive the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 in 2018

The pieces to the puzzle of the NASCAR Silly Season have started to come together. Alex Bowman has been declared as the driver that will replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet following Earnhardt’s retirement at the conclusion of this season. The announcement was made Thursday morning (July 20) following a …

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Did You Notice?: A Look Into Aric Almirola Sub Possibilities

Almirola Kansas

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

Did You Notice? … Two big-name drivers have already turned down the No. 43 ride to replace an injured Aric Almirola? Carl Edwards, once highly coveted by Richard Petty Motorsports many years ago has said no, he can’t go back and run the car through Sonoma on June 25. It’s not the first time Edwards has said …

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NASCAR’s Top Talent Scouts: Who’s Got the No. 1 Draft Pick?

2016 Daytona Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Joey Logano Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. news cycle finally got trumped in the sporting world by Thursday night’s NFL draft. As you read this, stories are popping up over names like Mitch Trubisky, Jabrill Peppers and I-can’t-remember-his-name-but-god-he-better-help-my-team. It’s a reminder for all that life must go on. At Hendrick Motorsports, those words ring truer than ever as it …

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NASCAR Mailbox: Who Should Replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports?

2016 Loudon I Cup Alex Bowman Greg Ives Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

The news is sinking in. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is retiring. Just like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, the show must go on. And it will. Drivers come and go, but like Gordon and Stewart, Earnhardt is one of NASCAR’s main ambassadors. His face is plastered on advertisements left and right, creating a diverse collection of appreciation that …

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4 Burning Questions: Will Low Downforce Make for Another Atlanta Classic?

Will the low-downforce package make Sunday a classic? Forget the five-minute crash damage repair clock, we have low downforce back this weekend! We must start talking about this package, which should put on a heck of a show this Sunday at Atlanta. After a highly successful weekend for the sport at Daytona, the Folds of Honor …

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Did You Notice? … Whether Change Can Keep NASCAR Afloat?

Da1q6665

(Photo: Bruce Nuttleman)

Did You Notice? … Just a NASCAR change or two has descended upon us since we last came together? Since November, the sport has taken on a new title sponsor in Monster Energy, adopted a flurry of new rules designed to spice up competition, and split with tradition by chopping even the Daytona 500 into …

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The Big 6: Questions After The 2017 Advance Auto Parts Clash

2016 Indianapolis Cup Danica Patrick Brett Moist Nkp

(Photo: Brett Moist/NKP)

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? Only one driver this season used Daytona 500 pole criteria to qualify for NASCAR’s revamped Clash: Danica Patrick. The former pole winner of the Great American Race suffered through a difficult offseason, one that featured Stewart-Haas Racing filing a lawsuit against Patrick’s sponsor Nature’s Bakery for pulling their 25-race sponsorship …

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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Approved to Race in 2017

2016 Darlington Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr. Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is back. Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday that Earnhardt has been cleared to return to racing.  The OK came after Earnhardt participated in a private test session on Wednesday at Darlington Raceway that was attended by Charlotte area neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty and representatives of NASCAR. Dr. Micky Collins, medical director of the University …

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