Storming out of the gate with a top-five finish in February’s Daytona 500, it’s been another tough season for Richard Petty Motorsports and Aric Almirola. In fact, you could call that 500-miler their only bright spot through the opening eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, which have seen only one top-15 finish since the season …
Think Small It feels like NASCAR’s small teams get a bad rap right from the start from some fans and even media. Too often, they’re lumped into a “backmarkers” category, often mocked for their poor performance compared to rivals. To hear some people talk, you’d think they went out every week and ran in the 20’s …
No Margin For Error Last week, we looked at the importance of improvement for small teams. For those that realistically just can’t compete with their powerhouse rivals on a weekly basis, it’s a better measure than finishes alone. It’s also an important step for those teams a step ahead of the game, ones in position to one …
Think Small It can be said that the real NASCAR season starts at Atlanta. The Intermediate track season kicked off last weekend and the results were fairly predictable of the small teams this week. In general at a 1.5 to 2-mile track, these teams struggle to keep up. You might see a couple of teams …
The season-opening Daytona 500 gave NASCAR fans a little bit everything. There was that last-lap pass for the lead, which is beginning to become a trademark for the Great American Race. There were plenty of battles for the lead and for positions throughout and a lot less riding around waiting for the end of the …
Think Small Well, Daytona is in the rearview mirror. Depending on who you ask, that’s either a real bummer or can’t come too soon, depending on how the race went. The thing about plate tracks is that they’re such an opportunity for teams to compete—if they’re lucky and avoid trouble. They can also become exercises …
For Aric Almirola, 2016 was originally a season worth looking forward to. He had just missed out on qualifying for the Chase in 2015, but earned a career-best three top 5 finishes. There was a little momentum. However, in the offseason, the team began building their own chassis to supplement the equipment they have been …
When it comes to restrictor place races at Talladega and Daytona, the big question is, when will the big one happen? As in, when will we see a big crash with at least seven or eight cars involved. If you were waiting on that to happen during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Talladega, then you …
Sprint Cup: Banner day for Richard Petty Motorsports in Talladega – Talladega Superspeedway has always been open for opportunity for even the smallest of teams in the Sprint Cup Series. With the weekend starting off with an eyebrow-raising qualifying effort by Premium Motorsports driver Reed Sorenson, it ended with a double-top-10 day for Richard Petty …
Will Tony Stewart’s Chase End in Dover? Tony Stewart has been a tough driver to put an expectation sticker on in regards to this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. He’s like that piece of laundry you don’t know whether is a dark or a light. Where do you put it? Sitting 11 points below …
NASCAR’s weekly penalty report was delayed on Wednesday (Sept. 21) after the decision to hold an impromptu teleconference with less than a half- hour’s notice to announce changes to post-race inspection penalties. Despite that, there were still a number of teams to be penalized. Aric Almirola and Greg Biffle‘s cars were found to have loose …
Welcome back to the Chase. I’m not particularly happy that its here, but we’ll just have to deal with it. As you all know, focus tightens ever more at this time of year, often to the point where drivers that are in the top 10 are ignored if they’re not in the Chase. However, we …
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