Race Weekend Central

Did You Notice?: 12 NASCAR 2017 Storylines With 12 Races Left

2017 Watkins Glen Cup Matin Truex Jr Car Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

Did You Notice? … The past few days marked the last off weekend of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season? Starting Sunday at Darlington, we’ve got 12 races in a row which culminates with the crowning of the champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. In a season filled with mixed reviews, there’s still plenty of …

Read more

Entry List: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200

After a weekend of road course racing from Wisconsin, the final right-turn race of the season for NASCAR’s XFINITY Series it’s time to head south. They’ll visit Darlington Raceway for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 on Saturday afternoon. There are 41 cars on the preliminary entry list for this throwback event. That means one team will be …

Read more

Rookie Roundtable: The Class of 2017 On Racing NASCAR’s Top Series

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, In Usa Sunday 23 July 2017 Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing, Stanley Toyota Camry, Michael Mcdowell, Leavine Family Racing, Wrl General Contractors Chevrolet Ss And Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Dow Molykote Smart Lubrication Chevrolet Ss World Copyright: Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

How bright is the future in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series?  Judging by this year’s rookie class, you might want to invest in some good sunglasses.  The Cup Series features five rookie drivers this season, racing for some of the sport’s bigeest teams as well as some smaller organizations.  While Erik Jones and Daniel …

Read more

The Underdog House: Curbing Spending Would Be Good For NASCAR

2017 Watkins Glen Cup Michael Mcdowell Aric Almirola Racing John K Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John K. Harrelson/NKP)

Think Small Dale Earnhardt Jr. was addressing the media at Watkins Glen last weekend when the subject turned to driver contracts and salaries.  The NASCAR economic climate, as everyone knows has changed drastically in recent years.  When the NASCAR fad was at its height almost 20 years ago, corporate interest and driver income skyrocketed. For a while, that …

Read more

The Frontstretch 5: Under-the-Radar Silly Season Moves You Need to Watch

2017 Cup Pocono Zach Catanzareti Ty Dillon

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

1. Ryan Blaney to Team Penske This move wasn’t really a surprise since Blaney was already under contract with Team Penske, and the team was just biding its time with sponorship before pulling the trigger on a third car. It was a huge domino because if sets off a potential chain reaction of changes that could …

Read more

The Underdog House: Sponsorship Changes on the Horizon?

2017 Richmond I Cup Michael Mcdowell Pack Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

Think Small With Target pulling out of motorsports after this year, it leaves just two NASCAR teams on the circuit using a single primary sponsor for all 36 races. Jimmie Johnson‘s No. 48 has backing from Lowe’s (and Kobalt Tools, manufactured and sold by the store) while the No. 11 run by Denny Hamlin has FedEx.  That leaves …

Read more

Holding A Pretty Wheel: The Downside of NASCAR Alliances

Martin Truex, Jr. is pretty much the king of the hill in NASCAR this season. He leads driver points by 48 markers, is tied with Jimmie Johnson for the most wins in the Cup Series this season and has 14 stage wins. That’s double the number of Kyle Busch, who’s second on that list with …

Read more

Friday Faceoff: What’s the Biggest Move of NASCAR Silly Season 2017?

2017 Indianapolis Cup Trevor Bayne Austin Dillon Crash Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

The Cup race at Indianapolis featured some exciting moments, but also a lot of crashes, while the XFINITY Series tried a race package that included restrictor plates and air ducts in the front of the cars. Did the lower series put on the better show, and should Cup consider using the same package next year?  …

Read more

Eldora Dirt Derby 150 Entry List

Nascar Camping World Truck Series Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Let’s sling some dirt, y’all. This week, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Rossburg, Ohio and Eldora Speedway for the fifth annual “Mudsummer Classic,” the Eldora Dirt Derby 150. After an off-weekend, 34 trucks are on the preliminary entry list for the mid-week dirt race from the half-mile clay dirt track owned by …

Read more

Up to Speed: What Daytona Performance Reveals for Playoff Hopefuls

Bubba Wallace Ryan Blaney Daytona

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP)

It is not unusual to see underdogs perform well in restrictor plate races.  However, Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway produced a few more surprises than usual. Winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the only driver to start and finish inside the top 10.  Additionally, no driver who entered the race in the top …

Read more

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Survives the Daytona Pandemonium For Second Career Victory

Rfr Leading Daytona

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP)

Who’s in the headline – It took Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 157 races to visit Victory Lane for the first time. It only took eight more to make a return trip. Stenhouse made a late-race pass coming to the white flag and held off the competition to lead the final two laps to score the victory. …

Read more