On Sunday, Aric Almirola‘s No. 43 Smithfield Foods Ford failed the post-race rear wheel steer laser test after finishing fourth at Talladega. As a result, NASCAR has issued an L1-level penalty against the No. 43 team. Almirola will lose 35 points and the team loses 35 owners points. The point penalty will drop Almirola from 17th to …
Think Small This past weekend’s action at Talladega illustrated again what can happen when the racing is more in the hands of the drivers. There were several different names at the top eager to display their talent. Aric Almirola nearly pulled off the weekend double, and David Ragan overcame crash damage to finish in the …
Who’s in the headline Restrictor plate racetracks are always the great equalizer. This weekend, Talladega Superspeedway’s parity roulette wheel landed on the name Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It wasn’t a shock Stenhouse was able to make it to Victory Lane Sunday, in large part because he had the fastest car in qualifying by a substantial amount. But …
After a long and eventful Saturday, Aric Almirola took home the win at the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his third career XFINITY Series victory and second at a restrictor plate track. He was followed by Elliott Sadler, Joey Logano, Ben Kennedy, and Erik Jones. CATANZARETI: Almirola Continues Plate Racing Success Almirola …
As they wrecked down the backstretch of Talladega Superspeedway, it was a mirrored finish of last July’s XFINITY Series race at Daytona for Aric Almirola. Except this time, they raced back under green. For the second time on a plate track, it was Almirola who scored the victory for Biagi DenBeste Racing. Leading 13 laps, …
Did You Notice? … The difference a year makes for Joe Gibbs Racing? This time last year, JGR had won five of nine races and had all four drivers firmly within playoff position. This time around? The organization is 0-for-9. Of its four-driver team, only Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are in playoff position. Matt Kenseth hadn’t even led a …
Think Small The 2017 season is at the quarter mark after nine races, and some trends are taking shape. Wood Brothers Racing has established itself at the top of the class, which was to be expected after the team increased its alliance with Team Penske this year. Even within the group, the haves and have …
Who’s In The Headline It took pit strategy to get Joey Logano up front at Richmond International Raceway, but no one on the No. 22 team is complaining this Monday morning. Not when you have a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy on your mantle. After a late caution, while restarting behind cars that stayed on …
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 …
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
