Race Weekend Central

Tech Talk: Trent Owens Discusses Michigan Rules Package, About-Facing for Sonoma

A week off for the Cup series allowed Trent Owens, crew chief of Aric Almirola‘s No. 43 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, to spend a week at the beach and think about anything but racecars. Regardless, he feels like the series rules package run at Michigan International Speedway was a step in the …

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Kyle Larson’s Crew Chief Suspended for Lug Nut Violation

2016 Pocono I Cup Kyle Larson Chad Johnston Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Another lug nut penalty was issued this week following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono. Chad Johnston, who crew chiefs the No. 42 car of Kyle Larson, was hit with a P3 penalty for failing to have all lug nuts properly installed on the car following the race. He was suspended for the …

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Kyle Busch Penalized, Crew Chief Suspended Following Kansas

2016 Phoenix I Cup Kyle Busch Adam Stevens Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

The race-winning team of Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) was penalized on Wednesday for infractions found during the Kansas Speedway race weekend. The No. 18 team, which scored its third win of the season at Kansas last Saturday night, was found to be in violation of the section in the NASCAR rule book pertaining to …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in NASCAR: Dover Edition

2016 Kansas I Cup Kyle Busch Burnout Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

NASCAR’s annual Mother’s Day Eve race gave us a mixed bag Saturday night. The low downforce package seemed to help the overall action at Kansas but as Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr. proved throughout the night at this 1.5-mile oval the leader was hard to catch and even more difficult to pass. HOT Kyle Busch returned to …

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Tech Talk: Trent Owens On Martinsville Handling, Truck Arms & Tire Wear

The No. 43 and Martinsville Speedway are synonymous with each other. Richard Petty took the car to victory lane 15 times in his career. North Wilkesboro was the only other track where The King took as many checkered flags first. Prior to Aric Almirola’s win at Daytona in 2014 the last win by the legendary …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in NASCAR: Martinsville Edition

2016 Fontana Cup Jimmie Johnson Superman Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade /NKP)

There’s that old Jim Croce song, covered by many several times over the years, where it talks about not tugging on superman’s cape and where you don’t mess around with Jim. A late restart at California Sunday afternoon allowed for both of those things to happen, in a sense. It pulled the cape of the …

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Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola Lead Thursday Las Vegas Tests

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series paced around Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday for a total of five hours to test the new aerodynamic package on a 1.5-mile speedway. In all, 38 cars hit the track, with teams whose cars number in the forties having especially good days. Session 1: Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest …

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Up To Speed: Despite Long Green-Flag Runs, Lower Downforce Still Largely Positive

Though only the second race of the season, Atlanta Motor Speedway was thought to be the initial race where we would see what the new (or at least new for 2016) low-downforce package would mean for the racing this season. After rave reviews from competitors and fans alike at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway with …

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NASCAR Announces Eligible Drivers for Sprint Unlimited

Sprint Unlimited Daytona

(Credit: NASCAR)

On Monday, NASCAR announced the eligibility criteria for this year’s Sprint Unlimited, scheduled for Feb. 13.  While winning a pole during the previous season will get you into the race, it’s not the only way into the 75-lap show.  Regardless of circumstances, 25 cars will start the 187.5-mile race. The first criteria to qualify for …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Aric Almirola

Aric Almirola waits in the garage between practice sessions for the 2015 Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)­­

You couldn’t say it wasn’t an interesting year for Aric Almirola and his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team. The team made the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the 2014 season and was looking to do that again as they headed into the 2015 season. Instead, the season would be marked by decent consistency that was …

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