Race Weekend Central

2019 NASCAR Driver Reviews: Spire Motorsports

2019 Daytona MENCS Justin Haley Cup Victory Lane Christian Koelle

(Photo: Christian Koelle)

The NASCAR Cup Series’ newest team made a major impact in the 2019 season in multiple ways. With support from Premium Motorsports, Spire Motorsports turned 2019 into a success story — often a tall order for a first-year team. With a total of eight drivers behind the wheel, the No. 77 team earned one victory …

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2019 Xfinity Series Review, Pt. 2: Midpack Improvements

NASCAR Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

While the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers were the center of attention for most of the season (the same 12 drivers were top 12 in points from the third race on), some of the best racing came in the middle of the pack. And quite honestly, a lot of the midpack drivers had solid years, …

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Eyes on Xfinity: Garrett Smithley Thankful for Johnny Davis

Garrett Smithley, NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Four years ago, not many people knew the name Garrett Smithley. Since then, he’s been a staple for JD Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Smithley, 27, will be finishing up his fourth full-time Xfinity season next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ironically, he’s just as surprised as any that the relationship with JDM has gone …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2019 AAA Texas 500

tms2_mencs_harvick_fl_110319

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

The Headline(s): Capitalizing on a “trimmed out” car that Stewart-Haas Racing has been storing since the spring, Kevin Harvick turned a pole-winning run into a race-winning performance at Texas Motor Speedway. He led 119 laps en route to scoring his fourth win of 2019, 49th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series triumph and 110th career …

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Frontstretch Podcast: Corey LaJoie Talks Lessons Learned in NASCAR, Tyler Reddick Reflects on Xfinity Champions Day at Universal Studio

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

In this week’s edition of the Frontstretch Podcast, Dustin Albino and Mike Neff discuss a weekend of entertaining racing at Kansas Speedway in which Denny Hamlin survived a few late-race restarts to win his fifth race of 2019. The bigger story, however, was Brad Keselowski losing 27 points upright to Chase Elliott and missing the Round of 8. What …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Kansas Disappoints at Times; Xfinity Brings More Action

2019 Kansas MENCS Denny Hamlin Victory Celebration NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Kansas Speedway was an interesting time. Sunday brought the end of the Round of 12 for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams, while shenanigans broke out in the Xfinity race. How NBC showed these stories really determined how the broadcast would be perceived. Hollywood Casino 400 Sunday brought yet another cutoff race to the Monster …

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Xfinity Breakdown: Kansas Defies Stereotypes, Remains Unpredictable for Xfinity Playoffs

2019 Kansas NXS Kansas Speedway Restart NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

If someone told you that a playoff race featured multiple title contenders caught up in wrecks, a near brawl on pit road after the checkered flag and a first-time winner, you’d probably guess it was Talladega, a short track or maybe the ROVAL. And if we were talking about the NASCAR Cup Series, you’d probably …

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Garrett Smithley Replacing Injured Austin Theriault at Kansas

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Following a crash at Talladega Superspeedway  Monday (Oct. 14), Austin Theriault will not race this weekend (Oct. 20) at Kansas Speedway. Theriault was involved in a multi-car crash on lap 163 of the 1000Bulbs.com 500 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, competing for Rick Ware Racing. Following the crash, NASCAR’s medical team has not …

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Spire Motorsports’ Future Depends on Next-Gen Car

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

(Nigel Kinrade Photography)

In an era of aging owners and sparse new ones, there has been one new owner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this season — Spire Motorsports, owner of the No. 77 Chevrolet. The Origin Story The team was formed by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E), a talent management agency that represents several drivers, …

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Garrett Smithley Hoping to Run Full-Time in Cup & Xfinity in 2020

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Over the past couple of months, chatter has picked up about Garrett Smithley‘s NASCAR future, though if you ask him, he wants to run as many laps as possible. Smithley, 27, has spent the past four seasons at JD Motorsports, piloting the No. 0 Chevrolet to a best finish of 18th in the championship standings. …

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We Want Passion — Not Just Experience — in Our Drivers

2019 Las Vegas MENCS Kyle Busch Racing NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

We want raw emotion from our racing stars. The frontstretch, post-burnout interview spawned from that desire. When the drivers get out of the car, we don’t want them to cool down, we want to see and hear that raw emotion. Then when a driver gives it to us and it goes against our ideals or …

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Frontstretch Podcast: Justin Allgaier Making Push Toward Xfinity Series Title

2019 Michigan I NXS Justin Allgaier NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

In this week’s edition of the Frontstretch Podcast, Dustin Albino and Mike Neff discuss an interesting weekend of racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Martin Truex Jr. came out on top in the opening race of the playoffs, but it was Kyle Busch who stole the post-race headlines, bashing drivers who haven’t won. The comments transpired after an on-track …

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