Race Weekend Central

Jamie McMurray Paces 2nd Martinsville Practice

Cup Martinsville Jamie Mcmurray Martinsville Speedway

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

He may not own a Grandfather Clock, but Jamie McMurray is looking strong at Martinsivlle Speedway. One of the first drivers out onto the relatively cool 0.526-mile oval, McMurray clocked in a lap of 19.566 seconds (96.780 mph).  That was enough for McMurray to lead the way in second practice on Saturday, beating Joey Logano …

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Tech Talk: Matt McCall on Martinsville Strategy, Tires & Brake Cooling

Matt Mccall Darlington Cup 2016 Mike Neff

Photo Credit : Mike Neff

Having been eliminated from Chase contention, the sole focus of the No. 1 team of Jamie McMurray is to win a race before the end of the 2016 season. McMurray has won two poles at the half-mile track in southern Virginia, and his average finish there is among his best on the circuit. His crew chief …

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Who’s Hot & Who’s Not: NASCAR’s Kansas Clutch Edition

2016 Kansas Ii Cup Kevin Harvick Confetti Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

When you think about how a clutch works for a vehicle, when a driver pushes it down, while at the same time shifting gears and accelerating, most of the time it means it’s go time. That’s the case at this point in the season for the Sprint Cup Series. It’s go time and the teams …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not: Chase Elimination Edition

2016 Nscs Jimmie Johnson Kentucky Photo Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

Sunday’s Sprint Cup contest at Dover served as the first Chase elimination inside NASCAR’s ten-race playoff. That means we had to say goodbye to four of the 16 drivers who, just a few short weeks ago believed they were the favorites to hold up the championship trophy in Homestead. As the Monster Mile showed us, despite a clean race Sunday holding on to a spot …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Martin Truex, Jr. Dominates at Dover

Who’s In The Headline Martin Truex, Jr. is on fire to start this Chase. Round 1 has been a showcase for he and the No. 78 team, who won the first race at Chicagoland, then came close in the second at New Hampshire before late restarts shuffled them back. At Dover, they had the second-fastest …

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Friday Faceoff: Will the Chase Picture Change at Dover?

2016 Loudon I Cup Pack Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

After Martin Truex, Jr. and Matt Kenseth combined to dominate at New Hampshire, it was Kevin Harvick walking away with the victory.  Is there a chink in the Joe Gibbs Racing/Furniture Row Racing armor, and was Harvick’s performance a preview of how the Chase battle could go as well? Mark Howell, Senior Writer: I didn’t …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kevin Harvick Nets Loudon Victory With Late Restart Pass

2016 Nascar New Hampshire

23-25 September, 2016, Loudon, New Hampshire USA Kevin Harvick celebrates in victory lane ©2016, Logan Whitton/NKP

Who’s in the headline – While Joe Gibbs Racing cars dominated the event, it was Kevin Harvick who parked it in Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The JGR crew and affiliate led 280 of the 300 laps. Harvick took advantage of a late race, front row restart to wrest the …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Martin Truex, Jr. Overcomes Adversity With Late Charge to Win at Chicagoland

2016 Chicago Cup Martin Truex Jr Woohoo Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

  Who’s in the headline – Martin Truex, Jr. overcame a tire issue under green flag conditions to put himself in position to make a run at the race win. A late-race caution and a strong pit stop resulted in Truex restarting outside the second row. An aggressive move to the outside allowed him to …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2016 Federated Auto Parts 400

2016 Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Richmond

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? While Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson was getting plenty of airtime for some bold moves late in the race and a recent hot streak, Jamie McMurray was quietly getting a top-10 finish of his own (he wound up seventh) and in doing so, made them one of three multi-car organizations …

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5 Points To Ponder: Was Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek Aggression Too Much?

2016 Atlanta Cwts Cole Custer Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

ONE: A Look At Those Locked In With Darlington in the books, the Chase field for the Sprint Cup Series has gotten substantially clearer. Of the 16 Chase spots, 12 have been tentatively filled by race winners who have clinched finishing the regular season in the top 30. These 12 drivers include, by order of …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not: Labor Day Weekend Throwback Edition

Kevin Harvick Darlington Cup 2016 Yvonne Leonard

(Photo: Yvonne Leonard)

It was quite a weekend in NASCAR, a throwback in more ways than one. A beat and bang finish in the Camping World Truck Series kicked off the proceedings, followed by both paint schemes and attire suitable for Sunday’s Sprint Cup main event. Darlington delivered, paired with comments during and after the race that were old school and …

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