Race Weekend Central

Friday Faceoff: Should NASCAR Take a Summer Vacation Every Year?

Tyler Reddick stands next to his car at 2021 spring Kansas Cup race NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Should NASCAR continue to schedule back-to-back off-weekends in the late summer even when no Summer Olympics are being held? Trenton Worsham: Not back to back, but it’d be nice for it to have two or three more weeks off scattered out throughout the year as bye weeks. Josh Roller: I like the idea of a late …

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Did You Notice?: Communication Between NASCAR Drivers, Executives at Crossroads

2021 Pocono I Cup Bubba Wallace Steve Phelps laugh James Gilbert Getty

(Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

Did You Notice? … NASCAR drama between drivers and executives has been building at a breakneck pace? It all started with last week’s Atlanta Motor Speedway repave announcement from Speedway Motorsports, Inc. President Marcus Smith. After 24 years under the current configuration, the track will be getting a facelift with both fresh asphalt and an altered …

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NASCAR Mailbox: Does NASCAR Have a Communication Problem?

2021-Cup-Atlanta-II-Joe Gibbs Racing-NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Drivers seemed pissed off more than normal this weekend. Repave/reconfiguration at Atlanta, Next Gen safety concerns. Why the sudden anger? – Rick P., Salem, Ore. I’ve never seen Cool Hand Luke, but I know the quote from that movie that holds water and will for years and years to come in human society is this …

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Dropping the Hammer: Appreciating the Reliability of Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch at Atlanta

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - JULY 11: <>during the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 11, 2021 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The more NASCAR has changed over the last 20 years, the more Kurt Busch has adapted and found ways to win. A new points format? Busch won the first championship of the playoff era in 2004. A new kind of car? Busch has won in every generation of car he’s competed in as a full-time …

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NASCAR Stat Sheet: The Field Gets Busch Whacked in Atlanta

Kurt Busch holds the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, July 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography )

The term “Busch Whacker” first surfaced in NASCAR circles back in the late ’90s, used as a term to describe the Cup Series regulars who stole wins in what was then the Busch (now Xfinity) Series. On Sunday, the racing brothers from Las Vegas gave the term a whole new meaning. Kurt and Kyle Busch …

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Drivers Continue Sounding Off on Atlanta’s Planned Repave

Kevin Harvick on pit road at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 2021). (Photo: NKP)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The specter of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s surface commanded the lion’s share of attention prior to Sunday (July 11) afternoon’s Quaker State 400.   Sunday’s race will be the final event on Atlanta’s current surface before it will be repaved and reconfigured. A day after pointed and profanity-laced criticism from Kyle Busch regarding the planned repave, …

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Did You Notice?: 6 NASCAR Storylines to Follow With 6 Regular Season Races Left

Kyle Larson races teammate William Byron in the 2021 Pennzoil 400 Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Did You Notice? … There’s six races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season? After some incredible parity, with 10 different winners in the first 11 races, the 2021 playoff battle has mostly sorted itself out. We’ve had just one new winner in the last nine races as Cinderellas have been replaced by the typical …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: NASCAR Pocono Doubleheader Weekend

2021 Pocono II Cup Kyle Busch bow wins second race of 2021 Pocono doubleheader James Gilbert Getty

(Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

What happened? Alex Bowman won the Pocono Organics CBD 325 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday (June 26). Then, Kyle Busch won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 on Sunday (June 27) in the second race of the Pocono doubleheader. ????? pic.twitter.com/TMoq6OIkJr — NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 26, 2021 Rowdy Nation, this one's for you! ? Retweet …

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Kyle Busch Saves Just Enough Fuel, Wins Pocono Stuck in 4th Gear

2021 Pocono II Cup Kyle Busch win NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Halfway through the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday (June 27), Kyle Busch‘s day took what seemed like a downward turn. Busch suffered transmission problems and his car wouldn’t go up through the gears properly, forcing driver and team to stick the car in fourth gear for the remainder of the …

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Alex Bowman Wins Pocono After Kyle Larson Cuts Tire on Last Lap

2021 Pocono Cup Alex Bowman checkered flag NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Kyle Larson was well on his way to his fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win, which would rank him alongside legends like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt in the record books. Then, in true Hollywood fashion, on the last corner of the last lap, he cut a tire. His teammate Alex Bowman, who …

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Frontstretch 2-Minute Drill: Pocono Organics CBD 325

2020 NASCAR Cup drivers pack racing NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

To paraphrase the late, great Chicago Cub Ernie Banks: “Let’s race two!” A duo of NASCAR Cup Series races will be held at the triangular Pocono Raceway on the final weekend of June in 2021, on the 26th and 27th, with the opener on Saturday (June 26) set for 3 p.m. ET. The recently dominant …

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4 Burning Questions: Welcome to the Sam Mayer Era

2019 Dover NKPSE Sam Mayer Championship Trophy NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Can anybody stop Sam Mayer? This weekend, Sam Mayer turns 18 and will spend his second day as an adult making his first start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The son of former part-time IndyCar Series driver Scott Mayer, Mayer has found success in everything he has strapped into. In 2018, after a successful preteen …

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