Race Weekend Central

Beside The Rising Tide: With Autumn Closing In

Darlington Cup 2017 Aric Almirola 2 Throwback Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff)

Ain’t it funny how the night moves? When you just don’t seem to have as much to lose, Ain’t it funny how the night moves? With autumn closing in…. -Bob Seger While it hasn’t quite reached the level of the Memorial Day weekend yet, Labor Day weekend offered race fans a full slate of action …

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Did You Notice?: 12 NASCAR 2017 Storylines With 12 Races Left

2017 Watkins Glen Cup Matin Truex Jr Car Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

Did You Notice? … The past few days marked the last off weekend of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season? Starting Sunday at Darlington, we’ve got 12 races in a row which culminates with the crowning of the champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. In a season filled with mixed reviews, there’s still plenty of …

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NASCAR Mailbox: Why Are NASCAR Throwback Paint Schemes a Big Deal?

2016 Darlington Cup Rutledge Wood Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

As Labor Day approaches, Americans across the land will honor and cherish this amazing, prosperous nation. From sea to shining sea, parades will showcase just how fantastic America is, whether you’re making left turns or right ones, thanks to the labor force in the United States. For the third straight year, NASCAR and Darlington Raceway have …

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Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In NASCAR: No Beating Around the Busch Edition

2017 Texas I Cup Erik Jones Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

The way Kyle Busch has been going this season, it’s not really hard to believe that he pulled of his second triple header career win week at Bristol. While it can be a bit frustrating and less interesting when he is dominating the Truck and XFINITY series races he enters, the question from here on out …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kyle Busch Busts Out Broom for Second National Tour Series Sweep at Bristol

2017 Bristol Ii Nxs Kyle Busch Celebrates Lesley Ann Miller Nkp

(Photo: Lesley Ann Miller / NKP)

Who’s in the headline – There have been multiple two-race sweeps in NASCAR history, but there have only been a pair of three-race sweeps. Both of them were accomplished by Kyle Busch and the second was this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch won the first stage, led the second most laps, including 93 of …

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Daily Fantasy NASCAR Forecast Powered by DraftKings: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

2017 Bristol I Cup Clint Bowyer Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

The DraftKings daily fantasy NASCAR game heads to the midwest this weekend for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will make its second stop at Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. Cars were on-track on Friday morning for first practice, led by Denny Hamlin. Erik Jones then won the Coors Light …

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Friday Faceoff: Who’s Sandbagging Who?

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mi Usa Sunday 13 August 2017 Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Miller Lite Ford Fusion World Copyright: Rusty Jarrett Nkp

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett/NKP)

Last weekend at Michigan International Speedway, Brad Keselowski had some harsh words for the factory Toyota teams, accusing them of sandbagging after NASCAR floated the possibility of taking equipment from teams for comparison tests to avoid changes from the sanctioning body to increase parity.  Is there any merit to Keselowski’s argument, and does it signal …

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The 10: NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings After Michigan

2017 Michigan Ii Cup Kyle Larson Racing Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series made the second stop of the year at Kyle Larson International Speedway… whoops. I meant Michigan International Speedway. Although with the way that the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has owned the two-mile oval lately, would it really matter if it were renamed after him? Either way, despite valiant efforts …

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Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In NASCAR: Lessons From The Dirt Edition

2017 Micrhigan Ii Cup Kyle Larson Woohoo Rusty Jarrett Nkp

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett/NKP)

Michigan International Speedway lived up to its reputation as a fast track and the fast restart by Kyle Larson made the finish worth the wait on Sunday. The rest of the day wasn’t super exciting as the problem of passing the leader seems to persist, no matter what size or what speed a track may …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kyle Larson Gets Dirty to Sweep Michigan

2017 Michigan Ii Cup Kyle Larson Burnout Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Who’s in the headline – We often speak of horses for courses and interestingly, Kyle Larson has established that he is the horse to ride on two-mile racetracks. For the third time in a row, he was victorious at Michigan International Speedway, although during this race, he was not nearly as dominant as he’d been …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2017 Pure Michigan 400

2017 Michigan Ii Cup Kyle Larson Woohoo Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Who… gets the shoutout of the race? The Pure Michigan 400 will be remembered by Kyle Larson‘s winning restart and Martin Truex Jr.‘s dominance before choking. Rookie Erik Jones managed to turn in a solid day. Jones tied his career-best with a third-place finish and was a serious contender for the victory. Not too bad for a rookie. …

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Tech Talk: Jason Ratcliff Looks at Horsepower, Drag and Braking for Michigan

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series I Love New York 355 At The Glen Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, Ny Usa Sunday 6 August 2017 Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Care Toyota Camry And Jason Ratcliff World Copyright: Barry Cantrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell/NKP)

The 2017 season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has been about learning how to maximize the cars with the new aerodynamic package. The reduced downforce has thrown teams a challenge for braking, tire management and handling in traffic. The wide, smooth, fast surface of Michigan International Speedway will test all of that this …

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