Race Weekend Central

Who’s Hot & Who’s Not in NASCAR: Pocono Predictability

2019 Daytona I Cup Chase Elliott Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Pocono Raceway is not a thrilling race track. It’s not even an exciting one, and barely qualifies as interesting. So the results in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weren’t all that surprising. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch won for the fourth time this season and the 55th time in his Cup career, holding …

Read more

Who’s Hot & Who’s Not in NASCAR: Some Gave All

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The Coca-Cola 600 is a marathon slog to close out the greatest day in auto racing, following the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500 in IndyCar. Despite a quiet middle half, a chaotic first quarter and wild finish made it one of the season’s better races overall. Tires weren’t cooperating, which …

Read more

The Underdog House: Dover Downer

2019 Dover Cup Zach Catanzareti Matt Dibenedetto

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Top of The Class Rain kept the cars in the garage all day on Sunday, and Dover proved to be rather monstrous to our underdog contingent on Monday. In fact, the 20th-place finish notched by Matt DiBenedetto and Leavine Family Racing is the lowest “best in class” result of 2019 thus far. Part of that …

Read more

Who’s Hot & Who’s Not in NASCAR: Talladega: Endgame

2019 Talladega Cup Mencs Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Chevrolet teams make up about half the field most weeks in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but judging by the results so far this season, it’s understandable to think they were in the half of existence that were vaporized when Thanos snapped his fingers. But just like in Avengers: Endgame, time travel was involved on …

Read more

Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell, and Others Collected in Lap 11 Accident

Michael Mcdowell 2019 Geico 500 Accident

(Photo: Christian Koelle)

The start of the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was controlled chaos until a Chevrolet attempted to push a Ford. Bubba Wallace Jr., in his Chevrolet Camaro, attempted to push the No. Ford of Ryan Blaney, and it just didn’t work. The pointed nose of Wallace’s No. 43 on the rear of Blaney’s No. 12 …

Read more

Veterans Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman Pace Lightning Fast “New” Practices at Talladega

2019 Atlanta Cup Ryan Newman Nkp

(Photo:Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The much-anticipated first practice session at Talladega Superspeedway Friday displayed faster speeds, increased throttle response and twitchy race cars, just as expected. The first superspeedway race of the post-restrictor plate era, Kurt Busch paced the field in first practice, one of 21 cars to break 200 mph. Though the practice was incident free, the cars …

Read more

Who’s Hot & Who’s Not in NASCAR: Short Tracking Under the Lights

#42: Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet Camaro Mcdonald's Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway wasn’t a thrill ride for most of the race, but the ending provided a lot of drama in the final 30 or so laps of the Toyota Owners 400, even though the answers mostly stayed the same. Would Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr …

Read more

Did You Notice?: The 2019 NASCAR Playoffs Are Already Coming Into Focus?

2018 Homestead Cup Zach Catanzareti Joey Logano

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Did You Notice? … The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture is taking shape? It’s hard to believe but we’re already eight races into 2019. If the regular season was just one big race, stage one would be wrapping up sometime during the middle of Saturday night’s showdown at Richmond Raceway. What do we know …

Read more

The Underdog House: Shootout At The Underdog Corral

2019 Daytona I Cup Michael Mcdowell Nkp

Top of The Class Michael McDowell was easily the fastest dog in the west this week. His No. 34 Front Row Racing Ford was quick from the get go and backed it up on race day, starting and finishing in 15th. McDowell was once known primarily for the violent head-on collision and subsequent barrel roll …

Read more

Michael McDowell: This Is The Way I’ve Been, It Hasn’t Changed

2019 Las Vegas I Cup Michael Mcdowell Nkp

(Photo: NKP)

2019 marks Michael McDowell‘s 12th season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but the wily veteran has been in the headlines more this year than maybe any other. McDowell started the season with a fifth-place run in the Daytona 500 and was a major player in the battle for the win. Since then, McDowell’s …

Read more

Who’s Hot & Who’s Not in NASCAR: Paper Clippings

Martinsville Cup 2019 Mike Neff Jimmie Johnson

Brad Keselowski was really, really good during the STP 500 on Sunday (March 24) at Martinsville Speedway. He led 446 laps en route to earning his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2019 through six races. As expected from previous races, Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing were up front, along with Hendrick …

Read more

Did You Notice?: NASCAR’s 2019 Daytona Dreams Realized… Or Forgotten?

2019 Phoenix I Cup Matt Dibenedetto Nkp

(Photo: NKP)

Did You Notice? … We’re now five races into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season? The sport’s new handling package, qualifying debacles and Kyle Busch’s 200 have stolen the headlines since Daytona Speedweeks. It seems like a lifetime ago Denny Hamlin was celebrating in Victory Lane for the Daytona 500. But Hamlin has taken a …

Read more