Race Weekend Central

2018 Top NASCAR Storylines: Ryan Preece’s And Ross Chastain’s Unconventional, Yet Old School Rise To The Top

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

In NASCAR, money controls the sport. It has been this way throughout the entire history of stock car racing’s premier series. However, rising costs and declining sponsorships have made economics even more important in recent years. Team owners will do just about anything for sponsorship dollars these days — it even influences who they will …

Read more

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kyle Busch Wins Phoenix, Kevin Harvick & Martin Truex Jr. Complete the Expected

2018 Cup Phoenix Ism Zach Catanzareti Kyle Busch

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Who’s in the headline Heading into Phoenix, everybody and their brother was positive Kevin Harvick was going to stomp the competition into submission and make a statement about his position as the unquestioned favorite heading into Homestead. Someone forgot to tell Kyle Busch as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver took advantage of mistakes by nearly …

Read more

Ross Chastain Announced as Full-Time Driver for Chip Ganassi Racing’s XFINITY Ride

Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing News

(Photo: Christian Koelle)

Chip Ganassi Racing announced Friday (Nov. 9) that Ross Chastain will pilot the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet Camaro in 2019 full-time in the XFINITY Series. After spending almost four years at JD Motorsports, Chastain will move to the No. 42 car where he earned the victory in Las Vegas just a few weeks ago. …

Read more

Friday Faceoff: Are the Big Three Still the Big Three At All?

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

The Big 3 haven't been more than the Average 3 so far in the playoffs (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

1. The so-called Big Three of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series have only won one of the past nine races after claiming 17 of the first 23. Are they still the championship favorites, or has someone else moved to the front of the pack? Zach Gillispie: The Big Three have surprisingly stalled out in …

Read more

Frontstretch Podcast: Breaking Down The Round Of 8

2018 Cup Zach Catanzareti Dover Chase Elliott

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Unlike the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway last weekend, this week’s Frontstretch Podcast is highly entertaining with Dustin Albino and Mike Neff breaking down all things Kansas and the Round of 8. Chase Elliott won his second race in the playoffs at Kansas and his third in the past 11 races. The No. 9 team …

Read more

2-Headed Monster: Is The Driver or The Car More Important?

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

This week’s question is racing’s version of “the chicken or the egg” question: does the car matter more than the driver or does the driver make a bigger difference than the car? Motor Over Mojo There’s no doubt that both matter, but it’s clear that the machine makes a bigger contribution than the man (or …

Read more

Couch Potato Tuesday: Kansas NASCAR Weekend Produced Tough Challenges for NBC Sports

2017 Kansas Ii Cup Joey Logano Kurt Busch Racing John K Harrelson Nkp

Going into Sunday’s (Oct. 21) Hollywood Casino 400, it was a little difficult to figure out what we were going to see.  The first two races of the weekend at Kansas Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval produced a number of crashes for various reasons.  ARCA cars tend to be a bit squirrelly at intermediate tracks; Friday night’s …

Read more

XFINITY Breakdown: John Hunter Nemechek Captures 1st Win in Wild Race at Kansas, Heartbreak for Daniel Hemric

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Expectations were high for John Hunter Nemechek when he was announced as the driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet for the majority of the 2018 season. The youngster lived up to those expectations in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, winning his first career XFINITY Series race. Nemechek began the race …

Read more

Couch Potato Tuesday: Dover NBCSN NASCAR Coverage Brings Playoff Focus, Lack of Variety

#9: Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports; #11: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography) #9: Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro NAPA Auto Parts

Dover is an interesting race track to look at.  It’s a video game come to life… apparently, one I’m not particularly good at.  I only say that because the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte puts the next track on the calendar in their qualifying challenge computers that you can press your luck on.  Last …

Read more

XFINITY Breakdown: Christopher Bell Makes History at Dover

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

From the moment the XFINITY Series took to Dover International Speedway on Friday (Oct. 5), Christopher Bell turned fast laps. He repeated that on Saturday en route to winning the Bar Harbor 200. In qualifying, Bell didn’t win the pole, though did grab the second position. It took the No. 20 car until the exit of …

Read more

Christopher Bell Wins At Dover As Matt Tifft, Ross Chastain Battle For Last XFINITY Playoff Spot

2018 Michigan Xfinity Zach Catanzareti Christopher Bell

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Dover International Speedway produced a ho-hum NASCAR XFINITY Series race for the first 161 laps of its 200-lap, 200-mile race. Then, out of nowhere, all heck broke loose as the pressure to advance in the playoffs took center stage. A pair of late cautions shuffled the field around, pitting Matt Tifft, Austin Cindric and Ross …

Read more

4 Burning Questions: Is This It for Kasey Kahne?

2018 Las Vegas I Cup Kasey Kahne John K Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John K. Harrelson / NKP)

Will Kasey Kahne race again in MENCS competition? On Wednesday, it was announced by Leavine Family Racing that Kasey Kahne would not be able to race this weekend and that Regan Smith would once again race the No. 95 Chevrolet as a subsitute driver. Kahne has been out since after the Southern 500 last month …

Read more