Race Weekend Central

NASCAR XFINITY Series Entry List: Ticket Galaxy 200

2017 Texas II NXS Daniel Hemric Christopher Bell Jared C Tilton getty images for texas motor speedway

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

The NASCAR XFINITY Series heads west this weekend to Phoenix International Raceway for the 19th annual Ticket Galaxy 200. It’s their final playoff race in the Round of 8 before the Championship 4 is set to battle for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There are 40 cars on the penultimate preliminary entry list, meaning the …

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The Underdog House: NASCAR Must ‘Cope’ With Slow Cars On Track

2017 Las Vegas CUP Landon Cassill Nigel Kinrade NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Think Small After last weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway, where Derrike Cope brought out a late caution while racing several laps down, fans and some media suggested Cope should have been removed from the track by NASCAR long before the incident. That group, which included regular season champion Martin Truex Jr., claimed Cope was so far in …

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Beyond the Cockpit: Carl Long Balancing Risk & Reward in NASCAR Ownership

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling 400 Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS USA Friday 12 May 2017 Dale Earnhardt Jr, Hendrick Motorsports, Mountain Dew DEW-S-A Chevrolet SS and Carl Long World Copyright: Nigel Kinrade NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

On the surface, every team was a throwback to the old days Sunday at Darlington Raceway. With memorable paint schemes and bright STP hats, the laymen would struggle to pick out the true underdogs. However, for Carl Long, the small-team status is one he’s raced in all his life in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup …

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5 Points to Ponder: Great NASCAR Finishes Abound After Indy

2017 Indianapolis CUP Kasey Kahne Rick Hendrick celebrate Russell LaBounty NKP

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

ONE: Massive Win for Kahne I have a good friend who is a huge Kasey Kahne fan. He’s from the same home town –Enumclaw, WA — as the 14-year, 488-race Hendrick Motorsports veteran, and he’s followed Kahne’s career from the very start. He is, if you will, the definition of a die-hard fan. This past …

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Timmy Hill Scores Best Cup Finish in 200th NASCAR Start

2017 indianapolis cup zach catanzareti timmy hill carl long motorsports

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

With 120 XFINITY Series starts and 20 in the Camping World Truck Series, Sunday’s 60th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start brought Timmy Hill to 200 NASCAR starts. At 24 years old, Hill has been a quiet character in all three series, competing for low-budget teams and only cracking the top 10 on three occasions. …

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NASCAR XFINITY Series Entry List: Alsco 300

NASCAR Xfinity Series NASCAR XFINITY Series American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen Iowa Speedway, Newton, IA USA Saturday 24 June 2017 Ross Chastain, Florida Watermelon Association Ford Mustang World Copyright: Brett Moist NKP

(Photo: Brett Moist/NKP)

This weekend, the NASCAR XFINITY Series heads to Kentucky Speedway for the Alsco 300. There are 44 cars on the preliminary entry list, meaning four teams will be sent home after qualifying concludes on Friday. Some notable changes for this weekend come with the series’ smaller programs. BJ McLeod is back in his self-owned No. 8 …

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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Entry List: Quaker State 400

brad keselowski

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

After a weekend of restrictor plate racing on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kentucky Speedway for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400. The trip to Sparta, Ky. marks the only trip there for the MENCS field this season. There are 40 cars on the preliminary entry list, …

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Entry List: 2017 Go Bowling 400

2016 Kansas I CUP Kevin Harvick racing Brett Moist NKP

(Photo: Brett Moist/NKP)

On Tuesday morning, NASCAR released the entry list for Saturday night’s Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway.  40 cars are entered this week, so no one will go home. There are a couple of changes to note.  Reed Sorenson moves back into the No. 15 for Premium Motorsports, replacing Joey Gase.  Gase finished a season-best …

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The Underdog House: The Great Equalizer

2017 Bristol I CUP Jeffrey Earnhardt car Matthew T Thacker NKP

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

Think Small Short tracks are popular with race fans because there is almost always some action somewhere in the field.  Cars are close together, tempers flare and drivers are aggressive.  Another reason to enjoy this type of racing is that short tracks (Bristol and Martinsville more so than Richmond) usually level out the playing field …

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The Underdog House: NASCAR’s Best-Kept Secret

2017 Texas I CUP Cole Whitt Matt DiBenedetto racing Logan Whitton NKP

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

Think Small It feels like NASCAR’s small teams get a bad rap right from the start from some fans and even media.  Too often, they’re lumped into a “backmarkers” category, often mocked for their poor performance compared to rivals.  To hear some people talk, you’d think they went out every week and ran in the 20’s …

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The Underdog House: No Margin For Error With NASCAR’s Small Teams

2017 Las Vegas CUP Ryan Blaney Timmy Hill racing John Harrelson NKP

(Photo: John Harrelson/NKP)

No Margin For Error Last week, we looked at the importance of improvement for small teams.  For those that realistically just can’t compete with their powerhouse rivals on a weekly basis, it’s a better measure than finishes alone. It’s also an important step for those teams a step ahead of the game, ones in position to one …

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The Underdog House: NASCAR’s Intermediate Track Blues

2017 Atlanta CUP Matt DiBenedetto car

Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP

Think Small It can be said that the real NASCAR season starts at Atlanta. The Intermediate track season kicked off last weekend and the results were fairly predictable of the small teams this week.  In general at a 1.5 to 2-mile track, these teams struggle to keep up.  You might see a couple of teams …

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