Race Weekend Central

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kevin Harvick Fires Warning Shot with Domination in Texas

#4: Kevin Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Mobil 1, Celebrates In Victory Lane

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Who’s in the headline Kevin Harvick has had the fastest car nearly every weekend this season. The Achilles heel for the team is that they routinely shoot themselves in the foot through pit road miscues. When they don’t, they dominate, which is what happened at Texas on Sunday. Harvick led over half of the laps …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Joey Logano Wins Martinsville Battle, War Undecided

2018 Cup Martinsville Zach Catanzareti Joey Logano

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Who’s in the headline Joey Logano knew he had a chance to go to Homestead and challenge for a championship. It was going to take some old school, short track racing but he wasn’t afraid to do it. In Turns 3 and 4, where the greats of the sport have moved competitors to win since …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Chase Elliott Wins 2nd Round of 12 Race, Round of 8 Set

2017 Phoenix Cup Chase Elliott Cockpit Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

Who’s in the headline In the typical, overreaction world of 24/7 social media and sports talking heads, Chase Elliott has gone from early title dropout to championship favorite. Elliott went to Victory Lane for the second time in three races, and Elliott Nation is in a lather over the potential for him to contend for …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Aric Almirola Finally in Victory Lane After Stewart-Haas Domination at Talladega

Aric Almirola 1000bulbs.com 500 Victory Lane

(Photo: Christian Koelle)

Who’s in the headline There is domination by drivers and domination by teams. Sunday was total domination by the Stewart-Haas Racing organization. They won every stage and the race with a different driver doing each, and the driver who didn’t win any of them finished second in all three. In the end, fuel mileage bit …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Chase Elliott Fires Up the Siren a 2nd Time

2018 Cup Zach Catanzareti Dover Chase Elliott

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Who’s in the headline Chase Elliott lost a heartbreaking race at Dover in the fall of 2017 and blamed himself solely for the loss. Sunday was a complete team effort that vaulted Elliott to Victory Lane and a berth in the Round of 8. Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola both appeared headed to victory early …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Ryan Blaney Wins the ROVAL, Kyle Larson Survives to Advance

#12: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Menards/pennzoil Celebrates His Win Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Who’s in the headline The list of road course favorites was long going into the first ROVAL race, and it was a safe bet that Ryan Blaney wasn’t on most of those lists. However, sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, and Blaney was lucky to be in the right place at the …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kyle Busch Sweeps Up at Richmond

2018 Cup Richmond Zach Catanzareti Kyle Busch

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Who’s in the headline Kyle Busch has the most wins of any active driver at Richmond Raceway, but prior to this spring, it had been five years since he won a race there. He had also never won a fall race at the Virginia short-track. Not only did Busch win the spring race earlier this …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Brad Keselowski Sets Benchmarks with 3rd Straight Win & Penske 500th

#2: Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Autotrader Celebrates His Win Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Who’s in the headline Momentum is a beautiful thing when you’re running for a championship, and Brad Keselowski is riding a huge wave of it after winning his third consecutive race and locking himself into the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Keselowski won the second stage and the race in a …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Brad Keselowski Finally Experiences Southern Hospitality

Brad Keseloski Darlington 2018 Cup Mike Neff (8)

Who’s in the headline While he wasn’t the dominant driver of the evening, Brad Keselowski took advantage of a strong pit stop that put him in the top spot and ran away from the field to claim his first victory at Darlington Raceway. It was the first win for Team Penske at Darlington since Bobby …

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Christopher Bell, Elliott Sadler Top Darlington XFINITY Practices

2018 Xfinity Darlington Zach Catanzareti Christopher Bell

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Friday afternoon brought XFINITY teams out to play for two hours on the slick high banks at Darlington Raceway.  Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell turned in a lap at 169.356 mph on his final lap of the first session to lead the day. Practice No. 1 Christopher Bell made a late run during the first …

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Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman Top Bojangles’ Southern 500 Practices

2018 Darlington Cup Zach Catanzareti Denny Hamlin

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin dominated Darlington in 2017 with wins in both the XFINITY and Cup races. He returned to the scene of last year’s success and picked up right where he left off. Hamlin turned a lap at 172.287 mph during the opening practice to lead the entire day Friday (Aug. 31). Practice …

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Tech Talk: How Darlington Chews Up Tires with Tony Gibson

Tony Gibson Charlotte Fall Cup 2017 Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff)

Tony Gibson was under the weather for a little while in the middle of the summer, but he’s back and ready to rumble in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Stewart-Haas Racing’s production manager took advantage of the series’ final off-week of the season to get cars lined up for the playoffs and make sure …

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