Race Weekend Central

5 Points To Ponder: In NASCAR, Winning Still Matters

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fl Usa Sunday 11 February 2018 Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Dow Chevrolet Camaro World Copyright: Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

ONE: Congratulations, Austin Dillon In the deluge of Daytona post-race coverage, I’ve seen some folks question the nature of Austin Dillon’s career-defining victory in the Great American Race. The way he took out Aric Almirola on that final lap of the Daytona 500 didn’t sit well, it seems. It wasn’t “the way it should be …

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5 Points To Ponder: 2018, The Year Of Your All New NASCAR

ONE: The New Guys When you write a weekly NASCAR column, even the shortest offseason in professional sports ends up feeling long without the constant drumbeat of minute-by-minute racing news. Sure, there’s a few weeks when you’re happy you don’t have to write a column or think about cars going fast and turning left. But, …

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5 Points to Ponder: The Right NASCAR Champion

2017 Kansas Ii Cup Martin Truex Jr Woohoo John K Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John K. Harrelson/NKP)

ONE: The Right Champion Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. on winning an emotional, and richly deserved, first Cup Series title. All year long, the No. 78 has been the class of the field so it’s fitting he should win the final race, his eighth victory of the campaign, to get it done. This time last …

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5 Points to Ponder: Martin Truex Jr.’s Moment of Truth

2017 Michigan Ii Cup Cole Pearn Martin Truex Jr Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

ONE: Martin Truex Jr.’s Moment of Truth All year long Martin Truex, Jr. has been the car to beat. Now, with just one race and 400 miles to go the question becomes can he finish it out and take the big prize his form has suggested all season long? By the numbers, the driver of …

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5 Points To Ponder: Denny Hamlin’s Dirty Move Or Chase Elliott’s Defining Moment?

2017 Kansas Ii Cup Denny Hamlin Barry Cantrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell NKP)

ONE: Dirty Moves Context and nuance are two words that have all but been lost in today’s society. You’re either on one side of an argument or you’re on the diametrically opposed side and never the two shall meet. Social media has fueled the acrimony, fanning the pungent flames of discourse almost to the point …

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5 Points to Ponder: Disparate Fortunes for Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson

2017 Kansas Ii Cup Kyle Larson Engine Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

ONE: There’s Always Next Year for Kyle Larson After a break out season that promised so much, Kyle Larson started this past Sunday at Kansas Speedway some 29 (33?) points to the good, to all the world looking like an easy bet to move on and make it to the round of eight. But a …

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5 Points To Ponder: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Falls Just Short At Talladega

2017 Bristol Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Nigel Kinrad Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

ONE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Falls Just Short In the end, on a day dedicated in his honor and the 17th anniversary of his late father’s last win, it was not to be for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished seventh at the end of an insane race at Talladega. “I would have loved to have won …

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5 Points to Ponder: Number 27

2017 Michigan Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

ONE: Talladega Here we go again: 500 miles on the treacherous high banks of Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway. This time round, I’m happy to say, Talladega will not be the elimination race in the three-race playoff segment as it has been for the last two seasons. After the debacle with Kevin Harvick at the end of …

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Five Points: What’s the Point(s), NASCAR?

2017 Chicago Cup Matt Kenseth Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

ONE: Points Reset Sitting on the couch on Sunday night, with SportsCenter on mute in the background (the default channel in my house when I have the remote) I noticed the Dover race recap segment was on. So, I turned up the sound to listen to how ESPN portrayed the race as that’s always interesting. …

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5 Points to Ponder: A Sluggish Start to the NASCAR Playoffs — Why?

2017 Michigan Ii Cup Jimmie Johnson Helmet Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

ONE: Sluggish Start to NASCAR’s 10-Race Playoff It’s fair to say for NASCAR that it hasn’t been the compelling start to the 2017 playoffs the powers that be at Daytona Beach, Fla.,  would have wanted. We’ve had two poor races with limited-to-no excitement. There hasn’t been a great deal of passing, not really any it seems …

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5 Points to Ponder: The Power of NASCAR Social Media

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, In Usa Saturday 22 July 2017 Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Miller Lite Ford Fusion World Copyright: Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

ONE: Twitter Wars I’m sure by now you’ve seen the tweet from Brad Keselowski Friday, prior to the race at Chicagoland Speedway this past weekend where he took to Twitter to opine on the form of the Toyotas. Just in case, here’s the tweet in question: We are all in for a rude awakening. Haven't seen …

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Simon Pagenaud Wins IndyCar at Sonoma, Josef Newgarden Takes Series Championship

2017 Long Beach Indycar Simon Pagenaud Car Phil Allaway

(Photo: Phil Allaway)

Simon Pagenaud may have won the battle in Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series contest at Sonoma Raceway, a thrilling open-wheel finale on the winding road course, but the big winner on the day was Josef Newgarden. On a picture perfect day in the rolling hills of northern California’s wine country, Newgarden took home his first IndyCar title and …

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