Holding A Pretty Wheel

For many years, there were two. There was The King, who had come along when the sport itself was still in its infancy and who drove it from the tiny, dusty bullrings of the Southeast to the big tracks of a budding national phenomenon. Just when it seemed that The …

Martinsville Speedway is one of those tracks where someone inevitably ends the day angry at someone else.  It’s the nature of short-track racing, where racing is tight and battles for position are fierce. Last weekend’s race was no exception. Frustration ran high as Jimmie Johnson ran away from the field …

Picture this: Young driver breaks into a top-level racing series with a smaller team after working his way through the ranks, winning along the way, taking a title or two in other divisions.  He runs well enough with those teams to grab a couple of wins, beating all comers, including …

NASCAR did something this week that should, on one level, be applauded: the sanctioning body made a rules change to post-race penalty procedures because the rule it had adopted proved to be unfair when applied in competition.  That, in itself, is an important step. Here’s what happened: Last week, NASCAR …

On Wednesday, NASCAR handed down a bunch of penalties, as it generally does on a weekly basis. Most weeks, the penalties are minor: written warnings for going through inspection too many times, maybe a loss of pit choice.  Every once in a while, though, the sanctioning body hands down something bigger, …

After Kyle Larson won at Michigan Sunday not many have labeled the driver nicknamed “Young Money” as a possible title contender. They’d be wrong. The third-year veteran, who “locked into” his first postseason grid with Sunday’s victory is on a mission to play spoiler in a Chase that could easily tilt …

It’s been a bit of a rough week for NASCAR.  Between the rain delays at Bristol Motor Speedway and the continued absence of perennial most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. due to lingering effects of a concussion he suffered in June, the news hasn’t been too positive.  (It wasn’t all …

Furniture Row Racing confirmed NASCAR’s worst kept secret on Sunday at Watkins Glen International when the organization announced that they’ll field upcoming phenom Erik Jones in a newly-formed second team next season alongside veteran Martin Truex, Jr. However, when the agreement was announced as a one-year deal, talk immediately began to shift …

It’s almost a week later, and I’m still reflecting on last weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Not because of the race — those have never been particularly compelling at a track steeped in someone else’s history — but because of an impromptu finale between two of the best drivers …

For the second time in the last five seasons, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will sit out at least one race due to a possible concussion.  A Hendrick Motorsports release didn’t specify the cause, however Earnhardt was involved in a multi-car crash at Daytona two weeks ago and said Thursday his symptoms …