Matt McLaughlin

Editor’s Note: Matt McLaughlin is off this week. In his usual spot, enjoy one of his classic columns we always rerun as the joy of summer comes upon us. While I enjoy stock car racing at Pocono, race weekends at the track are also tinged with a bit of melancholy. …

The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down You can’t let go and you can’t hold on You can’t go back and you can’t stand still If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will -Jerry Garcia- Sometimes, I find my opinions in direct conflict with other NASCAR …

How do you define summer? Meteorologically speaking, summer begins June 21st and ends September 22nd. For younger folks, “summer” is that magical period when school is closed from sometime in May or June until early September. For beachgoers, airlines, and yes, stock car racing fans, summer tends to be defined …

A bit belatedly, NASCAR finally released the 2018 schedules for its top three touring series last week: Cup, XFINITY and Trucks. Naturally, the release of said schedule caused frenzied fans to launch into action, clogging track phone lines and nearly crashing the internet as folks frantically tried to get their hands on tickets …

It’s hard to believe but the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus performed for the last time this weekend. Not for the last time this season… for the last time ever. And after this weekend’s abomination of an “All-Star” race, one must consider how long it might be before the clowns …

Who on earth do you think you are? A superstar? Well right you are! But we all shine on… -John Lennon- The Winston, NASCAR’s All-Star race, started with a simple, easy-to-understand idea. Most great endeavors do. On May 25, 1985 twelve drivers, all of whom had won a race during …

Author’s Note: Long-term readers know occasionally I’ll write a rather self-indulgent column only tangentially related to NASCAR and some that take their good sweet time getting to any mention of the sport at all. Today’s effort, or lack thereof, is one of them as I reflect on the death of an …

I think most NASCAR fans were stunned last week when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his retirement from Cup Series racing at the conclusion of this season. In many cases, those fans might have felt a degree of relief mixed with surprise, as it appears Earnhardt will indeed leave the sport on …

Rain at a race track. It’s never much fun but sometimes it’s inevitable, like ants at a picnic, right wing lunatics with wild conspiracy theories, or English sports cars rendered immobile by electrical gremlins. (Let us all give thanks our friends at AMC never offered an electric or even a …

For some it feels like the 2017 Cup season is just getting underway. For others it already feels like it’s been going on a very long time. (It’s 87 degrees outside as I write this Easter Sunday afternoon. It was 22 the day of the Daytona 500.) Mathematically, six races …