Thinkin’ Out Loud

The Headlines: It was the first All-Star race since 1986 that was run outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott won at Atlanta that afternoon, and on Wednesday (July 15) it was his son Chase Elliott taking home the checkered flag at Bristol and winning $1 million in the 2020 …

The Headline(s): A relatively tame race ended in a chaotic final two laps, a four-wide battle for the lead and a Cup Series triumph for rookie Cole Custer, as NASCAR concluded its four-race stretch (five, including the ARCA Menards Series) over four days in the Bluegrass State. One of the …

The Headline(s): Kevin Harvick notched his fourth win of the season and third Brickyard 400 victory on Sunday (July 5) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, continuing to keep pace with Denny Hamlin as the two dominate the 2020 season. Harvick also successfully defended his status as the winner at the Brickyard …

The Headline(s): Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick finished 1-2 again on Sunday, June 28 at Pocono Raceway, although the roles were reversed this time with Hamlin scoring his fourth win of 2020. Erik Jones ended up third, followed by Chase Elliott. Aric Almirola rounded out the top-five finishers. How it …

The Headline(s): Kevin Harvick snagged his first career victory at Pocono Raceway and his third of the 2020 season in Saturday’s (June 27) Pocono Organics 325. The difference between taking two tires on the No. 4 and four tires on Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Ford proved to be what helped …

The Headline(s): It’s more than plausible that the best car won on Monday, as Ryan Blaney earned his first checkered flag of 2020, fourth of his career and second in a row at Talladega Superspeedway. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford led 63 of 191 laps, the most of anybody …

The Headline(s): Denny Hamlin scored his third victory of 2020 and second since NASCAR returned from hiatus on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (June 14). All three have come under rainy circumstances. His Daytona 500 win in February was on a Monday after the normally-on-Sunday race was postponed. Next up, his …

Editors Note: What in blazes am I doing here? Yeah, Matt, what’s up? You write on Tuesdays, having given this column up years ago. Yep. You recall correctly. Bryan Keith, who took over this column when Mike Neff stopped doing it, has been doing a fine job with the race …

The Headline(s): The meaning of Harvicking has changed since Kevin Harvick played childish instigator on Brad Keselowski at Texas Motor Speedway in 2014. Now, it means dominating at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is what the No. 4 team did on Sunday, June 7, leading 151 laps en route to an …

The Headline(s): Brad Keselowski was right to ask if Las Vegas has re-opened yet, because Sunday proved it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good. Capitalizing on a spat between Joey Logano and Chase Elliott for the race lead sending both leaders into the wall on lap 498, the No. …