Race Weekend Central

4 Burning Questions: 2020 Season Awards

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Who is the driver of the year? While Chase Elliott is the champion, undoubtedly the best overall driver this season was Kevin Harvick. Harvick’s average finish of 7.333 tied with 2007 Jeff Gordon’s average finish of 7.333 for best in that category since 1999. Ironically, both drivers failed to win championships, with Gordon losing out …

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Daily Fantasy NASCAR FanDuel Forecast: 2020 Season Finale 500

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

It’s the final stop on a chaotic and bizarre NASCAR Cup Series season, as 40 drivers head to Phoenix Raceway for one last race. This race will decide a championship. The top finishing driver between Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin will win the Bill France Cup. I have my own pick …

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4 Burning Questions: The Greatest of All Time

2017 Talladega Ii Cup Jimmie Johnson Chad Knaus Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

How will Jimmie Johnson be remembered? After 19 full-time seasons, the greatest NASCAR driver of all time will call it a career on Sunday. Jimmie Johnson, one of only three drivers to win seven NASCAR Cup Series championships, has stayed true to his word that 2020 would be his final year in the No. 48 …

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Daily Fantasy NASCAR FanDuel Forecast: The Xfinity 500

2020 Talladega Ii Cup Martin Truex Jr Nkp

The fall race at Martinsville Speedway is the oldest race in NASCAR, having been first contested in the Cup Series’ first season in 1949. In the last 71 years, many great drivers have found victory at “the Paperclip”. In fact, only eight series champions, representing only 10 of those 71 championship seasons, have failed to …

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4 Burning Questions: What Is the State of NASCAR?

2020 Charlotte Road Roval Cup William Byron Pack Racing Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

What is the state of NASCAR? In a crazy season in a crazy year, there are still some positives coming out of it for NASCAR. It looks like TV ratings will fall at about the same level as they did in 2019, just a percentage point or two. This is actually great news, as NASCAR’s …

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NASCAR FanDuel Forecast: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Fort Worth, Texas is home to two massive sporting venues. One is AT&T Stadium, known colloquially as “Jerryworld”, the home of the Dallas Cowboys and one of the most advanced sports facilities in the world. The other is Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval known both for its long distance races and variability as either …

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4 Burning Questions: Just How Bad Is the Current Rules Package?

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

What developments in silly season happened this past week? Erik Jones was named to the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 after this season in the NASCAR Cup Series. In a press release containing multiple obvious errors that was published on its website hours before the official reveal, RPM announced that Jones has signed a multi-year …

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Daily Fantasy NASCAR FanDuel Forecast: 2020 Hollywood Casino 400

2020 Charlotte Road Cup Alex Bowman Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Kansas Speedway, which is now the newest facility on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule until the first event at Circuit of the Americas next May, has become a mainstay on the circuit. The mile-and-a-half track opened in 2001 and has had some added banking from the initial fairly flat surface. Still, the venue shares similarities …

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4 Burning Questions: Are the NASCAR Playoffs Too Long?

2019homesteadmencskylebuschvictorylanecck

(Credit: Christian Koelle, Frontstretch)

Are the NASCAR playoffs too long? The NASCAR playoffs truly begin this weekend; the past six weeks have been more-or-less preliminary events. The NASCAR playoffs in general have always been too long. 10 weeks just makes the playoffs drag way too long. If I didn’t have to watch them for this column, I’m probably not …

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Daily Fantasy NASCAR FanDuel Forecast: 2020 Bank of America ROVAL 400

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

So, here it is. The third season of the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL event in the NASCAR Cup Series. This track configuration has been the site of so much chaos in its early life, with it being a playoff cutoff race. Two pretty crazy finishes – Ryan Blaney surviving a last corner wreck to win, …

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4 Burning Questions: The Chronicle of Clint Bowyer

2018 Cup Charlotte Roval Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Where’s Clint Bowyer going? Well, Clint Bowyer is making a move, announcing Oct. 8 that he’ll be moving to the FOX broadcast booth in 2021. Bowyer’s choice to leave NASCAR Cup Series racing for broadcasting was a good decision. He isn’t completely lost out there, as evidenced by his playoff run this season. But he …

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4 Burning Questions: Will a United Chevy Engine Program Be Competitive?

ARCA cars race in a blur at Bristol Motor Speedway

(Photo: ARCA Racing)

What were some good changes to the schedule? On Wednesday, Sept. 30, after weeks of rumors and leaks, NASCAR finally announced the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. It had been suggested by some reporters that the schedule may come in chunks, as the sanctioning body continues to operate in a COVID-19 world. This turned out …

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