NASCAR 101

Since 2005, following every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, NASCAR has released what it calls loop data to the general public. Loop data is a form of advanced statistics that calculates what position every driver is running at at the conclusion of every lap of the race and who …

After 18 races, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is officially halfway complete. This weekend at Kentucky Speedway marks race 19 of 36, the climb down the mountain after an 18-race incline. At no other point this season (and in none before now) has the series been as ripe …

Here’s the cool thing about this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway: no Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers. For a while, that would have been a rarity in NASCAR, something to shock. There was a period of time in NASCAR’s secondary series when an Xfinity regular …

156 races. That’s how many starts it took for Matt DiBenedetto to have a top five in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition. After a Cup career that began in 2015 and yielded four top 10s prior to 2019, DiBenedetto wheeled his No. 95 to a fourth-place run at Sonoma …

It’s the end of an era in NASCAR Cup broadcasting that spanned nearly two decades. Darrell Waltrip, who announced his retirement from Fox Sports in April, will call his final race Sunday, June 23 at Sonoma Raceway. Waltrip’s presence and knowledgeable analysis impacted the sport and engaged viewers in the …

You might think that Greg Biffle, who rolled into victory lane last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, has a case for the longest time spent out of the winner’s circle in the series’ history. And that’s, uh, right. Kind of. It all depends …

Here’s a fun one to explain: Ross Chastain‘s not running for NASCAR Xfinity Series points anymore. Instead, as of this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, he’s switching to title contention for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Cool, right? I mean, it makes sense. He’s competed in all eight races …

Where have all the owner-drivers gone? Well, it certainly ain’t the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Which is probably a different story from when many who read this first started following NASCAR. The story of the owner-driver — the do-it-all wheelman who can balance a checkbook just as well as …

Being a NASCAR fan over the last decade or more has brought plenty of changes, few more prominent than the integration of social media into the sport (and, well, pretty much all things). Getting to know NASCAR’s personalities on a personal level used to be left to in-person meetings at …

Dale Earnhardt famously once said, “second place is just the first loser.” Ironically, if this rings true, Earnhardt was the first loser 70 times in his illustrious, seven-championship career. Only four drivers have tallied more career second-place finishes than the Intimidator. Currently sitting with 45 second-place finishes, Kyle Busch has …