Race Weekend Central

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams From Darlington to Richmond

2016 Darlington Cup Chris Buescher Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Tommy Baldwin Racing Regan Smith, No. 7 Nikko RC Road Rippers Chevrolet Looking back: Smith is a former Darlington winner, and he raced the track very well on Sunday night and netted a top-20 finish to show for it.  It was exactly the kind of race TBR needs to have: smart, clean, and driver getting …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams from Michigan to Darlington

2016 Pocono I Cup Ryan Blaney John Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrelson/NKP)

Tommy Baldwin Racing Regan Smith, No. 7 APC Chevrolet Looking back: Michigan International Speedway was one of Smith’s better runs on a 1.5-to-2-mile speedway this year, with a 26th-place finish and a lap led on his tally. Smith said afterward that he feels like his team is learning some things that will help them in …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams From Bristol to Michigan

2016 Pocono I Cup Landon Cassill Anthony Lumbis Sr.

(Photo: Anthony Lumbis, Sr.)

Tommy Baldwin Racing Regan Smith, No. 7 APC Chevrolet Looking back: Smith had a brush with the wall just past the quarter mark of the race, bringing out the first caution of the day after the restart Sunday following the earlier competition yellow.  Even so, he managed to avoid further trouble while others couldn’t do the …

Read more

The Underdog House: Why NASCAR’s Small Teams Matter

2016 Pocono Ii Cup Chris Buescher Bob Osborne Trophy Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

The teams covered in this article each week aren’t likely race winners (though many of them certainly can—and on occasion have—win if circumstances dictate). However, NASCAR is about more than winning.  Consider the amount of preparation that one of the sport’s elite teams has to put into bringing a racecar to the track, race ready, each week—it’s …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams Through Watkins Glen

Regan Smith Indianapolis 2016 Cup Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff)

Tommy Baldwin Racing Regan Smith, No. 7 Advanced Patient Care Chevrolet Looking back: It was a tough weekend on the twists and turns of Watkins Glen International for Regan Smith and his No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing team. They qualified a mediocre 29th and then found trouble early as troubles with the suspension put the …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams from Pocono to Watkins Glen

2016 Pocono Ii Cup Chris Buescher Champagne Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

Tommy Badwin Racing Regan Smith, No. 7 APC Chevrolet Looking back: Chris Buescher wasn’t the only small-team driver who scored a top finish Monday. Smith’s third-place run ties his organization’s best finish ever and marks TBR’s top finish not on a restrictor-plate track.  Sound strategy played into the team’s hands and Smith walked away with his …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams From Indy to Pocono

2016 Indianapolis Cup Patrick Carpentier Car Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

Indianapolis represented a mixed bag for the small teams this week, with finishes ranging from 14th for rookie Chris Buescher to 40th for Matt DiBenedetto, thanks to an untimely engine expiration.  Indy is a tough track for teams that are a step or two behind the elite teams in both handling and horsepower, and next …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams from Loudon to Indy

2016 Loudon I Cup Michael Annett Reed Sorenson Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

NASCAR has a few tracks that are fairly unique in layout.  Among those are both new Hampshire Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway-a flat one-mile oval with long straights and tight turns – think big Martinsville – and a huge, flat, rectangular behemoth with four separate corners and four straights to match.  These tracks are …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams from Kentucky to New Hampshire

2016 Pocono I Cup Ty Dillon Car Anthony Lumbis Sr.

(Photo: Tony Lumbis Sr.)

So… what makes a small team? Yep, I addressed this last week, but again, we’ll give it one more time for those race fans who missed the last edition. I’m frequently asked how I categorize NASCAR’s teams, and I’m sure lots of people have a different definition, but I look at a couple of things …

Read more

The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams from Daytona to Kentucky

2016 Daytona Ii Cup Michael Mcdowell Michael Annett Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

What makes a small team? I’m frequently asked how to categorize NASCAR’s teams. I look at a couple of things when I make the list each spring: budget and performance.  Small teams simply don’t have the budgets of the larger ones, even middle-tier organizations.  They may have alliances with bigger teams, but that doesn’t mean everything gets handed …

Read more