Race Weekend Central

Beside the Rising Tide: Random Notes & Reckless Abandon

2021 knoxville Trucks pack racing Carson Hocevar Chandler Smith James Gilbert Getty Images

(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

Friday night’s (July 9) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race had a somewhat slapdash jury-rigged feel to it even before the racing commenced. Nope, they don’t run many touring series races on Friday nights any longer, though for a few years as more and more Cup Series races were moved to Saturday nights the companion …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC Deals With Track Issues, While Knoxville Brings Kevin Swindell to the Booth

Ryan Blaney leads a pack of cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway, July 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

By today’s standards, last weekend was a rarity. You had a split weekend with the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series teams racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, while the Camping World Truck Series was at Knoxville Raceway. The Cup race wasn’t all that unusual for Atlanta, just shorter, which I didn’t really welcome. The Truck race …

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Tracking the Trucks: Austin Hill Wins Amid Knoxville Mayhem

2021 Knoxville Trucks Big Crash Schatz Rohrbaugh Erickson James Gilbert Getty Images

(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

In a Nutshell: Nearly three hours after the Corn Belt 150 took the green flag and nearly five hours after the qualifying heats began, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ debut on the Knoxville Raceway dirt finally took the checkered. Austin Hill snared his first victory of the season after being a non-factor for much …

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Austin Hill Wins 1st Ever Knoxville Truck Race

2021 Knoxville Trucks Austin Hill celebrate James Gilbert Getty Images

(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

Austin Hill won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ inaugural event at Knoxville Raceway Friday night (July 9). Hill took the lead from Chandler Smith just before a caution came out during overtime and shot out to the lead in the final overtime finish to take his first victory of the season. “Kind of thought …

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4 Burning Questions: What to Do With Road Courses?

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

What can NASCAR do to fix road course races? The NASCAR Cup Series event at Road America was a pretty solid race. There was one huge issue with it, however. Yep, 22 whole minutes between stages thanks to a caution for Kyle Tilley at the end of the stage. NASCAR could have ran 10 laps …

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Friday Faceoff: Which Track Should Be Considered Untouchable?

2021 Atlanta I Cup Ryan Blaney Wins Nkp

Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography

Atlanta Motor Speedway is the latest track making changes to its layout and/or design. What track should be next? Which one should absolutely remain untouched? Trenton Worsham: New Hampshire Motor Speedway or another mile-and-a-half. I don’t like how flat NHMS is, and it’d be cool to make each mile-and-a-half unique. Tracks to not touch would be …

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Chandler Smith Leads Lone Knoxville Truck Practice

Nascar Camping World Truck Series

#18: Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota Tundra Safelite AutoGlass

Chandler Smith posted the fastest speed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice at Knoxville Raceway July 8. Matt Crafton, Derek Kraus, Donny Schatz and Hailie Deegan rounded out the top five. Schatz is making his series debut for David Gilliland Racing in the No. 17. There were a few drivers who experienced issues …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: Preparing for Series Debut at Knoxville

Knoxville

(Photo Credit: Tom Bowles, Frontstretch)

This weekend, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Knoxville Raceway for the penultimate race of the 2021 regular season. Just two races remain to set the playoff field, and four drivers have already clinched based on wins (Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Sheldon Creed and Todd Gilliland), and Austin Hill locked himself in …

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Atlanta Announces 2022 Reconfiguration, Repave

William Byron featured in front of Joey Logano and others at Atlanta spring 2021 race NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Atlanta Motor Speedway will begin repaving and reconfiguring its 1.5-mile circuit, with groundbreaking beginning later in 2021, for a new look in 2022, track officials announced July 6. One of the biggest changes being made to the Georgia track is an increase in banking from 24 degrees to 28 degrees. In addition, the new racing …

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Michael Annett Competing for Young’s Motorsports at Knoxville

Michael Annett folded arms before 2021 Charlotte Xfinity race NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Michael Annett will wheel the No. 02 for Young’s Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Knoxville Speedway, the team announced Monday, July 5. Annett’s truck will carry sponsorship from TMC Transportation. It’s Annett’s first Truck event since 2014 at Eldora Speedway in which he finished 25th. He ran nine total Truck …

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