It was a late October day in Virginia, paired with temperatures that felt more like Memorial Day and not a cloud in the sky. There was a race that actually started prior to 1:30 at Martinsville, the scenic and historic half-mile short track nestled in a historic area ablaze in autumnal foliage. Good ol’ short track racing, side-by-side, …
Think Small It’s an easy mistake to make: falling into the trap of thinking most of the drivers racing for NASCAR’s smaller teams are damaged goods. Sadly, it’s one that even team owners often fall into. How often have young, talented drivers taken rides in this group hoping for some exposure only to be overlooked? …
Who’s in the headline – Jimmie Johnson had eight wins at Martinsville Speedway entering this weekend’s activities. While that is an impressive number, he had gone six races without a win and had not finished better than ninth in the last four. The race wasn’t a dominating effort by the No. 48 team, but they …
When it comes to restrictor place races at Talladega and Daytona, the big question is, when will the big one happen? As in, when will we see a big crash with at least seven or eight cars involved. If you were waiting on that to happen during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Talladega, then you …
Think Small The news that’s trickled in through the last week should be making everyone in the sport take pause and think about the health of several of its teams. The snowball got rolling last week when it was reported that Tommy Baldwin Racing was in the process of selling its charter to Leavine Family …
Think Small It’s a given that NASCAR’s small teams don’t have the money and equipment that the bigger ones do. But a closer look reveals there is another piece of the puzzle missing many people don’t think about: factory support. While several of the smaller teams do have alliances with larger ones, manufacturer funding is generally reserved …
Who… gets my shoutout of the race? Intermediate tracks like Kansas are rarely kind to lesser-funded single-car teams, but this week, one of those teams broke up the party at the front for much of the weekend, including late in the race. AJ Allmendinger had a fast car, as evidenced by his 10th-place start, and …
Think Small Smaller NASCAR teams are constantly talking about improvement, and it’s something for which there is always room. However, improvement goals vary, and that is necessary because teams in the group are all at different stages of development as teams. One team’s goal of top-20 finishes may be totally unrealistic for another. There is …
Think Small One of the chief worries about NASCAR’s charter system when it was instituted this year was how new teams would be able to get a foothold in the sport, and while that is a concern on paper, in practice, the charter system changes very little, because teams entering the spot already have the …
Think Small I had a conversation this past weekend with Germain Racing driver Casey Mears, and I asked him the one thing he wished that NASCAR fans understood about his job. Mears offered the following assessment. “The thing I wish more fans knew is just how difficult it is to get one of these cars …
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
