Race Weekend Central

Did You Notice?: NASCAR Silly Season Turns Toward The Sophisticated Business Of NASCAR Charters

2017 Phoenix I Cup Ryan Blaney Pack Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell Labounty/NKP)

Did You Notice? …. That Brad Keselowski’s signing narrows down the list of Silly Season question marks? Keselowski’s extension, announced Tuesday, keeps him in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford with sponsorship from Miller Lite. The move came paired with a new contract for crew chief Paul Wolfe as well; the duo will continue their successful …

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5 Points to Ponder: Great NASCAR Finishes Abound After Indy

2017 Indianapolis Cup Kasey Kahne Rick Hendrick Celebrate Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

ONE: Massive Win for Kahne I have a good friend who is a huge Kasey Kahne fan. He’s from the same home town –Enumclaw, WA — as the 14-year, 488-race Hendrick Motorsports veteran, and he’s followed Kahne’s career from the very start. He is, if you will, the definition of a die-hard fan. This past …

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Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In NASCAR: Darkness On The Edge Edition

2017 Fontana Cup Kasey Kahne Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

NASCAR had rain, sunshine and wild racing while flirting with the darkness at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. It also had wrecks, a lot of wrecks. Which brings the question of if there are a lot of wrecks, does that make it good racing? That’s sure to be a hot topic this week. HOT I had …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chooses NASCAR On NBC

2017 Indianapolis Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Pack Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

Last week was nothing short of a doozy.  You had a Cup race that took more than six hours to run due to rain and wrecks.  An XFINITY race that featured a fair amount of passing, but was run at too slow of a pace for my taste.  You also had a wreckfest on the …

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking Talents to NBC After Season

2017 Cup New Hampshire Zach Catanzareti Dale Earnhardt Jr.

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

NASCAR’s most popular driver for almost two decades and running isn’t going anywhere. NBC formally announced this morning that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be joining their broadcast team next season. Earnhardt previously announced his retirement, effective at the end of the 2017 season, and there was much speculation of him taking his talents to the television booth …

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Up to Speed: The Changing of the Hendrick Motorsports Guard

2016 Pocono Cup Jimmie Johnson Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Zch Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Hendrick Motorsports was riding high in 2014. Jimmie Johnson just came off winning a sixth championship.  Jeff Gordon was having his best season in years and had reemerged as a top title contender.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his second Daytona 500 victory and snapped a winless streak that had carried on for over a year.  Kasey …

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wrecks Out of Final Brickyard 400

2017 Talladega I Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr John K Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John K Harrelson/NKP)

That was not the type of smoke show Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to perform in his final Brickyard 400 start. His Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended with his No. 88 Chevrolet sitting inside the garage. Following a stack-up on a Lap 75 restart, Earnhardt hit the rear of Trevor Bayne’s No. …

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Dale Jr. on Alex Bowman: ‘I Feel He Will Have Great Success’ in No. 88

2017 Indianapolis Cup Alex Bowman Dale Earnhardt Jr. Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

The largest card in the 2017-18 NASCAR silly season was answered last week when Alex Bowman was announced as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s replacement at Hendrick Motorsports for 2018. Following years of low-budget teams in the XFINITY and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Bowman will have the opportunity he’s (and his family) been waiting for when …

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Voice of Vito: Knowing When To Fold ‘Em and Top NASCAR Silly Season Rides Revisited for 2018

Nascar 2017 Cup Jason Ratcliff Matt Kenseth Nascar (photo: Nigel Kinrade / Nkp)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Chasing Amy Following the unveiling of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Darlington throwback scheme on Tuesday, Junior Nation was at odds with one another, as well as an Earnhardt. What, they didn’t dig the AC Delco scheme that Junior piloted to two consecutive titles in 1998 and 1999? Sorry, wrong Earnhardt. It’s actually Dale Jr.’s wife, Amy, enduring …

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Alex Bowman to Drive the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 in 2018

The pieces to the puzzle of the NASCAR Silly Season have started to come together. Alex Bowman has been declared as the driver that will replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet following Earnhardt’s retirement at the conclusion of this season. The announcement was made Thursday morning (July 20) following a …

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Who’s Hot & Who’s Not in NASCAR: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2, Joe Gibbs 0 Edition

2017 Daytona Ii Nxs Ricky Stenhouse Jr Rusty Jarrett Nkp

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett/NKP)

Daytona International Speedway brought the usual excitement, accidents along with underdogs competing for the win at a restrictor plate track on a Saturday night. And you know what? It was riveting television. Any time you go into the last lap of a race and Michael McDowell has a legitimate shot at winning, well, that’s a …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After The 2017 Coke Zero 400

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Series, Daytona

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Who… gets the shoutout of the race? Brendan Gaughan had another great showing at Daytona International Speedway for Beard Motorsports, backing up his 11th-place finish in February with a seventh on Saturday night. Gaughan had an up-and-down night, running in the top 10 at various points, but also having a single-car incident in Turn 2 on …

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