Race Weekend Central

Drivers Continue Sounding Off on Atlanta’s Planned Repave

Kevin Harvick on pit road at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 2021). (Photo: NKP)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The specter of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s surface commanded the lion’s share of attention prior to Sunday (July 11) afternoon’s Quaker State 400.   Sunday’s race will be the final event on Atlanta’s current surface before it will be repaved and reconfigured. A day after pointed and profanity-laced criticism from Kyle Busch regarding the planned repave, …

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Did You Notice?: 6 NASCAR Storylines to Follow With 6 Regular Season Races Left

Kyle Larson races teammate William Byron in the 2021 Pennzoil 400 Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Did You Notice? … There’s six races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season? After some incredible parity, with 10 different winners in the first 11 races, the 2021 playoff battle has mostly sorted itself out. We’ve had just one new winner in the last nine races as Cinderellas have been replaced by the typical …

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Friday Faceoff: Who Will Be Next to Lead NASCAR’s Biggest Teams?

Joe Gibbs looks on wearing sunglasses at 2021 NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Coca-Cola 600. Photo NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

During one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ two races at Pocono Raceway last weekend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was penalized for laying back on a restart, but race winner Kyle Busch purposely pitted to fall back and get momentum built up. Is there a difference between the two and should NASCAR implement a penalty for such …

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Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2021 Pocono Doubleheader

2021 Pocono I Cup Denny Hamlin pack racing Pocono Doubleheader weekend James Gilbert Getty

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

Who … should you be talking about after the Pocono Doubleheader? Kyle Busch finally put an end to Hendrick Motorsports’ absurd dominance, finding a way to overcome a transmission that was stuck in fourth gear while saving enough gas to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 on Sunday (June 27). Busch had an exceptional …

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Frontstretch 2-Minute Drill: Pocono Organics CBD 325

2020 NASCAR Cup drivers pack racing NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

To paraphrase the late, great Chicago Cub Ernie Banks: “Let’s race two!” A duo of NASCAR Cup Series races will be held at the triangular Pocono Raceway on the final weekend of June in 2021, on the 26th and 27th, with the opener on Saturday (June 26) set for 3 p.m. ET. The recently dominant …

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Up to Speed: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. & JTG Daugherty Racing Seek a Needed Playoff Run

JTG Daugherty Racing's Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s car on the grid at Nashville Superspeedway. (Photo: NKP)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was one of the biggest surprises of Sunday’s race (June 20).  In the first visit by the NASCAR Cup Series to Nashville Superspeedway, Stenhouse had a fast car all day long.  The JTG Daugherty Racing driver was able to drive up into the top 10 and top five on several occasions, running …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2021 Ally 400

2021 Cup Nashville Kyle Larson Pit Stop Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Who … should you be talking about after the Ally 400? Kyle Larson proved again Sunday (June 20) that the No. 5 team is no fluke. Larson led a whopping 264 of 300 laps at Nashville Superspeedway and was rarely challenged up front in the track’s NASCAR Cup Series debut. Larson’s fourth win of the season …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Sonoma Brings Increased Action, Good and Bad Times

Joey Logano leads a pack of NASCAR Cup Series cars at Sonoma Raceway, June 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Back in the mid-1990s, I really looked forward to NASCAR making the yearly haul out to Sonoma Raceway for 300 kilometers around the 2.52-mile road course. I thought that the race was too short at the time. So did Papyrus. When then-Sears Point Raceway was included in the NASCAR Racing Track Pack in 1995 (note: …

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NASCAR 101: The 5 Best — & 5 Worst — Throwback Paint Schemes

2020 Darlington III fall Reed Sorensen throwback car NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

It’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway. The concept seems to be starting to wear out just a bit. In fact, the vast majority of Cup throwbacks this year are either bad or just average. All of the truly great NASCAR schemes have been done to death, and very few sponsors want to actually throwback to …

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Up to Speed: Inconsistent Calls Embarrass NASCAR in Kansas

Chris Buescher races in the 2021 Buschy McBusch Race 400 at Kansas Speedway, May 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

If Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway was too orderly for the first 200 laps, the ending was full of surprises. A flurry of cautions in the closing laps kept the field bunched together. While the drivers up front were running into each other for the lead, those further back in the pack …

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Thinkin’ Dirty: 2021 Bristol Throwdown

2020 Knoxville David Gravel Vl Wrg

Photo Credit: World Racing Group via Trent Gower

The A-Main: David Gravel swept the World of Outlaws Bristol Throwdown on Sunday (April 25), winning the $25,000 finale feature in a green-white-checkered finish over Donny Schatz. Gravel took the lead on lap 24 after pole sitter Logan Schuchart led the first 23 laps, only for Schuchart to break on the backstretch and bring out …

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Martinsville Penalty Report: 4 Cup Teams Fined, 2 Xfinity Crew Members Suspended

William Byron leads inside line in his No. 24 Liberty University car, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson holds outside lane. Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Brad Keselowski also race at spring Martinsville Cup, Photo NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Four teams (three NASCAR Cup Series, one NASCAR Xfinity Series) fell victim to the NASCAR officials’ penalty report on Tuesday (April 13). All three Cup teams involved were caught for lug-nut violations, with each team having a single unsecured lug nut on their car at the conclusion of Sunday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain 500. FOX commentators …

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