Race Weekend Central

Chase Elliott Blows Motor, Retires From Brickyard 400

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, In Usa Sunday 23 July 2017 Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Napa Chevrolet Ss And Clint Bowyer, Stewart Haas Racing, Mobil 1/rush Truck Centers Ford Fusion World Copyright: Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

Sunday was a short day for Chase Elliott in the Brickyard 400. Hoping to follow in replacement Jeff Gordon’s footsteps, winning the marquee race for the first time in his second season he instead earned an uglier first: first Cup Series engine failure. Following a mid-pack qualifying effort of 16th for Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor …

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4 Burning Questions: Chase Elliott & Ryan Blaney, Who’s Ahead at the Halfway Point?

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fl Usa Wednesday 22 February 2017 Chase Elliott Ryan Blaney World Copyright: Matthew T. Thacker/nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

Who Has the Upper Hand, Chase Elliott or Ryan Blaney? One year ago at Kentucky Speedway, the top two rookies of the 2016 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series campaign wrecked together in Turn 3. At the time, it was in the middle of the worst string of races for both Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, …

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NASCAR Mailbox: What Does Chase Elliott’s Contract Extension Mean for Hendrick Motorsports?

2017 Charlotte All Star Cup Chase Elliott Alan Gustafson Rusty Jarrett Nkp

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett / NKP)

2017 is the year of long-term contracts in NASCAR. First, it was Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, both announcing at Daytona they would be remain with their respective teams. Then, it was Jimmie Johnson. Now, it is Chase Elliott. Clearly, team owners have not paid much attention to Major League Baseball and the National Basketball …

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Did You Notice?: NASCAR Daytona Races Can Be Deceiving

Kurt Busch And Wife

(Photo: Rusty Jarrett/NKP)

Did You Notice? … NASCAR races at Daytona can be deceiving? The sport’s Super Bowl, February’s Daytona 500 is known as a race whose winner rarely competes for the series title. Only Jimmie Johnson (2006 & 2013) has accomplished the feat since 1998. There’s a lot of reasons Daytona winds up so different than the rest …

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Chase Elliott Signs Contract Extension with Hendrick Motorsports

2017 Cup Richmond Zach Catanzareti Chase Elliott

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Chase Elliott has agreed to a new contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports. The new deal will keep him with the only organization he has driven for during his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career through 2022. Elliott’s previous contract was good until the end of 2018. “It means the world to me to be a …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kevin Harvick Finally Tastes Well Aged Victory at Sonoma

Harvick Sonoma Win 1

(Photo: Lesley Ann Miller/ NKP)

Who’s in the headline: In a race that saw strategies all over the board, 10 different leaders exchanged the lead 13 times, and questions about leaders having enough fuel to the make the finish emerged to make the Toyota/Save Mart 350 one of the most compelling races of the season. When the checkered flag flew, it …

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Who’s Hot & Who’s Not in NASCAR: Speed . . . I Am Speed Edition

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Series, Michigan

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Michigan International Speedway is one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit (and that includes the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega). So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised the driver running a design for a racing movie won on Sunday. Kyle Larson isn’t a superstar just yet, but with a few more days like Michigan, he …

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Entry List: Toyota/Save Mart 350

2106 Sonoma Cup Pack Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

We’re turning left and right this weekend, boys and girls. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads west to wine country for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway for the first of two road course races of the 2017 season. There are 38 cars on the preliminary entry list, meaning the field will not be …

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The Big 6: Questions After The 2017 FireKeepers Casino 400

Shr Michigan

(Photo: Matthew Thacker/NKP)

Who … gets the shoutout of the race? Kyle Larson is a master at restarts. It’s something that Jeff Gordon always pondered during the late stages of his career, but one of NASCAR’s next potential superstars has restarts down to a science. The  No. 42 car did its best job to depict the likes of …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kyle Larson Scores Second Career Michigan Win

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Series, Michigan

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/ NKP)

Who’s in the headline – For only the fourth time this season, a driver led the most laps in a race and went onto Victory Lane. Kyle Larson started on pole, led the most laps and finished the deal to grab his second-career victory at Michigan International Speedway. Martin Truex Jr. looked like he could …

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Kyle Larson Notches Second Career Victory at Michigan

Kyle Larson Cars

(Photo: Logan Whitton / NKP)

Kyle Larson proved he had the fastest car at Michigan International Raceway Friday, winning his third career pole. Less than three days later, he backed it up, leading a race-high 96 circuits en route to his second-career victory at the speedway. Larson led the majority of the opening stage before Martin Truex Jr. captured the stage …

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2017 Frontstretch Cup: FireKeepers Casino 400 Predictions

2016 Michigan Ii Cup Kurt Busch Brad Keselowski Kyle Larson Racing John Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrelson/NKP)

Welcome to our 10th year of staff predictions! Each week, our experts attempt to tell you who the winner of each Cup race will be. Take a look to see who your favorite writers think will win it all (or at least score some points) this week in the FireKeepers Casino 400! Think you can …

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