Race Weekend Central

Cole Whitt Unsure of Future, Wants to Spend More Time with Family

Cole Whitt Texas Roadhouse 200 Practice

(Photo: Christian Koelle)

At the beginning of this decade, Cole Whitt stepped into the NASCAR spotlight. Since then, he’s self-admittedly faced many ups and many downs.  The one-time JR Motorsports XFINITY Series driver has made a living over the past handful of seasons competing for smaller race teams; the likes of Front Row Motorsports, Swan Racing, BK Racing, Premium …

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Entry List: Pocono 400

2017 Cup Pocono Zach Catanzareti Racing Clint Bower

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Following the longest race on the NASCAR schedule, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series moves on to Pocono, the Tricky Triangle, for the Pocono 400. 39 cars have been entered, so all of the teams will race on Sunday (June 3). Stewart-Haas Racing prospect Cole Custer returns to MENCS driving the Haas-sponsored N0. 51 Chevrolet for …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Kyle Busch Overcomes Deep Starting Position for 3rd Straight Win

2018 Cup Richmond Kyle Busch Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Who’s in the headline To start the season, Kyle Busch couldn’t get over the hump to move from second to first. After three runner-up finishes and a third-place result, he has now reeled off three straight victories. Busch is now tied with Kevin Harvick for the most wins in the series. Joey Logano looked like …

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Eyes on XFINITY: The Reason Why TriStar Motorsports Shut Down Its XFINITY Program

Jj Yeley Texas 2017

(Photo:John K Harrelson/NKP)

In 2014 and 2015, TriStar Motorsports had five NASCAR XFINITY Series teams. Fast forward three seasons and the team no longer fields any entry in the division. Last season, J.J. Yeley ran full-time for the organization, finishing 14th in the series standings. However, the organization was working with a limited budget as the No. 14 car …

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Entry List: 2018 Auto Club 400

2017 Fontana Cup Kyle Larson Martin Truex Jr Racing Barry Cantrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell / NKP)

This weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for the final race of the “West Coast Swing.” 37 cars make up this week’s entry list, meaning once again, everyone who shows up will qualify for the race. Not much has changed on this week’s list. The …

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Entry List: 2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

2017 Atlanta Cup Ryan Blaney Racing Barry Cantrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell/NKP)

With only 40 entries for the Daytona 500, it was assumed that the entry list would be down for Atlanta.  For Sunday’s 500 mile race at Atlanta, only the 36 chartered teams are entered.  No one will fail to qualify. That said, there are a couple of changes.  Premium Motorsports has changed their number from …

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The Underdog House: Small NASCAR Teams Finding Relief – Sort of – Approaching Daytona 500

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fl Usa Sunday 11 February 2018 Matt Dibenedetto, Go Fas Racing, The Hurricane Heist Ford Fusion World Copyright: Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Think Small While most of the sport’s television time goes directly toward big teams with great speed and large personalities — and rightfully so, to an extent — Sunday’s 60th running of the Daytona 500 will have a heavy populous of tiny organizations. Many of these small NASCAR teams, despite being huge underdogs can actually …

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Corey LaJoie, Cole Whitt to Split TriStar Motorsports No. 72 in 2018

Cole Whitt Dover Garage

(Photo: Dustin Albino)

TriStar Motorsports  will return to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018 on a full-time basis, the team announced Tuesday, Feb. 6. Corey LaJoie and Cole Whitt will share the No.  72 Chevrolet as Whitt has requested a lighter load for the season.  In addition, TriStar Motorsports has obtained a charter from Front Row …

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The Underdog House: Small NASCAR Teams Still Fighting Hard

2017 Kansas I Cup Aric Almirola Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

Think Small With just one race to go in 2017, it’s been a mixed bag of a season for the sport’s smaller teams.  Furniture Row Racing has set the gold standard for them. It’s taken a one-car, outsider organization to the top echelon of NASCAR’s elite teams within five years. That’s a model others can …

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The Underdog House: Small NASCAR Teams Thrive At Short Tracks

2017 Nascar Monster Energy Cup Series, New Hampshire

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/ NKP)

Cup Series racing at Martinsville is about survival and persistence. The on-track action always ruffles some feathers, best evidenced by the late-race incident between alpha dogs Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott. What was happening between Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney served as the consolation sideshow. PETERS: What Happens Now For Hamlin & Elliott? But at Underdog …

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The Underdog House: Where was the Outrage… For Corey Lajoie?

2017 Kansas Ii Cup Corey Lajoie Barry Cantrell Nkp

(Photo: Barry Cantrell/NKP)

Think Small Checking out social media on Monday, there were a lot of posts expressing outrage at Matt Kenseth being parked Sunday at Kansas for having too many crewmen working on his car after damage put him on the five-minute clock.  Kenseth’s disqualification took him out of the playoffs in what may be his last …

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The Underdog House: Surviving NASCAR Talladega… Sort Of

2017 Talladega Ii Cup Michael Mcdowell Brad Keselowski Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

Think Small One thing that struck me when I first started in NASCAR was that if you spent enough time looking, you could see fans at a race who supported every driver in the field.  T-shirts, hats, and bumper stickers were among the ways they proclaimed their loyalty. Fast forward a couple of decades, and …

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