Race Weekend Central

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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Richard Childress Racing Names Drivers of Third XFINITY Series Car

2017 Daytona Xfinity Zach Catanzareti Ty Dillon

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Back at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing confirmed to Frontstretch that its XFINITY Series program would be scaling back from five to three full-time teams. On Wednesday, five drivers were announced to the driver lineup of the famed No. 3 machine. Childress’ grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon will make up the bulk of …

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Matt Borland Named Crew Chief for Ty Dillon in 2018

2017 Dover Cup Ty Dillon Car John K. Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John K. Harrelson/NKP)

Germain Racing named veteran crew chief Matt Borland as Ty Dillon‘s crew chief for the 2018 season on Monday. Borland will take over the role that Robert “Bootie” Barker had nailed down for the past eight seasons with the organization leading drivers Max Papis, Casey Mears and Dillon. According to the team’s press release, Borland …

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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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NASCAR XFINITY Series Entry List: Ticket Galaxy 200

2017 Texas Ii Nxs Daniel Hemric Christopher Bell Jared C Tilton Getty Images For Texas Motor Speedway

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

The NASCAR XFINITY Series heads west this weekend to Phoenix International Raceway for the 19th annual Ticket Galaxy 200. It’s their final playoff race in the Round of 8 before the Championship 4 is set to battle for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There are 40 cars on the penultimate preliminary entry list, meaning the …

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Clint Bowyer’s Third-Place Martinsville Finish Encumbered Due to Improper Dummy Weight

2017 Loudon Cup Clint Bowyer Car Phil Allaway

(Photo: Phil Allaway)

On Wednesday, NASCAR released their weekly Penalty Report from Martinsville.  In it, an L1-level penalty was assessed to Clint Bowyer‘s No. 14.  In post-race inspection, Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford was found to have simulated weight for the in-car camera that did not meet specifications. What this means is that the in-car cameras that Broadcast Sports …

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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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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2017 Alabama 500

2017 Talladega Ii Cup Brad Keselowski American Flag John K Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrelson / NKP)

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? On a day where many playoff drivers found Talladega Superspeedway trouble, only four of 12 championship-eligible drivers finished the 500-mile wreckfest. There was a golden opportunity for someone outside the postseason like Dale Earnhardt Jr. to steal the victory. But in the end, Brad Keselowski fought off the Earnhardt nostalgia …

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NASCAR XFINITY Series Entry List: Drive for the Cure 300

Joey Logano Ryan Sieg Xfinity Charlotte 2016 Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff)

After a weekend on the high-banked concrete surface at Dover International Speedway, the NASCAR XFINITY Series heads home to Charlotte Motor Speedway. They’ll be running the Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. There are 40 cars on the preliminary entry list for the event and 40 spots …

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