Inside Circle Track

Meeting high expectations has been difficult for NASCAR’s new package

Coming into the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season there were some very high expectations among fans, media, and competitors because of a new set of rules that would impact the amount of horsepower produced by the engines and the amount of down force placed on the bodies of the cars. Many seemed to believe that the changes instituted by the sanctioning body would bring about more drafting and pack-type racing as seen on the restrictor plate tracks in Daytona and Talladega. And at least on the start of each race and the restarts following each caution or stage…

Kyle Busch’s wins vs Richard Petty’s wins vs Dale Earnhardt’s Daytona wins

Unless you have been secluded somewhere well outside of the racing world, you probably already know that Kyle Busch is closing in on his 200th career win in NASCAR sanctioned races. His 52 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins, 94 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories, and 53 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series checkered flags amount to a total of 199 triumphs. It is certainly a remarkable feat for any race car driver to visit victory lane that many times. However, there are a significant number of detractors who argue that Busch has padded his statistics by winning races in what amounts…

Is there more to the story with McDowell vs Suarez?

For the second time in this very young 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season driver Michael McDowell found himself at odds with one of his fellow Ford competitors when he and Daniel Suarez scuffled during qualifying for the Ticket Guardian 500 at the ISM Raceway in Phoenix. Suarez walked to McDowell’s pit area and the two briefly fought after both found themselves eliminated from contention for the pole position when they did not advance to the second round of the seemingly appropriately named “knockout qualifying” session. Suarez believed McDowell had interfered with his qualifying run by getting in his…

Team Penske taking the early lead in 2019

Last season it was Stewart-Haas Racing who got the early jump on the rest of the field on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series as Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer earned multiple wins during the first half of the 2018 season. However, it was Team Penske that scored the ultimate triumph when Joey Logano won the final race of the year to secure the season-long championship. And it looks as if Roger Penske’s organization has carried that momentum into this season. The season opening Daytona 500 went reasonably well for Team Penske as Joey Logano finished a solid, but somewhat…

Richard’s Ramblings- NASCAR Cup Cars Racing Like Crate Late Models?

Do the new rules for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series cars that call for engines to be fitted with horsepower reducing tapered spacers cause the cars to race like the Crate Late Models that you might see at your local dirt track? Here are my thoughts: Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association Respond to this piece on Twitter –> @RichardAllenIDR or on Facebook –> InsideCircleTrack/Facebook

Turn 2 Blog: Discussing NASCAR Trucks with Hattori Racing’s Josh Weinrich

*Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideCircleTrack.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the NASCAR and pavement short track racing topics of the day. In this edition of the Turn 2 Blog we will be discussing five topics regarding the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. We are happy to be joined by Josh Weinrich who serves as the Public Relations representative for Hattori Racing Enterprises. Last year that team won the NGOTS championship with driver Brett Moffitt and in 2019 the No. 16 Toyota captured the season opening NextEra Energy…

NASCAR race in Las Vegas was a case of sensation vs. perception

One of the few non-sports television shows in recent years that I have enjoyed was hosted by one of my favorite authors. The History Channel production titled Brad Meltzer: Decoded began with the best selling mystery and suspense writer asking, “What if I told you … “. Well, what if I told you at the beginning of a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that there would be 19 lead changes among nine different drivers with no cautions other than the two scheduled stage breaks and the margin of victory would be just over one car length? Most people would…

Draft Kings Fantasy Picks for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas

I am going to play the “NAS $400K Piston[$100K to 1st]” contest on DraftKings.com under the name IndyJones. The game pays $100,000 to the winner and pays through the top-9,880 places. It comes with a $10 entry fee. Each driver is given a dollar value with each participant being allotted a budget of $50,000 to purchase six drivers. Last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway I banked heavily on Hendrick Motorsports being competitive under the new rules package partially put in place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. That proved to be disastrous. This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway…

Richard’s Ramblings – Cup Series Drivers in the Lower Divisions

Over the last two weeks at Atlanta and Las Vegas, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Busch has dominated the Gander Outdoors Truck Series races at both of those tracks. Here are my thoughts: Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association Respond to this piece on Twitter –> @RichardAllenIDR or on Facebook –> InsideCircleTrack/Facebook

Kyle Busch cites relationships as his reason for staying with JGR

An announcement came on Thursday morning that Joe Gibbs Racing and driver Kyle Busch had agreed to a multi-year contract extension that will keep the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion in one of that company’s Toyota race cars for the foreseeable future. Busch has won 47 races in the sport’s top division for JGR since joining that organization in 2008. It was also announced that Mars, Inc. would continue to serve as a primary sponsor for the No. 18 team with its M&M’s brand candies as well as other products. Prior to the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup…