Inside Circle Track

NASCAR made the right call in Chastain case

After making the decision to switch his points status from the NASCAR Xfinity Series to the Gander Outdoors Truck Series just a week before, Ross Chastain looked as if his gamble had paid off in a major way on Sunday at the Iowa Speedway. The Florida driver wheeled his Niece Motorsports Chevrolet truck into victory lane after taking the checkered flag as the apparent winner of the M&M’s 200 presented by Casey’s General Stores. As a result of that win, Chastain was all but assured of making the NGOTS Playoffs. It proved to be a very well received situation as…

Did NASCAR just set a precedent for red flags before stage breaks?

On the surface, the SpeedyCash.com 400 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race held on Friday night at the Texas Motor Speedway might seem like a somewhat historic event in the history of NASCAR because of the fact that driver Greg Biffle came out of retirement to score his first win in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions since 2013 and his first NGOTS victory since 2001. However, this race could actually go down in the history books for another reason as there may very well have been a new precedent set by the sanctioning body regarding the officiating of stage…

Mike Skinner enjoys his continued involvement in racing … and winning

Veteran racer Mike Skinner has seen a great deal of success during his extended racing career. And at the same time the 61-year-old has also experienced his share of disappointment. Over the past 12 months the Bristol Motor Speedway has provided both good and bad for the native of Susanville, California. In the 2018 version of the Short Track U.S. Nationals Skinner had a very fast Pro Late Model but a tangle with a slower car ruined his chance at victory. This past Saturday night on the high-banked half-mile a similar scenario looked like it might play out once again…

Stephen Nasse Puts on Show to Win Short Track Nats SLM feature at Bristol

The featured division in Saturday’s Short Track Nationals at the Bristol Motor Speedway was the Super Late Model class. The race was co-sanctioned by the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the CARS Super Late Model Tour, and the Southern Super Series. Ultimately, Stephen Nasse crossed the finish line ahead of the pack after an improbable run from front to the back and back to the front again to take the trophy away from the track that hosts two NASCAR weekends each year. Nasse set the fast time and established a new track record for Super Late Models at BMS in qualifying around…

Mike Skinner Claims Short Track Nationals Pro Late Model Feature

The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour for the Pro Late Model division would be among those featured in the 3rd annual U.S. Short Track Nationals at the Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday. At the end of the evening it was 61-year-old former NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Mike Skinner who left the famed upper east Tennessee racing facility with the win and the prestige that goes along with winning on the high-banked track noted for intense NASCAR competition. Skinner proved to be the fastest on the concrete surface in qualifying for the Pro Late Models as he turned a lap in…

Corey Heim ready for Short Track Nationals at Bristol

Though he may only be 16 years old, Corey Heim’s list of accomplishments in racing is already an impressive one. And this weekend the Marietta, Georgia driver will be looking to improve upon his third place finish from a year ago in the Super Late Model portion of the Short Track Nationals at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway. The young driver has spent the early portion of the 2019 season splitting his time between Super Late Models and the ARCA Menards Series. Like so many of today’s developing drivers, Heim’s beginning in the sport came at a very early age….

It’s not just that Jimmie Johnson hasn’t won in two years …

The significance of the date June 4, 2017 should not be lost on fans of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It was on that date that seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson wheeled his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into victory lane at Dover International Speedway marking his last win. To put it in perspective, it has been almost two full years since the winner of 83 races in NASCAR’s top division last took a checkered flag. Considering just how good Johnson and longtime crew chief Chad Knaus were for a run that lasted a decade and a half, the fact…

Will the Coca-Cola 600 provide William Byron with his Jeff Gordon moment?

The similarities are remarkable. William Byron will start the 2019 Coca-Cola 600 from the pole position on Sunday as he seeks his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Despite having noteworthy credentials coming into his current opportunity, there have been some who have questioned whether the 21-year-old driver should even be where he is during his first year-and-a-half in the No. 24 Chevrolet. Poor finishes were somewhat the norm for Byron during his rookie campaign as he would prove to be the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to miss the NASCAR Playoffs ultimately finishing in the…

600 Miles is the Right Distance for this Race … but how about others?

In an article posted recently by Motorsport.com Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin stated his belief that the Coca-Cola 600 race held annually on Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway has outlived its purpose in terms of distance. The winner of this year’s Daytona 500 suggested that the traditional event would hold as much prestige at a distance of 300 miles as it does at its current distance of 600 miles. “The sport doesn’t ‘need’ any particular thing. I don’t think that anything is totally necessary,” Hamlin said in the article. “If the race was 300 miles,…

Looking at the 2019 Cup season at the All-Star break

The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series has reach its traditional All-Star break in the schedule. The break is a time for the teams evaluate where they are at this point of the season. There have been some interesting story lines and surprises as the Coca-Cola 600 approaches this weekend. The main story of the 2018 season was the “Big 3”, how Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. were winning nearly all of the races. As the playoffs approached, the “Big 3” weren’t winning as much and it was Joey Logano that knocked off all three in the finale…