Inside Circle Track

NASCAR releases 2022 Cup Series schedule

September 15, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service In 2022, the NASCAR Cup Series will return to the Last Great Coliseum after visiting one of the first great coliseums for the first time. The series will make its first trip to the shores of the Mississippi under the shadow of the Gateway Arch. And the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will have a new look, with Homestead-Miami Speedway moving back into the postseason and each round featuring a shakeup of the participating tracks. For the first time in its history, the Clash, the season-opening exhibition race, will leave Daytona International…

Bristol’s track surface could play a role in deciding the first Playoff cuts

The first round of cuts in the NASCAR Playoffs will take place this Saturday night following the NRA Bass Pro Shops Night Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Four of the original sixteen drivers who earned their way into the title chase will lose the opportunity to be crowned champion at the end of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. As a result, the pressure is on for those involved in the stretch run toward the championship as the first round draws to a close at one of the sport’s toughest and most exciting tracks. Potentially adding to the high-banked…

Starting Lineups for NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series at Bristol

Here is the starting lineup for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway: Here is the starting lineup for Friday’s Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway: Here is the starting lineup for Thursday’s UNOH 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway:

NASCAR set to Clash in the Coliseum

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 14, 2021) – The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, one of the most storied venues in all of sports and entertainment, will add a new event to its long and decorated list: The Clash at the Coliseum. This season-opening exhibition will take place on Feb. 6, 2022 and become the first NASCAR race held inside the iconic Los Angeles stadium since it opened in 1923. The Clash at the Coliseum will be a signature event as a part of the venue’s centennial celebration and mark the first time NASCAR’s prelude to the DAYTONA 500 will take place somewhere other…

Martin Truex Jr. scores Playoff win in Richmond

September 11, 2021 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service Martin Truex Jr. received a penalty on the opening lap of the race for crossing the start/finish line in front of polesitter Denny Hamlin at the green flag. But 400 laps later Truex led the field across the line again – this time as the race winner of Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The convincing 1.317-second margin of victory over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Christopher Bell marked Truex’s third win in the last five races at Richmond, his fourth…

Denny Hamlin holds off Kyle Larson in drama-filled Southern 500

September 5, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Holding off regular-season champion Kyle Larson throughout a thrilling final green-flag run in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Denny Hamlin is winless in 2021 no more. Hamlin maintained control of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as Larson buried his No. 5 Chevrolet into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Larson gave Hamlin a tap, but Hamlin blocked the top lane and got to the finish line .212 seconds ahead of the runner-up. “He drove it in past the limit of the…

Kyle Busch should be penalized … but not necessarily for the language

After contact with the No. 3 car of Austin Dillon on lap 125 of the Cook Out Southern 500, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch slammed the outside wall of the Darlington Raceway. The damage was significant enough that the No. 18 team decided immediately to take the car to the garage area and retire it from competition. It was a devastating blow in this race that served as the opener for the NASCAR Playoffs. Soon after the incident, Busch was interviewed by NBC and his language was not exactly well suited for a Sunday School class. “It…

These four drivers won’t make it out of the first round

The sixteen drivers who will race for the NASCAR Cup Series title in the NASCAR Playoffs have been named and now it is time for the ten-race stretch run that will determine the eventual champion to begin. Three separate rounds made up of three races each will be used to whittle the contenders down until only four remain for the series finale at Phoenix Raceway on November 7th. The bottom four drivers in the rankings of those who do not score a win within that particular round will be eliminated after each of the first three rounds in order to…

Could Denny Hamlin be set to make a Stewart-esque run to the championship?

Going into the 2011 ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup’, as the current NASCAR Playoffs system was then know by, Tony Stewart had not won a single race. He and his Stewart-Haas Racing team made it into the ten-race stretch that would ultimately decide the NASCAR Cup Series champion by virtue of their place in the standings at the time of the cutoff. Stewart’s name was not on the top of very many lists when media and fans named off their picks to win the title that year. However, Stewart would make a run in those final ten races that few…

Ryan Blaney claims Coke Zero 400 after wild Daytona finish

August 29, 2021 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway unfolded as billed with dramatic action all Saturday night that included 45 lead changes, a 14-minute Red Flag period and a wild final lap of overtime to decide the championship Playoff picture. Ultimately, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney managed it all and took his second NASCAR Cup Series victory in as many weeks as a huge multi-car accident happened behind him in the last corners of the track on the final lap. Blaney’s…