*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. Give the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season an overall grade Richard: Had this question been asked a few months ago, my grade would have been much higher. During the early part of the season, the outlook was promising as the new Next Gen car seemed to help the racing on the intermediate sized tracks. However, as the campaign wore on, cracks began to show themselves. Over…

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Alex Bowman has had a solid career in the NASCAR Cup Series up to this point. After driving for lesser funded teams at the sport’s top level in 2014 and 2015, the native of Tucson, Arizona joined Hendrick Motorsports on a part-time basis in 2016 then as a full-time competitor from 2018 to the present.  In those years piloting a car for that powerhouse Chevrolet team, the 29-year old has won a total of seven races and has qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs in all five of his campaigns with HMS. Bowman’s best Playoff effort came in 2020 when he…

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There is no question that Ty Gibbs is a talented race car driver. A total of 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins in only 51 starts and a the 2022 championship on that tour serve as a testament to his skill. The 20-year-old has accomplished much in a short period of time. And now the grandson of legendary football coach and team owner Joe Gibbs will soon be looking to add to those achievements at a higher level. The younger Gibbs has also won 18 ARCA Menards Series races and was the 2021 champion on that circuit. After filling in for…

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With the NASCAR banquet now behind us and the awards from 2022 having been doled out, it is now time begin focusing on the 2023 season. In reality, however, teams began working toward next year a number of weeks ago. But now that the past campaign has officially been brought to it’s conclusion, all efforts inside the garages located around the Charlotte area can be pointed in the direction of the upcoming schedule of events. Of course, every NASCAR Cup Series off-season is important as preparations for next year are made but this one is taking on added significance with…

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It seemed as if many of the 36 points-paying races and two exhibition races held on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule had at least one incident that created a talking point over the course of the next week. And more often than not, those incidents were the result of aggressive moves made by one driver against another. It’s not that there haven’t been aggressive moves in the past history of NASCAR that have caused wrecks, but it does feel like those mishaps occurred at a higher rate than ever before this past season. Or perhaps, they get discussed more…

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How many times did we hear during this past NASCAR season that this driver or that driver was going to be on the receiving end of paybacks when the time was right? Drivers who had been wronged at some point during the season, those promises claimed, would dish out revenge at a time when it would hurt the most. The drivers most often named in this speculation by fans, media, and even other competitors were Cup Series driver Ross Chastain and Xfinity Series pilots Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson. Each had been involved in incidents on various occasions that had…

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After the first few races in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, there was a great deal of excitement swirling around the Next Gen car and its performance in some of the early races. Particularly, the new car seemed to improve comptition on the 1.5 – 2 mile tracks that had previously not provided great action for the sport’s top division. As a result, many followers of this form of motorsports were encouraged that a major piece of the competitive puzzle had been been found. However, weak spots began to emerge in the new car as more races were contested….

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When the checkered flag waved over the 2022 Cup Series Championship race on Sunday at the Phoenix Raceway, Joey Logano had achieved something that only a short list of other competitors can claim. The Middletown, Connecticut racer became just the 17th driver in the history of NASCAR to win multiple championships at the sport’s top division. In doing so, the 32-year-old went a long way toward cementing a place in history. The only other active driver on the list of multi-time champions is Kyle Busch. Further, Logano’s win in the finale pulled him into a tie on the all-time victory…

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Remember a few weeks ago when seemingly everyone who has ever driven in a NASCAR Cup Series race felt as if they owed Ross Chastain some sort of payback for one of the numerous incidents he has been involved in this year. Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick have been among those to be “Chastain-ed” at some point during the season and have declared they would get him back at some point when it matters most. Well, if that was going to be the case, those offended competitors have waited so long that Chastain is now among the four…

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*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. Which driver is the most surprising entry in the 2022 version of the Championship 4? Richard: The answer here probably depends on when the question was actually posed. Few, if any, had Ross Chastain penciled in as a serious NASCAR Cup Series championship contender before the season started. But once things got underway, the watermelon farmer and his relative upstart Trackhouse Racing team quickly showed themselves…

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