Richard Allen – Page 26 – Inside Circle Track

Articles posted by Richard Allen (Page 26)

Cole Custer stakes claim in Xfinity victory lane at Auto Club

February 26, 2022 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service Californian Cole Custer was the only former Auto Club Speedway winner in the field for Saturday’s Production Alliance 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Fontana, Calif. Three overtimes, 12 cautions and more than three hours of official race time later, Custer was still the only former winner in the Fontana field, having beaten runner-up Noah Gragson to the finish line by .565 seconds. It was a long day’s journey into night, a race that started in mid-afternoon and unexpectedly ended under the lights in temperatures that dropped appreciably between the start…

Trevor Bayne “expects to win” in JGR Xfinity ride

Although some inside the sport of racing knew who he was already, Trevor Bayne exploded onto the motorsports radar of everyone who evenly remotely followed the sport in 2011 when he won the Daytona 500 in only his second NASCAR Cup Series start. It appeared to be a Cinderella story that was too good to be true for the then 20-year-old driver, and in some ways, it proved to be exactly that. The Knoxville native had, before 2011, spent a little more than a full season driving Toyotas in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Michael Waltrip Racing. It was following…

Can RFK maintain speed on the West Coast Swing?

At one time, the NASCAR Cup Series teams led by Jack Roush were among the toughest and most competitive in the sport. To demonstrate that, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch won championships for the ‘Cat in the Hat’ in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Those efforts were then followed up by the organization placing all five of its teams in the ‘NASCAR Chase’ as it was called back in 2005. Although the early 2000’s proved to be the high water mark, Roush Fenway Racing, as it came to be know later, remained a powerful force in the sport for the next…

Bubba Wallace and 23XI must prove prowess away from Super Speedways

In October of 2021 at Talladega Super Speedway, Bubba Wallace made history when he became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race since Wendell Scott triumphed in the 1964 Jacksonville 200. On Sunday, the driver of the No. 23 Toyota came up just short of making even more history when he was just edged at the finish line by Austin Cindric in the 64th running of the Daytona 500. It was the second time Wallace had finished in the runner-up position in ‘The Great American Race’ after he followed Austin Dillon to the checkered flag in…

An unexpected winner that should not have been unexpected

When Michael McDowell slipped through the carnage of the last lap to win the 2021 Daytona 500 it was appropriately labeled as an upset win by an underdog. After all, the Front Row Motorsports driver had toiled for years in the NASCAR Cup Series with teams that do not rank as top tier operations without winning a single race. Despite the fact that his previous record on super speedways had been noteworthy, he was far from being labeled as the favorite going into that race. Some might look at Austin Cindric’s victory in this year’s Daytona 500 in a similar…

Austin Cindric takes Team Penske to Daytona 500 victory lane

February 20, 2022 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On the 85th birthday of his car owner, Roger Penske, 23-year-old NASCAR Cup Series rookie Austin Cindric beat Bubba Wallace to the finish line by .036 seconds in overtime to win Sunday’s 64th running of the Daytona 500. In a thrilling run to the finish in NASCAR’s new Next Gen race car at Daytona International Speedway, Cindric held off Wallace and Chase Briscoe (.091 seconds behind) to notch his first Cup victory in his eighth start in the series. Cindric got the win in chamber-of-commerce weather with…

Daytona 500: Starting Lineup, Pre-Race Analysis, and a Predicted Winner

Analysis There are more question marks going into the 64th running of the Daytona 500 than perhaps any other edition of ‘The Great American Race’. Drivers and teams face a number of unknowns that have never been faced before as the NASCAR Cup Series heads into its 2022 season with it new Next Gen car. How will the Next Gen car react in large packs for such a long period of time? Will drivers race more cautiously because of the shortage of cars and parts? Is the car safe? How will pit stops and pit strategy play out with changes…

Austin Hill nabs Xfinity checkered flag at Daytona

February 19, 2022 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Hill nosed ahead of AJ Allmendinger moments before an incident on the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway ripped the engine and rear end out of Myatt Snider’s car. The caution froze the field with Hill the winner of Saturday’s Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. 300 in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start with Richard Childress Racing. In a large pack, the cars were streaking down the backstretch at the 2.5-mile superspeedway when an aggressive push from Anthony Alfredo’s No. 23 Chevrolet turned Snider’s No. 31 Camaro…

Zane Smith claims NASCAR Trucks opener at Daytona

February 18, 2022 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A 19-car incident as the field approached the white flag signaling one lap to go instead sent Friday night’s NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-opener into overtime where 22-year old Californian Zane Smith won under caution over defending series champion Ben Rhodes. A nearly 16-minute red flag was needed to clean up all the debris from the frontstretch melee, which happened only a few feet before the start/finish line and littered much of the track’s tri-oval. Had Smith – the leader at the…

NASCAR stars aren’t recognized by the younger generation

We all have a tendency to live in our own little worlds in which we think everyone around us is in tune with the same things we are. Whether it be in the fields of politics, religion or sports fandom we are often surprised or even shocked when we learn that those we work with, are friends with, or see frequently at the business we patronize do not have the same depth of knowledge or concern about the subjects we consider important. That was made abundantly clear to me on Friday. By trade, I am a social studies teacher at…