Over the most recent weeks and months, NASCAR has been experiencing a wave of positive energy, or a least a wave of happenings that have put that form of motorsports in the headlines on multiple occasions. A highly entertaining NASCAR Playoffs run ended the season with a dramatic battle in the season finale that produced a popular champion with an intriguing comeback story which captured the attention of many inside and outside the sport. A very public dispute between two of racing’s most high-profile stars garnered attention throughout the sports world. And the introduction of a new car has created…

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NASCAR hasn’t always been an organization that has listened to its competitors and taken what they said into consideration when making key decisions regarding the mechanical and safety aspects of their cars. And in the early development of the Next Gen car, it appeared as if that trend was continuing to be the case as the sanctioning body, teams and drivers have worked through the process of bringing the Next Gen race car to fruition. That “disconnect” between NASCAR and the competitors, as it was labeled by driver Denny Hamlin back in July, was particularly evident regarding some of the…

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At the end of the 2021 NASCAR season it was announced that championship winning driver Brad Keselowski would be leaving Team Penske to take on the role of driver and co-owner of the newly rebranded Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing operation. And as a result, a number of changes have already been made as that organization makes its preparations for the upcoming 2022 campaign. New people have been brought into the fold and some longtime members of that company’s staff have been moved to new positions. One person that remains in the same position he held prior to Keselowski’s arrival is…

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Without question, Christopher Bell is one of the most talented young drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. And in 2021, the Norman, Oklahoma native took steps toward confirming that talent. The soon-to-be 27-year-old driver garnered his first victory at the sport’s top level which earned him a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs. Ultimately, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota advanced into the ‘Round of 12’ in the post-season before settling for a 12th place result in the final standings. Bell’s rookie campaign in the Cup Series came during the pandemic-impacted 2020 season for then JGR affiliate…

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Ryan Blaney’s career seemed to be moving along at a steady but somewhat less-than-extraordinary pace coming into the 2021 season. The 27-year-old driver had won a NASCAR Cup Series race in each of the past four seasons and had made the NASCAR Playoffs in each of those years. However, there appeared to be somewhat of a ceiling on his performance as he raced for Wood Brothers Racing until 2017 and then for high-powered Team Penske. While, yes, the High Point, North Carolina native and son of top Sprint Car driver Dave Blaney had a four-year winning streak in America’s highest…

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After you’ve won the NASCAR Cup Series championship, there’s no need to further develop your racing abilities, right? And more, doesn’t that tour’s 36-race schedule offer enough opportunities for the sport’s top drivers to get their racing fix? Well, it’s often said that anytime a race car driver sits in the seat of a race car, that driver is bound to improve his skillset. If that’s the case, Chase Elliott has been working to perfect his racing craft during the times over the past year or so when NASCAR has not been racing. Of course, with the Next Gen car…

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The statistics compiled by Kyle Busch between 2015 and 2019 are nothing short of amazing. During that time period the Joe Gibbs Racing driver steered his Toyota into victory lane a total of 27 times and finished in the top-10 a stunning 70% of the time. In those five seasons he started from the pole position 16 times and led more than 1,300 laps each year except for his injury-shortened 2015 campaign. Most importantly, Busch was a Championship 4 participant in the season finale of all but one of those seasons with that stretch being bookended by two NASCAR Cup…

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Since the NASCAR Cup Series returned to action following a shutdown brought on by the global pandemic early in the 2020 season, the sport has greatly altered the way in which it carries out each race weekend. For the most part, the institutions of practice and qualifying, which were once thought to be essential, have been eliminated. Instead, the teams have rolled their cars onto the track on race day having not turned a single lap leading into that particular racing event. However, with Covid-19 seeming to subside(hopefully) and the coming of a new car, NASCAR plans on returning to…

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