It’s one thing when a driver already near the top of the NASCAR Cup Series standings wins his first race of the season to definitely lock himself into the NASCAR Playoffs but it’s quite another thing for a driver who entered a race 25th in the standings to assure himself of an invitation to the championship-deciding stretch run with a victory. On Sunday afternoon in the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway, rookie racer Cole Custer did exactly that when he made a four-wide pass as the cars took the white flag then beat the competition back to the…

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Easily one of the biggest surprises of the current NASCAR Cup Series season is the fact that Kyle Busch has struggled. The two-time and defending series champion has not only failed to win a single race so far this year but he has not even garnered a single playoff point to be used when the sixteen eligible drivers begin their quest for the 2020 crown. That is to say that one of the sport’s most prolific winners has not even won a stage during this coronavirus plagued campaign. To say that the younger of the two racing Busch brothers has…

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There can be little doubt that two drivers on the NASCAR Cup Series have been ahead of everyone else in 2020. And the dominance of those two has been particularly evident since returning from the layoff brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have each won four races so far this season, including the most recent three events on the Cup Series schedule and four of the last five. And since the sport’s return to action, those drivers have captured the checkered flag seven times out of the twelve races held. The duo have led a…

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If you like racing then this Independence Day weekend should be just your thing as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway plays host to multiple firsts in the world of motorsports. It will indeed be a busy time for the first racing event at the historic track since Roger Penske assumed ownership of the hallowed property. Among the firsts to be taking place will be that IMS will, for the first time, be hosting the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series on this mid-summer holiday weekend. NASCAR has traditionally raced at the Daytona International Speedway around this time of year…

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During the racing shutdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic Kyle Larson made the foolish mistake of using a highly inappropriate racial slur while participating in an iRacing event. The language was heard over a public social media channel by numerous people. Almost immediately, the driver fell from grace and ultimately lost his NASCAR Cup Series ride with Chip Ganassi Racing as sponsors quickly disavowed themselves from the quickly disgraced driver leaving his team with no other option but to release him. NASCAR also stepped in and issued an indefinite suspension that would require the 27-year-old star to enroll in…

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Purely on a whim, I ventured to the 1990 PGA Championship golf tournament held at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama. As an avid amateur hacker at the time, I was intrigued by the opportunity of getting to watch the world’s greatest players take on a very challenging course in an attempt to capture one of the sport’s major championships. Looking back on that now, one thing that seems more than a little odd is that I had made virtually no preparations for my trip yet was able to easily secure a hotel room not far…

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We have all heard the phrase “new normal” far too many times over the past three months or so. Everything we do has been altered as a result of the restrictions put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. The way we work, the way we eat, the way we worship, the way we shop, and the way we are entertained do not even remotely resemble the ways in which those activities were once carried out. And among the things to have changed is racing. Who would have ever dreamed when the Daytona 500 took the green flag back February…

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I can always gauge how good a race is by the amount of attention my sons pay to it. They, like so many of their age, will forego watching a live event to just catch the highlights later. I call them Sports Center fans. But when they notice that a race I am watching is intriguing enough, they will put aside the video games, basketball, or whatever they happen to be doing to watch what happens. Over the final 100 laps or so of the action in the NASCAR Cup Series race Bristol Motor Speedway, they were zoned in and…

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Bristol Motor Speedway once had a streak of more than 50 consecutive races of completely selling out its grandstand seats for the two NASCAR Cup Series races held in the upper northeastern corner of Tennessee each year. And though that streak has long since been broken and there were events in which it looked as if the grandstands were barely half filled, there were signs that things had turned around and were beginning to head in the right direction in terms of tickets sales, particularly for the night race held each August. But this Sunday, there is no doubt what…

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