Richard Allen – Page 9 – Inside Circle Track

Articles posted by Richard Allen (Page 9)

What happened to the Next Gen?

The Next Gen came onto the NASCAR Cup Series scene at the beginning of the 2022 season and initially showed some promise as the sport’s new racing machine. Tracks that had previously not produced the greatest of competition suddenly were putting on entertaining shows. Tracks such as Auto Club Speedway, Kansas, Las Vegas, Charlotte and Michigan, which had previously been criticized by fans and media for lackluster action, were among some of the best races of the season last year. Unfortunately, other tracks that had been among the favorites on the schedule, proved to be less than spectacular. Martinsville, Bristol…

We have all grown too complacent about ‘The Big One’

When NASCAR comes to the Talladega Super Speedway it isn’t a matter of if there will be a massive crash, or crashes, during the races held on that particular weekend, it’s just a matter of when said crashes will happen. That was in fact the case this time around as big wrecks were a part of the Xfinity Series race on Saturday and the Cup Series event on Sunday. It has just become a part of the experience of racing on the Alabama track. Despite the fact that it took a while during Sunday’s running of the Geico 500, there…

NASCAR’s current short track racing product “unacceptable”

With the car previously used in the NASCAR Cup Series(Gen 6), the racing done on short tracks and road courses often proved to be the highlights of each season. Many promotional clips from Martinsville, Bristol and Watkins Glen were used by the sanctioning body, its tracks, and its television partners to hype upcoming events. However, those tracks do not seem to be as reliable at producing that kind of material now as they used to be. While there have been some memorable moments to have happened on short tracks and road courses with the now year-old Next Gen car such…

If that’s how racing on wet ovals is going to be handled, then forget it

There was a great deal of ballyhoo made over the fact that NASCAR planned to institute racing in the wet on certain short tracks along with the road courses for the purpose of avoiding delays and postponements. The idea, it has been thought, would give the fans a show rather than having many who cannot stay an extra day or days to watch the running of a rain-delayed event. If Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is any indication of how that process will work, fans are not going to get very much value for…

This Martinsville race has to be better than last spring, right?

This coming weekend’s NOCO 400 at the Martinsville Speedway has to be better than the race held on that same Virginia half-mile one year ago, right? After all, it doesn’t have much of a measuring stick to go up against. In 2022, the weather was miserable with a mix of rain and snow falling in the late afternoon and early evening hours that delayed the start of the race followed by a very bland 400-lap affair that saw little passing and none of the action the track has come to be known for. Chase Elliott took the early lead last…

Turn 2 Blog: NASCAR drivers bring energized crowds to dirt tracks

*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. Have you ever been a part of a more charged atmosphere for a dirt race than that of the Volunteer Speedway last Thursday? Richard: I tend to live more in the moment than in the past so I am not always the best at remembering past events. So as far as saying whether or not I have been a part of a more charged atmosphere I…

Will dirt racing experience finally pay off in Bristol?

The first two versions of the Food City Dirt race on the clay covered Bristol Motor Speedway have been won by drivers with very little dirt racing familiarity. Joey Logano won the inaugural running of this event back in 2021 then Kyle Busch took advantage of a spin in the final set of turns by two drivers with previous dirt experience to capture the checkered flag in 2022. Going into the 2023 version of the only dirt race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, there are several drivers who have logged more than a few laps on dirt tracks in…

Bristol should continue as a dirt track beyond 2023 unless …

I’ll admit it. I got spoiled over the last couple of years getting to watch the biggest stars in Dirt Late Model and Sprint Car racing do battle on the high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway. Big purses and the lure of one of the most iconic venues in all of motorsports was hard to resist for competitors which made covering those races a thrill. However, the usage of the legendary track during the time it has been covered in clay was greatly reduced this time around. A pair of events featuring the American All-Stars Pro Late Model Series…

Richmond provided statement win for Kyle Larson

It would be hard to imagine that anyone doubted the NASCAR Playoffs chances of Kyle Larson going into the 2023 season. However, a massive points penalty doled out to all four Hendrick Motorsports teams for an issue related to the hood louvers on the their Chevrolets, a suspension of crew chief Cliff Daniels, and consecutive runs that featured mishaps at least allowed some uncertainty to creep in. Following finishes of 18th and 29th in the Daytona 500 and at Fontana, California to kick off the season, Larson and the No. 5 team turned things around with results of 2nd and…

Is Richmond really a short track?

What exactly makes a racing venue a short track? One obvious answer to that question is the size of the track. The typically accepted measurement of a short track is most often thought to be a racing facility in which a lap covers less than one-mile in length. But another possible answer has to do with the style of racing that takes place on the track. It could be argued that short track racing features close-quarter action in a compact space that sometimes results in a little sheet metal rubbing. So even if a speedway measures less than one mile…