Category: NASCAR Blogs

Memorial Day weekend traditionally brings about the longest race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule when drivers and teams make their way to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. But in a time when the sanctioning body has shown a willingness to make changes to its racing slate, the question of whether or not the 600-mile distance of one of the sport’s most notable events is too long might be considered. Let’s just start right here by saying the Coca-Cola 600 should never change. After all, this race, along with the Daytona 500 and the Southern 500, is…

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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. There are so many places to start when critiquing the 2022 version of the NASCAR All-Star Race. But let’s start with the track. If there has to be an All-Star Race, is Texas Motor Speedway the right place for it? Richard: First, as I said last week, I am not really a fan of All-Star events although, until this year at least, NASCAR’s version has been…

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When racing enthusiasts think of the NASCAR All-Star Race they think of the most legendary moments of that event. No one thinks about the format that was used in whatever years those moments occurred. It doesn’t matter how many laps there, if there were segments, or if there were mandated pit stops. However, people do remember Darrell Waltrip’s engine mysteriously blowing just as he crossed the finish line in the inaugural “The Winston”(as the All-Star Race was called back then) or when his crew and that of Rusty Wallace duked it out after those two drivers tangled on the last…

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Kurt Busch’s win in last Sunday’s Advent Health 400 at the Kansas Speedway was important for several reasons, some of which may seem obvious while others might not be so readily evident. The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion passed two of the biggest stars in the sport when he moved around his brother Kyle and Kyle Larson late in the going to secure the victory. At the same time, there were other factors that made this win by the 23XI Racing Toyota significant and noteworthy.  The 43-year-old native of Las Vegas entered that event 21st in the Cup Series standings…

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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. On Sunday in the Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway, Kurt Busch became the eleventh different winner in the first thirteen NASCAR Cup Series races in the 2022 season. With still thirteen more races to go before the NASCAR Playoffs cut, could there be sixteen or more winners? Richard: In years past I have not given much consideration to the possibility of there being sixteen different…

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It’s funny to me how fans, media, and competitors are acting like the late race contact we have seen this year as drivers race for wins is something new. I know I’m showing my age here but I was there when Dale Earnhardt wrecked Terry Labonte on the last lap at Bristol Motor Speedway … twice. I was there when Jeff Gordon executed the bump-and-run on Rusty Wallace to claim a win also at Bristol… and also twice. Drivers have moved other drivers out of the way for wins, or even just for position, since NASCAR began. It’s just part…

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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. This weekend saw the unusual circumstance of a NASCAR Cup Series race and a Formula 1 event running in the same country at the same time. Will more F1 races planned for the United States have any impact on NASCAR? Richard: Formula 1 is the trendy thing to do now in the U.S. for some because of the NetFlix docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’. It was unfortunate…

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This Sunday will be a remarkable day for motorsports in America. The NASCAR Cup Series will be in competition on one of its most historic tracks in one of its most anticipated annual events while Formula 1 will race on a newly created circuit in one of the most glamourous locations in the country. Two major auto races in the same country on the same day. What could possibly be wrong with that? Unfortunately, there is one problem. NASCAR’s much-loved Throwback Race at Darlington Raceway in which teams cover their cars in nostalgic schemes meant to remind fans of favorite…

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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. How important was it for Chase Elliott to finally get a win? Richard: After the Monday continuation of the Duramax Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway the cycle has been completed for Hendrick Motorsports. Chase Elliott’s victory made him the fourth of the drivers on that four-car team to score a NASCAR Cup Series victory in the 2022 season. Although he came into the race as…

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We are now ten races into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule which also means that drivers and teams are ten races into their adjustment period with the Next Gen car. And more, there have been races on Super Speedways, short tracks, a road course, intermediate tracks and even a race on dirt so there has been an opportunity to get a feel for the new machine on every type of venue on which the sport competes. One of the believed benefits of this new car was that it would place the smaller teams on more of a level playing…

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