Category: NASCAR Blogs

Coming into the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season there were some very high expectations among fans, media, and competitors because of a new set of rules that would impact the amount of horsepower produced by the engines and the amount of down force placed on the bodies of the cars. Many seemed to believe that the changes instituted by the sanctioning body would bring about more drafting and pack-type racing as seen on the restrictor plate tracks in Daytona and Talladega. And at least on the start of each race and the restarts following each caution or stage…

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Unless you have been secluded somewhere well outside of the racing world, you probably already know that Kyle Busch is closing in on his 200th career win in NASCAR sanctioned races. His 52 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins, 94 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories, and 53 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series checkered flags amount to a total of 199 triumphs. It is certainly a remarkable feat for any race car driver to visit victory lane that many times. However, there are a significant number of detractors who argue that Busch has padded his statistics by winning races in what amounts…

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For the second time in this very young 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season driver Michael McDowell found himself at odds with one of his fellow Ford competitors when he and Daniel Suarez scuffled during qualifying for the Ticket Guardian 500 at the ISM Raceway in Phoenix. Suarez walked to McDowell’s pit area and the two briefly fought after both found themselves eliminated from contention for the pole position when they did not advance to the second round of the seemingly appropriately named “knockout qualifying” session. Suarez believed McDowell had interfered with his qualifying run by getting in his…

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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. In this edition of the Turn 2 Blog we will be discussing five topics regarding the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. We are happy to be joined by Josh Weinrich who serves as the Public Relations representative for Hattori Racing Enterprises. Last year that team won the NGOTS championship with driver Brett Moffitt and in 2019 the No. 16 Toyota captured the season opening NextEra Energy…

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One of the few non-sports television shows in recent years that I have enjoyed was hosted by one of my favorite authors. The History Channel production titled Brad Meltzer: Decoded began with the best selling mystery and suspense writer asking, “What if I told you … “. Well, what if I told you at the beginning of a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that there would be 19 lead changes among nine different drivers with no cautions other than the two scheduled stage breaks and the margin of victory would be just over one car length? Most people would…

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I am going to play the “NAS $400K Piston[$100K to 1st]” contest on DraftKings.com under the name IndyJones. The game pays $100,000 to the winner and pays through the top-9,880 places. It comes with a $10 entry fee. Each driver is given a dollar value with each participant being allotted a budget of $50,000 to purchase six drivers. Last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway I banked heavily on Hendrick Motorsports being competitive under the new rules package partially put in place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. That proved to be disastrous. This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway…

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Going into Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway there were numerous questions that observers of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series were hoping to have answered. With the race cars being fitted for the first time in competition with tapered spacers meant to reduce air and fuel flow to the engines and thus reduce horsepower, many wondered how the racing would be impacted on the track known for causing extreme tire wear due to its aged asphalt surface. But instead of having that question fully answered, there were actually more questions raised during the running…

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I am going to play the “NAS $400K Piston[$100K to 1st]” contest on DraftKings.com under the name IndyJones. The game pays $100,000 to the winner and pays through the top-9,880 places. It comes with a $10 entry fee. Each driver is given a dollar value with each participant being allotted a budget of $50,000 to purchase six drivers. Following last week’s complete debacle in which four of my drivers were swept up in the Big One at Daytona, I have revamped my lineup for the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As can be seen, I am banking heavily on a…

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Going into the 2019 season NASCAR faced a number of big issues. As has been widely reported, television ratings have been dropping for a decade or more along with grandstand attendance. Several of the sport’s biggest stars have retired in recent years to be replaced by younger drivers who are in the process of finding their way. And more, new leadership is now in place at a critical time in the history of the sanctioning body with its primary series sponsorship set to expire at the end of this year. Unlike most sports, NASCAR opens its season with its marquee…

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I am going to play the “NAS $750K America’s Race” contest on DraftKings.com under the name IndyJones. The game pays $100,000 to the winner and pays through the top-17,651 places. It comes with a $10 entry fee. Each driver is given a dollar value with each player being allotted a budget of $50,000 to purchase six drivers. Here are the six drivers I chose and why: Ryan Blaney($9,000) – Blaney seems like a good value here when it is considered that he led more than half of this race in 2018 on his way to a 7th place finish. He…

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