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The real value of the Clash is about to reveal itself

The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum was a success in every aspect for NASCAR. There was a great deal of buzz leading into the race held inside the city limits of Los Angeles and, as isn’t always the case with heavily anticipated sporting events, the contest lived up to the hype. The stadium was virtually full of spectators, there was plenty of excitement, and the racing was entertaining with just enough beating and banging to make it interesting but not tiresome. And on Tuesday, NASCAR got what was probably the best news of all. The television audience was better…

Let’s not get carried away with stadium racing

We’ve all seen it many times. A new song comes out that’s all the rage and consequently it gets played over and over again. Soon, everyone has grown tired of the song that not long ago was at the top of the charts. And before long, that song and the band that performed it have faded into obscurity. Sunday’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles went about as well as NASCAR could have hoped. The crowd was big and enthusiastic, the racing was good, and everyone was complimentary of the show and its execution. It was a…

L.A. Coliseum is a big gamble but it’s worth the risk

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is no stranger to big events. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl I and the Miami Dolphins topped the Washington Redskins to win Super Bowl VII on the grounds of that stadium. And that’s not all. This building is the only venue in the world to have ever hosted the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the Olympic Games. This weekend, however, the L.A. Coliseum may very well host the most unique event in its storied history when the NASCAR Cup Series stages its season-opening Busch Light Clash…

Phoenix Next Gen Test Important for Numerous Reasons

Give credit where credit is due. NASCAR is not going to force its teams to roll into the 2022 season without ample track time to test the Next Gen car. Although there have been reports that the cars are in somewhat short supply, the Daytona International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Charlotte Roval, and even Bowman-Gray Stadium have played host to the Cup Series over the most recent weeks and months as teams have put the new racer through its paces during the winter and even back into the fall of last season. And that testing is…

Would you rather win at a “lower level” or run mid-pack at a “higher level”?

If you heard the story of a race car driver who dreamed of making it to the NASCAR Cup Series, and after a successful run through the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Xfinity series, did exactly that. But the ending of that story depends on the reader’s perspective. After making it to the top level of motorsports, the driver in question only scored one top-10 finish in 79 starts. Then after two full seasons, that driver was no longer a part of the NASCAR Cup Series. Is that driver a failure because he didn’t succeed at the “top level”?…

No winners in the Brandon Brown sponsorship saga

A young driver wins his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race driving for a small, family-owned team that had struggled from week to week to find enough sponsorship to literally keep the wheels rolling. This is the kind of stuff that leads to the making of a Disney movie. There’s no way this story could have turned out badly, right? Well, enter vulgarity and politics along with a number of poor, short-sighted decisions made along the way and this dream story turns somewhat nightmarish. Brandon Brown drove to victory for the first time in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career last…

Chase Elliott leading HMS into NASCAR’s “Road Course Era”

There have been times in NASCAR history in which it has been to the advantage of car owners to have a driver with particular skills on certain types of tracks. Having a driver who was great on short tracks was beneficial in the 1970’s and 1980’s with tracks under one mile in length making up a significant portion of the schedule in those days. After restrictor plates became a thing in the late 1980’s, it served teams well to have a driver who was adept at that type of racing, especially with the sport’s marquee event- the Daytona 500 -being…

How long will the ‘Kyle Larson Effect’ be felt in dirt racing?

There is little doubt that all forms of dirt racing have, over the past two years, received more attention within the world of motorsports than at any other time in history. Mentions of dirt races have been made during NASCAR television and radio broadcasts as well as in racing related news shows and various other types of programing. And more, social media posts by the sport’s biggest stars and most followed accounts have brought racing on clay to the forefront. Whether it be Late Models, Sprint Cars or Modifieds, there has probably never been a time when the names of…

Joey Logano finds himself in an interesting position entering 2022

Joey Logano has been with Team Penske since 2013 and has been thought of as a serious contender to win races and championships ever since that time. And while the 31-year-old driver will enter the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season thought of in that same way when the green flag is displayed on February 20th for the season opening Daytona 500, there will be a unique feel for this frequent front runner entering the new campaign. The Middletown, Connecticut racer now finds himself in an interesting position because of several factors. With the new Next Gen car making its long-awaited…

M&M’s departure not the news NASCAR needed at otherwise positive time

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…