Inside Circle Track

Did The Clash actually do anybody any good?

NASCAR ought to be applauded for reaching out to new audiences and finding new or renewed venues for that purpose. That said, it would seem unlikely that the second running of the Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum did very much to hook new fans. In the space of a few hours, what began as a sensation stirring spectacle devolved into a tiresome grind. Sunday night began with some relatively entertaining heat races that featured many of the sights and sounds that a perspective new fan might find intriguing. Good competition, some fender rubbing, and even a dust up…

Busch Light Clash Qualifying Results & Heat Race Lineups

Here are Saturday night’s qualifying results for the Busch Light Clash which will be contested on Sunday night beginning with heat races at 5:00pm(eastern). The event will be shown live on Fox. Qualifying Heat Race No. 1: Lineup Start time: 5 p.m. ET, Sunday Starting Spot Car Number Driver 1 31 Justin Haley 2 10 Aric Almirola 3 48 Alex Bowman 4 21 Harrison Burton 5 22 Joey Logano 6 42 Noah Gragson 7 34 Michael McDowell 8 17 Chris Buescher 9 77 Ty Dillon Qualifying Heat Race No. 2: Lineup Start time: 5:15 p.m. ET, Sunday Starting Spot Car…

Jimmie Johnson has much to learn going in to Cup Series return

How could a driver who has amassed seven championships and 83 victories at the NASCAR Cup Series level over the course of a stellar career have anything to learn? When that driver has not turned a single competitive lap in the Next Gen car and has been out of this form of racing since the end of the 2020 season, the answer to that question is quite a bit. Jimmie Johnson retired from full-time competition in NASCAR two seasons ago to pursue racing in IndyCar. After finding only marginal success in open-wheel machines, the 47-year-old star is now back as…

Austin Dillon looking forward to new teammate, improved performance

A win in the cutoff race at the Daytona International Speedway last August got Austin Dillon into the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs for the fifth time in his NASCAR Cup Series career. This season, the 32-year-old driver is hoping to do more than just make the cut. With a new teammate in the stable, he hopes the entire Richard Childress Racing operation will take another step toward returning to the dominant form it once had. It isn’t as if RCR was lagging way behind the competition last year. After all, Dillon scored the one win and then teammate Tyler Reddick drove…

Daniel Suarez: “We’re happy but we’re not satisfied”

After several seasons marked by struggles at the NASCAR Cup Series level while driving for teams such as Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing, Daniel Suarez seemed to find a comfort zone in 2022 in his second campaign with Trackhouse Racing. Bolstered by confidence provided by team leaders Justin Marks and ‘Pitbull’, the 30-year-old driver became a consistent front runner and secured his first win at the top level of the sport when the No. 99 Chevrolet pulled into victory lane at the Sonoma Raceway. While Suarez was happy to earn his first Cup win, he believes there were other…

Is there enough rising talent in the pipeline to fill potentially vacant seats?

It looks as if NASCAR could be set for a generational change such as that from a few years ago when drivers such as Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards left the sport within the space of just a few seasons. Now, it appears as if Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. are at the age where they will be stepping away in the not-to-distant future. Of course, that process has already begun. Kurt Busch retired last year and Kevin Harvick has announced that this will be his last as a full-time competitor….

Which career would you rather have: Rusty Wallace or Denny Hamlin?

Is winning a championship the best gauge of career success in the NASCAR Cup Series? Many contend that Denny Hamlin is the best driver to have never(at least not yet) won a championship at the sport’s top level. It’s not very likely that anyone would say the 42-year-old driver’s career has been a disappointment despite not having earned a title. After all, he has won a total of 48 Cup races during his time wheeling the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11. Importantly, among those victories have been three Daytona 500 triumphs which, of course, is NASCAR’s premier event. But still,…

Kyle Larson’s dirt racing season off to strong start following Wild West Shootout

It is not unusual to be talking about Kyle Larson’s dirt racing adventures at this time of year. Normally in mid-January the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the NASCAR Cup Series would be coming off a run in the week-long Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, an event he has won on two separate occasions. However, the 30-year-old racer opted this year to skip the contest for a ‘Golden Driller’ trophy held each year in Tulsa, Oklahoma in favor of another multi-day dirt racing affair. Larson entered the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout for Dirt…

Kevin Harvick has gone from brash newcomer to respected veteran

Brash. Arrogant. Uncompromising. Emotional. Aggressive. Few would dispute that the words listed above describe what Kevin Harvick was like when he first appeared on the NASCAR scene in the late 1990s as a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor then in the early 2000s as a pilot of Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets on the NASCAR Xfinity Series. And he would carry many of those character traits to the NASCAR Cup Series when he was thrust into the role of a full-time driver at the sport’s top level following the death of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt. While he is still regarded as…

Christopher Bell looking to continue progression in 2023

It is sometimes said that getting to the top is one thing and staying on top is another. Christopher Bell will be working to prove that he can stay on top after having proven last season that he could get there. The 28-year-old driver from Norman, Oklahoma won three NASCAR Cup Series races in 2022, two of which came in the most pressure-filled situations imaginable. While 2021 was not necessarily a bad season. After all, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver won his first Cup race on the road course at the Daytona International Speedway. But this past year seemed…