Since Kyle Larson was removed as the driver of the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 there has been speculation as to who might replace the embattled former driver in that Chevrolet. On Monday that speculation was laid to rest as former NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth was named as the new driver of that car for the remainder of the 2020 season. The 48-year-old Wisconsin native was the 2003 champion and has accumulated a total of 39 wins in NASCAR’s top division. Among those wins are two Daytona 500 triumphs along with crown jewel victories in the Coca-Cola 600…

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Racing is a business, first and foremost. And more than that, it is a very expensive business. It takes millions of dollars to run a top-flight racing organization in NASCAR, IndyCar, or Formula 1 and there are very few people in the business of racing who have so much money that they can afford to lose it by the millions. That’s exactly what was about to happen with Chip Ganassi Racing had they opted to stick with Kyle Larson as a driver. After the 27-year-old racer used a racial slur during an internet broadcast of an iRacing event that has…

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During a virtual racing event on Sunday NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson was heard among those participating in the event as well as others watching via the internet using a racial slur. The “N-word” was clearly audible with the driver quickly being told by someone else that “everyone can hear you, Kyle” shortly after the inappropriate remark. First of all, there is no excusing the use of the word. It’s hard to believe that anyone, particularly a person with such a high public profile as a star NASCAR driver, even has that word in their vocabulary. And it doesn’t…

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Coming into the 2020 season it was known that one of the most prolific classes of free agents in the recent history of the NASCAR Cup Series would be in the process of either renegotiating with their current teams or ironing out deals with new teams as the season played out. However, the emergence of the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent postponements of races at least through the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway(if not even further) has almost certainly created some uncertainty among the ride seekers and the ride givers. The likes of Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski,…

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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. Richard: In a story originally reported by Jordan Bianchi of TheAthletic.com, NASCAR will delay the roll out of its Next Generation car until the 2022 racing season. The latest in the continuous development of racing machines used on the NASCAR Cup Series had been set for the 2021 season opening Daytona 500 but the setbacks in this year’s schedule brought about by social distancing and “stay…

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Everyone knows a person who is often thought of as “that guy”. He’s the one who seems to always make a mistake that winds up costing others more work or hardship. No one ever wants to be “that guy”. Along that line, if there is anyone out there who wants racing to return more than I do, I would like to meet that person … from a safe distance, of course. Even with a great desire by many to see cars circling race tracks at high speed, the likelihood of such a thing actually happening in the very near future…

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Many consider the 1979 Daytona 500 to be the most important race in the history of NASCAR. There were so many things to go right for the sport on that February day that it almost seemed as if a perfect Hollywood script had been written with everything falling perfectly into place just like the ending of a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie. A hard fought battle throughout the full distance of the race ended with a last lap crash and a fight between drivers Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison that was ultimately joined by Bobby Allison. Furthermore, the sport’s most legendary…

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Who would have thought, even as recently as three weeks ago, we would have all been sitting at home on a Sunday afternoon watching a virtual race at a time when a NASCAR Cup Series race was scheduled? Well, that’s the world we now live in, at least for the next several weeks at best. But as this world-wide outbreak of COVID-19 carries on, there will no doubt be even more re-definitions of those things we thought we once knew taking place. Things we had previously taken for granted such as live sports on television are now, for the time…

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While there is certainly much to lament as far as the loss of races is concerned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR could potentially be able to use the aftermath of the restrictions on social gatherings that have resulted in postponements and cancellations as a testing ground for long talked about ideas. Obviously, not playing a part in the further spread of the illness is the immediate priority for all sports leagues, including NASCAR. But when this crisis ends and life returns to some degree of normalcy, the NASCAR events lost will potentially be rescheduled. So far, NASCAR has been…

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