Inside Circle Track

Don’t Kyle Busch and JGR owe each other a year?

Certainly one of the biggest news stories during the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season has been the uncertain contract status of two-time champion Kyle Busch. The contract of the talented 37-year-old driver with Joe Gibbs Racing will expire at the end of the current campaign and has yet to be renewed. Unless that situation changes, the Las Vegas native could become one of the most highly regarded free agents to be available in quite some time. Busch’s record speaks for itself. He has won a total of 60 NASCAR Cup Series races and was crowned as the champion in 2015…

Turn 2 Blog: Reddick and RCR strong despite announcement & Should NASCAR race on Indy oval?

*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. The Hy-Vee supermarket chain went all out to promote the recent IndyCar double-header at the Iowa Speedway. Is more enthusiastic promotion of this kind needed in all forms of racing? Richard: For any company that chooses to sponsor a race, it is in their best interest for the event to do as well as possible. An empty grandstand serves no one well. With that in mind,…

Kyle Larson set to defend biggest Dirt Late Model victory

Kyle Larson’s 2021 season was one of the greatest campaigns ever recorded by a race car driver. The Elk Grove, California native won 10 NASCAR Cup Series races including the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to clinch the series title. The 30-year-old driver won the two biggest World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series races by taking one of two Kings Royal features at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio and the much-coveted Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals at the Knoxville(IA) Speedway. Prior to all of that, ‘Yung Money’ had begun the racing season by winning the Chili Bowl Nationals…

Turn 2 Blog: Kyle Busch contract drama & Chase Elliott championship favorite?

*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. Is all the Kyle Busch contract drama surprising to you? Richard: I’m not sure anything surprises me anymore when it comes to Kyle Busch. Without question, the Las Vegas native is one of the most talented NASCAR drivers of all time but he also is one of the sport’s most interesting personalities. Getting back to the question at hand, I am not surprised that his contract…

Wonder what’s going on in most NASCAR shops this week?

Call it what you will- circumventing the rules, working in the gray area, finding a competitive advantage, or cheating – but all of those things have been a part of racing since racing has been a thing. And one would think that more often than not, despite the best efforts of the rule enforcers, many have gotten away with something that ultimately led to a victory. That said, NASCAR has stated since early on in the development of the Next Gen car that they will not look favorably on teams that try circumvent the rules(or cheat) and they clearly demonstrated…

Is it a Kevin Harvick thing or a Stewart-Haas Racing thing?

Kevin Harvick has been one of the most prolific winners on the NASCAR Cup series over the past decade. The Bakersfield, California native has won a total of 58 races over the course of his career with 35 of those victories and a championship coming since joining forces with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. But as has been well documented, things have not gone so well of late for the No. 4 Ford crew. Harvick is currently in the midst of a 63 race winless streak that dates back to the Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway…

Is it just me or is NBC playing heroes vs villains with their coverage?

NBC/USA/Peacock took over the coverage of the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series races a couple of weekends ago in Nashville and it feels like, at least to me, that there has been a definite theme in the early going. Almost like the the WWE or Marvel movies, the coverage seems to be taking on a heroes vs. villains type of concept as the broadcasts appear to label certain drivers as one or the other. Mind you, this is not really meant to pick on NBC but simply to make an observation. Keep in mind that Fox never really seemed to…

Kyle Larson heaps praise on Donny Schatz following Brad Doty Classic victory

It goes without saying that Kyle Larson is one of the top racers in the world. And on Tuesday night at Attica Raceway Park, he again showed the prowess that has caused such accolades to be bestowed on him. So it would seem to make sense to assume that when Larson speaks, young racers will listen. In victory lane on Tuesday night at Ohio’s Attica Raceway Park, the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion pointed to another driver who he believes all racers should seek to emulate. The soon to be 30-year-old driver from Elk Grove, California made a strong move…

Turn 2 Blog: Is Ross Chastain really too aggressive? & Who wasn’t rooting for Corey Lajoie?

*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. Is Ross Chastain really too aggressive? Richard: This is a question I am mixed on. Everyone says they want drivers to be aggressive but then when they are public opinion condemns them for doing so, especially if they run afoul of one of the popular stars. Ross Chastain is certainly an aggressive driver and he is one that the fans, media, and other competitors have decided…

Are you not entertained?

In the movie ‘Gladiator’, the lead character Maximus Decimus Meridius played by Russell Crowe asks a rather subdued crowd following a gladitorial battle scene the question, “Are you not entertained?” The cheers that followed indicated that they were indeed entertained. In today’s era of short attention spans and various entertainment options available to potential attendees and viewers, all sports find themselves balancing the purity of their particular sport with the entertainment value they can offer fans. Every sport does it. The NFL, MLB and NBA have all structured their rules to encourage offense and games that come down to the…