Inside Circle Track

Stewart Friesen positioning himself for multiple championships

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will end its regular season on Saturday on the road course at Watkins Glen International. When the checkered flag waves on the ‘United Rentals 176 at the Glen’, the NASCAR Playoffs field will be set for the seven-race run to the championship. There are seven drivers already locked into the playoff field with three spots still in question. While drivers Carson Hocevar, Stewart Friesen and Chandler Smith are positioned well going into the deciding race, they are not yet assured of a place. But one of those three drivers goes into the weekend with…

Ross Chastain to drive No. 1 car for Trackhouse in 2022

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 3, 2021) – Trackhouse Racing announced today that Ross Chastain will drive the organization’s second NASCAR Cup Series entry starting in 2022 and revealed his car will be the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro. Chastain will join the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro driver Daniel Suárez when the first year Trackhouse organization expands into a two-car team in 2022. In June, Trackhouse announced the acquisition of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR assets, a move that secured two full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries and cleared the path for expansion. Chastain, who currently drives for Ganassi, has been one of the sport’s hottest…

Less practice and qualifying for NASCAR stars means more dirt racing opportunities

Since the return by NASCAR from pandemic restrictions in 2020, there have been numerous changes to the way the sport goes about its business. Among the biggest of those changes has been an almost complete elimination in the areas of race weekend practice and qualifying. The result of those changes has been far reaching in that the impact has been felt in others forms of the sport. Over the past 15 months or so, there have been multiple NASCAR drivers who have entered dirt track, short track, and road course races that might not have been an option had the…

NASCAR getting what it wanted from the Playoffs format

The two most recent NASCAR Cup Series races held before the two-week Olympics break have seen drivers score wins who were either on the cutline in the series standings or were well out of contention in terms of making the NASCAR Playoffs based on their points position. As a result, the list of drivers who have a chance at making the cut and being in contention for the title has been in a state of flux during this midsummer time out. And it would stand to reason that NASCAR and its television partners are just fine with that. Others, however,…

ARCA Menards Series set to take on the high banks of Winchester

By Charles Krall of the ARCA Menards Series There will be a lot on the line when the ARCA Menards Series takes to the 37-degree banks at Winchester Speedway on Saturday night. The Calypso Lemonade 200 is first and foremost a part of the ARCA Menards Series championship, and that championship battle is turning into a war between new leader Ty Gibbs and now challenger Corey Heim. Gibbs assumed the championship lead with his sixth victory of the season last Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, while Heim, who has four wins of his own this season, now sits second just…

Ty Gibbs vs Corey Heim rivalry set to continue this weekend in Iowa

It’s been a season to remember for Ty Gibbs and Corey Heim. The two 18-year-old ARCA Menards Series phenomenons have combined to win each of first nine races of the 2021 season. Gibbs holds the advantage with five wins to Heim’s four, but Heim leads the series championship standings by seven heading into the tenth race of the season at Berlin Raceway. Gibbs, the grandson of Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach and NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Joe Gibbs, has excelled not only in the ARCA Menards Series, but he’s won twice in the NASCAR Xfinity Series…

Brad Keselowski takes on ownership role as new Roush Fenway Racing partner

July 20, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Brad Keselowski says he feels like an investor buying a stock that’s about to go up. That was the optimistic attitude all parties expressed Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, where Keselowski was announced as the new minority partner and driver with Roush Fenway Racing (RFR), effective at the end of the 2021 season. A former team owner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Keselowski is purchasing a piece of RFR, jointly owned by founder Jack Roush and the Fenway Sports Group. At the end of…

Aric Almirola shakes up NASCAR Cup Playoffs with unexpected win at New Hampshire

July 18, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service With a stunning victory in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola sent shock waves through the NASCAR Cup Series’ Playoff standings. With hard-charging Christopher Bell closing behind him, Almirola crossed the finish line at the 1.058-mile track .657 seconds ahead of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to win the third race of his career and give Stewart-Haas Racing its first ostensible Playoff berth of the 2021 campaign. After battling Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney—who waged their own internecine war shortly after the…

Matt DiBenedetto relies on faith to deal with the stress of racing, life

One might think a NASCAR Cup Series driver who is working in the last year of his contract and who is essentially in a must-win situation in terms of making the NASCAR Playoffs would be under a tremendous amount of stress. Add to that, the same driver is in the midst of putting the finishing touches on and moving into a new home which, as anyone who has ever taken on that task knows, is not an easy chore. Those circumstances describe the current life situation of Matt DiBenedetto. But even with all of those things going on, the 29-year-old driver…

Did Ross Chastain really do anything wrong?

Rarely has a driver who finished 21st been the topic of so much conversation following the conclusion of a race as has been Ross Chastain since the checkered flag waved over the Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart. During the closing laps of the NASCAR Cup Series event held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, Chastain’s No. 42 car was in the process of being lapped by then leader Kyle Busch when Kurt Busch caught and passed his younger brother on his way to a victory and an almost certain spot in the upcoming NASCAR Playoffs. After the race,…