Austin Hill survives to win NASCAR Trucks race at Knoxville

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took to the track at the Knoxville Raceway on Friday night to contest its second dirt race of the 2021 season. After a full night of racing in the Corn Belt 150 Presented by Premier Chevy Dealers that featured heat races and the 150-lap main event, it was Austin Hill who claimed the win on the historic half-mile track located in the state of Iowa. It was a survival of the fittest type win for the Hattori Racing Toyota driver from Winston, Georgia. There were four heat races with drivers accumulating points in those…

Continue reading

Chase Briscoe sees NASCAR on dirt as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the disciplines

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will hit the dirt on Friday at the historic Knoxville Raceway. The Corn Belt 150 Presented by Premier Chevy Dealers will serve as the first ever event for one of NASCAR’s top-three divisions held on the historic Knoxville, Iowa half-mile clay oval. This race, held at a venue more noted for Sprint Car and Late Model competition, will be the second dirt race of the season for this series after having already raced on the clay covered high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway earlier in 2021. The NCWTS previously raced on dirt at…

Continue reading

NASCAR Truck Series regulars looking to use the front bumper in Knoxville

Racing on dirt is not a particularly new thing for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. However, racing at the historic Knoxville Raceway located in Knoxville, Iowa is a new thing. This Friday night the series will make its first appearance on the clay-surfaced half-mile track noted for the Knoxville Nationals event for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the Knoxville Late Model Nationals for competitors on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The Knoxville Raceway facility also serves as the home for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum. But this…

Continue reading

Christopher Bell points out the uniqueness of Road America

In the world of oval track racing, there isn’t always the greatest amount of variety. While the lengths of the tracks and the degree of banking may vary, the shape from one to another is relatively simple as there are basically four left turns and two straightaways. While yes, one of those “straights” may sometimes be bent to form a D-shape or a tri-oval, the differences among them are only slightly greater than subtle. Fans, media, and the competitors themselves have acknowledged the sameness of oval tracks by sometimes applying the term “cookie cutter” to them as a descriptor. However,…

Continue reading

Next five weeks could make or break Kurt Busch’s 2021 season

Sixteen drivers will make the cut to become eligible for a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series championship with that cut set to be made following the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway seven weeks from now. Drivers who have won a race up to that point in the season will make the cut along with those highest in points who haven’t won until all sixteen spots are filled. If the NASCAR Playoffs cut were to be made today, Kurt Busch would be a championship contender … but just barely. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver is currently ranked…

Continue reading

Pocono Double Header Weekend Delivered on All Counts

I will freely admit that I have not always been a fan of the Pocono Raceway. I will also admit that I have not always been a fan of the 550 horsepower/high downforce package used at some tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series, including this one. But at the same time, I am not one of those people in today’s society that finds it impossible to admit that I might have been wrong about something. The two NASCAR Cup Series races held this weekend at Pocono Raceway delivered! On Saturday in the Pocono Organics CBD 325 there was a tense…

Continue reading

Sam Mayer excited, nervous for Xfinity Series debut

One of the most highly touted young drivers in quite some time will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut the day after his 18th birthday this Sunday when he takes the green flag in the Pocono Green 225 at the Pocono Raceway. Sam Mayer will be driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports at the triangle-shaped track located in eastern Pennsylvania. The Franklin, Wisconsin native was the youngest NASCAR sanctioned champion ever when he earned the title on the NASCAR K&N East Series back in 2019 at the age of 16. He was the winner of a NASCAR…

Continue reading

Does it take winning a championship to make a driver’s season “great”?

Among Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, who had the better season in 2018? Logano ultimately won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in that year after scoring three victories throughout the season. Harvick and Busch finished third and fourth respectively in the final rundown but each won eight races over the course of the campaign. But in the end, it was Logano and his Team Penske No. 22 Ford who prevailed in the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim the title. Of Logano’s three wins in 2018, two of them were very well timed as he won at…

Continue reading

Just how good can Kyle Larson’s season be?

Seven weeks ago it could have been said that Kyle Larson was having a good 2021 season. At that point, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet had one win to go along with four top-5 and six top-10 finishes. At that time, the 28-year-old driver was 9th in NASCAR Cup Series points and was trailing leader Denny Hamlin by 144 markers. However, these last seven weeks have brought about a drastic change for the Elk Grove, CA native and his team. Larson went on a streak of three consecutive second-place results which was then followed up by…

Continue reading

New Track + Long Weekend = Advantages for Power Teams

The Nashville Super Speedway isn’t necessarily a new track for NASCAR. The D-shaped oval was first used by the sport’s top sanctioning body in 2001 when it began hosting events for the Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. However, the facility located just outside the capital city of Tennessee last staged events for those two tours back in 2011. Nashville Super Speedway has never held a place on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. All of that will change this weekend when each of the three of three top divisions will take to the high-banked 1.33-mile concrete layout for…

Continue reading