Inside Circle Track

Busch Clash finish proves that friendship means little on the last lap

All’s fair in love and war … and on the last lap of a season opening NASCAR Cup Series exhibition race. On top of that, friendships don’t matter when it come to going for a win with big money and no points on the line. Good buddies Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott were running first and second on the 35th and final lap of the Busch Clash at the Daytona International Speedway road course on Tuesday evening. As the two cars entered the final chicane with the checkered flag in sight, the second running Hendrick Motorsports car of Elliott closed…

Sammy Smith claims Sunday World Series SLM win at New Smyrna

While the Super Bowl was going on across the state, the 55th annual World Series of Asphalt was taking place at the New Smyrna Speedway. The Super Late Model division staged third feature on Sunday night with Sammy Smith coming away from the Florida track as the winner in a race shown live by NBC TrackPass. It was the Des Moines, Iowa driver’s first victory since joining the Donnie Wilson Racing team to drive cars produced by Rowdy Manufacturing after having driven for Kyle Busch Motorsports previously. Jesse Love was fastest in Super Late Model qualifying with a lap of…

Tyler Reddick would consider owning a Dirt Late Model team … but not yet

Racers love to race. Even though someone in that profession might have reached the highest of levels does not meant they have forgotten those others forms of racing that helped push them to the top. And for one current NASCAR driver, there is at least some degree of interest in reconnecting with one of the types of racing that proved to be a stepping stone in his career. Tyler Reddick’s rise through the racing ranks has been a rapid one. And along the way, the Corning, CA native has accomplished a number remarkable feats. Some of those achievements came at…

Derek Griffith dominates on night 2 of World Series at New Smyrna

For the second of what is scheduled to be nine nights in the 55th annual World Series of Asphalt the David Rogers Super Late Model division took to the half-mile New Smyrna Speedway. At the end of the evening, it was defending WSoA champion Derek Griffith who claimed the win in a caution free race shown live by NBC TrackPass. The New Hampshire native followed up a podium finish from Friday night with a dominating win on Saturday. Rain showers washed out qualifying so the starting lineup was set based on the previous night’s finish with an invert of the…

Ryan Moore takes first Super Late Model feature of World Series at New Smyrna

The 55th annual World Series of Asphalt got underway on Friday night at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. The David Rogers Super Late Model division took to the historic track for the first time in this year’s version of SpeedWeeks in a race shown live by NBC TrackPass. After an intense and sometimes chaotic evening of racing, it was former World Series champion Ryan Moore who scored the win and earned early bragging rights among his competitors. Jett Noland was fastest in Super Late Model qualifying with a lap of 17.581 seconds around the half-mile paved oval. That effort topped Jacob…

Two companies set to serve as primary sponsors for Larson’s No. 5 car

In a press release sent out by Hendrick Motorsports early Wednesday morning, the championship winning racing organization announced that two companies have agreed to serve as primary sponsors for driver Kyle Larson and his team. Machine tool maker Cincinnati, Inc. and heavy-duty truck manufacturer Freightliner have been named as the backers for the No. 5 Chevrolet. “We’re pleased to have Cincinnati and Freightliner grow their respective partnerships with us,” HMS owner Rick Hendrick said in the release. “The best way we can show our appreciation is with high performance on and off the racetrack. NASCAR has tremendous momentum going into…

Kurt Busch looking forward to the challenge of dirt racing at Bristol

Few drivers have had as much success at the Bristol Motor Speedway as Kurt Busch. The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion has pulled into victory lane at ‘The Last Great Colosseum’ on six different occasions along with posting a dozen top-5 finishes over the course of his career on the high-banked track located in the upper northeastern corner of Tennessee. As a result of all that success, this is a driver who should feel quite comfortable whenever the series heads to the half-mile concrete oval. However, the Bristol Motor Speedway that welcomes the NASCAR Cup Series on March 28th of…

Brad Keselowski comments on NASCAR’s youth movement and his own contract status

A quick look through the driver rosters of some of the top teams in the NASCAR Cup Series shows that there is a definite trend toward younger drivers. Over the past few years, some of the sport’s biggest stars have retired and been subsequently replaced by their teams with up-and-comers who, in some cases, are half the age of the race winners they are stepping in for. Some of those changes are a natural shift that is bound to occur over time as the established racers get older and younger drivers who have risen through the ranks take their places….

These 5 NASCAR Cup Series Drivers Must Perform Well in 2021

All photos in this piece provided by Getty Images Going into any new season it goes without saying that every driver and every team in the NASCAR Cup Series hopes to perform as well as possible. For each, however, those expectations of success are different for each team as some have the resources, the experience, and the capability to win races while others may not. For some, the occasional top-10, or even top-20, might meet or even exceed expectations. Of all the members on each team, the driver is obviously the most notable. Often times, whether fair or not, success…

Turn 2 Blog: Do Kyle Larson’s accomplishments on dirt make him a generational talent?

*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: Kyle Larson just continues to impress and amaze. After winning more than 50 feature races last year in Sprint Cars, Midget Sprint Cars, and Late Models combined, he has continued those winning ways already in 2021. For the second year in a row he captured the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, OK in a Midget then came…