Inside Circle Track

Brad Keselowski now looking like the championship favorite

In 2018, three drivers were dubbed as the ‘Big 3’ by NASCAR Cup Series fans and media as Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. dominated that season in terms of wins and placement within the standings. It was simply thought to be a matter of which one of those racers would claim the championship in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway at the end of the year. As it turned out, however, neither of those three captured the title when Team Penske driver Joey Logano pulled off somewhat of a surprise by winning that final event and claiming the…

How hard will Stewart-Haas teammates fight each other for playoff advancement?

By virtue of his win in the Cook Out Southern 500 this past Sunday at Darlington Raceway, Kevin Harvick is guaranteed a spot in the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs. As a matter of fact, with all of the playoff points the 44-year-old driver amassed during the NASCAR Cup Series regular season it would be difficult to imagine a scenario in which he and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team do not advance at least as far as the semi-final ‘Round of 8’ in the championship contest. However, the same cannot be said of the other three SHR drivers…

The news doesn’t get much better for Ryan Blaney

It would be hard to imagine a scenario in which the opening round of the NASCAR Playoffs could have gone worse for Ryan Blaney and his Team Penske operation. The No. 12 Ford team found itself in a hole before the green flag even waved to start the Cook Out Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway on Sunday night. Due to an improperly mounted ballast weight found by NASCAR officials during a routine pre-race inspection, Blaney and his team were docked 10 points and crew chief Todd Gordon was suspended by the sanctioning body. Further, the driver who had earned…

Elliott, Truex offer differing views of late race incident

As the laps clicked away in the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday night at the Darlington Raceway, it appeared as if the first race in the NASCAR Playoffs was about to boil down to a two car fight between leader Chase Elliott and a fast-closing Martin Truex, Jr. for the win. However, contact between those two machines when Truex moved inside of Elliott with 14 circuits remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series race sent the two lead machines bouncing off the turn one wall and eventually dropped both out of contention for the win. Kevin Harvick capitalized on the…

These four drivers won’t survive past the first round of the NASCAR Playoffs

A total of 16 drivers have qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs and are set to compete for the championship that awaits one of those racers at the end of this upcoming ten-race stretch. Along the way, there will be cuts that will eliminate four competitors after each of three segments until the field has been narrowed to the ‘Championship 4’ who will race for the title at Phoenix Raceway on November 8th. The first segment will include races at Darlington Raceway, Richmond Raceway, and Bristol Motor Speedway. The first cut will then be made and the playoff field will be…

Kyle Busch needs only to look at Tony Stewart’s 2011 title run for hope

In 2011, Tony Stewart went on an incredible run at the end of the season that eventually netted him the NASCAR Cup Series title. The eventual champion won five of the final ten races during the Chase for the Championship to edge out Carl Edwards in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and earn the accolades for what would be his final title. Stewart entered the ten-race run that would determine the series champion ranking ninth in the overall standings. The then 40-year-old driver had not won a race through the first 26 events of the season and had led…

Who will be the “Other Two”?

A couple of years ago drivers Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were dubbed the “Big Three” for much of the season as those pilots and their teams dominated the NASCAR Cup Series. Now, in this oddly disjointed 2020 campaign, the question isn’t so much who the “Big Three” are, but rather, who will be the “Other Two”. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have been so strong throughout the first 26 races of the season that it would almost seem inconceivable that both will not be a part of the ‘Championship 4’ at Phoenix Raceway on November 8th….

Layne Riggs powers to CARS Tour LMSC victory at Langley

Story provided by CARS Tour HAMPTON, Va. (Aug. 29, 2020) – Layne Riggs became the seventh different winner in as many Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour Late Model Stock races, snapping a two-year winless drought after muscling his way past Corey Heim on the last lap of Saturday night’s VisitHampton.com 125 at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway. Corey Heim dominated much of the race, leading a race-high 114 laps, and was on his way to his second victory of the season. In the final 10 laps, Riggs closed down a two-second gap and made his move on the backstretch, diving…

Ross Chastain did what a racer is supposed to do

Friday night’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Daytona International Speedway came down to, as so many races on that 2.5-mile super speedway do, a last lap battle that featured a crash among multiple cars as they roared toward the checkered flag. That should not have caught anyone by surprise. However, what did seem to catch some by surprise was the two drivers who set off the final chain reaction mishap of the evening. Throughout the race, the three drivers for Kaulig Racing had worked well together as they ran in formation for…

NASCAR deserves credit for bringing its season back to life

The checkered flag at the end of Saturday’s Drydene 311(Part I) at Dover International Speedway did more than simply signify that Denny Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team had earned their sixth win of the 2020 season. The waving of that flag also served to indicate that the NASCAR Cup Series was back on schedule as had been originally planned by the series months ago. Had there been no coronavirus outbreak, the schedule would have called for a tour stop in Dover on Sunday. And as of now, the plan is for the NASCAR Cup Series to contest…