Inside Circle Track

Donnie Wilson running up front but looking for even more

While business interests in his hometown of Oklahoma City occupy much Donnie Wilson’s time, his true passion is for racing. The 48-year-old star of the pavement Super Late Model ranks has been considered one of the top competitors in that form of racing for quite some time. And to that end, the 2017 winner of the prestigious All-American 400 at Nashville’s Fairgrounds Speedway would love to race even more than he currently does. Even though his number of starts might not necessarily be eye popping, his finishes in those races have been worthy of note. With seven starts in the…

Johnson and Blaney need to worry more about winning races than apologizing

As has been well documented, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Blaney had an on-track incident in last weekend’s Go Bowling at the Glen event on the Watkins Glen International road course in upstate New York that led to a post-race discussion and war of words in the media. It appears as if feelings are still bruised as that war of words continued when the drivers arrived at Michigan International Speedway for this Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400. Johnson indicated to reporters in Michigan that he believes Blaney should have contacted him during the week to offer an apology. The seven-time Monster Energy…

Jared Irvan looking for the right break to follow in famous dad’s footsteps

Ernie Irvan scored a total of 15 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins over the course of a thirteen year career. Among those victories was his first career triumph at the Bristol Motor Speedway in 1990 and the 1991 Daytona 500. Now, the former star’s son is hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps up the racing ladder. However, there have been challenges along the way for the young racer. Jared Irvan began racing Quarter-Midgets at the tender age of six and has steadily progressed to his current station. This past Saturday the now 21-year-old from Midland, NC competed in…

Making Enemies Now Could Have Championship Damaging Implications Later

Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron, Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace, and Ryan Blaney are just a few of the drivers who left Watkins Glen International on Sunday evening either mad at someone, with someone mad at them, or both. Tempers were running a bit on the hot side during and after the Go Bowling at the Glen Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race with on-track confrontations and post-race interviews and discussions serving as the primary means for demonstrating displeasure. For some of the drivers who have angered others, there could be some very serious ramifications later on in the season. Kyle…

CARS Tour Throwback 276 Photos

Here are some photos from the CARS Super Late Model Tour and CARS Late Model Stock Tour Throwback 276 at Hickory Motor Speedway: Please consider reading –> Matt Craig fight off challengers to win CARS Tour SLM Throwback 276 Please consider reading –> Ryan Repko captures CARS LMS Tour win at Hickory Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association Respond to this piece on Twitter –> @RichardAllenIDR or on Facebook –> InsideCircleTrack/Facebook

Ryan Repko captures CARS LMS Tour win at Hickory

The portion of the Throwback 276 event held on Saturday at Hickory Motor Speedway for the CARS Late Model Stock Tour belonged to Ryan Repko after he made a late race pass to take the lead. It was the first CARS Late Model Stock Tour win for the Denver, NC driver’s career. Josh Berry led the way in qualifying as he toured the .363 mile paved oval in 15.286 seconds to better the efforts of Ryan Repko, Mike Darne, Craig Moore, Ryan Millington, Layne Riggs, Ronald Hill, Trevor Ward, Justin Carroll and Matt Leicht. At the start of the 138-lap…

Matt Craig fights off challengers to win CARS Tour SLM Throwback 276

The CARS Super Late Model Tour rolled into the Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday to take part in the 3rd annual Throwback 276. Matt Craig came away as the winner from the event that has become a favorite on the racing calendar because of the cars being wrapped in the schemes from an earlier era. The Kannapolis, NC driver fought off a host of challengers during the race and one of them after the checkered flag had waved. Craig led the way in qualifying as he toured the .363 mile paved oval in 14.723 seconds to beat out Bubba Pollard,…

Stewart Friesen scores timely NGOTS win at Eldora

One of the most commonly used phrases during television broadcasts of NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races is “Stewart Friesen has more second place finishes than any driver in series history who doesn’t have a win”. That phrase can now be put to bed as the Canadian racer finally scored his first win on Thursday night when he captured the Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH. The 36-year-old driver put his Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet in the lead on lap 93 of the 150-lap event and held off the pack until the checkered flag waved. Friesen is…

What Better Place for a Throwback Race Than Hickory?

The past few years have seen throwback events show up on the schedules of various racing series across all forms of the sport. Perhaps best known of these is the Bojangles Southern 500 held annually at the Darlington Raceway on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. But growing quickly in popularity in the realm of throwback races is the “Throwback 276 presented by Baker Distributing” at the Hickory Motor Speedway sanctioned by the CARS Super Late Model Tour and the CARS Late Model Stock Tour. No track could be better suited for such an event as Hickory Motor Speedway. The…

Mike Marlar Set to Drive NASCAR Truck at Eldora

The entry list posted on the NASCAR-themed Jayski.com website for the upcoming 7th annual Eldora Dirt Derby event for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Trucks Series shows that veteran Dirt Late Model competitor Mike Marlar is listed as the driver for the No. 33 Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota Tundra. It had been previously announced that the Winfield, Tenn. native will also wheel a Big-Block Modified in the SuperDIRTcar Series race at the famed track located in Rossburg, OH on Wednesday evening. Marlar is a two-time winner of the prestigious Knoxville Late Model Nationals held annually at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville,…