Should race car drivers be friends with each other?

Race car drivers should not be friends with each other. That’s it. That’s the answer to the question in the headline of this piece. Each person who flips the switch when drivers are told to start their engines is there to do the best that he/she can do for their team, their sponsors, their families, and themselves. The split second it could take to decide what to do in a given situation because of a relationship off the track could be the difference in winning and losing a race. If the decision of how to contest a position comes down…

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How do you not vote for Jimmie Johnson for the Hall of Fame?

Voting was held on Wednesday to determine the newest inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Donnie Allison was recognized as the Pioneer Era selection while driver Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus were chosen from the so-called Modern Era ballot. While it it should not be shocking to anyone that Johnson and Knaus will be placed into the Hall of Fame, it would seem more than a little surprising that neither received unanimous support from the voters. Of the 57 ballots cast, 53 were marked in favor of Johnson and 46 were in favor of Knaus. Together the…

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Turn 2 Blog: Trackhouse sliding? & Was Pocono better than Richmond?

*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. Which provided the better racing- Pocono or Richmond? Richard: Following Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Denny Hamlin said that racing purists would appreciate that race because it presumably brought in the elements of strategy and tire conservation. On the other hand, Pocono provided not only entertaining racing but a myriad of storylines as well. According to voters in the poll conducted weekly by Jeff…

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“I just need to start wrecking some people”

Denny Hamlin won the race but was vehemently booed by the fans during his post-race interview. Kyle Larson gave an angry post-race interview in which he said he now feels as if he has to race Hamlin more aggressively. Austin Dillon and his grandfather/team owner were very angry with former Richard Childress Racing driver Tyler Reddick. Ryan Preece angrily, and perhaps even physically, confronted Corey LaJoie after the race. And finally, Joey Logano launched into a verbal tirade directed at a pair of tow truck drivers. With all of this going on, the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race had…

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Turn 2 Blog: Hamlin vs Larson & Did NASCAR make the right call?

*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. What are your thoughts on the late race battle at Pocono between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson? Richard: First, hard racing is good for the sport and it’s what fans want to see. And hard racing is what was taking place late in the race at Pocono. Hamlin put Larson in a position in which he had to decide whether he wanted to lift or run…

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People make too much of Kyle Busch winning in the lower series

When Kyle Busch executed a last lap pass on Corey Heim to win Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway it secured the 64th win for the driver and the 100th win for Kyle Busch Motorsports on that tour. The Las Vegas native is the all-time winningest driver on both the Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series while at the same time ranking 9th among past victors in the NASCAR Cup Series. Busch has amassed a total of 229 wins across NASCAR’s top-three divisions over the course of his career. Throughout most of his career, detractors have…

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Maybe Justin Haley knows something the rest of us don’t know

When the news came out earlier this week that NASCAR driver Justin Haley had signed a contract with Rick Ware Racing to drive for that organization beginning in 2024 the question many might have been left asking was ‘Why would someone who has a ride with Kaulig Racing sign a multi-year deal with Rick Ware Racing?’ Perhaps the answer is as simple as maybe he knows more about the situation than we do. On the surface, this seems like a step back for Haley. In his current No. 31 Chevrolet he sits 21st in the NASCAR Cup Series standings scoring…

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Christopher Bell’s focus this season the same as last … except that it’s different

About this time last season, Christopher Bell’s focus was on the drivers he was battling to earn a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs. Even with his win in New Hampshire, nothing was certain as the cutoff race in Daytona approached because so many different drivers had won a race that there seemed to be very few guarantees until the sixteen driver lineup who would compete for the championship was officially set. Bell spent much of his time in 2022 hovering around the Playoff bubble on the verge of not making it onto the list of contenders. His New Hampshire win…

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Turn 2 Blog: Running mid-pack in the top series vs running up front in a lower series

*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. Would you rather run mid-pack in the top series or compete for wins in a lower series? Richard: This past Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race highlighted two drivers who are in the middle of answering that question. Both John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer have been in the NASCAR Cup Series and experienced little or no success. However. both have done well and are doing well…

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Turn 2 Blog: Sunday night racing & What city should be the next to host a street race?

*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. What are your thoughts on Sunday night racing? Richard: Recent races in Nashville and Atlanta have been held on NASCAR’s traditional day of the week, but rather than in the afternoon, they were contested on Sunday nights. My initial thought when I saw the timing was that it would hurt attendance. That, however, did not appear to be the case as the grandstand was full in…

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