NASCAR dropped the hammer on one particular driver and one particular team this past week and they should have. In both cases, either a clearly stated rule was violated or an unwritten no-no in which the sanctioning body had already established a precedent was committed. Without strong penalties, rules, whether written or not, have no teeth. Unless you have been in complete seclusion for a week, you probably already know that Chase Elliott will be sitting out this weekend’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis. The decision to suspend the sport’s most popular driver and…

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I have only recently begun to learn a little bit about how the English Premier League works from a co-worker who has explained some of it to me. One aspect of that soccer league that interests me is that an underperforming team can be “relegated” to a lower division in favor of one of the teams from that lower division being boosted up to the top level. Hearing about that got me thinking about NASCAR. Recently, a group of NASCAR Cup Series owners stated that the charters they receive should become permanent. Currently, there are 36 charters split among 16…

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Memorial Day means a lot of things in the United States. Chief among those, of course, is the remembrance of the men and women who have fallen in battle serving the country in its armed forces. Aside from that, though, is the fact that this is the biggest racing weekend on the calendar each year. Whether it’s pavement racing, dirt racing, drag racing or just about any other form of motorsports one can imagine on oval tracks, road courses or otherwise, it will be among the biggest sporting events to take place over the next few days. If one is…

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Auto racing’s most historic and celebrated event will be contested this weekend when the 107th annual Indianapolis 500 takes the green flag at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Borg-Warner Trophy, presented each year to the winning driver, is not only the biggest prize in IndyCar racing but is one of the most sought after rewards in all of motorsports. Although not nearly as steeped in tradition as the Indy 500, from 1994 to 2020 the NASCAR Cup Series contested the Brickyard 400 on the famed 2.5-mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When the winds of public opinion blew toward…

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The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race this past Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway played out in front of one of the most enthusiastic crowds that particular series has seen in quite some time. Granted, there was the nostalgia element of having racing return to one of the sport’s original facilities after an absence of more than a quarter-century. Still, that race exemplified something that both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the Truck Series need more of – enthusiasm. In my opinion, there is a way in which that sort of enthusiasm can be replicated. For quite some time I have…

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My least favorite word in the English language is “deserve” because everybody in our modern society thinks they deserve whatever they want just because they want it. Not very many people seem to want to go out and earn whatever they want or need, they just want it given to them claiming they deserve whatever they desire. As a result, I rarely use the word deserve in any context. However, I am going to make an exception to that right now. If ever any group of modern-era people ever deserved something, it is the people who have invested their blood,…

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Ross Chastain has run afoul of Kyle Larson on more than one occasion during the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. On Sunday afternoon in the Goodyear 400 at the Darlington Raceway, the run-in between the two competitors would ultimately cost both a shot at the race win. On a restart with six laps to go in the event, Chastain started on the inside of the front row with Larson to his outside. When the cars reached turn one, Chastain moved further and further up on the track until Larson was pressed completely against the wall but the No. 1 Chevrolet…

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It’s no secret that many of the NASCAR Cup Series races held so far in 2023 have not been the best the sport has ever offered up. However, the drama of last week and the hype of next week could create a great opportunity for this weekend. If ever there was a perfect time and place for a race it could be this weekend in the Goodyear 400 at the Darlington Raceway. The timing is perfect because the preceding event at Kansas Speedway proved to be one of the best races of the season and the upcoming All-Star Race at…

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Sunday’s Advent Health 400 at the Kansas Speedway continued a trend that has been working against Kyle Larson for the past several weeks. On a regular basis the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has been among the fastest cars on the track, if not the fastest, only to have something go wrong to take away a chance at victory leaving nothing but frustration. Larson spun while racing for the lead early in Sunday’s contest at Kansas following contact with Tyler Reddick. The combination of a fast car and outstanding pit stops eventually lifted the No. 5 machine back to the top of…

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