*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. Are you excited about getting Kevin Harvick the broadcaster? Richard: I am looking forward to the perspectives Kevin Harvick will provide in the NASCAR on Fox booth. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series races in which he has served as a commentator, I feel like he has done an outstanding job. And the fact that he is so fresh out of the driver’s seat should allow fans…

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After three full seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series driving for Stewart-Haas Racing where he produced very mediocre results, Cole Custer found himself still with that same organization at the beginning of the 2023 campaign but back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. That move for the 25-year-old driver proved to be a beneficial one as he scored three victories, including the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, which netted him his first NXS championship. With that immediate success upon his return to the Xfinity Series, where he has earned a total of 13 career wins, one has to wonder why the…

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The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series began in 1995 with a modest 20-race schedule mostly on tracks of one mile in length or less with a road course thrown in here and there. Many of the drivers on the tour during those early days were veteran racers such as Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner, Joe Ruttman, Jack Sprague and Butch Miller who had long toiled in the short track ranks and were then finally getting a chance to race on a national scale. Occasionally, a Cup Series driver such as Terry Labonte would even drop in for an event. Overall, the…

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A look back at history can offer a look into what is likely happen in an upcoming event. When it comes to this weekend’s ‘Cup Series Championship’ at the Phoenix Raceway, everyone has an opinion regarding which of the ‘Championship 4’ will come out on top and be crowned at the end of the day on Sunday. After the checkered flag waves over the one-mile facility located in the dessert of Arizona, the NASCAR Cup Series champion will be known. But a look at recent statistics can offer a clue as to who will be hoisting the trophy. 2021 NASCAR…

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Christopher Bell(20) and Kyle Larson(5) are two of the four drivers racing for a championship in PhoenixChristopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and William Byron will enter Sunday’s ‘Cup Series Championship’ at Phoenix Raceway on equal footing with whoever finishes highest among those four earning the NASCAR Cup Series title. Back in 2014, the NASCAR first began using the Playoff format in which sixteen drivers compete with three separate cuts occurring over the final ten races of the season to narrow the field of title contenders to four going into the season finale. The Championship 4 then battle in the…

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When Ryan Blaney broke into the NASCAR Cup Series as a full time driver with Wood Brothers Racing in 2016, he did so with very high expectations placed on him. And in just his second season driving the No. 21 car, the High Pont, NC resident appeared to be well on his way to living up to those expectations after he scored his first career victory at Pocono Raceway. As a matter of fact, Blaney was moved from the Wood Brothers, which serves as somewhat of a subsidiary operation for Team Penske, to the No. 12 Ford with the Roger…

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After what seemed like an infinite wait to run the final laps of the Dead On Tools 250 at the Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, Justin Allgaier just edged Sheldon Creed for the win and a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series ‘Championship 4’. But there was far more to the story than that and much of that story revolved around the organization Creed drives(or drove) for. Creed will drive in the Xfinity Series next season for Joe Gibbs Racing. Following a multi-car wreck with less than ten laps remaining, safety crews took several minutes to clean up the mess. But…

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Chris Buescher enters the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway 43 points below the NASCAR Playoffs cutline in the ‘Round of 8’ finale. Basically, the Roush Fenway Keselowski driver will need a win or the other current championship contenders to experience a disaster for him to advance to the Championship 4. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 17 Ford, he has not shown an ability to run up front or win on the half-mile track. That said, the real contest to stay alive in the Playoffs will likely come down to William Byron(+30), Ryan Blaney(+10), Denny Hamlin(-17) and Martin Truex…

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*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. Is Christopher Bell the new ‘closer’? Richard: It certainly is beginning to look that way. Just when everyone seems ready to count the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team out they seem to find a way to do something big and make a move in the right direction. Last year, Bell scored wins late in the season that got him into the NASCAR Playoffs then helped…

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Tyler Reddick will enter this weekend’s 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway 6th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings just 16 points below the NASCAR Playoffs cutline. That said, with two events remaining in the ‘Round of 8’, the 27-year-old driver may be facing a now-or-never situation considering his past results on the next two tracks. Reddick has come to Homestead before in do-or-die moments. In both 2018 and 2019, the native of Corning, California entered the final race on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule needing to outrun those who he was fighting with for the…

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