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Turn 2 Blog: How hard should the others race the contenders in the finale?

*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 driver is the most surprising entry in the 2022 version of the Championship 4? Richard: The answer here probably depends on when the question was actually posed. Few, if any, had Ross Chastain penciled in as a serious NASCAR Cup Series championship contender before the season started. But once things got underway, the watermelon farmer and his relative upstart Trackhouse Racing team quickly showed themselves…

Might Martinsville’s Xfinity race overshadow the Cup hype?

It has been said that all publicity is good publicity. But is that statement always true? What if the publicity in question outweighs the event that is actually supposed to garner the most publicity? The NASCAR Playoffs system was implemented for the primary purpose of creating drama over the closing weeks of the racing season. Whether one sees it as legitimate drama or artificially contrived drama, it is drama nonetheless. The ultimate purpose is to showcase action that will provide something for media, fans and competitors alike to talk about throughout the final third of the schedule. Of course, the…

What would you do to grab a Championship 4 spot?

This Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway will mark the final event before the four drivers who will compete for the season title next weekend in Phoenix. When the checkered flag waves on Sunday, there will be four drivers to be eliminated from contention while the remaining four will punch their ticket to the Championship 4 finale. As it stands going into the Martinsville event, Joey Logano is locked into the Championship 4 by virtue of his win two weeks ago in Las Vegas. Since Kyle Larson, who had already been eliminated from the Playoffs, won last weekend…

Will Martinsville produce a Playoff worthy thriller?

This weekend’s Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Martinsville Speedway will again serve as the deciding contest that will determine the Championship 4 going into the season finale in Phoenix. In past years this particular race on the paper clip-shaped half-mile track has produced some epic moments such as when Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott clashed in 2017 or when Kevin Harvick desperately tried to stay alive in the NASCAR Playoffs by spinning Kyle Busch on the last lap in 2020. And don’t forget the incident between Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin last fall. This event has provided…

NASCAR had to walk a tightrope when issuing Bubba Wallace penalty

Virtually everyone, whether a racing fan or not, has not only seen but commented on the crash and subsequent physical confrontation between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson during this past Sunday’s South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And those comments have gone the way one might expect of a highly publicized situation involving the stock car racing’s most prominent African-American driver. On Tuesday, it was announced that Wallace had been suspended for the upcoming Dixie Vodka 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway because of his actions related to the incident with Larson. In deciding to suspend Wallace, NASCAR…

Turn 2 Blog: Were Bubba Wallace’s actions worthy of suspension?

*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. Did Bubba Wallace cross the line when he hit Kyle Larson in the right rear at Las Vegas? Richard: As most reading this have probably already seen, Kyle Larson made a three-wide move going into turn three when Bubba Wallace and Kevin Harvick went side-by-side on the back stretch. As the cars exited turn four, Larson’s car got loose and slid up the track forcing Wallace…

Can Tyler Reddick match 2022 stat line with new team?

When thinking of Tyler Reddick’s 2022 season one might wonder whether the success experienced by the 26-year-old driver is more due to his talent as a driver or is it more due to the cars being provided to him by Richard Childress Racing. On Saturday afternoon this driver and team added another achievement when the Corning, California native placed his No. 8 Chevrolet on the pole for the upcoming South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That qualifying effort was Reddick’s third pole of the season. With that impressive number, the two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion has also…

Big test coming up this weekend in Vegas for the Next Gen

When the 2022 season began there were many questions revolving around NASCAR’s new Next Gen car and how it would perform. Initially, there was some excitement generated when it appeared as if the machine had in fact improved the racing on the much maligned 1.5 and 2-mile ‘cookie cutter’ tracks. But as the season has gone on, it seems that some of that initial enthusiasm may have worn off, particularly as more races have been contested on short tracks and road courses. Early on, the thought among many was that if the racing could be improved on the cookie cutters,…

Turn 2 Blog: Is it a good thing for drivers to be so vocal?

*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 surprised that Kyle Larson was eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs before the ‘Round of 8’? Richard: My answer to this is both yes and no. Yes in the sense that the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion driving a Hendrick Motorsports car not making it to the ‘Round of 8’ is surprising no matter who is driving. But that is especially true when the driver…

Three drivers who have had successful seasons even if their Playoff runs end now

There are several ways to measure success in the NASCAR Cup Series. For some drivers and teams, their season is not counted as a good one unless they make the Championship 4 for the title-deciding finale at Phoenix Raceway. But to others, going to the last race on the schedule with a chance to win the championship is not absolutely necessary for the campaign to be labeled successful. Three drivers will enter this weekend’s cutoff event on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway able to call their season a good one even if they are eliminated from contention on Sunday…