Category: NASCAR Blogs

Having a fast and efficient pit crew has always been an essential part of winning at the NASCAR Cup Series level. But recently, it seems as if that one aspect is playing more of a role than it should be in determining what drivers will run up front and even win races. Monday’s Wurth 400 at the Dover Motor Speedway highlighted what has been going on for the past year or so at the sport’s top level and that is the fact that many of the passes being made are taking place in the pits. Martin Truex Jr. took the…

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Ross Chastain drove into the back of the No. 15 car piloted by Brennan Poole before Monday’s Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway had even reached the one-quarter mark causing that car to spin up the track and collect the fast moving machine driven by Kyle Larson. Poole was eliminated from competition because of the crash while Larson ultimately finished many laps down. Chastain, however, was unscathed and eventually drove to a second-place result behind race winner Martin Truex Jr. The incident just added another to the list of many Chastain has been involved in while other drivers, media, and…

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In the post-Covid era, Hendrick Motorsports has been the dominant player at the Dover Motor Speedway. Since the high-banked one-mile track went from two races per year to just one, there has been no other team to visit the facility’s victory lane. And based on the early results from the 2023 season, there is every reason to believe that the Rick Hendrick-owned organization will enter Sunday’s Wurth 400 as a favorite to once again take the checkered flag ahead of the pack. In 2022, HMS Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott led a total of 73 laps on his way to victory…

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The Next Gen came onto the NASCAR Cup Series scene at the beginning of the 2022 season and initially showed some promise as the sport’s new racing machine. Tracks that had previously not produced the greatest of competition suddenly were putting on entertaining shows. Tracks such as Auto Club Speedway, Kansas, Las Vegas, Charlotte and Michigan, which had previously been criticized by fans and media for lackluster action, were among some of the best races of the season last year. Unfortunately, other tracks that had been among the favorites on the schedule, proved to be less than spectacular. Martinsville, Bristol…

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When NASCAR comes to the Talladega Super Speedway it isn’t a matter of if there will be a massive crash, or crashes, during the races held on that particular weekend, it’s just a matter of when said crashes will happen. That was in fact the case this time around as big wrecks were a part of the Xfinity Series race on Saturday and the Cup Series event on Sunday. It has just become a part of the experience of racing on the Alabama track. Despite the fact that it took a while during Sunday’s running of the Geico 500, there…

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With the car previously used in the NASCAR Cup Series(Gen 6), the racing done on short tracks and road courses often proved to be the highlights of each season. Many promotional clips from Martinsville, Bristol and Watkins Glen were used by the sanctioning body, its tracks, and its television partners to hype upcoming events. However, those tracks do not seem to be as reliable at producing that kind of material now as they used to be. While there have been some memorable moments to have happened on short tracks and road courses with the now year-old Next Gen car such…

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There was a great deal of ballyhoo made over the fact that NASCAR planned to institute racing in the wet on certain short tracks along with the road courses for the purpose of avoiding delays and postponements. The idea, it has been thought, would give the fans a show rather than having many who cannot stay an extra day or days to watch the running of a rain-delayed event. If Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is any indication of how that process will work, fans are not going to get very much value for…

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This coming weekend’s NOCO 400 at the Martinsville Speedway has to be better than the race held on that same Virginia half-mile one year ago, right? After all, it doesn’t have much of a measuring stick to go up against. In 2022, the weather was miserable with a mix of rain and snow falling in the late afternoon and early evening hours that delayed the start of the race followed by a very bland 400-lap affair that saw little passing and none of the action the track has come to be known for. Chase Elliott took the early lead last…

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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. Have you ever been a part of a more charged atmosphere for a dirt race than that of the Volunteer Speedway last Thursday? Richard: I tend to live more in the moment than in the past so I am not always the best at remembering past events. So as far as saying whether or not I have been a part of a more charged atmosphere I…

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I’ll admit it. I got spoiled over the last couple of years getting to watch the biggest stars in Dirt Late Model and Sprint Car racing do battle on the high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway. Big purses and the lure of one of the most iconic venues in all of motorsports was hard to resist for competitors which made covering those races a thrill. However, the usage of the legendary track during the time it has been covered in clay was greatly reduced this time around. A pair of events featuring the American All-Stars Pro Late Model Series…

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