NASCAR Features – Page 5 – Inside Circle Track

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Penske crew chief Jeremy Bullins having fun in the dirt while prepping new car, driver

Being a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief is one of the most demanding and stressful jobs in sports. A long 36-race schedule, endless travel, and the constant pressure of trying to get ahead of the competition can be exhausting both mentally and physically. Almost certainly, each of those who hold that title have to find some sort of release from the grind of leading a team in the most high-profile form of American motorsports. Team Penske crew chief Jeremy Bullins has indeed found a way to leave the day-to-day worries of having to prepare cars capable of competing for race…

Brad Keselowski making moves to reassert Roush organization as “top-tier team”

The organization led by Jack Roush was a perennial contender for NASCAR Cup Series race wins and championships earlier in its history. Drivers such as Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards were frequently seen at the front of the field and near the top of the standings just over a decade ago. However, the company that was long the standard bearer for Ford Motor Company’s stock racing efforts has over the past few years fallen to the level of a mid-pack runner. The organization’s last wins came in 2017 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored victories at the…

Noah Gragson earns Xfinity Championship 4 spot with dramatic Martinsville win

October 30, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – To get to the Championship 4, you have to drive like a champion. That’s what Noah Gragson did on Saturday night in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Faced with the necessity of winning the race to keep his NASCAR Xfinity Series title hopes alive, Gragson did just that, pulling off a dramatic pass of Daniel Hemric from the outside lane in the first attempt at overtime and holding off series leader Austin Cindric in the second extra period. With Cindric’s…

Zane Smith captures wild Truck Series race at Martinsville; Championship 4 set

October 30, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – On a track strewn with spinning trucks and broken hearts, Zane Smith catapulted into the Championship 4 with a thrilling overtime victory in Saturday’s United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway. In a no-holds-barred race that featured 14 cautions for 89 laps, Smith won under yellow after he, Stewart Friesen and Todd Gilliland raced three-wide—yes, three-wide at Martinsville—off Turn 4 on the first lap of overtime. Contact from Friesen’s Toyota sent Gilliland’s Ford spinning across the start/finish line to start the final lap. As Friesen moved down the track…

Stewart Friesen looking forward to testing NextGen car at Wythe Raceway

With the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series campaign winding down and the first season with the NextGen car fast approaching, the testing of that new machine has ramped up. Well documented practice sessions on the Charlotte Roval and the quarter-mile paved oval of Bowman-Gray Stadium have recently taken place. But those are not the only types of tracks the NASCAR’s top division will compete on in 2022. As was the case in 2021, there will be one race for the sport’s premier series on a dirt surface. Once more, the Bristol Motor Speedway will be covered in clay for its spring…

Brandon Brown secures first Xfinity Series victory at Talladega

Oct. 2, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – As he crossed the finish line under caution on a dark race track, Brandon Brown surrendered to the emotion of his first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. “Thank God,” Brown exulted. “We did it. We did it. We won!” On a day of unexpected victories at Talladega Superspeedway—a track where the unexpected sometimes seems commonplace—Brown had a narrow lead three-wide with Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones at the previous scoring loop when NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race on Lap 102 for a multicar wreck…

Tate Fogleman slides to Truck Series win at Talladega

Oct. 2, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – That’s Talladega for you. Before upset winner Tate Fogleman could go to Victory Lane, he had to visit the infield care center after sliding sideways across the finish line in tandem with runner-up Tyler Hill and slamming into the inside wall. Fogleman claimed the win in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 after he turned then-race-leader John Hunter Nemechek sideways and passed him in the Talladega Superspeedway tri-oval as the trucks approached the stripe. The victory was Fogleman’s first in 46 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts. The driver of…

William Byron: “It’s all about the Playoffs”

Last year at this time it was iffy as to whether Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron would even make the NASCAR Playoffs. However, a win in the regular season finale at the Daytona International Speedway assured the Charlotte, NC native of a place among the sixteen drivers who would enter the final stretch of races with a chance to ultimately be crowned as the NASCAR Cup Series champion. Byron would see his title hopes dashed quickly, however, after he was eliminated from contention at the end of the first round in 2020 ultimately finishing 14th in the final series rundown….

Stewart Friesen positioning himself for multiple championships

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will end its regular season on Saturday on the road course at Watkins Glen International. When the checkered flag waves on the ‘United Rentals 176 at the Glen’, the NASCAR Playoffs field will be set for the seven-race run to the championship. There are seven drivers already locked into the playoff field with three spots still in question. While drivers Carson Hocevar, Stewart Friesen and Chandler Smith are positioned well going into the deciding race, they are not yet assured of a place. But one of those three drivers goes into the weekend with…

Aric Almirola shakes up NASCAR Cup Playoffs with unexpected win at New Hampshire

July 18, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service With a stunning victory in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola sent shock waves through the NASCAR Cup Series’ Playoff standings. With hard-charging Christopher Bell closing behind him, Almirola crossed the finish line at the 1.058-mile track .657 seconds ahead of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to win the third race of his career and give Stewart-Haas Racing its first ostensible Playoff berth of the 2021 campaign. After battling Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney—who waged their own internecine war shortly after the…