Inside Circle Track

Knoxville’s Chad Finchum set to race for MBM Motorsports in 2019

Chad Finchum will be back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019 with MBM Motorsports. The 24-year-old driver recently confirmed the news with an announcement on Twitter. It will be the Knoxville, Tenn. racer’s second season with the Carl Long-owned operation. Finchum made 32 starts in NASCAR’s second series in 2018 completing just over 4,000 laps. The team’s efforts resulted in a 30th place finish in the final Xfinity Series standings. They recorded eight finishes in the top-25 with a season-high 14th place coming in the July race at Daytona International Speedway. “Hey everyone, 2019 is here,” Finchum declared in…

Snowball Derby move away from live pit stops is a positive step

The Snowball Derby held each December at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida is one of if not the most prestigious pavement Super Late Model races in the country. And live action pit stops have long been as much of a factor in this 300-lap affair as the on-track action as far as determining the eventual winner is concerned. But as the need for spending as little time in the pit area has become more and more of the equation, teams have begun hiring professional pit crews to service their cars in hopes of winning this highly coveted race. Needless…

5 Reasons Why You Should Appreciate Kyle Busch

The fashionable thing to do among many NASCAR fans is to show displeasure whenever Kyle Busch does anything that could be construed as controversial or inciteful. Few if any drivers arouse more boos during pre-race introductions or during post-race victory celebrations. He, quite simply, is the racer many fans love to hate. But there is a great deal of irony in all the dislike directed toward the younger of the Busch brothers. Many fans claim they want drivers to show more personality, to not be so robotic in their interviews and actions, and to allow their emotions to show through…

Turn 2 Blog: The State of Short-Track Racing with Matt Weaver

*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. In this edition of the Turn 2 Blog we will be discussing five topics regarding short-track racing, whether it be on pavement or dirt. We are happy to be joined by one of the foremost authorities in short-track racing as Matt Weaver(@MattWeaverAW on Twitter) weighs in on our five questions. Matt is the proprietor of ShortTrackScene.com & provides regular contributions to AutoWeek. 1. What is the best thing…

Will 2019 be Chase Elliott’s Championship Year?

An old adage in racing declares that “The first one is the hardest one to get”. If that is indeed true Chase Elliott managed to break that wall down and then some in 2018. As a matter of fact, the Hendrick Motorsports pilot amassed a total of three victories during a season that ended with him in the sixth spot of the overall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings. Further, the 23-year-old driver has shown that he can piece together the type of consistency that will always make him a championship threat as he has made his way into the…

NASCAR Needs A ‘Chili Bowl’

During the course of this week you probably have seen or will see social media posts aplenty regarding the Chili Bowl Nationals. The annual event held inside the River Spirit Expo Center each January for Midget Sprint Cars attracts attention from all over the racing world. Fans and competitors alike from all disciplines of the sport descend on Tulsa, Oklahoma every year to take in the racing action and to be a part of the atmosphere surrounding the week-long event. While the racing action is indeed a major part of the draw to the Chili Bowl Nationals, it’s the whole…

Has NASCAR Hit Rock Bottom Yet?

As a high school Psychology teacher, I have often read and heard that some believe that in order for recovery to occur among those who have serious problems the sufferer must first hit rock bottom. One must first experience the lowest of lows before making a turnaround that will lead to an upward climb that will eventually bring about full recovery according to this theory. If this line of thinking is in fact true for addicts or those afflicted with other types of disorders then one has to wonder if the same can be true of a sport as well….

Richard Childress Racing looking to carry late season momentum into 2019

One organization on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series that appeared to be gaining momentum at the end of the 2018 season was that of Richard Childress Racing. The Welcome, NC based organization ended the campaign by scoring as many top-15 finishes over the final third of the schedule as they had over the first two-thirds of the year. Drivers Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman proved to be consistently better during the closing races of the most recent season than they had been through the first twenty-two events that began the NASCAR grind. Of course, it has to be remembered…

Can William Byron become the next Joey Logano?

Some statements are so obvious that they don’t really need to be said, but they are often said anyway. Those comments are often said to be “as plain as the nose on your face” when made. The statement that William Byron is approaching a pivotal season in his racing career fits that description as the young Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver heads into his second full-time campaign as the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The entire Hendrick Motorsports organization saw its share of struggles in 2018 as only one of its drivers(Chase Elliott) won a Cup…

Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain look to lift Chip Ganassi organization in 2019

Every NASCAR off-season is filled with driver, sponsor, manufacture, and crew member moves and the 2018-19 version of “silly season” has been no different. And every year, those who follow the sport attempt to decipher those moves for the purpose of determining which organizations have most improved themselves with their maneuvering. This off-season there is one organization that almost certainly has lifted itself into an even stronger position as it prepares for the 2019 campaign. With the addition of Kurt Busch to its Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team and Ross Chastain to its NASCAR Xfinity Series effort, Chip Ganassi…