Inside Circle Track

Blake Jones looking to achieve big goals following first NASCAR Cup start

Sometimes it takes a lifetime to realize a dream. And sometimes those dreams are never realized at all. This past Sunday at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway racer Blake Jones realized one of his lifelong dreams. Even while growing up as a small child in Sevierville, Tennessee Jones wanted to be a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver and when the command to start engines was given after a persistent New England rain shower delayed the start of the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, the 21-year-old racer had accomplished that goal as he fired the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota to…

Should NASCAR’s Cup and Xfinity circuits race on dirt?

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series made its sixth annual trek to Rossburg, Ohio and the dirt-surfaced Eldora Speedway this past Wednesday night. The result was a door-slamming finish as Chase Briscoe just edged Grant Enfinger at the finish line to get the win. But perhaps the real story surrounding the event came even before the green flag waved as track owner and former NASCAR champion Tony Stewart lobbied for more races, particularly for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, to be staged on dirt tracks. “Maybe one of the days, we’ll get an Xfinity or…

Brett Moffitt looking forward to first Eldora CWTS start

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make its sixth appearance at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway on Wednesday night but it will be the first visit to the half-mile dirt facility for one of the series top drivers. Brett Moffitt has won three CWTS races so far in 2018 and currently resides in the third position of the series standings. However, he will be touring the famed clay surface in Rossburg, Ohio for the first time in his racing career when he pulls his No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota onto the banking later this week. But the 25-year-old driver…

Michael McDowell using faith in Christ to stay on NASCAR track

In the high speed, high pressure world of auto racing there are always going to be ups and downs. No matter who the driver or what team that racer competes for, there are going to be moments of joy and moments of disappointment. For Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series campaigner Michael McDowell, those highs and lows are made easier to deal with by his deep faith in God’s plan for his life. The Glendale, AZ native decided to make racing his profession at an early age. Then as a young adult he made the decision to follow Christ when he…

There are two distinct paths to success in the NASCAR Xfinity Series

The Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway was the first NASCAR-sanctioned event I had covered as a credentialed member of the media in several years. But even with my rather full schedule of dirt races, I do manage to follow the various NASCAR series with some degree of regularity. The result of my attendance this past Saturday did provide a new perspective in regard to the differing paths a driver might take to make it into and succeed on the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Driver Ryan Preece took a huge gamble with his racing career during the 2017 season….

Jeremy Clements Racing working harder and working smarter

It has been said that working hard is not necessarily to key to success. Instead, some argue that working smart is actually the way to go when one wants to come out on top. Jeremy Clements Racing is actually trying to work both harder and smarter within the cozy confines of their Spartanburg, SC shop in order to keep pace with the powerful opponents they go up against on a regular basis. In 2017 driver Jeremy Clements pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent NASCAR history when he and his single-car team that has no affiliation with any…

Chad Finchum looking forward to Bristol Xfinity Series start

*This is the second of a two-part series of stories based on an interview with racer Chad Finchum. The first of these pieces was posted on August 2, 2017. Here is that story–> Chad Finchum working hard to climb the NASCAR ladder Racer Chad Finchum has already made three starts on the NASCAR Xfinity Series during the 2017 season. Although racing at places such as Dover International Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been great, the Knoxville, Tenn. driver is perhaps most excited about his next start coming this Friday night in the Food City 300…

Chad Finchum working hard to climb the NASCAR ladder

Chad Finchum is an accomplished racer who can count his victories by the hundreds. Those wins have come in go-karts, Legends cars, asphalt Late Models, and the NASCAR sanctioned K&N Pro Series. And now, the Knoxville, Tenn. native is working hard to realize his dream of racing at the highest level of the sport in NASCAR’s top divisions. Finchum has started three NASCAR Xfinity Series events in 2017 for veteran car owner Carl Long. The most recent of those starts came at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway where the 22-year-old driver successfully completed the race and gained significant experience on…

Jeremy Clements: From Dirt to Daytona

This is the second of two pieces based on an interview done with NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Jeremy Clements. This driver, himself a former dirt racer, comes from one of the most noteworthy engine building families in the sport of Dirt Late Model racing. Jeremy Clements taking on powerful Cup teams with solo Xfinity effort The Clements family of Spartanburg, SC is one of the most noted clans in all of dirt racing. Their engines are used with great success in Dirt Late Model race cars all over the country. So it would seem logical that a young man growing…

Joey Coulter compares Dirt Late Models to NASCAR Trucks at Eldora

Joey Coulter is one of only a handful of racers to have steered both a Dirt Late Model and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series machine around the Eldora Speedway. In 2016, the Miami Springs, Fla. native finished 12th in his heat race and came up short in his bid to make the feature for the prestigious World 100 in his only attempt on the Rossburg, Ohio half-mile clay oval in a Late Model. In 2013 and 2014 the 27-year-old driver scored finishes of 4th and 14th on that same track in a truck. During the NASCAR portion of his…