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This past Friday night, the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series playoffs continued at Las Vegas. This race was a story of domination throughout the majority of the race.  There was not much action on track, overall.  The playoff drama was still present, however, as every driver tried to get as many points as possible before the cutoff race at Talladega. The race started with the unfortunate news that Natalie Decker was not medically cleared to compete.  No update on her condition or future was offered at the time it was first reported. The first two stages of the race were uneventful.  Sheldon Creed took the lead from his GMS teammate, Brett Moffitt, on lap 2 and never gave it up again for the remainder of the stages.  There were no cautions for incident throughout the first two stages.  Creed was able to get the win in Stage 1 with Moffitt, Kraus, Enfinger, Z. Smith, Rhodes, Eckes, Gray, Crafton, and C. Smith all earning stage points behind him....

         The hometown kid cashes in on the correct strategy call.  In a race dominated by Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman; Kurt Busch lucks into the race winning strategy. The race featured several good battles throughout the field, but the lead was hogged by Denny Hamlin. Hamlin and Elliott were the only two able to drive off from the field.      Stage 1, after the competition caution the stage was dominated by Denny Hamlin. The competition caution reset the field a little bit, but as Hamlin pulled away it was a battle for second between Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott. The hard racing between those three was the most entertaining part of stage 1. The early restarts highlighted the aggressiveness necessary to get up front in this aero package.      Stage 2, was dominated by Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin, but the man with the final word, for the stage, was Chase Elliott. Alex Bowman fought up to the top...

  The winningest crew chief of the modern era will no longer be on top of a pit-box beginning with the 2021 season. He received a promotion to an executive position with Hendrick Motorsports as Vice President of Competition. He will oversee all crew chiefs , pit chiefs, engineering teams , fabrication teams , assembly , and competition staff. No announcement has been made in regards to who will replace Knaus as the leader of the #24 Chevrolet team. In his career as a NASCAR Cup Series Crew Chief , Knaus has won 82 races , 7 cup series championships (all with Jimmie Johnson) , and his drivers have made the playoffs every year since the original playoff 'chase' format back in 2004. 

 

 

           (Photo Source : Twitter.com/SportsCenter)           Last week it was officially announced that Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin would be buying the charter from Germain Racing and that Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr would be driving for the new team next season. It’s a move that puts an end to only some of the speculation that has run rampant in this unprecedented silly season. There had been rumors cropping up the past few months that this could happen, but, I must admit that until Wallace announced that he would be leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the season I didn’t give much credence to those rumors. Now that it’s official there’s been plenty of speculation what kind of success the trio will have. It’s exciting news for NASCAR, and you simply can’t overstate what kind of positive impact Michael Jordan and all that comes with him could have on the world of NASCAR. Jordan is arguably the greatest bas...

  (Photo Source : Twitter.com/NASCAR)

  (Photo Source : Twitter.com/KyleBusch) Written by AJ Appeal Appealing Opinions Kyle Busch is the reigning NASCAR Cup Series Champion. He is one of only 16 drivers in the sport's history to have more than one cup title, and is the youngest on that list. Racing Refresh made a prediction at the start of the year that Kyle Busch (often known as 'Rowdy') would go winless in his 2020 campaign, and after 29 races he still has not found victory lane on a Sunday.  We often joke on our radio show about the curse that was started on-air by saying that he would not win, but the reality of the situation is that things aren't adding up for him and the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team. The season as a whole has been as up-and-down as the stock market and there are a million excuses as to why they are not in their usual form.  Kyle in his interviews often times will mention that he feels the current package that is run in the cup series prohibits passing for lead position. While that...

        The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi, and Jeff Gluck released a breaking news story that NASCAR has another rumored 2021 schedule change. The schedule change is a wild one where Texas Motor Speedway loses one of its points paying races in favor of Circuit Of The Americas in Austin, Texas. That's not all though, Texas Motor Speedway will get the All Star race to replace the points paying date, but keeping two race dates. As a NASCAR fan in Texas, who lives roughly 45 minutes from Texas Motor Speedway, it is incredibly exciting news overall.      Let's begin with what this means for Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). Located in the northern part of Fort Worth, Texas is TMS. It is rather far from race fans in the three of the most populated cities in the state. Austin is roughly 210 miles from the track, San Antonio is roughly 285 miles away, and Houston is approximately 275 miles away. Race fans in these cities have a lengthy commute, especially for a tr...

  (Photo Source : Twitter.com/NASCAR_Xfinity)

  (Photo Source : Twitter.com/NASCAR_Trucks)

     It's fair to say that 2020 will go down in history as one of the strangest years the world has ever seen.  NASCAR has been no exception to this.  So far this season, we've seen midweek races, no practice or qualifying, virtual racing events, a Bristol All Star Race and even the Daytona Road Course.  None of us could've imagined NASCAR would be where it is now when we dropped the green flag for the Daytona 500, yet here we are.  One of the most interesting aspects of NASCAR is what fans refer to as "Silly Season."  For those who are unaware of the term, silly season is the offseason trading of drivers in NASCAR.  Each year, silly season becomes a bigger and more entertaining part of the NASCAR season as a whole.  This year, however, what if the glass is too full?  What if certain drivers don't have a home for the 2021 season?  I'd like to look at the free agents left on the market and the potential for them to get a ride fo...

  Several media outlets are reporting that Hendrick Motorsports has been penalized a $00k and docked a total of 10 of their allotted hours for win tunnel testing in the 2021 season after exceeding their allowance of 70 hours in 2020 season. Per Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, the Chevrolet power-house team reported their own overage which was said to be my just minutes over 70 hours in total. No championship points or suspensions were announced by NASCAR in regards to this. Hendrick Motorsports currently has the drivers of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman in the 2020 championship playoffs; both drivers advanced into the round of 12 after last week's race at Bristol. 

             The Xfinity Series playoffs are finally here. Arguably the most competitive NASCAR national series. Seven different drivers won a race in the regular season, and all seven have at least two wins. The Xfinity Series Round of 12 includes Las Vegas, Talladega, and the Charlotte Roval. The Round of 8 includes Kansas, Texas, and Martinsville. The Championship Round is a single round event at Phoenix.       Chase B ri scoe - 7 Wins (Las Vegas, Darlington, Homestead, Pocono, Indy Road Course, Dover, Bristol), 14 Top 5s, 18 Top 10s, Average Finish 7.6, + 48 Points. Zach :  The most dominant driver in the Xfinity Series enters the playoffs as one of the two favorites. He struggled by his standards this summer, but a rebound at Bristol has brought momentum back to the team. His points cushion, and performance this season makes him a virtual lock for Phoenix. Justin :  Briscoe comes into the playoffs as a championship fa...

      The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs have officially advanced to the Round of 12, and its time to speculate where each remaining playoff driver could win, and advance to the Round of 8. The Round of 12 features races at Las Vegas, Talladega, and the Charlotte Roval.       The Cup Series raced at Las Vegas before the pandemic, and Joey Logano was able to snag a win. I have four drivers who's best chance of winning is at Las Vegas. Las Vegas is Harvick's best chance because he can avoid the calamity of Talladega, and the Roval. Harvick's playoff points from his 9 wins has essentially already earned him a bye to the championship race. Brad Keselowski has been great at both Las Vegas and Talladega. Keselowski's best bet is to lock this up at Vegas so he can be as aggressive as possible at Talladega. Joey Logano the most recent winner at Las Vegas, has been fantastic here winning the last two spring races. Just like his teammate Brad Keselowski, Logano will...

       As the 2020 regular season for the NASCAR Xfinity Series drew to a close, we were treated with a solid race at the Last Great Colosseum.  The young Xfinity drivers never cease to put on a show, and Friday Night was no exception.  This is one of the few times this season fans have been in attendance at an Xfinity event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  These fans were definitely treated to a Bristol classic and were certainly not disappointed.  While 11 of the 12 playoff drivers came into the race having already clinched a spot into the playoffs, the playoff drama did indeed add some excitement to the short track racing.  NASCAR decided to add in the PJ1 Traction Compound to the track which did enhance the racing product.  Fans have been extremely critical of the PJ1 at other tracks, but Bristol has seemed to be the exception.  The compound helped to provide multiple grooves of racing while still keeping that old scho...

    Saturday night was a throwback of sorts, a vintage-feeling Bristol Night Race that was dominated by Kevin Harvick. The bottom line returned to fame as the bump and run was the best method for passing, especially the first 400 laps of this race. Overall an underwhelming Bristol race considering modern day multi-grooved Bristol barely showed up, and the bump and run being a forgotten art, but the finish really saved this race.           Chase Elliott won stage one, but Kyle Busch was in hot pursuit after he started in the back for failing pre race inspection. Stage one was fairly clean except for contact between Jimmie Johnson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while they were trying to pass a lapped car. Stage one felt like the calm  before the storm. Spoiler alert...the storm never showed.      Stage two was the Kyle Busch show. He put on a dominant performance, and the crazy part is, this was the best he's looked all season. There wa...

Denny Hamlin confirmed rumors that he and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan are indeed going to operate a single-car NASCAR Cup Entry beginning in the 2021 season. The announcement came late Monday night via Denny's Twitter feed. This comes after their mutual purchase of Germain Racing. Jordan will be listed as the principal owner.  The two famed athletes have been friends for many years and Denny mentioned his relationship with the Jordan Brand as well in tonight's announcement. Their driver has been announced to be Darrell (Bubba) Wallace Jr. Further details regarding the purchase, sponsors, team name, and number were not mentioned. It will operate under the Toyota banner in conjunction with Denny and Joe Gibbs Racing's ongoing relationship with TRD. Denny states that he continues to be focused on his #11 FedEx Toyota in regards to his career as a driver. No comment from Michael Jordan at this time.  Darrell Wallace on Twitter posted : "This is a unique, once-in-a-li...

  After 19 seasons as title sponsor of the NHRA Drag Racing Series, parent company Coca-Cola shared with NHRA Drag Racing that they will ending their entitlement sponsorship agreement a year early, according to Sports Business Journal.  "Recently, Coca-Cola had a change of heard, and told us they would walk away from their agreement to sponsor our professional series.." and NHRA spokesperson said. The agreement was said to last through 2023, but if halted will now end at the end of the 2022 season. At this time, Coca-Cola has not commented on the status of their relationship with the NHRA moving forward. 

First reported by Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, NASCAR's famed All-Star Event will be at its third location in three years. The event will move to Texas Motor Speedway in 2021. In exchange for the All-Star date, they will give up one of their regular season dates in the 2021 Cup Series schedule. The event was hosted by Charlotte for over 30 consecutive seasons before being hosted by Bristol Motor Speedway in 2020. All three tracks are owned by parent company Speedway Motorsports.  The new opening in the schedule may allow for NASCAR's first event at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin. ( Twitter.com/Jeff_Gluck )