Young Guns: Who Wears The ‘Black Hat?’

Photo – Getty Images archive

Throughout its storied history, NASCAR has always had a driver or two that fans loved to hate.  It didn’t matter if it was on or off the track or if there was extra media attention outside of the race. Controversy of any kind will find these boisterous stars were right in the middle of it.
Dale Earnhardt Sr didn’t earn the nickname ‘The Intimidator’ for no reason and Darrel Waltrip in his prime carried the nickname ‘Jaws’ just for his mouth alone. Fans have watched Kevin Harvick sprint and leap on a car then into a crowd to ‘discuss’ a situation with a fellow competitor and Tony Stewart kick a reporter’s recorder under a bus.  ‘Bad Brad’ Keselowski has turned a few heads (and race cars) with his aggressive and outspoken personality. Joey Logano and Kyle Busch have each made the highlight reel more than once. Most recently together at Las Vegas which resulted in a mêlée on pit road.
So with the next generation of stars coming up to take over and carry on the sport, who is the one that is going to step out of the corporate model as the villain?

Continue reading

Kyle Larson Steals a Win in NASCAR XFINITY Series Race at Richmond

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Justin Allgaier had the best car in Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

Kyle Larson isn’t very good at Richmond—and isn’t bashful about saying so.

Nevertheless, when two late restarts played out at the 0.75-mile short track, Larson was the race winner in overtime, and Allgaier was a disappointed second, consoled only by the $100,000 check he collected as the winner of the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finishing series regular. Continue reading

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Formidable Legacy will Continue Off the Track

Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives a statement announcing his retirement from NASCAR after the 2017 season at the Hendrick Motorsports Team Center on April 25, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo – Mike Comer/Getty Images

The suddenness and finality of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Tuesday retirement announcement may have sent shock waves through the world of NASCAR racing, but from a global viewpoint, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate.

And it’s not as if NASCAR’s 14-time most popular driver will disappear from the stock car racing landscape when he stops driving a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car at the end of the current season. Continue reading

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wanted to Step Away on his Own Terms, Announces 2017 will be Final Season

Dale Earnhardt Jr. answers questions from the media during a press conference to announce his retirement from NASCAR after the 2017 season at the Hendrick Motorsports Team Center on April 25, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo – Mike Comer/Getty Images

More than anything, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to be the master of his own destiny.

In announcing his retirement from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing on Tuesday at the Hendrick Motorsports campus in Charlotte, North Carolina, Earnhardt described his primary motivation during months of physically and emotionally exhausting rehabilitation from a concussion that sidelined him from the final 18 races of the 2016 season. Continue reading

Absence of Cup Veterans Doesn’t Hurt Dash 4 Cash Competition

Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Cheney Brothers/Southern Foods Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 22, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

A difference in format and a ban on five-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veterans may have changed the tenor of the Dash 4 Cash races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, but it hasn’t diminished the quality of competition in the eyes of the drivers.

This year, eligibility for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonuses is determined during the first two stages of a race, rather than through separate heat races. And though Cup drivers with five-year full-time tenures aren’t allowed to compete, there are plenty of talented drivers with less than five years of Cup experience eager to fill the top-quality rides. Continue reading