AJ Allmendinger Full-time Again in 2025, but Likely Won't Deliver at Michigan

AJ Allmendinger will be making his first start in the NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan this afternoon after it was just announced on Thursday that he would return to the Cup Series full-time in 2025. However, don't expect much from him this weekend, as Michigan has never been one of his better tracks. He has […]

Momentum From Olympic Break Carries Daniel Suarez to One of His Best Runs

As predicted here, despite Daniel Suarez's generally mediocre Richmond record, the positive momentum from his Olympic break gave him one of his best NASCAR Cup Series races ever. Despite Suarez's general lack of speed this season, his team significantly benefited from going on the option tires before any others did, enabling him to drive from […]

Despite Lackluster Run, Kyle Larson Retains Points Lead with Seventh-Place Finish

Kyle Larson had a mediocre run by his standards at Richmond, but still garnered a seventh-place finish to retain a five-point lead over Tyler Reddick and a six-point lead over Chase Elliott but he did lose points to both of them. Larson still finished best amongst the Hendrick drivers although none of them ran very […]

Austin Dillon Wins at Richmond After Dirtiest Move in Years

Despite having almost certainly his worst NASCAR season, Austin Dillon stumbled to victory at Richmond after one of the dirtiest moves in recent memory, marking the third time he hit the leader to win. He actually ran better than in any of his previous wins, as he ran down Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to […]

Ross Chastain Finishes Fifth, but Still Drops Below Playoff Cutline

Although Ross Chastain exceeded expectations by finishing fifth at Richmond, which gave him his best finish in seven races, the race proved to be his worst playoff nightmare as not only did Austin Dillon's ignominious victory blow up the playoff bubble but Bubba Wallace finished fourth and scored stage points while Chastain did not, which […]

Daniel Suarez Riding High After Wedding, Win in Brazil, and Contract Extension

Despite Daniel Suarez's subpar performances since his win at Atlanta, the win and playoff bid proved enough for Trackhouse Racing and they extended his contract for the 2025 season on Friday. Suarez has some real momentum in his corner after his marriage to Julia Piquet, his win in the NASCAR Brazil Series last week, and […]

John Hunter Nemechek Improving, but Probably Won't Contend at Richmond

Although John Hunter Nemechek has won on this track before in the Craftsman Truck Series as recently as 2021, don't expect JHN to recapture the magic this weekend in the Cook Out 400. Much like Daniel Hemric, Nemechek has struggled significantly to adapt to the Next Gen car because his previous full-time season in 2020 […]

Short Tracks Remain Michael McDowell's Achilles' Heel

Although Michael McDowell has surprisingly been something of a qualifying juggernaut this year, he has consistently faded throughout the race on almost all unrestricted ovals, and he has generally had minimal speed on short tracks while his teammate, Todd Gilliland, has been considerably faster. McDowell starts 28th in this weekend's Cook Out 400 at Richmond, […]

Brad Keselowski Continues to Struggle in Qualifying, but Passes Well Enough to Compensate at Richmond

Brad Keselowski qualified 29th at Richmond this weekend, which is actually his worst starting position ever there. However, he's qualified badly more often than not this year and it hasn't affected his performance much because he has been one of the year's best passers. In the spring Richmond race, Keselowski drove from 23rd to 8th, […]

Erik Jones on a Major Short Track Dry Spell

Erik Jones has consistently lacked short track speed since Joe Gibbs Racing fired him, particularly since the introduction of the Next Gen car. Since 2021, Jones has never finished better than 12th or even led a lap on a short track, even in the anomalous spring Bristol race where it seemed like everyone else led. […]

Daniel Hemric Likely Too Slow to Contend at Richmond

As Daniel Hemric continues to get himself acquainted to the Next Gen chassis, he remains the second-slowest full-timer this season ahead of only Zane Smith. Although Hemric has scraped together some top-10 finishes this year, it seems like it takes significantly longer for drivers to learn this car than previous generations of chassis, so Hemric […]

Richmond May Interrupt Justin Haley's Run of Consistency

Although Justin Haley posted the slowest qualifying speed in the field at Richmond yesterday--even slower than his Xfinity Series regular teammate, Riley Herbst--his plodding, methodical style and Chris Lawson's traditionally brilliant strategy have combined to almost always give Haley better finishes than his average running position, as he seems significantly faster at the end of […]

Ross Chastain in Playoff Danger After Poor Richmond Qualifying Effort

Since Ross Chastain's breakout, he has typically qualified poorly by superstar standards but methodically moved through the field whenever he doesn't crash. His Richmond record is weirdly the exact opposite, as he had his best average starting position on a track he had raced at many times entering this weekend, but despite qualifying in the […]

Richmond May Be Kyle Busch's Best Remaining Chance to Make Playoffs

If Kyle Busch has any hope of turning his season around, Richmond may well be the place. It has always been one of Busch's best tracks. However, his greatness at Richmond is becoming a distant memory, as Busch has only led 46 laps in the last eight races and Richard Childress Racing has often lacked […]

Harrison Burton's Richmond Performances Steadily Declining

Although Harrison Burton's father Jeff was a dominant driver at Richmond Raceway for most of his stint at Roush Racing, little of that success rubbed off on Harrison as he has never finished better than 18th nor has he led a lap at the track in a NASCAR Cup Series car. If anything, his performances […]

Chris Buescher More Likely to Focus On Points Than Winning at Richmond

Chris Buescher starts seventh at Richmond this weekend, tying for his best career start at the track. While Richmond was not one of his best tracks with the Gen-6 chassis, he has been quite fast in the last two summer races in the Next Gen era. Buescher won last year's race despite qualifying 26th, his […]

Alex Bowman Tends to Struggle at Richmond in Routine Races

Although Alex Bowman famously won the spring Richmond race in 2021 after spinning out Denny Hamlin (which prompted Hamlin to call him a hack after the race), his record hasn't been too strong otherwise as he has neither finished better than eighth at Richmond nor had an average running position better than sixth. Both of […]

Bubba Wallace Reenters Playoff Picture with Top Five and Stage Win at Indy

After falling out of the projected playoff grid during a slump from Talladega to Pocono when he only led seven laps and had three crash DNFs, Bubba Wallace reentered the playoff race with one of his best runs of the season in yesterday's Brickyard 400. Although he wasn't as fast as his teammate, Tyler Reddick, […]

Martin Truex Jr's Bad Luck Continues at Indianapolis

In his final Brickyard 400 start before retiring from full-time competition in the NASCAR Cup Series, Martin Truex Jr looked to win his first race at Indianapolis but his perpetual bad luck both this year and at Indianapolis reared its ugly head again. Truex was forced to serve a drive-through penalty at the start of […]

Daniel Suarez Scored a Top 10, but Was Far From Contending at Indianapolis

Daniel Suarez weaved his way through the carnage in yesterday's Brickyard 400 to collect an eighth-place finish and was one of the biggest benefactors when several faster cars crashed out. However, despite the finish, his run wasn't very impressive, as the Trackhouse Racing cars were very slow with Ross Chastain ranking 24th in speed and […]

Tyler Reddick the Fastest at Indy, but Not the Best

After previously winning on the Indianapolis road course in 2022, Tyler Reddick looked to become the first NASCAR driver to win on both Indianapolis layouts in yesterday's Brickyard 400 and nearly did so before ultimately finishing second to Kyle Larson. In addition to winning the pole, Reddick led the most laps and also led in […]

Joey Logano's Indy Crash Had Minimal Impact on His Season

Despite finishing in the top 10 in seven of his eight previous Penske races on the Indianapolis, it seemed unlikely that Joey Logano would contend in yesterday's race since he has run significantly worse in 2024 than he did in previous years. However, he worked his way into the top five on the Stage 1 […]

Michael McDowell Has Surprisingly Strong Record at Indianapolis Even in Weaker Cars

Michael McDowell continued his trend of posting the best qualifying performances of his career with an eighth-place qualifying run for today's Brickyard 400. Amongst Ford drivers, only defending champion and hottest driver on the circuit, Ryan Blaney, outqualified him. McDowell is rather difficult to evaluate at Indianapolis because when the NASCAR Cup Series last raced […]

Corey LaJoie's Qualifying Speed and Pocono Pace May Reap Dividends at Indianapolis

After Corey LaJoie wrecked Kyle Busch at Pocono, many fans were outraged that he wasn't penalized. The move seemed to confirm the popular narrative that LaJoie was never good and is overwhelmingly the worst driver on the circuit. Fans who once viewed him as an underdog now frequently consider him an ARCA-level talent because they […]

Jimmie Johnson Makes Brickyard Return, but Don't Expect Much

NASCAR's return to the Indianapolis oval also marks the return of the Brickyard 400's second-winningest driver, Jimmie Johnson, for the first time since 2019. Although his four wins are only one shy of Jeff Gordon's five, Johnson's record tended to be hit or miss as he either contended for the win or was completely out […]

Carson Hocevar’s Lack of Brickyard Experience May Hinder His Usual Speed

Carson Hocevar has quietly been one of the most consistent drivers on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit as he tends to have an unusually narrow range between his best and worst performances and he also seems to be equally good on any kind of track, which is particularly unusual for a driver of his age […]

Ty Dillon Makes Richard Childress Comeback at an Inopportune Moment

After several years racing almost exclusively for second-rate and third-rate teams, Ty Dillon is making his first start for his grandfather, Richard Childress's team since 2015. Unfortunately for him, he is doing so at a time when their cars are arguably slower than they have been since at least 2019. Dillon has been assigned crew […]

Ross Chastain Likely to Play It Safe at Indianapolis While on Playoff Bubble

Ross Chastain continues to perform well albeit in a very low-key manner as his baseline statistics do not capture the level of his performance. Nonetheless, Chastain now sits on the playoff bubble after crashes in two of the last three races. Although he has the speed to lead at times, it seems his cars go […]

Kyle Busch's Poor Season Performance Will Likely Outweigh Past Brickyard Success in 700th Start

By some metrics, Kyle Busch is one of NASCAR's most successful drivers at Indianapolis, as his 324 laps led there rank third all time and first among active drivers. However, Busch has been extremely hit-or-miss there, as all but 42 laps led came during his peak period of 2015-19 when he won back-to-back and cored […]

Harrison Burton Fast in Qualifying, but Will Probably Run Poorly Due at Indianapolis

Despite collecting his best career finish of third on the Indianapolis road course as a rookie in 2022, Harrison Burton has never competed at the Indianapolis oval so there is little to use to project his performance. While Team Penske is on a roll over the past month and Burton qualified 16th yesterday--giving him his […]