Denny Hamlin

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By: Toby Christie, Editor – Follow on twitter @Toby_Christie

FORT WORTH, Texas — NASCAR has reduced downforce on the race cars in recent years, and Texas Motor Speedway knocked the banking down on one set of the turns at their 1.5-mile speedway, so you would expect naturally that cars would be pacing around at a slower clip. However, in Friday’s qualifying session for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500, five drivers eclipsed the 200-mile-per-hour barrier and shattering the old track qualifying record.

While the speed chart is exciting for fans, some drivers left the session a little shook by the incredible speeds that they were running in the session.
Continue reading “Hamlin, Other Drivers Uncomfortable With High Texas Qualifying Speeds”

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By: Toby Christie, Editor – Follow on twitter @toby_christie

FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s been a whirlwind week for Chase Elliott.

Last Sunday, it looked like the 21-year-old driver would capture his first win, as he was leading with a few laps to go at Martinsville Speedway. Then, Elliott was spun out of the lead and into the wall after a super aggressive move by Denny Hamlin.

While the crowd cheered in support of Elliott and rained boos down on Hamlin, Elliott took the high road and refused to say anything negative about his competitor.

Friday in his media availability Elliott continued to keep his head down when questions of retaliation were raised.
Continue reading “Elliott Refuses to Talk Hamlin Payback, But Likes His Chances at Texas”

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By: Toby Christie – @Toby_Christie

One of the greatest safety innovations in racing history is the SAFER barrier, or the metal walls, with energy absorbing foam that sit in front of the existing concrete walls at race tracks around the country. Fans, drivers and members of the NASCAR industry have called for tracks to add SAFER barriers at every section of the track inside and out, but every now and again cars in severe accidents find exposed concrete walls.

This weekend, at Sonoma Raceway during the Toyota / Save Mart 350 we were reminded once again how important the softer SAFER barrier walls are.
Continue reading “Opinion: Sonoma Reminds Us That SAFER Barriers Need to Be Everywhere”

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By: Toby Christie – @Toby_Christie

In the interest of being honest, I have to admit that when NASCAR announced during the offseason that if a race winning car failed post-race inspection at a high enough level that they would tag the victory as an “encumbered” win, I was a fan of the move. An encumbered win would result in point penalties, but more importantly the win would not count toward the driver’s total of ever important playoff points.

It felt like finally something was going to be happening to teams that decided to bring a tricked up car to the track to tack on more wins.

However, after seeing the process unfold a couple of times so far in 2017, I can’t help but feel like like I was naive for my initial thoughts on the new rule. In fact now I feel the rule is a load of crock.
Continue reading “Opinion: Can We Just Start Stripping Encumbered Race Wins?”