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Showing posts from June, 2020

Top 5 Team Switches in NASCAR History

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Top 5 Team Switches in NASCAR History By Brian Cotnoir Many young drivers in NASCAR are signed to development driver deals, where they are committed to a particular team (or manufacturer) and spend 3-4 years racing in NASCAR’s secondary series’ in hopes of making their Cup Debuts sometime in their early 20’s.    Some time’s it pays off right away, while other time’s a driver may have been rushed into a Cup seat too soon.   A failure to capitalize early in your career in NASCAR can result in a loss of sponsorship, factory support, or a ride in NASCAR.    However, sometimes a change is needed before a driver has a chance to reach their full potential.   These are the Top 10 Team Switches in NASCAR History. 5.)   Dale Jarrett (Joe Gibbs Racing to Robert Yates Racing) Dale Jarrett is the son of a 2-Time NASCAR Champion, and he wanted to be a great driver like his father, Ned.   After some moderate success with Cale Yarborough Racing and the Wood Brothers, Jarrett signed to drive fo

5 Lesser-known, but awesome racing stories, Episode 4: A New Hope

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5 Lesser-known, but awesome racing stories, Episode 4: A New Hope By Brian Cotnoir Hey I couldn’t come up with a better title for this article….well….enjoy. 1.)   Kyle Busch banned from NASCAR…for being too young There’s no doubt about it; Kyle Busch is the best all-around driver in the NASCAR today.   Every race he enters he is one of the hands down favorites to win.   Busch is also been known for controversy too.   His actions on the track have earned him bans from race weekends.   Most famously in 2011, when he was parked by NASCAR for the weekend race at Texas for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution. But surprisingly, Busch’s first ban in NASCAR happened for something completely, out of his control: he was deemed “too young”.    Kyle Busch’s older Brother, Kurt, had gone through the ranks of Roush Racing, and eventually Roush would tap the then 16-year-old Kyle to drive its #99 Exide Batteries Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Truck Series.   A driver that young in

Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Truck Series Winners

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Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Truck Series Winners By Brian Cotnoir You know the drill by now.   It’s the same as the other two articles, only it is drivers in the NASCAR Truck Series this time.   Let’s not waste any more time than we have too… 5.)   Scott Speed Many fans of racing consider Scott Speed to be both a Formula 1 & NASCAR Bust.   Speed is actually one of my All-Time favorite drivers.   I think he’s had such a unique and interesting career.   In 2008, while racing in the ARCA Series for owner Eddie Sharp he won 4 races and nearly won the ARCA Series Championship.   That same season he made 16 career starts in the Truck Series for Bill Davis Racing.   Bill Davis Racing had won races that season with drivers Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson.    Benson would eventually win the Truck Series Championship that year.    Speed was driving for a great team and actually won his only series race at Dover.    Speed would eventually move on to the Cup Series for the 2009 season, and

5 Things you'll never see in NASCAR again

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5 Things you’ll never see in NASCAR again By Brian Cotnoir In over 70 years of completion we’ve seen quite a few different changes from NASCAR.   Everything from safety improvements, to changes to the points system, to track layouts, and so much more, but there are some things in NASCAR that we will definitely never see again in the sport. 1.) Three-Digit Numbers In NASCAR’s early days there was no rule on what number a driver in NASCAR could put on their door.   Today a NASCAR driver’s car must run with a car number between 0-99 (including #00-09).    With only 40 cars allowed to qualify for a Cup Series race, there will never be a shortage of numbers on track.     Unlike other professional sports like baseball, football, basketball, and hockey; NASCAR doesn’t “retire” drivers’ numbers. The most well-known drivers to race with a three digit number on their car were   Hall of Famer, Tim Flock who raced car numbers 300 & 301 in the mid 1950’s, and racing legend Dan Gurney

Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Grand National Winners

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Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Grand National winners By Brian Cotnoir Is it better to be good or lucky?   Personally, I think NASCAR’s second-tier series the toughest division to race in.    You essentially have NASCAR Cup Series quality teams competing against family owned teams without factory support and most just getting by from race-to-race.   It’s like the New York Yankees playing against a Single-A baseball team; the odds are always stacked up against the smaller teams, but sometimes something amazing happens!   These are the Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Grand National series winners 5.)   James Buescher James Buescher had a brief, but successful career in NASCAR, which included winning the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series Championship.   He ran one full-time season for RAB Racing in 2014, but otherwise he only raced part-time for Steve Turner; his father-in-law.   While driving for Turner Motorsports, Buescher pulled off one of the most surprising wins in series history when he went from