The return of NASCAR for 2016 was a smashing success. I mean, if smashing cars was the intent, they could not have done better. By the time the Sprint Unlimited, which is actually limited to 25 drivers, came to a conclusion, someone had tallied up that an estimated $2.5-million in damages had been racked up.
Starting in ten days, just about every week the engines will roar to life and 43 cars will take the green flag. However, we all know that not all race drivers and teams are created equal.
I loved watching Cale Yarborough in the No. 11 and Richard Petty piloting the No. 43. How I miss seeing Dale Earnhardt in that black No. 3. I wish I could see Rusty Wallace again in that blue deuce though my reasoning is that him driving means there was no way in hell he would be announcing.
The gifts are open, the tree is on borrowed time, and a New Year is almost upon us. Seems like a good time to reflect on the year that was, as we embark on the one that will be.
Family. We often hear how NASCAR is a family sport, where drivers, their wives, and their kids all share in the experience behind the scenes. The family theme has dominated since the sport’s earliest years. I mean, it starts with the France family, as Bill, Bill, Jr., and now grandson Brian have held the reins of the family operation since the very beginning.
Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead at Phoenix, no one was going to catch him. Not a single driver even challenged him. Yet, there was still one vehicle that even the race winner could not pass. The pace car.
There are things that matter. A retiring champion seeking to go out in a blaze of glory. A 25-year old looking to complete his career redemption as well as claim a fourth straight checkered flag. An elder statesman who believes that young man deserves something a bit different.
There is a single word that I dearly would like to begin this article with. One word. However, due to my raising and the fact there are some rules that prohibit me from using that one word, I shall have to come up with a compromise. Fudge!
At this stage of the game, only a dozen drivers really matter in Cup racing. Twelve still have a shot at the championship, 18 more either have the results or the resources to at least theoretically be of interest, while 13 others are just there and rarely, if ever, matter.
Rain. It came on Saturday and it continued to rain on the parade of a few on Sunday. Not on Kevin Harvick, as once again he finished amongst the top two. He won the previous week to stay alive in the Chase and was second at Charlotte. Fourteen times he has been there, to go with 24 Top Tens in thirty races this season.
The 18-year-old Crews from Hickory, North Carolina, contended for his first O'Reilly victory in the closing laps before settling in a career-best third place at the Last Great Coliseum.
The 19-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led 24 of 300 laps and utilized a late move by remaining on the track with worn tires to prevail through two restarts and claim his first NASCAR victory both of the 2026 season and at Bristol.
The 2023 Cup Series champion from Hartford Township, Ohio, clocked in a pole-winning lap at 127.064 mph in 15.101 seconds for his first Cup pole of 2026 at The Last Great Coliseum.
The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Prairie, Minnesota, claimed his first O'Reilly Auto Parts Series pole position of the 2026 season as he bids for his first Dash 4 Cash bonus.
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.
