It’s time for our weekly Friday morning tour around the racing world. From hot laps to the main event, here’s what’s on our mind this week.
Hot Laps: No Guarantee
What NASCAR Cup Series team has the most on the line with four races remaining in the regular season? It’s RFK Racing, which does not yet have a car qualified for the playoffs.
Qualifying: Who Can Beat Kyle?
The burning question entering the 64th Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway, who can beat Kyle Larson? Larson has won three of the last four runnings of the event and the driver of Paul Silva’s No. 57 is clearly the one to beat heading into the week.
Back Row, Isabella Robusto, Becca Monopoli, Quinn Davis and Lanie Buice. (Rich Corbett photo)
First Heat: Six Women
Last week’s ARCA Menards Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park saw six women take the green flag — Kadence Davenport, Regina Sirvent, Isabella Robusto, Becca Monopoli, Quinn Davis and Lanie Buice. That tied the ARCA record.
Robusto finished fourth.
Second Heat: Does Intent Matter?
NASCAR’s officiating in regard to bad (rough, aggressive or inadequate) driving remains sketchy and inconsistent. Should intentional bad driving that causes a crash be penalized, while plain, old bad driving that results in an accident is completely ignored? Both place drivers and fans in harm’s way.
Third Heat: Generational Talent
Is there anyone out there who doesn’t believe Connor Zilisch is a generational talent behind the wheel of a race car? Zilisch, who turned 19 last week has won five NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season, including three straight.
Zilisch broke into the spotlight last spring winning numerous road racing events including the Rolex 24 and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
He will win a NASCAR Cup Series race next season.
Fourth Heat: Summer Shootout
For three decades, the Summer Shootout series at Charlotte Motor Speedway has a tremendous track record in producing the next generation of racing car drivers.
This summer’s series on the quarter-mile on the frontstretch of the superspeedway saw even more future stars emerge. Headlined by Brexton Busch, champions included Landon Thrasher, Jake Bollman and Ben Morabito.
But what’s puzzling was the presence in victory lane of Kyle Busch, Shane van Gisbergen and other drivers who have nothing to prove.
Fifth Heat: It’s A Two-Stopper
With the exception of the Indianapolis 500, this year’s NTT IndyCar Series season has been uninteresting. In my mind, two key elements have contributed to this. One is, obviously, the domination of Alex Palou.
The second should be addressed and that’s the fact everything comes down to pit strategy. When announcers begin discussing pit strategy during the opening of the telecast, my next stop is alternate programming.
C Main: Upcoming Broadcasts
SPEED SPORT 1 continues to add more and more LIVE broadcasts and premieres to its lineup of 24/7 motorsports coverage.
Upcoming live events on the network include the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières from Ontario, flag-to-flag coverage of the Monterey Motorsports Reunion from California’s WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca, the Trans Am Series’ lone visit North of the Border with the annual Labor Day Sprints at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the 43rd running of the legendary Speedway Motorsports IMCA Super Nationals at Iowa’s Boone Speedway and the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series return to Darana Raceway (formerly National Trail Raceway).
SPEED SPORT 1 is free and available on major streaming platforms like Prime Video, The Roku Channel, PlutoTV and more. Learn more at SPEED SPORT1.com.
B Main: Destination Iowa
Central Iowa is the place to be for race fans over the next 10 days.
The Knoxville 360 Nationals kicked off Thursday night and runs through Saturday at Knoxville Raceway, with the Capitani Classic scheduled at the historic half-mile on Sunday. It all leads into the Knoxville Nationals Aug. 6-9.
But what’s different this year, is the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series will be in action 35 miles up the road at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
Fans will wear out the highway between the two facilities. However, if you are making that trek, remember the bridge is out on Highway 14 between Knoxville and Monroe.
Feature: Injury Bug
Injuries have been the story of the summer in dirt track racing, especially in the winged sprint car variety.
A grueling week in Ohio saw Tyler Courtney suffer a back injury that required surgery, Aaron Reutzel break his foot and Brad Sweet suffer a concussion.
Kalib Henry, Paul Nienhiser and Ian Madsen are among other winged sprint car drivers who suffered injuries this summer, while USAC kingpin Justin Grant recently broke his left foot in a crash.
Finally, modified master and Craftsman Truck Series regular Stewart Friesen suffered serious injuries in a July 28 modified crash at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec. Friesen faces a lengthy recovery.
Victory Lap: Another Year
Today marks another trip around the sun for us. The good news, our number of record (57) will win a lot of races over the next 365 days, and probably next week’s Knoxville Nationals among them.
