Tim Watts's Articles

The 2023 season rolls into the final race with very little drama. The constructor and driver champion was determined weeks ago, as was second and third in the driver standings. You have to look to fourth to find a battle that is unresolved. Carlos Sainz Jr., Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris all have a shot […]

Tell me you’re not an American sport without telling me you’re not an American sport: By scheduling your inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix to start at 1 a.m. ET to allow European fans to watch it at a reasonable hour. This course is an unknown and the weekend has already been mired in controversy with […]

The 2023 NASCAR season has reached its culmination and, alas, our time together for the year must come to an end as well. So why not go out with a win? Today, the NASCAR Cup Series crowns the champion. There are three potential first-time champions eligible, and Kyle Larson who is seeking his second title. […]

What else can be said for Max Verstappen that has not been said already? Other than his performance not even making the optimal line last week, he has been truly dominant. The competition for runner-up to Max has really gotten good. Lewis Hamilton has resurfaced as a weekly podium threat, while Lando Norris and Charles […]

The 2023 NASCAR season has reached its culmination. Tonight, the NASCAR Xfinity Series crowns the champion at the conclusion of the race. Last night’s race to determine the Truck Series champion was ridiculous. Championship contenders took each other out, and the longest shot of the championship four walked away with the trophy. Other than Corey […]

The 2023 NASCAR season has reached its culmination. Friday night, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series crowns the champion. Typically, the four contenders for the title are racing near the front as none of the nonqualified drivers want to be the driver that makes a mistake and ruins a contender’s opportunity. They will not tend to […]

Martinsville is the penultimate race of the season and the last chance for six drivers to win their way into one of two remaining championship spots. Christopher Bell was a surprise winner last week after Larson drove into the safety barrel by pit road and eliminated the dominant car. Bell locked himself into the Championship […]

Max Verstappen is smashing records this season. His win last week from the sixth starting spot was just the latest in a truly remarkable season.    Max has won four of the last five Mexico City Grand Prix races and is a huge betting favorite as he is every week of the 2023 season. Max […]

Martinsville is the penultimate race of the season and the last chance for seven drivers to win their way into one of three remaining championship spots. Sam Mayer won his way in last week, leaving John Hunter Nemecheck, Cole Custer and Austin Hill tentatively holding the other three spots, but Justin Allgaier lingers tantalizingly close.  […]

Kyle Larson ensured that he would be racing for a title in two weeks by virtue of his dominant win last week in Las Vegas. Three slots remain, and seven drivers will be looking to leave Miami with their spot secured with a win. Kyle Larson will look to make it two in a row […]

Congratulations to Max Verstappen, who secured his third straight drivers championship with an amazing season. Red Bull has wrapped up the Constructor championship, so the storyline going forward is if anyone can beat Max and which drivers are in danger of losing their seat.   There have been 10 races at COTA for F1, and […]

The Round of 8 continues for NASCAR’s Xfinity Series this week at Miami. Last week, Riley Herbst secured his first career Xfinity win with a car that really came alive toward the end of the race. While it was great to see the fan favorite hit that milestone, it prevented any of the active playoff […]

Four drivers look to walk away at the conclusion of Saturday’s Truck Series Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 with their championship quest still alive. Corey Heim knows he will be one of those four drivers after locking up a spot with his win at Bristol. Carson Hocevar is in decent shape to advance and appears […]

After four drivers were eliminated last week, eight drivers remain for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship. The quest resumes at Las Vegas, as four races remain in the season. Last week, AJ Allmendinger won with a strong run at Charlotte’s Roval. However, it was disclosed that it was not enough to maintain his Cup […]

After four drivers were eliminated last week, eight remain for the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. The quest resumes at Las Vegas Saturday as four races remain in the season. Last week, Sam Mayer won his way into the round of eight with a strong run at Charlotte’s Roval and collecting his third win of […]

By the end of the weekend, Max Verstappen will have locked up the championship. In what has been an anticlimactic season, all that is left for the reigning champ to do the rest of this campaign is collect trophies. The play this week, however, comes out of the Mercedes camp, as both George Russell and […]

The Charlotte Roval is the first playoff elimination race for the NASCAR Cup Series. Four drivers will be eliminated at the checkered flag of this race. The return of stage cautions means we will see more strategy, as drivers who are not locked into advancement will race for stage points and sacrifice finishing position.    […]

The Charlotte Roval is the first playoff elimination race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Parker Kligerman and Daniel Hemric are separated by just 1 point as they battle for the cutoff position. The return of stage cautions means we will see more strategy as drivers who are not locked into advancement will race for stage […]

Cue Eric Church singing about five boys heading to Talladega after high school. It is that time again, as one of the most exciting race tracks for spectators hosts the final restrictor plate race of the 2023 season. As the playoffs are halfway through, only one driver has locked their way into the Round of […]

The last restrictor plate race on the schedule for the NASCAR season is upon us. Carnage and turmoil are the norm at Talladega, and dominator points are not nearly as important as finding drivers that finish the race and drivers that provide place differential. It is not generally a winning strategy to roster top 10 […]

Texas is the first race of the Round of 12 for the NASCAR Cup Series. Texas is the lone intermediate track in this round with the Roval and Talladega next in line. Texas is historically a track that is difficult to pass, and thus the restarts are very aggressive since it is the best chance […]

As predicted in this article last week, the Max Verstappen and Team Red Bull winning streak came to a screeching halt in Singapore. In that race, a couple of drivers appeared to have the best car, yet none of them were part of Team Red Bull.    In an effort to prove last week was […]

Texas is the second race of the opening Round of 12 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs. Last week, Justin Allgaier punched his ticket into the next round with his win at Bristol. This week, Allgaier looks to keep the Texas trophy within the walls of JR Motorsports after Noah Gragson scored the win last […]

Could this be the weekend that ends Max Verstappen’s amazing win streak? As Verstappen pushed his win streak to double digits in Italy, his season has shown that the championship is his. He cannot lose the championship despite there being eight races left. What he can lose is this weekend’s race, as both he and […]

The NASCAR Cup Series has reached the first elimination race of the 2023 playoffs. Martin Truex Jr., the regular season champion, is at risk of failing to advance in the playoffs. He is not alone however, as at night’s end a total of four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs. This weekend has shown […]

The night race tripleheader weekend at Bristol is in full swing as the Xfinity Series grabs the spotlight for tonight’s playoff opening race at the famed short track. The race last night amongst the trucks showed that a dominant car can really rack up points, yet not come away with the win. The size of […]

The rare Thursday night showdown for a major NASCAR series is upon Thursday as the Craftsman Truck Series continues its playoff run. Matt Crafton and Matt DiBenedetto were eliminated from the playoffs last week at Kansas. That leaves eight drivers still alive vying for the championship. This round of eight will determine who will be […]

Last week in Darlington, South Carolina, Kyle Larson locked himself into the Round of 12 in the playoffs with the win at the famed oval. This week, the series moves to Kansas where Toyota has been the strongest of the manufacturers. Denny Hamlin took the checkered here in the first race, and Bubba Wallace won […]

The Xfinity Series has reached the final race of the regular season, and 10 of the 12 playoff spots have been locked up. After the green flag waves Saturday, Daniel Hemric will lock up the 11th spot. That leaves one spot up for grabs and Riley Herbst and Parker Kligerman enter Saturday’s race with a […]

The Cup Series kicks off its playoffs at one of the most storied tracks in the country. This track is notorious for catching drivers who push the limits a bit too far and hit the outside wall. In the spring, this race was wreck-heavy, and it took out some very fast front-running cars.    This […]

This track is a course that rewards speed over the technical prowess. While Verstappen was beaten for the pole, I expect him to still win since he has been on a different level all season. This may be the race that you see Ferrari jump back to the podium. Carlos Sainz Jr. has looked good […]

With NASCAR’s Truck and Cup Series having locked in their playoff participants, the Xfinity Series regular season works its way to a conclusion in the next couple of weeks. The only drama that is left is the battle for the final spot in the playoffs as Parker Kligerman and Riley Herbst continue to battle for […]