NASCAR is changing this year. I don’t know exactly how yet. Racing changes every year. As long as interest keeps going down, I reckon it’s going to keep on changing. If the reason it’s declining is the constant change, I guess the folks in charge haven’t noticed, being as how it’s only been a decade, give or take a few years. They seem to think if they change enough, eventually they’ll get it right. I really hope that’s this year.

Circumstances have progressed to the point where I am a writer of the macro, not the micro. Ever since NASCAR implemented phases and stages, circles and cycles, and themes that we’ve all seen before (Willie Nelson song), I’ve sort of followed the alleged philosophy of a baseball manager not known for tinkering: Let them play (race) and see what happens.

At a track known for making history, Aric Almirola did something on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway that he hadn’t done in nearly seven years: win the pole for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

“In the final round, (it was) just really good execution by the whole team. The changes that the engineers and Johnny made to the car – honestly, just the car the guys brought – we had a really good car right off the truck. We were second in practice and just kind of carried that speed through qualifying. In that final round, I knew a second lap was going to be faster than the first. I sort of decided to throw the first lap away building the speed up and in the second lap, I just really executed, hit all my marks perfectly and was able to be good enough and (post) a really fast lap to get the pole, which is cool because I haven’t done it in like seven years. It was pretty neat.”

Christopher Bell had no equal on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver swept all three stages of the Rinnai 250, leading 142 of 163 laps in securing a convincing victory in the second race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Bell – considered one of the series’ foremost championship contenders – wasted little time in asserting his dominance.

Despite starting third, Bell roared to the lead on Lap 1 of Saturday’s event. He paced the field for much of the afternoon and appeared to have victory in hand before a late caution flag saw the lead cars head to pit road, change tires and gear up for a three-lap assault.

The launch of the 2019 MAHLE “Drive with the Original” Technician Promotion – featuring a one-of-a-kind 426 cubic-inch Hemi Dodge Challenger giveaway as grand prize – was announced at the Daytona 500. The car, to be built by Petty’s Garage, will be finished and tested in time to be awarded to the winner at the Automotive Aftermarket Product Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas, taking place from November 5 to 7, 2019.

“Last year’s “Drive with the Original” promotion received over 70,000 total entries and was a huge hit at AAPEX,” said Jon Douglas, General Manager, MAHLE Aftermarket North America. “We’re excited to again be partnering with Petty’s Garage and feel this year’s Dodge Challenger is going to be a real showcase for MAHLE gaskets, filters, pistons and rings, Clevite engine bearings, and MAHLE engine parts.”

I can’t imagine why NASCAR would run the Daytona 500, its biggest race, with one set of rules, and then abandon those rules for the rest of the season. It’s like telling the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams they have to play the Super Bowl with the players on the 2017 roster.

Okay, it’s not exactly the same because other sports have their biggest spectacle at the end, not the beginning, of the season. It’s not the Patriots and Rams. It’s like the Patriots and Rams. A simile, not a metaphor.

NASCAR Drive for Diversity pit crew members Brehanna Daniels and Breanna O’Leary will make their DAYTONA 500® debut together as tire-changers on Cody Ware’s No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during Sunday’s race at Daytona International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In doing so, Daniels and O’Leary will become the first female graduates of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Development Program to go over the wall in the Great American Race®.

NASCAR Drive for Diversity pit crew members Brehanna Daniels and Breanna O’Leary will make their DAYTONA 500® debut together as tire-changers on Cody Ware’s No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during Sunday’s race at Daytona International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In doing so, Daniels and O’Leary will become the first female graduates of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Development Program to go over the wall in the Great American Race®.

If the driver who (apparently) wins a NASCAR race is in a car deemed illegal afterwards, the outcome will be overturned.

Whoa.

In most sports, this would require no elaboration. It would go without saying. I know many will cite a recent officials’ call (actually, lack thereof) that affected the outcome of a game and the presence of one team and not another in the Super Bowl.

It’s really not the same thing. In fact, most of the time, when auto racing is compared to other sports, it’s not the same thing. One doesn’t have to cite apples and oranges. It’s ballplayers and drivers, or coin flips and caution flags, or high-sticking and driving below the yellow line.

MAVTV will air 12 (2-hour) ARCA races LIVE in 2019. This is the third year of a broadcast agreement between MAVTV Motorsports Network and ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America), and the first time that MAVTV will broadcast 'live' all 12 races.

MAVTV’s broadcast schedule begins at 7:00pm ET on March 9 (re-air at 10:00pm ET), with ARCA’s return to the Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. This is the opening race for the entire 11 event Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge sponsored by Sioux Chief Manufacturing. The General Tire Superspeedway Challenge from the 1.25-mile oval at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, IL, takes the 12th broadcast slot.

NASCAR today announced several initiatives and procedural updates for the 2019 season, which officially opens this weekend at Daytona International Speedway with an action-pack Sunday double-header -- Daytona 500 Busch Pole Award Qualifying (12:10 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
 
Among the announcements made today was NASCAR’s plan to move its thorough post-race inspection to the race track immediately following each national series race. If a vehicle fails post-race inspection, it will be disqualified, resulting in a last-place finish and the loss of all benefits from the win/finish, as well as any stage points. All other vehicles would move up in the finishing order under this scenario.