Frontstretch.com: The best seat at the track... the best view on the net! Saturday, November 21st 2009

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Atlanta Labor Day Edition

Doug Turnbull · Tuesday September 8, 2009

The buzz generated by Sunday’s exciting night race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will likely reverberate through the NASCAR masses for a long time. The Pep Boys Auto 500 saw exciting racing for much of the event and saw someone not driving a non-Hendrick-affiliated car go to Victory Lane (though many were picking Jimmie Johnson to win). The race also did nothing to answer which drivers will be in safe mode for next week’s “race before the Chase” at Richmond. Kasey Kahne’s win moved him from 11th to 6th in the standings, while Carl Edwards’ oil pan problem regulated him to a poor finish and to within 85 points of falling outside the top 12. Kurt Busch totaled his No. 2 Dodge and lost a lot of his points. Kyle Busch led laps but faded toward the end and ended up losing points to 12th place Matt Kenseth, despite Kenseth putting his No. 17 Ford into the wall twice in the first 20 laps. Brian Vickers’ No. 83 team bounced back from axle trouble, to finish 7th and leapfrog ahead of Busch in the points. Now 122 points are all that separate 14th in points Kyle Busch from 5th in points Edwards. The racing in Atlanta was eventful, exciting, and very influential in the points. Here are the HOT, WARM and NOT drivers this week:

Top Ten Things Going Through Chase Austin's Head When He Wrecked Kyle Busch

Doug Turnbull · Wednesday August 26, 2009

10. I may as well force the excitement back into Bristol.

9. Gonna start and park this No. 07 car in fine fashion.

8. Just tryin’ to rattle his cage.

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Bristol II Edition

Doug Turnbull · Tuesday August 25, 2009

Welcome back Bristol – we missed you! Or maybe you never left and we just had to get used to a few less shoving matches in the Thunder Valley Bull Ring. Nonetheless, the Sprint Cup Series capped off an exciting week of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway by seeing Kyle Busch break out of both a bad streak in the Cup Series and in the public relations realm. The win over dominant Mark Martin allowed Busch to inch closer to the Chase threshold and put fellow contenders Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer in his rear view mirror, with just Atlanta and Richmond left before the start of the playoff. Toward the top of the standings, both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon clinched Chase berths, while points leader Tony Stewart had a rare poor outing. Heading into this off weekend, here are the HOT, WARM, and COLD this week:

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Michigan (2) Edition

Doug Turnbull · Tuesday August 18, 2009

What a weekend for Brian Vickers! After winning poles in both the Nationwide and Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway, Vickers scored his second career Cup win on Sunday and came close to scoring the sweep Saturday in the NNS race. Now within 12 points of the Chase, Vickers’ place in this week’s column is no surprise. But with fuel mileage on the minds of many, the MIS race saw a team or two use their gas tanks to keep the momentum going, while several others saw their August success run dry before the checkered flag. Here are this week’s HOT, WARM, and COLD drivers following the 400-miler…

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Watkins Glen Edition

Doug Turnbull · Wednesday August 12, 2009

Monday’s race at Watkins Glen did not provide many answers as far as the Chase is concerned. Most contenders finished well enough at Watkins Glen to keep the points race tight, despite many eyes trained on road course ringers like Boris Said, Andy Lally, and Ron Fellows to pull off some upsets. However, when push came to shove bad luck and mechanical failures wound up ruining their runs, leaving almost all Cup regulars as the ones up front once the checkered flag flew.

But not every full-time driver had their (Mon)day in the sun at the Glen. Plenty of others saw their seasons remain mired in mediocrity or misery as the season has now passed the two-thirds point; for them, the end of the year can’t come soon enough. Read on to find out who they are as here are this week’s HOT, WARM, and COLD drivers heading to the Irish Hills of Michigan this week…

Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Pennsylania 500 Edition

Doug Turnbull · Tuesday August 4, 2009

I’m back from the glorious paradise that is Puerto Rico and arrived just in time to catch the rain that ruined any chance of getting a decent race in on Sunday. My return may be to your dismay, as Tom and Mike did a heck of a job sizing up the Sprint Cup Series drivers last week. Monday’s race wasn’t half bad, considering it was held at Pocono and it was a Monday hold over (or rain check, if you want to call it that). Much like the Richmond and Darlington races of this spring, Monday’s race had a little bit of everything. There were wrecks, not too many and not too few cautions, lots of position-changing, a couple of come-from-behind efforts, an on-track rivalry, a breakthrough win, and an emotional Victory Lane celebration. That is a lot more drama than recent past Pocono races have provided. All that being said, here are this week’s HOT, WARM, and COLD drivers of the week.

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Chicagoland Edition

Doug Turnbull · Tuesday July 14, 2009

The twosome of NASCAR races at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend seemed to be shaping up in the same, slow way that we have come to grow used to at Joliet, Illinois’ cookie-cutter track. On Friday, the Nationwide Series race was nothing more than a parade of small floats attempting to give chase to the behemoth balloon that is the Joe Gibbs Racing’s Toyota-powered team. Saturday’s Cup race wasn’t much better, as the nose of Mark Martin’s Kellogg’s Chevy inhaled clean air and simply dominated, surrendering the point only to Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson at times.

Then, all of a sudden, came those last 50 laps…

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Daytona Summer Speedweeks Edition

Doug Turnbull · Tuesday July 7, 2009

The July 4th bash at Daytona International Speedway literally ended with a bang, as Kyle Busch’s attempt at blocking Tony Stewart from taking the race win sent him bouncing off the frontstretch wall. While the finish stole the headlines, the plights of Chase-contending drivers permeated other post-race storylines. Drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, David Reutimann, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, and Brian Vickers now sit in spots 11th thru 17th in points, and all of them were involved at least somewhat in wrecks or spins Saturday night. At the same time, the race atop the point standings opened up, as Tony Stewart took the checkered flag and Jeff Gordon got caught in the first “Big One” early in the race. The ability of drivers in this wreck-filled race to bounce back into contention is a major factor in determining this week’s HOT, WARM, and COLD drivers.

Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: New Hampshire Edition

Doug Turnbull · Tuesday June 30, 2009

Now, we move on to this week’s matters…

Joey Logano stole some history at New Hampshire on Sunday, becoming the youngest driver to win a Sprint Cup race by not pitting his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota during the last round of pit stops, taking a gamble and hoping for rain at his home track. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli’s decision quickly made up for Logano’s run-in with Ryan Newman, as well as the resulting flat tire and spin that resulted from it midway through the race. But while Logano’s upset victory continues to be the big story, there were a few other upstart runs, as well, considering that rained-out qualifying placed the top points contenders in the top starting positions. And while few relinquished their top spots Sunday, there were some that broke through and in hopes of reversing their unlucky trends so far this season. Here are the HOT, WARM, and COLD drivers for this week… the first of the ten races that precede the advent of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Petty and Earnhardt (Possibly) to Toyota? The Times They Are-a-Changin'

Doug Turnbull · Wednesday June 24, 2009

Rumors are just rumors and this time of year sees the mill turn the most. Two weeks ago, Richard Petty Motorsports announced a partnership with Braun Racing to field entries in five Nationwide Series races with drivers Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne. The Braun team runs Toyotas, so, despite the press release not mentioning the manufacturer of the cars, the general belief is that RPM is simply funneling the sponsors and drivers over to the Braun team’s No. 10 Toyota (which is unsponsored and will carry the No. 9 for the Petty races).

With financial struggles riddling Chrysler to the point of rumored non-payment in sponsorship dollars to RPM and other money problems increasingly present at Richard Petty Motorsports, a team that started with Ray Evernham getting huge backing from Dodge, a possible move to Toyota by the whole organization in the near future does not seem out of the question.

The Frontstretch: dturnbull by -- Saturday November 21, 2009

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