Race Weekend Central

Reel Racing: A Look Back at 2020’s Racing Films

2019 Le Mans Wec Kamui Kobayashi Car Joao Filipe Alves Beato Adrenal Media

(Photo: Joao Filipe Alves Beato @AdrenalMedia.com)

Well, 2020 was a weird year for movies. For about half the year, theaters were more or less shut down, and I haven’t been to one since March 2020. I won’t be going back until I get the COVID-19 vaccine and things are a bit better, but I, like so many others, relied more than ever …

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2021 NASCAR Preseason Power Rankings, No. 3: Denny Hamlin

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Joe Gibbs Racing staple Denny Hamlin returns to the No. 11 Toyota in 2021, following up a seven-win 2020 campaign with year 17 of NASCAR Cup Series competition. The veteran and longtime sponsor FedEx signed a multi-year extension with the team earlier this week, following his success in the new decade’s opening trip around the …

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Reel Racing: The Best (& Worst) Movie Paint Schemes of the 2000s, Pt. 2

2008 NCS Darlington Kyle Busch Race Nigel Kinrade

08-10 May, 2008, Darlington, South Carolina USA Kyle Busch car ©2008, autostock, USA Brian Czobat

Yesterday, we tackled the back half of the top 10 movie-themed NASCAR schemes from the 2000s in part one. North of 75 cars ran paint jobs inspired by more than 50 film releases throughout the decade, ranging from blockbusters like all three of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins to odd or obscure choices, …

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Reel Racing: The Best (& Worst) Movie Paint Schemes of the 2000s, Pt. 1

2007 NCS Charlotte Elliott Sadler Car Nigel Kinrade

27 May, 2007, Coca Cola 600. Charlotte , North Carolina USA Elliott Sadler. ©2007, Nigel Kinrade/Autostock

Before the hopefully mostly normal 2021 NASCAR season gets underway, we’ll take a two-part look at NASCAR’s assortment of movie-themed liveries from the 2000s. Let’s also hope that this upcoming year is better for the aforementioned movie schemes; exactly zero ran in the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season, the first time since 1995 that none hit the …

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2021 NASCAR Preseason Power Rankings No. 30: Anthony Alfredo

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

One of only two rookies set for full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition, Anthony Alfredo enters 2021 in the seat of Front Row Motorsports’ No. 38 Ford. Racing alongside 13-year veteran teammate Michael McDowell, Alfredo replaces John Hunter Nemechek, who dropped down to the Camping World Truck Series for the upcoming season. “Fast Pasta” has part-time …

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2020 IndyCar Team Reviews: Team Penske

Josef Newgarden 2020 Indy 500 Qualifying

Josef Newgarden (Photo: Joe Skibinski, courtesy of IndyCar Media)

Just one year removed from a 2019 during which all three of Team Penske’s full-time NTT IndyCar Series drivers finished top five in points, the motorsports empire showed some slight cracks in its armor during a rough 2020 season. Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden contended for a title and was the team’s bright spot, finishing …

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2020 IndyCar Team Reviews: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

2020 Indianapolis 500

Takuma Sato leads the 2020 Indianapolis 500 field. (Photo Credit: Walt Kuhn/Courtesy of IndyCar.)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing split its assets for the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season, threading off into two connected entities as a new decade began. The standard name banner still flew with the flagship team, but an offshoot technical partnership with Citrone/Buhl Autosport provided RLL with an additional entry in two races. Outside of Chip …

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2020 IndyCar Team Reviews: Meyer Shank Racing

Jack Harvey

Jack Harvey before the 2020 Genesys 300. (Photo Credit: Chris Owens/Courtesy of IndyCar.)

Despite being the only single-car, single-driver team in NTT IndyCar Series competition in 2020, Meyer Shank Racing completed its fourth year in the series and first full-time schedule with solid results. Driver Jack Harvey has piloted the team’s No. 60 entry throughout its existence and retained the seat for 2020, continuing to improve both his …

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2020 IndyCar Team Reviews: Ed Carpenter Racing

Ed Carpenter

Ed Carpenter during practice for the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday, June 6, 2020 (Photo: Chris Owens)

Ed Carpenter Racing returned to its sole moniker in 2020 with one full-time NTT IndyCar Series ride and a pair of occasional cars, fielding a rookie in the former and both the team owner and a veteran racer in the latter. Downsizing from a 2019 partnership with Ferrari’s Scuderia Corsa, the only season in which …

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2020 IndyCar Team Reviews: Dale Coyne Racing

Honda Indy 200

(Photo by: Matt Fraver, courtesy of IndyCar Media)

Dale Coyne Racing operated under three different awnings in 2020 in the NTT IndyCar Series, holding down a trio of partnerships for two full-time cars and a one-off for the Indianapolis 500. The team continued its trend of spreading its resources across multiple partnerships, but after two years of doing so did not have a …

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2020 IndyCar Team Reviews: Chip Ganassi Racing

2020 Indianapolis Indycar Scott Dixon Racing Indycar Media

(Photo: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar Media)

Chip Ganassi Racing retained its two NTT IndyCar Series drivers from 2019 for 2020, with Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist remaining in the seats of the Nos. 9 and 10 cars, respectively. Added to the mix was Marcus Ericsson, who debuted in 2019 with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, in a third car. After a dominating …

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2020 IndyCar Team Reviews: Carlin

Max Chilton

AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 12: Max Chilton, driver of the #59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet, drives during NTT Indycar Series testing at Circuit of The Americas on February 12, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Carlin had a much different look for the 2020 season, downsizing to a one-car, two-driver NTT IndyCar Series lineup after a chaotic 2019 season with three cars split among six drivers. This time, it was just the No. 59 on track for the team, divided between veterans Conor Daly and Max Chilton; Daly took to …

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