Race Weekend Central

Open-Wheel Wednesday: Sage Karam’s Spin Brings Drama

2015 Indycar Sage Karam Head Shot With Helmet

Photo Credit: IndyCar

One might not have expected the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio to be a race filled with drama. In fact, after the grid had been set by qualifying, it would not have been outlandish to think that the finishing order would not be all that much different. Consider that the sum total for caution flags …

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IndyCar Breakdown: 2015 Hondy Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

Graham Rahal Mid Ohio John Cote 2015

Photo Credit: John Cote

In a Nutshell: At a track where cautions have been scant over the past few years, the yellow flags proved to be the element that changed strategy and shook up the field. Graham Rahal, who had started in 13th, benefitted from a timely caution as he made his way to pit road, ultimately coming out with …

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Happiness Is… 483 Points, Ohio & Hungaroring

Kyle Busch celebrates his win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

The feeling after the Brickyard 400 seems to be a hangover without the fun of having drank. It’s like there’s something that should have happened but didn’t and now there’s just the empty blankness of moving on and continuing in some sort of rut. Nothing to take away from Kyle Busch’s win; that dude is …

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Slipstream Saturday: Remembering Jules Bianchi & Continuing the Show

Jules Bianchi Funeral 2015 Afp

Photo Credit: AFP

This week, funeral services were held for Jules Bianchi. The promising driver suffered an accident at Suzuka last year, losing control in the wet and hitting a crane that had moved on track to recover a car that had slid off in the same area a few laps prior. The circumstances are, for the purposes of …

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Happiness Is… Acting, Thanking & Remembering

2015 Kentucky Cup Jeff Gordon Car Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

This week, NASCAR provides fans with an interesting and peculiar division. It’s almost as if the governing body is playing a game of Yes and No with the schedule. It’s a tantalizing mixture, one that offers nods to the past and the present while also bringing about a beguiling look toward the future. All of that …

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Happiness Is… Saving a Sport

2015 Kentucky Cup Carl Edwards Car Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

The sport is saved. Yay, the new NASCAR rules package that got tested at Kentucky is the panacea that all had hoped for; now, everything is hunky dory. It was the general reaction that emanated from the world, both during and after the Kentucky race. In a way, that works. The racing on track appeared …

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IndyCar Recap: 2015 ABC Supply Co. Inc. Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee

Bourdais Milwaukee Chris Owens

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

In a Nutshell: For much of the race on the flat 1-mile track, two-time race-winner Josef Newgarden looked to be running away to victory. Though Ryan Briscoe posed a serious challenge, a terrible pit stop pushed him back in the field and Newgarden maintained the lead. Then, the yellow flags changed things. Two yellow flags …

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Happiness Is… Franchising, Tinkering & Miling

2015 Daytona Ii Cup Austin Dillon Crash Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

The Daytona Cup race put the governing body squarely in the crosshairs for those seeking to find more issues with the sport – and deservedly so. Let’s run down the quick checklist: Scheduling the race for Sunday night: check Scheduling the race for any night: check Asinine rain delay: check Starting the race at a …

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Slipstream Saturday: Changes Are Coming; Silverstone Up Next

Nico_Rosberg_austria (credit: Getty Images)

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Two weeks ago, Nico Rosberg scored a surprising win at the Austrian Grand Prix, making a statement after his teammate Lewis Hamilton had cruised to victory in Canada. The surrounding sense in the sport pushed the notion that with Hamilton’s win, his recovery from losing at Monaco was complete and that he would begin to …

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Happiness Is… Numbers, Yes! & Dates

2015 Sonoma Cup Pack Racing Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

In response to an article last week, one of our writers jumped into the fray that is the comments section. Matt McLaughlin offered his FWIW using a notion that Jim Utter had stated that used a Ven diagram to dissect NASCAR fan commentary. The jist derived from McLaughlin’s comment was that, by and large, the …

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Open-Wheel Wednesday: Confounding Fontana

Ryan Briscoe flips after contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA

Photo Credit: Chris Jones, IndyCar Media

Early this past Saturday morning, the first race of the Formula E championship weekend started under a yellow flag. The event, held on the tight streets of a make-shift road course at London’s Battersea park  brought some elevated concern from the drivers, especially about the first turn. Many drivers believed that the tight confines would …

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Happiness Is… Raining on the Confederate Flag’s Parade?

2015 Kansas I Cup Rain Delay Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Last week, the nation endured yet another moment of grief as it endured the senseless slaughter of church-goers in Charleston, South Carolina. This column isn’t the place for getting into all of the messiness and problems that surround that event, though it doesn’t seem like the government will take care of everything either. One of …

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