Race Weekend Central

Talking NASCAR TV: Digger’s Bristol Disappearance, Lazy Legends Coverage & Screwy Scrolls

Hello, race fans. After a week off, both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series were back in action this past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway in the mountains of eastern Tennessee for both the Food City 500 and Scotts Turf Builder 300. In addition, a special “Saturday Night Special” charity event featuring legends of the …

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Race Season is Upon Us: Please Do Your Part

Well, fans, it’s already St. Patrick’s Day. We’re four races into the Sprint Cup Series season and we’ve had three races each in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series seasons. The American Le Mans Series starts up this weekend with the 12 Hours of Sebring, Formula 1’s Grand Prix of Australia is next weekend, …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Grading NASCAR Smarts on SPEED… With This Week in NASCAR Thrown In

Greetings, race fans, and welcome to this week’s TV critique. Unfortunately, all three of NASCAR’s major touring series took the week off last weekend. This leaves me to give my opinions on some of the magazine shows on television. However, the buildup to the NCAA basketball tournaments (men’s and women’s) has gotten in the way …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Aching Over FOX’s Graphical Gremlins in Atlanta

Atlanta brought us two races with tight finishes. This type of action is definitely pleasing for race fans to watch on television – but were the race telecasts up to par? Let’s find out. Often times, the first thing I do on Friday afternoons is click on SPEED to check out either Cup Pole Qualifying …

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Talking NASCAR TV: My Pre-Race Cup Runneth Over – How to Fix It & Other Vegas Notes

Greetings, race fans! Las Vegas was the first NASCAR weekend of the season with only two of its top-three series competing. While the Camping World Truck Series teams took the week off and dealt with the storm that blanketed most of North Carolina with a substantial amount of snow (I got about two inches here …

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Kyle Busch Overcomes Early Weekend Engine Woes to Win at Home in 2009 Shelby 427 at Las Vegas

When Kyle Busch is really confident about his racecar late in an event, that typically equals serious trouble for his competitors. When Busch passed Jeff Burton for the lead late in the going, he cued his radio and said “Goodnight, Gracie” to his crew, a signal that it was all over and that no one …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Race Coverage at Fontana Improves… But Digger Still Lurks in the Shadows

After the pomp and circumstance that is typical of the Daytona 500, NASCAR teams moved on to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. for a tripleheader weekend. Before we begin, as you may remember I was quite critical of FOX’s broadcast of the Daytona 500 – most notably the lack of any mention of rain …

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Great Pit Work Guides Matt Kenseth to 2nd Straight Victory in 2009 Auto Club 500 at Fontana

For years, it seems, Matt Kenseth’s pit crew, affectionately known as the “Killer Bees,” has been considered to be the best pit crew in the Sprint Cup Series. Tonight (Feb. 22), they proved it. Kenseth greatly benefitted from the speed of the Killer Bees on pit road to gain the lead back on the final …

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Talking NASCAR TV: SPEEDing Through 2009 Daytona 500 Week in 3,000 Words or Less

Now that Speedweeks at Daytona are over, it is time to look back and reflect upon what we have seen, and what we have been provided for our viewing pleasure by NASCAR’s media partners for Speedweeks (FOX, SPEED and ESPN2). Before I begin, I should state this. Speedweeks is supposed to be the most important …

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Matt Kenseth Scoots in Front Just in Time to Win 2009 Daytona 500

Matt Kenseth entered Daytona winless in his last 36 starts. That winless streak is now history. Kenseth passed Elliott Sadler in turn 3 on lap 145 for the lead under threatening skies. Half a lap after the pass, the yellow came out for a crash involving the No. 98 of Paul Menard and the No. …

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