Race Weekend Central

Thompson in Turn 5: NASCAR is Ripe For Scandal

The Sept. 25 publication of the Frontstretch newsletter broke a story of race “fixing” that occurred Sept. 23 at Dover International Speedway. The publication provided incontrovertible evidence that Hendrick Motorsports driver Casey Mears, along with crew chief Darian Grubb and spotter Chuck Joyce, conspired to alter the finishing order of the race to allow fellow …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2007 Lifelock 400 at Kansas

1. Goody’s, anyone? – Somehow, I think all the NASCAR bigwigs were ready to share a round of Goody’s headache powder by the end of today’s Lifelock 400. Officials were called upon to make numerous critical and highly controversial calls this weekend, culminating in the Cup race itself. Should the starting time have been moved …

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Voices From the Heartland: King of Beers Removes NASCAR Jewel From Its Crown

Earlier this year, Brian France stepped up to a microphone and gave a positively glowing report on the overall “state of the sport.” Of course, part of that report reflected on the supposed multitude of corporations just dying to invest in stock car racing. “There’s more than 100 Fortune 500 businesses investing in NASCAR,” France …

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David Starr Driver Diary: David Starr Racing

It’s another off-weekend for the Craftsman Truck Series, but that doesn’t mean I’m lounging around the house. Aside from the business of NASCAR racing, I keep myself extremely busy with David Starr Racing – my show car/simulator promotional company. We work with companies like Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper, and they use our real NASCAR Nextel …

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World’s Oldest Living NASCAR Driver Shares Memories with Delightful Wit & Down-Home Wisdom

Western New York state resident and former NASCAR driver Lloyd Moore is the last of the ’49ers. Not the gold-rush ’49ers – at age 95, Moore is about 100 years too young for that. Nevertheless, Moore is a pioneer of sorts. He raced cars in the Strictly Stock series – predecessor of modern-day NASCAR – in …

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Fanning the Flames: New Schedule, Same Ol’ NASCAR

I always look forward to the date when NASCAR releases its schedule for the upcoming season. What will they do this time that makes no sense whatsoever to us lay folks? Well, that day came yesterday when the 2008 Sprint Cup schedule was made public – and not surprisingly, things didn’t make sense. Needless to …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2007 Lifelock 400 at Kansas Edition

Week three of the Chase finds the traveling road show in the Heartland of America at Kansas Speedway, the newest of the “cookie-cutter” tracks that have come to dominate the schedule in recent years. The first of five intermediate events on the rest of this year’s schedule, the race should give fantasy team owners a …

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Thompson in Turn 5: The Key (or lack thereof) to Winning NASCAR’s Chase – “Big Picture” This!

I have always been an unabashed advocate of NASCAR’s Chase to the Nextel Cup Championship format since it began back in 2004. There’s a number of reasons for that. I believed at the time – as I do now – that when the pros and cons are objectively considered, tracking the 10-race playoff is considerably …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings After the 2007 Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover

Frontstretch Editors’ Nextel Cup Power Rankings As of Sept. 26, 2007 1) Tony Stewart (4 First-Place Votes) (Last Week: No. 1) – Home Depot wants us to smell the Smoke. Bet they won’t put THAT slogan in Tony’s armpits! 2) Carl Edwards (1 First-Place Vote) (Last Week: No. 8) Uh-oh… Roush found out all of …

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Mirror Driving: A Hamlin-Petty Brawl, Are Dover Pits Too Small? & Team Orders Leave Us Appalled

Kyle Petty and Denny Hamlin got into it at Dover, after Petty confronted Hamlin in his car following a nasty incident. Who should be apologizing to who?