Race Weekend Central

Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Michael McDowell Terrifies at Texas

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Sam Hornish Jr. (17th), Patrick Carpentier (27th), Regan Smith (34th), Michael McDowell (40th) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Carpentier (28th), Hornish (32nd), McDowell (33rd), Smith (35th) Rookie of the Race: Carpentier. The No. 10 Dodge qualified for their fourth event in the last five races on Friday, and the momentum did not stop there… …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Regan Smith Finally Gains Momentum in Martinsville

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Aric Almirola (third), Sam Hornish Jr. (26th), Regan Smith (33rd), Michael McDowell (34th), Patrick Carpentier (37th), Dario Franchitti (43rd) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Smith (14th), Franchitti (22nd), McDowell (26th), Hornish (28th), Carpentier (29th), Almirola (42nd) Rookie of the Race: Smith. It may be virtually impossible to have an uneventful day at the …

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The 2007 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookies: What Are They Up to Now?

As most of the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers took a week off from racing multi-colored cars in favor of cracking vibrant eggs, the rookie column was left on a little bit of an Easter Egg hunt of its own… trying to figure out how to fill this space for the week! Considering we’re only five …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Aric Almirola Breezes Through Bristol

Rookies in the Starting Lineup (Due to inclement weather, the qualifying order was determined by 2007 owner points): Sam Hornish Jr. (seventh), Aric Almirola (16th), Regan Smith (17th), Dario Franchitti (26th) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Almirola (eighth), Smith (26th), Hornish (29th), Franchitti (36th) Rookie of the Race: Almirola. Mark Martin was not piloting the No. 8 Chevy …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Sam Hornish Jr. Stops Horrible Luck for Rookies at Atlanta

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Patrick Carpentier (21st), Dario Franchitti (23rd), Sam Hornish Jr. (33rd), Regan Smith (41st) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Hornish (25th), Franchitti (33rd), Carpentier (35th), Smith (38th) Rookie of the Race: Hornish. The bright yellow color scheme of Penske Trucking replaced the familiar blue and white Mobil 1 logo on the No. 77 Dodge in …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: From Dario Franchitti to Patrick Carpentier, Vegas is Vicious to Rookies

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Patrick Carpentier (12th), Sam Hornish Jr. (20th), Regan Smith (28th), Dario Franchitti (42nd) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Franchitti (33rd), Smith (34th), Carpentier (40th), Hornish (41st) Rookie of the Race: Nobody. I have decided that I am not going to award the “Rookie of the Race” to any driver unless one of them …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Rain, Sam Hornish Jr.’s Hard Hit Ruin Rookie Results at California

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: (Due to inclement weather, the qualifying order was determined by 2007 owner points) Sam Hornish Jr. (seventh), Regan Smith (17th), Dario Franchitti (26th) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Smith (31st), Franchitti (32nd), Hornish (43rd) Rookie of the Race: Absolutely Nobody. There is no way that I can assign this category to a freshman …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Sam Hornish Jr. is Heroic at Daytona

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Sam Hornish Jr. (19th), Regan Smith (29th), Dario Franchitti (40th) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Hornish (15th), Franchitti (33rd), Smith (37th) Rookie of the Race: Sam Hornish Jr. Most of the NASCAR world will say that Penske Racing had its most successful run in team history during Sunday’s Daytona 500, based on the …

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NASCAR Nextel Cup Rookie Report: 2008 Preview, Part II

With the Daytona 500 nearly upon us, it’s time to finish off my look at the 2008 NASCAR Nextel Cup rookies. Last week in this column, we profiled three of the six candidates; this time around, we’ll finish the job by chronicling three impressive open-wheel veterans turned stock car freshmen: No. 27 Jacques Villeneuve – …

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