Race Weekend Central

INDYCAR Gears Up for Emotional Return to Pocono Raceway

2015 Pocono Indycar Chris Jones Inydcar Media

(Photo: Chris Jones/IndyCar)

After a few weeks off, the Verizon IndyCar Series will return this Sunday for what’s sure to be a bittersweet weekend and a crucial race for the 2016 championship battle. Emotions will be high throughout the weekend as the paddock mourns two former competitors. Aug. 21’s ABC Supply 500 will mark IndyCar’s return to the 2.5-mile …

Read more

NASCAR 101: First-Win Fever, Or 5 More Possible Victory Lane First-Timers

2016 Richmond Brennan Poole Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Two races. Two first-time winners. That’s the case in NASCAR’s national series its last two events. On Wednesday (Aug. 17), Ben Kennedy pulled into Victory Lane at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series, emerging victorious for the first time in his career. Just four days prior, Justin Marks was the winner in …

Read more

Friday Faceoff: More NASCAR-IndyCar Crossovers in the Works?

2016 Bristol Motor Speedway Nscs Matt Kenseth Leads Pack Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Last week, we talked about the addition of a road course to the Chase, and next week, the series heads to a 2-mile oval, of which there are two on the schedule for three races — but none in the Chase, and there’s only one short track race as well. What would an ideal Chase …

Read more

The 10: Ranking the Races (So Far)

2014 Xfinity Mid Ohio Sports Car Course Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

For the final time before the Chase, the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series enjoyed a week off after a wild afternoon at Watkins Glen International. While that left many of them to relax, it required the masterminds behind Frontstretch’s Power Rankings to be creative. With no new race to base driver rankings off …

Read more

Justin Marks Rides Rain to Mid-Ohio XFINITY Win

2015 Nxs Justin Marks Mid Ohio Brett Moist Nkp

(Photo: Brett Moist/NKP)

In the midst of a struggling 2016 campaign, all it took was a little rain, and some tremendous driving in it, to bring Chip Ganassi Racing’s Justin Marks his first-career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Making his 25th-career XFINITY Series start, Marks marched his way to the front, led a race-high …

Read more

Holding a Pretty Wheel: NASCAR’s Alliance-Bred Farm System

2016 Pocono Ii Cup Ryan Blaney Car John Harrelson Nkp

(Credit: John Harrelson/NKP)

Furniture Row Racing confirmed NASCAR’s worst kept secret on Sunday at Watkins Glen International when the organization announced that they’ll field upcoming phenom Erik Jones in a newly-formed second team next season alongside veteran Martin Truex, Jr. However, when the agreement was announced as a one-year deal, talk immediately began to shift from Furniture Row to Joe …

Read more

Friday Faceoff: Should the Chase Get a Road Course?

2015 Watkins Glen Cup Watkins Glen Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

1. Watkins Glen International sold out for a second-straight year. Does that prove that good racing will bring fans out to the track, or is this a unique circumstance? Mark Howell, Senior Writer: These two factors are directly connected; Watkins Glen is inherently good racing. Being from that part of the country, I can say that …

Read more

2-Headed Monster: How Will Erik Jones Fare in His Rookie Season?

2016 Watkins Glen Cup Furniture Row Racing Erik Jones Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

One of the worst-kept secrets of the season was officially revealed on Sunday when Furniture Row Racing announced that Erik Jones would be moving to Sprint Cup full-time in 2017. Jones, a Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, will move to JGR’s satellite operation in 2017, driving the No. 77 Toyota as a teammate to Martin Truex, Jr. For …

Read more

The 10: Wrecking at Watkins Glen

2016 Nscs Watkins Glen Larson Busch Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Oh how quickly things can change. For a time, it appeared that Martin Truex, Jr. and Kyle Larson were each due for a leap into the top 5 of these rankings. Then, in the final 300 yards of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, everything went awry as both drivers were sent spinning and, in …

Read more

2016 Frontstretch Podcast – Episode 18: Post Watkins Glen Edition

On this week’s podcast, Matt Stallknecht is joined by weekly guest Aaron Bearden to discuss a number of topics heading into the last off week of the season, including… Breakdown/Recap of the this weekend’s events in Watkins Glen Hectic finish to the Cup race Larson’s rotten luck Unfair criticism of Keselowski The success of Watkins Glen in …

Read more

Pace Laps: Stewart’s Top 5, NHRA’s Rain and Dakoda Armstrong’s Rise

2016 Pocono Ii Cup Tony Stewart Helmet John Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrelson / NKP)

Sprint Cup: Tony Stewart ‘Making Something Out of Nothing’ With Top 5 at The Glen – There’s this saying that Tony Stewart rises like smoke during the slick summer months on the NASCAR schedule. Well, if this was featured in an episode of Mythbusters, this myth would be officially listed as ‘confirmed.’ After surviving the Watkins …

Read more

It’s Time to Admit It: The Chase Deserves a Road Course

2016 Watkins Glen Cup Jeff Gordon Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

After another set of thrilling road course races at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International, it’s time to admit it. The Chase for the Sprint Cup needs a road course. Once surrounded by a general feeling of awkwardness as the majority of the field attempted merely to survive and advance, the two road courses have …

Read more