Bowles-Eye View

Carl Edwards entered Charlotte buried under the weight of high expectations. Adding mental pounds of his own pressure simply left him digging a deeper hole through Sunday’s first 500 miles. A Sprint Cup veteran and former championship contender found himself struggling at Charlotte, like most weeks this season just hoping …

Since I’ve been away for a while, there’s a whole lot of writing to do on how each Sprint Cup driver has been performing in 2015. In this day and age of the “new” Chase, looking at the point standings to gauge a driver’s performance is often an optical illusion; …

For a sportswriter, even in this age of social media, I find myself a pretty private person. As I see it, you’re here for me to write about why Tony Stewart’s a little off this year, not about what I did on my off weekend. You want pictures of Kyle …

Five races into 2015, the stories have been more about what’s off the track than what’s on it. (Or, in the case of Fontana what’s supposedly on the track that can cause a caution with two laps remaining. A story for another day). Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers… their …

On paper, NASCAR has three manufacturers: Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet. It’s a three-way distinction designed to increase competition across the board, pushing each company to donate its dollars in the name of winning races and championships. More irons in the fire, so to speak, is supposed to increase competition, produce brand …

Three races, three top-10 finishes. It’s a hard streak to accomplish when you start off a Sprint Cup season, in particular when new rules and the restrictor-plate madness of Daytona are included. Yet here we are, three races into 2014 and four drivers can lay claim to the feat. Three …

About every month, in my inbox I’ve gotten an update on the Daytona Rising project, detailing the renovations at Daytona International Speedway. By all accounts, what President Joie Chitwood III and the Speedway have done to modernize Big Bill France’s 2.5-mile creation has been nothing short of spectacular. Every day …

Hours after Kyle Busch suffered a leg injury at Daytona, hitting the inside wall at a place where the 2.5-mile superspeedway had no protective SAFER Barrier the Track President promised immediate changes. Joie Chitwood III, in a hastily arranged press conference, announced in a stern voice the track would spend …

Only one word describes Danica Patrick during a Daytona Speedweeks that’s been borderline disastrous: stressed. Two years removed from the 500 pole, she’s gone from media darling to having to give the same less-than-darling answers to the media 20 times a day. “Yes, I’m in the final year of my contract.” …

Editor’s Note: Tom Bowles’ writing for Frontstretch moves to Tuesday and Wednesdays this season. Check out Did You Notice? tomorrow and every Wednesday along with his Monday column for Athlon Sports. When processing the latest twist in the Kurt Busch case, a Delaware judge’s decision released Monday afternoon, I couldn’t help …