Race Weekend Central

Matt McLaughlin’s Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2009 Fontana Spring Race Recap

The Key Moment: Matt Kenseth’s crew was flawless all night at Fontana, getting him off pit road first on the final sequence of pit stops. Despite Kenseth’s initial Charlie Brown-like resignation over the radio, he was able to hold off the No. 24 car. In a Nutshell: With all due apologies to Albert Hammond, “It …

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10 Points to Ponder: 2009 Auto Club 500 at Fontana Edition

Kenseth Proves Daytona Wasn’t Luck Several fans had a bitter taste in their mouth about the ending of the Daytona 500 last week – and rightfully so. When you have a driver who hasn’t won a race in over a year and he suddenly wins the sport’s most prestigious race after taking the lead one …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Humbled Rookie Class Quiet at Fontana

The Auto Club 500 at Fontana gave us a full 500 miles of racing, but it was a race that felt a whole lot longer. After a true marathon out west, here is how the rookie class of 2009 fared. Joey Logano Start: 34th; Finish: 26th Summary: After an absolutely overwhelming Speedweeks and finishing dead …

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Bubble Breakdown: Team Penske Rebounds From Poor Daytona 500 Performances

NASCAR’s top series headed out west to start a two-race stint on the left coast beginning with the first stop of the year at the Auto Club Speedway in California. With this just the second race of the season, the race to get into the Top 35 is a complete mess, with teams jumping way …

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Bowles-Eye View: Can Jeff Gordon Lead Hendrick Motorsports Again?

In racing, there’s that old analogy of “second place is the first loser.” And in certain ways Sunday, Jeff Gordon did come up short. As Matt Kenseth celebrated in victory lane late into the night at Fontana, Gordon saw his winless streak extended to 42 points-paying events – tying the worst stretch of his 16-year …

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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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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2009 Auto Club 500 at Fontana

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? How about California native Jeff Gordon, who showed that he hasn’t lost a step despite going winless in 2008? Gordon was a presence at the front all night long and drove it like he’d stolen it in the closing laps. The tires gave out before the driver gave …

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Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off: Of Rodents, Late Sunday Afternoons, NASCAR Cabbages & Kings

The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things – of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. – Lewis Carroll Daytona Speedweeks has reached its less than satisfactory conclusion, and the real racing season now starts this weekend out in California. Now, the standard railbird pundits, this writer …

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Fanning the Flames: The Inevitable Daytona Hangover

Lots to get to from you guys this week. But if there is one thing I haven’t heard, it’s that Matt Kenseth is not a worthy Daytona 500 champion. And after all the head-scratching, shoulder-shrugging, and general frustration that Daytona birthed last weekend, that’s saying something. Anyways, we’re chock full of Daytona discussion this week, …

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