Race Weekend Central

A Look Ahead to Cup Championship Weekend

2020 Charlotte Road Cup Chase Elliott Denny Hamlin Racing Nkp

After a season that featured a stoppage due to a global pandemic, way too many rain delays, a frightening crash and more oddities and bizarre moments, the NASCAR Cup Series has finally arrived at the precipice of the offseason. All that chaos has led to championship weekend, which, appropriate for the whirlwind that 2020 has …

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Fire on Fridays: How Will Success Be Judged in This Era of NASCAR?

Nascar Champions Portraits

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

The era of a good points day is officially over. Has been for awhile now. Points do matter. After all, if Kevin Harvick gains more than the one stage point at Texas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway than he did, odds are he’s Championship 4 bound in the NASCAR Cup Series this year. But he didn’t, …

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NASCAR 101: Our Storylines of 2020, Revisited

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

For the fourth year in a row, the final NASCAR 101 before the NASCAR season finale takes a look back at the columns written here throughout the year to see if any updates to the storylines tackled are warranted. It’s a bit of an odd one this year, given the lack of columns for a multi-week …

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Stock Car Scoop: Lineups for Phoenix

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

All three lineups were revealed for this weekend’s season finales at Phoenix Raceway. Who will lead the field to the green? Find out in the latest edition of Stock Car Scoop.  Frontstretch‘s newest podcast focused on the motorsports news of the week also has news on an Xfinity Series regular returning to his ride in …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: Breaking Down the Championship 4

Nascar Gander Rv & Outdoors Truck Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

This Friday night (Nov. 6), the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will crown its champion, kicking off the championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Despite the lengthy shutdown forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of determination and creative scheduling has the series back on track to end as scheduled. Four drivers – Sheldon Creed, …

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Eyes on Xfinity: Previewing the Championship Race at Phoenix

Nascar Xfinity Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Thirty-two races and 5,383 laps are in the book. Now it’s time to crown the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. For the first time, Phoenix Raceway is host of the championship race. Odds are, the four championship drivers – Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley – are going to run towards the …

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2-Headed Monster: Should NASCAR Have Penalized the No. 20 Team After Martinsville?

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Another playoff race at Martinsville and another race filled with drama. There were several things that happened at Martinsville that got people’s attention. One of these things was radio communication from the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team. As Chase Elliott was pulling away to victory, the fight for the final two transfer spots was …

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Here’s an Update on the Previous Comcast Community Champion of the Year Finalists

2016 Xfinity Camping World Truck Banquet

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Since Comcast entered NASCAR as the entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, it’s given back to the community. The company focuses on awarding people within the racing community for philanthropic initiatives via the Comcast Community Champion of the Year award. The award, presented every year during championship week, has been granted to drivers, pit …

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Ryan Newman: ‘My Abilities Behind The Wheel Have Not Changed’

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Ryan Newman‘s 2020 NASCAR season started off with a bang. With just a few hundred yards prior to the checkered flag of the Daytona 500, the No. 6 was turned into the outside wall from the lead, flipped on its lid and was hit by Corey LaJoie, sending Newman soaring through the air. Newman finished …

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NASCAR Mailbox: Is the Playoff Comparison to Other Sports Fair?

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The playoff format for the last seven years in the NASCAR Cup Series has drawn comparisons to several other sports, which is not what many fans want to happen at all. With NASCAR, which had a unique playoff format from 2004-13, nobody really ever compared the sport to others. When the sanctioning body established the …

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Did You Notice?: Martinsville Brought Chaotic Season to a Head

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Did You Notice? … As if the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season (and 2020 as a whole) hadn’t been chaotic enough and there wasn’t enough around the corner with the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday’s (Nov. 1) race at Martinsville Speedway injected a dose of adrenaline into the season and its playoffs. Let’s start …

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The Frontstretch 5: Best NASCAR Cup Seasons By Drivers Who Didn’t Win Championship

2008 Nascar Sprint Cup Series Texas

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

1. 1985 Bill Elliott won plenty of races and money and even earned a couple really cool nicknames in 1985. But the big prize eluded the red-headed Georgia leadfoot that year. Elliott came into 1985 having won a total of four NASCAR Cup Series races during the previous two seasons, but proved to be almost …

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