Race Weekend Central

Four Burning Questions on the Off-Week: Title Favorites, Silly Season Rumors, and Chase Predictions

Jimmis Johnson and Casey Mears race at Kentucky Speedway July 2014.

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2014)­­

It’s a rare off-week in NASCAR-land, and as the men and women who make up the Sprint Cup Series enjoy some well-earned vacation time, the sport’s observers are left to reflect on the season that’s been as we sit at the de facto halfway point of the schedule. The 2014 season has been an interesting …

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Four Burning Questions in New Hampshire: Deja Vu for Keselowski’s #2?

2014 Michigan I Cup Kyle Busch Car Cia

2014 Michigan I CUP Kyle Busch car (CIA)

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the site of today’s round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action, round 18 to be exact. The race marks the halfway point in a season that has been filled with drama and surprises…much like last week’s cluster of a race in Daytona.  Aric Almirola found himself in a rain soaked Victory …

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Four Burning Questions at the Coke Zero 400

2014 Daytona I Cup Pack Racing Cia

(Photo: CIA Editorial Photography)

The Daytona Night race. It is the jewel of NASCAR’s summer stretch. The race formerly known as the Firecracker 400 has been a staple of the NASCAR schedule for over three decades, and over time this race has grown to be one of the biggest and most prestigious races on the schedule. Admittedly, the past …

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Did You Notice? Kentucky’s Woes, Surging Rookies, and a Dominant Team Penske

2014 Kentucky Cup Justin Allgaier David Sremme Racing Cia

Did You Notice? … The lack of passing on Saturday night? Kentucky lived up to its reputation once again this Saturday, and that reputation is not a positive one. The track has, quite frankly, been maligned since it joined the circuit in 2011. The inaugural event was plagued by horrific traffic problems due to a lack …

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Four Burning Questions – Kentucky: Rough Rides and Short Fields

2014 Dover I Cup Matt Kenseth Thinking Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Kentucky Speedway is the site of the seventeenth round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and with the halfway point of the season only one week away, we have a rather clear picture of who the contenders will be going forward as well as how the Chase may unfold. Kentucky is now entering it’s …

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Four Burning Questions in Sonoma: Unpredictability and an Aussie on the Hot Seat

2014 Michigan I Cup Marcos Ambrose Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is doing something rare today. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, they will be turning right! 15 years ago, that would have drawn groans of disgust from stock car racing fans, used to the frenetic competition on ovals. Oh, how things have changed. Due to an increased focus on Sonoma and Watkins …

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Four Burning Questions in Michigan: High Speeds, Stakes & Attrition

2014 Darlington Cup Kevin Harvick Credit Yvonne Leonard

Credit: Yvonne Leonard

Do you like speed? Do you like it when race car drivers pilot their beastly machines on the very limit of traction? If you answered yes to the above questions, this weekend’s Quicken Loans 400 from Michigan International Speedway will likely be of interest to you. Record speeds have been the big story of the …

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Four Burning All-Star Questions: Anti-Climatic Finishes and All-Star Underdogs

The Sprint All-Star Race is on tap for this evening, and if you’ve been watching Fox Sports 1 at all the past few weeks you’ve probably already been inundated with adverts and hype for the race. Whether or not the hype will be justified remains to be scene, but nonetheless, the All-Star Race still stands …

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Four Burning Questions in Kansas: Treacherous Track Surfaces and A Freaky Fast Harvick

Tonight, the stars and cars of NASCAR’s pinnacle division will take on the oh-so-treacherous Kansas Speedway to contest the 5-Hour Energy 400. For the first time, the Sprint Cup Series will be racing at Kansas under the lights, and with the nighttime conditions comes a whole slew of new challenges for the teams to face. …

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Four Burning Questions in Talladega: Under-Dogs and Racy Restrictor Plates

It’s big. It’s bad. It’s fast. It’s Talladega! This race needs little introduction. This one has been perhaps the most anticipated Talladega race in recent memory, and if practice and qualifying were any indication of what is to come today, then the hype will be justified. Plenty of stories are on the docket heading into …

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Four Burning Questions – Richmond: Financial Follies and Revisiting Spingate

At Kansas Speedway In Kansas City, Kansas On October 19, 2012.

BK Racing has been around for several seasons now, strictly as a two-car operation. Will an expansion to three be too much to handle for a team still getting on its feet in NASCAR?

The perfect race track. That’s how the drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are apt to describe the track that hosts this week’s round of racing action, Richmond International Raceway. Of course, the last Sprint Cup Series event at Richmond was decidedly not perfect, what with the cheating scandal and all. Of course, Spingate will be …

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Four Burning Questions – Southern 500: Rookies No Match For … Gordon?

Historic Darlington Raceway is the site of Round 8 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and tonight, the best stock car drivers in the world will contest one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR, the Southern 500. They’ve tried to kill it, but like cockroaches after nuclear war, the Southern 500 continues to live on after …

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