Race Weekend Central

Holding a Pretty Wheel: Kenny Wallace & Team Trying to Score 1 for the Good Guys

Sponsorship is always a hot topic in racing and in the current economic environment, many teams, even some top Sprint Cup teams, are worried about sponsor dollars. And in the Nationwide Series, that talk is often doubled. There has been growing concern over the last decade as more Sprint Cup drivers are entering more Nationwide …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: Too Vanilla or Too Obnoxious? Where’s NASCAR’s Middle Ground?

It isn’t easy to please race fans. That becomes evident in any discussion about drivers. One guy isn’t talented enough, and if he has a family name with a racing history, well then, by gum, he’d better live up to it or else! The next is too talented, apparently, because he wins too much, whatever …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: The Wheel Files – Conspiracy Theories Alive & Well in NASCAR

Did you hear? NASCAR wants Kyle Busch to win the championship and will do anything to make sure he does. NASCAR doesn’t want Hendrick Motorsports to win another title, either. And the reason they don’t publish the rulebook or specific punishments is so they can punish based on who they want to win and who …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: The Time is Now for Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Tony Eury Jr. Departs

Author’s Note: My advertised column on conspiracy theories and NASCAR will run next week. I felt that the Dale Earnhardt Jr. situation warranted some comment this week. But not to fear, The Roswell 500 will run next week. The announcement that much of NASCAR Nation has been waiting for with bated breath came Thursday: Earnhardt …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: After 25 Years of All-Star Races, 1 Really Stands Out, but Not for the Racing

With the 25th running of the All-Star Race coming up Saturday night, I was supposed to write a column about memorable All-Star races… or something like that. You know, standard rundown of the big moments. But the problem with that reared its ugly head in oh, about 30 seconds. I don’t really remember any. Sure, …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: The Things We Forget – a Richmond Revelation, Kevin Grubb & Putting Racing Into Perspective

Every once in a while, something happens that puts things in perspective. Something that reminds you why you’re here in the first place. It’s not necessarily a big event – it can be something as small as a child’s thank you or the smell of spring and fresh cut grass. But it’s a reminder of …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: 2nd & 3rd Fiddle Sharing 1 Bow is a Sour NASCAR Note

I think it’s one of Murphy’s Laws (Murphy, I never knew you, but you were one hell of a pessimist, huh?) that just when you think things couldn’t get any worse, someone surprises you. Of course, this is NASCAR we’re talking about, the sanctioning body that has come up with so ways to fix something …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: The Monster Jeff Gordon Created is Guarding the Door

You know you’re on a roll when, seven races into the season, you hold a points lead so large that you could finish dead last the next week and still leave town with it. That’s exactly where Jeff Gordon found himself last week, rolling into Phoenix with just such a lead. In the eight races …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: Are NASCAR’s Cost Cuts Helping or Just Another Smokescreen?

NASCAR recently announced that the sanctioning body would now conduct postrace engine teardowns at their Concord facility, the latest in a series of measures designed to cut costs. I’m not really sure how this one saves teams any money, unless NASCAR is planning on delivering the inspected engines to the teams they were taken from. …

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