Race Weekend Central

IndyCar Preview: The 2014 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Fresh off a one-week break, the Verizon IndyCar Series is back in full force this weekend as the stars of America’s fastest motorsport tackle the fabled Long Beach Circuit. The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of the longest-running and most revered races in open-wheel racing, and currently stands as the most prestigious …

Read more

Happiness Is… The DVR, Will Robinson, Not Mercedes & Long Beach.

One of the easy ways to fill space in a NASCAR column for the past couple years has been to debate the role of Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series. The oft-used comparison in this argument is that drivers who dabble in Nationwide are like Major League Baseball players dropping down into the minor leagues. First, let’s …

Read more

Pace Laps: Who’ll Watch The Rain, Youth, Force, Bahrain, And Icebreakers

Did you miss an event during this busy week in racing? How about a late-night press release, an important sponsorship rumor, or a juicy piece of news? If you did, you’ve come to the right place! Each week, The Frontstretch will break down the racing, series by series, to bring you the biggest stories that …

Read more

Happiness Is…A Story, 6, Power, and Bahrain

Martinsville is just what NASCAR needed, right? It had everything everybody wanted without talk of aero-push or aero-loose. It was like tastes great AND less filling. No way! The first thing it featured was the (somewhat overblown) feud between Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski, complete with Kes formally addressing the camera in his post-accident interview and letting Busch, who was apparently watching …

Read more

Open Wheel Wednesday: Botched Restarts, Pit Road Changes and This Year’s Storylines

Welcome to the IndyCar Round Table! Several times throughout the season, your favorite writers will get together to discuss the latest IndyCar news, rumors and so much more! This Week’s Participants: Toni Montgomery (Frontstretch IndyCar Editor/NHRA Pace Laps) Matt Stallknecht (Frontstretch IndyCar Writer / NASCAR’s Four Burning Questions) Huston Ladner (Frontstretch IndyCar Writer / Happiness Is) Welcome to the …

Read more

Couch Potato Tuesday: ESPN’s Race It Didn’t Cover

Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecast opinion is the primary objective. The Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck series had an unplanned doubleheader on Sunday at Martinsville, while the Verizon IndyCar Series held its season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg …

Read more

Pace Laps: JGR vs RPM, IndyCar Officiating, Red Horse Racing Politics, and More

Did you miss an event during this busy week in racing? How about a late-night press release, an important sponsorship rumor, or a juicy piece of news? If you did, you’ve come to the right place! Each Monday, The Frontstretch will break down the racing, series by series, to bring you the biggest stories that …

Read more

IndyCar Preview – Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

It’s about time they got started! The Verizon IndyCar Series revs up this weekend with its traditional opener in St. Petersburg, Florida. Well, it’s not really one of those long-standing traditions in theory — the race has only been opening the season since 2009 — though it had usually been the second race on the …

Read more

Open-Wheel Wednesday: Welcome to 2014! So What’s New?

The 2014 Verizon IndyCar season kicks off this weekend in St. Petersburg and that means your Frontstretch IndyCar staff returns, starting this week to bring you all the news and storylines straight from the open-wheel world. We will once again be bringing you previews and recaps of all the racing action along with our Open-Wheel …

Read more

Five Points to Ponder: Five Winners, Fontana In The Chase And The Real Deal

ONE: Five Winners in Five Weeks So that’s five winners in five weeks, with Kyle Busch joining Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards among those locked into the Chase — or so goes the conventional wisdom. But there’s a bit of trouble brewing with that philosophy. History had shown us that …

Read more