Race Weekend Central

Beside The Rising Tide: 1313 Turkey Court

2014 Atlanta Nns Fans Ii Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography, Inc. ©2014)

Editor’s Note: Matt McLaughlin’s off this week. Enjoy one of his classic columns on the eve of another Pocono Cup Series race. While I enjoy stock car racing at Pocono, race weekends at the track are also tinged with a bit of melancholy. For more years than I care to recall, all my best buddies and …

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MPM2Nite: Rating The Ratings

2015 Charlotte I Cup Danica Patrick Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

By now, most of you know this year’s Indy 500 drew higher Nielsen TV ratings (4.1) than the World 600 (3.8) for the first time since 2005. But the finish might be closer than it appears. NASCAR ratings tend to climb after the overnights, inching closer because stock car racing has a lot of appeal …

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MPM2Nite: And the Winner Ain’t…

2015 Kansas I Cup Erik Jones Crash Damage Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Talk about a perfect storm for a NASCAR TV ratings disaster. Start with an event slated to run on Saturday night, a time slot that has produced some of the lowest ratings of FOX’s tenure with NASCAR. Add in the fact the Kansas City event was to be run on FOX Sports 1. The first …

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MPM2Nite: The Daytona Beach Orchestra

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Tony Stewart Aric Almirola Alex Bowman Crash Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Sunday’s Talladega event was notable as one of the tamer such affairs run at the track though in this instance, tame is not to be thought of as a derisive term. The track “where the wild things are” is normally known for big, huge, smoking pig piles of wrecks coming to the checkers, racing geared …

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MPM2Nite: Bits & Pieces from the NASCAR Notebook

2015 Bristol I Cup Pit Road Vertical Credit Amy Henderson

Photo Credit: Amy Henderson, Frontstretch

Fans watching both at home and in the grandstands at Bristol this weekend might be forgiven for feeling like Alice had hand-fed them some mushrooms then invited them for a quick trip down a nearby rabbit hole. While Bristol is well noted for out-of-the-ordinary circumstances that border on chaos, I’ll have to admit that I …

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MPM2Nite: The Easter Bunny, Hot Dogs, Villainous James Hamlin & Other Musings

Stp 500

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

The debate continues unabated; does NASCAR throw caution flags for debris that either doesn’t exist or if it does is of little to no potential harm to spice up races when the field gets too strung out? How hot a debate topic has the issue become? It’s caused widespread dissension amongst the normally amicable staff …

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MPM2Nite: Did He Do Or Did He Didn’t?

2014 Loudon Ii Cup Kurt Busch Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

On Wednesday, the Kurt Busch saga came to a messy conclusion with NASCAR lifting his indefinite suspension. The driver of Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 41 Chevrolet remains on probation and must complete the “treatment program” NASCAR had laid out for him shortly after announcing the indefinite suspension in the days leading up to the Daytona 500. He must also …

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MPM2Nite: TV Or Not TV and Other Rants

2014 Atlanta Cup Sunset Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2014)

TV or not TV Whether it nobler in mind to suffer the slings and arrows Of outrageous TV demands…. Yes, there have already been a ton of tweets, nasty Facebook comments and articles written about the unsavory farce that was last Friday’s Cup qualifying session and I’ll get to that later. But there’s a lesser-discussed …

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MPM2Nite: Sliced Bread Redux

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Joey Logano Car Cia

Credit: CIA Stock Photography

There are few better ways to torpedo a young driver’s career than to make him ride into the big leagues aboard a wave of hype. Such was the case of one Joseph Thomas Logano out of Atlanta by way of Middletown Connecticut. Early success in some support series earned him some high profile endorsements labeling …

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MPM2Nite: Quick Notes On The Onset Of The Ice Age

2014 Atlanta Cup Tony Stewart Kurt Busch Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Winter maintains its icy grip over a large swath of the nation including here in Guthriesville. I just wanted to clear some things off my mental desk before they find my coyote gnawed carcass here at Eyesore Acres in the spring. West Brandywine township workers are nailing up the “Wooly Mammoth Crossing” signs on the …

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MPM2Nite: The Circus Is Back In Town

2014 Daytona Ii Cup Pack Racing Cia

Photo: CIA Stock Photography

Editor’s Note: A legend returns. Please join our happy Frontstretch family in welcoming back Matt McLaughlin for a Mark Martin-like “limited schedule” of columns! This one runs on Tuesday but you never know when he might pop up.  Somewhere on the seedy side of Daytona, where the streets have no names, where vermin, two legged …

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