Race Weekend Central

Thompson in Turn 5: Dale Earnhardt Jr. & DEI Just Going Through the Motions

This Monday at Atlanta, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will officially test a No. 88 Chevrolet with Hendrick Motorsports for the first time. That in-season move is just the latest in a transition that appears to be accelerating a bit faster than initially anticipated. Out of the Chase and out of the running for anything higher than …

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Thompson in Turn 5: Move Over, Jimmie! Let’s Let Jeff Gordon Get 1 for the Thumb

Race fans, imagine this… Jimmie Johnson is leading Jeff Gordon by one point at this year’s season-ending race in Homestead, Fla. Johnson runs one spot ahead of Gordon on the track, when all of a sudden, he receives an order over his in-car radio from Chad Knaus instructing him to let his teammate move ahead. …

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Thompson in Turn 5: NASCAR is Ripe For Scandal

The Sept. 25 publication of the Frontstretch newsletter broke a story of race “fixing” that occurred Sept. 23 at Dover International Speedway. The publication provided incontrovertible evidence that Hendrick Motorsports driver Casey Mears, along with crew chief Darian Grubb and spotter Chuck Joyce, conspired to alter the finishing order of the race to allow fellow …

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Thompson in Turn 5: The Key (or lack thereof) to Winning NASCAR’s Chase – “Big Picture” This!

I have always been an unabashed advocate of NASCAR’s Chase to the Nextel Cup Championship format since it began back in 2004. There’s a number of reasons for that. I believed at the time – as I do now – that when the pros and cons are objectively considered, tracking the 10-race playoff is considerably …

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Thompson in Turn 5: Clint Bowyer an All-American Story & Just What NASCAR Needs

Clint Bowyer‘s first career NASCAR Cup win Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway has catapulted the Emporia, Kan. driver into the limelight. His feel-good win came at an opportune time for NASCAR, as the first race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship was otherwise – well, frankly pretty uneventful. But to me, the …

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Thompson in Turn 5: Give Credit to Sprint/Nextel in AT&T NASCAR Sponsorship Resolution

“I hold in my heart the belief that reasonable people will come to a reasonable solution, and hopefully we can get there sooner than later.” – Jeff Burton With a compromise agreement being reached last week that effectively puts to rest the ongoing legal battle between NASCAR, AT&T and Cup Series sponsor Sprint/Nextel, it appears …

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