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NASCAR Mailbox: Will Kyle Busch Payback Christopher Bell?

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As Chase Ratings Fall, Can NASCAR Bring Back the Fans?

Nov 9, 2012
Eight weeks into the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup and amidst flip-flops in points and favorites, one thing has remained constant: TV ratings. And the numbers aren’t pretty. In seven of the last eight races, ratings have been down over 2011 by a significant margin. To be fair, ratings fell in several races this year, but early on, the differences were by 100,000 viewers or so if they were lower. Now, the split is much wider, up to a million fewer people watching, and despite signing a fat contract with FOX, NASCAR should be worried-they haven’t re-upped with either TNT or ESPN for an extension, nor have they signed anything with a different network…and the more the numbers freefall, the more the value of a contract stagnates.
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Four Burning Questions: Will JJ and Brad K Duel Again in Phoenix?

Nov 9, 2012
Phoenix International Raceway is the site of the penultimate round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, and with only two races left before we crown a champion, the battle for 1st place in the final standings is white hot. Brad Keslelowski and Jimmie Johnson went toe to toe for 334 laps last week in Texas, culminating in an epic late race battle that saw Johnson emerge victorious. With time running out and tensions rising to an all-time high, can one of the two title contenders strike a final blow to the other’s championship hopes? We answer that and much more in this week’s edition of Four Burning Questions.
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Vickers a 2013 NNS Title Contender…Is That Enough?

Nov 9, 2012
There are very few drivers that have taken to the track in 2012 more deserving of a full-time ride in anything than Brian Vickers. A stellar part-time performance with Michael Waltrip Racing after finding himself out of a job following the closure of Red Bull Racing has kept Vickers in Toyota’s good graces, as he will drive a Nationwide car full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013. It will mark Vickers’ first full Nationwide campaign since 2003, where he won the championship driving for Rick Hendrick.
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Landon Cassill Driver Diary: Danica, Voting and Top 20s

Nov 9, 2012
For those who wonder, Danica and I haven’t talked really. We’ve just kind of moved on. Now looking back two or three weeks ago, my side of the story is just that we were racing hard and it was a pure product of stock car racing where we both disagreed on how the other person was racing. That’s part of the sport. At the end of the day, there were torn up racecars, and that’s not good because we weren’t racing for the win or top 10s. We don’t need to be doing that. I think she knows that and I know that. I don’t’ think there’s any issue with us. I mean, we haven’t talked. It’s just a matter of racing. I think we’ll race each other clean and competitively from here on out.
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Keepin’ it Short – The War Between the States Rages on

Nov 8, 2012
It has been nearly 150 years since the American Civil War came to an end. While most people have come to accept that outcome, there are still those that hang onto the animosity on some level, and the North-South Shootout brings that to the surface every racing season. This weekend, at Caraway Speedway, some of …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: Miguel Paludo on Milestones, Diabetes Awareness and More

Nov 7, 2012
I can’t believe it’s time for our last diary already. After this one, we’re done until Daytona. Looking back at Texas, it was a bit of a frustrating race. I don’t want to be crying all the time about our performance, but every race is almost like a movie. We ran well at Texas in practice — ninth in the first one and second in the last one — and we qualified fourth. The Diabetes paint scheme we ran means a lot to me. It means a lot to me to run well and to represent something that’s so important. But as soon as the race started, we were tight. You can ask anybody — if you have a snug truck in qualifying, as soon as the night falls, you’re going to have to free it up. We were super tight all race long. It didn’t matter what we did and we still kept going backwards.
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Professor Of Speed: Too Little, Too Late

Nov 7, 2012
I’m not a very good friend. It’s too easy for me to get all wrapped up in the details of everyday life and work; my schedule usually sits front-and-center ahead of most else in my mind. That’s probably why I totally ignored the bulletins reporting the death of Wanda Lund-Early this past January. As I said previously, I’m not a very good friend. If I was a better friend, I would have been all over the news that Wanda died on January 5th of this year. If I was a better friend, I would have been stunned by the tragic news. If I was a better friend, I would have been even more stunned by the idea that her death was self-inflicted. If I was a better friend, I would have known that she was hurting on the inside while trying to make things right on the outside.
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Five Nights in SoPo: Sometimes, It’s Good To Just Watch A Race

Nov 7, 2012
We take so much in life for granted. We really do. In this super modern 24/7 always on, never off world of high-tech gadgets and space-age technology, just the simple act of flicking a light switch on and expecting the power to do its thing is something that never registers so much as a flicker of a thought. Being able to relax with a frosted beverage (from your cold fridge) and watch the NASCAR race on TV Sunday afternoon is another example. The simple stuff – you know what I mean.
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A Few Modest Proposals For Future NASCAR Banquet Hosts

Nov 7, 2012
So, yeah. Howie Mandel’s hosting the 2012 Sprint Cup Awards Banquet. Following in the footsteps of such comedians / hallowed entertainment icons as Jay Mohr, David Spade and Frank Caliendo, the “America’s Got Talent” and “Let’s Make a Deal” host will helm the Las Vegas ceremony later this month. He replaces Reba McEntire, who guided the action in 2011. As with many of the last few hosts, save for McEntire and perhaps Caliendo, Mandel doesn’t explicitly have much to do with NASCAR or its fan base, which will undoubtedly cause many to wonder why he’s even there in the first place. According to Mandel, he’s “spent many years in [his] career evaluating and analyzing talent,” and he has no doubt that NASCAR competitors are among the world’s best talents.
A List For A New Leader: Seeking Hope And Change

A List For A New Leader: Seeking Hope And Change

Nov 7, 2012
So (insert name of Randy Bernard’s replacement here), you’ve just been hired to be the new CEO of INDYCAR. First off, let me just congratulate you on getting the job! INDYCAR is one of the most popular and storied forms of motorsport on Earth, and there are millions of fans worldwide who follow this beautiful form of racing. But who am I kidding, I’m sure you already knew that. I mean, come on, surely the man who has been promoted to the position of INDYCAR’s head honcho would have a rich appreciation for both the sport, its fans, and its history, right? Right? Right. OK, good; now that we’ve gotten all of that general stuff out of the way, I should probably give you all the juicy details of the job with which you are being tasked. letter to the future CEO, showing him the path to continued success in Open-Wheel Wednesday.”
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Did You Notice? … Too Much Time, Vickers Breaking Ground And Chasing Stats

Nov 7, 2012
*Did You Notice?…* A focus on everything but the drivers at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing? As we spoke about “in Mirror Driving today,”:https://frontstretch.com/md/42022/ EGR is switching to Hendrick engines next season, moving away from an internal program combined with Childress in an effort to improve on-track performance. That follows a total housecleaning, at the end of 2011 where just about everyone important _behind the scenes_ got a Pink Slip lump of coal from Target Santa. Among those who got the axe: Competition Director Steve Hmiel, Team Manager Tony Glover and Lead Engineer Ed Nathman. Considering Hmiel and Glover were at the top of the charts in the ‘90s, with Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin, respectively; they had dozens of Cup Series victories, Daytona 500 triumphs and pole positions earned in a combined six-plus decades of NASCAR service.
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