Race Weekend Central

10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 Camping World RV 400 at Kansas

1. Naturally Good – The Chase for the Sprint Cup point format initiated in 2004 is designed to narrow the point gap amongst the top-12 drivers and aid in creating a more exciting and suspenseful 10-race climax to the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Following Sunday’s Camping World RV 400 from Kansas, Jimmie Johnson now leads …

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Fanning the Flames: Advantage Greg Biffle? Slow Down There, Cowboy

After watching Greg Biffle put a hurtin’ on the field at both Loudon and Dover, that got me thinking: How has the top Chase finisher in each season’s first two playoff events fared in the final standings? It’s been widely reported since Biffle’s New Hampshire triumph that Kurt Busch, in 2004, is the only driver …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: Getting Your Cookie-Cutter Lineup Set at Kansas

The Chase heads to the Midwest this weekend for its eighth visit to Kansas Speedway. The teams will once again be trying to make the boxier new car go through the air quickly and still turn once it gets to the corners. As this is our first and only visit to the track this season, …

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Mirror Driving: Playing It Unsafe, Saving NASCAR’s Small-Time Teams & the Cookie-Cutter Conundrum

Welcome to Mirror Driving. Every week, your favorite columnists sit down and give their opinion about the latest NASCAR news and rumors. Love us or hate us, make a comment below and tell us how you feel about what we’ve said! This Week’s Participants: Tom Bowles (Editor-in-Chief; Mondays/Bowles-Eye View & Wednesdays/Did You Notice?) Doug Turnbull (Tuesdays/Talking NASCAR …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Camping World RV 400 at Dover

The Chase may only be 20% done, but so far, it’s been the Greg Biffle show 100% of the time. Two races and two wins have the six-year veteran on the verge of the championship lead, gunning hard to become the first driver to win the title in all three national touring series. But could …

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The Yellow Stripe: The Power of 3 – Why Kansas, Talladega & Lowe’s Can Make or Break the Chase

The Chase for the Sprint Cup is a strange and unpredictable beast. Who, for example, had their money on Greg Biffle winning the first two races of the 10-race playoff? Perhaps family members or best friends may have had some action on the Biff, but I can’t believe there were many (er, any) others. And …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 Camping World RV 400 at Dover Edition

If you rewind three weeks with me, you’ll notice the Chase for the Sprint Cup title had a discernibly different look to it. After Richmond, Kyle Busch led the points standings heading into the Chase, holding a 30-point lead after flat-out dominating the first 26 races. Far down the list, Greg Biffle sat ninth, 80 …

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Bowles-Eye View: NASCAR Team Orders, Be Damned

So much bad press has come out this year surrounding the consolidation of power within NASCAR Sprint Cup racing. The Big Four of Jack Roush, Richard Childress, Joe Gibbs and Rick Hendrick own three cars apiece in this year’s Chase, the only ones capable of making noise at the top during a year in which …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 Camping World RV 400 at Dover

1. Drive It Like You Stole It! – According to police in Mooresville, N.C., thieves broke into the Roush/Yates engine shop last week, loading three race motors into a stolen Penske rental truck. The Ford engines taken were specially prepared for the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series. Don’t you just know that there is some …

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