Race Weekend Central

Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2015 CampingWorld.com 500 At Phoenix

2015 Phoenix I Cup Kevin Harvick Wins Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Who’s in the headline ā€“ Kevin Harvick is starting off the 2015 season in dominating fashion – the first person since Richard Petty in 1974 to start off a season with four straight top-two finishes. Sunday’s victory was his seventh straight, dating back to 2014 and is also second only to The King all-time. Harvick …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2015 Daytona 500

2015 Daytona I Cup Joey Logano Woohoo Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Who’s in the headline ā€“ The winningest duo in the Cup series last season was Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, and when the first checkered flag of the season flew at Daytona on Sunday it was Logano driving under it first for his first career victory at a restrictor-plate track. Logano brought the field to …

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Big Wreck Mars XFINITY Series Qualifying

2014 Chicago Nns Daniel Suarez Racing Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

A big wreck at the end ofĀ Group 2Ā has put a damper on XFINITY Series qualifying. Daniel Suarez, while shooting through the middle got clipped by Blake Koch and turned sideways in the middle of a 12-car pack. Among those involved included Landon Cassill, Harrison Rhodes, and Carlos Contreras. Kyle Busch, although not involved in the …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: The Triumph & Pain of the Budweiser Duels

2014 Daytona Duels Cup Trevor Bayne Justin Allgaier Kurt Busch Landon Cassill Cia 430

(Photo: CIA Stock Photography)

There’s always tension surrounding the qualifying races for the Daytona 500 – after all, at stake is inclusion in the season’s biggest and first event. Under the current rules, few teams are 100 percent safe, and for some of the smaller teams hoping to make the show, it’s downright nerve-wracking. At the end of the …

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The Frontstretch Five: Underdogs to Watch in Daytona

Welcome to the Frontstretch Five! Each week, Amy Henderson takes a look at the racing, the drivers and the storylines that drive NASCAR and produces a list of five people, places, things and ideas that define the current state of our sport. This week, Amy has a few drivers who you might not look at …

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Landon Cassill’s Hillman Racing Team Becomes Hillman Smith Motorsports

2014 Loudon I Cup Landon Cassill Car Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

One of NASCAR’s smaller Sprint Cup Series teams just got a boost. Mike Hillman, owner of the No. 40 Hillman Racing Chevrolet with driver Landon Cassill, has announced that he has formed a partnership with West Coast businessman Gordon Smith have formed a partnership. The team will now be named Hillman Smith Motorsports, effective immediately. …

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Did You Notice? … Distinguishing NASCAR Dreams From Reality

2014 Texas Ii Cup Ricky Stenhouse Jr Face Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Did You Notice? ā€¦ The audience increased for this yearā€™s version of the Chase? Homestead ratings, released Tuesday wrapped up the latest ten-race version of NASCARā€™s playoff, a 3.1 Nielsen number flat year-to-year but still good enough to keep the audience rising. Yes, executives around the sport are trumpeting how much this postseason boosted interest. …

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Going By the Numbers: Chase Elliott, Brian Scott Ramping Up Results as Season’s End Nears

2014 Atlanta Nns Chase Elliott Cockpit Cia

When it comes to the Nationwide Series title battle, many drivers are peaking or gaining momentum at just the right time. Don’t consider it true for everyone, but when checking out the average finishes of full-time competitors in the second-tier series over the 2014 season versus what they’ve accomplished more recently, the results are simple: …

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Beyond the Cockpit: Landon Cassill on Growing, Contending and Moving Forward

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Kyle Larson Joey Logano Landon Cassill Racing Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Sometimes it’s easy to discount the smallest teams in the Sprint Cup garage. They don’t often have the budgets or the equipment to be competitive. But what they do have is drive, and in the case of Hillman Racing, it hasĀ the talent as well. Team owner Mike Hillman, Sr. has a long history of producing …

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Did You Notice? … Stories Outside The Chase, A Fork In The Road For Harvick And Quick Hits

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Kyle Larson Eew Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Did You Notice?… Thereā€™s still plenty more going on these days than the Chase? As we enter the final three races of 2014, hereā€™s a quick look at some great stories going on that have been buried by NASCARā€™s ā€œplayoffs, playoffs, playoffsā€¦ā€ Kyle Larson. Yeah, he was terrible at Martinsville but Larson, who has wrapped …

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Five Points to Ponder: Honoring Both Texas Terry And Underdog Efforts

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Kyle Larson Joey Logano Landon Cassill Racing Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

One: Bracket Busters Hands up for anyone who still has a completely accurate 2014 Chase bracket. Silence? Crickets? Tumbleweed? Yep, thought so. Donā€™t even vaguely try to convince me that you had a final eight that didnā€™t include six-time champion Jimmie Johnson or the sportā€™s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., not to mention eitherĀ Kasey …

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