Race Weekend Central

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Food City 500 at Bristol Edition

A weekend in noisy Thunder Valley following a quiet week of rest provides a jarring wakeup call to drivers, crews and fans alike. But while Sunday’s Bristol race itself did not spark the normal beating and banging fest people are used to seeing, it did help bring to light what this season’s short-track races may …

Read more

Sprint Cup Rookie Report: The Bristol Stomp on Joey Logano’s Solid Finish & Scott Speed’s Bubble Hopes

Joey Logano Start: 23rd; Finish: 38th Summary: In Sunday’s FOX “rookie profile,” Logano alluded to the fact he thought it was a crazy idea to make a half-mile track like Bristol – a place so small, yet so quick. Logano actually had a decent day going for him at Thunder Valley at one point, but …

Read more

Did You Notice? DNFs Are a Good Thing, NASCAR Needs a Senior Tour & Menard’s Mediocrity?

Did You Notice? The complaints over the amount of engine failures to start the 2009 Sprint Cup season? To be honest, I like the unpredictability that’s been added back into the outcome of a race. For a while there, it looked like parts and pieces had become so invincible there was no doubt as to …

Read more

Fan’s View: Chasing Tires & Consequences – a NASCAR Crewman’s Desperate Disaster

It was the worst possible scenario. By lap 67, all but six cars had pitted on a green-flag run, then the dreaded yellow flag dropped. Unless you were one of the lucky fans whose driver had held off, the pit of your stomach dropped out. No… no… NO! Almost the entire field was a lap …

Read more

5 Points to Ponder: 2009 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Edition

Busch-whacked Kyle may be the Busch making headlines early – with wins across NASCAR’s three national series in the first month – but it was big brother Kurt Busch who made a statement Sunday afternoon in Atlanta. Kurt led more laps Sunday (234) than he did in all of 2007 (164) and made it back-to-back …

Read more

The Yellow Stripe: Catch 21 – NASCAR Thoughts, Questions & Observations 3 Races Into 2009

21, as many of you will know, is a lucky number in Las Vegas. So, here are exactly that many questions, observations and thoughts – in no particular order – on the season so far as the series leaves Sin City to head back east: Nothing changes for Casey Mears New team, new number, new …

Read more

Bubble Breakdown: Paul Menard, Mark Martin Among Those in Early Top-35 Trouble

With three races in the books already in 2009, the battle for the Top 35 locked-in spots is heating up, as there are only two races remaining to secure one of those Top-35 guaranteed starting positions. And when you looked at the starting lineup for the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Speedway, you saw the …

Read more

Frontstretch NASCAR Fantasy Insider: Loading the Dice for a Sin City Payoff

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series concludes its two-week west coast tour with a stop at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday. It’s the first race of the season on a 1.5-mile oval, the most common distance for a NASCAR track in this division. Since being reconfigured with higher banking in the corners, LVMS has become an …

Read more

Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Humbled Rookie Class Quiet at Fontana

The Auto Club 500 at Fontana gave us a full 500 miles of racing, but it was a race that felt a whole lot longer. After a true marathon out west, here is how the rookie class of 2009 fared. Joey Logano Start: 34th; Finish: 26th Summary: After an absolutely overwhelming Speedweeks and finishing dead …

Read more