Race Weekend Central

6 Points to Ponder: 2009 Daytona Speedweeks – Week 1 Edition

Is it time for Daytona to be repaved? Drivers started complaining about the surface following Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout, saying that the current racecar is not built for this particular track and its surface. It would make sense to smooth the bumps, repave the track and let ‘em loose like at Talladega – but in …

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Bowles-Eye View: At Phoenix, out With the Old, in With the Who?

For so many millions of us, favorite athletes become so much more. Role models for our kids, our communities, ourselves; they’re put on a pedestal of success we can only wish to achieve. Through them, we choose to live our wildest dreams, placed in a fantasy world in which a larger-than-life persona can show us …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: Tragedy Only Fueled Hendrick’s Triumph in Their Darkest Hour

It was the first time Brian Vickers smiled all weekend. That was my first thought one Sunday afternoon, a scant four years ago when the dust had settled after the 2004 Bass Pro Shops 500. The second was that it took extraordinary courage and poise for the winning team to be there at all. Racing …

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Did You Notice? The Busch-Edwards Rivalry That Isn’t, Truex’s Public Posturing & Touting Terry Labonte?

Did You Notice? In a story I first broke last April to many doubters, ESPN.com confirmed Tuesday night Tony Stewart will indeed leave Joe Gibbs Racing after a decade and jump ship to Haas CNC. Things remained on track almost exactly as I reported – Stewart will own a 50% share in the organization, with the …

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Bubble Breakdown: Last-Lap Restrictor-Plate Mayhem Ruins Daytona for Several Bubble Teams

As NASCAR made its first return trip to a racetrack in 2008, several bubble teams once again showed signs of life during Friday’s qualifying session. Joe Nemechek, Johnny Sauter and Regan Smith turned laps that qualified them in the fourth, fifth and eighth starting positions respectively, serving notice they planned to be a force during the …

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The Yellow Stripe: Drought Busters – Who’s Gone the Longest Without a Trip to NASCAR Victory Lane?

In the 1930s an epic drought, caused in part by primitive farming techniques, triggered a unique weather phenomenon called the Dust Bowl. It was a period of severe dust storms that blackened the sky, wreaked havoc on the land and reduced visibility to only meters in some instances. These storms reached as far as New …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

1. Still Able To Get ‘Er Done – 1995 Busch (Nationwide) Series Champion and 1996 Winston (Sprint) Cup Rookie of the Year Johnny Benson won for the third consecutive time at the Milwaukee Mile in the Camping World RV 200 Craftsman Truck Series race Friday evening. With the win, Benson maintains his CTS points lead …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: Jeff Gordon Won AGAIN?! & Is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Going to Be Any Good? It was 10 Years Ago…

The world tilted when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and headed for the sun when he announced he was going to Hendrick.