Race Weekend Central

Going By the Numbers: Brad Keselowski’s Hot Pole Pace

2014 Loudon Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Pole Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Back in June, we discussed the abnormality that was the average starts and finishes of drivers like Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. At that time, both had a fairly sizable discrepancy – in Busch’s case, 10 positions – between where they started on average during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in 2014 and where …

Read more

Fantasy Insider: Martinsville Mayhem Ahead

One of the interesting things about the fantasy world in NASCAR is that as the Chase field narrows, just who is in the Chase in real life means less and less for your fantasy picks most likely. It’s just simple numbers. With just eight drivers remaining in contention for the title heading into Martinsville, that …

Read more

Happiness Is… NASCAR Legitimacy?

2014 Chicago Cup Brad Keselowski Paul Wolfe Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Well here we go. NHRA was off last weekend. Tony Schumacher has Top Fuel just about wrapped up with a 134 point lead.  In Europe, F1 enjoyed an off weekend after Mercedes walked away with the constructors’ title in Sochi. That series is now a two man race between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Grand …

Read more

NASCAR Mailbox: The Absence of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. from Chase Doesn’t Change Anything

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Crash Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s failure to move onto the next round in the Chase Grid might perhaps be the best thing to happen to the Chase detractors who want to see the end of it all. I mean, Earnhardt was doing so well and was poised to potentially win his first career Sprint Cup Series championship, …

Read more

NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Talladega

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Flag Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

As predicted, it took until the checkered flag before we knew who would be moving on to the eight-driver Eliminator Round. Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth all knew what they had to do to continue their bid for a championship: win. Johnson led the most laps, Earnhardt, Jr. led the …

Read more

Racing to the Point: Despite Chaos, This Season’s Main Characters Still Alive

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Jeff Gordon Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

This season’s Chase for the Sprint Cup is like watching the final season of a really good, violent drama. You’ve come to terms with the fact that characters are going to be killed off, but you’re hoping it’s done the right way. In other words, don’t kill off Walter White and Rick Grimes in the …

Read more

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. Don’t even vaguely try to convince me that you had a final eight that didn’t include six-time champion Jimmie Johnson or the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., not to mention either Kasey …

Read more

Who’s Hot and Who’s Not: Talladega – Martinsville Edition

2014 Michigan Ii Cup Ricky Stenhouse Jr Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Some of NASCAR’s best drivers from the regular season were left out of the Eliminator Round after falling flat at Talladega Superspeedway. Three former champions entered Talladega weekend on the outside of the bubble looking in, and one of them didn’t advance. Only three remain along with five drivers who have never lifted the Sprint …

Read more

Thinkin’ Out Loud: GEICO 500 – Brad Keselowski Lives to Fight Another Day

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Flag Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

Key Moment – The caution flag flew with four laps to go for a piece of metal on the race track. The No. 22 of Joey Logano had it on his grill under caution and rubbed it off when the yellow flag was in the air. The end result was a green-white-checkered finish that brought …

Read more

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2014 GEICO 500 at Talladega

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Green Flag Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

Looking for the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How behind Sunday’s race? Amy Henderson has you covered each week with the answers to six race-day questions, covering all five Ws and even the H… the Big Six. Who… gets my shoutout of the race? His run wasn’t perfect, and an ill-timed move late may …

Read more

Friday Faceoff: Penalties, Fireworks, and Momentum

2014 Charlotte Ii Kurt Busch Brad Keselowski Racing Credit Yvonne Leonard

Credit: Yvonne Leonard

Welcome to Friday Faceoff! What do you get when you take some hot-button NASCAR topics and hand them over to our dedicated and… er, opinionated staff? A little disagreement and a whole lot of thought-provoking insight! Check out this week’s edition to see what everyone is arguing… um, we mean, discussing this week! 1. The …

Read more

Happiness Is… Talladega, Teamwork, Safety, and Beer

2014 Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway Sprint Cup Mike Neff

Credit: Mike Neff

So that’s that, eh?  Let it now be known, that in NASCAR, you can drive around like a complete asstaco and there’s not much they’ll do to you — unless you’re a backmarker and they’d like to make an example out of you but don’t really want to punish a superstar because that might piss …

Read more