Race Weekend Central

Sprint Cup Rookie Report: 2009 NASCAR Season Preview

After one of the most economically brutal NASCAR offseasons in recent history, it’s finally time to start focusing on performances on the stopwatch instead of on the balance sheet. This also spells good news for Professor Lumbis as I get to preview and critique this season’s rookies once again. The 2008 season was not kind …

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Mirror Driving: Ownership Smoke & Mirrors, Smoke’s Fiery New Team & Logano’s No Smoke… Yet

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/Who’s Hot …

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2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie Report Cards: Economic Woes & Poor Performances Leave Their Mark

Looking back on the 2008 NASCAR season, many fans will notice a lot of similarities between this year and 2007. The most obvious comparison, for example, involves the complete dominance by three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson during both Chases. But the 2007 season also saw the emergence of a new trend in NASCAR, involving the …

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Talking NASCAR TV: ESPN Pit Reporters Bring Their A-Game to Texas

There were two major storylines Sunday in the Dickies 500: Jimmie Johnson coughing up some of the points lead to Carl Edwards and Edwards’s unbelievable stretching of fuel to win the race. Johnson’s problems became entrenched before the midpoint of the race when the No. 48 team fell back to 25th in the running order …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Brad Keselowski Has Impressive Debut While Joey Logano Struggles

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Sam Hornish Jr. (21st), Marcos Ambrose (24th), Regan Smith (25th), Scott Speed (33rd), Brad Keselowski (37th), Joey Logano (43rd) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Keselowski (19th), Ambrose (21st), Hornish (23rd), Speed (33rd), Smith (34th), Logano (40th) Rookie of the Race: Keselowski. The 24-year-old rookie finally got to make his Sprint Cup debut this …

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Dues Paid, Brad Keselowski Ready for His Cup Debut

CONCORD, N.C. – A lot of drivers who have made it to the upper levels of NASCAR today have no idea what driving a subpar ride feels like. Brad Keselowski is not one of those wheelmen. Before scoring his big break with JR Motorsports, Keselowski’s rides at the top of NASCAR consisted of a family-owned …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2008 Camping World RV Sales 200 at Dover

In a Nutshell: For the 23rd time this season, a Sprint Cup driver proved that they had the awe-inspiring mettle to dominate NASCAR’s AAA series. For the eighth time this season, Kyle Busch proved to race fans that he is indeed deserving of a full-time ride in the Cup ranks, because he’s such a darned …

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Nuts for Nationwide: 28 Down, 7 to Go in NASCAR’s 2nd Series in 2008

In a sure sign that life moves pretty fast and I’m getting older by the day, we’re down to just seven races to go before the crowning of the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series champion. I feel like it was only yesterday that I wrote a Nuts for Nationwide column entitled 4 down, 31 to go. …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2008 Emerson Radio 250 at Richmond

In a Nutshell: The Nationwide Series took to a short track for the second time in three weeks and, also for the second time in three weeks, Clint Bowyer dominated the race. And nonetheless, for the second time in three weeks, Bowyer failed to score the win. Despite leading 195 of the 250 laps run, …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2008 Camping World RV Service 300 at Fontana

In a Nutshell: Kyle Busch won the pole for this race and led every lap, sans the few he fell behind during a cycle of green-flag pit stops. By the end of the race, Busch had led 144 of 150 laps and went virtually unchallenged, scoring an easy seventh victory of the Nationwide Series season …

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