Race Weekend Central

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 Food City 500 at Bristol Edition

As fate would have it, the same driver who raced clean and accepted a second-place finish to Kyle Busch at Bristol one year ago had the race fall into his lap when leader Denny Hamlin fell off the pace with a fuel pickup problem a lap and a half from the finish. Now armed with 20 career wins, Burton has emerged as one of the hottest drivers on the circuit, off to the same solid start that propelled him to a spot in the Chase last year. To see who is left scrounging around for eggs this Easter weekend — as well as which drivers are best positioned to compete with the streaky Burton — check out this week’s edition of Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup.

Voice of Vito: The Day the Biscuit Wheels Fell Off Toyota’s Gravy Train

Over the years, Japanese auto manufacturers have built a reputation of building vehicles that are as reliable as the Pet Rock. The rationale behind purchasing a car from the Asian auto giant was its above-average fuel efficiency, and that the machines were as mechanically trustworthy as a St. Bernard with a small barrel of elixir …

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The Yellow Stripe: Managing NASCAR Expectations & Fending Off Disappointment

Trying to predict how the 2008 NASCAR season will finish after just three races – and with less than 10% of the full schedule accounted for – is just short of madness. But NASCAR is nothing if not a brutally honest sport. Yes, you can be the victim of bad racing luck; witness Casey Mears …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2008 UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas

Round three of the Cup Series will take place in the desert West as the circuit heads to Las Vegas for the UAW-Dodge 400. The reconfigured Las Vegas Motor Speedway is set to offer up some very intense racing with its variable banking. As the teams continue to figure out this new car configuration, the …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Nextel Cup: 2008 Auto Club 500 at Fontana Edition

The warm, sunny, and beautiful weather conditions commonly associated with California were replaced this weekend by rain, rain and well, more rain. After little practice time and a washed out qualifying session, NASCAR made a number of futile attempts to run the Cup race on Sunday before finally – at 2 a.m. ET – postponing …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Daytona 500

How the Rankings are Calculated: Frontstretch does their power rankings somewhat similar to how the Associated Press does them for basketball or football — writers on our staff will vote for the top 20 on a 20-19-18-17-16-15… 3-2-1 basis, giving 20 points to their first-place driver, 19 for their second, and so on. In the …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2008 Daytona 500 Edition

The long, cold winter that was the NASCAR offseason has finally come to an end… which means it’s time to turn the key on another season of fantasy racing. Whether your team was the cream of the crop or a basement dweller in 2007, the new season gives all fantasy players a renewed hope that …

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