Race Weekend Central

2009 NASCAR Report Cards, Part II: Grading Dale Jr. & the Rest

Editor’s Note: For Part I of our midseason driver report cards, click here. Continuing on from yesterday’s review, it’s time for Professors Danny and Tom to grade those drivers sitting at the back of the class. Whether it’s some bad racing luck, poor chemistry with a crew chief or just plain awful driving, most of …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Daytona Summer Speedweeks Edition

The July 4 bash at Daytona International Speedway literally ended with a bang, as Kyle Busch’s attempt at blocking Tony Stewart from taking the race win sent him bouncing off the frontstretch wall. While the finish stole the headlines, the plights of Chase-contending drivers permeated other post-race storylines. Drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Mark …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Edition

The Cup Series’ trip to wine country in Sonoma, Calif. sure seemed to be worth the extra gas bill. The inevitable fuel-strategy gambles and unpredictable mishaps that Infineon Raceway commonly produces shuffled up the running order many times during Sunday’s (June 21) race. The racing action through the pack was tight and fender-banging, especially in …

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Grading the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Pack: Part 1

NASCAR’s longest and most grueling race, the Coca-Cola 600, represents a significant milestone in the 2009 season. It’s not quite the halfway point to the Chase (that comes the following week after Dover), but once the checkers fly late Sunday evening, we’re exactly one-third of the way through the 36-race schedule. With that in mind, …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 All-Star Race at Charlotte Edition

Tony Stewart took Lowe’s Motor Speedway by storm Saturday night, as the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy smelled victory and found it in the 25th annual All-Star Race. Stewart’s first win as a driver/owner and first All-Star win came in a race that saw tepid-at-best racing in the first three segments …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Lipton Tea 250 at Richmond

It was business as usual at Richmond Friday night, as Kyle Busch in his No. 18 ran up front all night, led the most laps and won the race. Busch, who led four times for 115 laps, had little trouble holding off Carl Edwards following a late restart in notching his third victory of the …

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5 Points to Ponder: 2009 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Edition

A NASCAR induced near-disaster? Like every single person watching the FOX telecast or sitting in the stands at the 2.66-mile superspeedway that has produced some of the scariest incidents in NASCAR history, I too held my breath waiting for the window net to drop on the No. 99 car after Carl Edwards went sailing into …

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Did You Notice? Restrictor Plate 1-Hit Wonders & the New Precedent of “Probation”

Did You Notice? Just probation for Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Did you really expect the sanctioning body to do anything more after their little post-race altercation at Phoenix? We already have the U.S. Army spread out in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere across the globe… there’s no need to dispatch an additional battalion to …

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Despite Recent Struggles, Optimism Runs High in Richard Petty Motorsports Camp

HAMPTON, Ga. – Matt Kenseth may have won the Daytona 500, but Richard Petty Motorsports left the Great American Race as the talk of the town. With three cars in the top 10 – including a stellar third-place run by AJ Allmendinger – the newly-merged team appeared ready to set the sport on its ear. …

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