Race Weekend Central

Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2007 Ford 400 at Homestead Edition

The fat lady is warming up, the sun is beginning to set at Homestead and the curtain is about to close on the 2007 Nextel Cup season. After 35 races, it all comes down to two drivers – Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon – who’ll battle for the rights to the title. The rest of …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not: Outside the Chase After the 2007 Checker Auto Parts 500k at Phoenix

With just two races left on the Nextel Cup slate, the open roads of the great Southwest and Phoenix appeared the perfect place for a change of pace. After all, the subset of three dozen drivers outside the Chase had won just once during the playoffs, and you’d like to think the odds were in …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: NASCAR ER – It’s Time to Bring Reality to the Show

NASCAR has come a long way on safety in recent years. The HANS device, SAFER barriers, the Car of Tomorrow; all were implemented to improve safety and the chances of a driver avoiding serious injury in a crash. By all accounts, they are working. But there is one area in which NASCAR lags far behind …

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Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Phoenix Fall Race Edition

Jimmie Johnson – Johnson came home second in this race last year, and has four straight top-10 finishes at Phoenix. He also finished second here in 2003. Jeff Gordon – Gordon won this spring’s Phoenix race from the pole to finally score his first Cup victory here. He’s run very well at the track, collecting …

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Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Texas Fall Race Edition

Jeff Gordon – Quick; Gordon hasn’t won at which two tracks currently on the Cup schedule? That’s right… Homestead and Texas. Gordon did finish second at TMS in 2002 and has top-10 finishes in six of his 13 Cup starts here; however, his average finish in Fort Worth remains a paltry 16th. Jimmie Johnson – …

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I’m Just Sayin’… NASCAR Stuff We Can’t Make Up

Instead of her usual weekly racing review, Senior Staff Writer Becca Gladden has scoured the NASCAR front to bring you the week’s curious, offbeat, and just plain wacky news from the intriguing world of big-time stock car racing. Trust us, these stories are all true – we just couldn’t make this stuff up! Racing on …

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Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Atlanta Fall Race Edition

Jeff Gordon – In 30 Cup starts at Atlanta, the points leader has posted four victories and 18 top-10 finishes. However, he finished 12th in the race this spring. Jimmie Johnson – Johnson won here in March to post his second Atlanta Cup victory. After 12 starts here, Johnson has eight top-10 results and an …

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Voice of Vito: NASCAR Drivers Getting Their Just Desserts, Earnings Finally Matching Those of Other Major Athletes

Ernest Hemingway once said that, “Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports… all others are games.” All decade long, we’ve heard such age-old discussion of how NASCAR drivers stack up to the athletic performances of the stick ‘n’ ball sports: Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL and the NBA. …

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