Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: NASCAR TV Creates Dale Jr. Sub Narrative

Sometimes, you have to sit back and think about things.  Today’s critique marks the 600th combined TV critique for Frontstretch between Couch Potato Tuesday (and its former title, Talking NASCAR TV) and The Critic’s Annex.  Where does the time go?  Crikey. New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted a Joe Gibbs Racing benefit last week.  It says …

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The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams from Loudon to Indy

2016 Loudon I Cup Michael Annett Reed Sorenson Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

NASCAR has a few tracks that are fairly unique in layout.  Among those are both new Hampshire Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway-a flat one-mile oval with long straights and tight turns – think big Martinsville – and a huge, flat, rectangular behemoth with four separate corners and four straights to match.  These tracks are …

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The Underdog House: Tracking NASCAR’s Small Teams from Daytona to Kentucky

2016 Daytona Ii Cup Michael Mcdowell Michael Annett Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

What makes a small team? I’m frequently asked how to categorize NASCAR’s teams. I look at a couple of things when I make the list each spring: budget and performance.  Small teams simply don’t have the budgets of the larger ones, even middle-tier organizations.  They may have alliances with bigger teams, but that doesn’t mean everything gets handed …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Brad Keselowski Drops Malachi Crunch on the Talladega Demo Derby for Second Win of the Season

2016 Talladega I Cup Brad Keselowski Champagne John Harrleson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrleson / NKP)

Who’s in the headline – Brad Keselowski won his first Cup race at Talladega in 2009. While he isn’t mentioned in the same breaths with Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt or Tony Stewart when plate racing prowess is discussed, the bottom line is he won his fourth plate race at Talladega on Sunday. Even though the …

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2015 Southern 500 Retro Paint Scheme Photo Gallery

Brad Keselowski And Kasey Kahne Darlington Cup Retro 2015 Mike Neff 136

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

Off the Wall With: Josh Wise

2014 Loudon I Cup Josh Wise Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photography © 2014)

On the spot this week: NASCAR driver Josh Wise What’s fun besides racing? Josh Wise: Playing with my kids. What’s the top item on your bucket list? Wise: Win a Sprint Cup race. Your go-to on movie night is: Wise: I watched Anchorman this morning. There isn’t a go-to flick but I like to watch …

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Premium Motorsports Officially Completes Purchase of Phil Parsons Racing

2015 Pocono Cup Josh Wise Car Credit Anthony Lumbis Sr.

(Photo: Anthony Lumbis Sr., Frontstretch)

Jay Robinson purchased Phil Parsons Racing to fall under his Premium Motorsports umbrella earlier this year, and now the longtime owner is discussing how it went down. Originally a two-car operation between the No. 62 and No. 66 vehicles, the team planned to run Brendan Gaughan for the full season, with the exception of the Daytona 500, which …

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Disagreement: Josh Wise, Premium Motorsports Part Ways

2015 Charlotte I Cup Josh Wise Vertical Credit Amy Henderson

Photo Credit: Amy Henderson, Frontstretch

Following a rough weekend at Kentucky Speedway, Josh Wise and Premium Motorsports have parted ways. Wise, who piloted the No. 98 Big Red/Xyience Ford for the team to a 43rd-place showing at Kentucky, announced the news on his Twitter account. I have parted ways with Premium Motorsports. The team and I did not share the …

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NASCAR Driver Report Cards: Part III

2015 Dover I Cup Tony Stewart Car Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

So you might remember a few weeks ago when I graded the Sprint Cup full-timers through Driver Report Cards… and promptly stopped at the letter K. No, I don’t have a weird idea of what the alphabet should be, nor am I protesting the use of the letters L through Z. The third part just …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Can’t Fix Boredom

2015 Dover I Cup Jimmie Johnson Confetti Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Welcome back, race fans. After the insanity of Memorial Day weekend, last weekend brought a tripleheader at Dover. We saw wrecking, track surface issues and Jimmie Johnson winning again. In other words, it was just like last year. Things never change. Due to time constraints, Saturday’s running of the Buckle Up 200 will be covered …

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5 Points to Ponder: Experimentation, Throwing Caution to the Wind & Spongebob

2015 Bristol I Cup David Ragan Vertical Credit Amy Henderson

(Photo: Amy Henderson, Frontstretch)

Experimentation As our own Jerry Jordan wrote this morning, JR Nation can sleep easy. With Sunday’s win, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has all but clinched his second-straight Chase for the Sprint Cup berth with the new format. The playoff berth was inevitable; Earnhardt was inside the top 10 in points even if he didn’t win. The …

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