Race Weekend Central

Pace Laps: Matt Crafton Crumbles, Champions Are Crowned And NASCAR Rained On

2015 Xfinity Texas Chris Buescher On Track Beth Lunkenheimer

(Photo: Beth Lunkenheimer, Frontstretch)

Sprint Cup Series: Mother Nature Makes Mockery Of Chase – NASCAR hoped to fill Phoenix with compelling storylines. Instead? Mother Nature filled it with water. Rain in the desert was honestly the perfect way to push a bumbling, stumbling Chase toward its conclusion. The Eliminator Round wound up with a whimper in a race dominated …

Read more

Slipstream Saturday: Viva Mexico as F1 Returns

Lewis Hamilton celebrating his 2015 championship (Getty Images)

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Just three races remain on the 2016 schedule, but this week is a surprising challenge as the Mexican Grand Prix returns after a 23-year absence. It is the second time that the Mexican version of the race has rejoined the calendar after a long absence, and it seems like one that is long overdue. The …

Read more

Pace Laps: Championships and Future Stars

Lewis Hamilton Usgp 2015

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Formula 1: Hamilton Scores Second Consecutive Championship – The United States Grand Prix may have been the best race of the F1 season. Rain brought questions as to the actual performance of any of the teams and also made for a frustrating schedule – as qualifying got pushed to Sunday morning. During that session, things began …

Read more

Slipstream Saturday: Formula 1 Racing Stateside

Kvyat Bahrain Sutton Images

(Photo Credit: Sutton Images)

The weather looks to be one of the big stories surrounding the United States Grand Prix this weekend, which really isn’t surprising with Hurricane Patricia bringing a belting of rain to the area. More on Patricia to come, but it’s time to return to the continued soap opera that is the relationship between Red Bull, …

Read more

Happiness Is… Racing, America, and Business

Nascar Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

It’s time to do the Talladega Tango once again. You know, that dance when a driver hangs around with a bunch of friends and then gets shuffled out of the order only to end up staring at everyone’s backsides. Or maybe it’s the dance when a driver tries to get close to someone they like …

Read more

Pace Laps: Elated 8th, Cup Moonlighters, F1 and More

Jeff Gordon Bank Of America 500 2015 Charlotte Cup Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Sprint Cup Series: Gordon and His Elated Effort – A blatant fact for the 12 remaining drivers in the Chase or the Sprint Cup is the importance of avoiding issues; or in other words, the hunt for consistency. Though no victory for Jeff Gordon Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a eighth-place finish in the Bank of …

Read more

Slipstream Saturday: F1 Returns to Russia

Lewis Hamilton celebrating his 2014 Russian GP win (credit: AP)

(Photo Credit: AP)

Five races remain in the  Formula 1 season as the series races in Russia this weekend. Mercedes can lock up the constructors’ title at the Russian Grand Prix, something that merely feels like a done deal at this point, because if they don’t take care of it at Sochi, surely they will In Austin, Texas …

Read more

Happiness Is… R.A.S, Regulars, and Sochi

2015 Cup Dover Pack Racing Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Another week, another sense that the sky is falling on NASCAR. The stands this past weekend showed a less than stellar crowd in attendance. Whether that can be credited to the threat of rain and overall gloomy weather, the popularity of football, or the fact that Dover is not what it once was, it doesn’t …

Read more

Pace Laps: Kevin Harvick Throws It All Away, Others Redeem Themselves

Nascar Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Sprint Cup Series: Harvick’s Horror Story – New Hampshire Motor Speedway won’t be remembered so much for who won as who lost. Sure, Matt Kenseth continued a hot streak for Joe Gibbs Racing but we knew he was in solid position to make the next round of NASCAR’s Chase playoff anyway. Most of the racing up front …

Read more

Slipstream Saturday: Returning to Tragedy and the Japanese GP

Jules Bianchi

(Photo: Getty Images)

Formula 1 is on the second half of rare back-to-back race weekends, following the Singapore GP with another in the Pacific region as the series heads to Japan. A bit of a pall hovers over the event, as the track, Suzuka, is where Jules Bianchi suffered the accident that put him in a coma and …

Read more

Happiness Is… Handling, Wussiness, and NASCAR’s B-Series

2015 Chicago Cup Matt Kenseth Racing Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Anyone else underwhelmed by the first round of the Chase, er, playoffs?   The race drew just a 1.8 rating, which means somewhere in the neighborhood of three million fans tuning in to enjoy the action. On a positive note, that number also put the race as the most-watched sporting event that wasn’t football (Reminder …

Read more

Happiness Is… Records, Chicagoland, and Smog

2015 Richmond Ii Cup Grandstand Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Out like a lamb and in like a lamb. That description feels apt for the end of the Cup Series’ regular season and the beginning of its Chase – or is it playoffs? In many ways, there is nothing surprising about the regular season wheezing out as few can remember anything significant happening in that …

Read more