Race Weekend Central

Did You Notice? Ragan’s Rise Equals Kenseth’s Fall? A Chase Race to Safety & Stewart’s Success

Did You Notice? How different things look now for David Ragan now than at this point a year ago? Let’s take a look at the stats through 25 races of his rookie season: Zero wins, one top five (Daytona 500 in February), one top 10 (that same Daytona), two DNFs, 22nd in driver points and getting …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Pepsi 500 at Fontana

California is a wide-open track with plenty of room to run. The drivers had to struggle with the sun as it was going down and ultimately struggled with making their cars handle as the track cooled off. The end result was Jimmie Johnson won the race and moved up two spots in the rankings this …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Sharpie 500 at Bristol

Bristol’s new variable banking has given drivers the option to pass without having to wreck a guy on the racetrack. But as Carl Edwards showed us Saturday night, the bump and run can still be the only option if the car in front is just good enough to keep you behind. Ensuring that move remains …

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Voice of Vito: Joey Logano Racing’s Next Best Thing & Worst Kept Secret

With Monday’s announcement that Joey Logano will replace Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyotas fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing, the biggest piece of the Silly Season puzzle was put into place. Although the announcement was an all but foregone conclusion after Stewart’s plans were confirmed a few weeks ago, it does give …

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

Boy. is this shaping to be one heck of a Chase! The media have been trying to generate some sort of rivalry between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch for weeks, but this week that media-generated rivalry finally came to fruition. Neither driver backed up on post-race opinions of how clean Edwards’s pass of Busch was …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 Bristol Night Race

1. A Little Communication – New team owner for 2009 Tony Stewart has had a change of heart on acquiring the No. 4 for next year’s teammate Ryan Newman; instead, Stewart’s fellow Indiana driver will race the No. 39. Though NASCAR agreed to transfer the number, used by Morgan-McClure Motorsports for 25 years, the sanctioning …

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Happy Hour: Tony Stewart & Ryan Newman Should Enjoy the Honeymoon While It Lasts

A two-car team with established veteran drivers behind the wheel, quite a few wins between them, one a former Cup champion. Sharing engines and chassis with one of the top outfits in the business. Luring away a capable mechanic from Hendrick Motorsports, a fellow who performed more than adequately sitting in as a crew chief …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 3M Performance 400 at Michigan

Four wide-open grooves of racing at Michigan gave the drivers a lot of options Sunday – giving the faster cars a great chance to work their way forward. But for Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne, the only racing line they were able to handle was the one that led straight to the garage. Both saw …

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The Yellow Stripe: Why I Don’t Hate NASCAR’s Chase – & You Shouldn’t, Either

Soccer’s English Premier League (EPL) runs from mid-August to mid-May. It’s a relentless 38-game, nine month slog with the 20 best teams in the land, in a country that lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes the beautiful game. Each team plays each other once at home and once on the road, with three points earned for …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 3M Performance 400 at Michigan

1. Give Backs – After five years on the sideline, the Southern 500 is back! Well, sort of. Track officials have announced that next year’s Mother’s Day weekend race will be renamed the Southern 500 – replacing the Dodge Avenger 500. The track lost the traditional Southern 500 date to the Fontana, Calif. racetrack in …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: 1st-Year Blues & Fantastic NASCAR Freshmen

Richard Childress Racing is set to set sail with a fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup team in 2009. The sponsor is on board in General Mills, and Childress expects to name a driver in the next week or two. (That driver is likely to be Casey Mears, and may involve a number and sponsor switch with …

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