Race Weekend Central

Pace Laps: Short-Track Racing, Indy Returns, NHRA 4-Wides & F1

Indycar 2015 St. Pete Power Montoya Kanaan Podium Credit Chris Jones

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

NHRA: 4-Wide Nationals Produce Surprise Winners – It was a good day for Don Schumacher Racing, as they scored Funny Car win No. 100 with Fast Jack Beckman and then completed the Nitro sweep for the 47th time with a Top Fuel win by Antron Brown at the 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, …

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Slipstream Saturday: 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix Preview

daniel ricciardo (credit: Getty Images)

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The second round of the Formula 1 season gets written this weekend as the series visits the Sepang track for the Malaysian Grand Prix. There’s been a spate of news in the interim since Australia, with perhaps the most notable being that there will be no German Grand Prix on the calendar this year. That …

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IndyCar Preview: 2015 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

2014 Indycar Milwaukee Will Power Drama

It seems like it has been quite some time since the IndyCar Series was ripping around the track. Oh, that’s right, it has. The end of the 2014 season came on Aug. 30, which means that nearly seven months have passed since it ran competitive laps. Sure, they’ve been testing, but that’s quite the layoff. …

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Happiness Is… Saving Ducats, Starting & Resuming

2015 Atlanta Cwts Timothy Peters Truck Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

Photo Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

Not quite the easy week to write about NASCAR and offer anything that resembles happiness, right? Let’s look back at the on-track festivities real quick. The Xfinity Series had all the heart-stopping action that accompanies watching mold grow as another Cup driver stunk up the show and walked off with the check. Kevin Harvick tried …

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Slipstream Saturday: Melbourne in the Rear View; News

Daniil Kvyat 2015 F1 Infiniti Red Bull Racing Rb11 Wallpaper 800x450

(Photo Credit: Red Bull Racing)

The debut of the Formula 1 season in Melbourne may have been a bit of a dud in terms of overall competition but it did give a snapshot as to where everyone is at the moment and a forecast for what to expect the rest of the season. The obvious realization is that Mercedes has …

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Happiness Is… Hot Dogs, Pyrrhic Victory & Keloorah

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Martinsville Overhead Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. © 2014)

Well, Phoenix was fun… or something. Before the weekend started, Happiness Is wondered if Kevin Harvick would just sweep everything, leaving the only question as to whether his car and crew would hold up. As far as Sprint Cup goes, he did just that and with little in the way of drama, though NASCAR tried …

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Pace Laps: The Crazy Crash Edition

2015 Phoenix I Nxs Joey Logano Burnout Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Xfinity Series: Cup Series Dominance Continues – Nothing could stop Joey Logano from winning at Phoenix on Saturday. Nothing. The unstoppable Team Penske No. 22 car has been in the top five for each race this year, and it has three straight finishes of first or second. But what is so remarkable about Logano’s feat in the …

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Slipstream Saturday: Looking to Melbourne

Lewis Hamilton 2015 Australia

(Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Frontstretch will be expanding its Formula 1 coverage this year. Look for more regular columns covering the sport.   Formula 1 has gotten its season started this weekend in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. There’s all kinds of different stories as things get going, so here’s a recap and preview for the opener. What’s News To begin, …

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Happiness Is… Competition Cautions, Confusion & Consistency

2014 Texas Ii Cup Paul Wolfe Brad Keselowski Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Ah, NASCAR.  All professional sports that receive any modicum of attention get to enjoy their tales being played out in the media.  That’s part of the reason that we all pay attention.  This idea isn’t new.  One of the reasons that baseball fascinated people was the offseason, which is how the phrase ‘hot stove’ came …

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Pace Laps: Closers, Childress, And Generation Next

2015 Las Vegas Cup Green Flag Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Cup: Harvick Closing The Deal – So far this season, Hendrick engines and chassis have been out front with NASCAR’s new rules changes. Jeff Gordon won the most laps at Daytona, Jimmie Johnson won Atlanta and for a time it was Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kasey Kahne running 1-2-3 in Las Vegas. For whatever reason, Stewart-Haas Racing has not experienced the same …

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Slipstream Saturday: The F1 Offseason is Nearly Over

Lewis Hamilton 2703 630

(Photo: Getty Images)

Frontstretch will be bringing more Formula 1 coverage this season.  Here is the beginning with a look towards the season opener in Australia. Last season Lewis Hamilton drove the dominant Mercedes to the title facing his best competition from his teammate Nico Rosberg.  The Mercedes was so stout that the third-place driver, Daniel Ricciardo, finished …

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Happiness Is… The Rules Package, Safety & Las Vegas

2014 Chicago Cup Jeff Gordon Cia

(CIA Stock Photo, Inc. © 2014)

The small crowd this past weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway should not be too much of a surprise.  In many ways, it should have been expected.  The track has faced difficulty filling its stands for a few years now, and being given a race date with unpredictable weather offered no favors. So what is going …

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