Race Weekend Central

Up To Speed: Kyle Busch Doesn’t Care What People Say

2015 Indianapolis Cup Kyle Busch Bricks And Skittles Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

Photo Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

“To think that he could go through what he went through early this year at Daytona and all of the heartbreak that went with that… I think it’s a special sports story,” said Joe Gibbs, winning car owner of the 2015 Brickyard 400. Indeed, comeback stories, such as that of Kyle Busch this season, are …

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Up To Speed: 3 Wins, 7 Races to Go… What Do the Numbers Say for Kyle Busch?

2015 Loudon I Cup Kyle Busch Car Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

What can you say about Kyle Busch? Rebound stories happen in sports every year (as evidenced by some stories in this year’s ESPY awards), but I can’t honestly say that I expected Busch to be one of them. For Busch to have missed the first 11 races of the Sprint Cup Series season due to …

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Up To Speed: New Rules Package A Huge Success… But Still Work To Do

Kybusch Battling Keselowski

(Photo: Jerry Jordan, Frontstretch)

Life is all about little miracles and happy little surprises. Running into an old friend you haven’t seen in a while, getting all green lights on the morning commute… …or an exciting race in an event full of unknowns and uncertainty. As the Sprint Cup Series rolled into Kentucky Speedway last week, everyone knew this …

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Up To Speed: Busch Brothers Moving Past Early Season Struggles, Finish 1-2 in Sonoma

2015 Sonoma Cup Kyle Busch Pack Racing Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

When Kyle Busch suffered through a horrendous wreck in the season opener for the Xfinity Series at Daytona in February, some wondered if he would ever race again. Once doctors determined the severity of the injuries—a broken right leg and fractured left foot—the question became when he would return. Next season? Six months? Longer? Shorter? Even …

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Up To Speed: The Best of the Rest Heading Into Sonoma

2015 Michigan I Cup Kyle Larson Leads Kurt Busch Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

We say it every year, but I’m always amazed at how fast the racing season passes by. One day the excitement of the Daytona 500 sets upon us, providing much needed racing after a long, cold offseason. Soon after, it’s the first day of summer, Father’s Day weekend, the sun is beating down on most of the …

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Up To Speed: NASCAR In No-Win Situation With Michigan Weather

Nascar Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

There’s the familiar adage that “When it rains, it pours.” Sometimes, though, that’s not always the case. Anyone who has watched racing for a while knows that it doesn’t take a lot of rain to slow or stop a NASCAR race. While it might delay the start or temporarily stop the action, eventually the cars can usually …

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Up To Speed: Mixed Emotions for Greg Biffle Following 2nd-Place Finish at Charlotte

2015 Charlotte I Cup Greg Biffle Car Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Eventual Coca-Cola 600 champ Carl Edwards really needed to win a race. He had just moved over to a brand new car at Joe Gibbs Racing from Roush Fenway Racing at the beginning of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, giving him optimism for a new beginning in his career but also applying some pressure …

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Up To Speed: Kyle Busch Shows No Signs of Weakness in All-Star Return

Hey, did you hear Kyle Busch is back? Because if you were watching Saturday night’s race (with the sound off, mind you), you may not have noticed anything different. If you’ve been living under a rock, Busch has been MIA from the Sprint Cup Series for a while — since the beginning of the season actually. …

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Up To Speed: Erik Jones Deserves Praise for Kansas Weekend Despite Disappointing Finish

2015 Kansas I Cup Erik Jones Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: CIA Stock Photography ©2015)

Sometimes it’s not your weekend… even when it looks like it will be. The weekend at Kansas Speedway was supposed to be huge for Erik Jones, who would be making his official NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in the No. 18 Toyota, filling in for Kyle Busch who was injured in an Xfinity Series race earlier this season …

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Up To Speed: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Brutal Honesty Following Talladega Victory

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. There was a time when that phrase would have been nearly an afterthought, almost a foregone conclusion; a “been-there-done-that” acknowledgement from the racing world. Earnhardt’s win on Sunday was his sixth victory at the 2.66-mile racetrack and 24th of his career, but his first since 2004. His …

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Up To Speed: Kurt Busch Success Bad For the Sport?

2015 Richmond I Cup Kurt Busch Wins Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Kurt Busch’s win at Richmond came with a lot of, well… baggage. You see, Busch isn’t necessarily the most popular person outside of NASCAR. Following domestic abuse allegations from ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll, Busch was suspended for the first three weeks of the season after a family court in Delaware ruled it was “more likely than …

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Up To Speed: Despite Long Day, NASCAR Got This One Right

2015 Bristol I Cup Green Flag Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Who knew Bristol was an endurance race? Oh, sure, the ability to endure is something that drivers have to be able to do in order to win the race, but endurance racing is something totally different. Those long races are better served for series that have multiple drivers for each race, times carved out, and, oh …

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