Race Weekend Central

NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After New Hampshire

2014 Loudon Ii Cup Joey Logano Burnout Cia

Penske Racing has asserted itself as the team to beat for the Championship. Joey Logano recorded his fourth victory of the season, first in the Chase and third consecutive win for Penske Racing overall. Both Brad Keselowski and Logano have automatically advanced to the top-12 Contender round. Survival was the name of the game Sunday …

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Chase Drivers Claw Themselves out of New Hampshire

2014 Loudon Ii Cup Jeff Gordon Car Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

As the Canadian National Anthem was invoked prior to the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire, NASCAR drivers did their best to pretend they were from Canada. The 43 drivers hit the track on an overcast Sunday afternoon, and evidently raced as aggressively as an NHL player fighting during a hockey match. The 300-lap spectacle was incredibly important, …

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Pace Laps: Chase Mess, Justin Boston’s Nationwide Debut, Cole Custer Makes History & More

Justin Boston Talladega Candid 2014 Arca Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Sprint Cup Series: A Hodge-Podge for Chase Drivers – Let’s ignore the fact there were 15 cautions at Loudon, and that most of them happened in the second half of the race, leading to an event that felt like a stop-and-go commute downtown in a major city during rush hour.  The result of all the cautions …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Sylvania 300 – Joey Logano Punches His Ticket While Others Punch the Wall

2014 Loudon Ii Cup Joey Logano Burnout Cia

Key Moment – On the penultimate restart with 29 laps to go, Brad Keselowski started on the inside of leader Kevin Harvick. As they raced through turns one and two, Keselowski slipped up and made slight contact with Harvick, moving him up and out of the groove. Joey Logano pounced on the opportunity and swept …

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Chicago

2014 Chicago Cup Brad Keselowski Trophy Cia

Credit: CIA Editorial Photography

If starting first, leading all but seven laps, winning the race and claiming the top seed in the Chase at Richmond was enough for Brad Keselowski to make a championship statement, no one told him. He came from 25th place Sunday afternoon, led 62 laps and claimed his fifth overall and series-leading victory. On top …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Chicagoland – Brad Keselowski Threads the Needle to the Second Round of the Chase

2014 Chicago Cup Brad Keselowski Trophy Cia

Credit: CIA Editorial Photography

Key Moment – Brad Keselowski was running in second when he made a yellow flag pit stop on lap 183. His team felt they did not properly secure the right rear tire to the car on the stop so they returned to pit lane and changed the tires again. As a result, Keselowski restarted behind …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2014 MyAFibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland

2014 Chicago Cup Brad Keselowski Window Cia

Credit - CIA Stock Photography

Looking for the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How behind Sunday’s race? Amy Henderson has you covered each week with the answers to six race-day questions, covering all five Ws and even the H… the Big Six. Who… gets my shoutout of the race? The talk on Sunday was mostly about the Chase competitors, …

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Richmond

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Woohoo Cia

After 26 races and 13 race winners, the 2014 Chase field has been set. Brad Keselowski made a championship statement Saturday night, leading 383 of the 400 laps en route to his season-leading fourth victory. With his win, Keselowski claimed the number one seed as the Chase standing reset heading to Chicago. Results were mixed …

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Racing to the Point: Separating the Chase Contenders & Pretenders

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Ford Chase Drivers Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

This new elimination-style playoff format has many people believing that some of the Chase underdogs have a chance at the title as along as they keep their noses clean and survive each round. I want to dispel that rumor right now. The cream is still going to rise to the top, as it always does. …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not: Richmond – Chicagoland Edition

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Jeff Gordon Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

With 26 races in the books there exist two distinct groups of drivers: those who qualified for the Chase and the many, many more who will have to wait until next year to lay stake over one of 16 playoff spots. The line was left anything but blurred after the regular season finale at Richmond …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: Richmond – The Chase is Set, Brad Keselowski Dominates and a Drunk on a Fence

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Burnout Cia

Credit: CIA Editorial Photography

Key Moment – In a race where the winner leads 383 laps, including the final 274 in a row, there really aren’t any key moments in the race. Based on the practice sheets the key moment came between the first practice and the final practice. Brad Keselowski was 14th fastest in 10 lap average in …

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