NASCAR on TV this week

Cup Series

Who’s Hot / Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: Talladega-Darlington Edition

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After rain shortened the running of the Nationwide race at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday afternoon, Mother Nature struck again once the Sprint Cup Series took the track Sunday. The Aaron’s 499 may have taken most of the day to complete after a 3.5 hour weather delay, but nothing could dampen the 2.66-mile track’s ability to produce unpredictable finishes.

In the end, David Ragan crossed the finish line first after a daring set of moves left him ahead of the pack during the green-white-checker scenario brought about by the second massive crash of the afternoon.

Almirola Finally Proving He Belongs In Sprint Cup

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The former Joe Gibbs Racing developmental driver won the pole for a Nationwide race at Milwaukee in 2007, and started the race only to have to give up his seat on lap 59 when Denny Hamlin finally arrived at the track. Almirola was running third at the time, but he was thrown to the side like last week’s garbage because Rockwell Automation wanted a Sprint Cup star in its car. Hamlin took over and drove from the back to Victory Lane.

Hamlin celebrated while Almirola was credited with his first and only Nationwide win. It might’ve been the first time in history a driver was embarrassed to have won a race.

Pace Laps: NASCAR’s Miracle Moment, Cautions Breed Controversy And “21”

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_Did you miss an event during this busy week in racing? How about a late-night press release, an important sponsorship rumor, or a juicy piece of news? If you did, you’ve come to the right place! Each week, The Frontstretch will break down the racing, series by series, to bring you the biggest stories that you need to watch going forward for the week ahead. Let our experts help you get up to speed, no matter what series you might have missed, all in this edition of Pace Laps!_

NASCAR’s Fine Line Between Tragedy And Terrific: Newman’s Nasty Remarks

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Talladega Superspeedway is a favorite among NASCAR’s viewers, but it has fewer fans amongst the garage area. For fabricators, it means even longer hours in the shop. For drivers, it means a gamble, roll of the dice chance of winning the race or winding up with a heap of scrap metal to be loaded back onto the hauler.

For Ryan Newman, it’s been more of the latter. Eight DNFs in 28 races — including last Sunday’s unbearably long event — is a good indication as to why.

Davids Beating Goliaths: Plate Racing And The Great Equalizer

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Daytona and Talladega have been considered major equalizers in NASCAR’s national series for many years. Sure, the guys who you’d expect to win tend to do so, but that’s not before a couple of underdogs who challenge for the victory in some capacity, either eventually scoring solid finishes or wrecking out trying to do it.

Sunday night didn’t change that trend forever, but it did throw a real wrench into the equation. Front Row Motorsports _won_ a NASCAR race.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2013 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

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What is there to say that’s positive about a type of racing where one driver makes a small mistake and a dozen or more others pay the price? Talladega, along with Daytona, is the epitome of what racing should not be: artificially restricted power that allows no throttle response, huge crashes that destroy a dozen or more innocent bystanders, drivers not racing for most of the race because it doesn’t matter until the last few laps. Yes, the finishes are close, but is a close finish worth watching a race just waiting for the inevitable Big One and wondering who will get taken out this time?

Want A Real Rivalry? It’ll Come From Respect

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After a pair of incidents that ended with torn-up race cars and hurt feelings (not to mention Denny Hamlin’s hurt back) it seems as though the Hamlin-Joey Logano spat is the latest in a line of mini-rivalries to crop up when two drivers just can’t seem to stay away from each other on the racetrack. Before that, there was Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer, culminating in an ugly ending at Phoenix. It seems as though every time two drivers are angry with each other after a race, people want to make the incident into a brewing, long-term rivalry for the ages. The only problem is… they aren’t.

NASCAR needs a rivalry, and it’s certainly easy to see two drivers feuding and to cultivate that into something it’s simply never going to be.