Race Weekend Central

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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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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Slipstream Saturday: The F1 Offseason is Nearly Over

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(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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Happiness Is… Bargain Shopping, Good Times & Monkeying Around

2015 Daytona I CUP Joey Logano woohoo credit NASCAR via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

There was a time when some young hotshot got a sweet ride driving for top-tier organization, taking over from a former champion and stalwart of the sport.  That driver faced the challenge of carrying with him exaggerated expectations but also squinted eyes from fans.  That driver, however, found elements of success but eventually wore out …

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Happiness Is… Listening, Livery & Midseason Form

2014 Loudon II CUP Danica Patrick CIA

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

The Great American Race, version 2015, is upon us.  The offseason has finally given way to throttled-up engines and strapped-in drivers and it’s time to enjoy NASCAR’s biggest spectacle. With Daytona’s surface in good shape and no Juan Pablo Montoya in the field, there’s a good chance that nothing wildly extravagant will happen on par …

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Pace Laps: Daytona Racing and Wrecking

2015 Daytona I Unlimited Jeff Gordon Alan Gustafson Credit NASCAR via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Sprint Cup: Gordon’s Farewell Begins; Qualifying Questioned: Jeff Gordon earned the pole position for the Daytona 500 next weekend in what amounts to a dramatic beginning to a final full-time season.  Doing so just means that Gordon further cements himself as one of the all-time greats, notching his 78th pole start.  Though his accomplishment might not …

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Happiness Is… Jeff Gordon, Money, Side Skirts & Technology

2014 Phoenix II CUP Jeff Gordon car CIA

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Well, here it is again, that time of the year when winter doldrums set in allowing us all a moment of reflection and to… whatever.  This column isn’t seeking to be any kind of philosophical rumination about life – at least not this time.  Nope, this space is for thinking about hyper-colored automotive blurs, whizzing …

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Pace Laps: Cars, Drivers, And Rookies Come Sharply Into Focus

2014 Eldora CWTS wall CIA

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. © 2014)

Sprint Cup: A Burton Still Walks Among Us – NASCAR is a sport built on families, famous siblings and their sons carrying us through racing generations. Petty. Earnhardt. Elliott. Even Pearson and Bodine. It’s a seamless transition of success that jolts us when it reaches an end. That makes Monday’s pending announcement of Jeb Burton’s …

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