Race Weekend Central

Pace Laps: Winning, Chad Knaus’ Non-Trouble, Matt Crafton Makes History

Kevin Harvick raises the Sprint Cup trophy after winning the 2014 title at Homestead Miami Speedway

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Sprint Cup Series: So Winning Matters Joey Logano, after finishing fourth of the title contenders, remarked that consistency really didn’t matter.  According to last year’s points scenario, Logano would have been in a position to cruise toward his first NASCAR title.  That’s so passe.  Because if one is going to take that stance, then Jeff …

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Happiness Is… The End, A Mirror, and the Trucks

Lewis Hamilton 2703 630

(Photo: Getty Images)

In Brian Donovan’s book Hard Driving, which details the life of driver Wendell Scott, the author lays down the central premise for how sports operates.  He doesn’t discuss fairness, or competitive balance or any of that kind of stuff.  Instead, he adopts a more business sided mindset and how early track promoters worked.  This concept …

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Pace Laps: The Caution Gift, Chase Elliott Makes History & Erik Jones Proves His Worth

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Joey Logano Car Cia

Credit: CIA Stock Photography

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 …

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Happiness Is… Drivers Not Liking Other Drivers

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Jeff Gordon Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

So this is what NASCAR wanted, eh?  Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman duking it out at Homestead for the championship.  There’ll probably be another driver there too, like Matt Kenseth, or Carl Edwards.   Then, when one of these drivers hoists the big shiny trophy everyone will collectively yawn and find something else to …

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Pace Laps: The Race That Wouldn’t End, Sadler’s Sickness and Bubba’s Championship Hopes Go Up in Smoke

2014 Texas Ii Cup Kasey Kahne Spin Cia

Sprint Cup Series:  The Stop and Go 500 – How do you like your races?  Well this one seemed to mimic bad traffic.  The race had a green flag feel until the caution came out for debris on lap 174.  Then the race became a contest between who was good for twenty laps at a time, …

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Happiness Is… Dressing Up for Halloween

2014 Michigan Ii Cup Jeff Gordon Cia

Credit: CIA Stock Photography

It’s that goofy time of year again.  No, not Chase time, but Halloween, which has evolved into an interesting form of departure from people’s daily lives and now seems to be as important for adults (using that term loosely) as it does for children.  And for the college-aged, it’s a whole different thing. For NASCAR, …

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Pace Laps: Veterans Struggling, Rookies Succeeding and Tempers Flaring

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Window Cia

Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Sprint Cup Series: Favorites Back in the Pack – Jeff Gordon somehow kept his car clean and was able to to score a second-place finish at Martinsville.  For a driver who probably had to hire someone to keep all of his Martinsville clocks polished and keeping time, that result is not surprise.  In fact, he had …

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Happiness Is… NASCAR Legitimacy?

2014 Chicago Cup Brad Keselowski Paul Wolfe Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Well here we go. NHRA was off last weekend. Tony Schumacher has Top Fuel just about wrapped up with a 134 point lead.  In Europe, F1 enjoyed an off weekend after Mercedes walked away with the constructors’ title in Sochi. That series is now a two man race between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Grand …

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Happiness Is… Talladega, Teamwork, Safety, and Beer

2014 Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway Sprint Cup Mike Neff

Credit: Mike Neff

So that’s that, eh?  Let it now be known, that in NASCAR, you can drive around like a complete asstaco and there’s not much they’ll do to you — unless you’re a backmarker and they’d like to make an example out of you but don’t really want to punish a superstar because that might piss …

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Pace Laps: KyBu Riding Steady, NHRA Week, F1 Sochi, and More

Nhra 2014 4 Wides Pro Stock Race From Roof

Sprint Cup Series: Busch Hanging Tough – With all the drama that unfolded after the race at Charlotte, the storylines seem to overlook one of the more intriguing aspects developing during the Chase, that being Kyle Busch.  If there had been odds in Las Vegas on who might be involved in such postrace nuttiness, KyBu’s name …

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Slipstream Saturday: The Inaugural Russian Grand Prix and Notes

F1 Grand Prix Sochi 12 Themoscowtimes

(Photo: Moscow Times)

The story that continues to hover over Formula One is Jules Bianchi’s crash last weekend in Japan.  Little in the way of details have been released about Bianchi’s injuries other than that he suffered a diffuse axonal brain injury.  This kind of injury is seriousness at its most poignant and Bianchi may very well be …

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Happiness Is… The Master Plan, Second Chances, And Boom, Drama

2014 Richmond Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Last weekend, Formula One raced at Japan’s Suzuka circuit in rather treacherous conditions.  The organizers had the opportunity to move the race’s start time up in an effort to avoid Typhoon Phanfone, but ultimately decided against doing so in effort to maximize Europe’s ability to watch the race.  That’s right; even a typhoon couldn’t put …

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