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NASCAR Fantasy Insider: Struggling Stars Look To Get Back On Track At Richmond

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If you look just strictly at the numbers and past history of how some of NASCAR’s top drivers have performed at Richmond, you would have a hard time knowing who to pick at Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at the one-mile oval because so many of them have done so well there in the past.

However, if you look at the current points standings and the recent struggles of some of those same drivers, you may well be left scratching your head again when trying to decide who or who not to pick. Some of the familiar names such as Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and even Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have had their share of success at Richmond. That group has combined for 11 wins there. But when looking at the points standings, the picture is not so optimistic.

Truckin’ Thursdays: Miguel Paludo on Rockingham, Boston And The NHRA

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We made a ton of progress at Rockingham last weekend. It’s a track that I struggled a lot at last year. We started outside the top 20 and worked our way into the top 10, before dropping back to where we finished. I was just ready to be done at Rockingham last year, but now I started liking it. When you run good at a race track, you want to go back. I felt like we did a great job our second time there. We ran in the top 10, and the guys did awesome pit stops. We’re putting everything together that we need to. Especially at Rockingham, it’s easy to spin your tires on the restart. Overall, it was a great effort for us and we gained in the championship battle, and it means a lot at a special place like that.

We had a really fast truck at Kansas right off of the truck, and we ran so well in both practices. I almost thought we would get the pole, until James [Buescher] beat us at the last second. We started on the front row with both of my teammates right there with me, and I led some laps there. That truck was so fast but someone got loose inside me and the damage when I hit the wall ended the day for us.

Tech Talk: Tony Gibson Talks Danica Development And Richmond

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_Eight races into the season and Tony Gibson has already learned quite a bit about both his race cars and his driver, Danica Patrick. Gibson is not only dealing with a different chassis but also one of the most well-known rookies to hit the series in the last ten years. It’s an extra pound of pressure on an already stressful job; there is no doubt that being a crew chief in a championship-winning organization comes with sky high expectations. Add in a rookie driver who is a lightning rod for criticism, the current struggles of Stewart-Haas Racing and there are a lot of other places that most people would rather be. Gibson, though, doesn’t shy away from the spotlight and is embracing the challenge unlike anyone else._

_The longtime SHR employee sat down with Frontstretch to discuss some of the current mechanical storylines on the Sprint Cup circuit. Between the tires that don’t wear out, brakes that do and the struggles facing Danica and Company this season, there was plenty to get to. He also speaks about his feelings for the new race car at this point in the season._

Did You Notice? … “Cheating” Equals Credibility Crisis, Who NASCAR’s Chasing And Dodging Brands

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*Did You Notice?…* One of the biggest statements from Kansas has been swept under the radar… until now? Richard Petty, when interviewed matter-of-factly Friday suggested that someone had to snitch on Penske Racing in order for them to be facing the 500-foot pool of water they’re drowning in now. It was more than a coincidence, said the King for NASCAR to pick apart their cars, pre-race inspection all of a sudden and then throw the hammer down in terms of suspending everyone but the waterboy in that organization for six weeks.

“They passed two or three inspections and hadn’t been caught,” he said of the Texas incident, going on to say that based on past experience, it’s clear as day someone “must” have alerted authorities about suspect rear end housings.

Side By Side: Do NASCAR Drivers Need To Do More For Fans?

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_Welcome back to Side By Side. There are always two sides to every story, and we’re going to bring them both, right here, every week. Two of our staff writers will face off on an important racing question … feel free to tell us what you think in the weekly poll and also in the comments section below!_

*This Week’s Question: Do NASCAR drivers need to be more accessible to their fans on race weekends?*

Amy Henderson, Managing Editor: Drivers Can And Should Do More

Racing, like all professional sports, owes its very existence to fans. If nobody watched, if nobody cared, NASCAR would not exist, and stock car racing would not have progressed from weekend contests in someone’s hay field to see whose souped-up machine could outrun the other. There would be no racetracks that seat thousands upon thousands, no souvenir trailers hawking brightly-colored wares, no handsome paychecks at the end of the race. The fans are everything.

Happiness Is… Ignoring Chores

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This past weekend featured another slew of racing, with seemingly everybody in action save for the Nationwide Series. So if a person was looking to avoid things like housework, chores, beautiful weather, or anything else productive, there was enough side-by-side competition to watch in order to do just that. For all of the petrol burned, tires worn, and oil laid to waste, a racing weekend like this one held a bit of something for everyone. And for a person foolhardy enough to try and take it all in, well, that’s just bliss.

Beyond the Cockpit: David Ragan on Kansas, Small Teams and Big Sponsors

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_When you think of David Ragan, your mind may immediately turn to the infamous “dart without feathers” moniker Tony Stewart bestowed upon Ragan in his rookie year. However, there is much more to the Georgia driver than an incident that took place back in 2007. His tenure with Roush Fenway Racing lasted from 2007 through 2011, but was rarely successful, resulting in only one win, and Ragan never finished any higher than 13th in points. After losing a full-time sponsor in UPS, Ragan left RFR and found a new home at Front Row Motorsports. Last year was his first full season with the team, and they earned a total of one top 5, two top 10s, and finished 28th in the standings, a baseline they have hoped to build on in 2013. After eight races, it’s been a tough road thus far – the No. 34 car is still searching for its first top-10 result – but Ragan still feels that his team can and will improve._

_Ragan sat down with Summer Bedgood over the weekend in Kansas to discuss the ups and downs of racing in the Sprint Cup Series._