By Frontstretch

There was a full slate of racing last weekend: Nationwide, Cup, F1, Trucks. It was more than enough of a gamut to give gearheads their fill. The stories have been punched out, so now it’s time to go through some of the highlights that make motorsports so much fun right before the next weekend sneaks up upon us. Without further hubbub…

*Happiness is… night racing.*
Short tracks claim that when Nationwide or Cup run on weekend nights that their attendance dwindles. Got it. But there’s something to be said for racing at night and for encouraging more of it from the national series. To start, and this may seem banal, but the cars just look cooler. For all of the reshaping that has taken place in the past couple years, these two series now feature cars that ‘resemble’ something like everyday cars. Resemble is used loosely. Under the lights the cars shine and all of the work that goes into styling them becomes evident.

There are few things more sobering in life than learning of the tragedies we sometimes face as a nation. This was no less true over the past week when Massachusetts suffered a horrific tragedy with a bombing at the Boston Marathon and shooting at MIT in Cambridge that took a family member of one of NASCAR’s own.

Officer Sean Collier, brother of Hendrick Motorsports machinist Andrew Collier, died tragically in a standoff with the suspected Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. It turned a tragic situation into downright heartbreaking knowing that the NASCAR community was so horribly affected. Now, it was personal.

While it initially looked like Fords might dominate Friday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, it was a Toyota that took the top spot. Matt Kenseth, driving his No. 20 Toyota Camry, took the top spot from former teammate Carl Edwards. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third followed by Sam Hornish Jr. Kyle Busch rounded out the top …

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If Friday afternoon’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice is any indication, a Ford will be in Victory Late at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. Carl Edwards paced the field at a speed of 192.055 mph in 28.117 seconds followed by teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in second. Nationwide Series regular Sam Hornish Jr. was third. Martin …

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The Boston Marathon bombing took a turn towards a NASCAR connection Friday, when the brother of a Hendrick Motorsports employee was killed during a shootout with the alleged bomber.

Sean Collier, who was killed in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday night, was an MIT police officer on routine duty when the two bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev confronted him. While the details remain unclear, Collier was caught in some sort of shootout with the suspects, hit with bullets multiple times and pronounced dead upon arrival at Massachusetts General Hospital just after 10:30 PM. He was 26 years old.

We used the time off to do some testing. We did one of our official tests at Texas Motor Speedway. Shane and I know each other pretty well, so when we were trying to decide where to go test, we just looked at each other and went, “Texas.” It’s been a while since I’ve run well there, and that was big.

Then, we had a surprise 70th birthday party for my dad. It was funny, because right before we sprung it on him, he looked at my mom and said, “I’m so glad you didn’t throw me a $%#&$* surprise party.” My mom was awesome. She had three planes. She had our plane and two planes she had rented, and we had people everywhere. She worked hard for that party, and my dad had a great time.