Race Weekend Central

By Phil Allaway

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor. Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Couldn’t Salvage Lackluster Martinsville Cup Race

Phil Allaway
Chase Elliott leads a pack of NASCAR racecars at Martinsville Speedway, April 2022. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Martinsville is often a track that fans, drivers and media alike look forward to. The weekend resulted in very different races. The NASCAR Xfinity Series was a bit of a wreckfest. Meanwhile, the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 was another story. Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 Saturday night saw the NASCAR Cup Series rumble into …

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Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande Score Long Beach Triumph After Early Trouble

Phil Allaway
Renger van der Zande takes the checkered flag to win the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, 4/9/2022 (Photo: Courtesy of IMSA)

(Photo: Courtesy of IMSA)

Sebastien Bourdais nosed into the wall in the first 10 minutes Saturday. He recovered from there to win at Long Beach with Renger van der Zande.

Couch Potato Tuesday: How FOX Can Improve Broadcasts Everywhere, Not Just Richmond

Phil Allaway
Kevin HArvick and Chase Briscoe lead a pack of cars at Richmond Raceway, April 2022. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

This past weekend began a short track season, much along the lines of what NASCAR fans used to have in the 1990s. Richmond, Martinsville and Bristol in back-to-back-to-back weeks before a trip to Talladega. Good times? Toyota Owners 400 In the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that pre-race coverage for races on FOX or …

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