Race Weekend Central

Side by Side: Should Patrick Carpentier Have Been Fired?

Editor’s Note: The following is a special edition of Frontstretch‘s Side By Side. Occasionally throughout the season, two of your favorite Frontstretch writers will duke it out in a debate concerning one of NASCAR’s biggest stories. Don’t let us be the only ones to speak our minds, though… be sure to read both sides and …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: Picking the Best of Some Lowe’s Home Cookin’

The Chase is almost to the halfway point, and the haves and have nots among the Chase contenders are pretty well defined now. Fantasy gamers need to think about how desperate their top drivers are to get back into contention, or if they’re content with their lot and intend for consistent, solid finishes to differentiate …

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Thompson in Turn 5: Robby Gordon Continuing to Defy Conventional Wisdom

Not since the days of independent driver Dave Marcis, who through sheer determination managed to earn a living as a Cup driver and team owner, has any owner/driver showed more grit and fortitude than Robby Gordon. The proprietor of Robby Gordon Motorsports continues, though just barely, to defy the odds that overwhelmingly should have seen …

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Mirror Driving: Kicking Talladega Out of the Chase, How Regan Lost the Race & Do DNFs Matter?

Welcome to Mirror Driving. Every week, your favorite columnists sit down and give their opinion about the latest NASCAR news and rumors. Love us or hate us, make a comment below and tell us how you feel about what we’ve said! This Week’s Participants: Tom Bowles (Editor-In-Chief; Mondays/Bowles-Eye View & Wednesdays/Did You Notice?) Vito Pugliese (Tuesdays/Voice of …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Edition

Talladega. It was the Chase wildcard; everybody knew it. The Big One. Who would be in it? Everybody tried to avoid it… but you knew not everyone could. In the end, after a number of Chasers raced conservatively for three quarters of the race in anticipation of the big wreck, it was ironically one Chaser …

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Talking NASCAR TV: ESPN Not Detail Oriented in ‘Dega

A defining race like Sunday’s slugfest at Talladega Superspeedway is only as important to those viewing it as the network covering the broadcast allows it to be. If details are left out or if the excitement factor is either too hyped or not ratcheted up enough, then the whole complexion of a race can turn …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 Amp Energy 500 at Talladega

1. Change in Direction – Joey Logano, heir to the No. 20 Toyota presently driven by Sunday’s race winner Tony Stewart, will not compete in any further races this season in the No. 96 Hall of Fame Toyota. The 18-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing phenom had been scheduled to fill the driver’s seat in the HoF …

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Bubble Breakdown: Scott Riggs, Robby Gordon Post Top-10 Triumphs at ‘Dega

Not only is Talladega Superspeedway the wildcard in the Chase for the Cup, it’s also the wildcard in the Chase for the Top 35. ‘Dega has been defined by the big wreck that everyone knows is coming at some point, and a bubble team can make up an enormous amount of points by missing the …

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Happy Hour: What Should Be Done About NASCAR Multi-Car Teams?

In Kansas this last weekend, the top-five finishing cars drove for Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. Those two teams also produced three more drivers in the top 15, for a total of eight drivers from two teams. Of the remaining seven, five were from Richard Childress and Red Bull. One week before at Dover, …

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Driven to the Past: The Big Fuel Gamble

Late one night in May 1968, a bunch of us officials and racers were sitting around talking over an early breakfast at a popular restaurant across Crittenden Drive from the Kentucky State Fairgrounds in Louisville. This was a regular Friday- or Saturday-night get-together after an event at the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway. Sometimes on Saturday night, …

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Voices From the Heartland: Kansas Casino Proves That, Yes Virginia, There is a NASCAR Monopoly

Imagine, if you will, that I am extremely rich. I have enough money to fund the bailout of the bank crisis several times over (not that I would bail them out – they deserve no sympathy for their own stupidity). Instead, I embark on a little lavish stupidity of my own; I build a racetrack! …

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Rick Crawford Driver Diary: What Happens in Vegas…?

Rick Crawford drives the No. 14 Circle Bar Racing Ford in the Craftsman Truck Series. In his 12th full season, he’s currently sixth in the standings with six top fives and 11 top-10 finishes to show for his efforts in 2008. Every four weeks, he’ll also write a diary for Frontstretch to show how his …

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