Race Weekend Central

A NASCAR Fan With a True Passion: Mourning the Loss of Bob “The Ford Guy” Whitehead

This story is about NASCAR’s heart and soul. In a world where prima-donna drivers and corporate sponsorships can sometimes reign supreme, we often forget there’s still one thing, one group still responsible for the sport’s unprecedented growth. Behind the fences lie millions upon millions of fans with unsolicited, passionate love for racecars. No question, NASCAR …

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Talking NASCAR TV: SPEED Satellite Failure Not the Only Weekend Problem Over the Airwaves

The most interesting part of Sunday’s NASCAR activities at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, at least up until the final two caution flags of the race, may have not even been during the race itself. Early in the broadcast of NASCAR Race Day on the Speed Channel, the satellite feed for the show stopped working. Although …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon Edition

Rain just laps from the finish at Loudon was a blessing for a number of teams, who were able to use pit strategy to finish much higher than where they’d run all day. But for as many teams as the rain helped, it hurt plenty of others. Tony Stewart had arguably the best car all …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon

1. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? – Hendrick Motorsports made it official last Friday that Casey Mears – who joined HMS in 2007 to replace Brian Vickers – would be released from his No. 5 Chevy ride at season’s end. Said team owner Rick Hendrick at the time of Mears’s signing, “Casey is a talented …

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Bubble Breakdown: Rain Shines Down on Several NASCAR Bubble Teams

The teams on the edges of NASCAR’s Top 35 – or simply forced to qualify on speed – ruled the roost in Friday’s qualifying session. After a rain delay cooled the track, bubble dwellers swept five of the top-10 spots, including rookie Patrick Carpentier taking the pole to become the first top qualifier not born …

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Fanning the Flames: Vague NASCAR Rules, Driver Moves & a Long Dry Spell

Thanks for the input this week, folks. The questions continue to keep me busy. Before we get going, I just have to say that I disagree with all the road course bashing I’ve heard over the last week. Was it really that boring at Infineon last Sunday? I thought it was a nice change of …

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Voices From the Heartland: DEI Fans Up in Arms Over Intended Humor

As many longtime readers know, and even short-time readers can (hopefully) easily figure out, I am responsible for Frontstretch’s weekly Top 10 list in addition to this commentary slot. Our Top 10 list, as you should have correctly surmised by now, is, of course, patterned after the ones made famous by David Letterman. But the …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: How to Get the Extra Mile From Your Team at Loudon

After a weekend filled with wine and cheese, the drivers are headed to the Northeast for lobsters, beer and a return to the guts and glory of oval-track racing. New Hampshire is a tricky little track with variable banking that makes multiple racing lines available to the drivers – they can run high, low, and …

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Thompson in Turn 5: Jeff Burton Flying Under the Radar

For those that haven’t noticed, Jeff Burton is presently second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers’ championship. It sounds like a fact that’s hard to miss; but really, it’s easy to overlook a man sandwiched in the standings between media darlings Kyle Busch – leading the points race due to his phenomenal on-track performances – …

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Mirror Driving: Mark Martin’s Big Move, Kevin Harvick’s Big Mistake & NASCAR’s Big Attendance Problem

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?) Tony Lumbis (Mondays/Rookie Report) …

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