Race Weekend Central

Talking NASCAR TV: Unrestricted Thoughts on Restrictor-Plate Coverage From FOX & ESPN

NASCAR’s top-two series each put on a whale of a show at Talladega Superspeedway this past weekend, producing a pair of thrillers that left the TV cameras on high alert from start to finish. Of course, that’s not a new thing when it comes to Daytona and Talladega; and because of the nature of restrictor-plate …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not In Sprint Cup: 2008 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Edition

Anything can – and as we saw Sunday – will happen at Talladega. The new car provided exciting racing for the fans and good runs for some drivers, but provided plenty of headaches for others. Wheelmen like Juan Pablo Montoya and Travis Kvapil had surprisingly strong finishes, while Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards’s days ended …

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Bubble Breakdown: If Only Talladega Was the Aaron’s 498

As the NASCAR traveling circus made its way to Alabama last weekend for the running of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, it was expected that the bubble drivers would do well entering Saturday’s qualifying session. After all, the top-eight spots for the fall race were taken up by teams outside the Top 35; in …

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Fanning the Flames: Fishin’ for Some Answers to Tony Stewart’s Likely Defection

Although no one asked, we did catch a few bass last weekend, even with a stiff wind and temps in the 40s. (When I mention fishing at the end of a column, it’s your cue to ask me how I did so I can talk racing and fishing in the same article – and what’s …

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Voices From the Heartland: UPS Could Deliver My NASCAR Fantasy

As a motorsports journalist, I am repeatedly told by my editors that I must remain impartial. Well, as a motorsports commentary journalist, I am repeatedly telling my editors don’t worry about it! In my way of thinking, being a writer of a commentary piece provides me a few loopholes. They are, after all, paying me …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2008 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

The Cup stars head to northern Alabama this weekend to the longest and fastest track on the schedule, the Talladega Superspeedway. It’s the first time that the series comes back to a plate track, having run at Talladega last fall in the new CoT configuration. That car, along with a newly-paved track, resulted in a …

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Side by Side: Restrictor Plates – Should They Stay or Should They Go?

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 let us …

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Thompson in Turn 5: A Successful Female NASCAR Driver Would Be… Oprah-Like

I would love to have a financial stake in the first woman driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series that performs at the high level of skill that IRL driver Danica Patrick does. There is no secret that the nation’s top automobile racing series is sponsor driven, and a successful female driver would have a …

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