Race Weekend Central

NASCAR Small Team Review & Preview: How Did the Little Guys Do?

2015 Cup Michael Annett Pilot Car On Track Credit Phil Cavali

(Photo: Phil Cavali)

You’ve seen our reviews of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. But how about some of the smaller teams to which we didn’t give an in-depth look? In one of our final pieces about the 2015 season, we take a look at the smaller teams of NASCAR — including Furniture Row Racing, Germain Racing …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Tony Stewart

2015 Loudon I Cup Tony Stewart Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

For the first time since the 2012 season, Tony Stewart was able to complete the entire race schedule. In fact, apart from his retirement announcement in late September, it was a quiet year for the 44-year-old. Perhaps too quiet. For the driver who last visited victory lane at Dover in early 2013, Stewart’s statistics for the …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stenhouse, Ricky Jr. 2015 Ford Ecoboost 400 Homestead

Photo Credit: Zach Catanzareti, Frontstretch

For Ricky Stenhouse Jr., top-five finishes were not the only thing found on short supply in the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season. Yes, for the second year in a row in Stenhouse’s Sprint Cup Series career, his only top-five result came at the short track of Bristol Motor Speedway, racing to a fourth-place finish that …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Paul Menard

Menard, Paul 2015 Bank Of America 500 Charlotte

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

Typically, in motorsports, successful seasons come as a product of improvement in on-track results. However, occasionally drivers benefit not from their own gains, but from the misfortune of others. Such was the case for Paul Menard in 2015. Competing in his ninth full-time season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Menard surprised many by making …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Martin Truex Jr.

Stewart, Tony And Martin Truex Jr. 2015 Cheez It 355 Watkins Glen

(Photo Credit: Zach Catanzareti, Frontstretch)

“I think that everything I do tends to root for the underdog.” – Judd Apatow, award-winning film director and producer It’s safe to assume most of NASCAR Nation found themselves rooting for the underdog fairy tale that was Martin Truex Jr.‘s 2015 season. You had a driver battling back after a ride lost at Michael …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: David Ragan

2014 Watkins Glen Cup David Ragan Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2014)

In many ways, the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season was a microcosm of David Ragan’s entire career. It was a year filled with great opportunities, even flashes of brilliance, but ultimately ended with disappointment and uncertainty. To be sure, the now 30-year-old Ragan has always been a tough cookie to crack in NASCAR. He has …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Jamie McMurray

Mcmurray, Jamie 2015 Bank Of America 500 Charlotte

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Jamie McMurray entered the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in familiar territory. While the previous year was statistically strong, featuring a career high 368 laps led for the Joplin, Mo. native, wildly inconsistent finishes prevented the team from making the Chase as they finished the season buried in 18th in the final standings. However, …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick Bank Of America 500 2015 Charlotte Cup Mike Neff

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

Poor Danica Patrick. Her 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season went about as well as could be expected. Not that it would take much to improve on what we saw during 2014, but, alas, the most recent year ended with what has become pretty much all-too-familiar results. No wins, no top fives, two top 10s …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Jeff Gordon

2015 Texas Ii Cup Jeff Gordon Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Rarely does a Hall of Fame-caliber athlete get to leave their sport at or near peak performance. For Jeff Gordon, his 2015 retirement tour was a rare exception, the kind that put the proper finishing touches on a remarkable 23-year NASCAR Sprint Cup career. While starting off a little bumpy, his season picked up mightily …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Ryan Newman

Newman, Ryan 2015 Bank Of America 500 Charlotte

(Photo: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

For Ryan Newman and Richard Childress Racing, 2015 was likely approached as a year in which the team only needed a little bit more to get over the hump. After all, Newman was just a half-second away from winning the 2014 Ford EcoBoost 400, and with it, the Sprint Cup Series championship. Given that mentality, …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Joey Logano

Joey Logano Bank Of America 500 2015 Charlotte Cup Mike Neff

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

Joey Logano entered the 2015 season with unmistakable momentum, having had his best season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series the year prior. Logano, finished the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season with five victories and found himself racing in the final four at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. He would later finish fourth of the …

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2015 NASCAR Rewind: Kyle Larson

2015 Michigan Ii Cup Kyle Larson Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

To say Kyle Larson suffered through NASCAR’s mythical sophomore slump would be an understatement. Favored to make the Chase in his second season driving for Chip Ganassi Racing the driver most label championship talent simply struggled to collect top-10 finishes throughout most of a disappointing 2015 season. Larson not only missed the postseason field but wasn’t …

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