Race Weekend Central

Carl Edwards Shows Class of a Champion Amid Heartbreaking Loss

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400

(Photo: Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson may have hoisted up his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship trophy at the end of Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400, but he wasn’t the only one who looked like a champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Carl Edwards made sure of that. Somehow, some way, Edwards’ bitter championship loss on Sunday managed to look even …

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Phoenix Semifinal Lives Up to the Hype to Set Up a Dramatic Championship 4

2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Phoenix

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Fans upset by an apparent lack of drama through the opening eight races of the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup need to look no further than Phoenix International Raceway to get their fill of chaos and emotion. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entered the year’s penultimate race amid a relatively quiet Chase, at least …

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Cool Down: Drama, Intensity Set to Rise After Carl Edwards’ Rain-Shortened Texas Triumph

2016 NASCAR Texas

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

After a relatively quiet opening six races, you could finally feel it in the air at Texas Motor Speedway. No, I’m not talking about moisture. Drama. Intensity. Desperation. All were present in NASCAR’s return to No Limits, Texas, even in a race that was ran a full six hours later than intended. The drama began …

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History in Sight: Jimmie Johnson Eyes Championship No. 7

jimmie-johnson-burnout-martinsville-cup-2016-mike-neff

(Photo: Mike Neff)

For Hendrick Motorsports, Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 couldn’t have been much more poetic. After 500 grueling laps, Jeff Gordon climbed out from the cockpit of the No. 88 Chevrolet, celebrating a season-best sixth-place result while coming to terms with what appears to have been his final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. As Gordon caught …

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Bearden: Talladega Will Be Missed As a Chase Round Cutoff

2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Talladega

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Sunday’s Hellman’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway didn’t need “The Big One” or Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the field to put on its third-straight thrilling finale for the Chase’s Round of 12. Yet sadly, it’ll be the last time the race will get that distinction after a planned one-week date swap with Kansas Speedway beginning in …

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Cool Down: Who Can Burst the Bubble?

2016 Pocono I CUP Austin Dillon Nigel Kinrade NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

With the first two races of the Round of 12 complete, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series field is gearing up for the Chase’s wild-card track: Talladega Superspeedway. In typical Chase fashion, some drivers are more desperate than others. Two of the 12 playoff contenders can rest easy. Jimmie Johnson’s triumphant return to form at Charlotte …

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Tony Stewart’s 2016 Season Still Successful Despite Early Chase Exit

2016 NASCAR Indy Brickyard

(Photo: Brett Moist NKP)

Tony Stewart’s elimination from the Chase after the Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway confirmed that the veteran’s incredible 2011 title run will be his last. But yet, after the way Stewart’s last few seasons have gone, 2016 should still be looked upon fondly once the checkered flag waves at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Stewart’s …

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Tire Woes, Cautions Make All the Difference in Chase Opener

2016 NSCS - Kyle Larson Chicagoland NASCAR via Getty Imahes

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

For much of the final 100 laps, it appeared that the story leaving Chicagoland Speedway would be Chase Elliott’s first win. However, after a late-race caution and Martin Truex, Jr.’s victory, the two topics that comes to mind are tires and cautions. Tire woes proved to be the difference in Sunday’s race, beginning with Truex’s early …

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Chevrolet Primed to Take the Fight to Toyota in Chicago

2016 Kansas I CUP Kevin Harvick racing Brett Moist NKP

(Photo: Brett Moist/NKP)

With 13 wins in the opening 26 races of the season, Toyota’s Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing enter the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup as presumptive favorites to earn a second straight title. Those victories, spread among five drivers and peaking with Denny Hamlin‘s romp at Richmond International Raceway, give the manufacturer momentum …

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NASCAR’s Youth Finally Break Through in the Irish Hills

2016 NSCS - Kyle Larson Chase Elliott Restart Michigan Photo Nigel Kinrade NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/ NKP)

For much of 2016 — and 2015, 2014 and 2013 for some drivers — fans, teams and critics alike have waited for one of NASCAR’s upcoming stars to soar above the field for a breakthrough win. While we were all treated to one with Chris Buescher’s weather-shortened win at Pocono Raceway, the wait continued for one …

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It’s Time to Admit It: The Chase Deserves a Road Course

2016 Watkins Glen Cup Jeff Gordon Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

After another set of thrilling road course races at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International, it’s time to admit it. The Chase for the Sprint Cup needs a road course. Once surrounded by a general feeling of awkwardness as the majority of the field attempted merely to survive and advance, the two road courses have …

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