Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: The Chase Stymies Dover Enjoyment

2016 Pocono Ii Cup Martin Truex Jr Helmet Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton / NKP)

Author’s Note: This week, we’re going to keep this column to just the Cup race.  I will cover the XFINITY and Camping World Truck series races later this week. Martin Truex, Jr. kicked some butt on Sunday.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was more than fine with that. I can appreciate a good ass kicking. Some might call …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: The Round of 16 Can Hurt Race Broadcasts

2016 Chicago Cwts John Hunter Nemechek Matt Crafton Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Last weekend in NASCAR was fairly interesting out on New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  For the most part, the Room of Doom didn’t play that much of a role (unless your name was John Hunter Nemechek). The Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck series were both in action at New Hampshire, and we saw two different …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBCSN Chase Kickoff Too Focused On Championship

2016 Chicago Cup Denny Hamlin Jimmie Johnson Reed Sorenson Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

Welcome back to the Chase.  I’m not particularly happy that its here, but we’ll just have to deal with it.  As you all know, focus tightens ever more at this time of year, often to the point where drivers that are in the top 10 are ignored if they’re not in the Chase.  However, we …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBCSN Charges Into Chase Coverage

If you’ve read Couch Potato Tuesday in recent years, then you know that I’m not exactly a fan of this time of year when it comes to race broadcasts.  The Chase focus drives me up the wall.  The Chase completely takes precedence over the race.  Everything is couched in the Chase.  This year, its worse …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBC NASCAR Throwback Weekend Brings Smiles, Questions

3 4 September, 2016, Darlington, South Carolina Usa Chase Elliott And Kyle Busch, Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry © 2016, Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Labor Day weekend is always an interesting one in the world of motorsports.  Darlington has re-claimed the weekend for Sprint Cup and the XFINITY Series, making it stand out in the process.  The trucks spent the weekend in Canada at a venue known for good action and questionable finishes.  It did not disappoint in either aspect. …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Always Tell Viewers Why the Caution Is Out

2016 Michigan Ii Cup Kyle Busch Spin Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Low-downforce racing is always interesting; my takeaway so far of the three low-downforce races is that the package makes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars handle a little like the trucks in the Camping World Truck Series — very susceptible to being swept around. However, we only have Kentucky and Michigan International speedways to base this …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Raining On Bristol’s NBC Parade

2016 Xfinity Talladega

(Photo: John Harrelson / NKP

Welcome back.  The weather is just brutal lately in the United States.  Undoubtedly, you’ve heard about the floods in Louisiana brought on by a stationary low pressure system that dumped feet of rain in areas.  Other parts of the country had to deal with constant thunderstorm threats.  Unfortunately, due to my schedule, I have been …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Olympics Push NASCAR To The Background On NBC

2016 Mid Ohio Sports Car Course Nxs Photo Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Welcome back. Hope you guys enjoyed the off week for the Sprint Cup Series. It was not very relaxing for me, personally, but I enjoyed myself. Could have done without the thunderstorms, though. Speaking of thunderstorms, that’s effectively what plagued Saturday’s Mid-Ohio Challenge from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the XFINITY Series. As I’ve told …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Grading USA Network’s NASCAR Return

2015 Watkins Glen Cup Watkins Glen Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Ah, yes. The twisties.  Even if the races were relatively boring, I’d still love them, the road course detours that throw a wrench into typical stock car competition. We had two races this weekend with quirky incidents and hard racing, both elements missing from the NASCAR landscape as of late. Last weekend, the Sprint Cup and XFINITY …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NBCSN App Missing NASCAR’s Speed

2016 Pocono Ii Cup Chris Buescher Pack Racing Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton/NKP)

Rain delays are brutal in NASCAR for a bunch of reasons.  It kills exposure for the race, for one.  For us at Frontstretch, it messes up our article schedule for days on end.  But for all the frustration she causes some good can always come out of Mother Nature’s wrath.  For example, certain drivers that might …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: IMS Gives NBCSN Little to Work With

2016 Indianapolis Cup Greg Biffle Carl Edwards Racing Logan Whitton Nkp

(Photo: Logan Whitton / NKP)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway has plenty of history in regards to open wheel racing.  100 Indianapolis 500s have been run.  These races have ranged from the boring to the exciting, from the safe to the tragic.  Today, the Indianapolis 500 is one of the must-watch races of the year.  There’s a reason why 350,000 people showed …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: NASCAR TV Creates Dale Jr. Sub Narrative

Sometimes, you have to sit back and think about things.  Today’s critique marks the 600th combined TV critique for Frontstretch between Couch Potato Tuesday (and its former title, Talking NASCAR TV) and The Critic’s Annex.  Where does the time go?  Crikey. New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted a Joe Gibbs Racing benefit last week.  It says …

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