Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Sports Takes on Talladega

Xfinity Series race at Talladega, pack racing, stands, view from infield. Photo Sean Gardner/Getty

(Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

Talladega is a bizarre place, filled with some of the wildest and wooliest of NASCAR fans. Most of the time, they’re a great, knowledgeable bunch. Sometimes, they do things that make the whole fan base look bad. The clips shown of Jeff Gordon’s car being pelted with beer cans during the Put It Out! segment …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Richmond Fits Recent Trends, FS1 Sees Jennifer Jo Cobb Pull a Boris Said

2021 Cup Richmond Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, and Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Racing (Credit: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images via NASCAR Media_

Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images via NASCAR Media

Last weekend, NASCAR traveled to Richmond Raceway for a doubleheader and spectators ended up with two completely different races. The NASCAR Cup Series event was relatively clean, which was expected going in. But it ended up being even cleaner than I thought it was going to be with just a handful of incidents. Meanwhile, Saturday’s …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Sports 1 Dodges Rain in Martinsville

Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin lead the NASCAR field at Martinsville Speedway, April 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Once again, rain put a damper on a NASCAR race weekend. The sad truth is that everyone saw it coming. The rain that postponed the races to Sunday was predicted three to four days in advance. It just bites. All three races, including Thursday night’s Whelen Modified Tour opener, were affected by rain. At least …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Diving Into Formula 1: Drive to Survive for the 1st Time

Sergio Perez at Hungary

Sergio Perez (Racing Point F1 on Twitter)

For race fans, Easter weekend is one of the leanest weekends of the year. All three of NASCAR’s National-level Series were off, along with Formula 1 and IMSA. There was no live racing on television. The only stuff available was tape-delayed action and action on the internet. There is MotoGP, but their TV deal with …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Clint Bowyer Comes Into His Own With Bristol’s Dirt

Bristol dirt track in 2021, overhead view, Jared C Tilton/Getty Images

(Photo: Jared C Tilton/Getty Images via NASCAR Media)

Last weekend was a big weekend for NASCAR as they held their first dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, it turned into a literal quagmire due to precipitation. This ended up being the sixth spring race at Bristol for the NASCAR Cup Series in the last eight years to be delayed in some way, …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Atlanta Brings Unnecessary Fighting, Long Runs to FOX

Denny hamlin leads the pack in NASCAR Cup Series action at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Atlanta was an interesting weekend. You had a tripleheader of action, but not nearly as much good racing on the track as I would have liked to see. The task here is how FOX can make races enjoyable when they aren’t the most impressive. Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Sunday looked like a Kyle Larson …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Daniel Suarez Debuts in the Booth, FOX Overhypes 2012 Fracas

Erik Jones, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson compete in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway March 2021. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Phoenix is an interesting place. NASCAR seems to be placing outsized importance on the tri-oval these days, knowing that the track will host the season finale in November. It just doesn’t make sense to have it there, especially since the banquet is no longer in Las Vegas. The past couple of weeks have seen a …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch Work Well Together for FOX Sports at Homestead

NASCAR Cup Series action in the 2021 Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Homestead is a very interesting place. For many years, it served as NASCAR’s season finale weekend. It’s an intriguing venue with many different lines for drivers. However, NASCAR decided to go in a different direction and move the season finale to Phoenix. For 2021, Homestead was supposed to be the second week of the season, …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: I Missed So Much in Daytona

Denny Hamlin leads the pack during the 2021 O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

A second straight weekend in Daytona Beach was not originally on the schedule, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic necessitated it. With that, you ended up with a tripleheader weekend on Daytona International Speedway’s road course. Compared to last year, these races were ridiculous. The most looney of all was Friday night’s Truck race. I’ll be …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: The Daytona 500 Was Exhausting

NASCAR racing action in the 2021 Daytona 500 Photo: NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Oh man. Nothing quite like 13.5 hours of coverage for one race. I will fully admit that I was really tired by the time Sunday’s Daytona 500 finally ended. Regardless, there is a lot to discuss about what we saw Sunday. With this broadcast, it’s hard to figure out where to start. I suppose the …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Welcome to My 13th Year of Critiquing

The NASCAR Cup Series in action at Daytona, 2020 Photo Nigel Kinrade Photography

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The offseason is now over. I have no doubt that you’ve done something to pass the time over the past three months. Some of you engaged in hobbies, spent time with your families, watched movies and TV shows. A bunch of people probably got addicted to new shows such as WandaVision. Others spent time watching …

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Couch Potato Monday: NBC Sports’ Sebring Coverage Expansive, But A Bit Distracted At Times

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

(Photo: Courtesy of IMSA)

Today, we’re going road racing.  Unlike NBC Sports’ NASCAR and INDYCAR coverage, the IMSA broadcast booth never went to the track after the shutdown.  The only difference here is that it was likely the plan all along, even without a pandemic. Given that this was a 12-hour race, NBC Sports did not use the same …

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