Race Weekend Central

Thompson in Turn 5: Clint Bowyer Still Flying Under the Radar

Clint Bowyer, the pride of Emporia, Kan., was on virtually nobody’s preseason list of “drivers most likely to win the 2009 Sprint Cup championship.” But five weeks into the season, the top-performing driver with RCR – on its newest team, no less – finds himself as one of the top contenders in this year’s points …

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Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off: Formula for Success?

You’ve got to hand it to the powers that be that run Formula 1 – at least when they’re not consorting with hookers or doing their mad Rumplestiltskin on meth impersonations. They realize their brand of racing is in trouble. Skyrocketing budgets and technology has eclipsed driver skill and passing (well, they call it “overtaking”… …

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Voices From the Heartland: Pushing Through NASCAR’s Press Conference Daze About Nothing

Last week I reported, in part, about the press conference held at Lowe’s Motor Speedway that announced another press conference would be forthcoming in a couple of weeks. Oh, that’s right! They also named Ric Flair as the Honorary All-Star Race Director for 2009, but that was just a sideshow. Instead, at the time LMS …

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Fanning the Flames: Yeah, I’ll Admit It; I Miss the Old Bristol Stomp

Ah, Bristol; you gotta love it. Even when we have a race that isn’t considered to be one of the all-time classics (Sunday’s was at best a 5.0 on the excitement scale) the fervor generated amongst the fanbase reaches a fever pitch. Old Bristol or new? Bump ‘n’ Run or hit the high groove? Frustration, …

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Frontstretch Fantasy Insider: No Need for Headache Powder at Martinsville

As NASCAR’s first short-track leg of the season continues, the Cup circuit heads from a drastically altered Bristol Motor Speedway to a track that, well, hasn’t changed much at all since the 1950s. Martinsville Speedway is still a flat-banked, claustrophobic paperclip that provides the most old-school racing still seen today in big-time stock car competition. …

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Did You Notice? Earnhardt’s Free Pass, Busch’s Less Than Intimidating Nature & Mourning NASCAR’s Past

Did You Notice? Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s been getting rather “lucky” these days? Just 19th in points after five races, so much talk has centered around the No. 88 team struggling to get it together. Some feel like they’ve turned the corner towards respectability in recent weeks, but I’m not so sure. Just check out this …

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Mirror Driving: Final Thoughts on the New Bristol & Digesting the New Top 35

It’s clear 18 months after repaving this isn’t the same old Bristol. That’s led to mixed reviews from fans – but is the new Bristol a classic or a total flop?

Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Food City 500 at Bristol

The fastest half-mile in the world at Bristol battered many of Cup’s top contenders and spit them out. Bad luck struck more than one competitor, most notably Greg Biffle, causing mechanical problems which dropped him out of the top 15 in our Power Rankings. But every driver’s pain is someone else’s gain, and when the …

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The Yellow Stripe: Taking It to the Next Level, Which of These 10 Drivers Will Win a NASCAR Cup Championship?

The label of future Sprint Cup champion is liberally dispensed – but rarely achieved. In the 60 years of NASCAR competition, only 28 drivers have attained the hallowed crown – and it’s a pretty exclusive club. 12 drivers have won a solitary championship, while another eight have won two titles. Five men – Jimmie Johnson, …

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