Race Weekend Central

Did You Notice? The Unbreakable NASCAR Car, the Unbearable All-Star Rules & Sophomore Success

Did You Notice? The degree to which the Car of Tomorrow’s durability stepped it up a notch on Saturday night? There’s no questioning the new car has better durability, but the amount of vehicles who walked away from serious problems with the wall – especially turn 2 – was unprecedented for the Lady in Black. Kyle …

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Did You Notice? Carl Edwards Underpaid? NASCAR Youth is Undervalued & Mears Gets a Wakeup Call

Did You Notice? That Carl Edwards’s reported salary – $6 million per year – is the highest paid salary of any NASCAR driver to be publicly revealed to date. And frankly, I’m a little surprised; considering Edwards’s stature, my first thought was he might be a little underpaid. Winning three of 10 races this season, …

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Did You Notice? Ganassi’s Trial By Fire(d), the Trials & Tribulations of the Woods &… Morgan Shepherd?

Did You Notice? That at Talladega, the No. 21 Ford driven by Jon Wood had to pull in the garage after just one lap in order to fix radical adjustments made in qualifying to get the car in the show. Now, I know it looks like I pick on the Wood Brothers every week, but it’s …

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Did You Notice? Pruett’s Bumper, a Tale of 2 Juan Pablos & the Cup/Nationwide Connection

Did You Notice? That in the closing laps of the race in Mexico City, with Scott Pruett’s bumper hanging by a thread, NASCAR refused to throw the black flag on the No. 40? Is it just me, or wasn’t that pretty dangerous? Sure, it’s not Pruett’s fault the bumper got loose; it was because someone else …

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Did You Notice? Polesitters Falling, Professionalism Rising & NASCAR Fans Simply Have No Shame?

Did You Notice? Well, you couldn’t have noticed this one. But I was absolutely appalled by an incident I saw in the NASCAR garage Friday at Texas. Kyle Petty – already coming off a rather traumatic week in his driving career – was talking animatedly on a cellphone while walking down by his trailer. All …

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Did You Notice? Greg Biffle’s Bump, Penske in the Dumps & Multi-Car Expansion Trumps All

Did You Notice? In the wake of the RCR sponsorship announcement on their long-awaited fourth car, the widening gap in NASCAR between the haves and the have nots? Let’s assume for a second that Joey Logano does so well in the Nationwide Series this year, Joe Gibbs Racing chooses to start up their fourth team …

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Did You Notice? The Myth of Roush Lawsuits, Strong Starts & Cheering Diversity

Did You Notice? That in the midst of the rumors surrounding Bill Davis Racing, it was revealed sponsor Caterpillar may be close to giving up the ghost and jumping ship to a top-level team for 2009? Namely, Joe Gibbs Racing. Now, let’s see, the No. 11 already has solid sponsorship from FedEx, the No. 18 …

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Did You Notice? Jamie McMurray vs. Casey Mears, the Woods Shedding Tears & More

Did You Notice? There’s a difference between the problems faced by Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray, both of whom have had disastrous seasons. Mears’s issues have been partially based on over-aggression. He crashed at Daytona making the wrong move at the wrong time going for the lead, then again at Bristol when he smashed into …

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Did You Notice? Robbie Reiser Hasn’t Lost a Beat, Newman Feeling the Heat… From Montoya & Old Friends Reunite?

Did You Notice? That lost within the weeklong penalty furor surrounding the No. 99 was the quiet and successful substitution of Bob Osborne with Robbie Reiser atop Carl Edwards‘s pit box? Reiser’s the man for the next six weeks while Osborne is on suspension, and it clearly looked like he hadn’t skipped a beat since …

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Did You Notice? Money in NASCAR Makes a Difference, Stewart’s Unique Hairdo & Oddsmakers Don’t Know What They’re Doing?

Did You Notice? How insane Las Vegas security was this weekend? All I can tell you is that both the garage area and pit road were policed like any citizen within 50 feet of anyone important was about to incite a terrorist attack; it didn’t matter whether you were a fan or had a hard …

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Did You Notice? JJ Yeley vs. Kyle Busch? Good vs. Bad Teammates? Robby vs. Reality? & More

Did You Notice? That other than Jeff Gordon‘s lucky break on the final lap, there were a total of zero engine failures at California Speedway Monday? It’s only the third time in the track’s history that’s happened; the lack of mechanical problems were especially notable in this case, considering there were all sorts of debris …

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