Race Weekend Central

Beyond the Cockpit: Quick Hits With Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a visit to Atlanta, Ga. to help promote the coming night race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While speaking to a pool of reporters at a restaurant, Fronstretch’s Doug Turnbull had a chance to ask the driver of the No. 88 a couple of questions. Doug Turnbull, Frontstretch – “Your current crew …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 CARFAX 400 at Michigan

A fuel-mileage race at Michigan? Who would have guessed it? Seriously, as expected Sunday’s 400-mile affair in the Irish Hills left us counting drops of Sunoco gasoline to see who was going to make it to the finish line first. And just like any stock car event decided by fuel strategy, those final few laps …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 CARFAX 400 at Michigan Edition

What a weekend for Brian Vickers! After winning poles in both the Nationwide and Cup series at Michigan International Speedway, Vickers scored his second career Cup win on Sunday and came close to scoring the sweep Saturday in the NNS race. Now within 12 points of the Chase, Vickers’s place in this week’s column is …

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Chase Elliott Running After His Dreams With the Help of His Champion Dad

At 13 years old, most people are caught up in the social dogma that is middle school, sleeping in on weekends and barely within two years of jumping behind the wheel of an automobile. NASCAR champion Bill Elliott’s son Chase Elliott is no average 13-year-old. After a successful run in Legends cars, Elliott decided to …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Heluva! Good Sour Cream Dips at the Glen Edition

Monday’s race at Watkins Glen did not provide many answers as far as the Chase is concerned. Most contenders finished well enough at Watkins Glen to keep the points race tight, despite many eyes trained on road-course ringers like Boris Said, Andy Lally and Ron Fellows to pull off some upsets. However, when push came to …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Heluva! Good Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

Turning right and turning left was good for some at Watkins Glen, but turned others into a knot they never wriggled out of. After his record-breaking fifth victory at the track, Tony Stewart was able to once again garner all of the first-place votes for this week, but the remainder of the spots in our …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono

NASCAR went back to the tricky triangle in the Pocono mountains just six weeks after its last race there; and at first glance, it looked like not all that much had changed. Just like in June, Tony Stewart crashed in practice and started at the rear of the field in a backup car. Once again, …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Edition

I’m back from the glorious paradise that is Puerto Rico and arrived just in time to catch the rain that ruined any chance of getting a decent race in on Sunday (Aug. 2). My return may be to your dismay, as Tom Bowles and Mike Lovecchio did a heck of a job sizing up the …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Brickyard 400

Racing at the Brickyard is not always the most exciting, but the history and tradition of the place always seem to shine through when people start to have doubts. Most of our Power Rankings leaders used the big stage of Indianapolis to come up with strong finishes; but for those who fell short, their problems …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland

Total chaos on the double-file restarts. Jeff Burton visibly mad. And Mark Martin actually experiencing good luck! Chicago had more than its share of strange moments late in the race, ones that resulted in quite a shakeup in the rankings. Despite finishing fourth, Tony Stewart’s impenetrable hold on the top spot actually slipped; but who …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Edition

Writer’s Note: I want to offer special thanks to several readers for pointing out some obvious statistical errors in last week’s column. While the errors did not change my determination of who belonged in each category, there was no excuse for them being there. Next time I wait until the 11th hour to finish this …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona

The tight packs and unpredictable nuances of Daytona’s draft moved several competitors around our Power Rankings this weekend. While one driver took a large hit thanks to an early wreck, another actually moved up in the standings… even though he was caught in a late-race melee and finished outside the top 10. That, in a …

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