Race Weekend Central

Holding A Pretty Wheel: NASCAR Needs Keselowski… And Johnson… And…

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Car Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

There are plenty of adjectives out there that race fans love to apply to different NASCAR drivers. Usually, the more adjectives applied, the less the fan likes the driver he’s attaching them to, so they should be taken with a grain of salt. But, truth be told, some drivers are more laid-back, or more outgoing, …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: Crew Chief Swaps Often Not Overnight Cure

2014 Sonoma Cup Danica Patrick Tony Gibson Cia

(Credit: CIA)

In what the team termed as an “evaluation” move, Stewart-Haas Racing announced earlier this week that it would swap the crew chiefs and road crews for the Nos. 10 and 41 teams of drivers Danica Patrick and Kurt Busch. Vice President of Competition Greg Zipadelli said the move was made “to get a head start …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: Allmendinger All the Way

AJ Allmendinger

(Credit: CIA)

As teams were gearing up for the Chase in August 2013, AJ Allmendinger was looking for a future in NASCAR — any future. He’d been running part time in the Sprint Cup Series for midpack JTG-Daugherty Racing; a couple of Nationwide Series starts with Team Penske, the team that had released him from a full-time …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: May the Best Man Have a Chance to Win

2014 Dover Ii Cup Jimmie Johnson Car Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

My, how things have changed. For most of the NASCAR season, a few names stood out as title favorites: Jeff Gordon, who led the standings for much of the year; 2012 champ Brad Keselowski, who was a contender everywhere almost from day one; Dale Earnhardt, Jr., whose three wins were a statement that he was …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: Chase Format Left NASCAR Schedule Behind

Change. It’s a word that many NASCAR fans loathe. After all, it’s been in the name of change that fans have endured racecars that don’t handle when they race, limited innovation, beloved short tracks replaced by cookie-cutters and a championship system that poll after poll has shown they don’t want. A lot of the changes …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: The Grand Jury Got it Right, But Now It’s Time to Heal

2014 Atlanta Cup Tony Stewart Press Conference Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. Copyright 2014)

After weeks of speculation, the first questions have been answered in the Tony Stewart–Kevin Ward, Jr. tragedy. In case you somehow missed it, Stewart hit and killed Kevin Ward, Jr. during a sprint car race in New York State on Aug. 9 of this year. Ward, apparently angered at Stewart for spinning his car out, …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: The Magic Number Is… Not Four

2014 Indianapolis Cup Jeff Gordon Alan Gustafson Rick Hendrick Selfie Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

And the number shall be three. Maybe Monty Python was onto something when it came to counting. Three might have been the magic number on which to release the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, but it also seems to be the magic number for race teams. You’d think that a successful three-car organization could easily …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: The Man Nobody Remembers

2014 Atlanta Cup Steve Letarte Dale Earnhardt Jr Cia

One more night and it’s over. NASCAR’s so-called regular season will be on the books, the Chase field set, and the two-and-a-half dozen-or-so teams who don’t make it will be virtually forgotten for the rest of the year. In the final 10 races, it will be all Chase all the time, as teams vie for …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: Bringing the Lady Back Home

Fans in the stands for a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway

(Photo Credit: Yvonne Leonard, Frontstretch)

According to SIRIUS XM Jim Noble’s report, NASCAR will take a small step back in time next year, moving Darlington Raceway’s lone Sprint Cup race to Labor Day weekend, the date of what was once the sport’s oldest race. The Southern 500 predated the Daytona 500 and along with the Great American race was one …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: Canandaigua Death a Reminder of Racing’s Human Cost

2014 Loudon I Cup Pack Racing Iii Cia

Sunday morning at Watkins Glen dawned sunny and warm, the perfect summer day for racing. Indeed, the Sprint Cup Series was in town, prepping to run under that blue New York sky. AJ Allmendinger won the race, the first victory of his career, earning a long-awaited redemption and cementing his postseason hopes. But racing was …

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Holding A Pretty Wheel: Sponsors Finding Value in NASCAR’s Small Teams

2014 Daytona Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Car Cia

(Credit: CIA)

This week’s big announcement came from National Guard, and as most fans are aware by now, it wasn’t what they wanted to hear, as the Guard has decided to leave motorsports sponsorship after deciding that advertising on racecars in both NASCAR and IndyCar didn’t result in enough recruits to justify the cost. As sponsorship get …

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