Race Weekend Central

Pace Laps: Austin Dillon Wreck Safety Success Story or Catalyst for Change?

2015 Daytona Ii Cup Austin Dillon Dale Earnhardt Jr Kasey Kahne Paul Menard Racing Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Did you miss an event during this busy week in racing? How about a late-night press release, an important sponsorship rumor, or a juicy piece of news? If you did, you’ve come to the right place! Each Monday, Frontstretch will break down the racing, series by series, to bring you the biggest stories that you …

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Pace Laps: Dangerous Packs, Being Prepared & the Art of Racing in the Rain

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(Photo: Chris Owens)

IndyCar: IndyCar Narrowly Avoids Tragedy at Auto Club Speedway – Saturday’s MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway was considered one of the best races in Verizon IndyCar Series history by many fans and critics. Despite being held in front of only a few thousand spectators, the stars of the series put on an incredible pack …

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Nitro Shots: A Video Is Worth 1,000 Words

Zmax Dragway Carolina Nationals Brown And Kalitta Launch 2014 Mike Neff 093

(Photo: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

It’s been mentioned in this space before that television just does not accurately convey what it’s like to be at an NHRA event. No matter how high you turn the volume up, even with surround sound, it’s still not like hearing those 10,000 horsepower beasts in person. It’s more than just the sound, though. Not …

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Pace Laps: Hot Streaks, New Faces, Contenders & Jumping Series

Slugger Cover

(Photo: RCR Team Relase)

Sprint Cup Series: “Slugger’s” New Assignment: Swing For The Fences To End Sophomore Slump – Swept under the rug during a week where NASCAR announced a new rules package is an important crew chief change at Richard Childress Racing. It’s a strange time at RCR, an organization whose trio of teams are so-so despite their …

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Off the Wall With: Del Worsham

Zmax Dragway Carolina Nationals Del Worsham 2014 Mike Neff 107

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Welcome to Off the Wall With…, where we ask your favorite drivers five questions that are… well, off the wall! We’ll check in with a different driver each week to get a peek into life outside the racecar. This week, we’ve got NHRA Funny Car driver Del Worsham in the hot seat. What’s fun besides …

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Nitro Shots: It’s Not Age, It’s Experience

Nhra 2015 New Hampshire Winners Force Schumacher Anderson Courtesy Nhra Media

(Photo Courtesy: NHRA Media)

NHRA is a little unique among the major motorsports sanctions. Of the three Mello Yello Drag Racing Series winners last weekend in Epping, the youngest was Tony Schumacher at 45. Pro Stock winner Greg Anderson is 54 and John Force is 66. It was not some sort of fluke that three drivers aged 45 and …

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Pace Laps: Stop & Go at Michigan, Kyle Busch is Back, Champions Prevail

2015 Michigan I Cup Justin Allgaier Riding Squeegee Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Sprint Cup Pace Laps: Raining On NASCAR’s Parade… But Not Kurt’s – You’ve got to feel for NASCAR, who was damned if they did and damned if they didn’t Sunday at Michigan. With a forecast that called for “pop-up showers” it was silly to postpone the Sprint Cup race until Monday; the easy decision was to …

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Nitro Shots: What Makes a Fan?

Nhra 2015 Las Vegas Force With Trophy And Car Credit Gary Nastase

(Credit: Gary Nastase)

The NHRA has been running a “Baptism By Nitro” campaign all season, encouraging fans to bring along family and friends who have never been to a race. The thinking is that once they see, hear and feel NHRA action in person they will become fans too, and it’s not a bad plan for the NHRA. …

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Pace Laps: Finally, Milestones, Big Home Track Wins & Rainy Days

2015 Pocono I Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Austin Dillon Pack Racing Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Sprint Cup Series: Fourth Time’s The Charm – Finally. Martin Truex Jr. took his next step toward title contention this season by doing what race winners do: close the deal. Three straight times, Truex had led the most laps in a Cup Series race only to come up short. At Kansas, it was pit strategy and a …

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Off the Wall With: JR Todd

J.r. Todd Zmax Dragway Carolina Nationals 2014 Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Welcome to Off the Wall With…, where we ask your favorite drivers five questions that are… well, off the wall! We’ll check in with a different driver each week to get a peek into life outside the racecar. This week, NHRA Top Fuel driver JR Todd answers our questions. What’s fun besides racing? Todd: That’s …

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Nitro Shots: Making Value Add Up For Sponsors

Nhra 2015 Pro Mod Willard Kinzer Action Courtesy Nhra Media

(Photo courtesy NHRA Media)

After touching upon the issue of television and ratings, let’s do a little math this week. First, some numbers for you to play with. The cost to run a competitive Pro Stock car, per Elite Motorsports owner Richard Freeman earlier this season when talking about the shortfall for defending champion Erica Enders‘s car, is $1.5-$2 …

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