Race Weekend Central

Power Rankings: Here Come the Playoffs Edition

2020 Daytona Ncs Kevin Harvick Regular Season Champion Nascar Media

(Photo: NASCAR Media)

It’s amazing how much has changed in all the many years since I started following NASCAR as a kid back in the late 1960s and ’70s. Thankfully, the racing is much safer. Can I hear a “Hallelujah” that we get live races every week? But one curious development is that back in the day, finishing …

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Power Rankings: Dover Double Take Edition

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Can anyone explain the logic of holding a doubleheader at the Monster Mile with the second race going head-to-head with the Greatest Spectacle in Auto Racing, the Indianapolis 500? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Buehler? The good news is that NASCAR saw fit to give the NASCAR Cup Series guys more power and less downforce at Dover …

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Power Rankings: Double the Fun Edition

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The week’s Power Rankings is almost guaranteed to get at least one “OK Boomer” comment, but I can’t help it that I have been around for so long. The Wrigley Chewing Gum company should sponsor Kevin Harvick, because he doubled his pleasure and doubled his fun last weekend at Michigan International Speedway. In the process, …

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Power Rankings: Dedication to Bob Bahre Edition

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Despite a ho-hum finish, NASCAR’s Cup division put on a great race at the Magic Mile to properly honor the late great Bob Bahre. The selective painting of the traction compound seemed to do the job, allowing drivers to run all over the racetrack. Let’s take a look at the Power Rankings after the 301-lap …

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Power Rankings: Racing Gods Have Spoken Edition

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The Racing Gods sure have a wicked sense of timing. Last week, the racing community lost a great racing promoter in Bob Bahre. This week, NASCAR heads to the track that he was responsible for making happen. Mr. Bahre was so important to New England racing in general and to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in …

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Power Rankings: 4-Wide for the Win Edition

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The folks at NASCAR got very lucky this weekend with an epic finish that was great enough to get the fans to forget that the first 390 miles were a snoozefest of clean air being king after restarts at Kentucky Speedway. The late, great Dan Gurney used to preach about the best racing coming with …

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Power Rankings: Back Home Again in Rain Delay Mode Edition

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The folks at NASCAR are really quick to point out that their television partners get to pick the window that the race gets broadcast in. But maybe it’s time for the “experts” on holding a race to have a little talk with the television people. Through most of its history, NASCAR never got a race …

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Power Rankings: Twice as Much What Edition

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(Photo: NASCAR Media/Getty Images)

The old joke about Pocono Raceway was easy to make, “Why are the races just six weeks apart? So once you clear traffic and make it onto the interstate, you can turn around and head back for the second race!” Thankfully due to great management improvements and coordination between the track and local police over …

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Power Rankings: Dega Worth the Wait Edition

Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

It was yet another long week for NASCAR, but this time it was not only weather that was the culprit. A case of mistaken identity when a knot wasn’t just a knot and was thought to be a noose led to an emotional Sunday (June 21) which was quickly doused by rain. The next day …

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Power Rankings: 7 Hours of Miami Edition

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(Photo: NASCAR Media/Getty Images)

It was a long week for NASCAR, but can someone tell me how an organization that makes Florida its home can think that scheduling a race at 3:30 p.m. ET in the middle of June is going to work in South Florida? I understand that television partners often make the call, but even they should …

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NASCAR Mailbox: Is Kevin Harvick the Best He Has Ever Been as a Driver?

Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

After this weekend’s races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the talk of if they should repave or not has come up once again. It seems like every single year, the discussion of if Atlanta should be repaved comes up because it is one of the oldest surfaces in the sport, and to be fair, the NASCAR …

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Power Rankings: Hotlanta Edition

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(Photo: NASCAR Media/Getty Images)

One thing we can say about last Sunday’s (June 7) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is that it will be most remembered for what happened during pre-race. But it would have been impossible to create a race more memorable than the words and imagery we saw from NASCAR over the weekend. While I have always …

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