Race Weekend Central

Tracking the Trucks: 2009 EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland

In a Nutshell: Kyle Busch took the checkered flag 0.580 seconds ahead of Todd Bodine to win the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. Busch took the lead for the final time with 19 laps remaining on the way to scoring his fourth win in 10 starts this season. Colin Braun, Rick Crawford and Johnny …

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Talking NASCAR TV: Strong Pre-Race Show at Bristol, But In-Race Improvements Needed for ESPN

Hello, race viewers. The infamous Bristol night races have historically featured close racing, wrecking and tempers. However, the wrecking and tempers have decreased significantly since the track was reconfigured in 2007, creating “graduated banking.” As a result, the races this past week lived up to the old ideals of Bristol, but with more competitive racing …

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Tracking the Trucks: 2009 O’Reilly 200 at Bristol

In a Nutshell: Kyle Busch took the checkered flag 2.721 seconds ahead of Matt Crafton to win the O’Reilly 200 Wednesday night (Aug. 19) at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch took the lead from Jason White on lap 124 and never looked back on the way to his third Camping World Truck Series victory this season. …

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Beyond the Cockpit: Colin Braun on the Future, Le Mans & Signing Babies?

Colin Braun became accustomed to racing – and winning – at a young age, beginning his international career at just eight years old. He’s the youngest driver to win a major auto race on American soil (2006 Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona at age 17) and, later that year, became the youngest driver ever to …

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Tearing Apart the Trucks: Timothy Peters Closes in on 1st Career Win

This weekend, the Camping World Truck Series continues to take a break while getting prepared for their annual mid-week show at Bristol Motor Speedway next Wednesday (Aug. 19). When the trucks take the track, Ron Hornaday Jr. will look to extend his record of consecutive wins to six. One driver who would like to see …

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Mirror Driving: The Death of NASCAR Road Ringers, the Great Rain Debate & Truck Talk

Marcos Ambrose had two top-two finishes at Watkins Glen, but most of the top spots on Monday went to the usual suspects – the same drivers who run in the top 10 or close to it most weeks. Is the road-course ringer a dying breed?

Did You Notice? Harvick’s Plea to NASCAR, Martin’s Right Turn Gone Wrong & “Toasty” Bread

Did You Notice? Something during the rain-delayed ESPN broadcast that caught my attention? Kevin Harvick was being interviewed in the studio, and while the group was chatting the topic changed to driver development. All of a sudden, Harvick took a serious tone and started talking about defunct series like NASCAR’s Winter Heat, offseason racing televised …

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Tracking the Trucks: 2009 Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville

In a Nutshell: Ron Hornaday Jr. took the checkered flag 0.944 seconds ahead of Brian Scott to win the Toyota Tundra 200 Saturday night (Aug. 1) at Nashville Superspeedway. Hornaday Jr. again appeared to have the most dominant truck on the track and easily held on to lead through a green-white-checkered finish. Colin Braun, Timothy …

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Talking NASCAR TV: ORP Good, IMS Bad as ESPN Jumps Back Into Double-Duty

I know that the beginning of this week’s title sounds like something out of the 2001 movie Zoolander, starring Ben Stiller (Martial Arts good; Prime Minister bad), but it essentially drives home my point in this critique. Indianapolis is likely the biggest race weekend for NASCAR in the second half of the season. As a …

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