Race Weekend Central

Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Stater Brothers 300 at Fontana

In a word, uneventful. As if following up Daytona with Fontana wasn’t enough of a letdown, Kyle Busch made sure that there would be no last lap fireworks this time around. Leading over 140 of the 150 laps run Saturday night, Busch followed up his Truck win earlier in the day with a dominant performance …

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Mirror Driving: Daytona Disappointment, Yellow Line Disgust, & is Kenseth a Hall of Famer?

The Daytona 500 had several controversial moments, but the biggest was the race being shortened by over 100 miles due to rain. Did NASCAR do the right thing by starting at the scheduled time, or should the green flag have been moved up so that the entire race could be run?

Talking NASCAR TV: SPEEDing Through 2009 Daytona 500 Week in 3,000 Words or Less

Now that Speedweeks at Daytona are over, it is time to look back and reflect upon what we have seen, and what we have been provided for our viewing pleasure by NASCAR’s media partners for Speedweeks (FOX, SPEED and ESPN2). Before I begin, I should state this. Speedweeks is supposed to be the most important …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Camping World 300 at Daytona

It only took three races for Tony Stewart to put a Chevrolet back in victory lane. After posting runner-up finishes in both the Budweiser Shootout and Gatorade Duels, Stewart’s first ride with Hendrick Motorsports landed Smoke back in the winner’s circle, collecting the eighth Nationwide Series victory of his career and his fourth in the …

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Nationwide Rookie Michael Annett Eyes Another Daytona Victory

Racing has been in Michael Annett’s blood since birth. The 22-year-old Nationwide Series rookie’s first racing experience literally came days after his birthday when he attended the Knoxville Nationals less than one week after being born. Since that day in Knoxville, Iowa, Annett found success on ice where he was once a highly-touted hockey star …

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Kenny Wallace Driver Diary: Down & Dirty in the Offseason

This was definitely the strangest offseason for me and a lot of my racecar driver friends. I’ve talked to a lot of great racecar drivers – I’ve talked to Jeff Burton, I’ve talked to Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – and we all agree that this was the strangest offseason we’ve ever had. Usually by …

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Why Brad Keselowski Can Win the 2009 Nationwide Series Title

The first NASCAR preview magazine that came to the local newsstand was that of The Sporting News. As I read through it, I flipped to the publication’s Nationwide Series preview. Predictably, the lead feature was on the “Sprint Cup Showdown” between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards that is already being framed as the extent of …

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Beyond the Cockpit: Justin Allgaier Goes from ARCA Champion to NASCAR Rookie

Justin Allgaier went into the last year’s ARCA Re/Max Series finale at Toledo third in series points, well behind points leader Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In a strange series of events, Stenhouse got into the back of the series leader and forced him into the wall, only to have Speed get back on …

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Did You Notice? Brendan Gaughan’s No Rookie, Daytona Can Be Bought & We All Needed a Vacation

Did You Notice? How this year’s offseason went extensive periods without any sort of NASCAR in the news? Yeah, it was merger central all the time with Richard Petty, Chip Ganassi, George Gillett and Teresa Earnhardt, but beyond that, there really wasn’t all that much to write about. And you know what – that was …

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Talking NASCAR TV: 4 Big Offseason Changes for 2009

Editor’s Note: After an offseason of hibernation, our TV critique is back! Join Phil Allaway on Tuesdays every week as he picks apart the ups and downs of NASCAR coverage in 2009. After a long offseason – seemingly made even longer due to SPEED Channel’s near complete lack of offseason motorsports programming (which is another …

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Mirror Driving: Mourning the Pettys, Moving the Banquet & Putting Off the Nationwide CoT

Welcome to Mirror Driving. Every week, your favorite columnists sit down and give their opinion about the latest NASCAR news and rumors. Love us or hate us, make a comment below and tell us how you feel about what we’ve said! This Week’s Participants: Tom Bowles (Editor-In-Chief; Mondays/Bowles-Eye View & Wednesdays/Did You Notice?) Mike Neff (Wednesdays/Power Rankings …

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