Race Weekend Central

10 Points to Ponder After the 2008 Lifelock 400 at Michigan

1. GEICO… Not Gecko! – GEICO Insurance, sponsor of Mike Wallace and the No. 7 Germain Racing Toyota, is indicating that they will end their sponsorship of the car after next season. Wallace, who finished third in the Meijer 300 last Saturday at Kentucky, believes he will need another sponsor if he is to continue …

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Mirror Driving: Cutting Pocono Down to Size, the Pettys’ Investor Prize & Keselowski’s Nashville Surprise

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: Tony Lumbis (Mondays/Rookie Report) Vito Pugliese (Tuesdays/Voice of Vito) Mike Neff (Wednesdays/Power Rankings & …

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Did You Notice? Nice Guys Finish Last, NASCAR’s Diversity Nightmare & Chase Vulnerability

Did You Notice? That one of the compelling themes in NASCAR as of late is proof of the phrase, “Nice guys finish last?” David Reutimann is the latest example; known as a man who won’t bump anyone out of the way in order to get to the front, Reutimann got loose with Clint Bowyer oh-so-close behind …

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Voice of Vito: Polish Power – Brad Keselowski & Robert Kubica Notch 1st Wins

This weekend saw a changing of the guard of sorts in professional motorsports, as two young drivers finally broke through to score their first career victories in their respective series of competition. Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., 24-year-old Brad Keselowski began his own Cedar Revolution of sorts, able to finally escape trouble and …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 Pocono 500 at Pocono

1. What Program? – NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program has now entered its ninth year of existence as of this weekend. There are 13 Sprint Cup teams, eight Nationwide teams and four Craftsman Truck organizations participating in the program. But after nine years only one ethnic minority driver – Aric Almirola – has graduated to NASCAR’s …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2008 Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville

In a Nutshell: Saturday’s race was dubbed the “Opportunity 300,” the first of numerous standalone events for the Nationwide Series this summer – and a number of drivers took advantage, making runs at their first career wins. But while Joey Logano was untouchable in the early going and David Stremme ran up front all race …

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Sliced Bread: Yep, I’m a Logano Believer…

“I do not go to the racetrack to finish second. Me and second don’t get along. I don’t worry about anything but winning races.” – Joey Logano Sport – of whatever flavor or variety you prefer – is littered with cases of unfulfilled promise. Youthful exuberance and unfettered possibility generates unbelievable enthusiasm and expectation, but more …

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Fanning the Flames: Silly Season Contracts, Old-School Drivers & the “Blow-Up” Crowd

No time to waste with an intro this week; it’s sunny and 70, and I need to hit a patio. Good batch this week, boys and girls. Keep ‘em rollin’ on in. Q: The Silly Season rumors are driving me nuts. Whatever happened to loyalty in NASCAR? Jamie McMurray has a full year left on …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 Best Buy 400 at Dover

1. Are They Baaack? – Television ratings for NASCAR have seen resurgence this race season after experiencing at least two years of declines. The Memorial Day weekend Coca-Cola 600 tallied a 4% boost over last season’s telecast, and posted the first increase in viewer numbers in three years. But the 4% improvement, though noteworthy, is …

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