NASCAR on TV this week

Looking Forward on a Bye Weekend: The 2013 Nationwide Series

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For all intents and purposes, the 2012 season has been a pleasant surprise for the Nationwide Series. A razor-thin title fight, series regulars capable of winning races and doing it, its been at least on paper the best season the Nationwide ranks have enjoyed since 2003. But all good things come to an end, and this cast of characters is no different. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has been promoted to Cup, and will be doing his best Matt Kenseth impression in 2013. Sam Hornish Jr. remains without a contract, even in the Penske Racing camp that has stuck behind him so loyally. And through the rest of the top 10 in points, uncertainty is abound; Justin Allgaier, Cole Whitt, Mike Bliss and Brian Scott all aren’t guaranteed to return to their respective cockpits next season.

Regan Smith Driver Diary: The End of an Era and a New Beginning

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As I’m sure you all know, the past few weeks certainly have not been the most pleasant of my career. I was informed that I would not be back with the team and then found out with the rest of you that Kurt Busch would be in the car. I had an inkling that he was going to replace me, but that was for the team to talk about, not me. What did catch me off guard was the fact that I will be out of the car after Talladega. I would have expected to at least have been able to finish the season after all of my efforts, but it is not to be.

With that being said, I am already working on putting this disappointment behind me so that I can focus on the fact that I’ll be a free agent and I need to move forward. It’s late in the season and a lot of moves have already been made in terms of seats being filled, but those are the cards that I was dealt. I will do the best that I can to emerge from this in the best possible situation.

Beyond the Cockpit: Chad McCumbee On A Possible Change In Career Arc?

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_For Chad McCumbee, his career up to this point has been a little unorthodox. Around the time he made his “rather spectacular debut in the ARCA Re/Max Series”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ri0zfKI1mE, he appeared in ESPN’s 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, an unauthorized biopic of the seven-time champion as the screen version of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (the film premiered months after his ARCA debut, but was likely filmed around the time he debuted)._

_Since then, McCumbee has had a couple of stints in the Craftsman/Camping World Truck Series, along with ten starts in the Sprint Cup Series with a best finish of 17th, and multiple seasons in ARCA. However, for 2012, McCumbee decided to blaze a new trail and moved over to the Street Tuner class of Grand-Am’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge to drive what was originally a Mazdaspeed 3 for the season (early in the year, the team switched to a Mazda MX-5). Recently, McCumbee sat down with Frontstretch’s Phil Allaway at Lime Rock Park to talk about his season, his transition to sports car racing, and his continuing presence in NASCAR._

Frontstretch Fan Q & A: Preaching Tolerance And Patience Across NASCAR

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When I referred to Keselowski as a “dark horse”, I didn’t actually think he’d end up leading the points! I figured he would win a couple of races, turn some heads, and finish somewhere in the top five in points. While it might still play out that way, Keselowski has actually become Jimmie Johnson’s closest competitor along with Denny Hamlin. Undoubtedly Keselowski is one of the biggest surprises of the season.

Personally, I don’t think he’ll actually be the one holding the trophy at the end of the season; I still think that will be Johnson. But Keselowski has impressed me and countless others. As strange as it seems, he actually seems more confident in his program and his own talent that even Hamlin does. Am I the only one who feels this way?

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This Is (Not) Only a Test…

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It’s that exciting time of year again, and no, I don’t mean the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship…. It’s that time when the NASCAR administration announces its revised procedures for the upcoming season. Even with seven events remaining in 2012, there’s no time like the present to begin talking about the new-and-improved future.

And the changes for 2013 go far beyond simply rolling out stylish new versions of existing popular models. NASCAR sees next year as an appropriate time to loosen up its current constraints on testing, qualifying, and practice so as to provide teams more track time and fans more access. Given the “mutual gains” philosophy of NASCAR, we should probably consider these upcoming changes a “win-win” proposition.

The 2013 IndyCar Schedule: The Good, Questionable, and Baffling

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This past weekend, IndyCar took time out of its continued political power-play fiasco to deliver the 2013 schedule. The release of an event schedule should be one of the prime things that happens in the off-season, the thing that draws fan interest, that brings a sense of optimism, and elicits some sense of curiosity or debate from the media – unless, of course, you’re NASCAR and you trot out the same tired schedule again.

The problem is that the response has been tepid.

So IndyCar did its best, laying out a schedule that features, um, 19 races, yet 16 weekend’s worth of action. To Randy Bernard’s credit, he is moving closer to his desire of 20 races for the season, but in a way that feels uncomfortable, like making out with your second cousin – just because it might be legal doesn’t necessarily make it the best idea.

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Truckin’ Thursdays: Miguel Paludo on Vegas, Talladega and Little Feet

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I had a stomach sickness two or three days prior to the race at Las Vegas, and I thought I’d get better but I didn’t. Before the race I went to the infield care center and had an IV. That made me feel a little better. As far as the race itself, I was glad it was at night–it wasn’t as hot as last year. We had a good truck. During the only practice, we made a mistake so we ended up putting it back to the exact same setup that we had when we unloaded. When we went to qualify, I qualified seventh and I was really happy with the qualifying effort. Once the race started, I was average to snug, but on the long runs I was getting better. Then I was a little free because the track was changing and the temperature was changing. At the end, the guys did awesome on pit stops–I think the best pit stops we’ve had all year long. We gained spots every time, and on the last pit stop, we came in tenth and went out fifth.

Talladega During The Chase: A Brief History

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For many, the Fall Talladega Sprint Cup race brings with it a definite sense that anything can happen. Due to the superspeedway’s ability to provide a more even playing field for teams, along with its susceptibility for “The Big One,” the days leading up to the race are often filled with impatient fans and teams that worry for their drivers’ and cars’ well-being. Or, there will be potential contenders, including those that have had a season filled with futility which talk up the possibility of a good showing — a cycle of talk that was all happening _before_ NASCAR threw its Chase postseason format into the equation.

IndyCar Year In Review: Drivers 1st Through 13th

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_Now that the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season has come to an end, the Frontstretch IndyCar staff will be taking some time to review the year that was. Last week, we looked at those who finished “14th through 26th”:https://frontstretch.com/tmontgomery/41607/ in the season points standings. This week, we take a look at the top half of the running order, leading up to champion Ryan Hunter-Reay._