NASCAR on TV this week

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not: New Hampshire/Dover Edition

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Denny Hamlin called his shot, and hit it out of the park when it mattered. Hamlin dominated New Hampshire for the second straight race, but did something he wasn’t able to do the first time around — close.

On Sunday, Hamlin led 193 laps and never even came close to relinquishing the lead down the stretch on the way to his fifth victory. The win moved him within seven points of series leader Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin made a statement by closing the deal at New Hampshire, but he could make an even bigger statement by stringing together consistent finishes like the top two in points have, Keselowski and Johnson.

Couch Potato Tuesday: Points Burnout after Two Weeks? Huh Boy

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Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecast criticism is the name of the game. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup Series raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with three lower level series (Whelen Modified Tour, K&N Pro Series and an exhibition race for the ACT Tour) as support. Meanwhile, the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series each raced at a somewhat empty Kentucky Speedway.

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Loudon-2 Race Recap

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*Key Moment* – Kyle Busch had another motor issue which relegated him to also-ran status and allowed Denny Hamlin to pass him for the lead with 206 laps to go. From that point on, barring a major mechanical failure or strategic blunder, Hamlin was just logging laps until he did a tremendous burnout.

*In a Nutshell* – Hamlin’s crew forgot to add extra air to his tires before he went out for qualifying on Friday which resulted in him starting the race from the 32nd position. From the drop of the green flag, Hamlin was on a mission to get to the front. Once he got there, he just drove away with the race.

No Matter the Format, NASCAR Cream Rising to the Top in Chase

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The Chase may be a manufactured contest to try and generate additional interest in the late season races of a long NASCAR season, but one thing is for sure: the best teams in any sport will always find their way to the top of the ranks more times than they’ll finish near the bottom. Last week’s race at Chicagoland saw Denny Hamlin run out of gas late and lose a multitude of spots on the final lap while Jeff Gordon’s day was ruined by a stuck throttle. However, week two of the playoffs finds Hamlin standing in Victory Lane with a Gatorade-soaked driver suit while Gordon, sans mustache, was the third driver to cross the finish line. The reason the 12 teams who made the Chase are in contention for the title is because they were the 12 best teams in the first 26 races of the season.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 Sylvania 300 at Loudon

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It wasn’t a win for Jeff Gordon, and he still has a lot of ground to make up before he can even begin to think about that elusive fifth Cup title. But this week, Gordon certainly looked a lot more like… well, like Jeff Gordon. After starting on the pole, Gordon remained in the hunt throughout the race, running inside the top 10 all day long and ending the day in fourth place.

A Match Made in Hell: Why NHMS Doesn’t Belong on the Schedule

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Ho hum. Boring. Another race at New Hampshire has gone by, once again, completely devoid of excitement. Once again, only a select few cars could pass, and the rest simply logged laps on a track that clearly is not suited for the NASCAR brand of racing. How much longer is NASCAR willing to put up with this?

It seems as though every time the series rolls into New Hampshire, there is a legion of fans and media members who have this inexplicable false hope that this low-banked, one-mile oval will put on a good show. And every time, those people come out disappointed. Quite honestly, I have absolutely no idea where such high hopes are coming from. In my 14 years of watching NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, I have yet to see a good Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In fact, after 14 years, I have yet to see ONE good race at this track.

Pace Laps: Inside A Hot Streak, Crowd Concerns And Dancing An Offseason Away

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*Sprint Cup: What’s The Key To Hamlin Getting Hot?* Denny Hamlin has been dominant in recent weeks, the most recent driver on a hot streak. Earlier in the season, Greg Biffle had one. So did Jimmie Johnson. Things change fast in NASCAR, and Hamlin’s hot streak, as well as some of the runs before, shows that even in an era where there isn’t much freedom to work on the racecars, the team who can adapt to the current rules the quickest has a distinct advantage. Back in August, Brad Keselowski mentioned that Johnson’s car, and the other Hendrick Motorsports entries had rear end geometry that looked funny. The Hendrick cars, as well as those from a few other teams, looked a bit sideways on the straightaways, the product of a rear end designed to turn more easily in the corners. NASCAR said that the numerous teams who had figured out how to make the rear end travel better by having a trailing arm that traveled with the car were all within the rules. And then the sanctioning body changed the rule that the teams were working within.

Nationwide Series Breakdown: Kentucky 300

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Austin Dillon must wish the Nationwide Series tackled the Kentucky Speedway 30 times a season after Saturday. Cruising unmolested in the latter parts of the race, Dillon had no trouble scoring his second win of the 2012 season and sweeping the 2012 campaign’s races in Sparta, KY. Sam Hornish Jr., Brendan Gaughan, Drew Herring and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 5.

The championship chase took a dramatic turn in this one after a red-hot start by incoming points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Having led the first 32 laps, a trip down pit road turned treacherous for the No. 6, which had its right front fender caved in after contact with Eric McClure’s car exiting his stall. Ensuing work to repair the damage mired Stenhouse in traffic, and led to handling woes that saw the defending champ pound the turn 4 wall on lap 48. Cutting down a tire, the No. 6 team was forced down pit road under green and limped around the rest of the afternoon, eventually coming home 17th, three laps down.