NASCAR on TV this week

5 Points to Ponder: Talking NASCAR Trash, Tires and Tracks

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Yes, Sunday’s race was far from a classic, with rock hard tires again making track position the sole dictator of everyone’s race strategy. But this one was shaping up awful nice before a communication breakdown between Denny Hamlin and Darian Grubb put the No. 11 car that was the class of the field back far enough in the field that even a brilliant late-race charge couldn’t produce a checkered flag. And there’s not many race tracks out there that can overcome hard tires anyhow…or the mentality that every driver that didn’t win had, that they’d win in September…when it counted for something.

Who’s Hot / Who’s Not in NASCAR: New Hampshire – Indy Edition

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Kasey Kahne’s victory at New Hampshire sure shook up the wild card race. Kahne basically assured himself a spot in the playoffs, while he put other drivers who were looking good heading into the weekend on less solid ground.

Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon are those drivers on thin ice. Newman and Logano have a very slim chance of winning another race before The Chase, and Gordon’s chances of winning twice also seem unlikely.

Sticking a NNS Car to Chicago’s Old Asphalt with Jimmy Elledge

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_Jimmy Elledge has some 20 years of experience in racing and has been on the top of a pit box for quite a few of them. He is now on top of the box for Justin Allgaier and Turner Motorsports in the Nationwide Series. With the Cup series taking the week off before their grueling run to the end of the season, Tech Talk hit up Elledge for his opinions on heading back to the scene of his last NASCAR win with Allgaier in 2011._

How Do TNT’s Commercials and Peter Griffin Compare?

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Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where TV critiques are the name of the game. I’m back after a one week hiatus, which was brought on due to my trip to Daytona to cover the Coke Zero 400. This week, we’ll be reviewing the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series race telecasts from New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and the Camping World Truck Series telecast from Iowa Speedway.

*Before we start*, I want to mention a couple of things. Firstly, as you are likely well aware of, ESPN’s Jamie Little is currently eight months pregnant and is now officially on maternity leave. However, this leave might not be as long as you think. On her Twitter page Sunday night, Little tweeted that she’s “…sad I’ll miss some races but I’ll be back for [the] final 11!” This means that she plans on returning to pit road at Richmond in September. Until then, Shannon Spake will likely take her place in the pits.

All That’s Come and Gone: NASCAR 15 Years Later

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Change. It’s something we talk about all the time when discussing NASCAR, because it is a constant. It is the nature of the sport to change; some of that change is necessary, some neither necessary nor embraced. It has to happen; technology advances, and so do the ages of the drivers and teams. A driver’s prime can’t last forever. On an individual team level, it’s a sport in which they must adapt to change or be left behind. If change is slow, it’s harder to notice; much of the change has been slow, though the big items, like the Chase format (which most people have never really warmed to) and the new car (a necessary evil), make it seem more rapid.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon

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Loudon is one of those racetracks, like Darlington, where the view from inside is vastly different from what you see on TV. With the tight confines in the corners, there is nearly always some hard racing somewhere. Plus, it’s one of those tracks that separate the best from the rest because it’s one of the most difficult on the circuit, and the driver is a more important part of the equation than at most tracks, which is something most fans have said they want. It’s a unique track, a flat mile, vastly different from the other two mile tracks on the schedule, Phoenix and Dover. Since renovations several years ago, there is passing.

Pace Laps: Off Week Strategies, A Blonde Moment And Bowman Breaks Out

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*NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: How Will Teams Handle The Off Week?* NASCAR’s hectic schedule takes a breather this Monday, with Sprint Cup teams knowing it’s the final time they’ll be able to take an extended break until Homestead in November. For years, the fans have advocated a week off before the start of the Chase but instead, the last “vacation” for NASCAR programs occurs about two months before. So can the “hot” teams, like Hendrick Motorsports keep the momentum flowing through a weekend of no competition? And can other programs, like Carl Edwards’ No. 99 gather the information needed to get it together quickly? For those struggling teams, like the Earnhardt Ganassi outfit now is also a time to re-evaluate their crew chief scenario. Will they make a move with the Chase out of reach? As we saw last year, with the Greg Biffle – Matt Puccia matchup, among others now is the perfect time to make an adjustment if you’re going to do it. _–Tom Bowles_