Pace Laps: Almost Isn’t Enough, Keselowski’s Comeback And Refueling

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*Sprint Cup: A Series Of “Almosts”* Saturday night’s Richmond race, a prime example of why winner Kevin Harvick is called “The Closer” leaves behind a long list of “what might have beens.” The driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet, used to charging from behind in crunch time came from seventh place, making daredevil moves on a green-white-checkered finish and only led a grand total of three laps during the race.

But Harvick’s gain, “Happily” stealing a trophy underneath everyone’s nose left up to a half-dozen drivers scratching their head. Once again, Matt Kenseth and the No. 20 Toyota had the dominant car, leading the most laps (140) only to have the wrong handling package down the stretch. Coming home seventh, he’s now led a total of 303 laps the last two weeks and has just 37 points to show for it. Clint Bowyer, who also led a huge chunk of the race (113 circuits) had no choice but to settle for second.

The Big Six: Questions Answered After the Toyota Owners’ 400

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*Who…gets my shoutout of the race?*

One thing about racing — sometimes the driver who _should_ win doesn’t, and that’s exactly what went down on Laburnum Avenue Saturday night. *Juan Pablo Montoya* had the best car late and was driving like he owned the place before a late crash by Brian Vickers shuffled the field and left Montoya on the outside row for the restart. That was all she wrote as it was Kevin Harvick who was able to make the move to the front on a green-white-checkered run to the finish; Montoya was left sitting fourth.

Nationwide Breakdown: ToyotaCare 250

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Brad Keselowski’s 2013 was off to a solid, if unspectacular start; eight races in the Sprint Cup Series had yielded four top fives and seven top 10s, but recent weeks had found him less and less a part of the conversation when it came to victories. Despite entries in every Nationwide Series race to that point, he had only managed two top-5 finishes, while fellow Cup regular Kyle Busch ran away with the majority of the first six races.

NASCAR Penalties Need To Fit The Crime

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_”There is no truth. There is only perception.”_ _Gustave Flaubert_

The beauty of sports is that they’re a form of entertainment. You don’t need to know every lap, number, and fact in order to lay back and enjoy the show. That’s why for every diehard, no matter what you’re covering there’s about ten other people who know just enough to get by. Life has a funny habit of getting in the way of these hobbies: kids, work, bills, or even a beautiful Spring Day, which more than half the country experienced on Thursday that clearly supersedes some 30-minute research into the NASCAR Rule Book.

Frontstretch Foto Funnies: I’m So Happy I Feel Like Skipping!

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_Welcome to the Frontstretch Foto Funnies! Ever see a photo that’s just begging for a caption? We see them all the time! Each week, we’ll pick a few, then let our staff give it their best shot. We’ll post the best ones for you!_

_Want to get in on the fun? Each week, we’ll also designate one of the photos for fan captions. Leave your best ideas in the comments below or on our “Facebook page.”:https://www.facebook.com/Frontstretch We’ll choose our favorite one and reprint the photo next week with its new caption! Then, at the end of each month, we’ll randomly choose one winner from the four winning captions, and that person will receive a free weekend rental from our friends at FanVision during any Sprint Cup race weekend in 2013! What could be better than that? In order to be eligible, comments must include a valid email (nobody can see it but us, and we promise we’ll only use it for notification purposes!) Note while you can post as many captions as you like, you aren’t eligible for the monthly prize if you’ve won a contest from us in the last 90 days._