NASCAR on TV this week

Elimination Station: Whittling Down Title Contenders After Week 1

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You can’t win a championship in the first quarter, the first round, or the first pitch. But you can certainly lose it, with a mental error or physical deficit making a comeback so impossible even _Rudy_ would step off the field and surrender. For the best athletes, their curse in learning to beat the best is knowing exactly when the best is about to beat them. When the white flag nears, they project the strength of “never surrender” but the light of the camera sometimes shows a broken spirit with nasty words they cannot speak.

Or in this case… it was a nasty ‘stache.

Pace Laps: NASCAR’s Chicagoland “Cutoff,” Mental Mistakes and Big Payoffs

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*Sprint Cup: Will Judgment Call Cloud The Chase?* Brad Keselowski’s decisive win on Sunday was not without some controversy. On the final pit stop of the race, Keselowski’s crew reeled off a lightning fast pit stop and, as he was coming out of the pits, Keselowski gave it everything he had to get on the track close enough behind Jimmie Johnson to make a pass for the lead. In doing so, Keselowski blended into traffic under Johnson’s car, upsetting his line. Johnson was on the radio immediately, questioning Keselowski’s move. When exiting the pits under green, drivers must stay on the apron of the track until the exit of turn 2 before they blend into race traffic. (It’s a safety measure as much as anything.) Drivers are shown the so-called “blend line” in the weekly drivers’ meeting. Johnson wondered whether Keselowski had moved onto the track too soon.

IndyCar Race Recap: MAVTV 500

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*In A Nutshell:* Now that’s how you end a racing season! The race featured 12 different leaders with cars coming and going all night and a number of different faces running near the front. In the end, Ed Carpenter had just gotten by Dario Franchitti when a caution froze the field on the last lap and he took the win. Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves completed the top 5. As far as the championship, points leader Will Power crashed on lap 55 and had to watch as Ryan Hunter-Reay, who had to finish fifth to beat him, pushed all night and in the closing laps finally got there to take the big prize by three points.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 GEICO 400 at Chicagoland

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The Chase is on… and for 12 drivers that means the chance at standing at the pinnacle of NASCAR in November. For everyone else, unfortunately, it means toiling in relative anonymity for the next two months, especially when seven of the top-10 finishers in the race are in the Chase as was the case in Chicago. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was not among them; but both of his teammates were. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished fourth and seventh, respectively, though neither received much recognition during a television broadcast that was clearly more concerned with the Chase contenders.

Nationwide Series Breakdown: Dollar General 300

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It’s hard to believe that Roush Fenway Racing entered the weekend without a win to their credit at the Chicagoland Speedway, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took care of that on Saturday. Running down Kyle Busch in the closing laps with a car that was unstoppable on the high side of the track, the defending Nationwide Series champion scored his fifth win of the 2012 season… and took the points lead back for his troubles. Busch, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, and Paul Menard rounded out the top 5.

Tracking the Trucks: American Ethanol 200 presented by Hy-Vee

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*In a Nutshell:* Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag 0.168 seconds ahead of Ty Dillon to win the American 200 Saturday night at Iowa Speedway. Blaney survived four restarts and a hard charge from Dillon to grab his first career Truck Series victory in his third start. Todd Bodine, Johnny Sauter and Cale Gale rounded out the top 5.

*Who Should Have Won:* *Ryan Blaney.* Parker Kligerman started on the pole and looked to be the guy to beat, having led 107 laps on the night, until late-race pit strategy forced the driver of the No. 7 to make a green flag pit stop.

BSNews!: Brian France Vows to Bring Peace to Mideast Via NASCAR

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Daytona Beach, FL- Having exhausted the supply of NASCAR zealots in North America, NASCAR CEO Brian France, announced his plans to expand his sport around the world to the troubled areas in the Middle East.

“I was sitting here, and by here I mean here in my palatial office, watching a bit of TV, just kind of surfing ya know, trying to find the Oprah channel, when I came across what I guess was a news piece about all this violence that has suddenly erupted in an area they call the ‘Middle East’,” said France.

Four Burning Questions: Hamlin’s Survivor Weekend As All Eyes Turn Towards Chicago

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*1. Can Denny hold his momentum?*

In a Chase that can be defined in simple terms – Hendrick chassis vs. the field – Denny Hamlin stands out as the lone “wild card” capable of dethroning the Johnson juggernaut so many expect. Entering the Chase with two wins in his last three races, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota repositioned himself after a miserable summer and enters this Chase the No. 1 seed, albeit with a scant three-point advantage over his closest competition. The 2010 championship runner-up appears to have learned from that year of “almost,” now paired with a crew chief in Darian Grubb that’s won more Sprint Cup races since the start of 2011 than anyone else. Together, both create a compelling case of redemption and have the full focus of Joe Gibbs Racing behind them.

8 Reasons NASCAR Fans Should Also Be Watching IndyCar this Weekend

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Love NASCAR? Of course you do, that’s probably why you’re reading a NASCAR column! But this week, I’m going to switch it up and talk another type of racing..Indy cars. Yeah, that’s right, those funny-looking pointy cars that sound more like mosquitoes than monsters..and go really, really fast. The bottom line is, if you love racing but aren’t watching IndyCar, you’re missing a whole lot. As NASCAR revs up its championship Chase this weekend, IndyCar will be deciding theirs once and for all. You say you need some good reasons to try out the season-ending, championship-deciding IZOD IndyCar Series race this weekend? Well, then, try these on for size:

*1. There’s no Chase* That’s right, there’s no points reset, no gimmickry, and yet the title contenders are separated by just 17 points. The championship will—yet again—come down to the last race of the season. It often comes down to the last lap of the last race.