NASCAR on TV this week

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Nuts for Nationwide: Five Races In, Some Underdogs Showing Promise

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Last week, we looked into the highs and lows of the 2013 Nationwide Series season, five races in. In one small segment, the spotlight turned onto the series’s smaller teams and their progress throughout the season.

As we near the completion of the second straight off-week in the series, let’s take a closer look at the little guys and gals.

The current owner points standings in the series are led by Roger Penske’s No. 12, driven by Sam Hornish Jr., the driver points leader. The following 14 spots, all the way down to 15th, are occupied by the sport’s more successful organizations, from the Nationwide programs of Cup teams like Penske and Roush Fenway Racing to series stalwarts such as Turner Motorsports and JR Motorsports.

Let the Good Times Roll: What NASCAR Must Do To Keep The Momentum

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NASCAR has enjoyed a resurgence of sorts in 2013. Ratings are up, and, perhaps of equal importance, people are talking about the sport even during an off week. But we’re just five weeks into what is a very long season. NASCAR will have to compete with other sports; racing will go up against three of four major sports’ playoffs and championships as well as much of the NFL’s regular season. Can the sport hold its momentum all the way until the end?

Well, maybe. Can people, and especially those checking out the sport for the first time on the wave of publicity it’s enjoyed, expect the excitement we’ve seen in 2013 so far every single week? Probably not; the nature of the sport is such that there won’t always be a thrilling finish. The sport’s history tells us that. But that doesn’t mean that NASCAR can’t capitalize on some of the things we’ve seen so far in 2013. What the sanctioning body needs to do going forward is to not rely on any one aspect to keep fans’ interest, because if they do, it almost certainly will fail; we live in a society where people get bored easily.

Beyond the Cockpit: Johnny Sauter On A New Year, Down Time And Dirt Track Racing

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_After a six-week vacation, the Camping World Truck Series is back in action this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. With a victory to open the season, Johnny Sauter sits as the current points leader, and he’s got his best start to the year since he started racing full-time in the series in 2009. This week, Sauter sat down with Frontstretch.com’s Beth Lunkenheimer to talk about getting the Daytona monkey off of his back, dirt track racing and so much more._

Beth Lunkenheimer, Frontstretch.com: *To get us started, I’ve heard that the number change from the No. 13 to the No. 98 this year had to do with Mike Curb’s association with it, but is that the only reason?*

Racing To The Point: NASCAR Penalizing Itself For Inconsistent Rulings

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Five expletives in one sentence. I wasn’t sure if the NASCAR race was still on or if FOX was showing an early presentation of “Hell’s Kitchen,” one where Chef Gordon Ramsey — Tony Stewart in this case — found out Joey Logano’s beef ravioli wasn’t fully cooked.

Stewart sure put on a post-race show at Fontana. It had all the same ingredients of the boxing match I watched on HBO on Friday night. Punches were thrown — or at least a water bottle — trash was talked and, in the end, the sore loser went on a profanity-laced tirade vowing for revenge.

Who’s Hot / Who’s Not To Start 2013: NASCAR’s Nationwide & Truck Series

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The Easter weekend gives drivers an opportunity to climb out of the car and spend time with their family and friends.

Because of the momentary pause, Sprint Cup competition – the primary focus of Who’s Hot and Who’s Not – will also get a break. While this blessing is nice for drivers and teams who have struggled in stock car racing’s premier series, it moves the spotlight onto those involved in NASCAR’s more developmental divisions.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at who has performed well in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series this season, along with who might need more off time after encountering slow starts…

April Fool’s Turned Tragic: Alan Kulwicki’s Death, 20 Years Later

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Though it was not all that long ago in the grand scheme of things, the Winston Cup circuit was very different back in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Back then, almost all the star drivers were still Southern-born and bred, most of them having started their careers racing late models on one of those storied old bullrings south of the Mason-Dixon line. A driver who showed promise might hope one day to land a ride with one of the “Good ol’ boy” teams, like Junior Johnson’s, Bud Moore’s, or Richard Childress’. Certainly, if that driver ever expected to have a chance at running for the championship, it was thought he needed to land a ride with an established team.