Race Weekend Central

Did You Notice? Driver Report Cards, Part II & Quick Hits

2015 Kansas I CUP Jimmie Johnson winner sticker credit NASCAR via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Did You Notice? It’s time to grade the drivers on their 2015 season? For the first part of Driver Report Cards, as well as the guidelines on how each driver’s being graded please check on yesterday’s article. Part III will be posted overnight tonight. Jeb Burton Stats: 9 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 …

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NASCAR Mailbox: The All-Star Race & What are Crew Members Paid?

2015 Dover International Speedway Kyle Busch Joey Logano pit road photo NASCAR via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

The Sprint All-Star Race. 20 of the best drivers in the world meet in Charlotte for the sport’s premiere event. At least that’s what it’s supposed to be, right? Saturday night seemed like it belonged to the few up in front, the eventual winner of the non-points race, Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 FedEx …

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NASCAR Mailbox: Carl Edwards’s No Caution Call at ‘Dega & Ryan Blaney’s Rise?

2015 Bristol I Carl Edwards vertical credit Amy Henderson

Photo Credit: Amy Henderson, Frontstretch

What a weekend we had at Talladega! There was some great weather, phenomenal racing and another victory in Alabama for Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sixth win at the 2.66-mile track. Seeing Junior in Victory Lane so emotional, and so happy with his first win of 2015,  was something special that NASCAR fans will remember for …

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5 Points to Ponder: Experimentation, Throwing Caution to the Wind & Spongebob

2015 Bristol I CUP David Ragan vertical credit Amy Henderson

(Photo: Amy Henderson, Frontstretch)

Experimentation As our own Jerry Jordan wrote this morning, JR Nation can sleep easy. With Sunday’s win, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has all but clinched his second-straight Chase for the Sprint Cup berth with the new format. The playoff berth was inevitable; Earnhardt was inside the top 10 in points even if he didn’t win. The …

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MPM2Nite: The Daytona Beach Orchestra

2014 Talladega II CUP Tony Stewart Aric Almirola Alex Bowman crash CIA

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Sunday’s Talladega event was notable as one of the tamer such affairs run at the track though in this instance, tame is not to be thought of as a derisive term. The track “where the wild things are” is normally known for big, huge, smoking pig piles of wrecks coming to the checkers, racing geared …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2015 GEICO 500 at Talladega

2015 Talladega NSCS Dale Earnhardt Jr. checkered flag credit nascar via getty images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Who’s in the headline – It took 11 years but Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally won another Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega. After some spirited racing for much of the first part of the race, the last third turned into a mind-numbing parade with little to no action at all. Earnhardt pitted with a few …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2015 GEICO 500 at Talladega

2015 Talladega I CUP pCk racing credit NASCAR via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Looking for the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How behind Sunday’s race? Amy Henderson has you covered each week with the answers to six race-day questions, covering all five Ws and even the H… the Big Six. Who… gets my shoutout of the race? Talladega is a whole different animal in NASCAR, and for …

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13 Teams Take Part in Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Logo

13 teams took part in an open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday after several teams participated in a two-day tire test at the facility on Monday and Tuesday. The 13 teams that participated in the test included Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports), Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing), Clint Bowyer (Michael …

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NASCAR 101: Top 5 Winless 2015 Drivers Who Could Take Richmond

2015 Bristol I CUP Jeff Gordon vertical credit Amy Henderson

Photo Credit: Amy Henderson, Frontstretch

Richmond International Speedway, the track of racing perfection, is the host for the ninth race of the season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. And going into Richmond, six drivers have visited Victory Lane this season and have secured their spots on the Richmond stage in September as a part of the 2015 Chase for …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2015 Food City 500 at Bristol

2015 Bristol I CUP Matt Kenseth woohoo credit NASCAR via Getty Images

Photo Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

Who’s in the headline – Matt Kenseth has waited 51 races to visit Victory Lane. Great strategy by his crew chief Jason Ratcliff and enough luck to avoid all of the carnage that befell so many others both contributed to the win. While Kenseth downplayed it, driver ability obviously contributed greatly as well. In the …

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Kickin’ the Tires: Wrong Decision Not to Red-Flag Race Sooner

2015 Bristol I CUP Austin Dillon car credit Amy Henderson

Photo Credit: Amy Henderson, Frontstretch

With laps winding down in the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and heavy rain in the distance, NASCAR was faced with a tough decision on whether to red-flag the race at Bristol Motor Speedway with roughly 15 laps to go or try to clean the track quickly under yellow and get back to …

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Tech Talk: With Jason Ratcliff for the Last Great Colosseum & Trying to Make Advances Without Testing

Jason Ratcliff Daytona 500 Cup 2.15 Mike Neff-147

(Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

With Joe Gibbs Racing coming off of a victory at Martinsville for Denny Hamlin and a top-five finish for Matt Kenseth, the organization was ready to get back to its winning ways at a mile-and-a-half track. But when the checkered flag flew over Texas, only one of its four teams finished in the top 10, and …

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