Race Weekend Central

Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono

NASCAR went back to the tricky triangle in the Pocono mountains just six weeks after its last race there; and at first glance, it looked like not all that much had changed. Just like in June, Tony Stewart crashed in practice and started at the rear of the field in a backup car. Once again, …

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Mirror Driving: Inverting the Field, Road Racing at Indy & Gauging Roush’s Future

Welcome to Mirror Driving. Every week, your favorite columnists sit down and give their opinion about the latest NASCAR news and rumors. Love us or hate us, make a comment below and tell us how you feel about what we’ve said! This Week’s Participants: Beth Lunkenheimer (Tuesdays/Running Your Mouth & Various/Frontstretch Truck Series Reporter) Mike Neff (Wednesdays/Power …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Brickyard 400

Racing at the Brickyard is not always the most exciting, but the history and tradition of the place always seem to shine through when people start to have doubts. Most of our Power Rankings leaders used the big stage of Indianapolis to come up with strong finishes; but for those who fell short, their problems …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Kroger 200 at IRP

After Saturday night’s race, even I am willing to put aside the fact that yet again the Nationwide Series ended a race with a 1-2 dose of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch (though this time, Edwards came out on top). Why? Without a doubt, the Kroger 200 was the most exciting race of the 2009 …

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Mirror Driving: Gauging the Importance of Indy While Sorting Out Title Contenders in Cup, Nationwide & Trucks

Indy is a race that any driver would love on his resume, but does the Brickyard 400 live up to the hype?

2009 NASCAR Report Cards, Part I: Grading the Chase Contenders

We’re one race past the statistical halfway point of the 2009 NASCAR season and as we gear up for the stretch run of 17 Sprint Cup races in 18 weeks, the much maligned (and in equal parts ballyhooed) “Chase for the Sprint Cup” is just seven races away. So before we get down to the …

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Kevin Harvick’s Gamble Pays Off for Kyle Busch in 2009 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway

MADISON, Ill. – There are a few things that one can usually count on when the Nationwide Series comes to Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis; hot weather, a Wallace or two (or three) will be racing and a long green-flag run sometime during the race. Last Saturday night’s presentation of the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers …

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Voices From the Heartland: Side-By-Side with Carl Edwards as He Rides for a Special Cause

COLUMBIA, Mo. – As a member of the stock car racing media, or “citizen journalist” as NASCAR likes to call us (simply because their lawyers wouldn’t let them print what they REALLY want to call us), it is no big deal to find yourself rubbing shoulders with a lot of extremely famous people. It is, …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland

Total chaos on the double-file restarts. Jeff Burton visibly mad. And Mark Martin actually experiencing good luck! Chicago had more than its share of strange moments late in the race, ones that resulted in quite a shakeup in the rankings. Despite finishing fourth, Tony Stewart’s impenetrable hold on the top spot actually slipped; but who …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: Life Is a Team Sport, But Is NASCAR?

We’ve all heard it: the winning driver in victory lane thanking his teammates, without whom he surely could not have prevailed. Well, OK, maybe not in those exact words, because he’d sound like a dork, but you know the drill. Thank those teammates! So, how important are those teammates, really? In a perfect world, of …

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Thompson in Turn 5: Blocking – It’s Just NASCAR Racing!

Following last Saturday night’s exciting final lap of the Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway, there has been a renewed call for NASCAR to “do something” to prevent what some view as the just too dangerous practice of ‘blocking’ – a driving maneuver as much a part of stock car racing as rubbing door …

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