Race Weekend Central

Double Take: No Video Game Cover Jinx for NASCAR Stars

2016 Dover I Cup Carl Edwards Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Garrison Hearst. Dorsey Levens. Daunte Culpepper. Michael Vick. Troy Polamalu. No, these aren’t obscure drivers from NASCAR’s past. They’re all football players, one-time superstars of the NFL who were chosen at one point to be the cover athlete of EA Sports’ Madden video game franchise. And they all saw their careers go south following the honor. …

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Did You Notice? … Big Names Still Seeking First NASCAR Road Course Win

2016 Pocono I Cup Matt Kenseth Jason Ratcliff Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Did You Notice? … That for many on the Sprint Cup circuit road course racing has become an acquired skill. Sure, the quality of competition has gone up significantly in recent years; months of testing and resources are benchmarked to help series regulars at both Sonoma and Watkins Glen. We’ve seen old road course ringers like Boris Said and Ron …

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Sprint Cup Crystal Ball: A Potential Path To 17 Winners?

The third year of Sprint Cup’s current “Win And You’re (Basically) In” Chase format appears on paper to be on pace with past seasons. There have been 10 different winners in the first 15 races, equal to the pace we saw last year and down nine percent from 2014. The breakdown of those victories is …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud – Aero Packages, Winners, Losers and Charters for the Second Off Week of the Season

Kyle Busch Confetti Martinsville Cup 2016 Mike Neff

Who’s in the headline – In a world where “winning is everything,” Kyle Busch is the name in bold at the top of the charts with three victories in 2016. If points are your thing, then it is Kevin Harvick who has set himself above the rest. Whatever the case, the last two champions in …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Jeff Gordon Gets Disrespected

2016 Michigan I Cup Aj Allmendinger Pack Racing John Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrelson / NKP)

Michigan International Speedway brought the unveiling of the new ultra-low downforce package, one that Darrell Waltrip described as having a smaller rear spoiler than at any time in the past 40 years.  It’s a little hard to ascertain.  It’s not like restrictor plates, which can be tracked thanks to Jayski’s Plate chart. FireKeepers Casino 400 …

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Daily NASCAR Fantasy: Drafting Your Michigan Lineup (FireKeepers Casino 400)

2016 Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Pocono

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Michigan International Speedway on June 12th for the FireKeepers Casino 400. NASCAR has implemented a new low downforce package for this weekends’ race, which will test each and every driver’s skill around the fast two-mile track. Earlier in the week, the Sprint Cup Series saw its ninth different …

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Double Take: Michigan Success in June Doesn’t Lead to Cup Titles

Want to win the Sprint Cup championship this season? Don’t win this weekend at Michigan. That’s right – don’t win. Super counterintuitive, I know. Today’s NASCAR is all about winning. Win to make the Chase. Win to appease sponsors. Win to advance in the Chase. And win to take home the title. Winning is great, …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not: Michigan Edition

2016 Pocono I Cup Ryan Blaney Jamie Mcmurray Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

This weekend at Pocono was the best of times and the worst of times. Yes, it was the Tale of Two Tracks, except that it was still the same place. But that’s how it goes on some late spring weekends in the eastern Pennsylvania mountains. HOT Kurt Busch became the latest driver to climb the …

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Kurt Busch Grabs First 2016 Win At Pocono

Kurt Busch

[Photo: Zach Catanzareti]

For Kurt Busch, it was a monster restart with 33 laps to go that sealed the deal in winning the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway. The No. 41 Monster Energy Chevrolet stormed past Dale Earnhardt, Jr. before taking off in the final 32 laps to win by 1.126 seconds. “It’s an amazing …

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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Stays Upbeat Despite Uneven 2016, Talks Racing Future

2016 Dover I Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Greg Ives Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Through the first half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sits 13th in the championship standings, just 33 points above the Chase cutoff. While earning three second-place finishes early on, over the past five races, the No. 88 team has failed to finish inside of the top 10. In 13 races, Earnhardt …

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Multiple Crew Chiefs to Miss Pocono Due to Penalties

2016 Charlotte I Cup Martin Truex Jr Jimmie Johnson Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

On Wednesday, NASCAR released their weekly penalty report.  While there no real indications that anything big was coming, the hammer came down fairly strong on a number of teams.  No less than three Sprint Cup teams will be without their crew chiefs on Sunday in Pocono (pending appeals, of course). Brian Pattie, crew chief for …

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It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint: Big Names Winless In NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600

2016 Martinsville I Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Matthre T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T Thacker/NKP)

Charlotte, NASCAR’s home base hasn’t been a racetrack where everything’s coming up roses for this sport. Its premier event, the Coca-Cola 600 has gone from a peak of 10.2 million TV viewers in 2005 to just 6.4 million last year, a decline of 37 percent over the past decade. It’s a track that’s been hurt by “levigation,” higher …

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