Race Weekend Central

What’s Vexing Vito: Back to the Few Sure – Roush Looks to Rebound From Miserable Season at the Friendly Confines of Daytona

Remember that scene in Dumb & Dumber when Lloyd Christmas starts saying, “Find a happy place…?” Earlier this week, the stress of the day job got to be a bit much, so during lunch I went to my favorite place of refuge – the auto parts store. Don’t ask me why, but there is something …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Edition

The Cup Series’ trip to wine country in Sonoma, Calif. sure seemed to be worth the extra gas bill. The inevitable fuel-strategy gambles and unpredictable mishaps that Infineon Raceway commonly produces shuffled up the running order many times during Sunday’s (June 21) race. The racing action through the pack was tight and fender-banging, especially in …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Edition

What a weekend! The rollercoaster-esque ebbs and flows of storylines and drama poured through Talladega more than at any track in a long time. The breakthrough win of David Ragan in Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 Nationwide Series race was impressive enough – but it merely set the stage for what would be a remarkable finish the …

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Mirror Driving: Coming Clean at Roush Fenway, Cleaning Up NASCAR’s Ratings Decline & More

Continuing a recent trend, the NASCAR race at Phoenix saw an 18% drop in ratings from over a year ago despite a popular Mark Martin victory. Why?

Frontstretch Fantasy Insider: 5 Bars for Fantasy Teams in Texas

Everything’s bigger in Texas, they say, and the Texas Motor Speedway certainly is considerably larger than the short tracks the Cup circuit has tackled these last few weeks. With the pending return to an intermediate oval, expect speeds to go up and the margin for error in race setups to go down. But with the …

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The Yellow Stripe: Is Roush Fenway’s Slow Start a Case of Short Track-itis… Or a Sign of Something Else?

In the euphoria surrounding his rain-shortened victory in the Daytona 500, the self-styled perfectionist Jack Roush must have permitted himself a wry smile. Winning the biggest race of all for the very first time – after 113 previous Sprint Cup victories in 21 years of ownership – must have felt like a harbinger of what …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Food City 500 at Bristol Edition

A weekend in noisy Thunder Valley following a quiet week of rest provides a jarring wakeup call to drivers, crews and fans alike. But while Sunday’s Bristol race itself did not spark the normal beating and banging fest people are used to seeing, it did help bring to light what this season’s short-track races may …

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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2009 Food City 500 at Bristol

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? For a driver who has never had Bristol figured out in the past, Jimmie Johnson looked like he hit on something this time around. Johnson led 88 laps and looked comfortable with the Bristol confines, even though a late-race pit miscue cost him a chance at the win. …

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Concern Shifts from Engines to Tires at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. – The start to the 2009 season has been marred with a rash of engine failures that has not been seen in some time, a trend that has become all but a consensus headline through the first three races. But none of that seems to be phasing any race camp, or any driver …

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