Race Weekend Central

Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: Keeping Martinsville Mayhem Off Your Team

The new and modern way of determining a series champion heads to the racetrack that has been on the Cup schedule the longest as it travels to southern Virginia for the second and final trip to Martinsville. Fantasy gamers are once again on edge because they face the daunting possibility that their driver can be …

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Top 10 Recent Understatements by NASCAR-Affiliated Personnel (With Commentary!)

10. “It was great to see the front and sniff a little bit of the lead of the race with 25 [laps] to go.” – Kurt Busch (Oooo, that smell! Can’t ya smell that smell?!) 9. “Everyone at Roush Fenway runs well. I mean, all of my teammates run well every single week… so I …

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Running Their Mouth: 2008 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

This week, here’s a sneak peek at what a select few were thinking following the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway outside Charlotte.

Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: Picking the Best of Some Lowe’s Home Cookin’

The Chase is almost to the halfway point, and the haves and have nots among the Chase contenders are pretty well defined now. Fantasy gamers need to think about how desperate their top drivers are to get back into contention, or if they’re content with their lot and intend for consistent, solid finishes to differentiate …

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Did You Notice? McMurray Got Screwed, Screwy Rookie Scheduling & NASCAR’s Fake Title Contenders

Did You Notice? Jamie McMurray’s crash at Dover was not just caused by Robby Gordon’s recklessness… but by missing the playoffs? Let me explain. After the regular-season finale at Richmond, Roush Fenway Racing GM Robbie Reiser made a number of pit-crew switches to benefit the RFR teams set to contend for the championship. “There were …

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Voice of Vito: 2008 NASCAR Chase for the Championship Raises Interesting Questions at the Mystery Mile

NASCAR’s 2008 Championship Chase began in earnest this past Sunday with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Greg Biffle’s lights out performance (pun obviously intended) in passing race leader Jimmie Johnson with 11 laps to go served notice that there are more title contenders in this fight than just The Three Amigos of …

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The Yellow Stripe: A NASCAR Chase Dream Broken – Who Just Missed, Who Just Didn’t Make It & Who Busted Up Trying

It’s postseason time in NASCAR, and despite it being the only points-paying system I’ve ever known, I still find it weird to hear the announcers, commentators, and analysts throwing around words like “postseason,” “playoff berths” and “wildcards.” That’s football or baseball terminology – even to this Brit. But here we are, I suppose, and regardless …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: Chasing Down Your Best Bets For Richmond

Providing Hurricane Hanna doesn’t interfere with the proceedings in Richmond, the regular season comes to an end in the Cup Series this Saturday night. The Chase picture will be completely in focus after the checkered flag falls, but one thing fantasy owners should know is that it’s already set for the majority of the field …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Sharpie 500 at Bristol

Bristol’s new variable banking has given drivers the option to pass without having to wreck a guy on the racetrack. But as Carl Edwards showed us Saturday night, the bump and run can still be the only option if the car in front is just good enough to keep you behind. Ensuring that move remains …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 Sharpie 500 at Bristol Edition

Boy. is this shaping to be one heck of a Chase! The media have been trying to generate some sort of rivalry between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch for weeks, but this week that media-generated rivalry finally came to fruition. Neither driver backed up on post-race opinions of how clean Edwards’s pass of Busch was …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: Is Someone Else Worth Picking Over Kyle Busch & Carl Edwards at Bristol?

The toughest ticket in NASCAR. Jet fighters in a gymnasium. Bristol has been nicknamed many things; but when it comes your fantasy team, it’s likely been called something we can’t print on this page in front of you. Indeed, Saturday night’s 500-lapper is the one race left you’re cursing out on your schedule, almost as …

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Did You Notice? Jeff Gordon’s Sudden Slide, What NASCAR’s Schedule Hides & Hamlin’s Bad Side

A lot of shorter observations than usual, so I’m calling this the Odds ‘N’ Ends edition of Did You Notice this week… Did You Notice? That California Speedway’s date realignment on the 2009 Sprint Cup schedule did nothing to address the quality of racing at that facility? I will say the Labor Day date was always …

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