Race Weekend Central

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in the Chase: 2007 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Edition

The halfway point of the Chase at Lowe’s brought with it a reality check to several men no longer in the hunt for a championship. For drivers like Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Kevin Harvick, their one-time title dreams turned into nightmares filled with enough broken parts and pieces to start a junkyard. On the contrary, for others it was a case of too little, too late, as strong runs by Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch didn’t even make a dent in deficiencies that seem far too steep to overcome.

Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Charlotte Fall Race Edition

Jeff Gordon – Gordon has won here four times, including the 1994 World 600 to score his first ever Cup Series victory. (Has it really been 13 years? Wow). But he’s in a pronounced slump at LMS right now, having failed to finish the last five points races here. Jimmie Johnson – Johnson refers to …

Read more

Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings After the 2007 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega

1) Jeff Gordon (Six First-Place Votes)
Was going to either win or become a hood ornament on Tony Stewart’s Chevy in a daring last-lap pass at Talladega.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in the Chase: 2007 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Edition

It’s the one wreck all year that leaves everyone at risk, from championship contenders to field-fillers alike: the Big One. You never know when it’s going to happen at Talladega, and you never quite know how many cars – or carnage – it’ll cause. Sunday, its damage was quite extensive. A handful of Chasers, including …

Read more

Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Talladega Fall Race Edition

Jimmie Johnson – Johnson has been on a roll at Talladega as of late: he won here last spring and finished second in April. He almost won last fall’s Talladega event, as well; that is, before former teammate Brian Vickers crashed the little party Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson were staging on the final lap …

Read more

Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2007 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Edition

This is the week the Chasers dread most, as the Nextel Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the first restrictor-plate race under Car of Tomorrow conditions. The 2.66-mile high-banked oval is notorious for being a crapshoot – simply because the restricted engines keep everyone in a three-wide pack most of the day. In that …

Read more

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in the Chase: 2007 Lifelock 400 at Kansas Edition

Editor’s Note: Regular Hot/Not columnist Cami Starr is off this week. Expect her back next Tuesday at the same time, same place, to give all her latest insight as the Chase race continues to unfold. After a wild and wacky weekend at Kansas, people are still trying to figure out who won the race, let …

Read more

Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Lifelock 400 at Kansas Edition

Jeff Gordon – Gordon won the first two Cup races at Kansas and finished fifth in his third start at the track. He hasn’t had a top five here since then, though, and last year suffered a mechanical DNF. Tony Stewart – Stewart won this race last year, coasting to the finish line out of …

Read more

Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2007 Lifelock 400 at Kansas Edition

Week three of the Chase finds the traveling road show in the Heartland of America at Kansas Speedway, the newest of the “cookie-cutter” tracks that have come to dominate the schedule in recent years. The first of five intermediate events on the rest of this year’s schedule, the race should give fantasy team owners a …

Read more