Race Weekend Central

Ryan Newman Wins 2007 Bank of America 500 Pole Again at Lowe’s

CONCORD, N.C. – Ryan Newman is about to run his 14th race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – and for the seventh time, he is going to start from the pole. Newman outdueled Chasers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch among others to win the right to start up front for the Bank of America 500 Saturday …

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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 …

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Bowles-Eye View: Can Cup Drivers Bring Restrictor Plates to Their Knees?

For years, critics of restrictor plate racing have looked every which way to stop what they call “manufactured entertainment.” However, the racing at Talladega Superspeedway was always rallied by support from the stands – never unanimous, but just enough that it’s been next to impossible for NASCAR to appreciate both the danger and the destructiveness …

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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 …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not: Outside the Chase After the 2007 Lifelock 400 at Kansas

With the spotlight on the top-12 drivers in the standings each week, it’s sometimes easy to forget that 31 others take to the track each weekend in pursuit of a long-sought after victory… but that’s what the purpose of this column is for. With another Chase race under our belts, it’s time to take a …

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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 …

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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 …

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Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Dover Fall Race

Jimmie Johnson – Johnson won both Cup races at Dover in 2002, as well as this event in 2005. He has top-10 finishes in seven of 11 Cup starts here – but has missed the mark the last two times out. Jeff Gordon – It’s a tale of two tracks for Gordon. On the plus side, …

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