Race Weekend Central

2009 NASCAR Report Cards, Part II: Grading Dale Jr. & the Rest

Editor’s Note: For Part I of our midseason driver report cards, click here. Continuing on from yesterday’s review, it’s time for Professors Danny and Tom to grade those drivers sitting at the back of the class. Whether it’s some bad racing luck, poor chemistry with a crew chief or just plain awful driving, most of …

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5 Points to Ponder: Inside the NASCAR Sprint Cup Rumor Mill

Editor’s Note: With the NASCAR Cup Series taking a rare weekend off, this week’s Five Points will try and help sort out the rampant rumors you may have seen throughout this year’s Silly Season. When the Frontstretch live blog returns next week at Indianapolis, the column’s regular format will also return. ONE: Danica Patrick to… …

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Bubble Driver Review: David Ragan Biggest Disappointment Amongst This Group in 2009

Well, it’s that time of year where we look back at the first half of 2009 and grade our bubble teams. Keep in mind this report card is aimed at a specific subset inside the Cup garage – those in and around the cutoff for the 35 locked-in spots the series gives out each week …

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2009 NASCAR Rookie Midseason Grades: Who’s Better, Keselowski, Logano or… Ambrose?

The Sprint Cup Series marked the season’s halfway point with an off week shortly thereafter, which gives Professor Lumbis a chance to take a breath and evaluate this year’s crop of rookies. It certainly has been an odd season for the 2009 freshman class, as we’ve seen wins, DNQs, “bubble trouble” and even outside Chase …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: “Rookies” Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose Take Advantage of a Late-Race Shootout – Chicago Style

Joey Logano Start: 24th; Finish: 18th Summary: Logano started the Lifelock.com 400 with hopes of completing the weekend sweep after pulling off a surprise victory on old tires the night before in the Nationwide race (July 10). His quest to go two-for-two certainly got off to a slow start, however, due to a very loose-handling racecar …

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Bubble Breakdown: Late-Race Trouble Negates Good Efforts from Paul Menard & Brad Keselowski

News from the bubble this past week was dominated by the announcement from Michael Waltrip Racing, who not only re-signed primary sponsor NAPA to a multi-year deal but also upgraded the cockpit of the car by signing two-time Busch Series champion and one-time Chase participant Martin Truex Jr. for 2010. Waltrip will drive up to …

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Thompson in Turn 5: Blocking – It’s Just NASCAR Racing!

Following last Saturday night’s exciting final lap of the Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway, there has been a renewed call for NASCAR to “do something” to prevent what some view as the just too dangerous practice of ‘blocking’ – a driving maneuver as much a part of stock car racing as rubbing door …

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Bowles-Eye View: 2 Scary Wrecks, 1 Busch-League Maneuver & a Lesson in Handling Adversity

Two restrictor-plate races, two last-lap finishes and two frightening crashes. We’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly the last time out at both Daytona and Talladega, with battles for the win turned battles for survival in little more than the blink of an eye. The way these wrecks unfolded were eerily similar, the …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Rookies Run Well, But Only Marcos Ambrose Sealed the Deal in Daytona

Joey Logano Start: 21st; Finish: 19th Summary: The leading Rookie of the Year candidate came into Independence Day weekend riding high on momentum after capturing his first career win in New Hampshire. A newly confident Logano, who wrecked out of the Daytona 500 after just 79 laps, appeared determined to make his return to the …

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Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona

Friday night’s (July 3) race at Daytona was shaping up to be a tremendous finish until a messy wreck on lap 96 stopped the battle at the front of the field and scattered debris and rescue equipment all over the 2.5-mile oval. In their infinite wisdom, NASCAR chose not to red flag the race – …

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Happy Hour: NASCAR Consistency Still Rules Over Wins, Especially in 2009

Despite that most general managers in the NFL know never to let the fans or media pick their quarterback (which can be a flawed tenet if the fans are smarter), NASCAR has responded in many ways to fans’ and media behest to place more emphasis on winning. It hasn’t been as pronounced of late as …

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