Race Weekend Central

Couch Potato Tuesday: Dissecting A NASCAR FOX Fontana… Hyperbole?

2016 Fontana Cup Carl Edwards Pack Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty/NKP)

Welcome back, everyone.  We had some great action last weekend in Fontana.  It wasn’t that long ago that Auto Club Speedway put on the most boring races in all of NASCAR.  That is just a memory now (thankfully).  Despite that, the way that races are covered can affect how a race is perceived. Auto Club …

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The Big Six: Questions Answered After the 2016 Auto Club 400

2016 Fontana Cup Green Flag Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? From the “where did he come from?” category, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. didn’t look like a top-5 threat this weekend…until he was.  Stenhouse qualified 15th, and ran in the top 15 for most of the day, occasionally cracking the lower half of the top 10.  He had worked his …

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The 10: The Great Tie of Arizona

2016 Phoenix I Cup Denny Hamlin Pack Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Well, this is a first. Sunday’s Good Sam 500(k) marked the second photo finish in four races to start 2016, with Kevin Harvick just edging out Carl Edwards to stay atop the throne as the king of Phoenix International Raceway. Not one to be outdone, our list of Power Rankings voters somehow managed an even …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Shows Slight Improvement, While ESPN Tries to De-emphasize St. Pete

2016 Phoenix I Cup Denny Hamlin Pack Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Greetings, everyone.  Did you like Sunday’s finish in Phoenix?  It was a good one.  I thought Kevin Harvick was a sitting duck, but he managed to pull it out just in time. Last weekend saw two races in Phoenix, plus the season opener in St. Petersburg for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Good Sam 500k On …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud – Kevin Harvick Beats His Way to Eighth Career Phoenix Victory

2016 Phoenix I Cup Kevin Harvick Team Celebration Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Who’s in the headline – There are two things in life that are certain: death and taxes. Closely behind that is Kevin Harvick winning at Phoenix International Raceway. For the eighth time in his career and the sixth time in the last eight races, Harvick was the first car under the checkered flag. What happened – …

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The 10: Power Rankings Leaders Find Luck, Dust in Vegas

2016 Las Vegas Cup Kurt Busch Pack Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP)

Typically, the phrase “eat my dust” is a joke when it comes to racing. However, on a wild Sunday in Las Vegas, the phrase was all too real. After 400 miles of rainy, dusty, windy madness at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski and the Blue Deuce rolled back in to Victory Lane for the first …

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Five Points to Ponder: Rain and Wind and Dust, Oh My!

2016 Las Vegas Cup Brad Keseloski Joey Logano Packe Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

Team Penske Open West Coast Swing with a Bang Last season, the West Coast stretch of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Auto Club belonged to Stewart-Haas Racing. Kevin Harvick won both Vegas and Phoenix, and Kurt Busch looked like he’d take the win at Auto Club until a late-race caution bunched the field up and allowed …

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Who’s Hot & Who’s Not: Phoenix Edition

2016 Las Vegas Cup Austin Dillon Car John Harrelson Nkp

(Photo: John Harrelson / NKP)

NASCAR blew through Las Vegas this past weekend, and we mean that in a literal just as much as a figurative sense. If you correctly predicted that Brad Keselowski was going to be the winner, you might have said the answer was blowin’ in the wind. Before and during the race, with flag poles bending …

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Thinkin’ Out Loud – Brad Keselowski Cashes in With Late-Race Pass to Win at Las Vegas

2016 Las Vegas Cup Brad Keselowski Burnout Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T Thacker / NKP)

Who’s in the headline – It had been 33 races since Brad Keselowski visited Victory Lane. Keselowski took the checkered flag first in Fontana last year in the fifth race of the season. On Sunday, he led the race three times but only led a total of 24 laps. The win put a third different manufacturer in …

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Pace Laps: Rookies Impress at Las Vegas, Daniel Suarez’s Hot Start and Trans-Am Getting into Gear

2016 Las Vegas Cup Ryan Blaney Pack Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

Sprint Cup Series: NASCAR’s Top Rookies Continue Promising 2016 Start – If Atlanta was the coming out party for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie class, then Las Vegas showed their staying power. Both Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott looked like legitimate contenders throughout a wild Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Elliott rose …

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Up To Speed: Team Penske Back On Top After Rough Start To Season

2016 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Nscs Brad Keselowski Checkered Flag Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Just a few short weeks ago, when people were making predictions on who would make the Chase, win the championship and win the most races, it wasn’t uncommon to see the Team Penske duo of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano on top of most of those columns. After all, Logano won six races last season and …

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