Race Weekend Central

Are We Primed For the Closest Nationwide Series Championship Race in Years?

In the five weeks since I last penned (or should that be typed) a Nuts for Nationwide column, we’ve seen racing in a variety of different venues encompassing short tracks, road courses, superspeedways and the more traditional 1.5-mile tracks. The schedule has tested both the skills of the drivers as well unearthing numerous logistical challenges …

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Fanning the Flames: All Darlington, All the Time

My beloved Derby has come and gone, and so have Talladega and Richmond; but all three gave us spectacular racing action. Now, there’s Darlington on Mother’s Day Eve, two weekends in Charlotte are on the agenda and the fish are biting, too. Oh, how I love the month of May! You guys gave me a …

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Did You Notice? Carl Edwards Underpaid? NASCAR Youth is Undervalued & Mears Gets a Wakeup Call

Did You Notice? That Carl Edwards’s reported salary – $6 million per year – is the highest paid salary of any NASCAR driver to be publicly revealed to date. And frankly, I’m a little surprised; considering Edwards’s stature, my first thought was he might be a little underpaid. Winning three of 10 races this season, …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond

Richmond is considered by many fans to be the best track on the schedule. Well, the race this week didn’t really provide much excitement for the first 382 laps, but boy, did it make up for it in the final 28. Denny Hamlin dominated the race from the drop of the green flag before a …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond Edition

Under the lights on a wild Saturday night at Richmond, sparks flew and fans booed. A controversial accident between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. made headlines, but it was Clint Bowyer who left the track with a victory. It was Bowyer’s second career win, but that was small consolation for Junior, whose winless streak …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

How the Rankings Are Calculated: Frontstretch does their power rankings somewhat similar to how the Associated Press does them for basketball or football – writers on our staff will vote for the top 20 on a 20-19-18-17-16-15… 3-2-1 basis, giving 20 points to their first-place driver, 19 for their second and so on. In the …

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Voices From the Heartland: UPS Could Deliver My NASCAR Fantasy

As a motorsports journalist, I am repeatedly told by my editors that I must remain impartial. Well, as a motorsports commentary journalist, I am repeatedly telling my editors don’t worry about it! In my way of thinking, being a writer of a commentary piece provides me a few loopholes. They are, after all, paying me …

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Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off: NASCAR Short Takes on a Short Break

A few random notes after a rare weekend off for the Cup Series. I really think NASCAR needs to take a long, hard look at their schedule. I hope everyone who took this weekend off enjoyed it, because the next time the Cup schedule does something like that is July 20. After that, the series …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2008 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

The Cup stars head to northern Alabama this weekend to the longest and fastest track on the schedule, the Talladega Superspeedway. It’s the first time that the series comes back to a plate track, having run at Talladega last fall in the new CoT configuration. That car, along with a newly-paved track, resulted in a …

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