Race Weekend Central

10 Points to Ponder: 2009 Shelby 427 at Las Vegas

Kyle Busch Still the Driver to Beat Daytona was just a minor hiccup: the No. 18 team is back with a vengeance in 2009. Las Vegas native Kyle Busch won the pole this weekend, only to have to start at the back after an engine change. Nonetheless, Busch methodically made his way back to the …

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Kyle Busch Overcomes Early Weekend Engine Woes to Win at Home in 2009 Shelby 427 at Las Vegas

When Kyle Busch is really confident about his racecar late in an event, that typically equals serious trouble for his competitors. When Busch passed Jeff Burton for the lead late in the going, he cued his radio and said “Goodnight, Gracie” to his crew, a signal that it was all over and that no one …

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Did You Notice? The Start & Park Scam, NASCAR is a Team Sport & RCR Comes Up Short

Did You Notice? The latest way in which NASCAR’s locked-in qualifying rule has spiraled out of control? For the past year plus, MSRP Motorsports has existed in the Nationwide Series for seemingly one goal – to make money. Each week, the team owned by Phil Parsons’s wife, Marcia, and Randy Humphrey trots out two unsponsored …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Auto Club 500 at Fontana

While many people argued that Matt Kenseth stole or lucked into his Daytona 500 win, no one can deny he was truly worthy of winning the Auto Club 500 at Fontana this past weekend. That victory solidified Kenseth’s position at the top of the rankings, as he’s the first person since Jeff Gordon in 1997 …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2009 Daytona 500

Like it or not, after just 380 miles the first race of the 2009 Sprint Cup season is officially in the books. Matt Kenseth was crowned the winner of just the fourth rain-shortened Daytona 500 in history, taking the lead one lap before the weather with a generous push from runner-up Kevin Harvick. But was that last-lap pass enough to leave Kenseth number one in the eyes of our staff this week? After all, Kyle Busch dominated the race, only to become an innocent victim of the day’s big wreck on lap 125. And where did AJ Allmendinger land after starting the year with a career-best third – driving for a team that doesn’t even know if it’ll exist two months from now? Find these answers, and more, by examining our first Top-15 Power Rankings poll of the year.

Closing NASCAR’s 7th Decade: The Top-12 Drivers – Including the Champ Who’ll Lead Us Into 2010

2009 closes out the first decade of the 21st century for NASCAR, and what a long, strange trip it’s been. Who would have thought back in 2000 Petty Enterprises would cease to exist nine years later – along with no Adam Petty to lead NASCAR’s first family into the next generation? Or that Dale Earnhardt …

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Mirror Driving: Auctioning Off Daytona, Bud Shootout Blues & Playing Cupid with Crew Chiefs

Welcome to Mirror Driving. Every week, your favorite columnists sit down and give their opinion about the latest NASCAR news and rumors. Love us or hate us, make a comment below and tell us how you feel about what we’ve said! This Week’s Participants: Vito Pugliese (Wednesdays/Voice of Vito) Beth Lunkenheimer (Tuesdays/Running Your Mouth & Various/Frontstretch Truck …

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Mirror Driving: NASCAR 2008’s Biggest Moment, 2009’s Testing Nightmare & Judging Johnson in 2050

Welcome to Mirror Driving. Every week, your favorite columnists sit down and give their opinion about the latest NASCAR news and rumors. Love us or hate us, make a comment below and tell us how you feel about what we’ve said! This Week’s Participants: Bryan Davis Keith (Thursdays/Picks ‘N’ Pans & Sundays/Nationwide Series Breakdown) Doug Turnbull (Tuesdays/Talking …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 Ford 400 at Homestead

After 36 points-paying events, nine months and 14,493 miles of racing, the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is finally in the books. When the smoke cleared at Homestead, it was Jimmie Johnson winning his third consecutive championship, tying Cale Yarborough as the only drivers in history to accomplish that feat. Behind him, Carl Edwards finished …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 NASCAR Season Breakdown

The checkered flag has flown over the field at Homestead marking the end of a historic 2008 NASCAR season. We saw controversial and exciting finishes, scary crashes and a historic third consecutive championship for the dynasty that is Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. The season also featured three consistently …

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