Race Weekend Central

Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: Will Jimmie Johnson’s Chase March Yield Your Team Atlanta Gold?

The intermediate track-heavy run to the finish is underway this week, and the heavy reliance on downforce and the resultant “aero push” that comes from being in traffic will be prominent this weekend. Now that the race for the title is pretty much a three-man battle – with Carl Edwards barely within shouting distance – …

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Did You Notice? Who’s Making Fans Turn Away, Why Martinsville’s Lost & Marc Davis Debuts

Did You Notice? NASCAR’s TV ratings at Martinsville were down significantly this weekend, an overnight 2.9 as compared to a 3.3 in 2007? That low rating isn’t going to do the Virginia track any favors when it comes to whether it keeps a second date beyond the 2009 Cup season. Personally, it’s one of my …

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Mirror Driving: A NASCAR Spending Cap? Fixing Qualifying & Saving the Truck Series

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: Doug Turnbull (Tuesdays/Talking NASCAR TV) Vito Pugliese (Tuesdays/Voice of Vito) Matt Taliaferro (Thursdays/Fanning The …

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Top 10: Comparing Jimmie Johnson to Cale Yarborough is Like Comparing…

10. Kumquats to Apples. 9. Mick Jagger’s lips to Angelina Jolie’s. 8. Store bought tomatoes to homegrown. 7. Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. 6. Hillary Clinton to Nancy Reagan. 5. Mike Tyson to Cassius Clay (Mohammad Ali, for you younger folk). 4. Tony Stewart’s body to Brad Pitt’s. 3. A Big Mac to a Hardee’s …

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Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2008 TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville

The oldest track on the circuit had its usual beating and banging this weekend; but when the smoke from Martinsville cleared, there was one warrior who stood head and shoulders above everyone else. As a result, the Chase picture appears more focused than ever, as Jimmie Johnson’s dominant performance has most everyone believing he’s got …

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The Yellow Stripe: It’s Jimmie Johnson’s World – We’re All Just Living In It

It’s as good as done, folks. Park the haulers, turn off the seven-post shaker rigs, put away the tools and send the shop guys home for some well-deserved R&R. It’s over. O.V.E.R. See you in Daytona. Jimmie Johnson’s gonna three-peat, becoming just the second driver in NASCAR history to do so (joining the immortal Cale …

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Voice of Vito: Jimmie Johnson – Modern-Day Legend? 3rd Consecutive Title Would Put Him in Rare Company

To hear many pundits in the media lately, the sky is falling; it is quite possibly the end of the world as foretold in the Book of Revelations or Nostradamus. There is no pulling back from the precipice, and everyone is doomed to accept the fate that becomes them. No, I am not talking about …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2008 TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville

It was the same track, same story for Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team, who extended their top-10 streak at Martinsville to 13 races with a win this weekend. Not only did Johnson extend his top-10 streak at the paperclip half-mile, but he also extended his top-10 streak overall to eight races on the …

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Matt McLaughlin’s Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2008 Martinsville Fall Race Recap

The Key Moment: Jimmie Johnson got an excellent jump on that final green-white-checkered restart and kept Dale Earnhardt Jr. off his rear bumper at Martinsville. In a Nutshell: Stock cars running belly to the ground, bumper-to-bumper into the fading sunlight of an autumn afternoon. It just doesn’t get any better. Dramatic Moment: Well, it’s not …

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10 Points to Ponder… After the 2008 TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville

1. Talking About Times Getting Hard! – Johnny Benson took command of the Craftsman Truck Series championship points battle, at least temporarily, by winning the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Saturday afternoon. Benson, driver of the Bill Davis Racing No. 23 Toyota Tundra, left the track with a 65-point lead in the CTS drivers’ championship. He …

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Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off: Halfway Home – A 2008 NASCAR Chase Review

Five short weeks ago, NASCAR’s latest rendition of the ill-considered Chase kicked off with all the fanfare the powers that be could muster, despite general apathy by the mainstream press who still seem to think this NFL and World Series thing might fly even against the juggernaut of the shamelessly self-proclaimed “fastest growing sport in …

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