Race Weekend Central

Bubble Breakdown: Regan Smith Smashes Streak While John Andretti Extends Lead on 35th

With NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup upon us and 12 of the sport’s top drivers locked in and ready to battle for the championship, the chase just to be in the Top 35 has boiled down to pretty much two teams: John Andretti (No. 34) and Scott Speed (No. 82). Andretti’s once comfortable margin in …

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Bubble Breakdown: David Stremme, Paul Menard Lead Several Bubble Drivers With Top-20 Finishes

Well pull up a chair kids, we had a major case of musical seats amongst some of our bubble teams that isn’t even over yet and I’m gonna try and explain it all to you. It started when Bobby Labonte who drives for Hall of Fame Racing was taken out of his ride by HoF’s …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Sharpie 500 at Bristol Edition

Welcome back Bristol – we missed you! Or maybe you never left and we just had to get used to a few less shoving matches in the Thunder Valley bullring. Nonetheless, the Sprint Cup Series capped off an exciting week of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway by seeing Kyle Busch break out of both a …

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Bubble Breakdown: Top-15 Finish Has Scott Speed in Striking Distance of Top 35

Well bubble fans, it looks like we’re losing one of our bubble dwellers, again. During the week it has been reported that David Stremme will be replaced in the No. 12 Team Penske Dodge by rising star Brad Keselowski in 2010, if not sooner. David was just not getting the job done for Team Penske, …

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Bubble Breakdown: Underdog Bubbles Burst While John Andretti Beats Scott Speed on Fuel Mileage

The last few weeks, John Andretti’s radio has been a little livelier than normal. Instead of just lap times and car positioning, John has been requesting to know where the No. 82 car is on the track. That’s because Red Bull Toyota has beaten Andretti’s No. 34 Chevrolet the last three races, slowly closing the …

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Bubble Breakdown: Scott Speed Slowly Chipping Away at John Andretti’s Lead

I am gonna start this week’s column with a bit of advice, as I know many of you attend races and even camp at the track like I do. So if you are camping at the race, and they come over the PA system and warn of impending severe thunderstorms, go take down your 30-foot …

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Bubble Breakdown: Tempers Flare Between David Stremme & Robby Gordon at Pocono

Rain forced the postponement of Sunday’s race until Monday afternoon (Aug. 3), meaning there will be no bubble chatter this week as I had to work and therefore wasn’t able to listen to the in-car radio communications during the event. I tried to get out early, but when I asked my boss if I could …

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Bubble Breakdown: Scott Speed Wins the Indy Battle, But John Andretti Winning the War

Sunday, NASCAR traveled to the hallowed halls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in their annual attempt to show that if you take 43 stock cars and put them at one of the greatest tracks in the entire world, you really don’t get very good racing. While a caution with 30 laps to go made for …

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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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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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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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Bubble Breakdown: Part-Time Schedule Yielding Big-Time Results for Furniture Row Racing

Rain washed out qualifying for Daytona last Friday, meaning the field was set by owner points. This was not good news for our bubble drivers, as the teams outside the Top 35 not only had to start at the rear of the field – they also had to do so in their qualifying setup, as …

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