Race Weekend Central

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in the Chase: 2007 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Edition

The halfway point of the Chase at Lowe’s brought with it a reality check to several men no longer in the hunt for a championship. For drivers like Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Kevin Harvick, their one-time title dreams turned into nightmares filled with enough broken parts and pieces to start a junkyard. On the contrary, for others it was a case of too little, too late, as strong runs by Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch didn’t even make a dent in deficiencies that seem far too steep to overcome.

Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Charlotte Fall Race Edition

Jeff Gordon – Gordon has won here four times, including the 1994 World 600 to score his first ever Cup Series victory. (Has it really been 13 years? Wow). But he’s in a pronounced slump at LMS right now, having failed to finish the last five points races here. Jimmie Johnson – Johnson refers to …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2007 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Edition

The Chase heads to the halfway point this weekend by tackling the only night race left on the horizon for 2007. To do that, the circuit heads back to Charlotte, the track that has been both levigated and repaved over the last couple of years. It’s all part of a work-in-progress renovation project by track …

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in the Chase: 2007 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Edition

It’s the one wreck all year that leaves everyone at risk, from championship contenders to field-fillers alike: the Big One. You never know when it’s going to happen at Talladega, and you never quite know how many cars – or carnage – it’ll cause. Sunday, its damage was quite extensive. A handful of Chasers, including …

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Matt McLaughlin’s Driver Handicaps: 2007 Talladega Fall Race Edition

Jimmie Johnson – Johnson has been on a roll at Talladega as of late: he won here last spring and finished second in April. He almost won last fall’s Talladega event, as well; that is, before former teammate Brian Vickers crashed the little party Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson were staging on the final lap …

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Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans: 2007 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Edition

This is the week the Chasers dread most, as the Nextel Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the first restrictor-plate race under Car of Tomorrow conditions. The 2.66-mile high-banked oval is notorious for being a crapshoot – simply because the restricted engines keep everyone in a three-wide pack most of the day. In that …

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Mirror Driving: The Kansas Debacle, Dale Junior’s Bobble, & Was Biffle’s Wobble to the Finish Legit?

How should the race at Kansas have been completed on Sunday? Should they have called the race at 148 laps, run the race on Monday, or done something in between?

Thompson in Turn 5: NASCAR is Ripe For Scandal

The Sept. 25 publication of the Frontstretch newsletter broke a story of race “fixing” that occurred Sept. 23 at Dover International Speedway. The publication provided incontrovertible evidence that Hendrick Motorsports driver Casey Mears, along with crew chief Darian Grubb and spotter Chuck Joyce, conspired to alter the finishing order of the race to allow fellow …

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Did You Notice? The 2007 Lifelock 400 at Kansas & Beyond

Did You Notice? How quickly Greg Biffle was ready with a story when he exited his car in Kansas’s victory lane? Whether you believe NASCAR made the right call or not, listening to the way in which the No. 16 driver handled the scenario certainly made it hard to believe that car would have lasted …

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