Race Weekend Central

NASCAR Mailbox: Winless Champ Not Such a Stretch After All?

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Burnout Cia

Credit: CIA Stock Photography

One week makes all the difference, doesn’t it? Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s win at Martinsville on Sunday, while great for the morale of the team, was a case of too little too late. After being eliminated from the Chase one week prior at Talladega, Earnhardt pulled through and won the very next week at Martinsville, a …

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The Frontstretch Five: Questions Yet To Be Answered in 2014

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Martinsville Overhead Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. © 2014)

Welcome to the Frontstretch Five, a brand-new column for 2014! Each week, Amy Henderson takes a look at the racing, the drivers, and the storylines that drive NASCAR and produces a list of five people, places, things, and ideas that define the current state of our sport. This week, Amy has five questions that there …

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Martinsville

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Wins Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s win at Martinsville last weekend marked the first non-Chase contender to win a race in the Chase this season. After being eliminated from championship contention last weekend at Talladega, Earnhardt Jr. held off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon to claim his fourth win of the season, first at Martinsville and 22nd overall for …

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Five Points to Ponder: Projecting Final Four, Junior’s Good Year & Frayed Tempers

2014 Martinsville Ii Cup Brian Vickers Car Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. © 2014)

One: Final Four Up for Grabs Two races remain until we learn which quartet of drivers will contest for the Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Most of us, myself included, had assumed we would find out at least one of those four names at Martinsville, but for the first time in seven Chase races …

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Fantasy Insider: Martinsville Mayhem Ahead

One of the interesting things about the fantasy world in NASCAR is that as the Chase field narrows, just who is in the Chase in real life means less and less for your fantasy picks most likely. It’s just simple numbers. With just eight drivers remaining in contention for the title heading into Martinsville, that …

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NASCAR Tech Talk: Kevin “Bono” Manion On Mastering Martinsville

Kevin Bono Manion Charlotte Motor Speedway 2014 Mike Neff

Credit: Mike Neff

Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion has been around the sport for years and has a very educated insight into the ways of the sport and the garage. He continues to guide the No. 7 team for Tommy Baldwin Racing with rookie driver Michael Annett. This week, in Tech Talk, he looks back at Talladega and clears up …

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NASCAR Mailbox: The Absence of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. from Chase Doesn’t Change Anything

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Dale Earnhardt Jr Crash Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s failure to move onto the next round in the Chase Grid might perhaps be the best thing to happen to the Chase detractors who want to see the end of it all. I mean, Earnhardt was doing so well and was poised to potentially win his first career Sprint Cup Series championship, …

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Talladega

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Brad Keselowski Flag Credit Nascar Via Getty Images

Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

As predicted, it took until the checkered flag before we knew who would be moving on to the eight-driver Eliminator Round. Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth all knew what they had to do to continue their bid for a championship: win. Johnson led the most laps, Earnhardt, Jr. led the …

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Five Points to Ponder: Honoring Both Texas Terry And Underdog Efforts

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Kyle Larson Joey Logano Landon Cassill Racing Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

One: Bracket Busters Hands up for anyone who still has a completely accurate 2014 Chase bracket. Silence? Crickets? Tumbleweed? Yep, thought so. Don’t even vaguely try to convince me that you had a final eight that didn’t include six-time champion Jimmie Johnson or the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., not to mention either Kasey …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: ESPN Erases “Everyone” At ‘Dega For Chasers

2014 Talladega Ii Cup Terry Labonte Brad Keselowski Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Race weekends at Talladega Superspeedway make my stomach churn. I’m nervous the whole weekend, just hoping that nothing terrible happens. The sad truth is, terrible things have been happening at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega with an increasing frequency in recent years. It’s truly sad, and since almost all of the bad things happen in …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not: Talladega – Martinsville Edition

2014 Michigan Ii Cup Ricky Stenhouse Jr Cia

(Credit: CIA Stock Photography)

Some of NASCAR’s best drivers from the regular season were left out of the Eliminator Round after falling flat at Talladega Superspeedway. Three former champions entered Talladega weekend on the outside of the bubble looking in, and one of them didn’t advance. Only three remain along with five drivers who have never lifted the Sprint …

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