Race Weekend Central

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in Sprint Cup: 2009 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Edition

As the 2009 season wears on, some of the teams that have had early success are finding themselves in a points standings freefall. As they disappear from view, the composition of the top 12 is starting to take form, with annual contenders slowly creeping towards and into that coveted threshold. The season may be early …

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Bubble Breakdown: Team Penske Rebounds From Poor Daytona 500 Performances

NASCAR’s top series headed out west to start a two-race stint on the left coast beginning with the first stop of the year at the Auto Club Speedway in California. With this just the second race of the season, the race to get into the Top 35 is a complete mess, with teams jumping way …

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Bubble Breakdown: Sorting Through Who’s Locked In & Locked Out at Daytona

You’d think that over the offseason, it’d be hard for the Top-35 situation to change as no one would be accumulating any more points. But in an offseason filled with teams folding, merging and selling off their locked-in places on the starting grid, the landscape of Who’s In and Who’s Out looks completely different than …

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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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Voice of Vito: America’s Most Wanted – Top-5 NASCAR Drivers to Watch in 2009

Editor’s Note: Catch Vito on a new day this season – his column will appear each Wednesday throughout all of 2009. Finally. After a NASCAR offseason that seemed to last longer than it ever has in previous years – due in large part to a virtual ban on preseason testing and a harsh winter of …

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2008 NASCAR Driver Review: Sam Hornish Jr.

After a dismal partial schedule in 2007 that saw Sam Hornish Jr. qualify for only two Cup races in eight attempts, the IRL transplant shocked the NASCAR community with a top 15 in the Daytona 500. That brief glimmer of hope was short-lived, though, as the next week at Fontana Hornish completed only 20 laps before slamming into Casey Mears.

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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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Scott Speed Provides 2009 Preview as 2008 Freshman Candidates Fizzle

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Scott Speed (second), Regan Smith (26th), Chad McCumbee (28th), Brad Keselowski (31st), Aric Almirola (40th), Marcos Ambrose (41st) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Speed (16th), Keselowski (23rd), Smith (34th), Almirola (35th), McCumbee (39th), Ambrose (42nd) Rookie of the Race: Speed. In an attempt to secure a starting position for Speed in the first …

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Bubble Breakdown: Heavy-Duty Wreck Leaves High Drama for Top 35 Heading to Homestead

Editor’s Note: We’re happy to report Mike Ravesi was unable to do this column for the best possible reason – he and his wife are having their first child! All of us at Frontstretch couldn’t be happier for the Ravesis and their new addition to the family. While Mike is out, Managing Editor Tom Bowles …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Marcos Ambrose Angling for Solid Finish to 2008

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Marcos Ambrose (18th), Regan Smith (21st), Sam Hornish Jr. (33rd), Scott Speed (38th) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Ambrose (18th), Smith (23rd), Hornish (33rd), Speed (40th) Rookie of the Race: Ambrose: Choosing to forego official Rookie status for 2009 to get the Aussie more track time in a Cup car is a decision …

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Sprint Cup Rookie Report: Brad Keselowski Has Impressive Debut While Joey Logano Struggles

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Sam Hornish Jr. (21st), Marcos Ambrose (24th), Regan Smith (25th), Scott Speed (33rd), Brad Keselowski (37th), Joey Logano (43rd) Unofficial Finishing Positions: Keselowski (19th), Ambrose (21st), Hornish (23rd), Speed (33rd), Smith (34th), Logano (40th) Rookie of the Race: Keselowski. The 24-year-old rookie finally got to make his Sprint Cup debut this …

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