Race Weekend Central

Beside the Rising Tide: Fine, Be That Way

2016 Richmond I Cup Tony Stewart Danica Patrick Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Thursday, most fans of the sport were delighted to hear that three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart had recovered well enough from a back injury suffered in an OHV accident that he could resume racing again. NASCAR welcomed him back with the now near-obligatory waiver of the requirement to run every race to potentially make …

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Five Points to Ponder: Where There’s “Smoke,” There’s Fire

2016 Richmond I Cup Kyle Busch Pack Racing Matthew T Thacker Nkp

(Photo: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP)

Smoke Rising: Wasn’t it good to see the lovable curmudgeon himself, Tony Stewart, back in action at Richmond International Raceway this past Sunday? The sport needs characters, not automaton sponsor-spouting shills and there can be no question Smoke fits squarely into the first category. In the end it was a relatively ho hum lead lap …

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Couch Potato Tuesday: Are FOX’s Poor NASCAR Ratings Fixable With Better Coverage?

2016 Richmond I Cup Regan Smith Carl Edwards Jimmie Johnson Racing Russell Labounty Nkp

(Photo: Russell LaBounty / NKP)

Welcome back.  Sunday had a great finish, eh?  Not too often that someone executes the bump n’ run on their own teammate.  I’ll fully admit that I was surprised that Carl Edwards was willing to do it. Also, there was a bit of an uproar surrounding Samantha Busch cussing at the finish after the aforementioned …

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in NASCAR: Talladega Edition

2016 Martinsville I Cup Ryan Blaney Car Amy Henderson

(Photo: Amy Henderson)

If you wonder if watching a NASCAR race is good for you, then were a lot of good reasons to like what happened in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Richmond: Long green flag runs: Check. Multiple yellows to bunch the field back up: Check. Seeing Smoke back out on the track: Check. An unexpected Earnhardt special on the …

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NASCAR Changes Lug Nut Policy Amidst Controversy

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Five days after fining Tony Stewart $35,000 for comments made about NASCAR’s lug nut policy — or the lack there of — NASCAR has announced a series of mandates for pit stops. NASCAR will begin policing teams this coming weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, as pit crews will be forced to put on and tighten all …

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Pace Laps: Tony Stewart’s Solid Return, Four-Wide and Fast for Brittany Force and Ford Looking for XFINITY Series Magic

Nascar Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Sprint Cup: Tony Stewart Solid in Sprint Cup Return – Though there was literal smoke for the driver nicknamed “Smoke” at one point during Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Starting 18th after Sprint Cup qualifying was rained out on Friday, Tony Stewart was a consistent character inside the top 25 as he battled the likes …

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Up To Speed: Drivers Weigh In On Last Lap Edwards, Busch Incident

Nascar Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

The length of races varies throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. 400 laps, sometimes 500 miles. Heck, there are even some races measured in kilometers. Really, though, in those hundreds of laps run in any given race, the only one we really care about is the last one. Carl Edwards led 151 of 400 …

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Clint Bowyer: “You’ll See Better Runs Coming from Tony Stewart”

2016 Phoenix I Cup Clint Bowyer Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Though Clint Bowyer is still 10 months shy of his name being on the door of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet for 2017, he is already looking after Tony Stewart and his future team. After missing the opening eight rounds of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season due to a January back injury, Stewart will …

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Holding a Pretty Wheel: Welcome Back, Smoke

2015 Bank Of America 500 Tony Stewart Charlotte Cup Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff)

These last few weeks and months must have seemed like an eternity to Tony Stewart, a man whose life has been heretofore defined in fractions of seconds. They certainly seemed as so to his fans, who have been awaiting Stewart’s return since the three-time Sprint Cup champion was sidelined by a freak injury in an …

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Tony Stewart Fined by NASCAR For Criticism of Lug Nut Rule

2013 Dover Cup Tony Stewart Trophy Nascar Via Getty Images

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

On the day that Tony Stewart announced he would return to NASCAR, he was fined $35,000 for violating guidelines in the Sprint Cup Series Rule Book. On Wednesday, at a sponsorship appearance, Stewart criticized NASCAR’s 2015 rule change allowing teams to put less than five lug nuts on tires during pit stops, a change that …

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Tony Stewart to Return at Richmond

Tony Stewart Bank Of America 500 2015 Charlotte Cup Mike Neff

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

It’s official: Tony Stewart is back. The three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, currently in his final season as a full-time driver before retirement, will return to the seat of his No. 14 for Stewart-Haas Racing for the first time in 2016 after a back injury sustained before the season began knocked him out of …

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2-Headed Monster: Has Brian Vickers Earned More Races This Season?

Brian Vickers Martinsville Cup 2016 Turn 3 Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff)

Brian Vickers is somewhat of an enigma. He won the 2003 XFINITY Series championship and was subsequently promoted to the No. 25 team of Hendrick Motorsports. He underperformed in the car, winning just a single race during his three years with HMS – a victory that came at the expense of his teammate Jimmie Johnson, …

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