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CONCORD, N.C. (June 26, 2012) — Roush Fenway Racing announced today that 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will compete for the team full-time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition beginning in 2013, while Matt Kenseth and Roush Fenway will part ways at the conclusion of the 2012 season.

“Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has more than proved his abilities on the race track,” said team co-owner Jack Roush.  “We feel that he is not only a key piece of our team’s future, but a key piece of the future of the sport.  Roush Fenway is an organization with a wonderful past and present, as well as an extremely promising future, and I can’t think of a better candidate than Ricky to usher in the next era of success for the team. Continue reading →

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After the first road course race of the season, the line of championship contenders gets darker and darker. Some drivers however, are still falling, and will need a miracle. Let’s take a look at the drivers on the negative side of the spectrum this week.

3) Carl Edwards- Carl’s trouble rating is about a 5 out of 10. He is 11th in the points, and that’s not bad. The trouble is, he keeps slowly falling every week, and he isn’t currently in contention for a wild card spot. He hasn’t won a race since last year and if he keeps it up, we will find him outside the chase this year.

2) Jeff Gordon- Now, Jeff did finish 6th last week at Sonoma, and he is now inside the top 20 in points. He is nowhere near out of trouble though. Gordon’s problem is, like Carl Edwards, he needs a win. Gordon’s biggest problem is that he needs more than one. There are four drivers between places’ 11-20 that each have one win. Jeff Gordon, well he is behind all of them. A top ten shows signs of improvement, but this isn’t Jeff Gordon. This gives him a trouble rating of an 8. Continue reading →

via sportsmedianews.com

A way millions of fans view each NASCAR race every weekend, has turned into a big issue. There are some good things about NASCAR broadcasts but there are some bad things as well.  This season the TV coverage from FOX Sports and TNT has been disappointing. A few of the bad aspects of the TV coverage are; not seeing great racing action because the TV is showing a driver running by himself without any cars around, and missing a spin, most notably this past weekend at Sonoma.

Most years ESPN comes in at Indianapolis with great coverage, usually the best of the season. In Danica Patrick’s three races of the season, we’ve seen more coverage of a car three laps down than ever before. Without NASCAR being broadcasted on TV, many people wouldn’t be watching the action all weekend long. So fans shouldn’t be complaining about the lack of good coverage when their lucky they can view the race each weekend. Another issue is the commercials. Continue reading →

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Race Info

Date- Saturday June 30^th, 2012

Location- Sparta, Kentucky

Start time- 7:46 PM EST

Distance- 267 Laps, 400 Miles

Broadcast TV- TNT

Broadcast Radio- MRN Continue reading →

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Race Info

Date- Friday June 29^th, 2012

Location- Sparta, Kentucky

Start time- 7:45 PM EST

Distance- 200 Laps, 300 Miles

Broadcast TV- ESPN2

Broadcast Radio- MRN Continue reading →

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Race Info

Date- Thursday June 28^th, 2012

Location- Sparta, Kentucky

Start Time- 8:00 PM EST

Distance- 150 Laps, 225 Miles

Broadcast TV- SPEED

Broadcast Radio- MRN Continue reading →

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR points leader Matt Kenseth, one of the longest-tenured drivers in the series, is leaving Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the season. He will be replaced in the No. 17 Ford – the car he has driven for all but one of his 452 career starts – by Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kenseth’s long relationship with Ford will apparently come to an end. He is believed to be headed to Joe Gibbs Racing, either in Joey Logano’s No. 20 Toyota or a fourth unannounced team.

Why? Good question. The team offered no answers in the sudden divorce of one of NASCAR’s longest active relationships.  Only Jeff Gordon, with Hendrick Motorsports since 1993, has been with his team longer than Kenseth has been with Jack Roush. ‘I’d like to thank Matt Kenseth for his many years of loyal service,” co-owner Roush said Tuesday. ”Matt has been an integral part of this organization for well over a decade, and we are extremely appreciative of his accomplishments and contributions to the team, and will always consider him a part of the Roush Fenway family.” Continue reading →

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Clint Bowyer took his No.15 5-Hour Energy Toyota to victory lane on Sunday at Sonoma for his first win of the season and his  first win with his new team. Bowyer also gave Michael Waltrip Racing(MWR) to their first win of the season. It was Bowyer’s sixth win of his career and Michael Waltrip Racing’s third, their first two were with David Reutimann.

The big question after about seven or eight races this year wasn’t whether they would win this year,it was which MWR driver would win first. Bowyer was at the bottom of that list with Martin Truex, Jr and Mark Martin topping it. The real question certainly is not, how many more wins will Bowyer and Michael Waltrip Racing get this year, it’s got to be, “who is the one bigger for? MWR or Clint Bowyer?” Continue reading →

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As NASCAR enters its summer months, the racing action is about to heat up. Every summer we see great and competitive action. I believe this summer we’ll see the best racing we’ve ever seen in the summer. The summer features some of the fan favorite tracks like; Daytona, Indianapolis, Bristol and Atlanta. These tracks provide some of the best racing action we see all year.

The first race of the summer begins this week at Kentucky. This is only Kentucky’s second ever cup race but last year we saw great racing. After last year’s traffic disaster in Kentucky, many fans won’t be returning but they’ll miss out on a great race. After Kentucky we head out to Daytona for a firework show under the lights. Every race at Daytona is incredible. The race features great racing, close finishes and unpredictable outcomes. With pack racing returning this year, we should see one heck of a race. New Hampshire shows up next on the schedule, the “Magic Mile” is a tough track to maneuver around but it provides close racing action. Continue reading →

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A competitive chase is all any fan wants for the last ten races of the Sprint Cup Series season. As we stand right now, the chase races could use a little adjustment. A few qualities a chase track should have are; competitive racing, a unique track layout and no other track in the chase to compare to it. Right now the Chase for the Sprint Cup includes the following tracks; Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Dover, Talladega, Charlotte, Kansas, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead Miami. Some of these tracks fit like a puzzle piece into the chase format, some others don’t have the smooth edges to fit into the chase puzzle.

Tracks I believe deserve a spot in the chase are; New Hampshire, Dover, Talladega, Charlotte, Martinsville and Homestead Miami. These tracks are uniquely different from each other and always put on a show. The “Magic Mile” in New Hampshire is a tough little track. Your car needs to have the perfect set up to compete and you need great strategy to win. Last year strategy hurt Clint Bowyer who was leading on the last lap until he ran out of fuel and Tony Stewart passed him for the win. Continue reading →