Read more about the article Poor Pit Strategy: Harvick, Childers Have Made Bad Choices
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Poor Pit Strategy: Harvick, Childers Have Made Bad Choices

  By Jerry Bonkowski Sometimes, quick success can make you feel infallible and bulletproof. When Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers won the Sprint Cup championship in their first season together at Stewart-Haas Racing last season, it seemed like everything that could go right did. And given the way Harvick dominated the first 26 races this season, with two wins and 10 runner-up finishes, many thought it might be a slam dunk for Harvick and Childers to repeat again as champs in 2015. But given what the pair has experienced in the first two races of the Chase, can anyone come up with…

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September 28, 2015
Read more about the article New Hampshire Motor Speedway Preview: The Clock is Ticking
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New Hampshire Motor Speedway Preview: The Clock is Ticking

By Jared Turner After a wild and unpredictable finish to last weekend’s opening round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway, the Sprint Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend with a lot on the line for a lot of drivers. In by far the most coveted position among the 16 championship-eligible drivers is Denny Hamlin, who with a win at Chicagoland punched his ticket to the next round of the Chase, formally known as the Contender Round. But with only races at New Hampshire and Dover still to be run in the Challenger Round, several…

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September 25, 2015
Read more about the article A Shift of Power: Joe Gibbs Racing Has Passed Hendrick
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A Shift of Power: Joe Gibbs Racing Has Passed Hendrick

By Aaron Burns I can’t remember the last time I didn’t watch a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. I can, however, remember the last time a non-Joe Gibbs Racing car won. It was Joey Logano at Bristol in late August. Before that? I don’t know, maybe Jimmie Johnson sometime last year. JGR has had a stronghold on victory lane for months now. The four-car team of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth has combined to win 12 races this year, including nine of the last dozen. In that timespan dating back to late June, only two other drivers have won:…

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September 24, 2015
Read more about the article 5 Lessons Learned: The Chase Is Going to Surprise Us
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5 Lessons Learned: The Chase Is Going to Surprise Us

By Jared Turner This Chase Is Going To Surprise Who really expected Denny Hamlin, not even two weeks removed from suffering a torn ACL in a game of pickup basketball, to win the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup? Moreover, who expected Hamlin to win at Chicagoland after spinning on the race’s second lap, losing a lap and dropping all the way to the rear of the field? The short answer to both: Virtually no one. Yet there was Hamlin, standing in Victory Lane at the conclusion of Sunday’s race. What’s the lesson to be learned in all this?…

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September 23, 2015
Read more about the article The Restart Debacle: NASCAR Needs to Consider Penalties
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The Restart Debacle: NASCAR Needs to Consider Penalties

By Jared Turner For the second week in a row, a restart that seemed a little too good to be true raised eyebrows. And for the second week in a row, NASCAR didn’t penalize the driver in question for jumping a restart. Just eight after days after rivals claimed Matt Kenseth jumped the final restart en route to his victory at Richmond, Jeff Gordon faced a similar allegation after scooting away from race leader Kyle Busch on a restart at Chicagoland. Only this time, unlike at Richmond, NASCAR conducted a formal review of the restart to determine if the driver under scrutiny…

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September 22, 2015
Read more about the article Harvick’s Big Mistake: Repeat Bid Takes a Hit
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Harvick’s Big Mistake: Repeat Bid Takes a Hit

By Jerry Bonkowski Trash talking can be a very melancholy game. Sometimes, you intimidate your opponent – much like Tony Stewart did with Carl Edwards prior to the season-ending and championship-deciding Chase race at Homestead in 2011. Other times, your words come back to bite you like a grizzly bear. Such is the case with defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick, whose bid for a second consecutive championship got off to a horrible start Sunday in the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway. Just a few days before the race, Harvick talked smack, promising to pound…

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September 21, 2015