The next round of NASCAR’s playoff round, the Chase is about to put the metal to the pedal in a few days. Tire testing and qualifying for the next round of the Chase, Sunday’s AAA 400, were held on the pavement of Dover International Speedway today and there weren’t really any surprises to be had.

Jimmie Johnson had an excellent day as he was out on the track running and testing the rubber that is available from Goodyear. This was something that I was expecting to see Johnson achieve and he didn’t disappoint in Friday’s qualifying session at the Monster Mile. …read more

Denny Hamlin has been coming back to his home town track of Richmond International Raceway year after year to compete in the Sprint Cup Series, only to be continually frustrated by his inability to win. Saturday night all his energy and work finally paid off in front of his hometown fans as Hamlin’s FedEx Toyota was fast all night long. Hamlin was in the lead for 298 of the scheduled 400 laps in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on the challenging and dangerous Richmond International Raceway. After all the time, energy and work Hamlin has put into winning in …read more

Saturday night at Richmond the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 will run on the pavement of Richmond International Raceway (7 p.m. ET, ABC). Twelve NASCAR drivers will make the Chase, which ones won’t be determined for most until after Richmond. Below we’ll discuss some of them and their chances and previous results at Richmond.
Carl Edwards has a winless record at Richmond and just three top ten finishes in 10 races at this tough and challenging track. Carl has had a rough ride in his car lately, finishing 37th at Atlanta, but before that he had finished in the top 20 …read more

The 25 competitions, 214 cautions, 9,706 miles, 468 lead changes and 6,936 laps of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint cup Series have been a barn burner with the energy and pace NASCAR had hoped they would have when they implemented the Chase. All of the work comes down to one last race for many racers just outside the results they need to make NASCAR’s playoffs. Four NASCAR drivers have punched their tickets to the Chase and are sitting pretty, although they have work to do as they use the time to get prepare for the final race, and just to build …read more

Kasey Kahne stayed close to the leaders for the majority of the race and when his chance came he passed Kevin Harvick as they raced to the finish line to take the win over Kevin by 1.766 seconds in the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This win is a watershed moment for Kahne in his Sprint Cup career considering he had back to back 40th position finishes at Michigan and Bristol last year. This win is also his second of the 2009 NASCAR season and the eleventh of his career. This win is a welcome moment for …read more

Kasey Kahne had a hard time finding Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. It has been awhile since the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge had to find its way to the winners circle and Kahne had to ask for directions to find the crowd of fans and industry professionals waiting to pay homage to the latest winner of the 2009 NASCAR season.
Kahne had to fight off early challenges by the field, but once he got up to speed the quality of his ride and driving skill started to take over. He had to …read more

The tides of change reached the shores of motorsports this week as Anheuser-Busch announced that Budweiser will no longer serve as the official beer of the Anheuser-Busch series and that its thirty years of support for Kenny Bernstein Racing’s NHRA team has been put on the blocks.  According to Anheuser-Busch this ends a historic association that over-takes STP’s 28 year sponsorship of NASCAR’s Richard “The King” Petty as the longest run between a racer and a sponsor.
Anheuser-Busch hasn’t announced who they’re going to throw their sponsorship behind for 2009. They may go with Kasey Kahne, who they sponsored in 2008, …read more

Kyle Busch made perfect on his efforts to sweep the road course races in the Sprint Cup Series this season as he nabbed his first career victory at Watkins Glen International on Sunday. He led four times for a race high 52 laps, giving him his 8th win of the season and making him the first driver to win the races at both Infineon and Watkins Glen in the same year since his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, did it back in 2005. He also won the Nationwide Series race in Mexico City earlier in the year, making him …read more

TZ’s Picks (Watkins Glen):
1. Tony Stewart – 2nd – 42.5 points
2. Robby Gordon – 27th – No points
3. Marcos Ambrose – 3rd – 41 points
4. Kyle Busch – 1st – 41.5 points
5. Carl Edwards – 10th – 36.5 points
6. Kevin Harvick – 6th – 38 points
Lock of the Week – Tony Stewart – Top Five – 10 points
Sleeper Pick – Marcos Ambrose – Top Five – 10 points
Steer Clear of – Greg Biffle – Outside Top Fifteen – No points lost
Roc’s Picks (Watkins Glen):
1. Kyle Busch – 1st – 43 points
2. Tony Stewart – 2nd – 42 points
3. Denny Hamlin …read more

Though they may not admit it, several drivers in the Sprint Cup garage area were probably a bit smitten when NASCAR was forced to cancel qualifying for the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International on Friday. The simple fact of the matter is that several drivers near the top at points are going to receive a better starting position that they likely would have, and while it still may not exactly give them a shot at winning Sunday’s race, it obviously provides a good path towards a better finish. That would be the guys like Greg Biffle …read more