The hype, the pageantry -- and yes, the blazing fire -- that are the Daytona 500 are now behind us, and with all due respect to the Great American Race, now it's time to ditch the restrictor plates and get the Sprint Cup season underway.
The economy is losing steam across much of the nation, but is still growing and not in recession, according to the latest outlook from the Federal Reserve.
There are moments when Steve Addington's voice seems as if it is about to meander into a country song. Dulcet barely describes it. It's as if Charley Pride wrote a spoken word ballad about shocks and springs.
As the Sprint Cup Series heads into its regular-season finale at Richmond on Saturday night, eight drivers have already clinched berths in the Chase: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.
Denny Hamlin will be in control of his destiny in Saturday's Make-The-Chase-Or-Bust 400 at Richmond. He's excelled at his hometown track, winning Sprint Cup's regular-season finale the past two years along with four more top-three finishes in 11 starts, and those performances provide a comfort zone of confidence. But Hamlin must also deal with a race that carries the most pressure of his career. It will be the supreme test of his mental toughness.
This all appears to be building up to something. Perhaps something grand.
It will be a moment for the Sprint Cup history books Saturday night at Kentucky Motor Speedway as the series hits the track for the first time. (History aficionados know it's not the first time that NASCAR's top circuit has run in the Bluegrass State -- that distinction belongs to a 21-driver event on Corbin Speedway's dirt track in 1954). It's also a key date on the Cup schedule, as it stands as the halfway point of the 36-race slate, and leaves us less than 10 races from the end of the regular season.
Going on tour for a week with a band has risks. Sleep is scarce, comfort is extinct and hygiene is difficult to maintain, especially in a conversion van filled with banjos, mandolins and an upright bass. It was the risk I'd take spending a week on tour with The Fox Hunt.
Race car drivers can spew any amount of venom over their team radio during the blur of competition and not damage relationships with their team, as long as they adhere to two rules, says former crew chief Ray Evernham.
J.D. Gibbs understands the difficulty of getting drivers on the same race team to be teammates who will work openly with each other. The Joe Gibbs Racing President experienced it when Tony Stewart joined Bobby Labonte in JGR's expansion to a two-car team in 1999.
His cherubic features have hardened slightly. Call it the aging process if you want, but put part of the blame on the challenges Kasey Kahne has faced in his Sprint Cup career.
The tweet went out on April 18, an S.O.S. delivered from the iPad of NASCAR's biggest disappointment of 2011, the day after Denny Hamlin finished 23rd at Talladega Superspeedway. "I am now accepting all good luck charms," Hamlin tweeted. "Tough ending yesterday but we will be back. SOON."
I'm 55 and invest conservatively in my 401(k). The market seems to be on a rebound, though, so should I consider being more aggressive? -- Bob, Richmond, Ind.
Brad Keselowski does a biweekly diary for SI.com. Heading to Loudon this weekend, he creates his own goals for the Chase, and reflects on how to make the season better for his No. 12 Penske Dodge in Cup, all while mourning the possible loss of Nationwide teammate Justin Allgaier in 2011. Plus, his grade for the Nationwide CoT, thoughts on taking away Reggie Bush's Heisman trophy, and why one of New Hampshire's four turns is considered one of the deadliest on the circuit.
NASCAR's regular season finale Saturday night was supposed to be a no-holds-barred, sparks-flying affair at Richmond that got fans all charged up for the Chase.
Brad Keselowski does a bi-weekly diary for SI.com. In his latest edition, he talks about the team's short-track strength as it continues to work on finding speed to contend at the Cup Series level. Among the other highlights: the one change he'd make to the new Cup car, what he gains from running in the Nationwide Series and the best Mother's Day gift he's ever given.
It doesn't take long to make a first impression. What takes forever is changing that perception once it no longer reflects reality.
A big complaint from NASCAR fans this year concerned Jimmie Johnson threatening to turn a fifth straight Sprint Cup title bid into a rout. Winning three of the first five races, the new "four-time" appeared to be toying with the rest of the field in building a 108-point lead through Texas in mid-April.
It has been the NASCAR story of the week: Jimmie vs. Jeff.
1. I was standing among a small group of reporters outside of Carl Edwards' hauler at Talladega, waiting to film a forthcoming installment of Inside the Helmet when Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing and Edwards' employer, emerged from the garage and hurriedly made his way toward the mobile headquarters of the No. 99.
Police are seeking a pair of suspects in a Sunday church service shooting in Richmond, California, that left two teenagers injured, though authorities are still looking for a motive in what they say was a targeted operation.
A Sunday church service in Richmond, California, erupted into chaos when three gunmen opened fire on congregants, injuring two teens, according to police.
Six suspects accused in the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl on a California high school campus entered not guilty pleas Tuesday, police said.
updated: Tue Nov 03 2009 13:47:00
Psychologists weigh in on why witnesses to a gang rape might stay silent.
A seventh person has been arrested in a gang rape on a high school campus in northern California, police said Tuesday.
The alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl on the campus of Richmond High School in Northern California while 10 or more witnesses, most of them students, looked on has sparked familiar questions: "Why are our kids so messed up?" "Why didn't these students try to stop the crime?" "What's happening in our schools?"
updated: Wed Oct 28 2009 23:33:00
Lt. Johan Simon of the Richmond, California, Police Department describes what police saw the night of homecoming dance.
Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night.
Ryan Newman hadn't been in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship since 2005, and it wasn't expected in the first season of Stewart-Haas Racing. But the Rocketman has re-entered the 10-race playoff thanks to a composed and gutsy run to 10th at Richmond that put him 77 points in front of 13th-placed Kyle Busch.
Five things we learned on Saturday night at Richmond in the final race of the regular season:
Editor's Note: This column was written at the end of August, but drivers' positions in the standings are current entering Richmond this week.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- After a successful Labor Day weekend race at Atlanta Motor Speedway that drew perhaps the track's biggest crowd this decade, the pressure to make the Chase is increasing on one of the biggest names in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.
Twenty-year-old Sean Branch searched for eight months for a job with no success.
In an election where accusations and acrimony were flung back and forth for months, a wave of calm and civility washed over millions of Americans who lined up to vote Tuesday.
Behind every good war are many good women. Using their feminine (and in at least one case masculine) wiles, the following five spies would make James Bond proud.
updated: Wed Sep 10 2008 21:51:00
Workers are trapped when a building under construction in Richmond, Va., collapses.
Part of a retail and residential building under construction in a Richmond suburb collapsed Wednesday, and authorities were searching for up to 12 workers who may have been inside
(With NASCAR's 12-man Chase field being finalized this weekend, with or without cooperation from Hanna and Mother Nature, SI.com's team of writers will weigh-in with periodic updates and musings throughout the weekend.)
Are we witnessing the end of NASCAR's open-wheel era? Just one season after Juan Pablo Montoya electrified the racing world by moving from Formula 1 to NASCAR, the whole experiment seems to be stumbling towards a ghastly conclusion.
After 25 races and over 10,000 miles of circling 20 tracks across the country, NASCAR's regular season comes to an end Saturday night with a 400-lap contest in Richmond. Once the checkered flag falls, the sport's playoff field will be set, with the Top 12 qualifying drivers eligible to compete for the 10-race Chase for the Championship ending in Homestead, Florida this November.
With the half of the season complete, it's time for a little midseason review of each driver on the Sprint Cup circuit. Here's a look at how each of the full-time competitors has fared this season -- note that to be included on this list, a driver had to have started at least eight of eighteen races on the year:
Heading into Sunday's race at New Hampshire, an anonymous NASCAR driver shares his thoughts about the latest happenings in the circuit.
In the national recruiting rankings for the high school class of 2004, down past the Dwight Howard-led contingent that leapt straight to the NBA, and beyond a crowd of players who completed their college eligibility this March, was a 6-foot-3 point guard from George Wythe High in Richmond, Va., named Tyree Evans. He had scored more points in his senior year than all but two players in Virginia prep history -- Allen Iverson and Moses Malone -- and had earned a three-star rating and the 121st spot overall from Rivals.com. He had committed to Cincinnati, a supposed future gunner in Bob Huggins' backcourt.
Five things we learned at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night:
Heading into Saturday's race in Richmond, an anonymous NASCAR insider shares his thoughts about the latest vibes in NASCAR nation:
Virginians faced a massive cleanup project Tuesday after at least three tornadoes damaged dozens of homes and injured more than 200 people.
At least three tornadoes caused massive damage in Virginia and injured more than 200 people on Monday, officials said.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, trends that begin at one track often given an indication of what to expect in the following race on the schedule.
Dear FSB: My uncle would like me to take over the family commercial caulking business, and right now, I am working with the caulkers in the field, learning the job and making sure they do not drag their feet. Unfortunately, the workers, who are paid by the hour, do just that. They are in no rush to get the job done, and though we profit-share at the end of the year, it seems like that is not enough motivation. What are alternative wage methods that other businesses like mine use to pay their employees and increase production?
Three Chinese nationals accused of importing thousands of counterfeit luxury handbags in the United States have been arrested in the past two days, federal authorities announced Thursday.
Days and nights in Richmond, Virginia, sparkle during December more than a socialite draped in jewels. Legions of stringed lights hang like tinsel on trees. Candy-colored bulbs decorate foliage at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. And James River plantations treat guests to a colonial-style Christmas. From candlelight tours to light shows, this town offers more weekend choices than a travel agent's checklist.
It happens in sports almost every year. A team in control of its own playoff destiny goes up against one that is just playing out the string. Underestimating its foe, the "better" team stumbles and comes up short, leaving the underdog smiling with glee as they watch their opponent's postseason hopes go up in smoke.
SI.com's experts weigh in with their predictions for Saturday night's race in Richmond, Va.
U.S. economic activity expanded further in June and early July, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday, as slower housing markets contrasted with improvements in manufacturing and commercial real estate.
Here are five things we learned on Sunday in Richmond, the windiest day in recent memory at a Cup race.
SI.com's experts weigh in with their predictions for this Saturday's race in Richmond, Va.
Here are five things to watch for when the engines fire on Saturday night at Richmond (Va.) International Speedway:
As his customers grow old, a Richmond pharmacist seeks new ways to reach young urbanites.
IndyCar opens its 12th season Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway with an accomplished, maturing and stable group of drivers and teams that, just as important, has demonstrated signs that bigger things are still possible for the series.
A bowl of broth--that was lunch the day I arrived in Richmond. For dinner, two bottles of lemon-flavored Fleet Phospho-soda and four bisacodyl tablets. You see where this is heading? I went to bed ...
(FORTUNE Small Business Magazine) - As doctors become more adept at predicting heart attacks, they're paying increasing attention to calcium, whose presence can signal trouble long before a patie...
It's no surprise that mayonnaise, that creamy, tasty staple of the American fridge, is well beyond its salad days.
Jerry Kilgore, a Republican candidate for governor whose mountain twang kept him out of his own ads for much of the campaign, was looking starched and chipper Sunday as he shook hands outside the Falls Church, a 273-year-old Episcopal congregation near Washington that has a number of Bush Administration luminaries in its pews. Falls Church is a Democratic oasis, but these were his people. "In Falls Church, of all places, a landslide!" Kilgore said delightedly before heading inside. He is Baptist, but joined fellow parishioners in kneeling for prayers. The service ran long and so he sneaked out the side after receiving Communion and headed to McLean Bible Church, a non-denominational mega-church where he was greeted with applause at the Welcome Center.
A man sought in the shooting deaths of three men in 15 minutes Wednesday was arrested and bound for a Richmond jail Thursday night.
Douglas Wilder rose from what he describes as "gentle poverty" in his youth to become the first elected black governor in Virginia -- and the nation. Fifteen years later, the outspoken Democrat is still in Virginia politics, serving as Richmond's mayor.
With armed guards and metal detectors in some schools, peanut butter might seem a low-level threat. But many school districts aren't treating the creamy lunchtime staple that way. An increasing num...
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Hungry? You've come to the right place. America has about 30,000 supermarkets, some 13,000 discounters selling food, 93,000 convenience stores, and about 400,000 fast-food joints, diners, and resta...
As women fill the corporate playbill, they increasingly are the ones relocating their families to take advantage of job prospects in far-away cities. So say several relocation firms now being hired...
A $4.1 billion (revenues) Richmond company that operates electric utilities, Dominion Resources (d); New York Stock Exchange, $47.50; yielding 5.2%) has a performance record that makes it worth a l...
CARDINAL DISTRIBUTION Recessions are usually contagious, but this Dublin, Ohio, company is feeling just fine. Reason: Cardinal distributes pharmaceuticals to hospitals and drugstores throughout the...
Richmond, Virginia, once the capital of the Confederacy, is rising again. It is home to ten FORTUNE 500 corporations -- including Reynolds Metals, Ethyl, James River Corp. of Virginia, Media Genera...
In a dry season for brokers, Kidder Peabody, Smith Barney, and Wheat First Securities of Richmond pulled off the largest initial public offering ever. Investors pumped $2 billion into MFS Intermedi...
Not since Central States Electric of Richmond, Virginia, went into receivership in 1942 has a major U.S. utility gone bankrupt. Several power companies are vying for the honor of being next. The Gr...
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