TMS always seems to rock the truck races. Maybe it’s something about trucks in Texas, but the fans, the heat and the energy of those trucks seems to bring out something unique and awesome.

Let’s hope that carries over into tonite’s race. 8:30 pm (Eastern,) according to NASCAR’s broadcast schedule.

IndyCars, on the other hand, have a more, eh, “checkered” history at Texas. And I’m not just talkin’ about flags. From cancelled races (a CART event, I believe) to AJ Foyt and Arie Luyendyk’s little to-do in victory circle, way back in 1997(!), open wheel races at Texas always have a sort of raw feel about them.

Running them at night seems to help create that edge, too. If you’re in Texas and you’ve never seen the lights gleam off those little rocket cars, it’s worth the trip.

Let’s catch up with Texas race week.

Texas Racing YouTube Clips

Credit and thanks to original posters

Ride For Dime NASCAR Truck #89 Qualifies

The #89 Ride For Dime NASCAR Truck driven by Mike Harmon qualified for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition at Texas Motor Speedway today. Big thanks to Jerry Rubly and Mike Harmon for making this happen for Ride For Dime. Be sure to wat…

More Texas race week after the jump!
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Winding down the work week just means race week is hitting its stride. Friday is a big day on NASCAR’s senior circuit, and this week is no different as the teams puzzle over and ponder Pocono.

An Honest Man!

Yahoo’s Jay Busbee always adds a unique style and flavor to racing commentary. A true blogger, he always goes above and beyond the “this happened, then that happened” news cycle.

Today, he’s working as hard as he can to put a positive spin on the trip to Pocono, and especially the unique, shall we say “character” of Pocono Raceway.

Nice try, Jay. The Long Pond circuit has plenty of history and, as Jay points out, plenty of first time and unexpected winners. But the location isn’t exactly a garden spot of, well, much of anything:

View Larger Map

(Scranton! Get Dunder Mifflin on one of those start and parker’s hoods! Make it so!)

The race is long and usually not overwhelming, excitement-wise. But, take heart, NASCAR goes up there twice a year!

Jay suggests politely that it might be time to give Pocono Raceway a break. Might be. But it also might be nice in, say, Kentucky this time of year.

Pocono or no, it’s race week. Let’s catch up.

Cool Pocono Race Week YouTube Videos

Thanks and credit to original posters.

RaceDay Preview – Week 14

Dave D’Onofrio and Gavin Faretra of the Concord Monitor preview the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in the latest episode of the RaceDay Preview series at concordmonitor.com.

More race weekness after the jump!
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As the northern swing marks the beginning of NASCAR’s summer season, it also signals a switch in broadcast duties from the venerable FOX to up and coming TNT.

It wouldn’t be right to let such a notable event go by. So the folks at TNT signed up a bunch of geezers and put together a lot of wrecks to remind the naysayers why we rubes watch NASCAR. It’s the wrecks stupid!

um, Not. But thanks for reinforcing the stereotype with AC/DC’s NASCAR commercial:

TNT Nascar TV Commercial feat. AC/DC

TNT network’s summer Nascar intro for 2010. Kudos to original poster.

And, of course, they’ve inspired a copycat. Only, watch out, this one is MUCH better than the original. TNT, hire this dude!

Nascar Music Video

I was inspired by the nascar on tnt commercial. so heres my lame attempt at making something cool. credit to nascar.com

More Race Week fun right after the jump!
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It’s Race Week At The World’s Fastest Triangle

The Sprint Cup series heads for the mountains and an iffy Pocono weather forecast. Should at least be a little cooler than Charlotte, and maybe a nice way to kick off the summer.

As the show rolls into town, let’s catch up on the grassroots media for Pocono race week.

YouTube Videos for Pocono NASCAR Race Week

Thanks and credit to original posters

Really? Mikey Waltrip in Robby Gordon’s car? I must be behind the times. I thought Mikey was a “piece of #$^%” in Robby’s opinion. Sarcasm, perhaps. Irony?

2010 Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 Entry List

(Just a quick note: Michael Waltrip will be in Robby Gordon’s car for practice AND qualifying because Robby will be in the Baja 500.) This is your entry list for the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono. These 45 drivers will attempt to qualify for…

Let’s ride along!

Pocono Raceway Nascar ride part 2

standing on stairs waiting to get into the car.

Cool tweets, blog updates and more after the jump!
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Race Week: Bigger and Better in Texas?

As the IndyCar series races out of a successful Indy 500 and straight into the heart of (North) Texas, many questions surround the drivers and teams.

But in Texas, especially for these late spring/early summer races, it’s all about one thing: the weather. It’s going to be hot. It’s going to be windy. It’s likely to be steamy.

That should make for grinding, stressful racing on one of the fastest open wheel tracks in the world.

Let’s go Indy car racing, Texas style.

Indy Car YouTube Videos

Danica Lap of Texas Motor Speedway

Andretti Autosport driver Danica Patrick talks us through a lap of Texas Motor Speedway.

Drivers preview the Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway

Dario Franchitti, Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan preview the upcoming Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway.

Tweets, bloggery and more after the jump!
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It’s Race Week…!

In Long Pond, PA

Sprint Cup heads for Pocono Raceway and the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 presented by Target Weekend Schedule.

Surely, it must be possible to create a longer name for that race. Make it so!

NASCAR Drivers Preview Pocono

NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin Truex Jr. talk about what it’s like to race at Pocono Raceway

In Nashville, TS

As the Nationwide series breaks away from the Sprint Cup riders for a few weeks, beginning at the always exciting Nashville Superspeedway

2010 NNS at Nashville Part 16 of 17

NASCAR Nationwide Series Nashville 300 Nashville Superspeedway LeBannon, Tennessee April 3, 2010

In Denton, TX

Where the IndyCar circuit takes on quite possibly its fastest challenge in the Firestone 550k. Texas Motor Speedway makes those little cars look like marbles rolling around a mixing bowl. A really fast mixing bowl.

Indycar 2009 Texas highlight

In Chicago, IL

Where the NHRA road show rolls in for the Route 66 nationals, full event schedule available.

NHRA UA Route 66 Nationals Finals

NHRA UA Route 66 Nationals Finals from Chicago. I do not own NHRA or ESPN. Rate, Comment, Subscribe. Enjoy!

Have a great week everybody, and stick with us for the best in grass-roots media from race week.

Ganassi Misses Memorial Day Double by One Second

One second. Give or take a tenth, that’s all that separated Jamie Macmurray from gift wrapping a very special Memorial Day present to his boss, Chip Ganassi.

It’s easy for those of us who stand on the sidelines and chatter to miss just how spectacular Chip’s “almost” was yesterday. The amount of talent and discipline and resource and, yes, luck that it takes to win an Indy 500 is simply mind boggling for most of us.

Ganassi’s guys made it look easy yesterday.

The amount of talent and discipline and resource and, yes, luck that it takes to win a Sprint Cup race on any given Sunday – let alone one of the most desirable “home field” races of the year – is equally mind boggling.

Ganassi’s guys almost got that done yesterday, too.

It’s hard to imagine all of the preparation, the dynamics of the race, strategies, setups, driver skill and timing, just to have it all come down to one second. It’s easy to speculate that somewhere in that mix, Macmurray’s crew should have been able to find him one more second.

But that’s not how it works. In reality, Jamie’s crew did everything humanly possible to put him in a position to win that race. And you’ve got to know he drove his guts out. They put their best on the table when it counted most.

It just wasn’t to be. And, judging by their post-race demeanor, they knew it. There was a better car on the track yesterday in Charlotte. And just as theirs was the car to beat at Indy, they fell just a few ticks short in the Coke 600.

Still, congrats to the Ganassi guys. Does this mean we’re going to have to consider Chip an elite car owner?

btw, Post-race confrontation-wise, it did not look like Kyle Busch wanted anything to do with a very unhappy bearCAT, did it. Not so smug when you’re not surrounded by sheet metal, Kyle?

Let’s wrap up a fabulous Charlotte Race Week 2010.

Coke 600 YouTube Video

Thanks and credit to original posters

Along with many others, NASCAR puts its best foot forward on Memorial Day

Opening Ceremony The Coke 600 Charlotte 2010 Lowes Motor Speedway.mpg

Opening Ceremony The Coke 600 Charlotte 2010 Lowes Motor Speedway

Much more after the jump!
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Indy 500 Results in More Dario!

Talk about domination. You could tell just how good a race Dario Franchitti had by his performance on the track.

Or you could listen to his primary competitors. In their post-race interviews, Dan Wheldon, Helio Castroneves and even Danica herself all paid homage to Dario’s incredible run.

But it wasn’t all Dario. On a day when even the titans – Penske’s Castroneves and Will Power, not to mention Franchitti’s teammate Scott Dixon – all had troubles in the pits, Dario’s team was flawless and his strategy worked beautifully.

He might have actually won the race by holding back. Television interviews revealed a consensus among drivers that the last pitstop would determine the race winner, and indeed it did.

If you follow our Twitter feed, you know I expected trouble when Dario came out fourth after the last caution. But instead of wrangling messily with the slower cars in front of him, he took his time, knowing each of them had to pit before the race ended.

The only possible flaw in the picture: We’ll never know if he would have had enough fuel to outlast a charging Wheldon. And that would have made an incredible finish, both of them slow-walking their way out of Turn 4 and down the front stretch, striding gingerly toward the checkered flag.

As it worked out, hard-charging wasn’t unique to Wheldon. A hard-charging Mike Conway provided the day’s most devastating and enduring image, enduring a broken leg to show for an accident that could have been much worse.

Let’s wrap up this very memorable Indy 500 race week.

Indy 500 Videos from YouTube

Thanks and credit to original posters

100_0561.mov

Parade lap of 2010 Indy 500 field, from upper-middle of C Stand.

Much more after the jump!
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From Twitter member CopaCavanna

From Kyle Busch

From Twitter member AnnaEgleston

From Kyle Busch

From Twitter member krisjohnson_sd

More after the jump!
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