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When a usually dominant superpower slows down from its normal winning ways, we as sports fans want to know, "What's wrong with X?" Whether it's the Yankees, Patriots, Lakers or Hendrick Motorsports, domination is the norm, and anything less leaves ...

Here we are at the quarter-pole mark of the season, and this space is usually reserved for me telling you what I think you should watch for in Sunday's race. But the truth is, it's my blog, my rules, and I feel like looking back over the first nine...

Looking straight up at the Sprint Cup winners at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, two teams have dominated Victory Lane -- Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, combining to win 12 of the 14 races at the track. And although Kyle Busch and Carl Edw...

OK, kids, gather around close. Not too close, though. I want to talk today about which of these championship contenders has a favorable schedule heading down the stretch. Now, forgive me in advance, but I'm going to halt the talk at the top five, t...

You knew we were going to have some hot topics coming out of Talladega. I wouldn't have it any other way. Several Chasers wrecked, Kevin Harvick and the Amazing Flying Busch Brothers among them. That's the hard luck that's par for the course at Tall...

Before I get to my usual rambling and weekly preview, a quick thought: A Saturday night race this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway means no competition with the NFL and limited competition with college football. If NASCAR were to start holding race...

The theme for the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup so far, at least for this humble researcher, is competition. Not only do we have a tie atop the standings, with Kevin Harvick getting the tiebreaker and therefore the points lead over Carl Edwar...

It should be pretty widely accepted that this is the best sports time of the year. We have the Chase, the start of college and pro football, baseball pennant races, and so on. But, I'm here to talk Chase, since that's probably why you clicked on me....

This NASCAR season has me befuddled, and I love it. There have been 15 different race winners already, with five of them winning for the first time. There's been no dominant driver, as Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick co-lead the series with three wins...

OK, I'm willing to admit when I am beat. This is one of those times. There's not a whole lot I can do to preview the Kentucky race specifically. You know, that whole thing about their not having previously run there. I could use Nationwide Series ...

For us NASCAR statistical bloggers, of which I believe I'm the only one, there are certain nightmare situations. Like having all your notes written, and then an engine failure or a late-race caution completely destroys your race recap. Or when your ...

If there's been one prevailing theme to this season so far, it has to be the semisuccessful return of my weekly Eliminator pick. Wait, no, that isn't it, but if that's what you've taken out of this season so far, then bless you. No, what I'll reme...

I think Jimmie Johnson said it best when he told Kevin Harvick, "Hey Kevin Harvick, can I have my horseshoe back? Please?" Well, he didn't say it per se, but he did tweet it, which is basically the same thing. (You can follow me at @MattWillisESPN. ...

An interesting and completely meaningless thought popped into my head the other day, as they're apt to do. If I were to run around Martinsville Speedway, just over a half-mile in length and fairly flat, how long would it take me? I can't remember t...

You can definitely say Kevin Harvick has a flair for the dramatic. He has 15 career Sprint Cup Series wins, and by my count, seven of those had especially thrilling finishes, including three of the past five coming down to last-lap passes. One of th...

We got what we asked for, a tight Chase for the championship involving multiple drivers that's coming right down to the wire. Hey, we didn't need eliminations, or a mid-Chase points reset, or any sort of artificial sweetener to make it close, either....