YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    From The Marbles
    • That'd be a nice backdrop for the All-Star Race, don't you think?

      It's time for Power Rankings! After every race, we opine about who we think is at the top of the Sprint Cup heap and how and why they got there. But this week, it's different! The All-Star Race wasn't for points, so there's no point (pun!) in ranking the Sprint Cup field again. Besides we'd just put Jimmie Johnson back at the top.

      Instead, let's stick with the All-Star theme. There's been some fantastic fodder for Happy Hour in the email inbox this week; people are incredibly passionate about the All-Star Race. So what if the All-Star Race was going to go to another track? Where would it go? Let's answer that question.

      P.S. -- We're inverting the field this week. Why? Because we can. And we're dreaming big, too.

      12. Rockingham: Let's start off with a fan favorite. Rockingham has produced some great racing since the Truck Series has returned to it, and given the multiple grooves through the corners and the tire wear, there would be no shortage of side-by-side racing. Of course, the

      Read More »from Power Rankings: All-Star dream destinations
    • (Getty)

      In the last Warped Wednesday feature, I asked the (not-so serious) question of what the point of the All-Star Race was. After all, it's not like NASCAR drivers race against each other 38 times a year or anything.

      After watching the reaction after Jimmie Johnson's runaway victory in the final segment of Saturday night's race, allow me to be serious for a moment: Why was the race such a letdown for so many?

      I'll be blunt. If you're one of those people, you've allowed yourself to be manipulated by the hype and promotion surrounding the All-Star Race. Last night's race wasn't certainly one of the ones that will be shown on the glossy teaser package to be played 10,000 times before next year's race. But let's not undersell it either.

      This is NASCAR. In 2013. On an intermediate track. If you watched – and were disappointed – on Saturday night, you've likely seen one or three or fifty intermediate track races over the last few years. If this was a points race, would anything that happened

      Read More »from What’s with the disappointment about Saturday’s All-Star Race?
    • Where the heck did Ryan Newman come from?

      On a restart in the middle of the fourth segment of Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race, Newman dashed to the outside in turns one and two like his car suddenly got a boost of nitrous oxide and made a pair of three-wide passes before he had even gotten to the backstretch.

      He wasn't done there. His crazy momentum off the high side of turn two had him on the back bumper of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a flash and after giving Junior a bump, Newman moved to the inside to pass him.

      However, Kyle Busch was there, because unlike Newman, he hadn't gotten through turns one and two very well and lost positions. As Newman came down, Busch drifted up and the two made contact with Busch suffering some right front fender damage and Newman acquiring a tire rub.

      And with that tire rub, the headway that Newman made that lap stalled out. He ended up 13th while Busch maintained his position near the front of the field and finished third.

      Read More »from Craziest Moment: Ryan Newman’s incredible high-side run and his contact with Kyle Busch
    • Jimmie Johnson has won more All-Star Races than any other driver. (Getty)

      The five-time Sprint Cup Series champ is now a four-time All-Star Race winner.

      Jimmie Johnson bolted away from Kasey Kahne after a spirited battle for the lead at the beginning of the final 10 lap segment of Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race to win by more than a second over Joey Logano.

      It was Johnson's second straight All-Star Race win, and this time, he did it – with the help of redesigned rules – considerably differently than last year. In last year's race, Johnson won the first segment, which guaranteed his position at the front of the field before the race's final mandatory pit stop. Since his spot was assured so early, he and Chad Knaus used the middle segments as a glorified test session to make adjustments on the car for the final sprint.

      This year, perhaps in response to Johnson's winning strategy in 2012, the race was divided into four 20 lap segments and a final 10 lap sprint, with the average finish of each driver in the first four segments determining the order in which

      Read More »from Jimmie Johnson becomes first driver to win four All-Star Races
    • Wonder what they're referring to? (Via Larry Brown Sports)

      NASCAR is a sport full of double-entendres and this one in Charmin's is one of the better ones we've ever seen.

      This is the billboard that's on the grandstands at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. According to AutoWeek, it's a two race deal between the track and the company, which also has a "Stop Skidmarks" banner on the pit wall. Will it prevent drivers from peeling out of their pit stalls and laying rubber on the track?

      Charmin is also handing out free samples. No word if CMS took the giveaways as an opportunity to save some money and not stock the track bathrooms.

      Read More »from The best NASCAR track billboard ever?
    • Carl Edwards' car bears the name of Dick Trickle, who passed away Thursday. (Getty)

      Carl Edwards will start first in Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

      All-Star qualifying is always different than a standard best of two laps run for a points race with each driver's run including three laps and a four tire pit stop. This year, NASCAR added a new wrinkle (that was previously an old one) and eliminated the pit road speed limit. That meant that many drivers were flying off the turns 3 and 4 banking onto pit road at over 150 MPH. That included Edwards, who had the second best lap one time and the best time entering the pits on his second lap.

      Edwards won the race in 2011.

      Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts second and Kurt Busch will start third. 19 drivers are already qualified for the All-Star Race and three will move on from the Sprint Showdown on Saturday night.

      In the Showdown, Martin Truex Jr. is on the pole and Jamie McMurray will start second.

      Read More »from Carl Edwards to start first in Sprint All-Star Race
    • Tony Stewart's average finish is down in races that Danica Patrick competes in. (Getty)

      Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com or @NickBromberg. We'll post them here, have a good time and everyone's happy. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.

      We open this week's mailbag with a heavy heart after Thursday afternoon's news of Dick Trickle's death. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, and if you're unfamiliar with the legend of the man who was never seen without a cigarette and a cup of coffee, read this.

      The news of Trickle's passing is certainly a sad and sudden departure from the craziness that's been the Jennifer Jo Cobb and Mike Harmon kerfluffle. Cobb said she didn't want the publicity that came with the incident, but it's important to note that she issued the statement that put the coverage of the incident in motion.

      Let's get to the questions, shall we?

      Do you think the added stress of taking on a third car team has suffocated

      Read More »from Happy Hour: Stewart-Haas, Gordon and has NASCAR gone soft?
    • Former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Lincoln County (N.C.) police.

      At about noon on Thursday, the Lincoln County Communications Center received a call indicating that there would be a dead body at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Boger City, and it would be the speaker's. Return calls to the number went unanswered. Crews arriving at the scene found Trickle's body lying near his pickup truck.

      Trickle ran in 303 races in the Sprint Cup series over the course of 24 years, finally retiring in 2002. His best year was 1989, where he notched six top-5s, including three third-place finishes, driving the #84 Miller High Life Buick. He ended that year ranked 15th, ahead of Michael Waltrip, Brett Bodine and Richard Petty, among others.

      Look, we all know where the conversation about Mr. Trickle is headed. The guy's name was a punch line his entire career. But he was a hard-nosed racer in his day, and this is how we prefer to remember him

      Read More »from Dick Trickle, former NASCAR driver, dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound
    • Mike Harmon and Jennifer Jo Cobb. (Getty)

      NASCAR driver Mike Harmon is out on bond after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with stealing Jennifer Jo Cobb's race hauler on May 11.

      Yes, this is a tale involving two NASCAR drivers, and one is accused of stealing the other's hauler.

      Cobb, who is competing in the Camping World Truck Series this year for her own Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing team, said that her hauler was stolen on May 11. The Rowan County, (N.C.) Sheriff's Office issued warrants for the arrest of Harmon and his sister Sheila Rae Rice on Wednesday for felony larceny of the trailer and breaking and entering of a motor vehicle. Harmon was Cobb's team manager when she previously ran in the Nationwide Series. Harmon, who also has his own team, has made five Nationwide Series starts and two Truck Series starts this year.

      Harmon was arrested Wednesday afternoon and posted bond. He took to Twitter Wednesday evening to profess his innocence, saying in two tweets that "I want it known that I have never stolen so much

      Read More »from UPDATE: Mike Harmon out on bond after arrest for theft of Jennifer Jo Cobb’s hauler
    • New Chrome Horn, new intro! Join yours truly and Geoffrey Miller as we were slated to talk Darlington but ended up talking a lot about the All-Star Race.

      Got any questions for us to use in the mailbag or the podcast? Hit us at HappyHourMailbag@Yahoo.com.

      Click here to download the podcast or here to listen to in your browser. And we're now on iTunes! Find us in the Podcast section right here and subscribe. Listen!

    Pagination

    (6,064 Stories)

    Yahoo! Sports Authors

    Regular Contributors:

    Geoffrey Miller

    Subscribe

    [X]

    How to subscribe

    Roll over each section to subscribe using or RSS Feed feeds.

    Yahoo! News offers dozens of RSS feeds you can read in My Yahoo! or using third-party RSS news reader software. Click here to find out more about RSS and how you can use it with Yahoo! News.

    Yahoo! Sports Blogs