The Track That Defied the Writing on the Wall |
 | “You have short tracks, you have intermediate tracks, you have superspeedways, you have road courses,” said Jim Hunter, Nascar’s vice president for communications and a former president of Darlington Raceway. “And then you have Darlington. There’s no other one like it. I mean, none. So there should be a place for that.” (The New York Times) |
Altamont West date ...still a go? |
| Altamont to lose its West date to Stockton 99 Speedway or another nearby track heard from numerous west owners (Anonymous) |
Tony Stewart could become car owner |
 | “I think that Tony has always been really good at making smart business decisions, and he’s sort of always on the front lines of what’s going on and what he needs to do and what’s good for him,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “He’s always trying to put himself in a better position constantly, in the business sense of the job and the sport.
“It’s pretty admirable, I guess, how involved in it he is and how he’s constantly trying to discover a better position for himself and a better way for him to succeed in his future. I feel like he would be successful if he chose to go that way. I think he would be a fun owner. I’m sure he’s going to continue to race, but at one point he won’t, and having been a driver will (help). He would be a fun owner. He would be a great guy to work for, I’m sure.” (Chatanooga Times Free Press) |
Watkins Glen pioneer Cameron Argetsinger dies |
| Cameron Argetsinger, who started the road-racing tradition at Watkins Glen 60 years ago and helped lure Formula 1 to race there for two decades, has died. He was 87. (SI.com) |
Rising fuel, hotel costs the pits for NASCAR fans |
| A soft economy and record gas prices have NASCAR fans weighing the wisdom of fueling their cars and campers to watch other vehicles race. (USA Today) |
Harvick to race at Bakersfield Speedway |
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Imagine being an owner of a small minor league dirt racetrack and coming into work one day and finding a message to call Kevin Harvick. (KGET.com) |
NASCAR TV ratings jump 19.1 percent |
 | Fox's broadcast of Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway earned a 5.6 overnight Nielsen Media Research rating and a 12 market share, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports.
The rating is 19.1 percent higher than the 4.7/10 the race earned overnight last year. (Scene Daily) |
Kiss the Gas Guzzling NASCAR Era |
| Cheap Oil Is Over: Kiss the Gas Guzzling NASCAR Era Goodbye
A suburban nation of snowmobilers, dirtbikers and NASCAR races -- all of it was made possible by the one-time blessing of cheap oil. (AlterNet) |
Scott Lynch & WRE Closing Shop |
| RW Rumor: Scott Lynch, Lynch Motorsports,and WRE closes shop in Moorseville and lays employees off. They are moving their operation back to Idaho, as Nick Lynch will run the West Series starting at Phoenix. Scott's a great driver, and good competitor, but sources say that the team has run short of money. (Anonymous) |
Foolishness reigned at Fontana |
| It was 2:02 a.m. in the East, in fact, - a good two hours after the Coen brothers clutched the last Oscars of the night - when NASCAR pulled the plug on this disaster. Weepers at the Kodak Theater were also-rans in the Best Off-the-Shoulder Evening Gown competition. Weepers at Fontana referred to water that seeped from under the track's surface and made ludicrous NASCAR's attempts to squeeze in 125 laps so it could brand the event official and call it a wrap.
Such foolishness made an early victim of Chesterfield's Denny Hamlin, who skidded into the wall on the 16th lap.
"There's 42 other drivers that agree we should not be racing on that track," Hamlin said after canoeing back to the garage area. "I hit a slick spot. You can see it on TV."
Nothing screams major league more than maintenance workers trying to saw drainage grooves into an asphalt surface. But that ad-hoc remodeling effort didn't fly, either. Four laps after Hamlin was doomed to heavy repairs, Casey Mears took out Dale Earnhardt Jr. after slip-sliding on weepers exiting Turn 1 and then got flipped on his side by oncoming Sam Hornish Jr.
Mears and Hornish were toast. Earnhardt and his patched-up Chevy eventually made it back to racin' but wound up 40th.
"The track ain't ready," summed up Little E. "It was dirty. Bad move."
Fontana has been no venue for old (or young) leadfoots ever since it opened - but that hasn't stopped Brian France from trying to shove two dates per year down everyone's throat. That means, for one thing, any momentum NASCAR gets from its Daytona opener is dulled by a 3,000-mile trek for a lackluster race in front of a lot of empty seats. Some fun. (Richmond Times Dispatch) |
Foolishness reigned at Fontana |
| Nothing screams major league more than maintenance workers trying to saw drainage grooves into an asphalt surface. But that ad-hoc remodeling effort didn't fly, either. Four laps after Hamlin was doomed to heavy repairs, Casey Mears took out Dale Earnhardt Jr. after slip-sliding on weepers exiting Turn 1 and then got flipped on his side by oncoming Sam Hornish Jr.
Mears and Hornish were toast. Earnhardt and his patched-up Chevy eventually made it back to racin' but wound up 40th.
"The track ain't ready," summed up Little E. "It was dirty. Bad move."
Fontana has been no venue for old (or young) leadfoots ever since it opened - but that hasn't stopped Brian France from trying to shove two dates per year down everyone's throat. That means, for one thing, any momentum NASCAR gets from its Daytona opener is dulled by a 3,000-mile trek for a lackluster race in front of a lot of empty seats. Some fun. (Richmond Times Dispatch) |
Gaughan garage springs to life |
| Having Gaughan's shop available was a godsend for teams unable to make the 4,400-mile round trip back to Charlotte, N.C., where most are based. Cup teams had planned for cars they would use this weekend to be delivered to Las Vegas, but most Nationwide teams would've headed home if their race had been completed Saturday as scheduled.
"(Without the Gaughan shop), we would've been working in a parking lot or maybe at the speedway," said Kenny Francis, crew chief for the Gillett Evernham Motorsports No. 9 Dodge driven by Kasey Kahne in the Cup series. "This is a really nice option." (Las Vegas Reveiw Journal) |
Little has stayed the same in racing |
| There will plenty of changes when the speed circus returns to California Speedway this weekend. (Pasadena Star News) |
Champ Car in jeopardy |
| The Associated Press reported that the agreement is expected to add up to three Champ Car events to the IRL's original 16-race schedule for 2008. That could include the races at Long Beach, Surfers Paradise in Australia and Edmonton, Canada.
The rest of the Champ Car schedule, which was to have begun April 20 in Long Beach, was canceled, omitting races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Houston, Cleveland, Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Toronto, Portland, Ore., Road America, Mexico City, Zolder, Belgium, and Jerez, Spain. (The Salinas Californian) |
Dakar Rally moves to Central Europe |
| After fears of terrorism aborted this year's Dakar Rally, the organizing body has scheduled a new rally for April 20-26 which is to run through Romania and Hungary. |
Tony Stewart & Kurt Busch - Back to Basics |
| Two of NASCAR's most controversial characters got into a sheet metal exchange on pit road after an on-the-track incident that wrecked both of their cars in the final practice for Saturday's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.
Both drivers immediately were summoned to the NASCAR hauler to meet with Series director John Darby and competition director Robin Pemberton. They will meet again on Saturday before the governing body determines what fines, if any, will be issued. (ESPN) |
Tony Schumacher had a blast with BMR |
| Tony Schumacher, the defending four-time Top Fuel champion, isn't leaving the sport anytime soon, despite his recent experience in a Late Model stock car.
"I spent a day at a small oval track out near Sacramento with Bill McAnally Racing," Schumacher said of his experience in late January. "I had a blast. I ran about 150 laps and really got a good feel for that kind of racing.
"At one point, they put me out on track with another one of their drivers and we got to bang around a little bit and run side-by-side. Of course, I know that it would be a lot different with a full field of cars around me. All in all, I'm happy I got the chance.
"Now, it's time to return to the world I know. I'm not going anywhere, I love driving the U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster." (San Bernardino Sun) |
Bud Moore on NASCAR Qualifying |
| “The way that qualifying deal is now, they guarantee the top 35 spots. That only leaves eight cars,” he said. “A new team and a new driver trying to come in are going to have a heck of a time making the show. Not everybody has a real chance. And you can’t get sponsored if you don’t have much of a chance to make the race. You can’t break into the sport anymore. In my opinion, it’s wrong.” (GoUpstate.com) |
Business should steer clear of NHRA |
| On Jan. 31, HD stockholders rejected the proposed sale of the NHRA's professional racing assets and race tracks to HD Partners Acquisition Corp. The vote was 99,000 for the purchase and 16.6 million against.
In a prepared statement reacting to the overwhelming rejection, NHRA president Tom Compton said, "NHRA is in the best financial position in its history, and prospects for future growth are at an all-time high."
So why consider selling the pro assets? The smell emanating from that comment is reminiscent of walking near stalls at a bull-riding event. (Las Vegas Review Journal) |
Harvick questions open-wheel drivers |
| "Coming straight into the Cup Series is going to be harder than any of them would have imagined," Harvick said Tuesday at a luncheon in anticipation of the 50th running of Daytona on Feb. 17.
He believes they'd be better-served by gaining experience in the Nationwide or Craftsman Truck series before moving up to NASCAR's top level.
"I think they all went down the wrong road," Harvick said. (Harvick questions open-wheel drivers) |
Federal judge dismisses antitrust suit against NAS |
| A federal judge on Monday dismissed an antitrust lawsuit filed against NASCAR by a Kentucky track that was left off its premier racing circuit.
Kentucky Speedway alleged that NASCAR had conspired to leave the Sparta track and others out of the Sprint Cup -- formerly known as the Nextel Cup -- series despite their superior amenities. (ESPN) |
Image tweak won't save NASCAR |
| Please allow a little chuckle here. Because if NASCAR thinks it can solve its popularity problems by reverting back to the "good old days" with country music, what's the reaction when all the Generation X fans head to the exits? (SI.com) |
Life goes on at Marysville sans NASCAR |
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Mayor Dennis Kendall delivered his state of the city address at a breakfast meeting of the Greater Marysville-Tulalip Chamber of Commerce on Friday.
Kendall highlighted the developments of the past year, including changes and additions to the police department, improvements for Fourth Street between 47th and 67th avenues NE, planning for the Whiskey Ridge-Sunnyside area, and annexation of the area once proposed for a NASCAR track.
Coming in 2008, Kendall said, are plans for a new Marysville civic campus, downtown and riverfront redevelopment, and the former NASCAR area. (HeraldNet.com) |
Will NASCAR's Decline Help Short Tracks? |
| The alienation of longtime fans is readily apparent to any journalist who monitors e-mails, letters and phone calls from fans. Fans who used to attend a dozen races annually can now afford only a few annual sabbaticals to their favorite tracks.
Who stands to gain? Perhaps, at long last, the short tracks of the land. NASCAR, with its proliferating night races, has opted to go wage war against, in terms of the short track, a primary source. Now, for the first time, the local proprietors might just be able to exploit to their advantage the combination of fans unable to cope with increases in the cost of attending races and economic hardships that leave them with less money budgeted for recreational opportunities.
Maybe they’ll just go back to the short tracks, where admission and concessions are reasonable and the racing, in its own way, every bit as good. (Gaston Gazette) |
Opinion on Kentucky Lawsuit |
| Kentucky Speedway is in big trouble. Their inability to secure a Sprint Cup race has put them in a critical situation. And, if they lose the Nationwide and/or Craftsman Truck races because of the lawsuit they filed against NASCAR and the France family, the fans will run Jerry Carroll AND Mark Cassis out of town on a rail. (Cinicinnatti.com Enquirer) |
