After hearing that John Andretti is going to drive a car fielded by Richard Petty to try and make the Indianapolis 500, the thought crossed my mind: Why not give someone else a chance who isn’t in a Cup ride right now? In his long and storied career of racing almost everything that has wheels, …
There have been many hard luck stories from the Indianapolis 500 over the years, but the face of those hard-luck stories was very frequently Lloyd Ruby back in the day. Michael Andretti and his father Mario were notorious for hard luck at Indy, although Mario did take the checkered flag in 1969. But before the …
1. Are They Baaack? – Television ratings for NASCAR have seen resurgence this race season after experiencing at least two years of declines. The Memorial Day weekend Coca-Cola 600 tallied a 4% boost over last season’s telecast, and posted the first increase in viewer numbers in three years. But the 4% improvement, though noteworthy, is …
No time for an intro this week; you’ve given me so much feedback, it’s time to get right down to it. Still have questions, comments, concerns, or just looking to tell me where to go? Just one condition, please: No need to use multiple exclamation points… one at the end of a sentence will suffice. …
In a Nutshell: Scott Dixon took the pole for this race, his latest assertion that he is the driver to beat this year; and heading into the Indy 500, he gave no one any reason to think differently. Several drivers took turns at the front of the biggest event in open-wheel racing – including teammate …
1. Rumba, Anyone? – Two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves – better known to the general public as last year’s winner of the mega hit TV show Dancing With The Stars – seems to be interested in following such open-wheel standouts as Juan Pablo Montoya, Sam Hornish Jr., Dario Franchitti, Patrick Carpentier and AJ Allmendinger into the …
Did You Notice? That the gap between the “Big Four” in Cup racing and the rest of the pack is getting wider than ever before? We say this stuff all the time, but I did a little research in the off-week to take a look at the stats for the 2008 Cup season to date. What …
Before we get rolling with this week’s questions, I have a question of my own: What’s with all the Kyle Busch hate in NASCAR fandom? I’ve read more than a few columns and message boards this month, as well as receiving a comment or two concerning Busch and the way some race fans view him. …
I would love to have a financial stake in the first woman driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series that performs at the high level of skill that IRL driver Danica Patrick does. There is no secret that the nation’s top automobile racing series is sponsor driven, and a successful female driver would have a …
Congratulations to Danica Patrick for winning her first IRL race! After three years, 50 starts and three podium finishes prior to Saturday’s Twin Ring Motegi 300, her arrival in victory lane has long been awaited. Altogether now: three cheers for Danica! There. Are we done patting the little lady on the back? No, don’t go …
It was a tale of two cities, two countries and two completely different races. But those two checkered flags converged into one defining story, leaving fans both delighted and disappointed by the future of diversity in a sport that’s lacked it for far too long. The events were held outside the country, on opposite ends …
One of the biggest U.S. motorsports stories of the last two decades occurred late last month, with the announcement that the Indy Racing League (IRL) and the Champ Car Word Series (CCWS) had agreed to merge. The news, however, garnered little more than a cursory nod from the stock car community, which seems reluctant to …
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