Speedway Motorsports Inc. President and CEO Bruton Smith seems to have adopted the “best defense is a good offense” philosophy last Friday while entertaining reporters at his Atlanta Motor Speedway. Smith, undoubtedly aware that the upcoming Sprint Cup race at the Hampton, Ga. 1.5-mile motorsports facility would be embarrassingly under-attended, instead took shots at southern …
Neither Jeff Gordon leading the driver standings nor Kyle Busch winning a race are particularly Earth-shattering events.
Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team’s record-setting streak of 81 races without a DNF ended in Fontana, Calif. last Sunday. It was a tough pill to swallow for Harvick and his Richard Childress Racing crew, who had finished every Sprint Cup event since Dover in Sept. 2006. After an engine failure got the …
When NASCAR resumed racing in southern California in 1997 after previous failed attempts at gaining a foothold for the sport at Riverside and Ontario, the decision seemed at best ill-advised and at worst foolhardy to a large number of longtime and loyal NASCAR fans. However, when in 2004 a second date was awarded to the …
NASCAR’s resident funny-man, corporate promoter extraordinaire and one of three owner/drivers in the Sprint Cup Series is geared-up and offering his opinions on most anything NASCAR, although that is not so unusual. Topping the list of issues that the 45-year old Waltrip, now in his third season as a team owner, expounded upon this week …
Editor’s Note: Enjoy Frontstretch Columnist Tommy Thompson on a new day this year… starting today, his popular Turn 5 column moves to Thursdays each week in 2009. Well, the call-to-arms has been sounded by our Editor-in-Chief to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the business of big-time NASCAR journalism again… or something to …
The growing worldwide financial crisis seems to be growing larger, more confusing and more controversial every day. While not be a topic particularly appropriate for the sports page NASCAR, more than any other major sport in the U.S., is directly related to the business world. One look down pit road is a colorful exhibit of …
Roush Fenway Racing appears to be heading into 2009 with all five of its cars hitting on all cylinders. Considering four of those men will finish the year 13th or better in Sprint Cup points, that’s hardly a big surprise. But to have the fifth car suddenly running with the rest… it’s something you couldn’t …
It is difficult to determine where the blame lies for race enthusiasts turning away from the final weeks of the Chase, but there’s no denying that they are. Seeing is believing, and all those empty seats, most recently at Atlanta and Texas, are all the seeing anyone needs to believe that interest in the season-ending …
Whether Jimmie Johnson, with a seemingly insurmountable 183-point lead in the Chase to the Cup, actually closes the deal this season is yet to be decided. However, many fans and others in the NASCAR community are already conceding the championship to him. The Hendrick Motorsports driver’s string of seven top-10 finishes in seven Chase races …
Who will win the 2008 presidential election is still anybody’s guess. But when it comes to NASCAR, who they want to win isn’t even in question these days. Considering the rash of “honorary” guests from John McCain’s presidential campaign team recently attending Sprint Cup events, the sanctioning body clearly is supporting the Republican Party ticket, …
In these troubled times we live in, the average American citizen is worried about the ramifications of a $750 billion economic bailout. But what about the NASCAR big wigs down in Charlotte and Daytona? They’re worried the money that forms the lifeblood of their sport just won’t flat out bail. Indeed, NASCAR team owners supported …
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