“I do not go to the racetrack to finish second. Me and second don’t get along. I don’t worry about anything but winning races.” – Joey Logano Sport – of whatever flavor or variety you prefer – is littered with cases of unfulfilled promise. Youthful exuberance and unfettered possibility generates unbelievable enthusiasm and expectation, but more …
In the five weeks since I last penned (or should that be typed) a Nuts for Nationwide column, we’ve seen racing in a variety of different venues encompassing short tracks, road courses, superspeedways and the more traditional 1.5-mile tracks. The schedule has tested both the skills of the drivers as well unearthing numerous logistical challenges …
As is often the case, it was one conversation that changed Joe Balash’s life. “Just happened to be another one of those phone calls,” he says now, but at the time it was clearly anything but. When that call came, Balash was Senior Vice President of Operations for the now-defunct ASA Series, rising to the …
Perhaps one of the best barometers to gauge the health of a racing series is to look at the weekly entry list. A once over of the Nationwide Series entry lists so far this season might not seem concerning. Sans the season’s second race at Fontana, every race has drawn at least 43 teams to …
On this very day some 10 years ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first race in NASCAR’s second series, taking the checkered flag in the 1998 Coca-Cola 300. The Kannapolis, N.C. native drove his father’s AC Delco-sponsored No. 3 Chevy to victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway. Later that same year, Junior founded JR Motorsports, …
It’s still very early in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series but already the themes are emerging. Yes, there are thousands of laps to be run, but the preseason predictions are proving to be accurate. Well, mostly. Moonlighting Cup drivers are cleaning up Drivers from NASCAR’s top echelon have made almost exactly a third of the …
If you’ll forgive me for going all Jean Girard on you, the first two weeks of the Nationwide Series bring to mind a line from an old French proverb; “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.” Or in other words, the more things change the more they stay the same. With a couple of …
Last week we talked about the new series sponsor, “buschwhacking” and the future of the series. This week, we examine the champ, the contenders and the 2008 rookie class. If last season’s Busch Series championship had been a boxing match, the bout would have been stopped by the referee in about the fourth round and …
It’s all change as the second-most popular racing series in America gears up for another three country, 26-track, 35-race marathon. One of the biggest adjustments this season is the change in title sponsor. After 26 years, the Busch brand is bowing out, with Nationwide Insurance signing on the dotted line for the next seven years. …
Jason Keller has been racing in the Busch Series for 17 years. Over that time he has won 10 races, scored 81 top fives and 161 top 10s. He has sat on the pole 11 times and his best career points finish was second in 2000 and 2002. The most impressive statistic of all of …
If I were to ask if the NASCAR Busch Series were in need of some sort of a points system change, the answers I would get would probably range from ‘hell no!’ to ‘well duh!’ Kevin Harvick clinched the 2006 championship with a ninth-place finish in the Dollar General 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, four …
Every once in a while in racing you see that perfect match – a struggling driver or team turning the corner when surrounded by the right people. Teams often swap crew chiefs within its own organization in an effort to jumpstart poor performance, but beginning this week at Chicagoland, it will be both a young …
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