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Let the Race to the Chase begin |
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By Joe VanHoose on
6/29/2007 4:34 AM
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Ten races from now, the top 12 drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup point standings will branch off from the rest of the pack and race for the championship. With ten races to go until the cutout, it’s time to take a look at who’s in, who’s out, and who’s in trouble.
Chase Locks
Jeff Gordon (1st) holds on to a 171-point lead over second place, even after he was docked 100 points this week for inspection infractions at Sonoma. He’s got the most wins, the most top fives and the most top tens.
Denny Hamlin (2nd) hasn’t won this year, but he’s been in contention nearly every week. His average finish of 9.9 is among the best in the sport.
Matt Kenseth (3rd) hardly gets any media time, but he’s been more effective than flashy this year. The California race winner also ...
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The 'Great Juan?' Not so fast |
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By Joe VanHoose on
6/26/2007 4:09 AM
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Juan Pablo Montoya did what many expected he would Sunday evening at Infineon Raceway. He won the first NASCAR Nextel Cup road race of the season, his first win in his career.
How long that career in NASCAR turns out to be seems up in the air, seeing how the 31-year-old has already raced in Indy cars, Formula One, sports cars and now NASCAR. Even in victory in his element, there is just something “here today, gone tomorrow” about the native Colombian.
Just a rookie on the Cup circuit, he is still learning and developing as a driver at the expense of a lot of bent sheet metal on ovals – tracks where NASCAR hold 34 out of 36 races, by the way. While many writers wrote headlines like “The Great Juan” today, I must laugh and bite my tongue.
Maybe Montoya is great, and maybe after a couple of years he will master the ovals and win a couple NASCAR championships. ...
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Anderson wins his sixth Powell Memorial |
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By Joe VanHoose on
6/9/2007 1:27 PM
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Wayne Anderson wrote a familiar tale Friday night in the 12th annual Powell Memorial, winning Ocala’s biggest race for the sixth time. But the ending caught the Florida short track ace a little by surprise.
“I thought I was going to run second,” said Anderson, who led only the final 12 laps of the 125-lap race. “Daniel Webster had a great car, but we were in the right place at the right time and we came out on top.”
Webster led the first 113 laps but began battling a suspension problem with about 25 laps to go. Anderson& ...
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Countdown to the Powell Memorial |
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By Joe VanHoose on
6/8/2007 5:04 AM
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Tragedy has a way of bringing out the best in people, and the Powell Memorial race at Ocala Speedway is a living and growing example.
Once a year, the biggest names in the state come to the Ocala track not just to race but also to remember. They remember the Powell family that went down in a plane crash 13 years ago. They support James Powell III, who went through hell but kept on going.
He's one of the nicest, strongest people in the business, and the overwhelming crowd of drivers and fans that will flood the Ocala Speedway Friday night shows how loved he and his family is.
And several storylines make the race even sweeter this year. For one, Powell will become a father next week when his wife gives birth to a baby girl. As for the race itself, the long list of drivers entered is longer than it's been in the past few years. This race could be back to is stature as the th ...
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Remembering Bill France Jr. |
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By Joe VanHoose on
6/5/2007 3:23 AM
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Bill France Jr. passed away today at the age of 74. He passed on a race day, just as his father did 15 years earlier, and while cars circulated at Dover International Speedway Monday afternoon, the flags were lowered to half mast.
The show – the show that he took from his father and passed on to his son – goes on, just as he would’ve wanted it to. There’s nary a doubt that he did more for it than anyone.
When he took over NASCAR in 1972, the sport was barely regional. All he did in 31 years was turn the best kept secret in the South into a national juggernaut. He brought on R.J. Reynolds in 1973, sold CBS on broadcasting the Daytona 500 flag-to-flag in 1979, and retired with the sport second only to the NFL in television ratings and first in spectator attendance.
< ...
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Where's the Spectacle |
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By Joe VanHoose on
5/26/2007 5:11 AM
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The Indianapolis 500 is this Sunday. Can you name the drivers on the front row?
Alright, that’s a little tough. How about the pole sitter? Not so much? Can you name five drivers in the field who’s not a woman and whose last name is not Andretti or Unser? Can you name one?
Therein lies the problem with the Indy 500 and Indy Car racing in general. Few people know or care anymore. And Indy Car only has itself to blame.
Granted, it didn’t used to be like this. The Indianapolis 500 used to live up to its billing as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” While network television passed on NASCAR broadcasts, the Indy 500 drew double-digit television ratings and over a half million people to the track in May. Pole day alone for the Indy 500 attracted over 100,000 fans into the early ‘90s.
But oh, how times have changed. The Indy 5 ...
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Ocala Speedway continues to cooperate |
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By Joe VanHoose on
5/19/2007 2:52 AM
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Armed Forces servicemen can see some local racing action for free this weekend at Ocala Speedway. The track will open its doors to anyone with a military I.D., whether they are active or retired.
Just what they and everyone else will see this evening will be a little different. The FAST Pro Trucks pay a visit to the 3/8-mile speedway, but the modifieds will be noticeably absent from the regular series lineup.
Ocala Speedway cancelled its weekly modified race this weekend out of respect for FASCAR’s Gulf Coast and Extreme Modified Series. The Extreme Modifieds, which runs only its second event this year after a first race flop, race at Orlando Speedworld Friday night while the Gulf Coast cars race at Bronson Motor Speedway Saturday.
Though Ocala’s weekly stable of modifieds has been just as strong as the two touring series, Ocala Speedway’s decision is noble and surprising for ...
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Behold the revival of Darlington |
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By Joe VanHoose on
5/11/2007 4:10 AM
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There are some places that just feel like home, and such is Darlington Raceway to NASCAR. This weekend’s race at the track “Too Tough To Tame” won’t be heralded by NASCAR or hyped by the sanctioning body’s public relations team, but it should be.
Darlington was the first super speedway – before Daytona, Charlotte, Talladega, etc. – to host a NASCAR race, which it did in 1950. In fact, even into the late 1970s, the Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day weekend was the premier race in the sport, not the Daytona 500.
But the NASCAR powers that be, in their never ending pursuit for larger television markets and more money, tried to kill off the old lady three years ago. They stripped the track of its Southern 500 and moved the race date out west to California. They gave Darlington one date on Mother’s Day weekend, a weekend that was always taken off in fea ...
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Dirt track racing may be the answer |
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By Joe VanHoose on
5/3/2007 2:18 PM
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I have to admit, I was unfaithful last weekend. Friday evening at my usual stomping grounds, I was nowhere to be found. Saturday came and went, and I was still missing.
That’s because I was cheating on Ocala Speedway, cheating on racing in central Florida, cheating on my asphalt-racing brethren.
Where was I? Tampa, south Tampa to be exact. I took in an evening show at East Bay Raceway Park, watched cars slide around on clay and dirt for four hours, and came away with no shame at all.
If you’ve never been to East Bay and you enjoy local racing, you may want to check this place out. Never have I seen more cars on the track or a tighter show in this state. Never have I seen so many fans pack an old wooden grandstand for a standard night of racing. And never have I ever seen so much overall passion spilled over the local drivers racing that night.
The track hides ...
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Is NASCAR fixed? |
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By Joe VanHoose on
4/28/2007 11:28 AM
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These two things I know are true about two-time NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart: he's one of the most talented race car drivers on the track, and he's not afraid to tell you his opinion off the track.
The latter proved to be the case during Stewart's radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio Tuesday night when he openly accused NASCAR of altering the outcome of races by throwing phantom debris cautions.
"It's about the integrity of the sport, and when I feel our own sanctioning body isn't taking care of that, it's hard to support and feel proud about being a driver in the Nextel Cup Series when they're throwing debris cautions," Stewart said. "It's like playing God. They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it."
Stewart has a point. NASCAR has thrown 20 debris cautions in just nine races this season, two of them ...
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Gulf Coast Modifieds bring uncertainty to Ocala Speedway |
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By Joe VanHoose on
4/13/2007 3:48 PM
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Ocala Speedway Open Wheel Modified drivers will guard their territory this evening when the Gulf Coast Modified Series invades their home track. The series brings along different cars, different engines, and a different set of rules that could mix up the typical results by night's end.
"It's early in the year, so you never really know how many cars you'll have," said Gulf Coast Modifieds Director Rick Hall. "We'll have some running with the series, and I'm sure we'll have some that just run at Ocala."
But therein lies the problem. Gulf Coast Modifieds race smaller motors that create less horsepower than the frontrunners at Ocala Speedway who race open motors. To even the playing field, Ocala Speedway regulars must add weight to their cars to match the power-to-weight ratio of the visiting series.
Some Ocala racers say that adding weight ...
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Ramblings: NASCAR on Easter break |
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By Joe VanHoose on
4/7/2007 8:49 AM
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It's Easter weekend, which means the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series has the week off. The off week gives race teams some time to regroup for a 15-race stretch, with a race scheduled every weekend until late July.
Fortunately for NASCAR, the sanctioning body and its officials also get a week off to sort out some problems of their own.
The Car of Tomorrow has raced twice now with trouble rearing its head in both races. Drivers have openly complained about the car's raceability, but that's not the biggest problem with the COT right now. Right now, the biggest concern is how safe the COT really is.
In the first COT race at Bristol two weeks ago, several drivers noticed the padding in the right side door smoking. Sunday at Martinsville, Kevin Harvick noticed a lot more than a little smoke.
Harvick climbed out of his car on the fron ...
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The cost of spectator racing: The death of a Saturn |
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By Joe VanHoose on
3/24/2007 8:55 PM
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Spectator racing: it just sounds dangerous, letting mere fans race their own cars on a track built for professionals.
Of course, anyone who’s been to the races has heard that guy, six beers in, talking about how he could go out there and do just as good as the real racers. But anyone who’s been around a racetrack at speed knows that it’s a lot harder than it looks.
But there are some that just don’t get the message, and that’s what spectator racing is all about. Every once in a while, between the poor lines and slow speeds, someone gets enough conviction in them to go out and test the edge. Unfortunately for them, they typically fall off the speed mountain.
That’s what happened Friday night at Ocala Speedway. All of the ingredients were present: a middle-aged man in a car that wasn’t his, a front-wheel drive small sedan that can’ ...
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