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  • 2014
    • February
      • Dad would have been Proud
        02/28/14
        There's no denying it, Junior's Daytona win will surely serve to amp up a career that's experienced many ups and downs. The 88 team never gave up on their boy and winning the 2014 Daytona 500 somehow makes up for all those days when there wasn't much to talk about after a long Su

    • January
      • NASCAR's Qualifying for 2014---NEW & IMPROVED
        01/31/14
        I'm glad that NASCAR has been paying attention. The "Boys of Daytona Beach" have not always been in tune with changing the status quo but someone must have been listening. Qualifying had become rote and somewhat boring and something was needed to spice it up.
        In a move aimed towa

  • 2013
    • December
      • The Eternal Brand
        12/26/13
        On any given NASCAR weekend you'll see the crowds lining up in front of the No.88 souvenir trailer where fans can satisfy their cravings for everything and anything Earnhardt. The other trailers attract a few buyers here and there, never quite attaining fever pitch sales and the interest this f

    • November
      • One year ends and another is about to begin
        11/06/13
        It didn't seem very long ago that I was making use of superlative terms to describe the upcoming 2013 racing season. The teams, the fans and the car owners were looking forward to another round of racing and like other sports teams, most were sure that this was going to be their time to bask in

    • July
      • ON THE STARTING LINE
        07/28/13
        There was a time when sitting in the stands was everything I thought it could be. I was able to see the rails and the stockers and once in awhile we were lucky enough to get a wisp of nitromethane and rubber smoke if the wind was blowing just right.
        I began to attend pre-med classes at Michigan

      • The Allure of Drag Racing
        07/23/13
        How can anyone not enjoy going to the drags? Sure its loud and sure its Plebian and surely it will tax your sense of smell, with all that leaded fuel and nitromethane but dollar for dollar there's not a better show anywhere in town.
        We cover a lot of racing events from this office but when

      • Detroit's Free Fall
        07/21/13
        It didn't seem that long ago I was cruising the streets of Detroit in my new 1965 Plymouth Street Wedge. I had a regular route from Telegraph Road south to Michigan Avenue. Once there, I headed east towards Dearborn ending up downtown to catch Woodward Avenue. At the foot of Woodward I'd

  • 2010
  • 2009
    • December
    • October
      • France’s Fall from A-List Status -- by J. R. Andres
        10/11/09
        It couldn’t have come at a worse time. The integrity of NASCAR’s infrastructure had already been brought into question with the Mayfield mess that still hasn’t been resolved and now this involving one of their own. On the surface, it appears to be one more example of privileged excess gone bad, some

      • NASCAR TV Ratings Slip, Sliding Away -- by J. R. Andres
        10/06/09
        It depends on who you speak to and the demographics you’re referring to but one thing is certain, NASCAR TV ratings are down this year. After a considerable period of growth it appears that stock car racing viewership is dwindling. Some cite the recession or the COT cars or the NFL or the CHASE form

    • August
      • Fast Times with a Quarter-Mile High -- by J. R. Andres
        08/12/09
        The summer was almost over and the waves of Lake Huron gently curled and rolled onto the white sand beaches of East Tawas, Michigan. It was August 31, 1964, and we were planning our next cruise before heading home. Was it going to be the pier or Main Street? We sat there on the shore listening to “T

    • July
      • Is Mayfield the Victim? -- by J. R. Andres
        07/02/09
        The ongoing saga of Mayfield vs. NASCAR took another turn when U.S. District Court Judge, Graham Mullen, signed a temporary injunction allowing Jeremy Mayfield to compete in this weekend’s NASCAR race at Daytona after being suspended two months ago for a failed drug test. Funny thing ... Mayfield di

    • June
      • You Meet the Nicest People in a Hyundai -- by J. R. Andres
        06/16/09
        This song line (with a few changes) from the mid 1960’s motorcycle commercial was a portent of things to come when Honda and several other Japanese manufacturers began to promote their two-wheeled products in the U.S. The English were already here at that time with Norton, BSA and Triumph and of c

      • He Thinks it's Cool -- by J. R. Andres
        06/14/09
        This story has been hashed and rehashed over and over again by the media since the recent meltdown in Nashville but it’s something that just won’t go away, sort of like a trick birthday candle that refuses to be blown out. And why is that? It’s because a person of prominence in the NASCAR world cont

      • Setting Records with Only 358.17 Cubic Inches -- by Ira Ostenheimer
        06/04/09
        Records were set this past Tuesday in Charlotte but they weren’t the ones Carl Long has been trying to set for many years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Circuit. Long, part-time driver and independent car owner, was tagged with a 12 race suspension and a 200 points penalty along with a $200,000.00 fine le

    • May
      • Does Earnhardt Deserve our Pity? -- by J. R. Andres
        05/18/09
        He was the guy who was going to pick up where his father left off. He was the guy positioned to attain greatness. He was the guy who had the talent and the means to carry on the Earnhardt tradition for yet another generation. If this were the case, then what happened to the driver and the expectatio

      • Is there a Dodge in NASCAR’s Future? -- by Ira Ostenheimer
        05/06/09
        There have been times in the past when automobile manufacturers have moved in and out of NASCAR competition based upon either costs or rule changes but never has there been a time when a brand stepped out of line due to bankruptcy. Such is the dilemma facing Dodge’s parent company, Daimler-Chrysler,

    • April
      • Danica . . . Please Say It Ain’t True -- by J. R. Andres
        04/29/09
        There’s word going around that you’re thinking about becoming a NASCAR driver. Please say it ain’t true. We know you’re a decent driver in the IndyCar Series and that you’ve won at least one race in the five years you’ve been there, but NASCAR?

        We thought that with all your endorsements

      • Is Talledega Safe? -- by Sandy Christiansen
        04/28/09
        What was it about this 2.66 mile racetrack that resulted in a near catastrophe this past Sunday? SAFER barriers, roof flaps and restrictor plates were supposed to eliminate the bedlam of years past but Talladega still remains one step away from disaster in the minds of many. Will the answer lie in w

      • Bridging the Generation Gap -- by J. R. Andres
        04/20/09
        It seemed unlikely that Mark Martin would ever stand a real chance of winning. After all, he’s 50 years old. Sure he has had a noteworthy past, sure he knows how to negotiate his way around the high banked turns of Talladega and Charlotte, sure he has the desire and sure he has some Hendrick prepare

      • Make Mine Chocolate -- by J. R. Andres
        04/14/09
        . . . Danny “Chocolate” Myers that is. I don’t always agree with the things I hear on Sirius NASCAR Radio but today “Chocolate” had some comments worth repeating from this afternoon’s call-in radio show. Once again, there was a controversy during this weekend’s Nationwide race in Nashville and it wa

      • Petty on Fox -- by Sandy Christiansen
        04/09/09
        Richard Petty had a few words to say on Fox’s “Sean Hannity’s America” program last evening when he appeared as a member on the show’s Great American Panel segment. When asked about this country’s desire to become independent from its ties to foreign oil, he stated, “It’s not that we don’t alre

      • The Checkered Flag of Texas -- by Ira Ostenheimer
        04/06/09
        It was a long time coming, 47 races in fact, since Jeff Gordon was last able to drive into Victory Lane. Never before was there such a lull in his career; never before did he have to listen to waves of criticism about him losing his focus and his commitment; never before did the champagne taste

      • NASCAR’s Abandoned Past - The Fallacy? -- by J. R. Andres
        04/01/09
        David Caraviello’s recent article, “Fallacy of an Abandoned Past” on www.NASCAR.com made some interesting points regarding his contention that there’s a sizable contingent of race fans who have been wrongly “hammering NASCAR for abandoning its past”. Caraviello then goes on to express his belie

    • March
      • The Fear of Commitment -- by J. R. Andres
        03/31/09
        C’mon Kyle, it was only a painted white line on the racetrack but you crossed it today in Martinsville – that line of commitment to yourself, your sponsor, your fans and to the rules of the sport. NASCAR didn’t want you to engage in some mid-race bodywork by scrubbing the k-wall just to straighten o

      • Kyle Busch vis a vis Earnhardt Sr. -- by J. R. Andres
        03/24/09
        It was interesting to hear the caller’s comments on today’s SIRIUS NASCAR Radio about Kyle Busch’s attitude and his “get out of the way” driving tactics. Busch the Younger supposedly went on record recently saying that he didn’t care whether he was liked or disliked, adding that he wasn’t prepared

      • At Bristol, It’s Now or Never (maybe) -- by J. R. Andres
        03/23/09
        What a difference a year makes. Who would have thought that: 1) tickets were going to be made available to the denizens of Thunder Valley for the first time in 13 years, and 2) Travis Kvapil’s loss of the Golden Corral sponsorship for his Yates Ford Fusion may be the first harbinger of the recessio

      • Digger, NASCAR’s Mole in the Hole -- by J. R. Andres
        03/20/09
        There’s competition amongst the rodents and there’s room for only one of them in town. It’s been twenty-nine years since so much attention has been heaped upon a member of the Geomyidae family. Mr. Gopher reigned supreme in “Caddyshack” but there are some new kids in town and they’ve taken up res