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Author: Joseph Shelton

Allgaier Scores Third Win of XFINITY Season at Mid-Ohio

Justin Allgaier scored his third win of the 2018 NASCAR XFINITY Series season at Mid-Ohio, holding off polesitter and rookie Team Penske driver Austin Cindric to the checkered flag in the Rock N’ Roll Tequila 170.

Daniel Hemric took home third, while Matt Tifft and Ryan Truex rounded out the top-five. Elliott Sadler, Cole Custer, Spencer Gallagher, Alex Labbe, and Ryan Reed rounded out the top-10.

The race was slowed by six cautions for 18 laps, with seven lead changes among four drivers. Cindric, who holds a strong road racing background, led the most laps with 59. However, Allgaier was able to get past Cindric with four laps left, making JR Motorsports a four-race winner this season.

“We needed to get up front,” said Allgaier. “That last restart was going to be pivotal.” This was after two brief incidents ended up with him going off course at one point and getting spun by Custer at another.

Cindric was gracious in defeat, saying, “It’s NASCAR racing. We knew there would be a late-race restart. Great driver on new tires, great restart. We finished second. It’s frustrating. This place means a lot to me. We just came up short.”

There were some post-race fireworks between Joey Gase and Ross Chastain following the race, with Gase and his pit crew confronting Chastain and his crew at his car. Video taken by Autoweek’s Matt Weaver showed Gase being restrained as he shouted at the JD Motorsports crew, while Chastain smiled and waved at the camera.

Gase was called to the NASCAR hauler following the incident, after it was alleged he had rammed Chastain on pit road after crews, fans, and media had already begun gathering on pit road.

“Basically I drove him hard and passed him clean, and going into the esses he hit me, I don’t know, three or four different turns and never got off my bumper and pushed me into the sand,” said Gase on the incident. “I don’t really appreciate that a whole lot. He’s Johnny Davis’s golden child and he can’t do anything wrong, and he forgets that we’re right there with him now, and the funny thing is that he also forgets that we’re trying to get in there in the Chase with him, and the only way we can do that is if we win.

“So he’s trying to do that off of points. So, we can make that really difficult for him, and people just got to remember we’re here to race too. This is the most fun I’ve ever had, this is the best I’ve ever ran this year, and we’re improving every race.”

The next XFINITY Series race will be Friday, August 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway, on NBC Sports Network.

August 11, 2018
France’s Arrest Damaging to NASCAR’s Image

This week should have been a good week in NASCAR. Chase Elliott, the second coming of Dale Earnhardt Jr., finally won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race after 99 starts, of which eight of them ended with Elliott in the runner-up spot.

A young, personable, talented individual finally made it to Victory Lane and the whole racing world rejoiced. It certainly helped that the win was attained in dramatic fashion, as Elliott held off last season’s Cup champion Martin Truex Jr., who is arguably one of the best in the business right now. This was a win that could have been marketed to NASCAR’s benefit, drawing in numbers the sport needs.

Instead, on Monday, the racing world receives a report that NASCAR Chairman and CEO (and the grandson of the founder of NASCAR, might I add), was arrested on a DUI charge in the Hamptons; he also happened to be in possession of Oxycodone to boot. Allegedly, according to TMZ.com who first reported the arrest, during the stop France acted in a belligerent manner, name-dropping his relationship with President Donald Trump and asking, “Do you know who I am?”

France doesn’t hold an ownership stake in NASCAR, serving instead at the behest of his uncle Jim France and sister Lesa France Kennedy. But on the business side of things, France is the face of the sport. He is the face of a sport that touts a rigorous drug testing program, a sport that involves driving vehicles at high rates of speed, mind you, a sport that several Fortune 500 companies have poured billions of dollars in over the course of the years, at that.

The arrest report of France’s traffic stop

Some of these sponsors may stay, and if so, great. They may pay at a lower cost because there is no question that on the business side of things, considering that NASCAR is up for sale, all hands are on deck in damage control mode to keep as many advertisers as possible involved in the sport. It’s easy to speculate how much money this arrest has cost the sport, because who wants to be involved in a motorsport where the Chairman has no qualms about operating a vehicle under the influence? What does that tell potential buyers and advertisers?

It’s easy to be angry, to spout doom and gloom on what was supposed to be a happy week. It’s easy to be angry at France because each year thousands are injured or killed in accidents caused by drivers who are under the influence. But it’s also easy to have pity on France. Rumors have carried on for years that he had a substance abuse issue, and although they were easy to dismiss as rumors, this arrest does add a validity to them. This may have been an isolated incident. It may have been a sign of his rumored addiction. But given his conduct and questionable decisions over the course of his tenure as NASCAR CEO, it can be speculated that France does need help and on that note, he should take it.

The ramifications of this arrest have yet to be seen, but they will arrive and they will not be pretty. Aside from the obvious jokes and vitriol across social media (let’s keep in mind that the target demographic NASCAR’s been trying to reach will be too busy laughing at them to even care), there will be the ever-present loss of money, another problem that the sport does not need.

NASCAR has been quick and efficient with the damage control so far, issuing this statement shortly after news of France’s arrest broke:

“Brian France has taken an indefinite leave of absence from NASCAR as chairman and chief executive officer. Effective immediately, NASCAR Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Jim France has assumed the role of interim chairman and chief executive officer.”

Shortly after, Brian France issued this statement:

“I apologize to our fans, our industry and my family for the impact of my actions last night. Effective immediately, I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from my position to focus on my personal affairs.”

It looks that NASCAR has realized that instead of carrying on like everything is okay, it would be best for all involved if France were to step down. He needs to step away, seek help or treatment, and tend to his own issues. NASCAR will need recover from this, meanwhile, and if they play their cards right they will.

August 6, 2018
NASCAR, IndyCar Communities Team Up For #CooperStrong

What started as a text message from JD Motorsports team owner Johnny Davis to team employee Alex Tauras has now become a hero card drive extending across the motorsports world, centered around an eight-year-old fan with a terminal illness.

Cooper, a young race fan from Oklahoma, is currently battling Stage 3 Anaplastic Ependymoma, which is a tumor that forms when cells in the central nervous system (including the brain and spinal cord) begin to multiply rapidly. An ependymoma is anaplastic if the cells grow very quickly and are significantly unusual in shape.

Cooper had let it be known that he’d like some hero cards of some race car drivers, and Tauras, who runs the JD Motorsports social media pages, spread the word through the team’s social media accounts including the team’s official Reddit account, where he then posted to the r/NASCAR community. From there, the drive took off as several fans began sending in not only hero cards, both signed and unsigned, but diecasts and T-shirts as well.

“I figured that if Cooper liked racing and just wanted hero cards, I’m sure other people would join in and send us some of their duplicates,” said Tauras. “Little did I know, that would quickly blow up. From the time I created the post, even till now, I’m getting messages from NASCAR fans all over the United States asking what they can send him. To be honest, I really had no real intention on doing something like this, but it’s funny how God puts you in places and situations.”

“As of right now, I think we’re somewhere in the high 30s for diecasts of all sizes, maybe a few hundred hero cards, and one guy is sending us about 1,200 trading cards along with a variety of stuff.”

One r/NASCAR community member, user /u/GarageguyEve, cross-posted the drive over to the Reddit INDYCAR community, r/INDYCAR, where several fans from that community have also teamed together to send young Cooper some more racing swag. Among those from the community Andretti Autosport, who saw the post on the INDYCAR Reddit, has been in contact with JD Motorsports to help send more to Cooper.

Texas Motor Speedway and some members from Hendrick Motorsports are also reaching out and sending packages to Cooper, but the icing on the cake may happen on November 7, as Cooper has been invited to be a guest of JD Motorsports for the November race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

JD Motorsports issued a thank you to the fans through their Reddit account, stating that the drive was “not only a testament to what the NASCAR/Motorsports community is capable of, but it’s a testament to the kindness, compassion, and resolve that our community has.”

According to Tauras, room is running out with the number of items they are receiving for the drive, so the team plans to send the items out this week so it can arrive early enough and fall into place accordingly as Cooper is currently recovering at home.

August 1, 2018
Bell Holds Off Keselowski for Xfinity Win At Loudon

Christopher Bell held off Brad Keselowski and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ryan Preece to win Saturday’s Lakes Region 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, scoring his third XFINITY Series win for 2018 and fourth career win overall. Bell, who started second, led 93 of the 200 scheduled laps and crossed the line .416 seconds ahead of Keselowski’s Team Penske Ford.

John Hunter Nemechek finished fourth and Matt Tifft took fifth to round out the top-five. Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Elliott Sadler, Cole Custer, and Austin Dillon rounded out the sixth through 10th positions.

“You hope to race those guys at one point, so I’m thankful that I get the opportunity here in the Xfinity Series to race with them and proud that I’m able to compete with them, let alone beat them,” Bell said.

The win is Bell’s second straight, both wins coming ahead of Cup champions as Bell also defeated series regular Daniel Hemric and a dominant Kyle Busch at Kentucky a week ago.

The win makes Bell the winningest XFINITY Series regular in 2018 after 18 events, with Allgaier (two wins), Tyler Reddick (one win), and Spencer Gallagher (one win) being the only other regulars to win this season. Preece, despite having one win this season (Bristol) is only competing part-time this season. Bell still remains second in points to Hemric, who despite remaining winless in 2018 leads the standings by six points over Bell by virtue of finishing 11th Saturday.

Bell’s win over Keselowski also reignited the discussion of whether or not Cup regulars should race in the XFINITY Series. His victory was seen as a win for the up-and-comers of the sport with Bell saying that he believes that Cup drivers should be allowed in the division so he could race against the best drivers in NASCAR.

Bell also spoke highly of his Joe Gibbs Racing equipment, pointing out the expectation to win with the team.

“Whenever you come to here, you step in this equipment at Joe Gibbs Racing, you’re expected to win,” he said. “Pressure’s on for you to deliver and thankfully I’ve been able to deliver, at least some of the time. They’ve won before me, they’re going to win after me. It’s my job to make sure they win with me.”

The XFINITY Series stops next at Iowa Speedway, where Allgaier won back in June, leading 182 laps on the way to victory. Preece scored his first career win in the event a year ago for JGR, whose Toyotas have won three times at the speedway.

The U.S. Cellular 250 airs Saturday, July 28, at 4 p.m. on NBCSN.

July 21, 2018
Chicago Finish is the Boost the 2018 Cup Season Needs

There’s no argument that the 2018 Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was the greatest finish of the season so far. So what if Kyle Busch won? So what if Kyle Larson didn’t win? It doesn’t change the overlying fact that the fender-smashing, side-by-sideways last-lap run to the checkered flag was the most exciting thing anyone has seen all season. Once again, to bring the topic around, there is no argument here. This was the best finish of 2018.

Still, the chorus of boos was heard at full volume while Busch was interviewed at the finish line following the win. Reminiscent of the Fall 1999 race at Bristol when Dale Earnhardt Sr. turned Terry Labonte, the boos were hard to ignore; Busch even returned the favor by mocking the detractors on national television. Meanwhile, despite finishing second, Larson was all smiles and made sure to congratulate Busch following the race. It was evident that the two had fun, which is more than what could be said for some of the fans.

It’s expected at this point in time that any Kyle Busch victory will be met with a chorus of boos, unless it’s a clean race then yeah, sure; let’s applaud the guy. But considering he ran into the back of Larson in what was a fair play move, fans looking for a reason to gripe found a reason to lob their regularly scheduled boos at the guy. Never mind that he’s one of the best of our time. Never mind that he’s 10 wins shy of 200 NASCAR National Touring wins. Never mind that Sunday’s finish left everyone standing in their seats. Somehow, it feels awkward not to boo Kyle Busch.

To be honest, a prevalent fan issue is that they can be a touch disingenuous. It’d be nice to see new faces in Victory Lane this season; only six drivers have won in the Cup Series so far. But then again, history is being made. Not since the 90s has there been such a small but dominant group of drivers. A lot of fans talking about “missing the old days,” but with three drivers alone (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr.) winning 13 of this season’s races, it’s a nod to racing 20 years ago when Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Gordon were winning everything.

Sure, there’s been some good, close finishes in ’18, such as the Daytona 500 or the race at Texas. But nothing with this sense of urgency, nor with the level of talent, has gone down this season. Two natural wheelmen went toe-to-toe for the win at Chicago, with the better of the two coming out on top. This is the kind of racing that makes NASCAR so fun to be a part of and this is the kind of racing that makes lasting memories for the fans. If anything, there should be more cheers because when all is said and done, Sunday’s finish was the type that defines NASCAR.

July 1, 2018
Dixon wins Texas; Pagenaud, Rossi score best Texas finishes

Scott Dixon scored his third win at Texas Motor Speedway when he won the DXC 600, his second win of 2018 and second win in three races. Dixon held off Simon Pagenaud in second, Alexander Rossi in third, James Hinchcliffe in fourth and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top-five. Graham Rahal finished sixth, Takuma Sato finished seventh, eighth went to Sebastien Bourdais, and Ed Jones and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top-10.

“Good race, smooth, pretty tricky toward the end,” said Dixon. “Great team effort with everybody on the PNC crew, a great effort on their part.” Dixon also pointed out that the race was started on scuffed tires as they were a concern heading into the race.

Newgarden and Pagenaud started on the front row, with Newgarden leading early before the race’s first caution on Lap 5 when the No. 4 entry of Matheus Leist lost power and pulled off the track. Leist emerged uninjured as his AJ Foyt Racing entry caught fire. Shortly after his AFR teammate Tony Kanaan pulled off the track after contact with the wall led to suspension problems, an issue rookie Zack Veach also faced after scraping the wall.

Tire issues plagued the race early, as several drivers including the Penske cars of Will Power and Newgarden made stops to change tires out of sequence with the rest of field. Most of the race was run under green until Lap 173 when the lapped car of Ed Carpenter turned down on rookie Robert Wickens, sending both into the wall and out of the race.

The night’s biggest incident happened on Lap 205 when the 12 of Power slid into rookie Zachary Claman De Melo, who was making a pass on the outside of Power off of the fourth turn. Both went into the wall with Power taking the most damage. Both drivers retired from the race and Power will be facing a penalty for the incident.

Pagenaud summed up the race as being fast and physical, although his runner-up finish was his best finish at the speedway, an accomplishment third-place finisher Rossi can also hold onto.

Dixon was the dominant car of the night, leading 119 laps while Newgarden led 59 laps before being penalized on lap 226 for jumping the restart. Newgarden finished 13th, four laps down. Rookie Wickens also had a strong showing before his incident with Carpenter as he led 31 laps. His accident was his first oval DNF this season, having had his only other DNF in the first race of the season at St. Peterburg.

The next race will be June 24 at Road America on NBCSN.

June 9, 2018
AJ Foyt Racing Exits Early At Texas

Both AJ Foyt Racing entries have exited the DXC 600 at Texas Motor Speedway as rookie Matheus Leist and Tony Kanaan are the first retirees of the race.

On lap seven, Leist’s No. 4 entry lost power before catching fire. Leist exited the car once it came to a stop in turn three before the car was engulfed in flames. Leist was uninjured in the incident.

Shortly after, the No. 14 of Kanaan brushed the wall off of the second turn and spent a lengthy amount of time on pit road before returning to the track. Kanaan made a couple of laps before pulling back onto the pits and exiting the car.

Kanaan and Leist will finish 21st and 22nd respectively. We will keep you updated as the race progresses.

June 9, 2018
Latest Indy 500 Heartbreak Solidifies Race’s Legacy

On Saturday’s Bump Day at Indy, the sport was left shocked when Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe was knocked out of the Indy 500 field. Hinchcliffe, who currently sits fifth in the Verizon IndyCar Series points standings, took his DNQ in a humble manner, never shifting the blame to anyone else, saying that Indianapolis was a “cruel mistress.”

That last part is quite true. Hinchcliffe isn’t the first fan favorite to miss the show. Ryan Hunter-Reay failed to qualify in 2011, although he did take over Bruno Junqueira’s spot in the field. In 1995, Team Penske drivers Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi missed the field a year after Unser won and Fittipaldi led 145 laps before a late-race crash knocked him out of contention. The list goes on and on, further showing that no one driver or team is larger than the legacy of the Indianapolis 500.

One of the biggest names in American motorsports, Mario Andretti, attempted the Indy 500 29 times, yet finished all 500 miles just five times including his only win in the event in 1969. His run of luck in the event was so troubled that it was dubbed the “Andretti Curse,” as it extended to other Andretti family members including his sons Michael and Jeff, neither of which ever won the 500, and although Marco Andretti is still a competitor at Indy, his 2006 loss as a rookie is seen as the epitome of the curse, as he was leading coming to the checkered flag before being passed in the last 400 feet by Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr.

Smokey Yunick, believed by many to be the greatest engineering mind in racing, made several attempts to win Indy as a crew chief and team owner, which he did in 1960 with Jim Rathmann. He came close again in 1969, with driver Joe Leonard posing a major threat to race leader Andretti, but on lap 150 his radiator was punctured by a hose clamp – a hose clamp! – and he finished sixth in the final rundown. Yunick went on to mount the hose clamp on a wall in the office of his shop in Daytona Beach, Florida. Leonard himself had a heartbreak all his own the year before when his turbine stopped running while he was leading with 10 laps to go.

The 1960 event came down to a battle between Rodger Ward and Rathmann, and although Ward led with five laps to go, he slowed to keep second place once the chord began showing on the right front. The next year Eddie Sachs made a pit stop with three laps remaining when a cord began showing through a tire. 1966 saw Jackie Stewart stopping with 10 laps to go when he began losing oil pressure. In 1967 Parnelli Jones stopped after a gearbox bearing failed with three laps to go after he led over 400 miles. Then, in 1987, perennially snake-bitten Colombian Roberto Guerrero added one of many 500 heartbreaks to his list when his engine stalled on a pit stop on lap 182. Guerrero had taken the lead shortly before when Mario Andretti’s engine had failed after leading 170 of the race’s first 177 laps.

It was Yunick who claimed that the spirit of the Indy 500 was a bull that sat in the first turn. Purely metaphorical, of course, but taking into consideration how difficult it is to win the 500, is it a wonder that only a select number of drivers have won the race more than once? Dario Franchitti is a three-time winner, while Helio Castroneves is also a three-time winner of the event. Only three drivers have won the race four times, with Rick Mears, Al Unser, and A.J. Foyt all managing to tame the bull more than anyone else.

Sometimes, though, the Indy 500 is like Stephen King’s Dark Tower. It’s the nexus of size and time in the racing world, and the road to success is fraught with peril. This isn’t the lowest point for Hinchcliffe at Indy. In 2015 he almost lost his life in a spectacular practice crash that kept him out of the car for the rest of the season. He did eke out a small measure of revenge in 2016 when he returned to win the pole for the 500, only to finish seventh after leading 27 laps.

Ralph DePalma led 196 laps in the 500 in 1912, but with a lap and a half to go a connecting rod broke, ending his dominating run. In 1955, Bill Vukovich was well on the way to his third consecutive win in the 500 but lost his life when lapped cars in front of him tangled and he was collected in the crash. In 2011, JR Hildebrand was set to be the first rookie to win the 500 since Castroneves in 2001, but going high around Charlie Kimball on the last corner of the last lap Hildebrand collided with the wall, leading to Dan Wheldon scoring his second and final 500 win.

All of this goes to show that it’s not an easy road to Indy success. But when that success is reached, it’s the highlight of a career. Andretti’s ’69 500 win was his only win in the event, but had he not won the race at all, his career would forever be deemed incomplete. Meanwhile, Buddy Rice’s lone 500 win kept his career from being mired in semi-obscurity before he followed it up with a 24 Hours of Daytona win in 2009. Buddy Lazier was a relative unknown before his 1996 win in the event which led to a full-time ride, seven more IndyCar wins, and the 2000 series championship. Sam Hanks won the event in 1957. Hanks had raced before and after World War II and had even served in the military. Hanks had made at least 8 FIA starts and retired following his 500 win. 1955 500 winner Bob Sweikert made five FIA starts and finished sixth a year after winning the 500 before losing his life shortly after in a Sprint Car crash.

Indy is the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. No legacy can surmount Indy, no matter how big the name. Now, given the current state of the sport, it’s possible that Hinchcliffe and SPM could buy out another entry in order to keep him in the race. But that goes against what makes Indy such a tough race. It’s an indiscriminate animal, indifferent to both driver and team. Only the best make the field, and only the best combination of luck and talent will allow a driver to drink the milk in Victory Lane.

Thank you to Christopher DeHarde (@CDeHarde on Twitter) for research assistance.

May 21, 2018
Current NASCAR Next Class High on Marketability, Short on Results

What means more in the long haul when it comes to promoting a new star in NASCAR? Results, or marketability?

One would think results, but in the case of Danica Patrick, that was not the case. For the sake of the argument, her story must be repeated. Lands a ride with a championship-caliber organization, but in 191 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup starts she earned seven top-10s and a pole. Was she any better in XFINITY competition? How does a top-five, seven top-10s, and a pole in 61 starts sound? Granted, XFINITY equipment isn’t the same as Cup equipment, but the results speak for themselves. Yet somehow, she was chosen to be a leading face of the sport.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, remember Dylan Kwasniewski? Two-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series champion with a total of 11 wins in 45 starts between 2011 and 2013. Where’s that guy? Where’s the effort that was invested into his career? This guy was even named part of the star-studded NASCAR Next class of 2013, a roster that included Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, and Brett Moffitt. Now, he’s joined the ranks as a real estate agent along with another former NASCAR champion, James Buescher.

The above may only be a test case, but checking the roster one can’t help but wonder what the agenda is for the 2018 NASCAR Next class. Sure, some of the drivers have had some success in stock cars. Zane Smith seems to be the hottest ARCA ace right now, while Derek Kraus finds himself with a shot at a championship in the K&N Pro Series for Bill McAnally Racing.

And…that’s pretty much it.

Among the nine drivers, there are 11 total wins in stock cars. That might sound respectable until the fact emerges that those 11 wins came across 162 starts. Once again, that’s decent for a single driver, but 162 starts across nine drivers is not a promising stat.

Therefore it begs the question, why these kids? Sure, Smith, Kraus, and Riley Herbst are proven winners, as are Will Rodgers and Anthony Alfredo, but does a win a superstar make? Ask Kwasniewski. Ask Buescher. Then again, Patrick earned a smidgen of top-10s yet look at how she was revered. By that measuring stick, the others in this year’s measuring stick look to be okay.

Where’s the rush to put Austin Theriault in top-notch equipment; Theriault, the 2017 ARCA Champion for Ken Schrader Racing? His 2017 season was proof that added time climbing up the ladder helps with experience, especially after his debut campaign for Brad Keselowski Racing’s truck camp in 2015. Or Cayden Lapcevich, who happens to have six wins in 31 starts along with the 2016 NASCAR Pinty’s Series championship. Despite those accolades, Lapcevich’s team had to close down after the 2017 season due to lack of funding, not so different from Theriault’s current situation. Two stock car champions, proven to be fast and consistent as well as good learners, yet both are out of a ride for 2018 while a group of green kids takes front and center in NASCAR’s Next program.

Speaking of, the lack of experience is glaring. Ryan Vargas, the 17-year-old from La Miranda, California, has only made five K&N Pro Series East starts in 2018 and has scored a solitary top-10 (a ninth at Langley Speedway). Tanner Thorson, despite making a grand total of seven starts in stock cars (including a debut Truck Series run at Dover), has a grand total of two top-fives and three top-10s. Hailie Deegan only has three top-10s in three K&N Pro Series starts.

Is this what the program emphasizes? Who to look for on a program? Or who to look for in Victory Lane? Granted, these kids could improve greatly if given more time to grow in stock cars, for sure. But despite the few whom NASCAR is currently celebrating that have actually won, the hunt for who to add as a DLC for the next NASCAR Heat game seems a touch more prevalent. Therefore, some of these very green kids are being rushed up the ladder, not because of their accolades, but because they’ll sell a magazine cover. Year after year, that has proved to not be a good thing.

This isn’t saying that these kids don’t have talent. Talent, like fruit, takes time to ripen. Therefore, don’t put these kids on NASCAR’s forefront yet. Give them time to grow. Give them time to mature. Otherwise, has anyone heard from Ryan Gifford? Where is Cameron Hayley? Luis Martinez, Jr., perchance? Because none of those guys are gracing covers right now. They don’t have Lionel Diecasts out for sale. While James Bickford is on the comeback trail he’s not featured in commercials right now. Nicole Behar doesn’t have a t-shirt for sale at Walmart.

Sure, some great stars have come through the Next program, stars with pedigree and results like Elliott, Blaney, and John Hunter Nemechek. Wallace, Larson, and Moffitt are winners, and Cole Custer is coming along nicely in the XFINITY Series. But Austin Hill isn’t making cameos on hit NBC shows, Gray Gaulding is struggling to survive in NASCAR, and Kenzie Ruston isn’t even racing anymore.

Get the point?

Either the NASCAR Next program can be used to solely focus or educate a driver’s appeal and driver growth, or it could altogether go away. Let a driver’s appeal and growth be organic. Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t have the same record as Jimmie Johnson or Richard Petty, but the sport loves him just the same. Kenny Wallace never won a race but he’s one of the most followed NASCAR personalities on social media. Likewise, if there’s a champion on the hunt for a ride like Theriault or Lapcevich, then emphasis should be placed on getting those guys to the top of the list in terms of filling in a quality ride because let’s face it, folks may love all of the drivers, but it’s the winners who usually get more attention.

Family money and connections shouldn’t have ever had anything to do the climb up the ladder in the first place.

May 16, 2018
No Room in NASCAR for Racism, Bigotry

Can I be up front with you guys for a second?

How many of you are parents to biracial children? I am. My oldest, Meredith, is Mexican-American. You may have seen her in some of my photos on social media. Maybe you’ve read the article I wrote about her trip to Texas Motor Speedway last year. Maybe not, but hey, that’s beside the point.

For those of you who have seen her, did you notice anything that would set her apart from any other child you know; anything about her build, makeup, anything at all? Surely not. She’s just like every other 11-year-old out there in that she loves talking to her friends, playing Roblox, and takes forever and a day in cleaning up her room. There’s nothing that differentiates her from any other child or any other individual out there.

So when I go on social media to find that Daniel Suarez, one of NASCAR’s most popular and genial drivers, is getting assaulted for his Mexican heritage and roots, needless to say, I take that personally. He’s won in NASCAR, both races and championships. He’s proven his worth by scoring top finishes on a variety of race tracks. He’s earned the respect of his peers and fans, including your favorite driver. Yet somehow, that’s not enough for some folks.

No, they want to disparage him because he’s brown. They want to disparage him because English isn’t his primary language. They want to disparage him because he was born in Monterrey, Mexico. It angers the bigots, the narrow-minded racists, because they can’t seem to let go of the fact that, in their mind,” he’s not one of us.”

No. No way. There’s no way a mindset like that gets to win in this sport. NASCAR has evolved in a great way from the days when a black man named Wendell Scott was almost robbed of his first career win. Has anyone checked the genetic makeup of the race day crowd lately? There’s black fans, white fans, Asian fans, German fans. and more. Last year when Meredith and I were at TMS we were sandwiched in a line between a British family and a Japanese family.

Let’s dig deeper. I hate mixing politics and religion with sports but despite NASCAR being stereotyped as a “white, Christian, conservative sport,” it’s surprising the number of fans you can meet on a race weekend that not only have a different skin color but a different religion as well as different political beliefs. They are liberal, conservative, black, white, brown, Muslim, Christian, and Atheist. These numbers are growing because NASCAR is a sport for everybody. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from. It doesn’t matter what your race, nationality, creed, gender or sexual preference is. This is a sport that is lightyears more evolved from what it once was all those years ago for the betterment of all involved.

It’s a sport where the minority role now belongs to the ignorant who call themselves “fans” but who are now outdated, antiquated, and who truly do not belong. This isn’t a matter of political correctness, persecution or whatever label they want to call it. The idea that a Mexican driver doesn’t deserve the same respect as Kyle Larson or Bubba Wallace should not have any credibility at all. This is a viewpoint that has no grounds, no validity and no place in the sport.

This is still a NASCAR article, though, so let me reel off some racing stats. Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Coca-Cola 600 is going on at the end of May during Memorial Day Weekend. In regard to Suarez, Charlotte has been kind to him. In a combined eight starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring divisions he has four top-10s at the track including a pair of top-fives in XFINITY competition.

Why bring up Charlotte when there’s Kansas to worry about? Well, although Suarez could just as easily take a trip to Victory Lane at Kansas, he knows his way around Charlotte well. From a race fan’s point of view, that’s just stating facts based off of results. But from the point of view of an angry father who has had to calm his little girl because she was afraid after a peer at school told her she was going to be deported once upon a time? Well, in that case, there’s something about a Mexican driver winning with a Japanese-based manufacturer on a day we celebrate those who sacrificed all for the freedoms we have today, that makes me wish the detractors of race, the ignorant of color and talent, would just eat salt. The Coca-Cola 600 is notorious for first-time and surprise winners, although if Suarez did, in fact, win it wouldn’t be much of a surprise.

There’s no room in the sport for those kinds of people and for that kind of talk. There’s room for anyone and everyone from all walks of life. Come one, come all, and let’s enjoy the sport. But there is no room for hatred and bigotry. There is room for driver rivalry and fandom, even for disliking a driver because they’re rivals with your favorite driver. But to hate and discredit a driver because of their color? Well, to quote A Tribe Called Quest, “Take that garbage to St. Elsewhere.”

May 8, 2018