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Author: SM Staff

  • Non-Chasers Excel in Bank Of America 500

    Non-Chasers Excel in Bank Of America 500

    Kasey Kahne

    For the third week in a row, Kasey Kahne has finished in the top-5 among the Chase contenders.  At the beginning of the race, Kahne did not have a great race car.  He complained of “rear-end up and front-end down” handling issues.  After green flag pit stops with 139 laps to go, the No. 4 crew made adjustments to correct the issues.  “Oh yea, it’s going now” Kahne replied to the crew after exiting pit road.  After pit stops, Kahne was in ninth position and was the fastest car on the track.  On the fifth caution of the night, Kahne’s Red Bull crew was able to get him out of the pits in third position, securing him a finish of fourth position.  Kahne won the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race award for the Bank of America 500.  Given to the winner of the race, or the next highest finishing driver with the Mobil 1 decal on their race car.  Kasey moved up one spot in standings to 15th position.

    Marcos Ambrose

    Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose was destined to do well at Charlotte Motor Speedway, having ten top-10 career finishes at intermediate tracks coming into this race.  Ambrose celebrated his fifth top-5 of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night.  Ambrose qualified his Stanley Tools Ford in 12th position and was a front runner throughout the race.  Although there were a few late-race cautions, Ambrose was able to hold his position and stay at the head of the field.  Marcos finished the race in fifth position, his third straight top-10 of the season.  The crew chief of the No. 9 car, Todd Parrott, received the Moog Problem Solver of the Race award.  Given to the crew chief that improves the most from the first half of the race to the second half, utilizing the 40 best laps times(improving 0.155 seconds).  Marcos moved two spots up in the points standings, to 18th position


    AJ Allmendinger

    Although AJ Allmendinger battled handling issues during the race, he was able to keep his Best Buy Ford in the top-10 throughout the night.  On Lap 127 Allmendinger pitted to try and correct these handling issues, but couldn’t quite seem to get it fixed.  AJ remained in the top-10 until just after Lap 200, when he fell to 12th position.  The team remained patient, pitting again under Lap 238 to make more adjustments.  With 100 laps to go, Allmendinger’s No. 43 car came to life, allowing him to finish the race in seventh position.  This marks AJ’s eighth top-10 of the season.  Leaving Charlotte, he rests in 14th position in points standings.

  • IndyCar Needs a Change in Safety, Sooner Than Later

    IndyCar Needs a Change in Safety, Sooner Than Later

    “It’s incredible that no more than just one driver was hurt,” Mario Andretti said Monday on CNN. “Dan’s situation was a very freakish thing where his car flew right up into the catch fencing. The track is very well equipped, it is one of a few tracks to have SAFER walls all the way around, but he just missed the top of it. It was so unfortunate.”

    The IZOD IndyCar Series veteran added that there needs to be nothing done. This coming after an accident that happened at Las Vegas Motor Speedway sending three cars airborne, taking out another 12 cars and killing Dan Wheldon.

    However, even before the race started, there was concerns from the drivers about the type of racing that was about to take place.

    Will Power, who was one of the cars that went airborne, told his father Bob before the race that somebody was going to get killed out there, as according to Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

    “All it takes is one mistake by one driver and it could be huge consequences,” Ryan Hunter-Reay had said before the race. “This should be a nail-biter for the fans, and it’s going to be insane for the drivers.

    “To be in the middle of the field might not be the best situation early on,” Paul Tracy had added. “There is the potential for a big wreck, so we hope to stay out of that.”

    IndyCar’s website had it predicted it would be a wild race with James Hinchcliffe saying in a video that, “The hot spot is every inch of the 1.5 miles. It’s such a grippy track. A place like Kentucky there are bumps and the cars move around a little bit. Here, they aren’t doing that and we are race car drivers and will take every inch that we are given and you have just eliminated the entire margin. The racing is so close and when something goes around it can really go wrong.”

    As predicted, the race was crazy early on and as a result, the unthinkable happened. Two wheels touched between cars, which sent Hinchcliffe flying. Drivers behind tried to react and avoid harm but couldn’t, making contact, sending Wheldon and Power both flying from the bottom of the track to the outside wall. Wheldon’s car missed the outside retaining wall, as the top of the cockpit with the driver is exposed hit the catchfence. As a result, Wheldon was pronounced dead two hours later due to head injuries.

    The drivers knew right away that it was ugly and what had been hinted of before the race just driving through the debris.

    “It was just a chain reaction, and everybody slowed down, got bunched up again and there were more crashes that started behind it,” Scott Dixon told Sports Illustrated. “It’s unfortunate because everybody knew it was going to happen. You could see it from Lap 2 people were driving nuts. It doesn’t even matter the speeds – you can’t touch with these cars.”

    “It was like a movie scene which they try to make as gnarly as possible,” Danica Patrick, who was running her last IndyCar race before moving to NASCAR, said. “It was debris everywhere across the whole track. You could smell the smoke. You could see the billowing smoke on the back straight from the car. There was a chunk of fire that we were driving around. You could see cars scattered.”

    This wasn’t a surprise at all to anybody as the warnings were there before the race even started. Many drivers had warned series officials, including this year’s champion Dario Franchitti.

    “You know I love hard racing, but that to me is not really what it’s about,” he said after the accident. “I said before we even tested here that this was not a suitable track for us, and we’ve seen it today. You can’t get away from anybody. There’s no way to differentiate yourself as a car or a driver. People get frustrated and go four-wide and you saw what happened.”

    For NASCAR, the track is fine as if they rub fenders, it’s just known as minor contact and everybody can continue. Though for IndyCar, there are no fenders there so they rub wheels. The rubbing of wheels creates a dangerous situation as the touch sends another car wrecking, and probably after taking flight.

    As Tracy noted on CNN, “The IndyCars now, they spec the cars to where they want cars to run a bit more in the pack like NASCAR, and these cars are not designed to run and bang wheels with each other at 220mph. Our wheels are exposed, NASCAR are closed body cars like street cars, so once you have two cars touch each other, you don’t have any control of what can happen.”

    The current aerodynamics brings forth the pack racing and with speeds exceeding 220 mph, drivers don’t have the time to react. If they do react, due to being in a freight train format, the person behind them may not. As many have repeated, the increased field size of Las Vegas from a normal field under 20 cars to 34 cars increased the risk.

    If IndyCar wants to keep with the current aerodynamics, the oval pack racing that is seen needs to go. However, this doesn’t mean to remove all oval tracks, like Iowa and Indy, should not be removed as they’re not as fast and you see drivers have the ability to get spread out.

    The dismissal of oval tracks is just a start, though. Wheldon’s death was more due to the open cockpit contact with the catch fence.

    One suggestion is closed cockpits as Ryan Briscoe tweeted, “I’d like to see future IndyCar/Open Wheelers with closed cockpits one day, like modern Le Mans LMP1 cars have today.” The only problem would be debris and dirt making it hard to see, however a simple solution of tear-offs could solve that.

    The other solution is maybe to look at changing the catch fence design.

    “Even with the new technologies that have come about in the last 10 years, nothing has changed when it comes to the catch fencing,”Tracy explained to Sirius Speedway. “We saw it with Carl Edwards at Talladega, and we saw it again Sunday with Dan. When cars get into the fencing, it acts like a spider web. It grabs them and tears them to pieces.”

    Whether you take suggestions given or others come about, change is needed. Dan Wheldon dying along with Will Power suffering back pain, J.R. Hildebrand suffering from a severely-bruised sternum and Pippa Mann with a severely burned finger is too much. A repeat of what happened would be horrendous as images and descriptions of Sunday already go too far.

    “It was like driving through a war zone,” Briscoe said after the wreck. “We all predicted something like this would happen.”

    That prediction factor is what haunts IndyCar racing now because as more people learn the details, they seem to find themselves blaming IndyCar’s head brass. For them instead of IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard taking care of a problem, they see an image of him liking the style of racing.

    “I was watching practice and it was unbelievable,” Bernard told Sports Illustrated after practice. “Three wide at more than 220mph.”

    Once again, practice on Thursday showed more warnings, yet nothing done. That’s how the situation is read. That’s why you may see big names leave IndyCar.

    “I’ve warned him to give up for awhile,” F1 Champion Jody Shecter said of son Tomas. “Hopefully this will knock some sense into him and realize there is more to life. It really isn’t worth it.”

    Tracy says he’s reconsidering after seeing Wheldon die before his eyes and after hearing concerns from his family.

    Power, who broke his back at Infinion Raceway, a road course, in 2009 “has taken time off to collect his thoughts and reconsider his future” as per Australia’s Daily Telegraph. His father, Bob, said he’d be okay with a change.

    “It wouldn’t worry me if he walked away and tried something else,” Bob Power said. “I would like him to have a go at Formula 1 or something like that, because it is a hell of a lot safer than running around ovals in IndyCar. I would much rather him run on road circuits because ovals are a worry.”

    The concern was there from the start and are still there. Easily people are going to blame the head brass as stated, but there’s of course another side to the coin.

    In 2000, the drivers chose to boycott the race at Texas Motor Speedway due to concerns after feeling dizziness in practice.

    Many could question why they didn’t choose to boycott this race. Was it due to fears of what might have been said if they did? If so, does that overcome the fear of risk and safety? Easily nope, so many should also look to the drivers as to why they still ran the race.

    Looking back at Las Vegas no matter the opinion of what happened and how, only hope of change for the future can help us in looking back at what happened.

    “This is a huge tragedy for IndyCar but I hope that out of the tragedy comes some good in terms of improving more in safety,” Tracy said. “Like when Greg Moore died and Dale Earnhardt Sr., and now Dan Wheldon. The innovations that came out from that in terms of improving driver safety need to be kicked up a notch. We hope that is what will happen.”

  • HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: CHARLOTTE CONFUSION

    HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: CHARLOTTE CONFUSION

    Why was there confusion during the NASCAR weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway? That’s because literally everything we expected to happen didn’t happen. During the weekend we watched a former NASCAR Sprint champion quietly drive his way into major contention for a second title. We watched a Sprint Cup dynasty take a major hit in their latest championship effort. In the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ portion of the Charlotte weekend we watched a wrecked race car literally get shoved to the checkered flag. Meanwhile in Las Vegas, a 53 year old champion once again proved he wasn’t finished and the points championship in that series left us wondering how it was all going to end. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin this week with:

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”208″][/media-credit]HOORAH to Matt Kenseth, and Roush Fenway Racing, for winning the Bank Of America 500. With 24 laps remaining in the race, Kenseth outgunned Kyle Busch and led him under the checkers by a margin of 0.968 seconds. But this process was disrupted by a late race caution followed by a double file restart with only 11 circuits remaining. That’s when Kenseth pulled off a beautiful restart during the course of an evening when his restarts could have used some work.  The effort netted him his third win of the season and 21st career win. Of equal importance Kenseth is now third in the Chase standings only seven points from the top.

    HOORAH to Kenseth’s sense of humor, (yes, he really does have a good one), regarding his sponsor Fluidmaster, a manufacturer of water conserving, slow flow, toilet systems. With a smile on his face, Kenseth said “with all of those toilet jokes about my restarts, we finally got a good one today. Thankfully, we got a good there at the end.”

    One can only imagine the level of toilet jokes this driver had to endure. I’m sure there were comments like “don’t flush your race down the toilet, or hey what’s that chasing your Chase hopes down the toilet?” It’s even possible there were comment regarding the famous Tidy Bowl man from television commercials of yesteryear.

    (A brief pause while the younger NASCAR fans ask “who’s the Tidy Bowl Man?).

    HOORAH to Kenseth for having the where with all to promote his sponsor situation for next year. Crown Royal earlier this year announced they would not be returning to the team as their primary sponsor. In victory lane Kennseth said “Crown Royal, it’s not too late to come back. We don’t have any sponsors for next year, so this should be a good audition.”

    HOORAH to Kenseth’s #17 team for their strong sense of promoting Crown Royal prior to the Charlotte race. During the Thursday afternoon Sprint Cup practice session, the ESPN Network introduced us to their new garage cam: a television camera attached to the roof of the garage so we could all enjoy watching the busy activities. Seizing an opportunity, Kenseth’s crew hung a giant cardboard cut of a Crown Royal bottle, from the garage ceiling, directly in front of the television camera. That, racing fans, is what you call product placement.

    **************

    WAZZUP with Jimmie Johnson’s misfortunes at the Charlotte Motor Speedway? On lap 316 Johnson was involved in a tight racing duel with Ryan Newman. He slid sideways to the bottom of the track and then went back up the track nose front into the turn two wall. The hit was very hard causing the car to sustain race ending major damage.

    HOORAH to the NASCAR mandated safety equipment both in the cars and behind the crash walls. It wasn’t that many years ago when a hit like the one Johnson took would have been a very serious situation.

    The hit in the five time champion’s Chase standings was also a hard one. Johnson fell from third to eighth in the standings 35 points from the top. WAZZUP with all of the speculation that says this team’s bid for a sixth consecutive title is over and done with? It’s a tad early to be making that prediction. The doomsday prophets need to remind themselves that they’re talking about the #48 Lowes team.

    HOORAH to Jimmie Johnson for being placed on the cover of “Sports Illustrated” magazine for the second time since 2008. The magazine hits newsstands on Wednesday, October 19th. This is only the tenth time “SI” has placed a NASCAR driver on its famed cover. The first one featured “Million Dollar” Bill Elliott back in 1985.

    WAZZUP with all of this talk about the “SI” curse that lands on athletes who land on the magazine’s cover? There has been a lot of talk over the years about this curse leading to problems, such as physical injuries, for superstar athletes right after their “SI”cover photo hit the newsstands.

    Prior to the Charlotte race, Johnson thought all of this was pretty funny. We all thought it was pretty funny. But following Johnson’s savage crash at Charlotte some people are beginning to wonder about the curse.

    If you listen closely you may be able to hear the theme song from the old television series “The Twilight Zone” somewhere in the background.

    (A brief cause while the younger NASCAR fans ask “what’s a Twilight Zone?”)

    *************

    The HOORAH for making chicken salad out of chicken do do goes to Kyle Busch whose Charlotte weekend went from bad to good. The process began prior to the race when his crew was performing some final pre-race prep work. The result was a stripped rocker arm bolt which necessitated an engine change which in turn led to Busch having to start at the rear of the field.

    In typical fashion Busch charged his way to the front and led a race high 111 laps and finished second. Also in typical fashion, the “Rowdy One” was not exactly thrilled over finishing in the runner up spot but he had to be happy about moving up to fourth in the Chase standings. He’s 18 points from the top and still very much a championship contender.

    A HOORAH also goes out the Busch’s pit crew for good service all evening long. This is especially true of the team’s final four tire stop which they performed in 12.4 seconds.

    ***********

    Let’s send another HOORAH heaping helping of chicken salad to Carl Edwards for winning the Dollar General 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Charlotte under some dire circumstances.

    On lap 32 Edwards smacked the wall hard in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford. He pancaked the entire right side of the car, broke the crush panels and damaged the toe in. Despite that he managed to race his way to the front and, following a double file restart with five laps remaining, pulled in front of Kyle Busch to steal his eighth win of the season and 37th career win.

    HOORAH to Roush Fenway team mate Trevor Bayne who, during that final restart of the race, lined up behind Edwards’ rear bumper and shoved him past Kyle Busch. It was the race winning move for Edwards.

    WAZZUP with Trevor Bayne not electing to stage a three wide move to try to steal the race for himself? That’s what Edwards was expecting.

    HOORAH to Roush Fenway Racing whose drivers, Kenseth and Edwards, swept the NASCAR weekend at Charlotte on the 110th anniversary of Ford Racing.

    ***********

    HOORAH to Nationwide Series drivers Elliott Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse Jr for the many competitive moments they presented to the fans during the Dollar General 300. Stenhouse arrived in Charlotte with a 20 point lead over Elliott Sadler.

    WAZZUP with that final restart by Stenhouse with only five laps to go. Restarts for the Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver had been a concern throughout this race. But this final one really hurt the cause. He fell to ninth in the final standings, compared to Sadler’s fourth, and now the championship separation is only 15 points with only three races remaining in the season.

    WAZZUP with the high cost of that final restart? Stenhouse and Sadler were candidates for the Nationwide Insurance Dash For Cash program which paid a $100,000 bonus for the highest finishing driver among the four candidates. Sadler left the Charlotte Motor Speedway with the bonus following Stenhouse’s restart miscue.

    HOORAH to Joe Thorton of New Port Richey-Florida. Who’s that you ask? He’s the lucky fan who won the $100,000 Nationwide Insurance Dash For Cash bonus after being teamed up with Elliott Sadler.

    *************

    HOORAH to Ron Hornaday Jr for a strong dominant performance in the Smiths 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The four time series champion led 107 of the 146 laps en route to his second win in a row, his third win in the last five races and his fourth win of the season. He had to fend off a late race charge from Matt Crafton to preserve the win.

    WAZZUP with the completely unexpected shake up in the points standings during the course of this race? Points leader Austin Dillon hit the wall on the third lap of the race and finished 17th and five laps down.

    WAZZUP with James Buescher not being able to capitalize on Dillon’s misfortune? Buescher, second in the points prior to the race, found himself tangled up with another truck, on lap 48, and had to go behind the wall for repairs. The damage led to a 21st place finish.

    HOORAH for an even tighter series championship run with four races remaining on the schedule. Dillon remains on top of the standings but only has a five points lead over Johnny Sauter. Buescher drops to third seven points away. Hornaday moves to fourth, 21 points out. This is going to get exciting race fans.

  • The Flags at Half Mast in the Fourth Turn

    The Flags at Half Mast in the Fourth Turn

    In the process of writing this column about Charlotte and the 5th Chase race the unthinkable happened. The world of motorsports lost a champion and a hero. Somehow, the hush from the TV and the change in tone from Eddie Cheever made the reality of the situation very clear. Marty Reid stumbled over his words. The safety workers on the track had that familiar rush and desperation in their movements. I was taken back to a memory that is still too fresh to revisit. Daytona 2001. But this can’t be happening we have made all these changes. We have stepped up safety and safety management. How can we be looking at the same kind of tragedy?

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]In the process of following motorsports our lines tend to blur. We forget different series different rules. We forget that as much as we may complain and moan about NASCAR’s rules and rulings, they are at the very top of the game in safety. But NASCAR is not safe either. 200 mph in a 3600 lb car that hits an unmovable concrete wall safer barrier or not, and hits it at the right angle, hans device or not, and tragedy can and will result.

    Many NASCAR fans seem to forget this as they cheer loudly when drivers that are not their favorite wreck or are involved in a wreck. Saturday night was a good example. Jimmie Johnson hit the wall at 189 mph dead head on hard enough to lift the car off the ground. Please note the safer barrier didn’t break. It gave as it is suppose to but it didn’t break. What broke was an extremely well built piece of machinery. Although Jimmie climbed out and walked away, the in car camera told the story far better. He continued to slump in the seat and drop his head. He sat slumped forward in the drivers seat for a short time before letting the net down and climbing from the car. He was dazed and seemed turned around as he was lead to the ambulance. Although he was checked and released from the infield care center, Johnson was pale and shook up when he gave his interview.

    The cheers from the stands were gross and tactless. They illustrated not passion for the sport or a driver but ignorance on the part of those who were blind enough not to see how close our sport came to losing a young vibrant champion and hero. After having been there at the loss of too many of my heroes I was sickened and disgusted at the display. How could they not remember Daytona in 2001? How could they not remember New Hampshire in 2000? For God’s sake how could they not remember the waiting for days after Michigan in 1994? The waiting and not knowing for word on Ernie Irvan. How could they possibly behave like this? My answer came from a source that often supplies my answers, because they weren’t there. Because they are too ignorant to understand that these guys can be gone in the blink of an eye. Because many though they claim to be life long fans of the sport were not fans in 2001 or were not old enough to grasp what happened. To them the names Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Steve Irwin and Adam Petty are historical. They weren’t there. They don’t understand the loss of a hero and a champion.

    IndyCar fans had been spared the loss of a hero since 2006. Sheltered much like NASCAR fans with the reassurances of the sanctioning body that the cars were safe. The tracks were safe. The drivers and fans were safe. A misconception that NASCAR and IndyCar promoted and encouraged. But it’s still a misconception. A dangerous lulling into complacent behavior and lack of concern on the part of fans and drivers a like.

    Drivers who allow their tempers to control their behavior and use a 3600 lb car as a weapon have bought into that complacency. Fans who cheer when a driver hits the wall have bought into that complacency. People regardless of who they are or what form of motorsports they follow who believe that the sport is safe are niave and unfortunately stupid.

    NASCAR was fortunate, our champion is sore and bruised but he will race again at Talladega. IndyCar was not so fortunate and they mourn the loss of one of their champions in Dan Wheldon. It is time for those of us who buy tickets and t-shirts to say to our sanctioning bodies lets look at it again. Are we truly doing everything we can do to keep our heroes safe? In NASCAR is a car with no down force and too high of a center of gravity the best we can do? Is the risk at Talladega worth it? If we are going to spend millions of dollars on something shouldn’t it be making the cars race able around other cars? And shouldn’t the drivers be the ones to tell us that the cars are race able since they drive them? IndyCar needs to take responsibility and make conscious decisions about the type of tracks they race on and what does and doesn’t constitute safe race conditions.

    It’s much to soon to point fingers and find blame. We may never know who is to blame. In truth it doesn’t matter who is to blame the price is the same. The time is here to give thanks for the good fortune of one young champion and ask for the blessings and love and comfort for the family of another. The time is here to examine our behavior and our actions and ask ourselves, how would I have felt if the out come was different in Charlotte? Allow me to be the source of that answer, It hurts people It hurts like hell.

    ~~~~~ **** ~~~~~

    Congratulations to Carl Edwards on his NNS win at Charlotte. Even with a wrecked car Carl showed that although Ducks prefer to swim they have wings and can fly.

    Congratulations to Ron Hornaday on his 51st win. More and more I am convinced that the Camping World Truck series will be a lesser place without Ron Hornaday on the track.

    Congratulations to Matt Kenseth on his victory in the Sprint Cup Series.

    It is with a heavy and sad heart that I wish Susie Wheldon and her sons all of the strength and support and love that the world can offer her.  Thoughts and prayers are with you.

    Also thoughts and prayers and sympathies to the family of Off-road Champion Rick Huseman and his brother Jeff  who died in a plane crash this afternoon in Barstow.

    At times like these this means perhaps more than I intend for it to mean every week. To all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • THE LEFT COAST RACING SCENE: THE OFF ROAD RACING COMMUNITY MOURNS THE LOSS OF RICK HUSEMAN

    The off road racing community was stunned to learn of the tragic death of driver Rick Huseman who was killed in a private airplane crash on Sunday, October 16th, near the community of Barstow-California. The reigning Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, (LOORRS), Pro 4 Division champion was 38 years old.

    Also perishing in this tragic accident was Huseman’s younger brother, Jeff, who was a mechanic on his older brother’s team as well as a driver in the LOORRS Pro Lite Division. The third victim, believed to be the pilot of the plane, has yet to be officially identified.

    According to reports the Husemans were in Las Vegas the night before attending the Monster Energy Cup motorcycle race. Monster Energy Drink is also the sponsor of Huseman’s Toyota Tundra racing truck. The investigation has confirmed that the pilot of the Beech 33 Bonanza plane had filed a flight plan from the Henderson-Nevada Executive Airport with the destination being the John Wayne Airport in Ontario-California.

    But something went terribly wrong during the course of the flight and the pilot found himself having to attempt an emergency landing at the Barstow-Daggett Airport. Sadly the plane couldn’t make it that far and crashed approximately five miles northeast of the airport. California Highway Patrol officers reported that the plane was completely engulfed in flames when they arrived at the scene.

    In 1996 Huseman, along with brothers Danny and Jeff, formed the Riverside-California based Huseman Racing and began to find success in southern California regional racing. That was later followed success in the former CORR Stadium Off Road Series. In 2005 the team elevated their status by moving up to the CORR Pro 4 Truck Division. The 2007 season was a good one for the Husemans. The team won their first CORR race, at the fairgrounds in Lancaster-California, and finished sixth in the division’s points standings that year. The 2008 CORR season provided Huseman with two more wins and second in the point standings.

    Rick Huseman’s break out year in stadium off road racing came during the 2009 season when he joined the newly formed TORC, (The Off Road Championship), Series where he won five of the first six races. He finished the season with six wins along with the honor of being the series’ first ever champion. Also that year he collected ten podium finishes, seven Oakley Bomb Run Awards for fastest lap times and he was voted the 2009 TORC Driver of the Year by his colleagues.

    He added a second championship while racing with LOORRS during the 2010 season and set a series record by winning ten, of 15, rounds. It still stands as the most single season season wins in short course racing history. He also won the LOORRS Driver of the Year award. Huseman was also racing in TORC events last year and missed winning their championship by only three points.

    Huseman started the 2011 LOORRS season on a strong note and, at the point of his untimely passing, posted five wins which placed him second in the current Pro 4 points. In his 12 years of stadium off road racing, Huseman won 29 races. There’s no telling how many more races and championships he would have won had it not been for this terrible tragedy.

    Please remember the Huseman family in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time in their lives.

  • ARCA: Ty Dillon Crowned Champion, Chris Buescher Wins The Race

    ARCA: Ty Dillon Crowned Champion, Chris Buescher Wins The Race

    Following a wreck on the final lap, Chris Buescher was able to find his way to victory lane for his third victory of the season in the Federated Car Care 200. The victory gave Buescher the ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year title, two points over Ty Dillon.

    Dillon finished second in the race and despite not winning the rookie of the year title, he was able to become the youngest champion in ARCA history. The 19-year-old became the first rookie champion since Andy Hillenburg in 1995.

    The race looked to belong to Brennan Poole, who had won atSalemearlier this year in his ARCA debut.Poolehad made the pass on Dillon in the fourth turn on lap 197, after making slight contact side-by-side.

    Poole was able to lead till lap 199, before Dillon bumpedPooleout of the way on lap 200. In an unseen twist, Dillon’s car stalled and Buescher, who was running third at the time, was able to past both Dillon andPoolebefore the lap 200 caution. Dillon was able to get the car back going to keep second behind Buescher.

    Buescher held on to the lead through the green-white-checkered to get his third victory in a row at Toledo Speedway.

    Dillon got second, followed by Chad McCumbee, pole sitter Tom Hessert and Grant Enfinger.

    Ryan Wilson was sixth, followed byClintKing,ChadHackenbracht, Charles Evans Jr., and Jared Marks.

    Poolewould finish the race in 15th.

    The ARCA Racing Series will wrap up the 2011 season with the Championship Awards Banquet at theNorthernKentuckyConvention CenterinCovington,Ky., nearCincinnati, on Saturday, December 10.

  • THE LEFT COAST RACING SCENE: A TRAGEDY AT LAS VEGAS

    The international world of motorsports came to a standstill on Sunday afternoon, October 16th, following the devastating news that driver Dan Wheldon died from massive injuries sustained from a multi car accident while participating in the IZOD INDYCAR Series’ season finale at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    The IZOD INDYCAR championships, presented by Honda, was supposed to be a major source of celebration. It was the series’ time to shine in Las Vegas to celebrate what has been a very good season with even more positive aspects expected in 2012.

    This event was about a close season championship run featuring drivers Dario Franchitti, seeking his third consecutive title, and Will Power. The race was also billed as a fond farewell to driver Danica Patrick, who was competing in her final event as a full time INDYCAR driver. Wheldon himself was involved in a special $5 million bonus, to be shared with a lucky fan, if he could win the race after starting last in the field. The race was also filled with high anticipation over the potential action from a series high 34 car starting field.

    All of those major positive aspects unravelled on lap 11 of the race. In the midst of three wide racing, the front tires from two cars touched and launched a massive 15 car pile up. Some of the cars, including the one driven by Wheldon, went airborne and hit the safety catch fence above the track’s retaining wall.

    The red flag, to stop the race, was quickly presented and the process of cleaning up the massive debris from the cars, as well as repairing the catch fence, began.

    In the seemingly endless moments that followed there were strong indications of a serious situation involving Dan Weldon:

    A helicopter was seen getting ready to take off and we later learned that Wheldon was being transported to a nearby Las Vegas hospital.

    ABC Sports dispatched their pit reporter, Jamie Little, to the hospital. That’s something rarely seen during the course of a race broadcast.

    The red flag condition remained intact despite the fact that the clean up and repairs were now completed and the track was again ready for racing.

    IZOD INDYCAR Series officials called a driver’s meeting to reportedly “discuss the situation.”

    When the drivers exited this meeting the expressions on their faces had us all braced for the worst possible news.

    The tragic news was delivered by INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard who, from a prepared statement, said:

    “INDYCAR is sad to announce that Dan Wheldon passed away for unsurvivable injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. INDYCAR, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race. We will run a five lap salute in honor of Dan.”

    Moments later, 19 emotionally charged drivers climbed into their race cars to run what was described as “the longest five laps in racing history.” Every member of every team solemnly lined up at the edge of pit road to pay their respects. The speedway placed Wheldon’s #77 at the top of the electronic scoreboard.

    As the cars made their way around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the sound of their engines were intertwined with an audio track of bagpipes playing the gospel song “Amazing Grace.” It was, quite possibly, at this point when the full weight of this tragedy landed on us all.

    In the aftermath of this tragedy news media, at all levels, went into overtime to tell this sad story. There were very appropriate platitudes regarding Wheldon’s racing career such as his two Indy 500 wins and series championship. There were equally appropriate platitudes regarding Wheldon’s personal life pointing out that he was a good man, husband, father and humanitarian who frequently shared the blessings of his life to help others less fortunate.

    But the reality of this tradegy also created negative questions regarding the racing series from both drivers and the media including:

    does the series have any business racing on 1.5 mile ovals, such as the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, that were actually designed for NASCAR stock cars?

    The pre race practice speeds reportedly hit in excess of 220 MPH and prompted the question: are the cars just too fast, especially for oval tracks of any size?

    Was starting 34 cars a good idea in light of the fact there was certainly going to be traffic bottlenecks, three, even four, wide racing and driver impatience with the difficulty of passing?

    These are all issues that will need to be addressed in the future by series officials. But that process is better left for a later date in the future. This is absolutely not the time for business administration. This is the time for everyone associated with the IZOD INDYCAR Series to grieve over the loss of a competitor and a good friend.

    It’s also a time for racing fans, worldwide, to send a God bless, along with good thoughts and prayers, for Dan Wheldon as well as his wife and young sons,

    In a very simple statement, team owner Chip Ganassi, whom Wheldon used to drive for, probably put it best when he said “everybody in INDYCAR died a little today.”

  • Dan Wheldon Dies At 33

    Dan Wheldon Dies At 33

    Sunday afternoon, two time Indianapolis 500 champ Dan Wheldon died in a horrific mult-icar crash in Las Vegas.

    [media-credit name=”indycar.com” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Weldon, 33, was in the running for the $5 million if he won the race. The officials stopped the race and had a meeting with the other drivers and were informed of Wheldon’s passing. When the race resumed, pit crews lined pit road weeping and trying comfort each other.

    “I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff. I love hard racing but that to me is not really what it’s about. One small mistake from somebody. Right now I’m numb and speechless,” he said.

    “One minute you’re joking around in driver intros and the next he’s gone. He was 6 years old when I first met him. I told his son Thursday night at the parade on The Strip that I’ve known his dad since he was your age. And then I talked to a friend of mine, Jesse Spence, that I used to race go-karts with that we’ve known him since he was this little kid. His mouth worked plenty good, but he was just this little kid and the next thing you know he was my teammate in INDYCAR. We put so much pressure on ourselves to win races and championships and today it doesn’t matter.” Franchitti said about the death of his long time friend.

    Wheldon leaves behind his wife Susie Behm, 2 year old son Sebastian, 16 month old son Oliver his parents and three siblings.

  • Dan Wheldon Dies in Crash at IndyCar Season Finale at Las Vegas

    Dan Wheldon Dies in Crash at IndyCar Season Finale at Las Vegas

    Following a wreck on lap 12 of the IZOD IndyCar Series Season Finale race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 33-year-old Dan Wheldon has died due to injuries sustained in the crash.

    “IndyCar is sad to announce that Dan Wheldon passed away from unsurvivable injuries,” IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. INDYCAR, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race. We will run a five-lap salute in honor of Dan.”

    Following the press conference of the announcement, the 19 cars that were not involved did five-laps around the track in a 3-wide formation.

    The incident happened on lap 12, which saw three cars catch air and involve a total of 15 cars. Multiple replays show the top of Wheldon’s cockpit hitting the catch fence, breaking the hoop.

    “I saw two cars touch each other up in front of me and then I tried to slow down, couldn’t slow down,” Paul Tracy told ESPN. “Then Dan’s car, from what I saw in the videos, came over my back wheel and over top of me. Just a horrendous accident.”

    “The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something,” Ryan Briscoe added. “I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere.”

    Will Power was transported to hospital following the incident, complaining of back pain, though has since been released. Pippa Mann and JR Hildebrand were also transported to hospital. They both will be kept overnight for observation.

    Wheldon was the 2005 IndyCar Series Champion and won theIndianapolis500 twice, including this year’s running. This past season, Wheldon had been running a part-time schedule due to no ride while also testing the new IndyCar for next season.

    Wheldon was expected to join Andretti Autosport to compete full-time next season. He leaves behind his wife Suzi and two children.

    As a result of the race being canceled, Dario Franchitti wins his fourth IndyCar Series Championship.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Bank of America 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Bank of America 500

    After Jacquelyn Butler, David Ragan’s girlfriend won the ‘Better Half Dash’ and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne shared a heartfelt invocation, the engines fired under the lights at NASCAR’S home track, Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 52nd Annual running of the Bank of America 500.

    Surprising:  With a surprising show of emotion and his dry sense of humor emerging, the driver of the No. 17 Fluidmaster Ford took the checkered flag with whoops of joy, saying in Victory Lane that it was not too late for departing sponsor Crown Royal to reconsider staying on the car.

    Kenseth scored his victory from the outside pole position, qualifying surprising well for a driver not known for the most successful time trial efforts. This was Matt Kenseth’s 21st career victory and his third win of the year.

    “It was an awesome win for us,” Kenseth said. “It was a good race.”

    “Track position was really important, so qualifying helped,” Kenseth continued. “It made a big difference.”

    Kenseth was also surprisingly appreciative of the win, especially after not having been to the winner’s circle for twenty races.

    “I’m always thankful to get to victory lane,” Kenseth said. “You never know if you’re ever gonna win another race or when your last win is.”

    “I’m thankful for them all and I greatly appreciate being in a position to be able to win races and these guys giving me the cars and the crew and the opportunity to do that.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, the two drivers finishing second and third had some intense conversation with one another right after the race.

    Carl Edwards, who finished third in his No. 99 Aflac ‘Now Hiring’ Ford, almost immediately jumped out his car at the finish to lean into the bridesmaid-yet-again Kyle Busch’s second place No. 18 M&Ms Toyota for a chat.

    “We were just talking about the way we were racing there,” Edwards said. “We’re fine. We’ve talked about it and we’ll move on.”

    “Hey, this is NASCAR and we’re racing as hard as we can,” Edwards continued. “And we didn’t wreck each other.”

    “He just said he didn’t like the way I raced him off Turn Two that one time when he got under me,” Busch said. “He made me loose and it was steering me down the track and I was just trying to hold on.”

    “Great run by the M&Ms Camry,” Busch, who not only rebounded from starting last to leading a race high 111 laps, continued. “Best run we’ve had here in a while but still coming up short.”

    With his finish, Edwards maintained the points lead by five, with Kyle Busch improving his position by four spots, up to the fourth position, just 18 points behind the leader.

    “Overall it was a really good day for our Aflac Fusion,” Edwards said. “We’re trying to have a championship year here and we dodged some bullets.”

    “We’ve got to keep finishing like this,” Busch said. “That’s all it takes. If we can finish second here on out, we might win this thing.”

    Surprising:  At a track often known for Chevy domination, particularly of the Hendrick Motorsports kind, it was surprising to see the Ford brand, primarily the Roushketeers, not only in victory lane but dominating the front of the field. There were four Fords to Chevrolets three in the top ten for this season’s Charlotte fall running.

    The win was also significant for Ford team Roush Fenway, marking their 298th overall victory and their 20th NASCAR victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the first Cup win for owner Jack Roush at Charlotte since 2002.

    “All of the Ford cars ran well tonight,” Jack Roush, team owner said. “It was just a matter of time until Matt broke loose from his obscurity in the back and middle of the pack and worked his way to the front.”

    As surprising as the Ford dominance was, particularly of Roush Fenway Racing, it was equally surprising to see how poorly the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team ran. The HMS highest finisher was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the 19th position.

    “I was not the faster car,” the driver of the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard/Chevy 100th Anniversary Chevrolet said. “We got a couple wave-arounds and had a loose wheel that cost us another lap.”

    “We just have to correct some of those mistakes,” Junior continued. “We just had a couple of little circumstances that cost us a shot at finishing in the top ten.”

    Hendrick Chevrolet teammates Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin also had surprisingly, and uncharacteristically, difficult runs at Charlotte. Their poor finishes, 34th, 21st and 37th respectively, was surprisingly poignant for the teams sporting the Chevy 100th anniversary emblems.

    Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger/Chevy 100th Anniversary Chevrolet, went for a wild ride at one point in the race and struggled the rest. Mark Martin in the No. 5 GoDaddy.com/Chevy 100th Anniversary Chevrolet, suffered mechanical problems that left him in the garage for many laps making repairs.

    Probably the toughest of the Hendrick finishers was five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, whose No. 48 Lowes/Chevy 100th Anniversary Chevrolet hit hard into the wall, taking his breath away.

    “That one stung for sure,” Johnson said of his hit. “Just thankful to have safe race cars, safe walls, softer walls and everything did its job.”

    With the wreck and the DNF, Johnson was also the biggest loser in the point standings, dropping five positions to eighth.

    “This is not going to help us win a sixth championship,” Johnson conceded. “We will go for every point we can from here on out and hopefully we are still champions at the end of the year.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see the infamous grin of the driver from down under after finishing fifth. Marcos Ambrose, behind the wheel of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, could not have been more pleased with his Charlotte run, scoring his third consecutive top-10.

    “I ran great,” Ambrose said simply. “I just really appreciate that opportunity.”

    RPM teammate AJ Allmendinger, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion, also continued his solid runs, finish seventh.

    “It’s not what I wanted, but the end result is good,” Dinger said. “I’m happy there were so many Fords in the top 10.”

    Surprising:  As surprisingly strong as Brad Keselowski has been, surging forward in race finishes as well as in the points, the driver of the No. 2 ‘Blue Deuce’ had an equally surprisingly tough day at Charlotte.

    Keselowski finished 16th, falling two positions to sixth in the point standings. He currently sits 25 points behind points leader Carl Edwards.

    “I feel frustratingly fortunate,” Keselowskis said. “The yellows really hurt us. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

    Not Surprising:   Tony Stewart, who scored his first pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway, overcame tight conditions as well as some damage to his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, to rally back for a top-10 finish.

    “We were good off the front there, just when we got back in traffic, we got really tight,” Smoke said. “We just kind of rallied back.”

    Not surprisingly, teammate Ryan Newman also scored a top-10 finish in his No. 39 Cookies for Kid’s Cancer/Gene Haas Foundation Chevrolet.

    “We needed to get at least that much tonight,” Newman said after the race. “We’ll take a top-10 here tonight and now it’s on to the next one.”

    With their finishes, Stewart advanced two positions to the fifth spot in the Chase, while Newman moved up one position in the points to tenth.

    Surprising:  With the image of Hall of Famer Glenn Wood on the famed No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion, it looked like the young driver Trevor Bayne had a fast car and would have a good run. Surprisingly, the car ran out of gas on Lap 238.

    “That’s a bad feeling to run out of gas, especially when you’re not expecting it,” Bayne said. “The 21 was just fast.”

    “It must have been sucking up more fuel than we thought being that fast, but I think something just had to be funky in the fuel cell or something messed up on the can.”

    Not Surprising:  Call him ‘Closer’ or ‘Lurker’ but it was not surprising to see Kevin Harvick have yet another solid race, finishing sixth and maintaining his second place position in the point standings. With that, the driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet confirmed that he was just happy to be at the half-way in the Chase race.

    “We made it through the first five Chase races this year,” Harvick said. “We had had a lot of goals that we wanted to achieve this year and that was one of them.”

    “IF you would have told me we would come out of Charlotte with only a five point deficit going into the next five races, I would be really happy.”