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Author: Tucker White

  • The White Zone: Dealing with mistakes and depression

    The White Zone: Dealing with mistakes and depression

    Last August, I sank to the lowest point in my life.

    My many mistakes as a NASCAR writer, neurodevelopment disorders and ongoing battle with depression drove me to attempt suicide.

    Come with me, as I show you what led me to that.

    The mistakes

    May 29, 2016.

    I stood on the frontstretch of Charlotte Motor Speedway several hours after Martin Truex Jr. won the Coca-Cola 600 in dominant fashion. I don’t recall the conversation that led to it, but I told some race fans there was a crossover gate that I either opened or just led them to it.

    Either way, that choice at Charlotte haunts me to this day.

    But wait, there’s more!

    Sept. 4, 2016.

    I spazzed out, because I couldn’t find a golf cart and was too lazy to walk. So I threw down my headset in the press box at Darlington Raceway.

    That choice haunts me to this day.

    Aug. 18, 2017.

    I climbed over a row of press box seats, rather than momentarily inconvenience the writers next to me (which would’ve been much simpler to do).

    Haunting isn’t strong enough. That’s straight up “What are you thinking? Are you thinking?!”

    Even at the age of 21 and 22, no excuse.

    But that’s not all!

    June 20, 2021.

    I walked into an unauthorized area on the spotter’s stand to take photos during the closing laps. This was after NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. gave me a second chance in 2020 and 2021.

    In a six-year span, I learned nothing. I had an off-ramp, but I failed to learn anything.

    And that hurts the most.

    Contemplation and depression

    I’m supposed to think I have a place amongst writers far more talented than me, and don’t make such stupid mental errors? Amongst writers who parlayed their tremendous writing to make a living from watching NASCAR races?

    But that happens when you don’t socialize in high school until you do and your best friend ghosts you, because your introversion meant you developed bad tendencies.

    Immature and annoying.

    Compounding the matter, I suffer from verbal apraxia and ADHD. I’m no expert on either, but as far as I understand it, it made socializing with other people rather difficult, and careless mistakes frequent.

    Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactive disorder, as listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition.

    Frankly (and I’m no doctor), I think it’s a sizeable influence on my ongoing battle with depression. I have days where I feel fine. Then I’ll have days where I feel nothing. My energy, zapped. My mind in total molasses. My motor functions, slow.

    It’s a miserable hell to experience.

    July 31, 2023.

    I got an email from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, saying my media credentials request was denied.

    I sank to my lowest point.

    Aug. 1, 2023.

    I grabbed a pistol from my parent’s room, put it in my mouth and slowly squeezed the trigger.

    The hammer clicked.

    A few seconds later, I opened my eyes and thought, “Wait, nothing happened.” So I popped the magazine.

    No bullets.

    I broke down in laughter. My stupid dumb ass forgot to reload it, after firing off a few rounds at a tree in my backyard a few hours earlier!

    When I caught my breath and lied on my parents’ bed for a few minutes, I thought it over again. Since I couldn’t even do THAT right, I figured I might as well try to make the best of it.

    And I’m getting help.

    I attend weekly sessions at Autism Breakthrough. Where I work with people who specialize in helping high-function autistic adults like me talk to other people and open up to them.

    Anecdotally, I point to one moment where that work helped (but I still have room for improvement).

    Room to grow

    June 4, 2023.

    The Cup Series race concluded minutes earlier. I’m on pit road in the media bullpen. I’ve made it the whole weekend without getting pulled aside by someone at NASCAR IMC (the league’s PR people, who I mean no disrespect to). Now I’m still a little inexperienced on bullpen proceedings and stuff, but I just need to get through the final leg without a misstep, and I’m golden.

    We finished up talking to Truex and moved on to the next driver. Lee Spencer (who I thank for scolding me when I’ve stepped out of line on several occasions) walked up and asked if Truex had already come through. I and some other writers told her yes, and she asked about Joey Logano. I told her, no, but he’s coming over, too.

    I glanced at Brent Gambill (IMC), as Kyle Busch did his burnout down the frontstretch, and asked (well, shouted, so the engine didn’t drown me out) if he’d bring Logano over because Spencer needed audio from him.

    As we walked back to the deadline room, Gambill tapped me and told me for future reference, don’t shout for a driver like I did. He understood I was trying to help Spencer, but Logano’s PR person took it the wrong way. Especially after a race prolonged by rain and stretches of green flag stints.

    I face-palmed because I was so close to a weekend with no screwups.

    But on a more optimistic note, it showed my sessions at Autism Breakthrough weren’t in vain.

    After eight seasons on the beat, all I have to show for it is one NMPA writing contest award plaque (in the columns category). Now, I take great pride in that award. It was the first time I entered one and the two people who bested me were Ryan McGee and Amy Henderson (both of whom I respect).

    The irony of it coming after I blew it isn’t lost on me.

    I can still do this. I just need to work on myself and get help with communication. Then maybe, just maybe, I can repair my standing with both NASCAR and SMI.

    I’ve still got a ways to go, but I’m on the right track.

  • Tales from the beat: Breaking news

    Tales from the beat: Breaking news

    Don’t you just love when something innocuous you said or did spirals out of your control? Sometimes, a person misconstrues what you said and it devolves into a shouting match that you desperately want to escape. Other times, your inexperience lands you in hot water, for reasons you don’t understand.

    One tweet at Atlanta Motor Speedway plopped me in the latter.

    March 4, 2017, I watched the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race from my seat in the media center, roughly 90 minutes after the conclusion of the XFINITY Series race. I wore a Racing Electronics headset to listen to the radio broadcast (as I do when I cover a race at the track). If you listen to an MRN broadcast at the track, you’ll hear the commercial break banter.

    During one of the breaks, Mike Bagley says that he received a text message saying that Kyle Busch’s XFINITY car failed post-race inspection. Instinctively, I tweet that breaking news and turn back to the Truck race.

    Two or three minutes later, Bob Pockrass walks over to the NASCAR IMC team to ask if what I tweeted was true. I think to myself, “Wait, did I screw something up?” Another minute or two later, Tom Bryant of NASCAR pulls me aside and asks where I got that information. I told him, he made a note and he probably said something else, but I don’t recall.

    Now in hindsight, there was nothing to fret over. After all, I had a source for it, and anybody who was at the track, that day, with headsets heard it, too. Put me in that situation again, and I probably don’t break a sweat.

    However, I was a 22-year-old guy starting his second season on the beat. I never broke a news story, prior to that. Furthermore, 2016 was a roller coaster of getting myself in trouble a little more than a few times.

    So internally, I panic.

    My hands shake and my eyes dart around the room. I couldn’t focus on the Truck race or take race notes. I asked Bryant, who sat across from me, if what I tweeted was true. He said NASCAR will reveal XFINITY post-race inspection results after the conclusion of the Truck race.

    With the laps winding down, I grab my notepad, put on my headset and walk out to pit road. I figured watching the race on pit road would clear my head, or get my mind off the panic.

    Eventually, the official announcement came. I stood by the entrance to the deadline room, packed up and jittery. No joke, if the announcement was that everyone passed, I was getting the hell outta Dodge, going back to Knoxville, Tennessee, and nobody would hear from me, again.

    “Post-race inspection for the NASCAR XFINITY Series is complete,” Matt Humphrey, IMC, said. “The 18 car failed.”

    I breathed such a sigh of relief, that I almost fell over.

    To this day, I don’t understand what I did wrong.

    I’ve told this story to several NASCAR writers, and they all told me either that I should’ve asked for confirmation on it from IMC or noted that I heard MRN say this. Yet I also told this same story to several of my sports writing professors at the University of Tennessee, and all of them told me I did nothing wrong.

    *lights cigarette*

    Eh, c’est la vie.

  • The White Zone: The changing of eras

    The White Zone: The changing of eras

    Amidst the sea of crew members and race fans lay three scenes of interest. At one end of pit road, Kevin Harvick hugs his family and crew members. At another end, Ross Chastain smashes a watermelon to celebrate his race victory. Finally, at the center of attention is the runner-up finisher. Surrounded by photographers, fellow drivers and eventually race fans, Ryan Blaney exits his car to a storm of confetti as the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

    The 75th season of NASCAR concludes with the changing of eras.

    The curtain call on the Winston Cup era

    After a seventh-place finish at his playground of Phoenix Raceway, Harvick hangs up his helmet and transitions to calling NASCAR races for FOX Sports. His retirement severs the last connection to the Winston Cup Series era.

    Sure, there are several drivers from the mid to late 2000s still active, but Harvick was the last full-time driver from the season-long points era.

    In other words, the drivers of my childhood are gone.

    My childhood hero, Jeff Gordon, retired just before I joined the media corp. Tony Stewart, NASCAR’s ultimate smartass, retired in my first season on the NASCAR beat. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth*, rookies when I started following NASCAR, retired in 2017.

    *Yes, I know Kenseth raced in 2018 and 2020, but that was in substitution roles.

    Jimmie Johnson was the bane of my teenage years, but as I covered his seventh championship run and curtain call of his Cup Series career, I learned to appreciate what a great driver he really was.

    Finally, Harvick, an A-type personality who took over the ride of the late Dale Earnhardt, rides off into the sunset with a career that’s frankly on par with “The Intimidator.” Not necessarily numbers-wise, but like the man in black, he established himself as a member of his generation’s elite drivers.

    Harvick finishes 10th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list (60), the champion of the 2014 season and five Championship 4 appearances. He’s a first-ballot entry into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

    Somewhere in the racing afterlife, I imagine Earnhardt sporting his signature Chesire grin at his replacement.

    The young guns

    When I started covering NASCAR in 2016 and even into 2017, the scuttlebutt of who’s gonna fill the shoes of the stars permeated the airwaves of SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Cut to Sunday, and the roar of fans drowns out Blaney’s SportsCenter hit.

    The young guns who replaced the older stars fit their shoes. Chase Elliott, Gordon’s (initial) replacement is NASCAR’s most popular driver, until one of Earnhardt Jr.’s daughters joins the Cup Series. William Byron, Gordon’s next replacement, made the Championship 4. Christopher Bell, Kenseth’s replacement, did the same two years in a row. Larson is the only driver to win both the Knoxville Nationals and Cup Series championships in the same year.

    Now Blaney, one year removed from a winless season, hoists the Bill France Cup.

    Of this group, only Larson is over the age of 30.

    And there’s more youth coming up the NASCAR pipeline.

    As the late George Jones sang, “Who’s gonna fill their shoes?”

    Yeah, I think we can put those fears to rest now.

    The future

    Is the present perfect?

    No. Not by a long shot.

    But as I wrote, on Saturday, there’s reason for optimism about NASCAR’s future. Sunday at Phoenix Raceway encapsulated that the waning star power we feared in the late 2010s is a solved problem.

    For now, we take a much-needed vacation and do this all again in February.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • The White Zone: NASCAR’s 75th season was good, but not great

    The White Zone: NASCAR’s 75th season was good, but not great

    The haulers rolled into Phoenix, Friday. Banners hang from the building facades and street signs. On the heels of the Texas Rangers winning their first World Series in Phoenix days earlier, four drivers face off for NASCAR’s biggest crown, the Bill France Cup.

    With the curtain call on the horizon, I reflect on the good and the bad of the 75th season of NASCAR.

    The good

    The 1.5 mile package

    HOMESTEAD, Fla. – OCTOBER 22: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 22, 2023, in Homestead, Florida. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

    Last season, the NextGen Car gave the long maligned mile and a half tracks a boost in racing quality not seen in the NASCAR Cup Series since the days of the twisted sister car. Naturally, everyone expected this to continue in 2023.

    The first trip to Las Vegas in March, however, almost shattered that thought.

    Of the 13 lead changes, only two happened on track. The rest happened during pit cycles.

    Did we witness the start of a massive step backwards on the intermediate tracks?

    Thankfully, the rest of the season proved Las Vegas was an outlier, and NASCAR maintained the level of quality we saw in 2022.

    Though it’s not perfect. Adding more horsepower and taking off more downforce would go a long way to taking the racing from an eight or nine to an 11.

    Of course, I’m no engineer. So all I can do is trust that the engineering minds at NASCAR figure out how to make this work.

    The schedule

    CHICAGO – JULY 2: Justin Haley, driver of the #31 Benesch Law Chevrolet, Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, and Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course on July 2, 2023, in Chicago. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

    When I started covering NASCAR in 2016, schedule movement stagnated. Thanks to a terrible agreement NASCAR made with the tracks to guarantee their races for a period of five years, the schedule was usually a carbon copy of the previous season’s schedule. Hell, the 2019 schedule was a 100% copy/paste of 2018.

    That made the 2020 schedule an Earth-shattering revelation (and that was before COVID threw a wrench into the operation).

    Fast-forward to the present.

    The variety and diversity of the schedule rocks!

    NASCAR went from two road course races on the Cup Series schedule to six (but drops to five in 2024).

    Yes, the road course package sucks and I’ll address that in a later section, but for most of my 29 years on this planet, NASCAR went to Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and that was it.

    Now, the Cup Series visits Circuit of the Americas, the infield at Charlotte Motor Speedway and an honest to god street course race on top of the South Shore Line.

    Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the NASCAR Cup Series race on a street course like IndyCar and Formula 1 do.

    Nor did I see NASCAR return to North Wilkesboro. A pioneer track the league and its partners all but left for dead when I was a month from turning two.

    Is it perfect, no. Not even close. Furthermore, I fear NASCAR might fall back into the complacency that left the schedule stuck in molasses in the coming years.

    For now, however, the schedule realignments of the 2020s beats the copy/paste routine of the late 2010s.

    The bad

    The road course and short track package

    AUSTIN, Texas – MARCH 26: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Monster Energy Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

    Circuit of the Americas showcased some of NASCAR at its best.

    To borrow a line from former NASCAR Chairman and CEO, Brian France, this was “quintessential NASCAR.” Only instead of a poorly handled fustercluck over three races, it was two generational talents using every inch of real estate and an aero package on the razor’s edge of control to fight it out for the victory.

    That was the peak.

    Most weeks, NASCAR road course races (as well as short track races) resembled Formula 1 at its, well, most par for the course. Follow the leader and hope pit strategy cycles you ahead. After two years, is it time to increase horsepower, like everyone in the garage says over and over again?

    NASCAR’s chief operating officer, Steve O’Donnell, said Friday that it’s one of many options on the table.

    “For us, we’re going to look at shifting specifically around that at our next test and see what we can do,” he said. “There will be variations. Also some aero things we do with the underbody. There’s some things we found in Richmond from an aero standpoint that could work as well.”

    He also mentioned factoring costs to OEMs to make more horsepower work.

    “It’s not as simple as just upping the horsepower,” he said. “You better be ready for all your OE(M)s to be onboard. It better make sense for any potential new OEM and technology. It’s not just a short-term answer.”

    Again, I type words onto digital paper for a living. So I don’t know if shifting is the problem.

    What I’m certain of is that unless this is fixed soon, then that doesn’t bode well for the long-term heath of North Wilkesboro. The goodwill of its return won’t last forever, if the racing sucks.

    The TV product

    I’ll give NASCAR president Steve Phelps this. He acknowledged that the ratings aren’t great. Though he said it was “a mixed bag” with the Cup Series.

    “NBC came back in a powerful way,” he said. “Those metrics are up. If you consider back in March we were down 15%, now we’re down mid single digits, we’re happy with where that is.”

    That’s more than we got from France, who dodged or denied reality on that front.

    Yet, neither pointed a finger at the elephant in the room.

    The broadcast partners, especially FOX.

    The problems with FOX and NBC deserves it own column, and the FOX foibles aren’t fresh in my mind at the back-end of the season.

    With that said, however, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the biggest ratings drop happened during the FOX portion (and Chase Elliott’s injury only explains it so much).

    Put a bow on it

    Overall, NASCAR’s 75th season was good, but could’ve been better.

    The intermediate track package continues strong and the schedule has excellent variety. Hopefully, NASCAR finds the fix to the ailing short track and road course packages.

    Though I’m not holding my breath on NASCAR calling out the broadcast partners.

    NASCAR’s on a good trajectory, even though it’s a grind.

    For now, let’s sit back and watch Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Kyle Larson race for the big prize, Sunday, at Phoenix Raceway.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • The White Zone: Chase Elliott has an attitude problem

    The White Zone: Chase Elliott has an attitude problem

    EDITOR’S NOTE: After press time, Chase Elliott told Dave Moody on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Tuesday, that the side-swipe was a heat of the moment incident and that he and Kyle Larson cleared the misunderstanding, during their post-race chat on pit road.

    Original column

    Chase Elliott stood on pit road and spoke to the media, Sunday, at Kansas Speedway. Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports asked him about side-swiping his teammate, Kyle Larson, coming off pit road.

    There was no message? Does he seriously expect us to believe this?

    Well according to the beat writers on site, he did.

    Considering NASCAR parked him for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin back in May, he would act more level-headed.

    Nope, Elliott acted like a jackass.

    Why lie about it?

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. – SEPTEMBER 10: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Yahoo! Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 10, 2023, in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo: Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images

    Let’s dissect the incident in question.

    As Elliott left pit road, he had Tyler Reddick to his right. Larson pulls out of his box with just enough room to spare. Then Brad Keselowski exits his box, Larson pulls right to avoid him and hits Elliott.

    Just drivers going for the same real estate. Pretty innocuous.

    Elliott probably didn’t realize Keselowski forced Larson up. So he side-swiped him on the apron.

    OK, heat of the moment incident. It happens. If Elliott said his reason was just payback, I wouldn’t be writing this column.

    Rather than say that, he lied about it.

    For what gain? Who knows. Danielle Trotta and Larry McReynolds on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Monday, threw out that he’s jealous of Larson or that it stems from past run-ins. On the latter, the only ones that come to mind are Fontana and Watkins Glen in 2022. For the former, I don’t know if I can put stock in that, right now. I’m not a psychologist. I type words onto digital paper for a living.

    With that said, it doesn’t take Sigmund Freud to know Elliott lied. No driver side-swipes another driver, especially a teammate, unless there’s a reason.

    So why lie about it?

    If it was a heat of the moment response, then say it. If it’s more deep-seated, then say it.

    Don’t piss on our legs, then say it’s raining! Any journalist worth their salt sniffs out a bullshit story.

    If you don’t, then expect more scrutiny from us.

    And if not to us, then have the decency to tell your damn teammate and bosses at Hendrick Motorsports why you did it and what your problem with Larson is.

    If not, don’t act surprised if you have difficulty getting resigned, when your next contract talk occurs.

    More importantly, tell your fans why. You know? The people who made you NASCAR’s most popular driver for seven consecutive seasons.

    If you don’t, then that tells me you think your fans are brain-dead idiots who’ll slop up any lie you tell.

    Regardless, if this is how Elliott carries himself now, then he didn’t learn a damn thing from his suspension. And if he thinks talent shields him from repercussions for being a cancer, then look up Antonio Brown’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers (particularly around 2018).

    Talent only goes so far, when you’re toxic to everyone around you.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Three Big Stories: Gateway (IndyCar)

    Three Big Stories: Gateway (IndyCar)

    MADISON, Ill. — And then there were two.

    Scott Dixon reminded everyone that we live in his world. Josef Newgarden’s championship hopes hit the wall. Moreover, how did two tire compounds affect today’s race?

    So without further adieu, here are Three Big Stories from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

    We all live in Scott Dixon’s world

    MADISON, Ill. – AUGUST 27: Pato O’Ward (L), Scott Dixon (C) and David Malukas (R) spray each other with champagne in victory lane, after the NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Aug. 27, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com

    “Scott Dixon decided to do a Dixon, today,” Pato O’Ward said, in the deadline room.

    “How does he do it?” Dave Furst, IndyCar vice-president of competition and communication, jokingly asked O’Ward.

    “Well, he just does it,” O’Ward said. “He’s just Scott Dixon, you know? I feel like that’s what he’s best known for.”

    Dixon stretched his stint on Firestone red tires to 60 laps, when everyone else ran roughly 40. A timely caution let him pit for sticker blacks and exit pit road with the race lead.

    Now he needed to hold off the field AND save fuel.

    “I think probably the hardest part was the restart where we were leading, having to get a pretty high fuel number,” Dixon said. “We weren’t getting it. We were a ways off.

    “But I knew we could kind of stress that kind of second through fifth pack, get them into a pretty vulnerable situation. I knew once we caught the back markers we’d be able to save and get beyond the fuel mileage that we needed to. It actually worked out perfectly. We were able to go further and beyond where we needed to.”

    Dixon entered Indianapolis, two weeks ago, winless on the 2023 season. Naturally, everyone asked if he’d win, period.

    Fast-forward 15 days, the six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion not only has two wins, but he’s reeling in Alex Palou’s once insurmountable points lead.

    Now it’s still his teammate’s title to lose, but Dixon won’t make it easy.

    Though in the end, Chip Ganassi wins.

    “I think what is special is going into the last two races, it can only be a Ganassi driver, which is very cool,” he said. “I know that makes Chip very proud, and the hundred-plus employees that work at that place, as well.”

    In the meantime, Dixon celebrates back-to-back wins by downing cans of Stag with Marshall Pruett.

    Josef Newgarden’s title hopes hit the wall

    One picture says it all.

    Newgarden, with the slimmest of hopes, needed everything to go right to catch Palou and win his third IndyCar championship. And for much of the first half, it did.

    He led 98 laps and even when he fell behind Dixon and his pit strategy, he was in contention.

    Then he hit a wall, literally.

    He turned the wheel like there was no tomorrow, but to no avail.

    His chance at sweeping all six oval races vanished.

    As did his slim chance at the title.

    Effect of different tire compounds

    MADISON, Ill. – AUGUST 26: Firestone red tires sit stacked in the garage during the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Aug. 26, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Sunday marked the first time IndyCar used different tire compounds for an oval race.

    And the result?

    Well, it varied from driver to driver.

    Case in point, the race winner:

    “The tire was kind of interesting,” Dixon said. “It actually had a good amount of deg.”

    The guy who finished second:

    “It brought in some pretty horrendous marbles onto the racetrack, which made the second lane almost impossible to use,” O’Ward said.

    Both agreed, however, it needs more falloff.

    “I think having an alternate tire, you really kind of want it to – I know Firestone doesn’t want to do it because that’s the product they produce, they produce very good tires – but I think for falloff like we see at Iowa where you go from an 18-second lap all the way to 22s, 23s, you have good cars coming and going, people able to make changes throughout the race,” Dixon said. “I think that’s what they need to bring back here, a little bit more aggressive for next time.”

    Now while both series use different tire makers, these sentiments echo similar statements NASCAR Cup Series drivers made in June at Gateway. Denny Hamlin noted drivers could run 50+ laps on the same Goodyear tires and not experience significant dropoff.

    So whether it’s a matter of Firestone and Goodyear bringing harder tires or the track surface, that’s for a more engineer-minded person to decipher.

    As for the future of INDYCAR, O’Ward likes the idea of different compounds for ovals.

    “I just think if they want good racing, we can’t be in single file,” he said. “Then even the lappers can be racing with the leaders.”

  • The White Zone: Johnson worthy inductee of the hall

    The White Zone: Johnson worthy inductee of the hall

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jimmie Johnson took his seat at the center of the Grand Hall of the NASCAR Hall of Fame to answer questions from the media. I watched from the second row, staring dead ahead of the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. A man who, as a Jeff Gordon fan, caused me grief and broke my heart so many times, during his five-year span of championships.

    Now as a member of the NASCAR media corp, I sit back and realize I witnessed the entire career of arguably NASCAR’s greatest driver.

    From dislike to respect

    As Johnson celebrated in victory lane at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 11, 2007, Gordon approached him and waved the white flag.

    “I surrender,” he said, bowing to Johnson. “I surrender.”

    After Gordon won back-to-back races at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, Johnson rattled off four-straight wins to clinch his second Cup Series title.

    In a film script of my life, the camera cuts to 13-year-old me and my gaudy 24 DuPont Chevrolet shirt, as I hang my head in despair. During a season in which Gordon set a modern-era record for most top-10 finishes in a single season (30), Johnson did what Gordon did to Mark Martin in 1998; out-win him to a championship.

    It didn’t stop there.

    2008, Johnson duels it out with Carl Edwards to win his third-straight championship. Meanwhile, Gordon goes winless for just the second time in his career.

    2009, Gordon breaks a 43-race winless streak by holding off Johnson to win at Texas Motor Speedway for the first time in his career. Gordon even led the points for the first time in two years.

    Cut to November, Johnson wins his four-straight title.

    Fast-forward to 2010. Johnson breaks the heart of Denny Hamlin fans to win his fifth-straight title. Gordon blows an engine in the final race to secure his third winless season.

    Cut to me, a socially-awkward sophomore in high school, combined with the beginning of my future alma mater’s descent into the football abyss (it’s in my bio), that five-year period wasn’t much fun.

    HAMPTON, Ga. – FEBRUARY 28: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 28, 2016, in Hampton, Georgia. Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

    Six years later, I jumped from the grandstands to the press box. Johnson won the first NASCAR race I covered on-site. Now as someone who retired his fan allegiance to join the media, I found an immense level of respect for him. Especially when he gave such detailed answers to questions from a stammering mess like me.

    I covered four of his six wins in 2016, on the way to his seventh Cup Series championship. Furthermore, I covered his penultimate Cup Series victory on a Monday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Beyond his wins, however, I saw a side of Johnson that he doesn’t usually show. In public, he was very stoic and a great spokesperson for his sponsors (like former teammate, Terry Labonte). Off-camera, however, and while nowhere near Matt Kenseth, I saw his more snarky demeanor shine through.

    Looking back

    Cut to Wednesday, Johnson stands in front of a video screen in loafers, light brown pants and a blazer, and poses for pictures with Knaus and Donny Allison. As I said, earlier, I’m in the second row of people asking him questions.

    I asked him what it means to him to hear someone say he’s one of NASCAR’s all-time greatest.

    It humbles Johnson.

    “We just want to go racing and from a very young age, racing is in our life,” he said. “Our parents raised their families raced and we just wanted to be racers and sure we wouldn’t, I know I tried to dream big, but I couldn’t have dreamed this big and to have everything play out as it has. Even then, looking back on those moments in time and five in a row and seven championships in total, these different moments along the way, I still can’t believe it’s happened.”

    Grateful as ever, Johnson made me see why I’ve gone from a disgruntled Gordon fan to having nothing but respect for the seven-time champion.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Three Big Stories: Pocono (2023)

    Three Big Stories: Pocono (2023)

    What a weekend in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

    Denny Hamlin displayed his hypocrisy on aggressive racing, Austin Dillon chucked his helmet at Tyler Reddick and NASCAR found itself in a lose-lose situation at the finish.

    So without further adieu, let’s dive into the Three Big Stories of the HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    1. Denny Hamlin hypocritically unleashes the aggression

    LONG POND, Pa. – JULY 23: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Mavis Tires and Brakes Toyota, celebrates in victory lane, after winning the NASCAR Cup Series HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 23, 2023, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo: Kirk Schroll/SpeedwayMedia.com

    As Hamlin climbed out of his car, the crowd in attendance showered him with boos and middle fingers. Five minutes earlier, he side-swiped Kyle Larson and took the lead. While Larson hit the wall in Turn 1.

    “I’m not here to defend anything,” he said. “I put both those guys, (Alex Bowman) and 5, in an aero situation. Didn’t touch either one. How can you wreck someone you don’t touch?”

    He went on to say he put Larson and Bowman in an “either let off the gas and race side by side, or hit the gas and hit the wall” situation.

    Now with Bowman, the replays showed they never touched. The No. 48 got loose and spun out.

    With Larson, however, unless you want to take a page from the NFL and use an index card to find a gap, he clearly touched Larson’s car.

    In fact, it’s the same move Hamlin used to pass Ross Chastain at Pocono, last season.

    Now I personally saw nothing wrong with Hamlin’s move on Larson. They were racing for the win and he didn’t intentionally dump him into Turn 1.

    What I have a problem with, however, is Hamlin talking out of both sides of his mouth.

    Just a year ago, Hamlin told Jim Rome that the younger drivers racing aggressively lacked respect for other drivers. Yet here he is doing the exact same thing he feuded with Ross Chastain over the course of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

    Look, if Hamlin wants to be an aggressive driver, then embrace your inner Dale Earnhardt. If not, then embrace the ways of Mark Martin. And yes, sometimes, you’ll slip up and stray off the Martin path. When that happens, own up to it and apologize.

    But don’t pretend you’re against people racing with a lack of respect, when you do the same.

    2. Austin Dillon tosses his helmet (literally)

    LONG POND, Pa. – JULY 23: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Breztri.com Chevrolet, hits the Turn 1 wall in the NASCAR Cup Series HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 23, 2023, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo: Kirk Schroll/SpeedwayMedia.com

    As the field worked its way through Turn 1 under caution on Lap 107, Dillon chucked his helmet at Reddick’s car. Minutes earlier, Reddick put Dillon into the wall.

    Except he didn’t.

    Dillon came down across the nose of Reddick’s car and turned himself into the wall. Though even after watching the replay, he wasn’t convinced he messed up.

    “I felt like I was holding my own,” he said. “He was at my left-rear going in there, and I knew we were three-wide. I think I’ve got the right to at least hold my lane. I’ve got to turn at some point to get down. Brad (Keselowski) was on my outside, maybe a half-lane up. But Tyler (Reddick) drove it in there, and obviously I feel like he drove it in there deep enough where he had to come up the track into me. We can look at the SMT and see the little fine movements that we make, but I felt like that was not the time to do that for the No. 45.”

    I don’t understand why he expected Reddick to yield. It was just a case of two drivers going for the same real estate. And in this case, Dillon got the short end of the stick.

    Then again, in the heat of the moment, you’re not always thinking clearly. So only time will tell if this racing incident spirals into something more.

    Also, Dillon’s probably getting fined for walking onto a hot track.

    3. NASCAR picked its poison

    LONG POND, Pa. – JULY 23: A general view of racing during the NASCAR Cup Series HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 23, 2023, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

    As the field came to the white flag, Ryan Preece spins and hits the inside wall on the short chute. So a caution comes out and we go to overtime, right?

    Well, no.

    NASCAR held the flag, waiting to see if Preece would get going.

    Which he did, for a few feet.

    When NASCAR realized this, it threw the caution. Since Hamlin took the white flag, that ended the race.

    Now I know this contradicts what I said on Twitter, but after mulling it over for a night, I don’t know what else NASCAR could’ve done. Either it throws the caution right away and gets flack for not swallowing the whistle or this.

    Unlike Richmond Raceway, Pocono is a massive track, where you complete laps in roughly 50 seconds. So it’s not unfeasible to hold the caution to see if Preece got going, again.

    At the end of the day, it was a pick-your-poison situation that sometimes comes with the job of officiating.

  • Rhodes and Crafton trade tense words at Mid-Ohio

    Rhodes and Crafton trade tense words at Mid-Ohio

    LEXINGTON, Ohio — Casey Campbell, Taylor Kitchen, Michael Kristi and I stood on pit road, waiting to talk to the top-five finishers of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ second trip to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Suddenly, I hear Mike Bagley of MRN Radio say Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes are fighting. I gazed at Rhodes’ truck and see a frustrated Crafton walk away, right past us.

    When Rhodes joined us in the media bullpen, we all had one thing on our minds.

    What happened?

    “My conversation went like this: ‘Calm down, calm down, Matt. Please calm down! We’ll talk later,’” he said.

    What was Crafton angry about?

    Well with two laps to go in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 150, as Corey Heim pulled away to victory, Rhodes and Crafton made contact in the keyhole.

    “He broke early,” he said. “I guess he was just riding. I broke late because I’m still on a charge from the rear and I got to about side by side with him in the braking zone and I don’t think he knew I was there.”

    Crafton moved down to apex Turn 2 while Rhodes checked up and the latter’s nose hit the former’s tail. Crafton got loose and Rhodes overtook him to finish fifth. While Crafton came home sixth.

    “I don’t know if he was just frustrated from other stuff in the race,” he said.

    “Other stuff in the race” includes staying out on wet tires under the first stage break, while everyone else pitted for dry tires. Unsurprisingly, the slicks prevailed over the wets.

    “I’m sure there was something else there in the race going on and I’m just a familiar face to vent to. So it is what it is.”

    After the bullpen session, I walked to Crafton’s hauler to get his side of the story, but he declined my request for comment.

    Regardless, Crafton leaves Mid-Ohio with a one point lead over Stewart Friesen for the final playoff spot. Meanwhile, Rhodes’ one win locked him into the playoffs, with two races left in the regular season.

  • Ankrum rallies from off-track excursion to win at Mid-Ohio

    Ankrum rallies from off-track excursion to win at Mid-Ohio

    LEXINGTON, Ohio — Tyler Ankrum led 20 of the 42 laps to score his maiden ARCA Menards Series victory at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

    Now if you read that lede without watching the SmartCoat 150, Friday, you’d think he all but put on a clinic.

    Except he ran off-course.

    With 18 laps to go, Ankrum out-braked himself and veered off into the gravel trap in Turn 1. Which he thought would work, because he did the same thing on the first restart.

    Tyler Ankrum (02:46):

    “So I’m thinking, ‘OK, I got more grip because I’ll be on the bottom, I’ll be in the rubber,’” he said. “And the further you can get close to the curb, the less uncambered the pavement is.”

    Instinctively, he throttled up and escaped the kitty litter. If he didn’t, it was game over.

    “I was probably going to lose a lap or two and my race would be done.”

    He trailed the leader, however, by seven seconds. So barring a late caution, Ankrum needed the drive of a lifetime to win.

    “I mean, in order to do that, you have to be not only really good on brakes, but you also have to be turning really good and have drive off,” he said.

    Fortunately for Ankrum, he worked on doing just that over the “past couple of years,” and cut the deficit by seven seconds over the course of 12 laps.

    Then with five laps to go, he made his move on Dean Thompson in the keyhole.

    Ankrum drove away from the field and crossed the line to win.

    And with a car he thought didn’t have the speed to reel in the leaders.

    “It wasn’t until about a lap or two later, I passed one or two cars already and I could still see the leader when we’re coming out in Turn 2,” he said. “And I was thinking to myself, ‘I’ve got the car to do this. I can do this myself. At the least, I’ll make it back to the top-three.”

    Of course, as one-off, this probably won’t have major championship implications. Jessie Love leaves Mid-Ohio with a 43-point lead.