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Angie
 I had a chance to interview Trevor Bayne at Darlington Raceway on May 7th to talk to him about his first season as a fulltime Nationwide Series regular.
As soon as we began talking, I was immediately impressed with the maturity and focus that this 19-year old possesses.
He had just finished qualifying and seemed pleased with his effort. Although Bayne felt he could have pushed a little harder, he explained his strategy.
“It’s our first time here so it’s better to have a car in one piece and still have a potentially qualifying top ten than it is going for a top three.”
His plan seemed to work and he earned a ninth place starting position for the Royal Purple 200 race later that evening. He finished the race in 16th place and advanced to the 11th position in the Nationwide Series points standings.
I asked Bayne to grade his season to date and although he was reluctant to do so, he sounded encouraged by what they have been able to accomplish thus far.
“I think we’re on the right track,” he said. “We’re definitely going in the right direction.” Continue reading →
Robert
 Image via Wikipedia
I thought it would be interesting to do a general survey of the field after the “Lady In Black” had reeked her havoc. There isn’t enough room or time to cover all the teams in the Sprint Cup series, so I picked a few that have caught my eye. They have either showed something, or done something during the first chunk of the season which made them stand out to me. Any feedback or differing opinions are more than welcome as my predictions and fantasy picks haven’t exactly shaken the world. 
First, RCR, who is starting to make this a statement year at least with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. Clint Bowyer looks like the shakiest one in this group so far. Obviously the equipment is up to snuff, and maybe easing back to a three car team was a good thing. Burton is knocking on the door, and except for a couple of mistakes might have won by now. He is Mr. Consistency and will be there till the end. Harvick has already won, and even when a weekend doesn’t start out well seems to be able to recover and make steak out of hamburger, a definite sign of a Championship contender.
JGR is another comer, with Denny Hamlin and Kyle Bush. They got off to a slow start but are rolling now, especially Hamlin. I still have reservations about Joey Logano. Until he draws a line in the sand with the competition he’s going to be questionable because he seems to get pushed around a bit. To some extent he is still finding his way. Couple that with the sophomore jinx and it might be a mediocre year for the 20 team. The kid has a boat-load of talent, of that there is no doubt but, he needs to knock out a space for himself. The other two JGR cars are definite contenders. Continue reading →
Angie
The “Lady in Black” welcomed back fans on Saturday for round two at Darlington Raceway. In preparation for the Showtime Southern 500, a team had been up throughout the night re-painting the historic red and white walls.
A busy day of practice and qualifying on Friday had left its mark on the track walls and sent six Sprint Cup teams to backup cars.
Dale Earnhardt Jr was the first casualty, hitting the wall on just his second lap of practice. He was followed by Clint Bowyer, Scott Speed, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch.
Jamie McMurray stayed out of the wall and made his way into the record books. He set a track qualifying record with a 180.370 mph lap.
In what has fast become a tradition on Mother’s Day weekend at Darlington, the Sprint Cup mothers in attendance gave the command, “Gentleman, start your engines.” Continue reading →
Angie
The Lady in Black opened her gates on Saturday and quickly let everyone know that she was in charge.
She claimed her first victims during the Nationwide Series practice Friday morning.
Steve Wallace, Mike Wallace and Steve Arpin all had to go to back up cars after hitting the wall.
The Nationwide Series qualifying went a little smoother and Denny Hamlin claimed the pole. It was his 15th pole in 121 Nationwide Series races.
The top five spots were all taken by Sprint Cup regulars. Kyle Busch started second followed by Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards.
The fastest qualifying rookie was Brain Scott who started 13th.
Denny Hamlin led the field to green and the race was on to see who could survive until the end. Continue reading →
Angie
Kyle Busch led the field to green and then led the field for almost half the race.
He was putting cars down at such a quick pace that by lap 156 there were only nine cars on the lead lap with 21 cars one lap down. It was beginning to look like the Kyle Busch show.
A debris caution on lap 159 changed things up as 18 cars took the wave around. That left 27 cars on the lead lap.
Finally on lap 230, Jeff Burton took the lead and the excitement was turned up a notch.
Burton was in the lead with Kyle Busch second and Gordon in third. But Gordon was closing fast and soon overtook Busch for second place with Burton in his sights.
Gordon passed Burton on lap 250 for the lead and looked determined to bring home that elusive win.
But this is short track racing and a couple of late race cautions changed everything.
After the last caution, on lap 395, Kyle Busch slid by Gordon and took the lead. Continue reading →
Angie
 Joe Weatherly had a short but extraordinary career. His exploits off the track were as legendary as his accomplishments on the track.
When you hear people talk about the drivers who were there at the beginning of NASCAR, you often hear them called “good old boys.”
If you’re not sure what that means, just take a close look at Joe Weatherly.
He was well known for his love of liquor, women and hard racing. Weatherly was also the king of practical jokes and became known as “The Clown Prince of Racing.”
In the days before start switches, Weatherly would sneak along pit road and steal the keys to all the cars. When the command, “Gentlemen, start your engines,” was given, only one car fired up. It didn’t take much detective work to figure out that Weatherly was the culprit. Continue reading →
Angie
 (c) Mary Hodge/NASCAR Red Farmer is one of NASCAR’s racing legends but his life hasn’t followed the typical path.
His story begins in Nashville, Tennessee but the date of his birth is somewhat uncertain. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame lists his birth year as 1928, but other sources, including his wife, give his birth date as October 15, 1932.
When asked about the mystery surrounding his birthday, Farmer once said, “Hey, I ain’t sure. When I was born I was too young to read the birth certificate.”
Farmer moved with his family to Miami, Florida when he was about 14 or 15 years old and in 1962 they moved again to Alabama. He settled in Hueytown, Alabama and considers that his hometown.
Most NASCAR fans are familiar with Farmer who became famous as a member of the original “Alabama Gang” along with Bobby Allison and Donnie Allison.
But there’s so much more to his story.
Farmer didn’t start racing when he was five years old. He wasn’t groomed from an early age to learn how to speak to the media and project the perfect sponsor image. His lessons were learned the hard way.
Farmer made his living as an electrician and began racing part-time during the summers. He sometimes drove twenty or thirty hours, hauling his car on a trailer and sleeping in truck stops along the way. Continue reading →
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I had a chance to interview Trevor Bayne at Darlington Raceway on May 7th to talk to him about his first season as a fulltime Nationwide Series regular.
