Author: Missed Gear

There is a place in Virginia that was built in the 1950’s for sports car and racing enthusiasts to gather and challenge each other and the terrain. Rises and turns made famous by names such as Carroll Shelby, Carl Haas, Bob Holbert and Paul Newman. The track was there in the early days along with Watkins Glen and Elkhart Lake.

The place fell off in the 1970’s but was given a second chance rolling into this century. In 2000, Virginia International Raceway was brought back to life with an upgraded facility and an open invitation for club and enthusiast racing. It wasn’t long before VIR was hosting Grand-Am, American Le Mans, SCCA, AMA and other varieties of sports car and motorcycle racing.

NASCAR has been testing road course racing here for several years but the haven’t raced. Until now… (more…)

If you’ve ever wondered how they follow your favorite driver down the track at speed then it is likely, if you watched the Coca-Cola 600, that you now know…

The same answer also explains why your DVR does not have the last laps of the race…

A camera on cables and wheels is on a motorized pulley system that can run at speed with the cars down the track. The belt that drives the camera down the length snapped and the loose ends feel to the track slicing through the front of the #18 and tangling the drive and brakes of the #9.

Other cars may have experienced other damage from the downed belts and ropes which had to be gathered and removed from the racing area. NASCAR red-flagged the race but also set in motion a rare instance of allowing crews to check and fix their cars. Red flag rules keep teams from working but in this case the stop was unrelated to the racing and was a result of systems in place to show us the racing. (more…)

A.J. Allmendinger…

Remember him? There was much thrown about for a NASCAR suspension in July of 2012. A drug test showed signs of amphetamines which Allmendinger maintained came from Adderall which he took, he said, from a “friend of a friend”.

Adderall, by the way, is a drug used for ADHD and/or narcolepsy and is somewhat of a derivitive of amphetamines but is also a prescription controlled substance.

Yes… We all know he was suspended. We all know Roger Penske pulled him from the #22 which gave way for Joey Logano to be in it for 2013. We all know it was stupid to take a prescription medication from a “friend of a friend”…

However, A.J. Allmendinger did follow all the rules after the incident, went through the “Road to Recovery” program and was reinstated by NASCAR in September of 2012. By that time, Sam Hornish, Jr. had the wheel of the #22 and Allmendinger was on the search for a seat. (more…)

It looks as if Denny Hamlin is back and ready to rumble.

After many weeks out of the seat due to a back injury in March at the Auto Club 400 in California, Hamlin has come back to the FedEx #11 Toyota with fire. He started the race at Talladega for points purposes but was out at the first pit.

The next event at Darlington he drove the full race and finished second then went to a sixth place at the All Star race.

Now, for the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte he has qualified on the pole with a track speed record. (more…)

Jimmie Johnson won the Sprint All Star race. The five time Cup Champion took home the one million dollar prize with the #48 LOWE’S Chevy Crew and goes in the books as a four time winner of the event.

That about sums it up.

Except for the math of adding a million dollars to the ledger…

And the rain delay…  And two “rookies” on the grid…  And two brothers sharing the lead only to fall back…

There wasn’t much on the track for fans looking for chash-n-dash action. There was much hype coming in over rivalries and who might, or might not, bump another into a spin to make that final run for the checkered flag and the bank. For the most part, it was your typical “rubbin’ is racin” brand of driving. A few scraped or bounced or bumped but there wasn’t too much that will set the 2013 race into a “yeah, I was there!” memory. (more…)

We’re on the weekend with wide open racing on tap setting the stage for Memorial Day weekend. For those who only tune in to racing on the occasional big event, the Indy 500 opening rounds are this weekend. Qualifying is set for both Saturday and Sunday with the green flag coming next weekend. On top of getting primed for open wheel Indianapolis, the NASCAR All Star is Saturday evening.

So far, the NASCAR season has been hot with rivalry, controversy and some raw nerves. Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch. Joe Gibbs, Matt Kenseth and NASCAR. Penske and NASCAR.

That almost begins to cover the range of friction leading up to Charlotte…

The All Star format sets out four opening heat races leading to the final showdown. There are no Cup points. This is a simple drive to win for a big payday. A really big payday. The overall winner opens the wallet to receive one million dollars. If that same driver wins all five segments there is an additional one million bucks thrown in. (more…)

Pain. We all know when something hurts. Scrapes, bruises, perhaps a broken bone from an injury…

Few of us, however, can wrap our heads around pain that is constant, day in and day out, with no relief to be given.

Pain, with no end or comfort from doctors or medication, rode as a constant companion with former NASCAR and short track driver, Dick Trickle.

His brother, Chuck Trickle, currently living in Las Vegas, told news agencies he spoke with his brother, Dick, last week. He relayed that Dick was healthy yet repeated visits to doctors found no answers or relief from constant pain he was feeling under his breast.

The pain was a constant drag on the 71 year old driver. (more…)