Category: Auto Racing

The season seems to be cranking up for the Ford badge. The Penske Racing Ford badge, specifically.

Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have traded off starting positions in the front row, finished in the top 5 and have put one of their Fords into Victory Lane.

The previous week at Phoenix, Keselowski was on the pole with Logano on his wheel. This week at Vegas Logano was on the pole with Keselowski on the wheel. Both finished in the top for both of these races with BK taking the win in the most recent Kobalt Tools 400.

It should also be noted Keselowski finished 3rd at the Daytona opener while Logano was just outside of the top 10 at 11th. The season has opened well for the Penske Fords with Keselowski off to a quick points chase showing, perhaps, that his 2012 championship has the possibility of a repeat. (more…)

Kevin Harvick switched teams from a long run with Richard Childress Racing to a new seat at Stewart-Haas for 2014. He brought Budweiser with him to wrap the new #4 Chevrolet. At the season opening Daytona 500 he took the best finish of the rest of the Stewart-Haas group of drivers with 13th place, driving up from starting 38th.

The second race of the season offered the same result as Harvick again finished in front of his team mates but this time the finish was also the win. It’s race two of the season and, for points, the second race for Harvick in the #4.

…And he has already snagged a win.

Whatever time many may take to adapt to new surroundings Harvick seems to have skipped over. At Phoenix the #4 was fast enough through practice and qualifying to put it, and Harvick, on the board as the one to beat. He took it to the track and came off with the win of the Profit Of CNBC 500. (more…)

The coincidence, or the weird, or the ironic…

Not sure which…

Daytona and the opening of NASCAR offered a generous and exciting start to the season but it also raised the spirit of the modern sport itself.

It’s all a bit spooky…

Consider the recap. Richard Childress brings the #3 back to Cup with driver and grandson Austin Dillon. Dillon has done the number proud with the trucks and a championship in the Nationwide series.

Dillon qualifies with the #3 on the pole for the Daytona 500. The first return of the #3 to Cup since the tragic loss of Dale Earnhardt (the man that made the number an icon) and it is leading the pack for the start of the new NASCAR season. (more…)

It’s kind of spooky. Cool, yes… But spooky.

The #3 is back in the top series of NASCAR. It’s been on the Camping World Series trucks and the next level Nationwide Series. It won a Nationwide Championship last year in 2013. Now, that driver that won with it has brought it into the Sprint Cup. His grandfather is the owner. The kid grew up surrounded by it.

Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing. RCR owns the number and had kept it off the tracks for several years after Dale Earnhardt drove it to 7 championships and, finally, to his death at the Daytona 500 in 2001. (more…)

Injuries. It is probably not the best topic on the eve of the start of NASCAR and the Daytona 500. Reality, however, may take the reigns.

As tough as it may be for some, perhaps even many, in the grandstands, the famed #3 is returning to “Cup” racing. The number may technically belong to Richard Childress but to all those who keep a fading and slanted “3” on their automobile windows it will always belong to Dale Earnhardt. The seven time Champion was killed while in the sport and in the car. It was a fatal injury that changed the way NASCAR races from that day forward.

It is not a matter of whether Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, can or even should drive the number. It is a matter of injury. The drivers, whatever the number, take a risk for their ride and for the show that the fans pay the money for. (more…)

Where did 2013 go? I was brought abruptly up to date while deleting 97% of my inbox. Hidden among the Viagra dating, money from nothing and rock solid offers from a variety of cellular providers was a shocking revelation from the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship. The ROLEX 24 is this weekend!

Now, just in case you’ve spent the last few months chasing something trivial, (such as… shall we say… football) you may not know that there have been changes in sports car racing. The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón have combined under the International Sports Car Association (IMSA) banner. 2014 is the opening season for the new TUDOR United Sports Car Championship.

The ROLEX 24, however, is still the grand open race showcasing drivers from several disciplines coming together to chase laps for a full 24 hours. The “24” drops the green flag for the racing season in America. Daytona hosts two months of wheel to wheel fun from the “Roar before the 24” in early January to the Daytona 500 in late February. The new TUDOR series and NASCAR both open in Daytona.

I may have deleted an email about hotel investments in north-eastern Florida…

Beyond my own distractions over the dawn of a new year, shocked aside briefly by a full html message highlighting the upcoming weekend, I’m rapidly absorbing the reality of racing into 2014. I can’t make Daytona as much as I would like to. My cash flow and time allowances simply won’t open wide enough. It may open just enough to keep the pizza and liquid refreshment readily available as I watch the ROLEX 24 from the small corner of the couch the greyhound hasn’t taken over.

While the hottest sports cars from around the world are driven to their limits by some of the hottest drivers in the world I’ll be racing my own clock to close out some of these distractions. Computer on, TV on, racing on!

The ROLEX 24 is more than the sports car opener. The doors are open to other series to share the seats and the laps. NASCAR names include Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson and A.J. Allmendinger. IndyCar is sharing names like Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Throw in some drivers that make a firesuit look really hot such as Katherine Legge and Christina Nielsen and add movie star Patrick Dempsey and the show grows a bit more. Eye candy, perhaps, but that takes a back seat to their skill in the driver’s seat.

The ROLEX 24 is more than a car race. The personalities that come together, the high speed exotic technology and elite automotive badges, the mechanical and physical challenge of 24 hours, the color, the lights, the sounds… This event raises the curtain on the motorsports stage with style. Once the checkered flag waves on the winners the other series start charging on to their own green flags. The NASCAR season, of course, keeps the Daytona pavement warm with the Sprint Unlimited and Budweiser Duels leading up to the Daytona 500.

I may be on the couch for the ROLEX 24 and the Daytona 500 but that won’t always be as the race schedules for these series bring them practically to my front door. The folks at NASCAR are kind enough to put races in Martinsville and Richmond. These are great facilities full of history and speed and just down the road. Yes, Virginia, there is also Bristol. Fun racing and a NASCAR mainstay but I’ve been informed by my wife that my attendance is required elsewhere.

For the new TUDOR Sports Car Championship, I’ll be able to catch up with the series on their visit to Virginia International Raceway.

For now, I’m ready for the ROLEX 24. Following that, it will be another race to catch up with what’s new in NASCAR this year. I have a feeling I may require a bit more liquid refreshment…

SEE: ROLEX 24 Spotter’s Guide and Schedule