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At one of the historic speedways in America, host to NASCAR for 65 years, racing took place with late-model stock cars for a full day of fender scraping, bumper ripping and wall refinishing.

Apparently, the same was going on for the Cup drivers at Kansas…

The Virginia Is For “Racing” Lovers 300 was turning laps through heat races, last chance advances and a main event which left metal and fiberglass stacked on trash bins throughout Martinsville Speedway. A few tempers were scraped along the way, as well.

Meanwhile, the Hollywood Casino 400 was crunching numbers with attrition and battered metal as the Chase was being knocked around the new pavement of Kansas Speedway. A few tempers may have been scraped along the way.

For Kansas, 14 cautions littered the day. There were at least that many for the late-model folks at Martinsville. We suspect there were more… (more…)

Mid-October and racing is going into the final laps. Indy was done a while ago. Grand-Am is done. American Le Mans closes this weekend. NASCAR has a hadfull of races left. Formula 1 also has a few left, including the return to America. NHRA still has a couple left…

Ryan Hunter-Reay won the IndyCar title. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won the Daytona Prototypes with Chip Ganassi Racing in Grand-Am. The GT title was driven away with Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato for AIM Autosport. The classes of American Le Mans have been mathematically clinched heading into an all out race to win for the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

NASCAR is at Kansas this weekend, then on to Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. Brad Keselowski is currently edging the points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is still nursing a concussion and should be back by Martinsville. (more…)

Clint Bowyer won in Charlotte. It came down to fuel, again.

Keselowski could have, but ran out. Johnson might have but was conserving. Hamlin also, but couldn’t swing by Bowyer.

Coming up, the Big Boys are in Kansas. Now, you could sit at home and watch on TV or you could go see some real racing. If you are in Kansas, you might as well go to the big one. If you are, oh…. Somewhere around southern Virginia you could consider Martinsville.

Wait! That’s next week!

Yes, and no… Sprint Cup and Camping World Trucks are indeed in Martinsville on the 27th and 28th of October. However, this weekend they run the late-model Virginia Is For Lovers 300.

Set your DVR and come on out. Yes, the “Chase” is big this year. Keselowski, despite a fuel shortage at Charlotte, is still leading. Johnson and Hamlin are still “chasing” his bumper but gaining. Bowyer also is bringing some fresh heat. You could even see Regan Smith finish in Dale Jr.’s car. You might see “Smoke” come up or Biffle gain ground. (more…)

What do Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Pink have in common…?

No, not Pink the pop-rock singer…

First, Dale, Jr…. Talladega apparently gave him a knock on the noggin that multipled an earlier condition that he had managed to keep in the garage. It seems he had a good wall hit during a tire test at Kansas back in August. However, he kept any ill effects under wraps and drove through it and into the “Chase”.

Then Talladega happened. The white flag spin and scramble. Stewart went for an upside-down ride but Dale, Jr. took another hit. He manage to avoid the speedway medical center as his car was mobile and he drove off the track with teammate Johnson in the window seat. Nobody gave it a second thought… (more…)

They waited until the white flag. It was as if someone said “last chance to smack it all silly!”

There were some close calls earlier in the race at Talladega. A touch, a spin, a slide up the track or down to the infield but somehow most checked or got by…

Until the last lap.

The racing had gotten hot. Gordon had made a run up. Earnhardt, Jr. had a run. Johnson was there at some point. Kahne started on pole and ran with it. Kenseth was there at the end but it looked like Stewart could make a run and go.

It was Tony Stewart, he had gone up the track a bit and was coming back towards the inside on the white flag lap. It was a green-white-checkered run following a touch-up with Jamie McMurray being tagged by Harvick.

Stewart, on a dive back to the inside, did not catch the speed that Michael Waltrip had worked up. The left rear of the #14 tagged the right front of the #55… (more…)

It was a Wednesday. Cat box… Clean out car… Mow lawn…

That was the list of things to do. However, tucked away in an e-mail was a notification from Martinsville Speedway that teams and drivers for the upcoming Virginia Is For Lovers 300 late model stock car race would be running practice sessions.

Hmmmmm… Cat box or go check some action at the race track. No need to toss a coin. Stop for coffee and gas, throw away a couple of burger bags while the tank is filling, and off to Martinsville!

From outside the fence it was obvious quite a few teams had taken advantage of this open test day. Pit road was full. The garages were full. The infield was a maze of big diesel trucks and haulers to simple flatbed tow trailers. (more…)

Formula 1 in America.

It is still several weeks away, November 16-18. Four races separate then from now. This weekend the speed is in Japan. Fernando Alonso carries a 29 point lead on the way to the Land of the Rising Sun, thanks to three season wins combined with other good finishes…

The American race is one before the finale in Brazil. If points are tight it could be a game changer. The track is not just new to the F1 schedule it is new to everything. Everything from the race surface to the bathrooms is shiny, brand new. It was just last week the facility was “race certified” by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which is the sanctioning body that oversees international motorsport.

Racing on a brand new circuit, with unfamiliar characteristics, is bound to be interesting. Combine that with the possibility of a tight points situation with one more race to follow and the break-in period could break someone’s chances. (more…)