Many of us were caught off guard by the recent announcement of NASCAR’s tough new policy towards drivers and teams whose cars are found to be cheated up…or shall we be politically correct and say “legally challenged” after a race victory. For those of you haven’t been following the latest …

Since its inaugural running in 1959, the Daytona 500 has always been circled in red on the annual NASCAR schedule. (Though it’s now the season opener, the 500 didn’t become the first points-paying race of the season until 1982.) From the 1960s onward, the Daytona 500 (the highest-paying race of …

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. -William Shakespeare Secondary education in the United States certainly has changed since it was the bane of my existence back in the 1970s. While officially, English is still our most-spoken language outside of some 7-Elevens and Dunkin’ Donuts, I’m told …

I’ve seen so many things, I ain’t never seen before, Someone turn out the lights, I don’t want to see anymore. –Three Dog Night There are tons of colorful stories about the ultimate showman and circus owner P.T. Barnum, some of them apocryphal. One I’ve heard quite often involves a …

After about 25 years of writing about NASCAR racing, I have my rituals for the night before an event down to a science. Print the starting lineup. Print the points standings. Dig out the sheet that shows what points the various positions pay. Make sure there are adequate cigarettes to …

I’ve never been much on gambling. Perhaps that’s because I’ve lived most of my adult life in the suburbs of Philly. Our professional sports teams are notorious for failing to live up to expectations.  Even with success seemingly imminent, those teams will find a way to wrest defeat out of …

A couple weeks ago one blustery and cool evening, I went to put some laundry into the back of my Jeep. A gust of wind slammed shut the Cherokee’s door, trapping my right thumb and index finger between the door frame and the whole rest of the truck. To make …

Let me start by saying I cannot summon up my normal degree of rage when I disagree with calls NASCAR has made from this weekend. Anytime a restrictor plate race concludes and I don’t have to start working on a driver obituary or try to gather information on fans injured …

There’s a place in nearly every small town across America, or at least there still was during those years I was making a somewhat feeble attempt at growing up. In our town, it was the local Wawa, which is sort of like a 7-Eleven for people in the Philly area …

If you’re old enough that you hear the term “anticipation” and you still think Carly Simon and not catsup the lead up to Sunday’s ROVAL race probably had you whistling that old hit single. As I noted last week there was a whole lot of hype leading up to the …