Hello, race fans and welcome to that weekly place where major race programming is put under a microscope and analyzed. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series were both racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. In addition, the Izod IndyCar Series held their crown jewel, the Indianapolis 500. Indianapolis 500 On …
As a woman, I do fall victim to the occasional bout of fashion envy. When Dario Franchitti crossed the finish line in Indianapolis on Sunday, it was with appreciation I smiled for his victory as well as Ashley Judd’s nicely coordinated ensemble. She bounced up and down. I considered the large, violet floral pattern against …
Great Scot! Really. While most of the attention after qualifying fell to Tony Kanaan and his Andretti Autosport teammates having a rough month of May, drivers like Paul Tracy who didn’t make the field, or Helio Castroneves and his quest for a fourth victory, Dario Franchitti garnered very little attention. That’s OK. He let his right foot do his talking instead, going out and dominating the race. He led 155 of 200 laps, scoring his second Indy 500 victory and fourth overall for owner Chip Ganassi.
You may have noticed this season that there are seemingly a lot more female racers in the upper echelons of motorsports. For example, this year’s ARCA season opener at Daytona had six women in the field, a record. 10 female racers participated in the open test in December prior to the race. It is said …
The Indianapolis 500 takes place on Sunday and many eyes in the NASCAR garage will be on the race, which runs before the Coca-Cola 600. One person keeping an eye on the open-wheelers is former Champ Car driver Casey Mears, who will race Sunday night for Team Red Bull. Mears, who had a promising open-wheel …
Helio Castroneves, the always upbeat Brazilian with the infectious personality, is poised to add his name to the Indy 500 record book again. Sitting on the pole and considered an early favorite, he will be only the fourth driver to score four wins in the Memorial Day weekend classic if he can pull off the …
This weekend being the weekend it is, I felt it might be time for one of these columns with the Indianapolis 500-mile Race as the subject. First, I want to correct a few people. When the short practice day that is always scheduled in the week prior to the race is mentioned, these folks continually …
Did You Notice? Bruton Smith’s $20 million offer for 2011 and beyond to any driver who wins both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day? That’s opened up a whole other can of worms and stirred the pot for a handful of drivers anxious to get their hands on that money. In …
Technically, the NASCAR Sprint Cup circus didn’t take last week off. But after a 100-lap, four-segment exhibition where only the last 15 minutes seemed worth watching, it’s hard to add to those regular-season trends which typically define this Hot/Not column. So just like everyone else is about to do this Memorial Day Weekend, let’s take …
Friends, gentle readers, editors, and detractors I ask you to indulge me for this week. You doubtless have tuned into this Matt-channel looking to read about NASCAR racing, or a topic even spherically related to stock cars. Well I’m sorry to disappoint ya’ll, but this week I’m going so far off the radar that Larry …
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com