NASCAR announced late last week a 10% cut in race purses, with the money instead going to the racetracks. How does this affect the sport’s outlook, given the sagging economy and increasing cost of competition?
I started racing motorcycles out in California when I was four years old, and that went on for several years, until Dad decided he wanted Jimmie and me in a roll cage. He wanted it to be safe. So I got into the off-road stuff, and that led into the SCORE off-road series, the desert races.
Hello, race fans and welcome to entry No. 47 (No. 1 in 2010) in an open-ended series that looks into the broadcasts that we all love to watch. This weekend was the last weekend without action for NASCAR’s top-three series, as Speedweeks starts in less than 72 hours. But first, some late-breaking news (as in …
Read moreTalking NASCAR TV: SPEED Does Well in Daytona, Struggles in Irwindale
On Sunday, 19-year-old Marc Davis finished third in the Freestate 500 in South Africa. That put him on the podium behind John Mickel and Toni McCray, standing proudly amongst the top three in a race dedicated to his late father. Monday, he’ll fly back to bury him. —- The first time Harry Davis contacted me …
Read moreBowles-Eye View: NASCAR Lessons Learned From Harry Davis
I worked quite a few races indoors in my officiating career, and each one was an experience in itself. Just like outdoor tracks, each venue has its own personality. The first time was with the United Midget Racing Association TQs in the coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the ’60s. We’d run some pretty …
After the Winston Cup race in the fall of 1996 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the gates were closed and have never been opened for a competitive race since. There have been some test sessions and the Roush Gong Show, but there have been no laps turned in anger since September 29, 1996. If the latest …
Read moreFull Throttle: Is Racing FINALLY Coming Back to North Wilkesboro?
While taking part in the Frontstretch “live blog” during the Martinsville race, somebody said something about the guy standing at the end of pit road with the stop-go paddle and asked, “How would you like to be that guy?” I responded that it wouldn’t be as much fun as the old ASA crossover, because the …
Had to use that as a headline. It’s one of my favorite movie lines, delivered by Richard Kiel early in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I’ve been known to quote it often when somebody asks about rules at the racetrack. What brought about the attention to rules this week was the “controversy” over NASCAR …
This past Sunday, while most NASCAR fans were tuned into the Cup race in Kansas, the best late model racers from across the country were gathered at Martinsville for the Bailey’s 300. It is the premier late model race in the Southeast, paying $25,000 to win and, more importantly, the coveted grandfather clock that Martinsville …
Read moreFull Throttle: Cinderella’s Slipper Didn’t Fit This Time
The Chase is terrible, the races are boring, and NASCAR doesn’t care about the fans. While all of these may be true to a degree (OK, so maybe the Chase sucks a LOT), the complaints do make something for the media (I think that’s me) to talk about. But the race fan in me, the …
