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Once again, the Busch family has staked their claim to Victory Lane, reducing the act of winning a Sprint Cup race to a simple activity where the brothers take turns, like the game of Memory. At Las Vegas, Kyle Busch claimed the victory. Two weeks ago at Atlanta, older brother …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? For a driver who has never had Bristol figured out in the past, Jimmie Johnson looked like he hit on something this time around. Johnson led 88 laps and looked comfortable with the Bristol confines even though a late race pit miscue cost …

There’s procrastinating, and then there’s procrastinating. Your average everyday procrastinating is generally no big deal. So you take out the trash tomorrow and wash the car next week (don’t do that if you run over a possum, by the way; it’s hard to get the blood off. Yes, I did learn that the hard way.). Most of the time, unless there’s an angry boss involved, a little procrastinating never really hurts anyone. But this is nuts. When NASCAR developed the new car, it was designed to handle differently-to be harder to drive, and to be able to pass. It was designed to race on a big, wide tire so that it would grip the track better in the turns, which would provide more exciting racing by allowing cars to race side-by-side in those turns. NASCAR even upped the timetable for the new car by a few months. The car is here. The problem is, the tire isn’t. In fact, it’s not even close.

In last week’s Happy Hour, I discussed baseball’s ballpark boom and how the place responsible for it all, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, changed the formula for modern ballparks—from antiseptic concrete bowls to eye-catching and distinctive structures with natural grass. I suggested that NASCAR could learn from this, with most of the NASCAR schedule littered with tracks that are all too similar to one another. My idea was that the architects of the next speedway could try the same tactic, and use elements of several classic speedways in its design, while at the same time incorporating the modern amenities that the newer tracks brag about. And the next time NASCAR moves to a new track, it has a place to go to with better racing and a memorable fan experience. And new tracks in the future will have a standard. With that in mind, here is what defines Happy Hour Motor Speedway I. Feel free to chew me out if something doesn’t work, or add any ideas of your own.

Back when I was a newspaper editor in Salem, Ind., I had a lawyer friend named Delson Cox who happened to be a race fan and who was also a pretty good pilot. He owned a Mooney, which was a pretty fast single-engine aircraft, and we took a lot of rides together. One day he called me and asked if I was working the ARCA race at Talladega that weekend. I told him I wasn’t, but I was game to make the trip if he wanted to go. So, Sunday morning we load up the Mooney and head for ‘Dega.

The Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas saw four of the five full-time Nationwide Series rookie candidate score top 10 finishes. That won’t happen this weekend, but don’t look for this rookie class to end up a blended mess like so many before it have at this treacherous short track. Brendan Gaughan, who’s currently fourth in series points, averaged a top 15 finish in five Truck Series starts at Bristol, including a runner-up performance in August of 2007. And Justin Allgaier is coming off of an ARCA campaign that saw him score top 5 finishes in all seven of the series’ short track events, including three wins.

Goodyear Planning Tests At Indy, Atlanta Following many driver complaints after the spring 2008 Atlanta Cup race and the subsequent multiple cautions at Indianapolis, Goodyear has announced that they will do further testing at both speedways. The company has already conducted two tests at Indianapolis since last year’s race. “We …

Bobby Labonte To Be Inducted Into Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 96 Ford for Hall of Fame Racing, will be inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 1st. The ceremony will take place at Texas Motor Speedway in a gala at …

With the thunder of the cars spinning around the high, hungry banks of East Brainerd Speedway, Chris closed his eyes and tried to remember what he was being sent off to find in Brad Van Lytton’s RV, parked in the lot outside of Turn 1. Hesitating at the bottom of …

The Sprint Cup Series heads to the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” this weekend to take on the Bristol Motor Speedway. The Food City 500 is the fifth race of the 2009 Sprint Cup season and will be broadcast live on Sunday, March 22nd at 2 pm ET on FOX, with …