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Alex Bowman No. 99 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Toyota Camry Event Preview Fact Sheet

By
SM Staff
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Event/Date:     Zippo 200 – August 10, 2013
Venue:             Watkins Glen International

 

News & Notes:

  • This Week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Toyota … Alex Bowman will pilot RAB Racing Chassis No. 55 in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. This chassis last saw action at Road America in June.
  • First Timer… Though Bowman has recorded laps at many of the tracks on the Nationwide Series circuit throughout his seasons in the K&N Pro Series and the ARCA Racing Series, he has not yet competed at Watkins Glen International. As he heads out on the 2.45-mile road course for Nationwide Series practice this Friday afternoon, these will truly be his first laps here.
  • RAB Racing at Watkins Glen … RAB Racing with Brack Maggard has competed in four Nationwide Series events at the New York road course since their inaugural year of competition in 2009. RAB Racing has accumulated one top-15 and two top-20 finishes with drivers Boris Said and Victor Gonzalez, Jr.
  • Rice at Watkins Glen … Crew chief of the No. 99 Toyota Camry, Chris Rice, has sat atop the pit box at Watkins Glen International two times in his Nationwide Series career, boasting a near perfect lap completion record with drivers Stacy Compton and Kenny Wallace.
  • Get to the Points … As we head into the 21st race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide  Series season, Bowman currently occupies the 11th position in the drivers’ point standings, 64 points out of the top 10. Owner Robby Benton holds steady in the 15th position of the Nationwide Series owners’ point standings.
  • Rookie Battle… Following his seventh place finish at Iowa Speedway, Bowman retained the second position in the Rookie of the Year point standings, 63 points behind Kyle Larson.
  • Catch the Action … The Zippo 200 from Watkins Glen International will be televised live Saturday, August 10th beginning at 2 p.m. EST on ABC and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network.
  • Get Social … Don’t miss any updates from Bowman and RAB Racing. Follow them on Twitter @AlexBRacing and @RAB_Racing.

Alex Bowman Quotes:
“I’m excited to be returning to a road course, especially such a historic track like Watkins Glen. All the legends of motorsports have won at Watkins Glen going all the way back to where they raced on the narrow streets of town, so it will be an honor to drive the track. We raced really well in my first Nationwide start at a road course at Road America and we’re bringing the same car so I’m really confident in my crew chief Chris Rice and what he learned from the first race and from Toyota Racing Development this week. I’m also honored to have Nationwide Children’s Hospital on the car this weekend, I encourage everyone to text ‘KIDS’ to 50555 and it will donate $10 to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital. It’s something I’ve already done this week and encourage everyone else to do the same.”

Chris Rice Quotes:
“Watkins Glen may be a track that our young and ambitious driver may like, but it’s a track that we as a race team want to take a conservative approach to and just get a good finish. Watkins Glen may look like an easy road course on paper but it offers a lot of challenges to a driver, especially a rookie driver. It’s very challenging to keep the car on track, there are so many instances where the racing groove narrows up and it becomes one lane, so if you’re side by side with another race car, it gets treacherous. Secondly, it’s a place where stock cars struggle to get grip coming off corners so that’s something we will have to work on in practice. Lastly we just need to survive until the end of the race, lately road course racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series has been wild to say the least, so we need to utilize pit strategy to get good track position and be around at the end of the race.”

Hot 20 over the past 10 – A bad break for Stewart opens the door for the defending champ at the Glen

By
Ron Thornton
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Photo Credit: Kirk Schroll

Where there is Smoke, there is an ambulance. Three Sprint races, three wrecks. A 19-year old driver got carted away with a back injury after Stewart caused a July 16th crash in New York. He flipped five times in a race July 29th in Ontario. Now we have this one where the flashing lights were for Smoke himself in Iowa. The three-time former champ will be back, but it will not be Sunday at the Glen, it will not be at Michigan or Bristol or probably anytime earlier than October at best.

Bad news for Tony, good news for Ryan Newman. As Stewart sinks in the standings and out of the Top Twenty, Newman sits next in line for his wild card berth in the Chase, as things stand now. Of course, there are five more races to run before the Chase begins, races that could be won by Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, or Joey Logano.

Oh, Logano has been making some noise lately. Over the past ten events, he has seven Top Tens, and only Kevin Harvick has done better. The trouble is, Logano has yet to lead a single lap at the Glen, with a fifth place finish sandwiched between a couple beyond 30th. Newman was second in 2002, but has just a couple of Top Tens since. Maybe the one to watch on Sunday, the one to take advantage of Stewart’s misfortune might be the guy who finished second to Marcos Ambrose each of these past two years at Watkins Glen. That would be one Brad Keselowski.

The defending champ has not done much of anything lately, but he remains poised to get back into contention on Sunday. He has a lapped car on a Sprint track in Iowa to thank for the opportunity.

Name Points Pos. LW Rank W T5 T10
  Kevin Harvick  360 1 1 (4) 1 3 8
  Jimmie Johnson  349 2 2 (1) 2 3 6
  Clint Bowyer  346 3 3 (2) 0 3 6
  Tony Stewart  341 4 4 (11) 1 5 7
  Kurt Busch  326 5 6 (13) 0 3 6
  Kyle Busch  321 6 5 (6) 0 4 7
  Carl Edwards  309 7 7 (3) 0 1 3
  Joey Logano  302 8 12 (17) 0 2 7
  Ryan Newman  299 9 9 (15) 1 3 5
  Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  297 10 10 (5) 0 2 5
  Jeff Gordon  291 11 11 (9) 0 3 6
  Greg Biffle  288 12 14 (10) 1 2 4
  Kasey Kahne  286 13 16 (8) 1 3 4
  Martin Truex, Jr.  283 14 13 (14) 1 2 4
  Matt Kenseth  274 15 8 (7) 1 2 4
  Jamie McMurray  271 16 15 (16) 0 1 2
  Brad Keselowski  266 17 20 (12) 0 2 3
  Marcos Ambrose  265 18 19 (22) 0 0 2
  Jeff Burton  249 19 17 (20) 0 1 2
  Juan Pablo Montoya  238 20 18 (23) 0 1 2
  Aric Almirola  237 21 22 (18) 0 1 1
  Paul Menard  217 24 24 (19) 0 0 0

Zipadelli never imagined racing without Stewart

By
SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Kirk Schroll

With the amount of injuries and fatalities in sprint cars this year, and considering how many races NASCAR champion Tony Stewart competes in during the year, he’s constantly asked, hounded and told that he should give it up.

Focus just on NASCAR, they’d say. Over the last few weeks Stewart never budged, never apologized for his love of racing and crisscrossing the country on any given night to do so. But after breaking the tibia and fibula in his right leg on Monday night in a sprint car crash in Iowa, Stewart is apologizing, to his Stewart-Haas Racing team.

“He’s in good spirits, a lot of pain, trying to get comfortable, but overall he’s obviously – he was worried about what everybody thought and apologetic and feels he’s letting everybody down here,” said Greg Zipadelli, Competition Director for Stewart-Haas Racing, on Wednesday.

“At the end of the day the reason we’re all here is because of him, so I know he’ll get back in it and make it up to us.”

Stewart remains in Iowa for the time being, a second surgery required on his leg. He’ll miss this weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen as Max Papis drives the No. 14 Chevrolet. Zipadelli said there’s no timetable for Stewart’s return and plans will be made in the coming days about who will drive the car going forward.

One thing Zipadelli does know, he never expected Stewart to be out of a race car. For as much as he competes and as hard a racer he is, Stewart has never missed a NSCS race. Sunday at Watkins Glen will snap Stewart’s streak of 521 straight races, dating back to when he entered the top series in 1999.

Not even a broken shoulder in 2006 kept Stewart out of his car. He started the race at Dover and then yielded to Ricky Rudd. Since then, Stewart’s been safe and sound. Now, he has to sit on the sideline for the first time in his career, but Zipadelli said he’ll be involved in everything the organization does moving forward.

“No, I never imaged this. He is old school, tough, we’ll just deal with it and get the job done to the best of his ability, which is usually pretty damned good,” Zipadelli said about not seeing Stewart behind the wheel.

“As a company, we’ll do our best. We’ll hopefully get him healed up and to the racetrack and being part of this group and team as soon as we can and get him in the car as soon as he can.

“As far as what the team is doing and the race car and all those things, we’ll do our best to keep him in the loop and take the information that he has. Yesterday in between doctors’ visits and this and that, we texted and we talked, and we talked about Max and some other people and he’s been as big a part of the decisions that have been made here right now as anybody else.”

Since the accident the cries for Stewart and other NASCAR drivers to give up their extracurricular activities has grown stronger. Where things go from here, has yet to be determined. Even Zipadelli, who has been a friend and crew chief to Stewart, couldn’t say what the future will hold, but he believes the door might be open to having discussions with Stewart about it.

As far as the NASCAR season goes, Stewart was sitting 11th in points following his ninth place finish at Pocono. It made him the first driver holding a Wild Card spot for the Chase, which he’ll now miss for the second time in his career. There will be more races, though, and as far as Zipadelli is concerned, that’s all that matters, even as decisions may loom in the future.

“We all know Tony loves to do those races. We now that that’s his golf game, that’s his hunting, his fishing, all the things that the rest of us do,” he said. “There is a difference in the amount of responsibility we have and obligations to other people, and that’s where I think that’s kind of where it gets sticky.

“I think it [sprint cars] makes him better at what he does here, but it obviously leaves the door open for a situation that we’re in now. I think as many races as he’s run in the past, we’re probably lucky that this is the first time we’re dealing with this.

“You know, we’ll do our best at Stewart-Haas to put pieces together and sit down and evaluate it, it would be a lot easier to look at and talk about things right now because we’re in the situation that we’re in moving forward. That doesn’t mean anything other than we will talk about it, we’ll discuss it and we’ll try and do what’s best for Stewart-Haas and our partners in the future.”

Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono Go.Bowling.com 400

By
SM Staff
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At a track known as tricky, with a bowling sponsor for its second race of the season, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 40th annual GoBowling.com 400, at Pocono Raceway.

Surprising:  Probably most surprising about the Pocono race weekend was what followed shortly thereafter, with top-ten finisher Tony Stewart flipping in a sprint car accident at Southern Iowa Speedway, which resulted in a fractured leg.

This was eerily and scarily ironic after joking with the media during his Pocono availability about his sprint car racing escapades, including a flip prior to the Pocono race.

Stewart had to undergo surgery and because of the break of both his tibia and fibula, Stewart Haas Racing announced that Max Papis will pilot Smoke’s Cup ride at the Glen.

Not Surprising:  In a Pocono race weekend where the victors in both the ARCA and Truck Series were determined on restarts, it was not surprising that the winner of the Cup race Kasey Kahne also made it to the checkered flag thanks to a restart.

“I about gave it away,” the driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet said after scoring his second win of the season, as well as his second victory at Pocono. “I spun the tires a little bit and Jeff (Gordon) got a great jump and Kurt (Busch) pushed me all the way to Turn 1, which really helped.”

“And then I had one opportunity,” Kahne continued. “It was either go for it and make it work or not.”

“It was a great race.”

Surprising:  A pair of birthday boys, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch scored surprisingly good finishes on their special days. The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet and the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet finished second and third respectively.

“It’s funny how our emotions go up and down in this sport,” Gordon said. “Before the race, if you told me that I’d finish second, I’d say that was a great birthday gift.”

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get this win.”

“This was a phenomenal run today,” Busch said. “Right now, we’re getting the job done.”

“So, I’m happy for this finish and this team and just the job we’re doing.”

Not Surprising:  The vibration plaguing Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued to be a hot topic, with the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet discussing it even after his top five finish.

“Well, we changed every part on the car but the engine,” Junior said. “We got it to the point where we could drive it.”

“I felt good coming in here and thought we might win the race, but we came up a little short.”

Surprising:  Timmy Hill was the surprising Rookie of the Race after finishing 27th in his No. 32 Oxy Water Ford. ROTY competitors Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick both had troubles on the track, with Stenhouse Jr. crashing on the very first lap and Patrick bringing out the seventh caution of the day in a tangle with Travis Kvapil, Paul Menard and Jeff Burton. Stenhouse Jr. finished 34th and Patrick finished 35th.

“It’s not the way we wanted to start the day,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I was kind of hoping everyone would stay in line but it didn’t play out like that.”

“We were just having a steady race and a good race, and it was over,” Patrick said. “We were competitive and we were making good calls in the pits.”

“Everything was going; it just happens.”

Not Surprising:   Even with a tire issue and a resulting crash that was so hard it knocked a spark plug wire off, Jimmie Johnson managed to finish the race, in which he had started on the pole with a new track record, in the 13th position.

And even with all the challenges of the day, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Planes Chevrolet managed to increase his points lead to 77 over second place Clint Bowyer.

“My day kept needing to be re-calibrated,” Johnson said. “I really felt like we had a shot to win, unfortunately blew a tire off of Turn On and ended those hopes there.”

“We salvaged a very nice finish though.”

Surprising:  Contrary to all the Bloomin’ Onion fans, driver Ryan Newman was surprisingly unhappy with his fourth place finish in his No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet.

“It’s a good run but not as good as it could have been,” Newman said. “Just a horrible day in the pits for us.”

“We have to get that figured out.”

Not Surprising:  Having come into the Pocono weekend with high hopes for not only a good finish but also making the Chase, there was no one, not surprisingly, more frustrated with being caught up in a wreck not of his doing than Jeff Burton.

The driver of the No. 31 FXI Gutterclear 365 Chevrolet was so upset that he put a nice sized dent in the roof of his car after pounding it royally after getting caught up in the Danica Patrick, Paul Menard and Travis Kvapil mess.

“By the time I got there, they were wrecked,” Burton said. “We had a good car but we just kept getting in trouble.”

“It’s just kind of how the year’s going.”

Surprising:  Although teammates and the highest finishing Fords, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano had surprisingly different views on the challenge of the restarts.

“We caught that one yellow at the worst possible time with 50 or 60 to go and pitted for four and we were going to be okay but then we caught another yellow which killed our strategy,” the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Apple Ale proclaimed. “Damn, we were just a little bit short.”

“Those restarts helped us,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “The cautions at the end helped us make up what we lost.”

“It’s kind of funny how it worked out.”

Not Surprising:  Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Peanut Butter Toyota, was the highest finishing Toyota, ending the race in the eighth position.

“We were just a little bit off today,” Busch said. “It seemed like we could get going good on restarts and it would drive well for a few laps, then we couldn’t keep up as well on the long run.”

“That’s about all we had with our M&M’s Peanut Butter Camry,” Busch continued. “We were able to get a top-10 out of a day where we were just a little behind.”

 

NASCAR Launches Official Mobile App for Microsoft Windows Phone 8 Devices

By
SM Archive
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Greg Biffle – Watkins Glen Advance

By
SM Archive
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Test session has Busch encouraged for final road race of season

By
SM Archive
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Nicole Briscoe Shares How Racing’s Twist and Turns Shaped Her Career

By
SM Staff
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Every race weekend, fans see a nicely done broadcast by NASCAR’s TV partners. They see the finished product of a weeklong production broadcasting the race is. Countless hours go into preparing the show to make sure it’s as accurate as can be. It’s rare to get inside information on what goes on behind the scenes, but if you were to get it, who better to get it from than the host.

Nicole Briscoe has been around racing for years now. She began covering NASCAR for SPEED, but eventually moved on to her current position today at ESPN. She is one of the most likeable on air personalities for not only what she says on camera, but how she goes about doing it. When you watch the ESPN pre-race show, you see the real Nicole whose personality fits TV perfectly.

Her career has taken its twist and turns, but overall, she’s happy at where it has currently landed her. In an interview I did with Nicole, she shares how she got her start and some behind the scenes facts about how the broadcast goes on. You’ll find her answers funny, interesting, and even inspirational.

Jason: What got you interested in a career in journalism?

Nicole: A story I tell often is the 11 year old me, sitting on my pink beanbag, watching Tom Brokaw. I remember it starting with the first Gulf War, but my mom says I was always a very curious kid. I just wanted to know what was going on. I was also born into a family that pretty much bleeds green and gold….HUGE Green Bay Packers fans. It’s a Sunday tradition to watch the game as a family, and when I say family….I mean FAMILY….all of them. At a very young age, my mom suggested a career in sports broadcasting. To be honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to do anything else.

Jason: Did you have a role model in the journalism world?

Nicole: My role models at an early age were the people I watched on a daily basis….the Tom Brokaws and the Peter Jennings. Oprah. As I got older and into my career, those “role models” changed. I have a great deal of respect for Suzy Kolber. She’s an incredible talent and incredibly hard working. Everyone could learn from her. I’ve also been very lucky to work with an incredible team of people the last couple of years, and I’ve learned so much from them: Allen Bestwick, Sage Steele, Ray Evernham and countless people behind the scenes. My role models are the people I respect in this business and in life.

Jason: Did you have motorsports in mind as a field you wanted to work in?

Nicole: No! If you would have said to me 10 years ago that I’d be doing this? I would have laughed in your face! It’s amazing the twists and turns of life, and its amazing how one seemingly simple event can lead you down a completely different and unexpected path. I’d always thought, growing up, that I’d be working in stick and ball. Football and baseball were the sports I watched growing up, and even now, the sports I follow most closely as a fan. I just never expected racing to play such a huge role in both my personal life and professional life, but boy am I happy it does! Those twists and turns of life led me to my husband and a pretty incredible job!

Jason: Was there something intriguing about racing that made you want to cover it?

Nicole: The first race I ever covered was the 2004 Indianapolis 500 and all of the events that led to the race…practice, qualifying, etc. I fell in love with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To say that track is special is a gross understatement! That event also introduced me to the speed. How can you not love this sport? And this sport’s balance between man and machine? It’s incredible!

Jason: What would a typical day for you at the track consist of?

Nicole: A typical day at the track consists of a lot of walking and talking. Walking around the garage. Talking to all the players. Talking to the people with whom I work….analysts and producers. And MEETINGS! Lots of meetings. Much of my day is spent working with the producers to make sure when Saturday and/or Sunday rolls around we’re presenting the best and most relevant pre-race topics. My goal is to make the viewer at home feel as if they have been at the track with us all weekend.

Jason: Sometimes you end up as a moderator on the pre-race shows when the conversation gets heated between the panel, are there any debates that you clearly remember?

Nicole: I can’t say there is a specific conversation that stands out, but I LOVE it when the talk is a bit heated or passionate. We’re really lucky in the Pit Studio. Yes, we work together, but we all really enjoy each other’s company as well. For the most part, our talks in the Pit Studio are exactly as they are when we’re out at dinner…we’re just wearing suits and ties in the Pit Studio. It would be really odd if we all sat there and just agreed with each other! Who does that in real life?! We want the show to be like 4 buddies sitting at a bar, intelligently talking about their favorite sport. Maybe with just a few more bells and whistles.

Jason: When the TV cameras go off following the pre-race show, how do you usually follow the race from the booth?

Nicole: The cameras may go off, but we’re still working. The Quicken Loans Pit Studio is kinda tricked out. We have 4 TVs in there. One has the race broadcast, two and three have the running order of the race with lap times, all the major stats, and points. The fourth TV is a stat lover’s dream! What the 3rd monitor doesn’t have, the 4th monitor does. Plus, Ray Evernham is an awesome addition to the group. His mind is just incredible, and he’s funny as all hell! We spend a lot of time talking about how the race is progressing and what calls we agree with and mostly the many, many, many with which we disagree. That’s the stuff you hear from us when we get in on the race broadcast.

Jason: Do you ever see yourself leaving your role as a racing journalist?

Nicole: I learned a long time ago to never say never! There is nothing wrong with keeping an open mind and growing through change.

Jason: What advice would you give someone who is interested in one day working in the racing media world?

Nicole: The advice I give anyone who wants to get into the media world is the same…whether it’s in racing or not. Work hard, start early, no job is ever too small, and work hard. Yes, I said that twice. A job is never gifted to anyone. You have to earn it, and even when you’ve earned it….you still have to work hard and keep growing. There is something else to keep in mind. It may seem “glamorous”, but it’s still a job. It’s not always fun, it’s not always easy, and you have to sacrifice. A job, no matter how cool it is perceived, is still a job….and I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone that loves their job ALL the time. It’s important to have realistic expectations.

You can follow Nicole on twitter @RB_Mrs.

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

By
Jeffrey Boswell
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Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson started from the pole at Pocono but found trouble on lap 76 when he cut a tire and hit the wall. Despite the damage, he finished 13th and actually increased his lead in the points standings to 77 over Clint Bowyer.

“I’ve got a lot of empathy for that tire,” Johnson said, “because we both ‘blow’ victories.”

2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth posted a disappointing 22nd in the GoBowling.com 400 after his No. 20 Husky Chevy was collected in a lap 1 wreck involving Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Juan Montoya. Kenseth dropped one spot in the points standings to seventh, 134 out of first.

“What do you call drivers who cause a wreck on lap 1 of the GoBowling.com 400?” Kenseth said. “Pinheads.”

3. Kasey Kahne: Kahne zoomed past Jeff Gordon with two laps to go to win the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono, his second win of the year. Kahne solidified his Chase For The Cup standing and is now eighth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 160 behind Jimmie Johnson.

“Those restarts were nerve-racking,” Kahne said. “As one would expect in the GoBowling.com 400, I was on pins and needles.

“What a run by the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. It insured victory, and was at a premium. The pit crew made all the right adjustments. As a result, we had the field covered.”

4. Kyle Busch: Busch was the top Toyota finisher at Pocono, finishing eighth for his 12th top-10 finish of the year. He is seventh in the points standings, 130 behind Jimmie Johnson.

“Normally,” Busch said, “you can find a Toyota in the top 5. Not on Sunday. There were no cars from Japanese automakers there. In other words, there was a case of ‘Oriental hooky’ at Pocono.”

5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt led two laps and finished fifth at Pocono, posting his fifth top-5 result of the year. He is fifth in the points standings, 116 behind Jimmie Johnson.

“Pocono Raceway is in the vicinity of Pennsylvania Dutch country,” Earnhardt said. “Combine that fact with the smell of a Junior Nation tent after three days in the infield and you’ve got yourself a ‘dutch oven.’”

6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer remained winless on the year with a 14th at Pocono as Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr. finished close behind in 15th. Bowyer is still second in the point standings and trails Jimmie Johnson by 77.

“I’m still without a win this year,” Bowyer said. “That could change this Sunday at the Cheez-It 355 At The Glen. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict a win. If I’m wrong, I’ll certainly complain about it. That would make Watkins Glen much like Sonoma—whine and Cheez country.”

7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 17th at Pocono on a topsy-turvy day for Chase front-runners. After a run of nine consecutive top-10 finishes, Harvick has posted finishes outside the top 15 in the last two weeks.

“How I wish I could have waited until Sunday to announce my departure from Richard Childress Racing,” Harvick said. “What better place than the GoBowling.com 400 to announce a ‘split.’”

8. Brad Keselowski: After winning the Nationwide Series race in Iowa on Saturday, Keselowski took sixth in the GoBowling.com 400 on Sunday. Last year’s Sprint Cup champion holds the 12th spot in the Sprint Cup point standings, four points ahead of Kurt Busch in 13th.

“There are many that don’t believe I’ll even make the Chase,” Keselowski said. “And there are just as many that believe I will. I’m just glad some people are willing to come to my ‘defense,’ because I may not be.”

9. Jeff Gordon: Gordon used a late caution to snatch the lead from Kasey Kahne, but after another late caution, Kahne got past Gordon with two to go to win the GoBowling.com 400. Gordon finished second and moved up one spot to 10th in the point standings.

“Sunday was my 42nd birthday,” Gordon said. “I didn’t exactly have my birthday wishes come true, but I did get a spanking from Kasey.”

10. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished 11th at Pocono, one spot behind Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle. Edwards is third in the points standings, 84 behind Jimmie Johnson.

“Danica Patrick wrecked Travis Kvapil for the second time in three races,” Edwards said. “Let’s not go so hard on Danica. She will be a good driver one day. For now, though, she’s just an accident waiting to ‘happen.’”

The Dangers of Sprint Car Racing: Tony Stewart Injured & Kramer Williamson Killed

By
SM Staff
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Photo Credit: motorracingnetwork.com

The racing community woke up to some very shocking news Tuesday morning. Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart broke his right leg in a Sprint Car crash at Southern Iowa Speedway and will miss Watkins Glen. Max Papis has been selected to drive the car in Tony’s absence. Just two days prior, Sprint Car Hall of Famer Kramer Williamson was killed in a crash at Lincoln Speedway; the 7th Sprint Car fatality of this year alone. Deaths like his are a poignant and cruel reminder of just how dangerous racing can be. The sting from the tragic loss of Jason Leffler is still at the forefront of all our minds and these latest incidents have only fueled the fire as people call for immediate action to make Sprint Car racing safer.

There are two kinds of people caught up in this great debate that are doing nothing but making false and inaccurate statements with their bleating comments on social media. You have the ones who believe the proverbial sky is falling and are calling for a ban of the “suicidal” Sprint Cars…those people have little to no knowledge of open-wheel dirt racing and need to stop talking about something they know nothing about. There are also the shortsighted, grass-root race fans who ignorantly deny the dangers and believe that their racing is completely safe. Both contingents refuse to be swayed away from their opinions but fortunately, there are ones that are actually willing to discuss the topic with an open mind and with intelligent remarks.

It’s no secret that Sprint Car racing is among one of the most dangerous forms of professional motorsports out there today but still, they’ve come a long way from what they used to be. I look at Sprint Car racing right now and I see NASCAR back in the late 90’s. NASCAR was frequently losing drivers and mourned their losses but failed to do anything to prevent future tragedy’s. We watched and endured as John Nemechek, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr. and Tony Roper perished due to people who were too close to the forest to see the trees. We were set in our ways and just accepted death as a tragic part of racing without asking the tough questions that could have saved lives.

Then Dale Earnhardt was killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 and everything changed. No longer would death be tolerated or an acceptable occurrence. One fatality suddenly became one too many for the racing community and NASCAR decided to act. They were fought every step of the way though by the very drivers they set out to protect. Racers did not like the HANS device and containment seats because they limited their movement and vision. The resistance of the new safety devices eventually ceased and everyone started to embrace the new technology. Not a single national touring driver has died in a NASCAR race since that dark day in Daytona.

USAC and World of Outlaws now face the same challenge that NASCAR did 12 years ago. They must protect these drivers and also satisfy the needs of these daredevils who will be whipping these cars around dirt tracks across the United States for years to come. After we lost Jason Leffler, serious talks began behind closed doors as the men in charge discussed how they can refine their protocols regarding safety. Now that we are burying a Sprint Car legend and a NASCAR superstar has been injured; those talks are becoming much more serious and a bit more incensed. Warnings and theories do not resonate with us like they should but death and injuries do because that unfortunately gives credence to the warnings that we just didn’t want to believe.

There is a great disparity between NASCAR and its open-wheel brethren in regards to safety. Once you get past all the bleating comments, disregard the people who say these cars are innocuous and stop calling for imprudent decisions with remarks backed by beleaguered feelings; one obvious fact becomes clear. The technology to make these cars and the racing safer already exists; it simply needs to be implemented and it will be. Open-wheel dirt racing is on the brink of a new era of safety innovations that will save countless lives and change the landscape of the sport forever.

With these improvements in safety, death will quickly become a stranger who rarely crosses our path instead of a frequent visitor whose presence is awaited with intense trepidation. Death will always return though whether we want it to or not; you can’t run away from it but we can definitely hinder its progress. No matter how many more friends we lose; be assured that these brave men and women will never give up their passion. Racing isn’t a hobby; it’s something that is embedded deep within the DNA of racers and the desire to race supersedes every other emotion including the fear of death itself. We bury the fallen with tears, embrace the ones who escape death’s firm and final grip with relief and race on because that’s what racers do.

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