Travis Pastrana holds twelve world records, eleven X Games gold medals, has won championships in Rally and Motocross but he's now trying to conquer something completely different than what he's ever experienced before; he's trying to make a name for himself in NASCAR.
On a rainy and humid Friday afternoon at Watkins Glen, I made my way from the Media Center and into the Nationwide garage to meet with NASCAR veteran Eric McClure. I've heard many positive stories about Eric and I wasn't quite sure what to expect but he quickly gave credence to what I had heard. He greeted me at the No. 14 hauler with big smile, offered me something to eat and invited me to come sit down.
After the destroyed racecars were towed away, the smoke faded and the crowd dispersed, Kyle Busch was left standing triumphantly in victory lane at Watkins Glen. Brad Keselowski got to the bumper of Kyle and bumped him in the final corner but it wasn't enough to dislodge the No.18 from the top spot.
The three Penske cars combined to lead 73 of the 82 laps in the Zippo 200 and swept the top two spots while leaving the rest of the field to fight for the leftovers.
Marcos Ambrose has won the last two Sprint Cup races at Watkins Glen and he will start his run at a third consecutive victory from the pole with Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer 2nd. Marcos seems untouchable at this track and a pole to kick off his pursuit for his third win in as many years at this historic race track is very bad news for the competition.
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.
This week we had spotter Rocky Ryan on the show to talk racing with us. Rocky is an always entertaining person and we thoroughly enjoy each and every time he is available. Anyone that has listened to the show when Rocky is on knows that that the conversations are generally light hearted and we take good natured verbal jabs at one another from time to time.
After a rare pit mistake by the No.48 team that cost them a shot at history, Indiana race fans rejoiced as they watched native Hoosier, Ryan Newman triumph over all at the Brickyard. Newman and Johnson were the class of the field all day with Jimmie showing the most strength but this is a team sport and a 17 second pit stop with just a handful of laps remaining is nearly impossible to overcome when your rival takes two tires.
I am normally much more timely on these articles than this, and had actually toyed with the idea of scrapping this one completely to move to something more pressing. But, once I re-read what I had started writing I got fired up about the subject again and decided that this article deserved to be posted and hopefully read.
Was this onetime event a success? Considering that it was sold out the day tickets became available, that they sold tickets to 48 states, and 4 different countries, was standing room; and from the looks of lawn chair seating as well, then yes it was a success.
