Columns

on

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Martin Truex Jr. nearly made it back to victory lane this past Sunday for the first time since the 2007 season (175 races ago). However after leading a race-high 173 laps, he was forced to settle for a second-place finish when Denny Hamlin edged ahead of his No. 56 NAPA Toyota with just 30 laps to go in the STP 400 in Kansas.

“I’d like to try it again,” Truex would exclaim when he exited his car Sunday,  ”I mean, I drove as hard as I could.”

Truex has been on a roll as of late, and he is actually now up to second in the point standings after eight races in 2012, which is the highest he has ever ranked in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings in his seven-full seasons in NASCAR’s premier division. He will get his chance to try again at snapping his long-long-long winless drought this Saturday in Richmond.

Continue reading “WILL WE SEE SOME STREAK BUSTING IN RICHMOND? DALE JR., RICK HENDRICK AND MARTIN TRUEX JR. HOPE SO”

on

FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s top guns aim fast at the quick Richmond track

by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com

Richmond International Raceway is the third shortest track on the NASCAR circuit, but speeds routinely exceed 100 mph and the bumping and banging action is well received by packed crowds usually greater than 90,000.

The .75-mile oval track with 14 degree banking is considered a short track, but the way 43 Sprint Cup cars roar around in the night air gives off an aura of a much faster track.

On April 28th fans without tickets for the Capital City 400 presented by Virginia is for Lovers, can view the action at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s top guns aim fast at the quick Richmond track”

on

FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s point aces bring heart to the heartland in Kansas

by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com

For fans that have never had a ride or driven a stock car at 170 mph or so, the experience is way faster than it looks on a racetrack or on TV. Add 42 other cars to any track and the racing is pure chaos on the edge, especially when contact doesn’t cause wrecking.

Getting to NASCAR’s top series in Sprint Cup takes talent and lot of training, but to do it at all—takes heart.

All 43 drivers who qualify bring heart to competition, but certainly no stronger than one brave extreme sports legend, Travis Pastrana, who will debut this year in NASCAR’s Nationwide series.

Pastrana is quick to describe just how difficult it is to race a stock car.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’S POINT ACES BRING HEART TO THE HEARTLAND IN KANSAS”

on

FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s top guns won’t have rust as they blast into Texas

by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com

NASCAR drivers only get three weekends off during the long 36-race season, complete with an additional Shootout and All-Star race. But 13 off days won’t cause moss to grow or rust to build in any racing sense.

Drivers may be rested by April 14, but they will also soon be tested by speed on one of NASCAR’s fastest intermediate racks, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Samsung Mobile 500 on the 1.5-mile quad-oval with 24 degree banking will get the green flag on a Saturday night.

Fans without tickets or cowboy hats can view the return of stock car excitement at 7:00 P.m. ET on FOX.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s top guns won’t have rust as they blast into Texas”

on

By: Dwight Drum
Racetake.com

FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s leaders think race 6 at Martinsville is like returning home

Almost all NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers raced a short-track somewhere when they were young and dreamed of the big time. For them going to a short-track race on the NSCS circuit is like connecting history to the present.

Martinsville Speedway is one of two half-mile NASCAR tracks, a 0.526-mile oval with 12 degree banking in Ridgeway, Virginia. The track built in 1947 has been a part of NASCAR history since its inception in 1949. Fans without tickets to the Goody’s Fast relief 500 on Sunday, Apr.1 can check www.martinsvillespeedway.com and those at home can view the race at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX

The long NASCAR season is underway. Some of the productive teams that have risen to the top in points in five races are likely to be a part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s leaders think race 6 at Martinsville is like returning home”