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by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com

Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the shortest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, but it’s also one of the most demanding events, physically and mentally. It might even be the most exhausting race—despite its length.

The coliseum atmosphere is special at Bristol for fans and drivers, as all are close to action.

The inevitable rubbing of sheet metal caused some destructive crashes Sunday that collected the cars of Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. All dropped in the points as a result of damage.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s top 3 Finishers Talk Before and after Bristol beating”

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By Dwight Drum

The Daytona 500, ‘The Great American Race’ at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida didn’t disappoint those with patience or a hefty tolerance for crashing and bizarre incidents. The race was scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. but owing to rain and crashes, it was delayed to an exciting finish at about 1 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was prophetic the day before the scheduled start of the race when he said, “Everybody always told me to be patient and it drove me crazy hearing that, but they were right.”

The 500-mile, 202-lap race doesn’t need a 36-hour time frame to complete. But the 2012 race, the first to be postponed in 54 years, needed all of that. Most of that time was devoted to dodging rain drops, but a few hours were consumed by crashes.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s Top 5 Daytona Drivers Can’t Be Quiet After Epic Race”

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FYI WIRZ: NASCAR fans might be wary of the hot Sprint Cup garage

It seems the adage—be careful what you wish for, you might get it—pops up in many places throughout many lives. Here’s a motorsports happening.

Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com

Photo credit: Dwight Drum racetake.com

Often when at a NASCAR race, fans will inquire about the hot pass dangling from a credentials lanyard. They know it means access. Usually fans want to know how to get a hot pass that would allow them into the Sprint Cup garage.

Some fans with sponsor and team connections gain access to the hot Sprint Cup garage, but they are among a select few. Other select fans obtain a cold pass which allows them into the Nationwide and Camping World garages and into the Sprint Cup garage before race car activity when the race cars are not practicing or qualifying.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR fans might be wary of the hot Sprint Cup garage”

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Guest Column By Cathy Elliott

Thirty-five weeks a year, one of the most fun and challenging things about this column is the fact that it can often be quite speculative in nature.

Based on what happened the previous week or month in NASCAR, we have the luxury of utilizing what has gone before in order to predict what might happen next. Each week is an important link in a chain that begins when the season is tossed overboard in February, and ends in November when a champion lands to anchor it for the next 12 months.

But this is Week 36. As of this writing, mere hours separate us from the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and NASCAR’s championship anchor is dangling so close to the ocean floor that the sand is already swirling. After the closest and most exciting year in recent memory, all that stands between this moment and the end of the 2012 season is the simplest of toddler math, countable on a single hand: one race, two drivers and three points.

Continue reading “Giving Thanks For NASCAR Now And Next Year”

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Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com

FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart talk finale at Homestead
Much talk will happen before the green flag in Homestead on Sunday Nov. 20 when Carl Edwards takes his skinny three point lead over Tony Stewart to the 1.5-mile oval track Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
That talk will include the playful comments between Edwards and Stewart as they toy with one another’s mind while the media focuses on them like eagles on prey.
But when the flag drops the public words cease and radio words begin between drivers, spotters and crew chiefs.
ESPN will bring the hi-definition excitement to waiting millions who are not in the stands starting at 3 p.m.
The pleasant south Florida weather is expected to bring warm sun and rainless moments as this time of the year is generally dry for the area.