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Guest Column by Cathy Elliott

The famous runner Steve Prefontaine was once quoted as saying, “Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.”

“Pre,” as he was called, would most certainly have enjoyed Brad Keselowski’s gutsy performance in Good Sam RV Insurance 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on August 7. Keselowski, sporting a broken left ankle swollen to roughly the size of a small tree, toughed it out for 500 miles to take the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway.

“I came here to win. When you let the pain get into your head that far that you don’t believe you can win anymore, you’ll never win. And I woke up this morning feeling like we could win the race … If you don’t feel that way, you’re never going to win at anything you do,” he said in an interview after the race.

That’s self-motivation, and it is a powerful thing, strong enough to get an injured athlete out of bed and ready to play when the rest of us would probably just reach for a box of tissues and call in sick for the day.

Continue reading “Pain Leads To Gain For Keselowski”

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FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson talk Watkins Glen road race

Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com

Right turns will accompany left turns this week for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) Sprint Cup event—the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen—at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y. ESPN will televise the twisting action at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The 2.45-mile road course will be welcome by some NASCAR drivers, but loathed by others accustomed to ovals.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson talk Watkins Glen road race”

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Guest Column By Cathy Elliott

When police captain Louis Renault sent his subordinates to “round up the usual suspects” after a shooting in the film “Casablanca,” they didn’t hesitate. They knew exactly who to look for.

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has been a little like that. With few exceptions, the drivers we have seen vying for the title since the Chase was implemented in 2004 have been the same ones we expect to see in Victory Lane each week, including Carl Edwards, Kurt and Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and of course, Jimmie Johnson.

In seasons past, the Chase field has been determined strictly by points. If you weren’t in the Top 12 following the August race at Richmond, you were out. This occasionally created a situation where winless drivers during the regular season were contending for the championship, while race winners could hope for no better than a 13th-place finish for the year.

Continue reading “Chase Gone Wild: Title Up For Grabs With New Win-And-You’re-In Playoff Format”

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Carl Edwards Credit: Dwight Drum racetake.com

Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com

Sprint Cup points leader Carl Edwards is talkative about the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) race in Pocono, Pa, but remains resiliently silent about whether he’ll stay at Roush Fenway Racing or defect to Joe Gibbs Racing.

A big bonus might be on Edwards’ mind this Sunday but for the other 42 competitors, the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway with 14 degree banking—winning is the focus. Some contracts besides the rumor-plagued scenario surrounding Edwards are in process too, but it appears racing may come first.

Regardless of “silly season” or contract negotiations, ESPN will televise the long Pocono race at 1 p.m. on August 7 for fans who can’t make it to Pennsylvania hills.

Continue reading “FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s Carl Edwards and others talk Pocono but silent on contracts”