Opinion Category

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer (New)Garden of Eden There are a few places in the Verizon IndyCar Series that some would consider paradise. For the sport’s oldest supporters, no location compares to victory lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. West Coast fans often point to the prestigious Long Beach street circuit. Some prefer the history of tracks like Road America, while others like the sheer excitement of ovals like Texas Motor Speedway. For Roger Penske, though? Recently it’s been wherever Josef Newgarden is found. The Tennessean joined Team Penske as the sport’s hottest free agent goingRead More
By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With the first six races of the season complete and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series reaching their first weekend break, we’ll take this opportunity to evaluate the season to this point and the storylines that have come to the forefront over the first month and a half. Stewart-Haas Racing Has Come to Play in 2018 If there’s one thing we’ve learned above all else this season, it’s that Stewart-Haas Racing is not messing around when it comes to their performance in the Cup Series.Read More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Let’s face it, we all have mixed opinions about the Halo in Formula 1. Some understand it’s for the sake of safety, and the drivers wanted something to be done for head protection after notable incidents that’s ended seasons, and even a driver’s life. Others utterly despise the new look, and wish there was a different approach of protecting a driver, like the canopy NHRA Top Fuel drivers use. After opening day of free practice for the Rolex Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne, I sawRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer When NASCAR fans think of who’s the greatest crew chief of all-time, more often than not, you’ll hear the names of Hall of Famers Ray Evernham and Dale Inman. How about the 1980s? Tim Brewer, Jeff Hammond and Gary Nelson pop into fans heads, but one that’s been ignored lately is Kirk Shelmerdine. The NASCAR Hall of Fame announced its latest nominees for the Class of 2019 on Tuesday and Shelmerdine, alongside Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon, John Holman and Ralph Moody are the newest nominees.Read More
By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  With more and more sports embracing technology and streaming services, is NASCAR missing out on this growing trend? While NASCAR does stream its National Series races on the Fox Sports Go app, the NBC Sports app, and some of the regional races on FansChoice.tv, there are other streaming options the sanctioning body could be looking into. Just by asking race fans to get some feedback, I’ve come up with two different options for NASCAR to join the streaming trend. Once again, I don’t know theRead More

Posted On February 22, 2018By Christopher DeHardeIn Breaking News, Headline News, IndyCar, Opinion

DEHARDE: Rediscovering IndyCar Racing

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer January 23, 2008. I was in my dorm room at Louisiana State University visiting speedtv.com to look up the motorsports news from the day. A Robin Miller headline immediately stopped my scrolling. CHAMP CAR: Tony George Makes an Offer for Unity Eyes widened, I clicked and read, finding numerous quotes that were smile-inducing. “We’ve got to find a way to make a deal with Tony George,” said 1996 CART champion Jimmy Vasser. “I was never consulted on anything that had to do with the Speedway butRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Restrictor plate racing is a strategic game, requiring critical thinking to make the right moves. A few days removed from Sunday’s Daytona 500 and it has dawned on me how frustrating this current era of racing has become. What happened to the word patience? The days of strategizing your move without causing a junkyard is gone. Part of this has to do with three things — stage racing, the demand of winning the Great American Race at an all-time high, or just a generational problem.Read More
By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Have the Can-Am Duels at Daytona outlived their usefulness? The evidence certainly seems to point that way. Since the outset of the Daytona 500, qualifying for the biggest race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has been a mix of single car qualifying for the front row and qualifying races to set the remainder of the field. In seasons past, with more cars entered than the field allowed, the two qualifying races held the Thursday before the 500 have been full of dramaRead More
By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer After Saturday night’s chaotic season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, it will be two months before we see the ARCA Racing Series fire the engines for the second race of the 2018 season at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville. It’s completely understandable why the series wants to open the schedule on the high-banks of storied Daytona. Not only does it provide valuable experience for a series that helps develop young drivers looking to break into the top three series of NASCAR, it provides valuable exposure for theRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Saturday’s Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona International Speedway has as diverse a field as the ARCA Racing Series has seen in a long time. The race marks the first time ARCA will use composite bodies at a restrictor plate track, giving a fair playing field for all 39 drivers who’ll accept the 80-lap grind. The historic field consists of long-time veterans, a Navy Academy grad, female teammates and young guns in top budget teams. Let’s begin with Venturini Motorsports teammates Natalie Decker and Leilani Münter.Read More