Opinion Category

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Month of May 2017 for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is officially underway, and the fourth annual INDYCAR Grand Prix is now in the books. Team Penske’s Will Power put on a road racing clinic, dominating both qualifying and the race en route to his first victory of the season. Here are a few thoughts after round five for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series. 1 ) Differing Opinions Part 1: Quality of the Race After taking a day to digest the many social media fanRead More

By Aaron Bearden, NASCAR Contributor Phew. The last few weeks sure have been fun, haven’t they? Ever since the conclusion of the West Coast Swing – another solid stretch of the schedule – NASCAR has gone on a tour of many tracks that fans and media alike seem to clamor for, often putting on thrilling races in the processes. The past five races have seen all three of the schedule’s short tracks, a superspeedway race and just a single 1.5-miler, which was itself interesting due to the wild-card nature ofRead More

By Aaron Bearden, NASCAR Contributor It took only one instance of a race-winner suffering an “encumbered” finish for this writer to reach a significant conclusion regarding the ruling: it, or at the minimum the name it’s been given, needs altered. One thing’s been confirmed with relative consistency regarding NASCAR’s latest buzzword – it doesn’t seem a good fit. Don’t believe me? Look no further than NASCAR’s most popular (and soon to be retired) driver. Never used the word “encumbered” to describe anything. Don’t plan on ever using it. Can weRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Reigning Series Champion, Simon Pagenaud, finally has his first oval-track win in the Verizon IndyCar Series. During Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, the driver of the No. 1 Menard’s Team Penske Chevrolet was able to stretch his fuel longer than his competitors and pit later. A fortuitous yellow gave Pagenaud a one-lap advantage after much of the field had pitted under the green. From that point, he never looked back, leading the final 114 laps en route to victory 9.1028 secondsRead More

By Aaron Bearden, NASCAR Contributor Like many in the NASCAR world, I was left with a torrid mixture of happiness and sadness amid Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s retirement release on Tuesday morning. There was shock to the suddenness of the announcement, one of the few news stories in recent years to not be leaked (looking at you, Stewart-Haas Racing to Ford announcement). But at the same time, Earnhardt’s retirement – coming in his 18th year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and following a season marred by concussion-like symptoms – was expected sooner ratherRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for the Verizon IndyCar Series has concluded, and Josef Newgarden has now notched his first win as a Penske driver. He was able to pull off a daring pass on four-time Series Champion, Scott Dixon, to take second, and then inherited the lead when leader Will Power experienced a tire issue. Let’s take a look back on some of the stories coming out of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. 1 )  Great Day for the South WheneverRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer In sports, there are stars, super-stars and mega-stars. The mega-stars are those names that are so big that they transcend their sport and become part of the popular consciousness. Someone that doesn’t watch sports can still tell you that Tom Brady is a football player, and you’ll find LeBron James on the basketball court. Mention Dale Earnhardt Jr., and you know we’re talking NASCAR. While the drivers are well known to those that follow the series, the Verizon IndyCar Series lacks a true marquee starRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer After last year’s historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500, with a sell-out crowd and a large amount of media attention, I wondered if the momentum would continue into the next century of racing. Indeed, the 101st Running, slated for May 28, 2017, has a tough act to follow. What could possibly happen to top this? Enter Fernando Alonso. The stunning early-morning announcement on Wednesday that the two-time World Drivers Champion would run in the 500 caught the racing community by surprise. Many of usRead More

By Aaron Bearden, NASCAR Contributor Andretti Autosport’s shocking announcement Wednesday of the addition of two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso to the team’s roster for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Penngrade Motor Oil in a joint venture with McLaren sent a shockwave that’s rippled through the motorsports world throughout the day. The repercussions of the announcement have yet to be seen, but the one immediate effect it’s had on fans is a thought of whom else they’d like to see participate in the Month of May. Every fanRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After seven races have been completed in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, there are definitely some teams that have stepped up their performance from last season, while others have stumbled out of the gate thus far in the season. As the series takes their first off-weekend of the year before embarking on a marathon run into late August, we’ll take a look at performance of the top teams in NASCAR’s premier division up to this point and how they rank amongst their peersRead More