Daily NASCAR

by Holly Cain

Filed under: Other Racing Series

Every time 26-year-old Morgan Lucas climbs into his 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled, super-charged Geico/Toyota Top Fuel dragster to ready himself for a 325-mph run down the narrow 1,000-foot drag strip, his nerves are on end, his adrenaline is flowing and his heart is pounding.

But it’s nothing compared to what the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) youngest Top Fuel driver experiences standing at the start line watching his nearly 60-year-old mother, Charlotte Lucas, race down the same track at 170 mph in the Super Comp class, driving a miniature version of Lucas’ dragster.

“She always gets so nervous watching me, and now I know how she feels,” Morgan Lucas said. “I get that same nervousness watching her race.

“She wanted to see the passion and learn why I was always so excited to get in the car. And now she gets it.”

Boy, does she.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR Testing

Drivers were consistently topping 200 mph Tuesday during NASCAR’s first major test of the new spoiler at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Twice during the afternoon drafting session, NASCAR called the cars back into the garage to switch to a smaller restrictor plate and slow the cars down.

Four-time champ Jeff Gordon — second fastest in the morning session behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson — was encouraged by the performance of his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet and the driveability of the cars.

Good news. But Gordon also shared what he considers even better news.

He and his pregnant wife Ingrid found out during last week’s bye-week that they will be having a baby boy this August to join 2-year old big sis, Ella.

“I can tell you last week I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about this test. … Luckily I had a team that was thinking about it before then,” Gordon conceded with a laugh during a lunch break at Talladega.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick

The joke goes — in several variations — that if former Professional Bull Riders CEO Randy Bernard can hang on more than 8-seconds in his new job as CEO of theIZOD IndyCar Series, he will have some serious potential.

He grabbed the IndyCar reins officially March 1 and gets his first true ride this weekend as the series opens Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Loaded with Brazilian drivers, sponsored by many Brazilian companies in a country that adores auto racing, it’s fair to say the IndyCar series will get a larger and warmer reception in Sao Paulo this weekend than at many other stops on its expanded 17-race schedule.

And that goes to the heart of Bernard’s greatest and most pressing challenge: Promotion! Promotion! Promotion!

Now unified as the country’s premier open-wheel circuit, the IZOD IndyCar Series has exciting racing, close finishes and the top championship dramas of any major racing series.

But it’s the best racing show people aren’t watching enough of.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Carl Edwards, NASCAR Crashes

It was more like a pat on the back than a slap on the wrist.

In fact, NASCAR practically gave Carl Edwards a “high-five” Tuesday afternoon in handing out a meager, guess-we-gotta-do-something, three-race probation to the high wattage driver for his dangerous on-track retaliation Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Footage of Edwards intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski late in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race — Keselowski’s car launched in the air and slammed down on the retaining wall — has made the network news and piqued interest overseas.

Even the tabloid show Inside Edition was asking NASCAR President Mike Helton questions after his announcement that Edwards would not face any severe penalties for his high speed “gotcha”.

Part of what makes this case both rare and interesting is that there has been so much outrage and so many calls for a driver to be suspended for his actions on-track.

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by Holly CainDespite many calls for a swift and harsh penalty, NASCAR has decided against suspending driver Carl Edwards for an aggressive, retaliatory move in Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Calling the incident “unacceptable” NASCAR President Mike Helton announced Tuesday that the sanctioning body would not fine Edwards or penalize him any championship points, but instead place him on a three-race probation for Sunday’s frightening collision with Brad Keselowski and suggested Edwards and Keselowski need to sit down and “clear the slate.”

“There is a line. … and we’ll step in to maintain law and order when we think that line has been crossed,” Helton said. “There is a balance of wanting to do the right thing. … wanting the teams to race but us needing to maintain law and order too.”

Edwards, more than 100 laps down to the race leaders Sunday, crashed into sixth-place running Keselowski, sending Keselowski’s Dodge airborne and crashing hard on its roof along the front stretch grandstands. And the fact that Keselowski’s car got airborne on a 1.5-mile track was an even bigger issue in all this, according to Helton.

Edwards has repeatedly said he was glad Keselowski wasn’t injured and that he never intended the car to flip into the air. But, he has also maintained that it was absolutely his intent to settle a score with the young driver. Earlier in the race, the two collided and while Keselowski was able to continue racing, Edwards car suffered a lot of damage which was why he was so far off the pace.

Their more famous run-in, however, occured at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April when Keselowski’s car made contact with then race leader Edwards, sending Edwards Ford airborne into the front stretch retaining fence. Debris from the accident injured seven fans. Keselowski went on to win his first — and only — Sprint Cup race.

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