Feeling the pulse of today’s race fan, we’d say the interest in and appeal of NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow is fading, and being replaced by a desire for “Races of Yesteryear.” More than a few fans say today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup races lack appeal and competition. This from those who avidly follow the stock-car sport. They blame drivers inability to handle the new Car of Tomorrow. A recent meeting between NASCAR and contestants on driver complaints on the car produced no report on its outcome. One attendee said the essence of the meeting was, “Shut up and race.” What to do? And how to do it? These are the questions seeking meaningful answers.

A kick in the butt for those TV directors on Speed who go to great lengths to create interesting and informative report pages during races, showing positions, car number, type car, etc., and then take down the page long before the data can be fully read — left to right, top to bottom. Fortunately, the Le Mans TV director avoided this. Hard-core fans watching races often have a particular interest in a certain car or driver, and when the standings page appears with its wealth of data, it is then taken down long before the data can be absorbed. The same goes for the periodic standings offered during NASCAR races. Let me suggest the TV director read aloud the standings shown to him before taking down the page. We’ll be watching TNT closely to see if it has a better understanding of viewer desires than Speed.

Congratulations to Scandinavian standout Tom Kristensen for his eighth overall twice-around-the-clock triumph at Le Mans. And bravo to his speedy co-drivers: gray-haired Rinaldo Capello of Italy, and the diminutive Limey Allan McNish, for wheeling their Audi roadster to victory over the Peugeot coupes in the 24-hour diesel duel. It was Le Mans win number-eight for Audi in the past nine outings on the French circuit. Class wins went to Porsche (in LMP-2); Aston-Martin (GT-1); and Ferrari (GT-2).

The recent unification of competing Indy Car sanctioning bodies resulted in $1.2 million being raised for Champ Car creditors by the recent auction of its assets in Indianapolis. That money has been turned over to the U.S. bankruptcy court for distribution to creditors of Champ Car, which was in bankruptcy prior to the reunion. The auction, held at Champ Car’s headquarters on the northwest side of Indianapolis, drew a large crowd, said observers. In addition to office and field equipment, pace cars and trucks were included in items offered at auction.

For years, USAC has stood alone in the U.S. world of auto -race sanctioning: no longer. This coming weekend’s Knoxville Midget Nationals at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway was a combined USAC, Badger and Southern Midget Racing Series event, paying $1,650 to win on Friday night and $3,350 to Saturday night’s winner.

Want to finance your race tickets? That’s what Homestead-Miami Speedway is proposing for its Nov. 14-16 Ford Championship weekend, offering front-stretch tickets until July 1 for 50-percent down with the balance due no later than Sept. 1.

With indications that NASCAR is against issuing a Sprint Cup date to Kentucky Speedway, recently optioned by Speedway Motorsports headman Bruton Smith, one wonders if he will back out of that purchase, which is supposed to close in the third quarter of this year. It appears NASCAR’s view is that the Kentucky track (in the Cincinnati suburb of Sparta) is too close to Indianapolis, where the Allstate 400 Cup race draws what many contend is the series’s largest crowd.

Beer City turnabout. A new deal for domestic beer vending at The Milwaukee Mile makes Budweiser the official “pour” at the track, replacing Miller.

Reading that Tiger Woods’s caddie gets a percentage of the star golfer’s winnings for lugging his 50-pound golf bag around the courses. Last year, the 44-year-old Steve Williams was paid $1.17 million from Woods’s $12.35 million in winnings. Makes me wonder how much a racing crew chief gets paid when his driver wins a championship. Anyone know?

It isn’t often that an easily identifiable object like a sprint car is stolen, but that’s what Western Racing Ass’n exec Rich Mastroleo says took place on April 30 when an 18-foot Al Hendrix-built enclosed trailer was stolen in Southern California. Inside was a 2002 360 sprint car, a spare engine and two new 18” Weld rear tires. Posted is a $1,500 reward. Call Rich @ (818) 406-6875 if you have any data on this theft.

The final TV ratings for this year’s Indy 500 are complete and confirm the writings of John Clayton in our June 4 edition. Speedway principal Tony George adds that the Indy 500 race-day spectator turnout was up 16,000 over 2007 and that the general admission (infield) turnout showed a 5,000 increase, he reported. Though unrelated, Dr. Joseph Mattioli reported two days after the Pocono 500 NASCAR race in Pennsylvania that attendance was up from last year. Good news all around.

Triumph in a recent Ford Focus midget race at Illiana Speedway in Schererville, Ind., by 17-year-old Auston Harris of Hayward, Calif., marked the first feature victory by a black driver in the 52-year history of the U.S. Auto Club. This makes one wonder what has become of Willy T. Ribbs, racing’s first widely publicized black driver.

For NASCAR Red Bull driver A.J. Allmendinger, Father’s Day reminded him of how much his race-driving father, Greg, and his mother, Karen, have done toward furthering his racing career, starting as early as age two! To help pay son A.J.’s way to the major leagues of auto racing his parents, over the years, mortgaged their San Jose, Calif., area home, not once but three times, each time taking $30,000 from the proceeds and putting it toward their son’s racing career.

It appears Zak Brown, owner of the Indianapolis-based sports marketing agency Just Marketing International, is rolling in dough these days. Brown reports recently taking in private- equity firm Spire Capital Partners and Credit Suisse as majority partners in his 130-employee firm, which began business in the motorsport area in 1995. Brown says he will remain as CEO of the company, which has six offices in four countries and lists Subway, Crown Royal, Lenovo, Direct TV and BMW among its clients. Brown foresees the company tripling in size.

Already known as a front-line racing team owner, Richard Childress is becoming known in a new and vastly different area, that of upscale red wine grower. The products of Childress Winery LLC of Lexington, N.C. — Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon — are helping establish North Carolina as an important wine-growing state.