Received an e-mail from old friend Humpy Wheeler, very much in the racing news of late due to his well-documented May 21 “retirement” from his executive-level positions at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. It reveals his voluntary departure came after “many differences of opinion” with Bruton Smith, headman at Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which owns Lowe’s Motor Speedway and several other major raceways. Wheeler’s early start in the racing business included efforts toward trackside sales of National Speed Sport News down South. That, of course, was ages ago. Now, free of responsibilities at Lowe’s, Humpy advises he is busier than ever, writing a book with a noted co-author; putting together a new TV show with David Hill and working on racing projects with three different companies. It appears Wall Street doesn’t like sudden departures by public company presidents as SMI’s stock price dropped in the days following President Wheeler’s departure.

Another very busy man is Eddie Gossage, president of SMI’s Texas Motor Speedway who doubles as booking agent for Bruton Smith when it comes to scheduling races at his family of SMI tracks. At the moment, the IRL is slated to appear next year at three SMI tracks, Texas, Kentucky and Sonoma, Calif., but Smith now wants more, seeking IRL dates at New Hampshire and Las Vegas, where the IRL is being asked to move its season finale, currently booked for Chicagoland. “Oblige or no dates at all,” is reportedly the pitch. It is obvious Gossage will be spending beaucoup time on the phone in upcoming days.

Is Wally Parks rolling over in his grave? We ask in light of the decision by the National Hot Rod Ass’n, which Parks helped found more than 50 years ago, to shorten this weekend’s Denver meet-race distance for its two fastest classes, Top Fuel and Funny Car, to 1,000 feet from the traditional quarter mile (1,320 feet) to provide a longer and safer shutdown run. This move comes after wide publicity given Scott Kalitta’s June death at Englishtown, N.J., blamed on too short a slowdown run and obstacles in the car’s way. Since the very first organized drag race more than a half-century ago, race distance has been a constant quarter mile.  

It will be interesting to see if Danica Patrick, named as a presenter at the 16th ESPY awards affair July 20th in Los Angeles, uses the affair to take a shot at on-track rival Scott Dixon in retaliation for publicly calling her “a menace.” Patrick has said she tries to not pay much attention to what goes on around her, but Dixon’s comment got wide usage in the press and on the Internet. At the Richmond IRL race, Dixon refused to back away from his comment. Publicists are busy using the issue to gain attention for upcoming race meets, and drivers are now reportedly taking sides. Some drivers refuse to commit one way or the other. Buddy Rice says his view of Danica will be included in the book he is writing about his racing career. 

Ford lovers involved in racing were disappointed by FoMoCo’s recent announcement that work has been ordered stopped on its new big-block V-8 engine. This 6.2-liter (378 cubic inch) newcomer was originally planned for 2010 models of its F-series pickup truck and Lincolns. This unit, said to be Ford’s answer to GM’s latest big-displacement V-8s, but soaring gas prices and falling truck sales has put the kibosh on the project. It was the second setback for this engine project — originally known as Hurricane and later as Boss — since 2005. Insiders say its development will go forward, but on a likely smaller displacement size, say 5 liters (305 inches), for use in the Mustang. Current displacement limit for engines in NASCAR racing is 358 cubic inches (5.86 liters). Time will tell.

Much ado these days about the price of corn, its production seriously affected by Midwest flooding this year. Experts tell us ethanol, the newest user of corn, will take half of this nation’s annual corn harvest by 2014 unless steps are taken to limit corn’s use as an automotive fuel. This year, some 10 percent of the huge Iowa-Missouri corn crop has been washed away by flooding, elevating its price to record levels. For the IRL, its adoption of ethanol as its favored fuel could become a public relations problem, despite its use reducing our need for imported oil.

The current economic slowdown — for Ford — has a bright side. With car sales falling in the U.S. and Europe, so much so that all major automakers have reduced production, the booming sales of Ford cars in Russia has FoMoCo execs saying they are considering constructing a second Ford assembly plant there as its factory in St. Petersburg has reached maximum output. An increase there from 125,000 units annually to 175,000 is being explored. The Ford assembly plant in Cologne, Germany, is now running three shifts, producing 1,980 cars daily while its plant in Valencia, Spain, is rolling out 2,030 new cars every 24 hours. Production at Ford plants in Saarlouis, Germany, and Genk, Belgium, are at their highest production levels ever. With this as background, one could then ask, “Why is Ford losing money?”

Disappointing — and disgusting — renditions of our national anthem on televised auto races are beginning to get national attention. Letters to editors complaining of badly performed renditions now appear in print here and there. If you agree, write! It has long been this WWII veteran’s opinion that whomever is chosen to publicly deliver our Star Spangled Banner, should first view — in person — a U.S. military cemetery in Europe, this to really understand the reason for playing the anthem. In Phoenix, local bugler Jesse McGuire has repeatedly earned high praise for trumpet-playing examples of the national anthem. Methinks race sanctioning bodies should audition candidates before approving them for appearances.

For five seasons, Dino Toso has been head of Renault’s aerodynamics program in Formula One. He is now leaving the company. During Toso’s F-1 tenure Renault cars have won two FIA Constructor championships and never finished below third place in constructor points. But now Renault is currently experiencing its worst year in F-1, with only 15 points heading into round 10 of the 18-race Grand Prix season.  

The popularity of TV at auto races at which participants are interviewed has produced some interesting — though not always believable — commentary, like this from Kyle Busch at Infineon Raceway after his fifth victory of the season and first on a road course: “Unless I’m winning, I am a miserable person.”

New names in new places: Jennifer Capasso, public relations manager, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif.; Dan Passe, communications and marketing director, Penske Racing, Mooresville, N.C. Best of luck to you both in these new jobs.