Italian driver Alex Zanardi, who lost both of his legs in a 2001 crash on a German oval track, plans to compete in the wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4th. Zanardi, now 40, was leading the 2001 CART race at the Lausitzring when his car collided with the one driven by Canadian Alex Tagliani and broke in half. Both of Zanardi’s legs had to be amputated below the knee. The plucky Zanardi attempted a return to auto racing a year and a half later, wearing an artificial leg and driving a specially constructed car with a hand-controlled clutch. He reached competitive speeds, but called it quits soon after. Now he faces a difficult 26.2-mile contest on the 4th.  

Not so Petit anymore. Now that all the data on spectator attendance and TV are in on the big American LeMans Series Petit LeMans race at Road Atlanta, we learn weekend fan turnout exceeded 100,000 and the 10-hour sports car race’s TV rating was up 35 percent. Good news for all.  

How he fares in this weekend’s Car of Tomorrow NASCAR race at Martinsville, Va., and the Nov. 11 Cup round at Phoenix will bear heavily on the decision Indy Racing League ace Sam Hornish, Jr. has to make as to where he will race in 2008. Rumors have him heading to NASCAR with owner Roger Penske, but his stock-car experiences so far have not been pleasing. Despite timing 13th fastest in Talladega time trials, it wasn’t quick enough to make the race and marked his third straight NASCAR DNQ. Ye ed thinks impending fatherhood will play a key role in his decision. Does Sam Hornish, Jr. want to be away from his wife and new baby for 36 weekends next year?     

Veteran open wheel driver Earl Wagner of Iowa will be honored by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum in Knoxville on Oct. 30th for his on-track achievements as well as the 42 feature victories he registered in the 1950s and 1960s.

Riley Technologies of Mooresville, N.C., formerly known as Riley & Scott of Indianapolis, will depart from its practice of building only Rolex series sports cars and USAC Silver Crown machines, and start crafting Corvettes for the 2008 American LeMans Series’ GT2 division. Riley Tech plans to field a pair of these new ’Vettes in the season’s first ALMS race at Sebring, Fla., March 15th.

In Bill Elliott’s hometown of Dawsonville, Ga., there will be big doings at City Hall on Friday night, Oct. 26th. That’s when Phil Bonner, Bruce Brantley, Billy Carden, Harvey Jones, Paul McDuffie, Jody Ridley, Roy Shoemaker and Linda Vaughn will be inducted into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. The dinner is open to all at $55 per person. Wanna go? Call (706) 216-7223 for tix and mention this newspaper.

Love that dirt. Once Nextel Cup qualifying for the upcoming Atlanta Motor Speedway event concludes Oct. 27th, NASCAR stars Bill Elliott, Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer will hustle over to Georgia’s Dixie Speedway in nearby Woodstock to take part in a short-track race on dirt that night.

One of the Indy Racing League’s driving ladies, newly married Sarah O’Gara (nee Fisher), recently left the Dreyer & Reinbold team and now rideless, is reportedly considering starting her own IRL team. Her new husband, Andy O’Gara, has long been a key pit-side player in the IRL and would oversee any new effort. Funding for such a project is now being sought.

Gonna pave your dirt track? Take a lesson from the famed California horse track Santa Anita Park. When it changed its original dirt surface to one of synthetic dirt, it gave patrons paperweights made from the original dirt as keepsakes. This was the same dirt that felt the hooves of Hall of Fame horse Seabiscuit and other equine greats. Auto track ops could do likewise, using the names of great drivers who had spewed dirt off their corners. But giving it away? Not hardly.
   
Here’s a wish to NASCAR’s Motor Racing Network, better known to radio listeners as MRN, for a long and successful stay in its new headquarters building in Concord, N.C. MRN and Nextel Vision will conduct its formal opening on the 23rd of this month.

Automotive News tells us, on average, American-made 2008 automobiles will cost buyers $172 more than comparable 2007 models.