Dec. 18, 2007 - Things That Make You Go, 'Doh!'

Things you could make out of PlayDoh.

What?

No really, thanks to the presence of the young son of a co-worker in the office today and mostly in recognition of the fast-approaching Holiday season, we bring you a blog completely dedicated to things you could attempt to create using Hasbro’s popular creation for children — PlayDoh.

A replica of Borg-Warner Trophy — Wonder if Helio Castroneves would put it on the shelf between the real Borg-Warner and his Dancing with Stars trophy.

The Car of Tomorrow — Hendrick Motorsports’s Play Doh version of the CoT would still be fast.

A bust of Chris Economaki — I bet it wouldn’t say, “Listen, Mike…”

A bust of Gary London — Would a Play Doh London be kinder toward NASCAR?

A model race track — Would it be a cookie cutter 1.5-mile tri-oval?

A monument to O. Bruton Smith in the Concord, N.C., town square — How much Play Doh can $80 million buy.

Muzzles for ABC’s NASCAR announcing crew — Enough said.

A punching bag for Carl Edwards — Would he call it Matt?

A mold your own race driver kit — Would it be sold on Roush Racing souvenir rig?

Instant yellow flag — Simply toss out the window of fast moving race car.

Gary Scelzi mustaches — Now, you too can have a fancy Funny Car racer handlebar mustache.

Hair for Mike Kerchner — But will it stick or fall out like the rest?

A tire that will last a whole race — Too logical.

A Ferrari Formula One car — If McLaren can build one, we should be able to make one from Play Doh, too.

Happy holidays, and we’ll be back in January with a more serious topic — maybe.

Icecreamland

Dec. 11, 2007 - Cheers To 'The Party In Pevely'

“We’re going to drink a few beers and if we get around to it, we’ll have some races.”

Those were the words of raceaholic Ken Schrader when talking about the UMP DIRTCar Roundup scheduled for Oct. 15-18 next year at I-55 Raceway, the dirt track Schrader co-owns with Ray Marler in Pevely, Mo.

And one can rest assured both of those things will be on the agenda at the event Schrader has already dubbed The Party in Pevely. In some ways, modeled after the wildly successful IMCA SuperNationals held annually at Boone (Iowa) Raceway, the Roundup will offer UMP grass-roots racers one big national event when they can all gather in one place and find out just who is the best of the best — oh, and see who has the best taste in barley and hops.

The Party in Pevely will feature four nights of racing and eight divisions ranging from the bottom of the ladder four-cylinder stock cars to the powerful and expensive UMP super late models. Pevely’s unique 10/32-mile oval should provide the perfect track to showcase both the high-power machines and the slower and many times racier four cylinders and hobby stocks.

No question for those attending, the UMP DIRTCar Roundup will showcase the reasons they fell in love with racing — close competition, humble and friendly competitors and lots of fun.

Here’s hope it will be the first of many parties in Pevely and a model for future events featuring the Friday and Saturday night racer.

Dec. 4, 2007 - A Great, New Day For USAC

A new day is dawning for the United States Auto Club. Let’s just hope it’s not 15 or 20 years too late.

USAC, the king’s of under promoting, has hired Kevin Miller, who has spent the last 23 years in the marketing department at Chrysler and Mopar. He knows how to sell product and that, my friends, is something USAC has done poorly in recent years.

USAC races are some of the best, if not the best motorsports has to offer yet, USAC does little more than show up and have a race. There’s little promotion, no marketing and limited sponsor involvement. Look for all of that to change under Miller.

And it needs to. To grow USAC racing and its audience, USAC needs to jump out of its traditional 1956 mentality and into the modern era. USAC drivers and teams are some of the best racers and mechanics in the world, but few people who don’t read National Speed Sport News or Sprint Car & Midget magazine know anything about them until they show up in NASCARland.

But maybe the biggest change at USAC that will benefit the sanctioning body, its racers, the tracks where USAC competes, fans and open-wheel racing as a while is the rehiring of Jason Smith, who has been named senior vice president of racing operations.

Smith, who left USAC several years ago, mostly because he didn’t agree with the direction the sanctioning body was heading, will now return to the fold to oversee all USAC racing operations. He’ll provide new blood and a modern-day outlook to a series that in many ways time has passed by.

There will certainly be bumps in the road during the next six months to a year, but mark my word, by this time next year, USAC will have been reshaped, and all of its competitors and customers will be better for it.