Feb. 26, 2008 - Kyle Busch Winning Me Over

Is anyone else enjoying watching Kyle Busch race so far this season?

He’s been a pleasure to watch through six races — two each in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series. And, oh by the way, he has finished in the top five in all six races and leads the points in two of those three series.

Ironically, it has been the same hard-charging style that has brought him plenty of criticism during his four-year NASCAR career that has made him the man to watch during the early part of the NASCAR schedule.

Appearing motivated in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch has been a contender every time he’s gone on the track and has clearly been in the hunt to win every race he’s been in, though, at this point he has only a Truck Series victory at California to show for it.

It wasn’t so long ago that many of us would have predicted that Busch wouldn’t finish all six races, let alone finish them all in the top five. While he won’t run full schedules in the Nationwide and Truck Series, he certainly looks like an early contender for the Sprint Cup title.

And what does the 22-year-old Busch do when he’s not racing in NASCAR’s top three series. Well, he’s traveling the country racing at short tracks. He’s already raced late models at USA Int’l Speedway and modifieds at New Smyrna Speedway this year, and will certainly find his way into various other vehicles as the year continues.

While he’s been impressive on the track, the younger brother of Kurt Busch still has a lot to learn with media. It seems nearly every time a television camera is put on him, he has something to whine about, and that rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

His talent has been obvious for a long time, but many have wondered if his “50 cent head” to quote the movie “Bull Durham” would get in the way of his abilities. His fiery personality and aggressive driving style come with the package, and is certainly why many fans love him and many love to hate him.

But having the mental focus to limit his mistakes and bring his car home in one piece that he has shown through the first two weeks of the season, have Kyle Busch on the fast track to a lot of victories — and maybe even a championship.

Feb. 19, 2008 - Vogler Overlooked Again

We don’t tend to pay a ton of attention to auto racing Halls of Fame. However, when the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America announced its latest class of seven very deserving inductees, we were saddened to see Rich Vogler missed the cut again.

Since we have the pleasure and good fortune to be on the voting panel for this and several other Halls of Fame, it is hard to understand how the other voters continue to overlook Vogler.

We repeat that all seven new members — Michael Andretti, Buddy Baker, John Force, Richie Ginther, Wayne Rainey, Paul Goldsmith and Betty Skelton — are deserving, but so is Vogler.

Vogler, however, lost out to Andretti, who was on the ballot for the first time, in the open-wheel division. And Michael Andretti, while deserving of the honor, no doubt benefited from the name recognition he has with voters as much from the fact that most of his accomplishments came on the national stage, while Vogler garnered his success mostly on the short tracks of the Midwest.

But Vogler, who was killed just days short of his 40th birthday in a crash at Salem Speedway in Indiana, was a racer’s racer. Sprint cars, midgets, Silver Crown cars, Indy cars and even stock cars, Vogler did it all.

Rapid Rich was a demon in a midget. He won more than 200 midget races overall, including 95 in United States Auto Club-sanctioned events. Vogler won a combined 134 USAC midget, sprint car and Silver Crown features, leaving him second on the all time USAC winner’s list to A.J. Foyt, who has 169-career USAC triumphs on his resume.

With USAC regional triumphs added in, Vogler won 170 races with the sanctioning body.

He won the USAC midget title five times and the USAC sprint-car crown twice. He won the Hut Hundred an unbelievable eight times and also counted the Copper Classic, Night Before the 500 and Chili Bowl Nationals among his numerous triumphs.

His limited runs in Indy cars, usually in lesser equipment than the top dogs were driver, were promising. His best finish in five Indianapolis 500 starts was eighth in 1989.

Vogler was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992 and the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1986.

Here’s hoping one day soon, he’ll also be in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. We’ll be voting for him, and pulling for him, too.

Feb. 12, 2008 - What Has 'The Split' Brought

It appears very clear that something is going to happen that will bring American open-wheel racing’s two factions — the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series — together under the IRL banner.

While some are calling it a merger and some are calling an absorption, I am calling it an indictment, or an admittance of guilt.

When the IRL opened for business after the 1995 season, Champ Car, then known as CART, had been the sanctioning for major Indy car racing including the Indianapolis 500. The “split” as it has become known has led to two separate series for similar appearing cars.

The IRL was founded by Tony George to bring Indy car racing back to ovals and give American racers opportunities in open-wheel racing. Well, that hasn’t worked out too well. There are fewer American drivers than ever in open-wheel racing and the IRL schedule includes four road-racing events.

Should this proposed “merger” happen, the IRL will absorb several of Champ Car’s existing road races, which could bring the current schedule to include as many as eight road races.

In 1995, open-wheel racing enjoyed multiple engine suppliers, multiple chassis suppliers and multiple tire suppliers. Today, all IRL cars ride on the same chassis, engines and tires. They are basically spec cars.

So, what exactly will have been gained during the more than 12 years of separate series? That’s the question that may never be honestly answered. My answer is two fold.

First, a lot of egos were massaged.

And second, a “unified” open-wheel series will have absolute leadership by an all-ruling sanctioning body — the IRL. In the days of CART prior to the split, the car owners ruled the roost and they rarely agreed on anything.

Now, the IRL system is much more similar to NASCAR’s “It’s Our Way or the Highway” philosophy utilized when the CART team owners of the late 1980s and 1990s ousted one figure head after another. Does anyone remember who came first — Bill Stokkan or Andrew Craig?

If done properly, the “merger” should end a lot of the confusion involving open-wheel racing that has prevailed for more than a decade.

And that can only benefit the fans, the sponsors, the track operators and the race teams.

Here’s to better racing and more profitable businesses for everyone involved.

Feb. 5, 2008 - Poll Ranks Auto Racing Fourth

How popular is auto racing?

Well, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, which was released today (Feb. 5), it is the fourth most popular sport in the United States.

It’s no surprise to anyone that pro football ranked first with 30-percent of the 2,302 adults who responded to the survey which was conducted online between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22, listing pro football as their favorite sport.

Interestingly, pro football is most popular among those age 25-29 (37 percent) and 65 and older (35 percent). Football is also most popular with Easterners (34 percent).

The battle for second in sports popularity is close. Baseball ranks second, with 15-percent listing it as their favorite sport. College football is third at 12 percent and auto racing (including NASCAR) is fourth at 10 percent.

Harris Interactive first conducted this survey in 1985. Since then, the two biggest movers have been football, which has increased from 24-percent to 30-percent and auto racing, which has moved from five percent to 10 percent.

This year’s auto racing figures, show it most popular among those aged 30-39 (14 percent), Southerners (13 percent) and conservatives (13 percent). Meanwhile, auto racing was least popular with Hispanics (one percent) and the 18-24 age group (four percent).

For those interested, hockey was ranked fifth most popular, with men’s pro basketball, men’s college basketball, men’s golf, men’s soccer and horse racing rounding out the 10 most popular sports.