May 13, 2008 - Looking For The Best

On June 4, National Speed Sport News will publish a special section celebrating the history of midget-car auto racing.

The occasion is the 75th anniversary of the first official midget race, which was held June 4, 1933 in Sacramento, Calif. In putting this issue together, we have asked our readers to write in offering their opinion on who is the best midget driver of all time.

The response has been excellent, the answers have been intriguing and in many cases fascinating. We have received responses that have varied from two words to six pages handwritten. Some have included old newspaper clippings and old programs.

With a few votes still arriving, readers have currently nominated 38 different drivers as the best. And naturally many drivers have received multiple votes. As part of this anniversary issue, we will include the top 10 drivers as voted by NSSN readers. It will be an interesting list.

Currently, the race for No. 1 is too close to call, but it is clear that three drivers stand above the rest, though, these drivers are all separated by a single vote. The best part of it is that it would be very easy to make an argument for any of the three as the best of all time.

NSSN has also pulled some of the industry’s most notable individuals, including Tony Stewart, John Cooper, Ken Schrader, Bill Smith, Kevin Olson and Mario Andretti, and gotten their opinions on who the best midget racer of all time is.

It’s been an interesting project, and we look forward to sharing the results on June 4.

May 6, 2008 - A Good Rivalry Needed

Now, do you think it is possible that somewhere in this great country of ours, there is a man wearing a red Budweiser No. 8 T-shirt and a green Amp Energy Drink hat with a dart board in his garage upon which he has gone to great lengths to affix an image of 23-year-old stock-car driver Kyle Busch?

My guess, is there are more than one, and hopefully the boys are sticking to dart boards and leaving the real artillery in the pickups.

While Saturday night’s dust up between Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. clearly has awakened the Earnhardt fanbase, known today as Junior Nation, it is priceless stuff and gives an added energy to NASCAR stock-car racing in a time when it could use a pick up.

Busch is the hottest thing going — not just in NASCAR, but in all of motorsports. He’s won seven NASCAR races in three divisions this season and has been a contender to win every time he has hit the track. He’s brash. He’s aggressive. He drives a Toyota and he’s highly unpopular. That all makes him the polar opposite of Earnhardt.

Earnhardt has an adoring throng of fans across the country, many of which you might term fanatic. And even most who aren’t Junior fans have very little against him. As well, while Busch wins frequently, Earnhardt hasn’t been to victory lane in more than two years. He’s in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports and has been a consistent front runner through the first third of the season.

All of this sets the two up for what could be an interesting rivalry. While it seems unlikely Saturday night’s contact and Junior spin was little more than the “racing” accident Busch said it was, it got the attention of many. And it brought a whole new group of Busch Haters to the table.

Finding a Busch fan these days is not the easiest project to complete, and while I think his brain often writes checks his body can’t cash, I’m pulling for him on this one. NASCAR needs two polar opposites fighting it out for the lead on a weekly basis.

It needs some flare, and maybe Rowdy Busch and Junior Nation can make that happen.

And if not, there will still be some folks who have improved their dart-throwing skills.