January 22, 2010

By now you’ve probably heard, but if you haven’t, let me tell you again . . . Bumpdrafting is back! That’s right, NASCAR made the announcement Thursday at its annual pre-season press conference to relax its restrictions on bumpdrafting in the turns at Daytona and Talladega. Many folks, including myself, believe this will make for even more exciting racing at Talladega, if that’s possible.

I’ve been asked how does NASCAR decide to change its rule and regulations? In this case it was pretty simple, they listened to the fans. Following the AMP Energy 500 last fall, many fans voiced their opinions that the on-track activity was less than what they had come to expect. They shared those opinions with us and with NASCAR. So while in Las Vegas in December, NASCAR met with all the promoters and informed us they would have meetings with the drivers and teams to address the fans’ concerns. Thursday’s announcement, that also included a larger restrictor plate as well as replacing the wing with a spoiler, was the result of those meetings.

As one veteran said Thursday, I’m as excited as I’ve ever been about getting a season started.

So keep up the good work race fans and let us know what you’re thinking. Because as you can tell, we’re all listening.

January 8, 2010

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and your New Year has started as great as mine.

The talk around Alabama today is the University of Alabama’s big victory over the University of Texas for the college football National Championship. My wife is an Alabama alum so our house pulls for the Crimson Tide every Saturday in the fall. However, last night’s victory was especially rewarding for me and the staff here at Talladega Superspeedway.

Earlier in the week we reached out to our friends at Texas Motor Speedway and placed a little wager on the game. Today, the Talladega Superspeedway flag flies high above the offices at Texas Motor Speedway and was raised there this morning by my counterpart Eddie Gossage.

Eddie is also sending us some brisket to enjoy next week.

More than 20 years ago I interned under Eddie at Charlotte Motor Speedway and over the years he’s fed me and others a lot of “bull.” This time, however, it’s some bull I can actually eat.

Roll Tide!!

December 21, 2009

Well it’s Christmas time and everything is supposed to be quiet around the racing world, but that’s certainly not the case. I have never seen more attention focused on the annual ARCA test at Daytona since I’ve been in the business. That’s right, I said annual ARCA test, as in they are in Daytona every December to get ready for the season opener. Some of you were probably not ever aware of that. This year the test was highlighted by Danica Patrick’s debut in a stock car. Early reports are pretty positive about her performance as she posted a speed in the top-20. You can be certain that a lot of attention will be placed on her in February.

I remember in 1999, Shawna Robinson finished second in the ARCA race at Daytona and we did a special promotion with her for the ARCA race at Talladega. If Shawna won the race here at TSS, we were going to award $100,000 to a fan. We did a lot of media around Shawna for that race, which created a lot of attention on her performance. While it wasn’t the magnitude that Danica is getting today, Shawna was a big focus of our fall weekend that year. While I can’t remember where she finished, I do recall her not finishing the race because of a wreck. Shawna recently posted on her Facebook status that she was about 10 years too early in her racing career. Maybe so, but she, along with the other female racers, must be credited with helping open the doors for the nine female drivers who were testing ARCA cars last weekend in Daytona.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

December, 15, 2009

Christmas is always a special time of year around Talladega Superspeedway.

Annually we participate with a local radio station to do an on-air auction to raise money for families in need. We have been doing this for about 13 years with Thunder 92.7 in Oxford and it has been a tremendous success. It’s been a very heart-warming experience as well. This year the event raised more than $13,000 that will go back out to families in local counties. While the amount is down a little from past years, it is certainly an amount we are as a staff are proud to be able to contribute.

What a great way to start the Christmas season. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas.

December 7, 2009

The move to Las Vegas for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series banquet was well received. The comments were all very positive from the industry and the fans.

Fans lined the streets of Vegas for the Sprint Victory Lap and several hundred fans attended the banquet for the very first time.

These fans were guests of the tracks, drivers and others within the sport.

We invited long-time ticketholder Charlie Crawford and his wife to the banquet.

While Charlie was unable to attend, his wife Betty (top photo, L) and her friend Kathy (top photo, R) were able to attend and had a great time. It was a pleasure to spend time with Betty and Kathy and the other fans at the banquet.

November 30, 2009

With Thanksgiving behind us, it’s time to turn the focus toward crowning Jimmie Johnson with another NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. That is certainly nothing new as of late, but something is a little different this year.

For the first time since the early 1980s, the banquet will not be held in New York. Instead, Wednesday, the Talladega team and I will head to Las Vegas for the start of something new – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series banquet at the Wynn.

I, for one, have always enjoyed going to New York. Over the years, it’s like any other place, you get accustomed to things, you know where the good restaurants are and you just know your way around. But I can tell you it wasn’t that way the very first time I went to New York back in 1993. Much like how I feel about going to Vegas this year, I had no idea what to expect.

One thing is for sure, the Sprint Cup Series banquet is always a good time and Las Vegas always does a good job of hosting events. Therefore, it should be another great time as we honor Jimmie Johnson and his team for a fourth consecutive year.

I will send another blog Thursday to let you know how everything is going. Stay tuned.

November 24, 2009

If you sit down and really consider what Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus accomplished when the checkered flag fell on the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it’s very impressive. I was very impressed last year when he won his third straight championship, accomplishing a feat that only Cale Yarborough achieved more than 30 years earlier.

I attended my first race at North Carolina Speedway in 1979, the season Yarborough was going for his fourth straight championship. He was driving for Junior Johnson that year and despite four wins, 19 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes in 31 races, he came up short in his bid for what Jimmie Johnson accomplished this season.

In our sport, I have always felt like there are some records that will never be broken. Richard Petty’s 200 wins as well as the seven championships that Petty and Dale Earnhardt have accomplished. I believe I will put Jimmie Johnson’s four straight titles right alongside the feats mentioned above, although I’m not so sure the seven championships might be within reach.

Whether you’re a fan of Jimmie Johnson and his team or not, you’ve got tip your hat to what they’ve been able to do in the last four seasons. Congratulations.

Now, let’s get started on the debate of who will stop them from winning a fifth straight Sprint Cup Series title. After all, it’s only 81 days until the 2010 Daytona 500.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.