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Driver hopes to combine environmentalism, NASCAR [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 10:39 am] Racing and environmentalism go together about as well as mashed potatoes and chocolate, or so the conventional wisdom holds. The NASCAR infield and the Green movement have, shall we say, divergent constituencies. But one driver, at least, is doing her best to bring the two sides together.ARCA driver Leilani Munter, pictured above left with the Atlanta Falcons' Ovie Mughelli and former NFL'er Mike Alstott at the Gulf Coast, is hard at work trying to bring attention to environmentalism. It's a tough road -- NASCAR, with its vehicles driving hundreds of miles in a circle, is the lazy thinker's whipping boy for anti-environmentalism -- but Munter is doing her part to open a few eyes, as with a current CNN profile of her efforts.Still, sponsorship has been difficult to come by. "It used to be that a woman with everything going on that Leilani has going on could get a bunch of sponsors," said ARCA team owner Mark Gibson, who wants to run Munter in several races next season. "But right now, there's a lot of uncertainty with the economy."Another problem: Munter is, at present, a race-car driver in only the most generous sense of the term. She ran a few laps at Daytona this year before getting caught up in a wreck, and that's been that so far. Munter's goal is to raise awareness by putting a message on her hood. But she got a taste of what it will be like when her Daytona sponsor, Native Energy, dealt with consumer criticism for its choice to sponsor a NASCAR ride. Thomas H. Rawls met criticism head-on, writing on the company's blog, "Ultimately ... I asked myself: How does Native Energy reach people who are not already converts on the issue of climate change? Anyone who is engaged in any broad effort to speak to the public faces this question: Do I talk only to friendly audiences, or do I face the doubters and the hostiles?" To his credit, Rawls -- and, of course, Munter -- doesn't simply preach to the choir.Munter is taking several pro NASCAR reality series "Changing Lanes" starts on BET [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 9:47 am] Yeah, let's all admit it, NASCAR and the television network BET don't seem like they fit together, much like Jeff Gordon and Wal-Mart.BET is an untapped audience for NASCAR, so you can't fault the sport's attempt to go get new fans with "Changing Lanes," a reality show competition for 10 drivers in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity started Wednesday at 8PM ET on BET. (If you missed Wednesday's episode, you can set your DVRs for 9AM ET Saturday, September 4 and 1:30AM ET Sunday, September 5.)From Sporting News:That competition will play out this fall in Changing Lanes, a documentary series produced by the NASCAR Media Group that will be televised on BET beginning Wednesday. BET has purchased 10 episodes of the one-hour show, which debuts this week.It’s a cross between MTV’s Real World and NBC’s The Apprentice.Changing Lanes examines the challenges of making it as a driver, with one of them being eliminated each week until there’s a lone survivor.So if you're looking for a mid-week NASCAR fix, flip on over to BET to see what this is all about. It's got to be better than "Jersey Shore," right? Believe it or not, episodes of "Jersey Shore" may be newer than "Changing Lanes." The winner of Changing Lanes got a ride with Revolution Racing -- the NASCAR funded team run by Max Siegel for Drive for Diversity -- for January's Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway.Yes, that's January 2010, so if you're so inclined, you can go see who earned the seat by simply looking in the box score of a race that's eight months old.One of the key themes -- true or not -- of the last few years in NASCAR has been the perception that the sport has left its "core fans" in the dust, and quite frankly, this is a blatant grab for new viewers while hoping that those "core fans" will watch a show that was filmed when last year's Halloween candy was still being eaten. (Plus, the show got the 8PM ET timeslot, whi Georgia's governor personally lobbied to keep Atlanta race [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 9:08 am] For an up-close look at how the sausage gets made in NASCAR -- specifically, how races get snatched from one track and dispensed to another -- you need go no further than this week's NASCAR.com interview with Bruton Smith, Speedway Motorsports Inc. owner, on how he made the decision to pull a race from Atlanta and give it to Kentucky.Apparently, literally hours before Smith made his call, he received a visit from Georgia's governor, Sonny Perdue, as well as the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House. What followed was classic political doublespeak and ultimately failed attempts at horse-trading, retold in vintage Smith fashion. So why did Smith make the switch? Here's his reply, in its entirety:"Weather, weather, weather. And I’ve talked with the governor down there [in Georgia] repeatedly. I’ve been down there on two occasions and we asked for some little things, and we really thought we were going to get them. But we didn’t. "The governor and the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house [in Georgia], they all flew up to Charlotte and we had a meeting for two hours and 15 minutes. It was a great love fest. I really enjoyed it — plus the governor brought me a necktie. I thought that was great."Aw, that's precious. A necktie! The hundreds of thousands of people who are going to lose out on the estimated $50 million in income generated by the spring race are oh so very happy you got a new necktie, Bruton. I wouldn't let any of them tie it for you, though. You might find they pull it a little tight. (Full disclosure: I live in Atlanta.) Anyway, according to Smith, Perdue insisted that the state of Georgia didn't have the funds to carry out on those "little things" -- which Smith refused to identify -- that would have kept the race in Atlanta. When asked whether Smith or the governor called one another's bluff, Smith replied,"I wouldn’t say it like that. That sounds like a poker game. I Juan Pablo Montoya gets an appropriate sponsor and other notes [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 2:45 pm] Juan Pablo Montoya will be sponsored by Huggies this weekend at Atlanta, and quite honestly, this may be the most appropriate new sponsor entry into the Sprint Cup Series in a long time. JPM and his wife Connie just welcomed their third child amidst the continuing Sprint Cup baby boom. No word if expectant father Jamie McMurray will get free diapers for being Montoya's teammate.-- After the separation of John Wes Townley from Richard Childress' Nationwide team, veteran Morgan Shepherd has been driving the No. 21 in the remaining unsponsored races and Childress and Shepherd struck a deal Tuesday that keeps Shepherd in the car for more races this season. It also allows Shepherd to potentially have the owner's points -- a valuable commodity given that the car would be locked into the first five races of 2011 -- next year.-- In that same link, it's noted that Paul Tracy will be making his return to ovals in the Izod IndyCar Series. Tracy has run some road courses this season and failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He'll be in the No. 24, subbing for the injured Mike Conway who was hurt in that brutal crash in the final moments of the 500.-- Elliott Sadler told Sirius' Dave Moody that he'd have an announcement on his future plans in two to three weeks. Sadler also said that he was talking to an existing Cup team that was looking to expand. That would be a mighty quick expansion.-- And in the news that everyone has been waiting for, Kevin Conway is back in the Sprint Cup Series for the rest of the season. Conway, who has locked up the Raybestos Rookie of the Year by virtue of being the only rookie on the circuit, will drive the No. 7 for Robby Gordon Motorsports. And yes, ExtenZe will continue to be his sponsor. Nine drivers could clinch Chase spots at Atlanta [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 31, 2010, 10:06 am] This year's race to the Chase has been a relative snoozer, but given that the Chase itself looks to be incredibly wide-open, isn't that more than a fair trade-off?Points leader Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon have already clinched their spots in the Chase, so if they were so inclined, they could skip Atlanta and Richmond and show up at New Hampshire refreshed and ready to go. And if all goes well for the nine drivers behind them in the standings, they could join Harvick and Gordon relaxing on Lake Norman for the Richmond race, no matter what the rest of the field does.*Here are the scenarios for those nine drivers, and it's safe to say that Kyle Busch will clinch by lap 40. Kyle Busch: Busch needs to finish 40th or better if he doesn't lead a lap, 42nd if he leads one lap, or 43rd if he leads the most laps. Easy.Carl Edwards: Here's where it gets close. Edwards needs to finish 21st if he leads the most laps, 23rd if he leads one and 25th if he leads the most. Very doable given his Atlanta history.Denny Hamlin: Hamlin needs to finish 20th with no laps led, 22nd with one lap led, or 23rd with the most of the laps led.Tony Stewart: A 19th place finish with no laps led clinches it for Smoke, while 21st with one lap led or 23rd with the most laps led gets the job done too. Jeff Burton: Burton needs to finish 17th if he doesn't get to the front, 19th if he leads a single lap, or 21st if he leads the most.Matt Kenseth: Kenseth needs a top 15 if he doesn't lead a lap, 17th if he leads one, or 19th if he leads the most.Jimmie Johnson: Vader's got to get a top 10 without a lap led if he wants to clinch at Atlanta, 11th with a lap led, or 13th with the most laps led.Kurt Busch: Busch's scenario is nice and orderly. 9th if he doesn't lead a lap, 10th with a lap led, and 11th with the most laps led.Greg Biffle: Biffle's is the most farfetched of any of the possible clinchers, but given the way that he's been running on the bigger tracks lately, it's feasible. Biffle needs to finis Join us for the latest Marbles Chat, Wednesday at 1pm ET [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 31, 2010, 7:53 am] Time again for another Marbles chat, and now we're into the stretch run -- a dozen races left, 14 drivers still with title hopes. How's it going to shake out? We shall see ... join us on Wednesday at 1 p.m., won't you? Does Montreal deserve a Sprint Cup race? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 30, 2010, 4:26 pm] Sunday's Nationwide race at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was one of the best of the season, road-course grace combined with some good old-fashioned all-out racing. And chances are, most NASCAR fans missed it. Which is a shame, because in addition to being a fine race, the Montreal track is a fine locale. And that, at least according to Racin' Today's Jim Pedley, is why Montreal needs a Sprint Cup-level race.Hey, I'm for it. Why not, eh?Anyway, here's what it would mean: a third road course. A top-line NASCAR presence in Canada. And -- not inconsequentially -- the removal of one current race from the Sprint Cup slate. That there is the stumbling block: since the track isn't owned by either of the monolithic track organizations, that means somebody's gotta lose a race with no tit-for-tat recompense.So for the sake of argument, let's kick this around. Who's got two races and could realistically lose one? Phoenix and Michigan, but they're International Speedway Corp. tracks, which means they're inviolate. Loudon, but no way Speedway Motorsports is giving up one date without a tradeoff. (Maybe moving the season-ender from ISC's Homestead to SMI's Vegas?) Pocono is an easy candidate, but what's the incentive for the Mattioli family to give up one of their two dates? I love the idea, but at the moment, given the intransigence of NASCAR track politics, I can't find a way to make this work.And so I turn it over to you. Put a Sprint Cup race in Montreal in 2012, folks. Figure a way. Teen motorcyclist dies; how young is too young to race? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 30, 2010, 1:21 pm] Terrible news out of Indy this weekend, as a 13-year-old motorcyclist died in a tragic racing accident.During a motorcycle race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Peter Lenz fell off his bike during a warmup lap Sunday, and was run over by a trailing motorcycle. A few hours later, Lenz was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital; the cause of death, according to the Marion County coroner's office, was blunt force trauma.Though he was an inch short of five feet tall and 81 pounds, Lenz was already a highly accomplished racer. He earned "expert" designation from the American Federation of Motorcyclists by the time he was 11, and this year, competing in the U.S. Grand Prix Racers Union, he had already amassed four wins and five podium finishes. His father's message on Peter's Facebook page was heartbreaking. "He passed doing what he loved and had his go fast face on as he pulled onto the track," the posting said. "The world lost one of its brightest lights today. God Bless Peter and the other rider involved. 45 [Peter's number] is on another road we can only hope to reach. Miss you kiddo." Lenz is the youngest driver/rider fatality ever at the 101-year-old Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Without blaming the victim in any way, the tragedy nonetheless raises the specter of age, and whether teens and pre-teens possess the necessary dexterity and presence of mind to pilot vehicles that can go more than 120 mph. Lenz was 13, and the racer whose bike ran over Lenz is only 12. Those affiliated with the sport note that other youth sports, such as football and gymnastics, have a similar possibility for youth injury. United States Grand Prix Racers Union officials say that this was the first fatality in the series in nine years. NASCAR, for one, has a proud tradition of young drivers. Kyle Busch go-karted as a youth. began driving Legends cars at age 13. Joey Logano started racing when he was 6. And, most impressively, Jeff Gordon was driving at Kyle Petty's a Hall of Famer! It's for Little League, but still! [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 30, 2010, 10:06 am] A few months back, Richard Petty was named to the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Not to be outdone, his boy Kyle is now a Hall of Famer too! Okay, well, not exactly "Hall of Fame" -- it's a "Hall of Excellence." And not exactly NASCAR -- it's Little League baseball. But hey, you take the honors you're given, right?Anyway, Kyle was honored by Little League on Sunday before the Little League World Series title game between Japan and Hawaii. He wasn't exactly a worldbeater; as he put it, his specialty at the plate was getting hit by the ball. "The reason I was the catcher was because I was the biggest kid," he said. "They knew I could stop the ball."Kyle played on weekends growing up in North Carolina, and if you remember your NASCAR history, you'll remember that his pops wasn't around to see too many of lil' Kyle's games, being out racing and all. Kyle recalled that he learned of his father's infamous Darlington wreck while playing a baseball game on a Saturday afternoon.In his induction speech, Kyle noted that he learned the techniques of teamwork that would help him in his later driving career. He advised Little League parents to help their children learn to accept losing -- insert cheap joke here -- in order to be a better winner. No word on whether the ponytail had its origins during those days, but I'm guessing no. If you're not watching the Nationwide races, you're missing out [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 30, 2010, 9:05 am] You can be forgiven for focusing the entirety of your NASCAR love on the Sprint Cup series. After all, that's where the big dogs like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and (with rare exception) Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. run. It's the marquee series, the one that dominates your Sunday afternoon viewing and week-long headlines. The Nationwide? Yeah, that's nice and all, but -- minor leagues, right?Maybe so, but damn, there's some fine racing going on there. Many of the season's best races -- and most dramatic -- have taken place during those so-called "minor league" races. Like, for instance, Sunday's heart-stopping showdown in Montreal, won by -- Boris Said? Wait a second, that can't be right ...So why are the Nationwide races so good? Let us consider the ways ...• They're shorter. Sunday's four-hour monster excepted, most Nationwide races are hundreds of miles/laps shorter than their big brothers. That means less time to settle in and ride around the track waiting for the final 30 laps.• There's not as much at stake for the big guys. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and the other Sprint-level drivers who run in the Nationwide series are racing for exposure, sponsor coin and the love of racing. What they're not racing for is the crown jewel -- the Sprint Cup. That allows them to take more chances and race more loose than they otherwise would in a series where one wreck could torpedo your season.• The cars look different! This doesn't have much to do with the races themselves, but the new-look Nationwide cars are important to a segment of fans out there. So there you go.• The rookies add that extra level of drama. The barrier to entry is far lower in Nationwide than Sprint, which means you've got a contingent of drivers who -- let's be gentle here -- may not necessarily be in the class of talent as a Kyle or a Carl. And when they're all on the track together, you're only one tire-slip from anarchy! • Danica! Why no, this point has Recapping Marcos Ambrose's teasing Montreal history [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 29, 2010, 8:29 pm] What has Marcos done to make the gods at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve mad?Ambrose had the fastest car in the early stages of Sunday's Nationwide race, but was ultimately felled by alternator problems. It was just another bad result for Ambrose, who's quickly becoming to the track in the middle of the St. Lawrence River what Dale Earnhardt was to Daytona before breaking through in 2009.In 2007, Ambrose got into Robby Gordon as the two battled for the lead and Gordon returned the favor while ignoring NASCAR's orders to move back in the field as Ambrose was leading, potentially costing Ambrose the win. In the rain-soaked 2008 race, Ambrose was running well until he got caught for speeding on pit road, ruining his chances for the win. And in 2009, Ambrose had the lead going into that final chicane on the last lap but curb hopped the car on the first corner, allowing Carl Edwards to slip by and grab the win. There's always next year, Marcos. Boris Said beats Max Papis in drag race to finish at Montreal [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 29, 2010, 6:08 pm] That was worth the four-hour race time, that's for sure.Boris Said used a crossover move in the final chicane at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal to win Sunday's Nationwide race by a fender over Max Papis.Papis drove the car in incredibly deep after the long straightaway, passing Said as the two entered the chicane. But since Said's entry wasn't nearly as deep, he was able to get off the second corner better and beat Papis to the stripe to get his first NASCAR victory."It was just unbelievable," Said told ESPN in victory lane. "I didn't know I won because I didn't have a radio at the end."Papis, who was racing the No. 33 for Kevin Harvick Inc., said that if he couldn't win, he was glad that Said did."First, congrats to Boris. If I couldn't win, he deserved the win," Papis said."I gave everything I had. I believed until the last corner. I really outbraked him really hard and it came down to the last corner. I did all I could, I went through the gears, barely hit the chip in second gear ... This is what I can do in a good car and I'm really proud."Jacques Villeneuve, driving on the track named for his father, finished third for Braun Racing.Neither Said nor Papis were leading on that final restart, however. Robby Gordon, who still claims he won the 2007 race at Montreal, was leading, but since he pitted before everyone else, ran out of fuel with two laps to go. O, Canada! Your Montreal Nationwide open comment thread [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 29, 2010, 12:22 pm] No Sprint Cup-level race this weekend, but that doesn't mean there's no racing going on. Many of NASCAR's best and brightest have headed north of the border to race in Montreal in the Nationwide series. Look for big names like Carl Edwards, Marcos Ambrose, Joey Logano and Robby Gordon. How will they do? Will Gordon once again turn Ambrose, or will the wily Aussie get his revenge? Tune in at 2pm and find out. Plus, get all those Canadian jokes about Moosehead and maple syrup and mounties and Rush out of your system, eh? Enjoy the race, everybody! Dario Franchitti wins action-packed IndyCar race at Chicagoland [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 29, 2010, 9:47 am] Maybe the Izod IndyCar Series would have been better served to have an upset of some sorts Saturday night. Say, Marco Andretti or Dan Wheldon. Both drivers haven't been to Victory Lane in ags and were near the front the entire evening. Or maybe Ed Carpenter, who was in his first race since the Indianapolis 500.Instead, it was the same old story at Chicagoland, as Dario Franchitti won thanks to a no-tire pit stop during the final caution period, allowing him to vault from ninth to first.Car owner Chip Ganassi said that Franchitti had a fifth or sixth place car at the time and that it was the only way for the team to go after the win. A Ganassi car running in the middle of the pack at an oval? Believe it or not, that was the case until the final pit stop.While Franchitti was virtually unchallenged over the last segment thanks to his car's downforce combination and the clean air, the race behind him kept the Sprint Cup at Talladega theme. There was a track record 11 different leaders and double file racing was the norm. It wasn't uncommon to see three-wide moves down the backstretch and at one point late in the race, there was a four-wide battle for sixth going into turn one. It was, simply, the best example of how great the IndyCar Series can be. Too bad no one was watching. Kyle Busch wins fourth NASCAR race in a row at Chicagoland [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 27, 2010, 10:34 pm] I'm sure that many of you are sick of reading about Kyle Busch, but face it, the man is on a roll in NASCAR-sanctioned events right now. (Other events, notsomuch)After taking four tires in the pits, Busch charged from sixth to first on a restart with 22 laps to go and pulled away from Todd Bodine on a green-white-checker restart to win the Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland.Bodine had a shot at Busch with seven laps to go as he got alongside of Busch in turn three. However, Busch had the outside line and Bodine had to get off the gas.And Bodine's second place finish allowed him to further extend his points lead in the Truck Series. It's not Brad Keselowski-esque (313 points over second place Carl Edwards), but Bodine is doing his best to make the 2010 race for the title a snoozer. He leaves Chicago 236 points ahead of second place Aric Almirola with eight races to go. Create-a-caption: 'Behold my awesome -- hey, where's everybody?' [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 27, 2010, 5:12 pm] Kyle Busch, basking in his own awesomeness. Surely you have some commentary for this scene. Come on, you've had a week to build up your Kyle bile. Have at it!After the jump, Carl Edwards' little girl makes her NASCAR debut. Vaffanculo:Edwards celebrates his win at the first Cabbage Patch 350. Janine R:Carl: "Don't worry Kate, nobody is going to punch a man holding a baby." tx_jjk:Annie: Mommy, I just spit up all over Brad Keselowski Mom: High five!! Carl: I'm so proud of my girl. Alan Kulwicki named to Motorsports Hall of Fame [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 27, 2010, 4:16 pm] Alan Kulwicki, one of NASCAR's great stories and great tragedies, has been inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame America. Kulwicki, as all devoted NASCAR fans know, was the last of the independent champions, the 1992 Cup winner who died in a plane crash only a few months after winning the title.Kulwicki was one of seven in the 22nd class of honorees at the Hall of Fame. His fellow inductees include Dale Armstrong (drag racing category), Joie Chitwood (historic), Jeremy McGrath (motorcycles), Ken Squier (at large), Jerry Titus (sports cars) and Rich Vogler (open wheel).Kulwicki, the 1986 rookie of the year, was the first owner/driver to win since Richard Petty in 1979. He won five races in 207 career starts, and he had his own tradition -- the "Polish Victory Lap," in which he ran the track in reverse after wins.After the jump, a video from the 1993 Winston Cup awards banquet honoring Kulwicki. Guaranteed to get you a little misty if you remember the man in his heyday. Randy Lajoie's NASCAR suspension is now over [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 27, 2010, 2:45 pm] Good news for former driver/current analyst Randy LaJoie: his suspension is over. Back in June, NASCAR suspended LaJoie for a failed drug test, and ESPN in turn suspended LaJoie as well.LaJoie admitted at the time to smoking marijuana in May, and subsequently completed a treatment program. He was appropriately contrite in a statement: "I am thankful to NASCAR for reinstating me for competition, and grateful to my friends and family who supported me through this time," he said. "This has been a tremendous learning and growing process for me, and I have come through it a stronger, better person. I am looking forward to returning to work, and continuing to prove to NASCAR, my colleagues, my family and my friends that this was an isolated incident that I have put behind me."So, good news for LaJoie, who ran in 44 races over the course of 12 years. He won 15 races in the Nationwide series, and that's where he got snagged, as he was applying for a license to serve as a spotter for a Joe Gibbs Racing Team. Here's hoping that this gets put behind him quickly and he gets back to the track in a hurry, and for a long time to come. Aw, man, now those Duke kids are invading NASCAR, too [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 27, 2010, 7:51 am] If you're a college basketball fan -- check that, if you're a true college basketball fan -- you hate Duke. Yeah, yeah, they're all successful and have all the championships and play the game the right way and all that, but you know what? I still can't stand 'em, as I wrote here a few years back. They're the Jimmie Johnson of college basketball. And now they're coming to NASCAR. All right, that's not really fair, judging Paulie Harraka -- a Duke junior set to make his Nationwide debut this weekend in Montreal -- by the loathsome standards of Christian Laettner, Mike Krzyzewski, J.J. Redick et. al. Harraka, who'll be running the No. 87 Chevy for NEMCO Motorsports, is one of the most notable products of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program, and he's one of 10 drivers who will be in a new racing reality show called "Changing Lanes." The Drive for Diversity program dates back to 2004, and -- as its name implies -- seeks to bring in minorities and women to run with the predominantly white American fellas on the track. And while the program is yet to produce a Sprint Cup-level driver, Harraka -- who is of Syrian descent -- is a grand hope. Mark Davis, an African-American driver who came up through the diversity program, is running in the Nationwide series. And with any luck, these drivers won't be forever defined (or judged) by the color of their skin, but by the content of their wheelin' skills.And Harraka has skills to spare. A go-karter as a kid, he won 13 national championships and six world championships in go-karts. Former Charlotte Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler put him in a Legends car in 2005, and he won his first race at the speedway. Soon afterward, he began juggling classwork at Duke and racing in NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series -- which, by the way, forced him to fly from Carolina to California for five of the first six weekends after he began college. That, friends, is dedication. Harraka currently sits third in the K& Kyle Busch's Wednesday didn't get any better in his off-road race [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 26, 2010, 12:23 pm] Before heading to Chicago for the TRAXXAS TORC Series off road race, Kyle Busch was in Kansas City for a go-kart race with fans and media where he got put into the wall on the first lap.He made it further in the TRAXXAS race Wednesday evening, but not by much. Busch's rear suspension broke on the second lap and he finished last.From SPEED:Even though Busch didn't get the result he wanted, he still enjoyed the experience. "It’s fun," said the driver who swept NASCAR's three national series races last week at Bristol Motor Speedway. "I enjoy going out there and going out to the sand dunes and messing around and jumping some stuff out there. "Anytime you can put a big heavy vehicle up in the air like that, it’s always cool. For myself, running the Traxxas TORC Series PRO 2s, it’s fun."Busch is competing in Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, and now that he's gotten all of the bad luck out of his system Wednesday, he'll probably go out and dominate Friday.Or, if the pattern continues, have to retire on lap three. |