Recently I have been fond of quoting Toby Keith (and Scotty Emerick) by saying that I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.
It’s a lie. I’m not as good once as I ever was. Now, as a writer, I think I’m better than ever, but I may be delusional. To quote Jimmy Buffett, don’t ever forget that you just may wind up being wrong.
As to the original point, I can’t drink like I once could. I can’t eat like I once could. I’m losing touch with youth … and, for that matter, the youth.
Martin Truex Jr. and rain at Dover are a perfect match, nearly twelve years after his first career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series win when rain delayed the race to Monday, Truex does it again to pick up his Twenty-first victory at the Gander RV 400.
Chase Elliot won the pole for the rain delayed race and brought the field to the green on Monday afternoon. Chase continued to lead the race through the competition caution eventually getting passed late into the stage by Joey Logano and William Byron taking two tires after Ricky Stenhouse Jr lost a tire and hit the wall.
Yes, I mostly watch the racing from afar, and I don’t really see what I suspect, but it jives with the scene in local media, and I’m dating myself, as I do consistently at this stage of my so-called career, but the wide, wide world of the sports media reminds me of the old Mad magazine feature, “Spy vs. Spy.”
When I was on the circuit, it wasn’t unusual for me to follow a driver around, or stake out his hauler, trying to “bump” into him without making it look obvious, but now it seems as if reporters follow one another around.
NASCAR’s first weekend off left me refreshed. For at least a week, I’m tired of griping. I think I’m going to tell a few funny tales of days on the road.
I’d love to be the funniest NASCAR writer, but I doubt I’m overly modest about my writing, and I still don’t have an exalted view. By definition, a writer thinks what he writes is good because why would he (or she) write any other way? Few write swill on purpose.
Yet, still, in spite of the innate vanity of journalism, while I was paying close attention and trying to amuse myself, I concluded that the funniest NASCAR writer was Jim McLaurin of my home state, and the funniest man who wrote about NASCAR was Larry Woody of Tennessee.
NASCAR and Genius Sports, the global leader in sports data solutions, today announced a landmark deal that will see Genius Sports develop an official NASCAR gaming offering for legal sportsbooks. The new agreement is the first step toward creating an advanced live betting product that will drive fan interest and deepen engagement around NASCAR race events.
No Monster Energy Cup race was run over the weekend. Easter is the last of the sacred holidays. Mother’s Day weekend was once thought taboo. When another year rolls around, Daytona Beach won’t have the Fourth of July (or thereabouts), and NASCAR will try once again to jumpstart the Brickyard by giving it an encore to Memorial Day.
No race? It’s almost a relief to have a damned good reason for empty grandstands.
Ye gods. I reckon I’m going to have to write about Darrell Waltrip.
I like him. He’s a charming man. Back in his heyday as a driver, he was viewed by many in the media in almost the same way they later saw Jeff Gordon, now a partner of Waltrip in the Fox booth.
Waltrip, even though he was Southern, homespun and folksy, had media savvy, and it wasn’t just the simple friendliness of Richard Petty. D.W. would stir things up. He’d play with other drivers’ minds. He was good copy. In his early years, he was far better liked in the media centers than the grandstands.
NASCAR today announced the 2020 schedules for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series™ and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series™, and both include a return to race tracks that were part of the original schedule for each series – venues that have been absent from the respective slates for more than a decade.
For the first time since 2006 – and only the second time in the last 25 years – the Xfinity Series will race at Martinsville Speedway, and the stakes have never been higher. Expect tempers to flare, and emotions to boil over. With a final chance to lock up a spot in the Championship 4, Martinsville will serve as the final Playoff cutoff race in all three national series. The Gander Trucks will race at The Paperclip on Oct. 30 under the lights, with the Xfinity Series making its return on Oct. 31.
NASCAR and Genius Sports, the global leader in sports data solutions, today announced a landmark deal that will see Genius Sports develop an official NASCAR gaming offering for legal sportsbooks. The new agreement is the first step toward creating an advanced live betting product that will drive fan interest and deepen engagement around NASCAR race events. 
NASCAR today announced the 2020 schedules for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series™ and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series™, and both include a return to race tracks that were part of the original schedule for each series – venues that have been absent from the respective slates for more than a decade.