Can't miss races at O'Reilly Raceway Park

O'Reilly Raceway Park is, without a doubt, the best track still visited by big-time NASCAR. It has the perfect "Saturday night short track" feel that all but disappeared when tracks like the Nashville Fairgrounds, Myrtle Beach, and South Boston fell off the schedule.

ORP was the first progressively banked track, long before there was even a term for such things, making it the perfect track for some good old fashioned rootin' and gougin'.

The infield at ORP is grassy and spacious (the haulers are parked outside the track) making it the perfect spot to watch the race. And the pond in turn 4 is prime minow fishing grounds. And the traditional Kroger trailers are sure to be behind the backstretch on Saturday night. All in all, ORP is a place like no other, and fans with an appreciation of the history of the sport will recognize it as one of the last beacons of the way things used to be...

The Marlins and #711

With Sutherlin Marlin's announcement that she will be racing the #711 in her Supertruck debut at the Fairgrounds Speedway, the tradition of the Marlin family racing with the #711 lives on.

Coo Coo Marlin (Courtesy of Russ Thompson)

Sterling Marlin (Courtesy of Ron Fox)

Sutherlin Marlin

More on Mayfield

Ok, so this thing about Jeremy Mayfield is getting pretty crazy now...

Yesterday, NASCAR reported that Mayfield failed a second test for methamphetamines, but Mayfield is still adamantly defending his innocence. Mayfield has a standing lawsuit against NASCAR, claiming that the organization's testing proceedures were inadequate. in fact, Mayfield has been partially successful. He was able to get his suspension overturned earlier this month, but that was before the second positive test. NASCAR's case againts Mayfield includes a sworn affidavit by Mayfield's own stepmother saying she has seen him use meth "more than 30 times." Mayfield, however, claims that she is a "golddigging whore," and has actually filed a wrongful death suit against her in the death of his father two years ago. NASCAR has not yet commented.

This whole thing is crazy, and tiresome...really tiresome. It's back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. I'm sick of it. I don't care anymore. I never really cared all along. Personally, I wouldn't put it past NASCAR to blackball Mayfield as an example of how successful their drug testing policy really is. It's ironic that the timing of Mayfield's suspension came on the heels of former driver Kevin Grubb's suicide. Grubb was an up and coming driver before his suspension for drug use. The only problem, though, is that NASCAR had allowed Grubb to race under the influence. It's not inconceivable that the organization would want to show that it is once again squeaky clean, and Mayfield just may be the odd man out. He had a low budget team that struggled to even make races; and honestly, he hasn't really been missed since his suspension began. He is the perfect guy to make an example of.

Now, that being said, I'm not really a conspiracy theorist either. It's also very possible that Mayfield was a meth-head and NASCAR caught and suspended him. Maybe he couldn't make races because he was always hopped up... Both sides are fighting awfully hard, but in the end, only one is right.

I don't care anymore, I just want it over. If Mayfield is found innocent, I'll welcome him back. If he's guilty, then I won't miss him. Either way I just don't care. I'm just ready for the sideshow to be over.

Harvick wants out at RCR

Kevin Harvick wants out at RCR.

This really doesn't come as too much of a surprise. Richard Childress Racing looks to be heading the way of the Wood Brothers and Petty Enterprises-- Teams that were once great, but have now slipped into mediocrity.

Stewart-Haas Racing has excelled, on the other hand. Of course, having Hendrick Motorsports equipment hasn't hurt. Harvick is smart enough to see that if he wants to become the star that he once was, Stewart-Haas is the place to be.

Martin wins on special anniversary

On Saturday night in Chicago, Mark Martin won his 39th NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Little do most people realize that win came 27 years to the day after Martin won his first pole in the then Winston Cup series. That pole came at no other than the historic Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville. Complete results for that race can be found here. Another interesting bit about the race can be found on the Fairgrounds Speedway's official blog.

CRA's death signifies a deeper problem

With the CRA's announcement that the series is suspending the remainder of the southern tour schedule, it appears that yet another short track series has bit the dust. Following in the footsteps of the ASA Challenge Series and NASCAR Southeast Series, The CRA's departure leaves a void for a solid regional Super Late Model series.

Why are these series fading away? Naturally the answer is a lack of interest, both from fans and potential sponsors. But digging deeper, the real question is why. Why aren't the fans coming out? Where are the likes of Slim Jim, AC Delco, and Sunoco that used to sponsor these o

nce great series? 

The easy answer is that NASCAR stole them. NASCAR is continuing a decade-long movement away from local racing. Gone are the days when the Nationwide or Camping World Truck series made regular visits to Saturday night speedways. Gone are the days when the local hotshoe had a valid chance of climbing the ranks. And most painfully, gone are the days where NASCAR scheduled relatively few Saturday night races to keep from interfering with attendance at the local tracks.

NASCAR isn't the only culprit, however. Where is the PR for these series? Aside from subscribing to Late Model Digest, how is the average fan going to find out about the series and its' star drivers? In the 80s, names like Dick Trickle, Butch Miller, and Mike Eddy routinely came up in racing circles, and the 90s saw drivers like Bobby Gill and Scott Hansen come to prominence. Augie Grill has won the last two Snowball Derbies. Who is he? Don't really know. Why not? Surely back to back wins in the most prestigious race of its' type deserves a writeup in Speedway Illustrated. Some PR firm somewhere needs to get on it.

The future of short track racing is murky at best. Somebody, somewhere needs to step up and make it exciting again, before its too late.