When the Kroger 200 wraps up later this month, it’ll be NASCAR’s 30th and final scheduled Nationwide Series race on Lucas Oil Raceway’s 0.686-mile oval. That’s because after 30 years of racing at LOR, NASCAR’s Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series won’t be back in 2012.

And NASCAR is starting to take some heat over the move.

Nationwide races will be moved to Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), but NASCAR isn’t even sure where the Truck Series will shift. The departure from Lucas Oil Raceway leaves the track with the NHRA’s Mac Tools U.S. Nationals as the only NHRA-owned event.

Wes Collier, general manager of Lucas Oil Raceway, thought that “this was a business decision between NASCAR and IMS and we’re left on the outside looking in.” He went on to say how, “we’re very disappointed in the decision.”

Collier insists that he and his staff were more than willing to do what they could to keep the race at ROL but that NASCAR didn’t make a proposal. It’s quite a blow for LOR and NASCAR in general, even if the racing giant doesn’t see it right now. Some media members believe that the decision to move the Nationwide Series to IMS has alienated the needs of fans and will make for poor racing.

Of course, others feel that change is good. The shift to a new venue could usher in excitement for the Nationwide Series and some drivers feel as though IMS would be a good sell in terms of sponsorship.

We’ll just have to wait and see how racing fans in Indiana respond next year. The good news is that a quick search of car insurance by state reveals that Indiana is one of the least expensive states in terms of car insurance. So at least they have that going for them, right?

“Thanks, a**hole! Now I have to pay for that.”

Running on fumes, Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Dario Franchitti and team owner Chip Ganassi celebrate after winning the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Dario Franchitti was finally first after 500 miles in the Indianapolis 500, even though he was already an Indy 500 champion in 2007.

Franchitti’s victory three years ago came in a race shortened by rain and flagged after 166 laps.

There was no chance of rain Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Franchitti drove a flawless race, dominating by leading most of the race before having to conserve fuel to make it to the finish.

The race ended with a spectacular crash between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mike Conway in the north chute between Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Conway’s car went airborne and ripped into the fence before landing upside-down on the race track in one of the most spectacular crashes in recent Indy 500 history.

Check out a spectacular photo of the crash after the jump.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

It’s a funny read.

Check out this beauty:

Talk about emasculating.

If someone were on the fence about whether or not to get into NASCAR, then Sunday’s Daytona 500 race provided enough reason to hop off and not think twice about leaving the sport behind.

If you thought NASCAR was boring when it’s just cars going around a track for three hours, try watching cars go around a track for three hours while also having a 2.5-hour intermission in between. Regular NASCAR fans could appreciate the racing that went on in between workers trying to fix a pothole on Turn 2 at the Daytona International Speedway yesterday, but if the sport was hoping to pick up new viewers then the “Super Bowl of racing” failed to deliver.

The Daytona 500 is regarded as NASCAR’s premier event. It’s the one race that is supposed to attract even the causal racing fan and considering it doesn’t have to compete against football for television viewers, it should be enough to attract new blood to the sport too.

But even the staunchest NASCAR fan would have to admit that Sunday’s Daytona 500 was a buzzkill. It should have been a monumental day for the race, with 21 different leaders (most ever at Daytona), 52 lead changes (third most at Daytona), and a winner in Jamie McMurray that led for only two laps (the fewest ever by a Daytona 500 winner). But with 80 laps remaining, a pothole emerged on the track causing two red flags to come out and 144 minutes of down time. A pothole killed an otherwise thrilling day of racing.

NASCAR remains one of those sports where you either love it or hate it. You have to go at least once to appreciate the noise and speed, but to actually get into the season and watch on a weekly basis NASCAR needs more action than what it got on Sunday. Granted, it was nobody’s fault that the track fell apart, although maybe somebody should have thought about repaving the damn thing after not doing so over the past 30 years. But if the Daytona 500 is the best NASCAR has to offer, then why would the semi-interested fan tune in next week?

True racing fans will always appreciate what the sport brings to the table – potholes or no potholes. But after yesterday, Joe Sports Fan probably won’t cry himself to sleep if he misses next weekend’s NASCAR event because the Daytona 500 probably did little to compel him.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/02/15/if-nascar-was-hoping-to-acquire-new-blood-then-daytona-500-failed-miserably/feed/ 4 http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/02/14/danica-patrick-crashes-in-her-nascar-debut/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/02/14/danica-patrick-crashes-in-her-nascar-debut/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:33:51 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=34575

Making her NASCAR debut on Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Danica Patrick ran outside of the top 20 for most of the event and then participated in a 12-car wreck to cap off a stellar day of racing.

From ESPN.com:

Patrick was hoping to learn as much as she could about a new style of racing. She ended up going to the school of hard knocks.

“It’s important to have realistic expectations,” Patrick said. “There’s going to be spikes in performance, I don’t doubt that. But there’s also going to be tough days. And today, I would say, was more of a tough day.”

After she finished sixth in last week’s ARCA event at Daytona, many people were encouraged about her debut. Obviously things didn’t go the way Patrick had hoped, but it’s only the first race of the season. She arguably has more pressure on her as well, given all the media attention she conjures up.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
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