Newsmaker of the Week

Domination. That’s what driver Doug Coby asserted over the field of NASCAR Whelen Modified Touring Series competitors in Sunday’s Icebreaker, the opener of the 2015 Tour season at Thompson (CT) Motorsports Park. Demoralized. That’s the feeling rivals must have had when they left Thompson after Coby started up front and stayed there, save for a few laps when desperate pit strategies …

‘Ryan’s World’. That’s what a trio of like named Newsmakers turned the racing fraternity into this past weekend with fourhigh profile wins in three states. The first ‘Ryan’ is Pennsylvanian Smith, who shocked the 410 Sprint community with a win Saturday at Attica (OH) Raceway in the first points race for Tony Stewart’s All Star Sprint Series. For Smith, it …

It was as powerful a statement as could possibly be made by a Sprint Car driver. Danny Dietrich’s aggressive drive to victory Friday on the hallowed soil of Williams Grove Speedway came with some heady driving on a challenging track. The triumphant charge singled out Dietrich as the man to beat in the year to come at ‘The Grove’ and …

The racing community was dealt a double dose of sorrow this past week with the sudden deaths of two of its most prominant people. Andrew Fusco, noted New York State attorney, lifelong race fan, the legal council behind the formulation of the DIRT orgnization, died suddenly. He was 62. Three days later, Earl Baltes, builder, owner and promoter of Eldora …

Breaking free from the grip of winter was no easy task for Fred Putney and his track crew. But last Sunday afternoon, the widely respected Lincoln (PA) Speedway track preparer gave the 410 Sprint drivers and their fans a place to race after promoters Don Leiby and Alan Kreitzer decided to ‘go for it’. Greg Hodnett and Mike Heffner are …

Joanne “Joanie” Mahoney is a name readers of Area Auto Racing News have most likely never heard of. But she has certainly is ingratiating herself into the collective conscience of auto racing fans. She is the County Executive of Onondaga County, N.Y. and the architect of a $50 million redevelopment scheme that would transform the New York State Fairgrounds at …

  The old adage, “everybody talks about the weather, but no one can do anything about it” may be true, but this past week’s latest temperature and precipitation misery has forced the hands of promoters, even those with events weeks away.  It all started with USAC and ASCS rainouts in sunny Florida.  Then, Lincoln (PA) Speedway gave up for the …

Two of the biggest races of Speedweeks in Florida were won last week by drivers with Northern roots.  Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano is a North Carolinian today as most every NASCAR National Series driver is. But his racing career blossomed in his native Middletown, Connecticut.  From the time he first drove Quarter Midgets at ‘Little T’ in Thompson, Ct., …

Ahh, that Florida weather! Yes, it’s too cold to take a plunge in the Atlantic Ocean, and yes, it has been cold enough at New Smyrna, Volusia, Ocala and East Bay to see your breath some nights when the races are over. Florida’s relative warmth is the reason the outdoor racing season gets a jump start. Fields of cars have …

Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit Of Champions made its debut at Bubba Ocala Speedway last weekend and Australian born Kerry Madsen is sure glad it did. Madsen authored an improbable and immensely satisfying three-for-three start to his season and devastated the competition each time. By the end of the weekend, 410 Sprint Car fans were asking one another, ‘is this …