The decision by Elite Motorsports to sit out the next two NHRA national events is understandable. But, it’s also highly troubling.
Elite owner Richard Freeman made the decision public on Sunday at Bandimere Speedeway, site of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals. He said that his driver, Erica Enders-Stevens, would not compete at events in Sonoma, Calif. and [...]
FEATURE STORY, NASCAR - Sprint Cup Series »
Flat Spot On: Melvin Was A Cockpit Safety Guru
John Melvin, right, was in the business of saving lives. (Photo courtesy of Stand 21)
By Jonathan Ingram | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
For a long time established professionals were not welcome in U.S. motor racing. Lawyers were despised due to racing’s vulnerability to the issues of liability and doctors were often feared – if a driver met one in the line of work it probably wasn’t a good thing. Engineers such as John Melvin who talked about safety initially fell 
into a similar category of not exactly welcome.
Before Melvin began his engineering research, racers depended on their own ideas, often wrong, when it came to individual safety equipment. They sometimes relied on self-appointed safety experts who also happened to be in the business of selling equipment.
Melvin, who died of a heart attack last week, succeeded because he kept diligently building on his own carefully constructed body of work and quietly sharing it behind the scenes even if his advice wasn’t always acted on or well received. Eventually, when the going got tough and sanctioning bodies recognized a need for the right answers, Melvin’s diligent work paid off and his research helped form the fundamental gospel of cockpit safety in all forms of motor racing. Not surprisingly, his death brought tributes from not only the U.S. but the international racing community as well.
For a journalist, Melvin, who held a doctorate in engineering, was not only a credible source, he was readily Read the full story »
By Jonathan Ingram | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
For a long time established professionals were not welcome in U.S. motor racing. Lawyers were despised due to racing’s vulnerability to the issues of liability and doctors were often feared – if a driver met one in the line of work it probably wasn’t a good thing. Engineers such [...]
RacinToday.com
Darrell Wallace Jr. won Wednesday night’s second annual NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Mudsummer Classic at the Eldora Speedway dirt short track.
For Wallace, it was his second win in the series of the season and third of his career. For fans, it featured a wild, banzai chase over the final 25 laps that saw Kyle [...]
Chip Ganassi Racing announced Wednsday that development driver Sage Karam will take the place of Memo Rojas in this weekend’s Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Karam will join Scott Pruett in the driver lineup of the No. 01 Telcel Ford EcoBoost Prototype for the Tudor United SportsCar Championship event.
The driver lineup was made after [...]
RacinToday.com
Ryan Hunter-Reay was named winner of the Driver of the Year Award for the second quarter of the 2014 racing season on Wednesday.
The 2012 Verizon IndyCar series champion and this year’s Indianapolis 500 winner, won the award by way of a vote conducted among an elite panel of American broadcasters and journalists
Hunter-Reay, 33, won the [...]
The decision by Elite Motorsports to sit out the next two NHRA national events is understandable. But, it’s also highly troubling.
Elite owner Richard Freeman made the decision public on Sunday at Bandimere Speedeway, site of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals. He said that his driver, Erica Enders-Stevens, would not compete at events in Sonoma, Calif. and [...]
RacinToday.com
This is a big week for Tony Stewart.
On Wednesday night, his dirt short track, Eldora Speedway, will host a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race for the second straight year. Over the weekend, Stewart will be competing as a driver/owner at his other most-favorite race track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Stewart, who also got back in a [...]
J.R. Todd earned his first NHRA victory since 2008 on Sunday by racing to victory in Top Fuel at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.
Robert Hight (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were winners at Bandimere.
To get his victory, Todd had to beat Brittany Force [...]
Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders-Stevens will skip the NHRA national events in Sonoma, Calif., and Seattle her team announced on Sunday.
According to her Elite Motorsports team owner, Richard Freeman, the decision to sit out the remaining two races of the Western Swing is based on making improvements on the team.
“This has been the game [...]
RacinToday.com
Mike Conway easily held off Tony Kanaan over the final four minutes to win Race 2 of Sunday’s IndyCar Series double-header in Toronto.
Conway took the lead in the race – a large chunk of which was run in the rain – just before red flags waved because of a multi-car wreck with 4 minutes and [...]
RacinToday.com
Chase Elliott posted his third NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season when he won the EnjoyIllinois.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday night.
Elliott looked nothing like a rookie as he led 85 of 200 laps on the 1.5-mile tri-oval in suburban Joliet.
“This is an unbelievable night,” Elliott said. “We were fortunate enough to be [...]