Larry Woody, Senior Writer
Larry Woody is a native of Nashville, Tenn. He was the motor sports beat writer at the Nashville Tennessean from the early 1970s until 2008. He continues to live in Nashville.
Articles by Larry Woody
By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
I don’t know what part of “fans like wrecks” that NASCAR doesn’t understand. You’d think that after six decades they’d get it.
Wrecks – and the tense anticipation thereof – are what made NASCAR the thrilling spectator sport that it is. Or used to be.
Bruising, beat-and-bang action is what separated NASCAR [...]
Nashville’s Casey Atwood, once billed as NASCAR’s next Jeff Gordon, is back where he started over a decade ago: running Saturday night fender-benders at Fairgrounds Speedway.
“I haven’t been in a race car for about three years now, and I’ve missed it,” says Atwood, 31, who will buckle in for Saturday night’s season opener at the [...]
One summer Saturday night at Nashville Speedway, Marty Robbins was leading a caution-delayed race when he suddenly swerved into the pits and began unbuckling his helmet.
Crew chief Preacher Hamilton (grandfather of future NASCAR star Bobby Hamilton) rushed over to see what was wrong with the car.
“Nothing’s wrong,” said Marty, “but we’re runnin’ late and I’ve [...]
Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
I confess that I wouldn’t recognize a C-post if Chad Knaus installed one in my breakfast cereal some morning.
Which, based on all the mechanical malfeasances Chad has been charged with during his years in NASCAR, is not out of the realm of possibility.
But whatever a C-post is (an area between the [...]
By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
The Daytona 500 bender is over – soggy, bleary-eyed and smoke-smelly – and it’s time to fold the tents, round up the animals, roust the clowns and head down the road to the next stop.
By the time they get to Phoenix will anybody remember who won?
Mild-mannered Matt Kenseth captured the [...]
In the spirit of full disclosure, let me say that I’m glad Danica Patrick will be racing in this month’s Daytona 500.
I’ve always admired Danica’s sass, spunk and spirit, and following her endeavors will make the races she runs considerably more interesting.
Having said that, however, the way she got an automatic starting spot without having [...]
By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
When I first met Darrell Waltrip in the late 1960s his favorite saying was, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
D.W. was definitely a squeaky wheel and he got tons of grease, in the form of media attention and publicity.
It paid off, starting with his record-busting early days at Nashville’s Fairgrounds [...]
Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
The National Football League fires up its version of the Chase for the Championship this week, with every team dreaming about winning the Super Bowl – pro football’s Daytona 500.
NASCAR, you might have noticed, has already completed its playoffs in what was the closest, most dramatic championship battle in the sport’s [...]
By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
NASCAR pioneer Gary Baker once described Nashville as “Daytona without the beach.”
With its rich country-music base, Nashville and NASCAR went together like biscuits and gravy. But in recent years the biscuits have crumbled away – country music’s not country any more – and the racing gravy has curdled and dried [...]
Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
In most pro sports an athlete’s popularity rating is determined by his success. He’s adored when he’s winning and scorned – or at least ignored – when he’s losing.
NASCAR fans aren’t like that. They stick by their favorite drivers through fair weather and foul, through good times and bad. Dale Earnhardt [...]