By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
I see that some of my media colleagues selected Jimmie Johnson’s championship run as the biggest NASCAR story of 2010. I disagree.
As I opined earlier, I think the most significant overall story was the impressive safety record NASCAR continued to amass – but of course safety is a boring subject [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
One of NASCAR’s more amazing streaks continued this season, and no, I don’t mean Jimmie Johnson’s record-extending fifth championship.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Most Popular Driver Award for an eighth consecutive year.
It just goes to show that winning’s not everything. In fact, in Junior’s case, apparently it’s nothing. No matter how [...]

Every day thousands of planes land safely at airports around the country and we never hear a word about it. There are no glaring newspaper headlines, no program-interrupting news flashes on radio and TV:
“BULLETIN: A jetliner in-bound from Los Angeles carrying 266 passengers has just set down at O’Hare Airport without the slightest hitch. After [...]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
I attended NASCAR’s inaugural New York City awards shindig in 1981 to cover hometown hotfoot Darrell Waltrip’s first championship presentation, and it was a hoot.
One amber-frozen moment: my sports writing sidekick Joe Caldwell and I strolled into the Waldorf Astoria lounge one evening and were greeted by a booming drawl [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
The more I see of Jimmie Johnson – and I’ve been seeing a lot of him lately on almost every TV news channel – the more impressed I am by him.
Understand, Johnson’s national exposure is nothing new. This is the fifth consecutive season in which he represents NASCAR as it champion.
But [...]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
NASCAR boss Brian France says some “significant changes” will likely be made in the way the sport determines its champion next season.
Brian hasn’t asked me, but if he should, this is my advice:
Beware of over-tweaking.
As they say, if it’s not broke don’t fix it. And I don’t detect any major cracks [...]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
They say you can tell more about a man’s character in defeat than in victory.
I’m not sure that applies to Mark Martin.
Mark is so even-keeled that he’s dignified win or lose. Through good times and bad, amid highs and lows, his personal compass invariably remains stuck on “classy.”
This year, for [...]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Last Sunday King Jimmie the Fifth was crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway, concluding a race and a season that followed a familiar scenario for success:
Jimmie Johnson did a masterful job of driving.
And the competition did a masterful job of choking.
Denny Hamlin, Johnson’s closest challenger, spun out early in the race.
Kevin Harvick, [...]

If this season’s Chase for the Championship hasn’t got you excited, you might want to check your pulse.
You might be clinically dead.
I don’t see how anyone who doesn’t have a tag on their toe won’t be perched on the edge of their La-Z-Boy Sunday afternoon when they roll off the line at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR wanted [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
At the start of the season I wondered which Sprint Cup major-leaguer would dominate the second-tier Nationwide Series and (as usual) steal the little guys’ lunch money.
The verdict is in: Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski won in a romp, officially tying the bow at Texas Motor Speedway a week ago. It was over long [...]