By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Ongoing efforts to shut down 53-year-old Fairgrounds Speedway as part of a “redevelopment” of the city-owned property has created a major uproar in Nashville, dividing citizens and politicians in one of the most heated issues in the city’s history.
Some believe the battle is not just about the future of racing […]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Attendance continues to fall far below projections at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, leaving the facility drowning in a sea of red ink.
The HOF reportedly lost $409,000 between July and October, and losses are projected to exceed $1 million by next summer.
What went wrong? What made the “experts” […]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
With fans yawning, attendance sagging, ratings slumping and teams struggling, it’s good to see that NASCAR is on top of such a pressing problem:
Altering its dress code.
According reports, NASCAR next season will relax its restrictions on garage-wear to allow shorts, short-sleeve/sleeveless shirts, and open-toed shoes.
In the past, everyone in the […]

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 […]