Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
The National Football League finds itself having to deal with a prickly issue that has historically haunted NASCAR:
How rough is too rough in an inherently-violent sport?
In the wake of several brutal hits that left players dazed and/or unconscious, the pro football league last week announced a crackdown on “unnecessary roughness.’’ It [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
In other sports it’s called “tampering” and it carries stiff penalties.
One team isn’t allowed to try to lure away a member of another team who is under contract, especially while the season is under way.
Maybe NASCAR needs to consider a similar rule in the wake of the turmoil created by Hendrick [...]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
They were different in style, personality and disposition, but for decades they shared a common bond in stock car racing.
Retired motorsports writer Jack Flowers died last week at his home near Charlotte, followed by the announcement that Jeff Byrd, president and GM of Bristol Motor Speedway, had lost a lengthy [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Another NASCAR Hall of Fame class, another snub.
Last year David Pearson was left out. This year it was Darrell Waltrip.
In last year’s inaugural five-person class the selectors incredibly omitted Pearson – No. 2 in victories and considered by many the greatest driver in the sport’s history – in favor of a [...]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Jimmie Johnson has become the crabgrass of NASCAR. Once he moves in there’s no getting rid of him.
Oh, once in awhile he may shrivel a bit, but he quickly sprouts right back up, as fresh and entrenched as ever.
While Tony Stewart stole the headlines by winning last Sunday’s race at [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
While the rest of the field seems allergic to Jimmie Johnson’s rear bumper, there’s one driver who just might be able to muster a challenge to Mr. Invincible.
Tony Stewart. The driver called “Smoke.” (Who used to be called some other things back in his temper-tantrum days.)
Stewart won last Sunday’s race in [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Sometimes it seems that Jimmie Johnson is toying with the rest of the field.
In the opening Chase race at New Hampshire he finished 25th and dropped to seventh in the standings.
Laptops and tongues were clicking. Were there suddenly cracks in the flawless team? Was the magic ride over? Was this the [...]

Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
I could have told Richard Childress and Clint Bowyer that their claim that a tow truck bumped into the rear of their race car and rendered it illegal probably wouldn’t work.
It’s the oldest trick in the book.
When I was kid my teacher wanted to know what happened to my homework. I [...]

There were two big racing stories in Music City on Sunday morning; one of triumph and one of loss.
Dario Franchitti, who resides in the Nashville suburbs of Leiper’s Fork, won his third Indy Racing League championship. And 106 years of stock car racing ended at the State Fairgrounds.
The city of Nashville, which owns the Fairgrounds [...]

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
I think NASCAR erred by limiting its Hall of Fame inductions to a mere five per year, and that’s been reflected in a less-than-anticipated visitor turnout.
Hopefully as the number of enshrinements grow, so will interest and attendance. The HOF was a wonderful, overdue idea. But it should have opened its [...]