Mark Armijo, Senior Correspondent
Mark Armijo is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who worked for The Arizona Republic from 1980-2007 and covered motorsports for more than 20 years. Mark and his wife, Kellie, live in Gilbert, Arizona.
Articles by Mark Armijo
Phoenix, Ariz. – Mirror, mirror on the wall, who will win this NASCAR Chase free-for-all?
Denny Hamlin, who has overcome early season knee surgery to collar a series-high eight wins and the lead in the standings entering the final two stops on the schedule beginning with Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500k at Phoenix International Raceway?
Jimmie Johnson, the [...]
By Mark Armijo | Senior Correspondent
RacinToday.com
Avondale, Ariz. – Oh, that Brad Keselowski. For a NASCAR Sprint Cup newbie, he sure knows how to attract a headline.
Only 23 races into his Cup career, which continues Saturday in the Subway Fresh Fit 600 (375 laps) at Phoenix International Raceway, Keselowski already seems to have made more than [...]
By Mark Armijo | Senior Correspondent
RacinToday.com
Avondale, Ariz. – Greetings from Phoenix International Raceway, where drivers and fans likely will need a scorecard to keep up with all the changes surrounding Saturday’s Subway Fresh Fit 600.
First, the race distance has increased since last year’s race, up 63 laps from 312 (502.1 kilometers) to 375 (603.5 kilometers).
Secondly, [...]
Phoenix, Ariz. – That was no mirage Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That really was Jeff Gordon riding around the slick, 1.5-mile oval as if he owned the place.
You remember Gordon, don’t you? Four NASCAR Sprint Cup championships. No. 6 on the all-time list with 82 wins.
So where’s he been?
Well, where he was Sunday [...]
By Mark Armijo | Senior Correspondent
RacinToday.com
Chandler, Ariz. – Death again showed its ugly head Sunday when a woman attending the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway was killed by debris from a horrible crash involving NHRA Top Fuel driver Antron Brown.
The woman was struck by a tire and transported to Good Samaritan Medical Center, [...]
By Mark Armijo | Senior Correspondent
RacinToday.com
Chandler, Ariz. – When Cory McClenathan looks in the mirror, he doesn’t see Mark Martin. But maybe he should.
Aside from the machinery they drive, McClenathan and Martin share strikingly similar careers, and woes.
Like Martin, a fan favorite and one of the most respected drivers in the NASCAR garage, McClenathan is [...]
By Mark Armijo | Senior Correspondent
RacinToday.com
Chandler, Ariz. – Like Dale Earnhardt Jr., NHRA Funny Car star John Force learned last season that racing waits for no one.
Earnhardt, who is stock car racing’s most popular driver, failed to win a race.
Ditto Force, drag racing’s most popular driver who also didn’t reach victory lane for the first [...]
By Mark Armijo | Senior Correspondent
RacinToday.com
By the time Denny Hamlin got to Phoenix on Wednesday he still hadn’t forgiven Brad Keselowski for their on-track skirmish nearly two weeks ago in a NASCAR Nationwide race at Dover, Del.
Hadn’t put it on the back-burner, hadn’t swept it under the rug, hadn’t even bothered to shrug his shoulders [...]