Auto Racing Digest back issues from December 2003:
CART hopes to get on a roll with Motorock.(Pace Lap)(Championship Auto Racing Teams)
Dec 01, 2003; ... ON THE FACE OF IT, MOTOROCK seems like the silliest idea since Vince McMahon's XFL. According to its trademark registration, the newly formed company is dedicated to "organizing and conducting music festivals and concerts ... entertainment events, and contests in the nature of ...
Wild youth.(The Fans Speak Out)(Letter to the Editor)
Dec 01, 2003; ... I used to be a Kevin Harvick fan, but his behavior at Richmond was despicable. Yes, Ricky Rudd gave him a little tap on the bumper, but it seemed purely like an accident. The way Harvick and his crew acted after the race was horrendous. It seems as if these younger ...
Drastic times and measures.(The Fans Speak Out)(Letter to the Editor)
Dec 01, 2003; ... NASCAR is really embarrassing itself these days. The Kevin Harvick-Ricky Rudd incident at Richmond should be the last straw. Pit road looks like a WWE match, but the series refuses to take any drastic steps. The only way to stop this downward spiral is for NASCAR to suspend drivers. I ...
Kind of a drag.(The Fans Speak Out)(Letter to the Editor)
Dec 01, 2003; ... Thank you for your look at John Force and the NHRA ["Force Is Still With Us," November 2003]. Force is one of the truly great guys in motor sports and the always-enjoyable drag ...
Fan friendly?(The Fans Speak Out)(Letter to the Editor)
Dec 01, 2003; ... Turn off the lights, the party is over. NASCAR has clearly abandoned its loyal legion of fans in the interest of making ungodly sums of money ["The Fan Ban," November 2003]. When drivers intentionally develop fan avoidance plans, such as Dale Earnhardt ...
The keystone driver.(Rising Star: Travis Geisler)(Interview)
Dec 01, 2003; ... WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA IS known as the "Cradle of Quarter-backs" for producing such signal callers such as Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, and Dan Marino. Now, with a goal of reaching the top level of NASCAR, a young driver from suburban Pittsburgh wants to spread the word ...
The stat sheet: Darlington Raceway.
Dec 01, 2003 ... 1950 The year in which the Darlington Raceway--built on the site of a former peanut field--both opened and hosted its first topflight NASCAR race, the Southern 500. The race was won by Johnny Mantz, driving a Plymouth owned by Bill France St., Hubert Westmoreland, Curtis Turner, ...
The dawn after the "dark".(Uncovering the Past)(success of race car driver Jeff Gordon)(Brief Article)
Dec 01, 2003 ... WHEN CREW CHIEF RAY Evernham left the No. 24 team in order to pursue his dream of motorsports ownership, many people predicted that it would spell the beginning of a slump for his longtime and highly successful driver, Jeff Gordon. At first, the naysayers seemed to have gotten their way ....
A dream come true: America's top open-wheel racer turned down a NASCAR ride (for now) to fulfill his fantasy of driving for Penske Racing in the Indianapolis 500.(Interview: Sam Hornish Jr.)(Interview)
Dec 01, 2003; ... THERE IS NO DEBATING THAT Sam Hornish Jr. is the poster boy of the IRL. Series founder and president Tony George couldn't have molded a more perfect driver for the role. Hornish, 24, is soft-spoken off of the track but extremely fast on it. He grew up in Ohio and--until he gets married ...
A breed apart: college grad Ryan Newman is making a run at the good ol' boys.(Interview)
Dec 01, 2003; ... RYAN NEWMAN HAS IT ALL HE'S young, good-looking, talented, and articulate. If anyone rides the wave of NASCAR's future, it's the 25-year-old Purdue graduate from South Bend, Ind. But Newman is still a little difficult for folks in NASCAR to figure out, and who could blame them? ...
Point of order: critics say the current points system places too much emphasis on consistency and not enough on wins--and NASCAR seems as if it's beginning to agree.
Dec 01, 2003; ... YOUR TEAM HAS SPENT AN inordinate amount of its budget on one race, the Daytona 500, because it's the first and biggest event of the season. You've tested throughout January, you've gone to the wind tunnel, and you hired new engineers--all to be in the best possible position to win this ...
From choirboy to playboy: Footloose and fancy-free, Jeff Gordon is eschewing his squeaky-clean image and coming out of his cocoon.
Dec 01, 2003; ... THE HEADLINE ON THE COVER OF A SUPERMARKET tabloid screamed: "Revealed! Sexy Model Who Broke Up Jeff Gordon's Marriage!" The young woman reputed to have sent Gordon's seven-year marriage spinning out and crashing into the wall was identified as Deanna Merryman, a former exotic ...
Hot under the collar: aggressive driving and quick tempers are heating things up in Winston Cup.
Dec 01, 2003; ... NASCAR HAS PROBLEMS. AS Matt Kenseth was pulling away from the field in the Winston Cup points race during the summer months, the scoring system's flaws were becoming apparent. And those flaws led to some overly aggressive tactics on the tracks, ones that could lead to the type of ...
The end of tobacco road: NASCAR will end the 31-year Winston era and opt for a breath of fresh air with Nextel.
Dec 01, 2003; ... IN 1969, JUNIOR JOHNSON WAS searching for a sponsor for his race team when he approached officials of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company and asked if they might be interested in getting involved in stock car racing. And the rest, as they say, is history--NASCAR history. With ...
Down to the wire: new qualifying and point distribution rules have turned Formula One from a Ferrari-dominated exhibition into a fierce competition.
Dec 01, 2003; ... IN 2002, MICHAEL SCHUMACHER won a Formula One record 11 races and wrapped up the Drivers Championship at an unprecedented pace (11 rounds). In 2003, through 13 races, a mere two points separated the top three drivers in the point race, and four other drivers were still in mathematical ...
Old school: some Winston Cup veterans are getting a lesson in humility from NASCAR's young guns.
Dec 01, 2003; ... TERRY LABONTE STRODE THROUGH the garage after his victory at the Southern 500 wearing a smile as wide as the Darlington track itself. He wasn't the only Winston Cup driver with a grin on his face. Labonte's victory was popular just about everywhere on the circuit, but most ...
Quick quiz.(Brief Article)
Dec 01, 2003 ... 1. Richard Petty won the first modern era Winston Cup championship in 1972. Who placed second: Benny Parsons, Cecil Gordon, Bobby Allison, or James Hylton? 2. Who is the only driver to have twice won the GP of Malaysia: Ralf Schumacher, Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard, or Michael ...
All-time Winston Cup records.(Names and Numbers)(Illustration)
Dec 01, 2003 ... <Pre> Race Winners (Modern Era, 1972-present) (Through September 18, 2002) Rank, Name Wins Super ShortRoadSpeedways Tracks Courses 1. Darrell Waltrip 84 12275 2. Dale Earnhardt76 29 ...
Outlaws' future is boundless.(Checkered Flag)(sprint car racing series)
Dec 01, 2003; ... YOU CAN HAVE THE WINSTON, ahem, Nextel Cup. You can take the IRL, CART, F1, and American Le Mans Series. Go ahead and take the superspeedways and 1.5-mile cookie-cutters, the high-banked concrete ovals, and the road courses. Just leave me the World of Outlaws sprint car series cranking its ...