Motor Sports Weekly News

By: Drew Hierwarter

Kyle Busch is beginning to look like he’s unstoppable. Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway, after leading the most laps, he was passed in the late stages of the race by former Hendrick teammate, Jimmie Johnson. Busch keyed his radio and told his crew; “Race over”, as he watched Johnson pull away. Then, just a few laps later, David Gilliland’s engine expired bringing out the final caution and setting up a two lap dash to the checkered flag. Busch knew he had one shot, and one shot only, to get Johnson on the restart and he made the most of it. He beat Johnson to the white flag and then it really was race over, Busch wins, again! 

His Cup win on Saturday coupled with his win in the Nationwide Series on Friday night completed Busch’s sweep of events at Chicagoland and pushed his season win record for all three of NASCAR’s top divisions to fifteen. Seven Sprint Cup wins (including 3 of the last 4), six Nationwide wins, and two wins in the Craftsman Truck Series. Last year, Jimmie Johnson won ten races on his way to his second consecutive NASCAR championship. But at this point in the season he had only four of those wins. At his current pace Busch could easily have ten wins even before the beginning of The Chase when the circuit gets back to New Hampshire in the fall, seven races from now. After that it’s not unrealistic to think that Busch has a shot at the modern era record of thirteen wins in a single season, set most recently by Jeff Gordon in 1998 when he tied Richard Petty, who won 13 races in 1975. (Gordon had 6 wins at this point in the ’98 season, and Petty had 8 at the halfway point of ‘75.)  

Whatever happens, Kyle Busch is enjoying a dream season and he shows no signs of slowing down. The combination is nearly perfect. He has the best equipment in the garage, and the talent to make the most of it. He’s backed by the best people in the sport, the Joe Gibbs Racing organization. You add a little bit of luck into the mix, (they’ve had that too), and Kyle Busch just might be unstoppable.

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The NHRA made its annual “Mile High” stop at Bandimere Speedway near Denver this weekend, and for the first time in history the nitro fueled cars would only race to 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1,320 feet. This is supposedly a temporary measure while the investigation into the death of Scott Kalitta is still ongoing. Once that is completed, a newly appointed “safety board” will make its recommendations for a more permanent solution. Officials, racers and fans alike have applauded the NHRA for not waiting and doing something in the interim. At least while the TV cameras were on that is. A couple of racers and crew chiefs tried the diplomatic approach by calling themselves “traditionalists” and saying that a “real” drag race is a quarter mile long, and that they will be glad when they can return to running that distance. But no one was willing to be outwardly critical of the sanctioning body.  

It is this writer’s opinion that drag racing to 1,000 feet is sort of like getting a kiss from your sister. Yea, it’s still a kiss, but something is missing. Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars still sound the same. The burnouts are the same. And there’s still a lot of pretty good side-by-side racing. But then it all ends too soon, and you’re left wishing there was more. The combination of Bandimere’s high altitude, (5,800 ft) and the 1,000 foot track meant that Funny Cars never got anywhere near the 300 mph mark and the Top Fuel cars were in 295+ range. (Top Fuel winner Tony Schumacher did record some runs just slightly over 300 mph, but nothing like the 330+ speeds we’ve all become accustomed to.)  

Most analysts will agree that the real culprit in Kalitta’s tragic death was insufficient shut-off distance and the barrier at the very far end of the track. It had nothing to do with running the full quarter mile. (The engine explosion that precipitated Kalitta’s crash happened well short of the 1,000 foot point.) What the NHRA needs to do is develop some standards for the shut-off areas of its member race tracks. They need to establish a minimum distance required to stop a 330 mph race car safely with some degree of built-in margin for error. Those tracks who can’t comply will be forced to lose their sanction and their race date. Many of the current tracks on the NHRA Powerade circuit were built or last upgraded more than twenty years ago when speeds were much lower. Some have the room and the capital to upgrade, and some don’t. Those that can’t, will certainly lose the revenue they are used to, as will the economy of the surrounding area. Those tracks who do upgrade could be awarded the extra race date for their efforts. In either case, the sport will better off as the tracks will be safer for the drivers, and the fans will see the full quarter mile drag race they are paying to see.