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Showing posts from January, 2022

5 More People Who Should be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame

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  5 More People Who Should be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame By Brian H. Cotnoir Well, the NASCAR Hall of Fame recently enshrined its latest class. Congratulations to the newest members, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mike Stefanik, and Red Farmer.   This got me thinking back of an article I wrote back in 2020 about five drivers who I thought should be in enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame (James Hylton, Jack Sprague, Sam Ard, Dave Marcis, and Randy Lajoie).  As of right now the only driver from my original list who is presently a nominee from the Hall of Fame is Sam Ard, who I'm sure will be enshrined sooner rather than later.  While I still maintain that all five drivers belong in the Hall of Fame, I thought of five others who are definitely overdue for the Hall of Fame. 1.)  Fonty Flock Truman Fontell "Fonty" Flock absolutely belongs in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  Fonty Flock is one of the early pioneers of NASCAR.  Fonty and his brothers' Bob & Tim Flock were there at the ve

In Defense of Reed Sorenson

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 In Defense of Reed Sorenson By Brian H Cotnoir Reed Sorenson spent 15 years as a driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. You, typically, don't spend 15 years in the Cup Series without winning races or spending a boat load of money, and yet Reed Sorenson made it happen.  Sorenson (to date) has made 346 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series (and another 200 career starts in the Grand National Series).  With the exception of his years driving for Chip Ganassi and Richard Petty, he didn't really carry any big-time sponsors, and his time in the Cup Series saw him finish in the Top 10 a grand total of 15 times, but I still maintain he is one of the most underappreciated Journeyman drivers of the past two decades. Reed Sorenson kind of appeared in NASCAR out of nowhere.  A native of Georgia, Sorenson made his debut in the Midwestern ASA Series in 2002 at the age of 16.  He'd run full-time in the ASA Series the next two seasons where he racked up thirteen Top 5 finishes in those two sea

5 "You Dummy!" Moments in Auto Racing

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5 "You Dummy!" Moments in Auto Racing By Brian H Cotnoir Racing is a sport that relies heavily on strategy and teamwork, but sometimes that goes completely out the window, due to a momentary lapse in judgement or due to someone else's dunderheaded mistake.  These are 5 such of these moments.    1.)  Spencer Gallagher suspended after his first NASCAR win Spencer Gallagher's father is Maury Gallagher, the CEO of Allegiant Air, Maury helped get his son's racing career going from a young age.  Gallagher had backing from his father and Allegiant Air throughout his time in the ARCA Series and NASCAR Trucks and Grand National Series.  In 2018, Gallagher scored an upset win at Talladega Superspeedway; his first career win in any of NASCAR's Top 3 Series.   Gallagher gave one of the best Victory Lane speeches where he told his friends and family he was going to "Party like it's 1999".  Spencer Gallagher partied a little too hard  because he failed a drug-

In Defense of Regan Smith

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 In Defense of Regan Smith By Brian H Cotnoir    In the entire history of NASCAR there have been many drivers whose careers suffered huge setbacks due to circumstances outside of their control.  Wendell Scott, Tim Richmond, Carl Long, Michael Waltrip, and Ross Chastain have all suffered some major setbacks in their career, but I don't think any driver has had more trouble--not of their own making--this century than former NASCAR driver and current commentator, Regan Smith! When you look at NASCAR drivers who have had their careers spoiled , there is usually a clear reason:   Wendell Scott was initially denied his first--and only--career victory due to a racism, Tim Richmond was suspended from NASCAR because he did not want to reveal his AIDS diagnosis, Carl Long & Michael Waltrip got caught cheating big-time and faced the heaviest fines in the sports history, and Ross Chastain almost had his entire career derailed due to a shady sponsorship deal, but as for Regan Smith....he di

Why New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the Most Underrated track in NASCAR

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Why New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the most underrated track in NASCAR By Brian H Cotnoir Once a year the NASCAR Cup Series makes a journey to the quaint New England town of Loudon, New Hampshire.  For almost, 30 years the NASCAR Cup Series has held at least one race in the Granite State.   The inaugural race in 1993 was actually the first Cup Series Race held in New England since Bobby Issaac won at Thompson Motor Speedway during the 1970 season.   The first NASCAR Cup Series race was a success, but in a moment of bittersweet tragedy, it would turn out to be the last career start for future NASCAR Hall of Famer, Davey Allison, who tragically passed away from severe injuries he sustained in a helicopter accident the day after the race was run.   The Track opened in 1990 after being constructed by brothers Dick and Bob Bahre.   The Bahre Brothers had wanted to bring big-time NASCAR racing back to New England for some time, and when the track opened in 1990 it hosted the--then named-- B