SPORTS SHORTS

5 Interesting Facts about the Indy 500 By: Brian H Cotnoir I may not talk about it a lot, but I'm a huge fan of IndyCar.  Memorial Day Weekend to me means three things: Saluting our fallen troops, barbecue, and watching the Indy 500!   I've been watching the Indy 500 loyally since about 2004 and you can bet, I'll be watching it this year too.   I've been looking up stats on the Indy 500 trying to improve my winner's prediction rate of 2-out-of-18, and during that research I came across some interesting facts, and here are five of them I came across 1.)  Ralph Depalma, Most Laps Led in the Indy 500 without winning Lots of drivers have come close winning the Indy 500 but have come up short.  Scott Goodyear in 1992, Marco Andretti in 2006, and J.R. Hillenbrand in 2011 are a few iconic moments in the History of the 500, but in 1912 Ralph DePalma had victory in his sight only for it to be cruelly snatched away.  In the second year of the race's ex...

The "Exceptional" Petty By Brian H Cotnoir The Petty's are the first Family of NASCAR.   They have been a part of NASCAR since the very beginning when Patriarch Lee Petty ran the first NASCAR sanctioned Strictly Stock race at the Charlotte Speedway in 1949, where he'd finish 17th after a crash.  Lee's sons Richard and Maurice would follow their father's lead and begin their own racing careers!   All three are in the Hall of Fame.  Lee won the 3 NASCAR Cup Championships and 54 races in his career, including the Inaugural Daytona 500.  His record of Most career wins would be broken by his oldest son, Richard who would go on to score an untouchable 200 career wins in the Cup Series, 7 Championships and 7 wins in the Daytona 500's!   While Maurice never won a Cup race as a driver, he went on to become a successful Engine builder for his family's team, Petty Enterprises, and served as Crew Chief for driver Pete Hamilton when he won the 1970 Dayton...

The Strange & Interesting Case of Frank Mundy By Brian H Cotnoir I've seen a lot of strange and interesting background stories for race car drivers, but in the case of driver Frank Mundy, he may have one of the most interesting careers in racing history.  Like lots of legendary drivers, he drove anything and everything he could including motorcycles, stockcars, and even a Rental Car!  The man who nicknamed himself "Rebel" raced with a Confederate Flag proudly displayed on his car (something today that is--rightfully--frowned upon in NASCAR today).  Mundy was a pioneer of the sport and was present and some of the biggest and most important moments in early NASCAR history, and I'm sure--just like how I was until recently--you're asking yourself "Who the Hell in Frank Mundy?"   Well buckle up, race fans as we dive into the Strange & Interesting Case of Frank Mundy. That's paint scheme's not going to fly today Mundy was born Francisco Eduardo...

 In Defense of Cole Whitt By Brian H Cotnoir Cole Whitt was once touted as a Up & Comer of NASCAR, someone to keep your eye on, and a possible future champion in the making.  Unfortunately, like many drivers I write about, due to situations outside of his control he had his NASCAR career derailed, and it was over before it could ever get started. Cole Whitt was a born racer.    While he was running USAC Sprint Cars his older cousin, Brandon Whitt, was winning a Truck race at Memphis Motorsports Park for Red Horse Racing.   While driving in USAC, Cole Whitt was noticed by the energy drink manufacturer Red Bull to a driver development deal.   In 2008, Whitt became the youngest USAC National Midget Champion (to date).  At this time in NASCAR's history, driver development wasn't exactly like it is today.   During this time many drivers would make the transition to NASCAR from Mid-Western Midget Cars and Open-Wheel racing.  ...