SPORTS SHORTS

Requiem for Brandon Brown By Brian H Cotnoir On October 1, 2022, Brandon Brown made what--in all likelihood--would be his last start in his #68 Brandonbilt Motorsports.   Almost one year to the day where he shocked the NASCAR world by winning his first career victory in the Xfinity Series for his family-owned team, his once promising NASCAR career went out with a whimper finishing 33rd out of 38 drivers.    What should have been the greatest day of the Virgina drivers' life in 2021 would be become marred in controversy and he would unintentionally become a focal point of a Right-Wing Political Ideology, that his career could never recover from.   The first time I remember hearing Brandon Brown's name was when legendary college basketball announcer, Dick Vitale declaring that Brown would win the season opening Truck Race at Daytona in 2016.  Now, I value Dick Vitale's knowledge and opinion on College Basketball, but when I heard this on ESPN, I remember thinking " What

In Defense of Steve Grissom By Brian H Cotnoir My most powerful memory of NASCAR driver Steve Grissom was during a race at Atlanta in 1997.   I was only seven years old, and I remember seeing his #41 Kodiak Chevy spin down the back stretch before backing into the inside concrete wall and flipping violently as his gas tank was thrown from car and erupted in a fireball.  I remember watching this on TV in the living room because I can still recall my father's reaction to the wreck "He's gone!   Nobody can survive that!" and I started to cry, because I thought he really was killed in the wreck.   Fortunately, Steve Grissom survived the wreck and would be back in his car two races later at Texas Motor Speedway.   That wreck in Atlanta wasn't a career-defining moment for Grissom, but unfortunately many of his accomplishments in NASCAR have been overshadowed by a lackluster Cup Career and being a part of some of NASCAR's most tragic moments.  This may come as surpris