It was just after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at Clifford J. Lawrence Junior High School. Kyle T. Busch, originally of Las Vegas, now of a compound on a lake near Charlotte, N.C. — aka “your 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion” — was having his ear bent by a school district trustee in the hallway outside Stacy Schaumburg’s STEM classroom.
The bartender looked at me in a bewildered fashion, as if I had just dropped in from Neptune or somewhere. This was Sunday, at Victory’s Bar & Grill at the Cannery on Craig Road.
There’s an image I have of Kyle Busch, the lead foot from Las Vegas who won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship Sunday in Florida. It was before he built a reputation for being a more excellent driver than “Rain Man.” He might have still been driving in the truck series full-time.
Ken Schrader is what you would call a racer’s racer. To use NASCAR chairman Brian France’s favorite word, he just might be the quintessential example of it, now that A.J. Foyt has turned 80 and has too many health problems to drive much of anything, except for maybe a tractor on his ranch.
In its quest to remain relevant during football season, NASCAR foisted a playoff system upon the public. Now it has foisted drivers smacking into one another on the track upon the public, and the handing down of dramatic penalties.
Helen Reddy released “I Am Woman” as a single in 1972, three years after Shirley Muldowney competed in her first U.S. Nationals. Three years after the record went to No. 1, Muldowney won her first NHRA Nationals, at Columbus, Ohio.
Minutes after the checkered flag was waved at Saturday night’s Rhino Linings 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, I sidled over to where a NASCAR truck series official was updating championship points. He could have used his fingers instead of calculator.
When you perform a Google search for Erik Jones, seven photos pop up on the search title box. Six are of brightly colored artwork. One is of a youngster sporting a perfect smile and black fireproof coveralls adorned with Toyota patches.
He’s the only local driver in Saturday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. So if Spencer Gallagher can keep his nose clean, as the auto racing announcers like to say, and he is running near the front toward the end, the Fox Sports 1 and Motor Racing Network broadcast crews will be inclined to mention his home track advantage.
Two sisters got together in Las Vegas for lunch the other day. Happens all the time, right? Except these siblings didn’t meet at Olive Garden for soup, salad and unlimited breadsticks.
