Blog

Great Lakes Edition: Banquet Season is Upon Us

By T.J. Buffenbarger (November 7, 2017) — With all of the races in the books for the 2018 season in Michigan the “rubber chicken” circuit has heated up last weekend with with various banquets across […]

T.J.’s Notebook: Rival for Schatz?

By T.J. Buffenbarger (November 6, 2017) — With the 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series coming to a close during the World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway Donny Schatz […]

T.J.’s Notebook: 2018 Changes Starting to Take Place

By T.J. Buffenbarger The question of what Joey Saldana would be up to in 2018 was partially answered with Rudeen Racing’s announcement of fielding a two car team next year. Saldana will team up with […]

Great Lakes Edition: Five Storylines Leading Into 2018

With the 2017 season compete and the banquet circuit about to begin its time to start looking ahead to 2018. After a very interesting year there are a lot of things to look forward to next season.

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T.J.’s Notebook: Weekend Takes

By T.J. Buffenbarger With the season winding down, conversation is starting to shift from races taking place over the weekend to what is ahead in 2018. There are still some major events to finish off […]

T.J.’s Travels: Cruea’s Montana Adventure Reminds Us Racing is Supposed to be Fun

Today’s world of motorsports for the weekend warrior is a highly professional endeavor with press releases, trade shows, and a lot of time spent trying to maintain a racing program that may only see one or two race tracks a year. Often these endeavors are at the expense of having fun. For Adam Cruea and his race team having fun is still the primary object, no matter how far they venture from home.

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T.J.’s Notebook: Could Smackdown Eventually Become the Knoxville Nationals of Non-Wing Racing

By T.J. Buffenbarger Tonight’s opening event for the Kokomo Sprint Car Smack Down featuring free general admission is start of four of the biggest days in non-wing sprint car racing. With the sixth edition on […]

T.J.’s Notebook: Wrapping Up the 2017 Knoxville Nationals

Closing out the Knoxville Nationals with some sort of column/blog is always the most difficult task I face every year. Trying to convey the biggest four days of sprint car racing in the world is […]

T.J.’s Take on Larson Racing Saturday at Knoxville

In the middle of a 5-HOUR Knoxville Nationals that is already filled with great storylines Kyle Larson and Chip Ganassi added another headline on Friday to what already has become my favorite day of racing at the Nationals.

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T.J.’s Notebook: Wednesday Night at the 2017 Nationals

By T.J. Buffenbarger Going into Wednesday’s BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night at the 5 Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores it was well known that Kyle Larson would likely not be able […]

T.J.’s Notebook: Garner Finally Breaks Through

By T.J. Buffenbarger Following Clint Garner’s win at the Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank the stream of photos from the victory celebration seemingly went through the night. For Garner, one of the […]

T.J.’s Notebook: Home Game with the World of Outlaws

By T.J. Buffenbarger Last Friday’s World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series program was the only “home game” of the year when I see the Greatest Show on Dirt and manage to return to my […]

T.J.’s Notebook: Bell Focused on Capturing the Crown

By T.J. Buffenbarger Christopher Bell has experienced an extraordinary amount of success at Eldora Speedway. With victories in NASCAR Trucks, USAC Midgets, 360 Sprint Cars, USAC Silver Crown Cars, and now the World of Outlaws […]

T.J.’s Travels: Kerry Madsen’s Hand and How We Found Out About It

We’ve had some unusual injury interactions over the years, but this one might take the cake.

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T.J.’s Travels: Memorable Eldora Rain Delays

The 2017 edition of the Kings Royal has started out soggy with a rain delay during the opening night of competition. While most tracks throw in the towel early Eldora fans know to get comfortable if there is any chance of completing a major event.

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