The 2021 Running NASCAR/IMSA/other racing things thread

Naked. Mechanical. Bull.

 

One of the greats to his rest.

Bob Bondurant, Car Racer Who Tutored Actors on the Track, Dies at 88

 

Just in time for the NASCAR awards banquet in Music City, let’s welcome Nashville Fairgrounds Raceway back to the big show.

Shockingly, story was broken by Axios.

Cooper reaches deal in principle likely to bring NASCAR back to Nashville
https://www.tennessean.com/story/sp...eal-bring-nascar-back-fairgrounds/8767259002/

 

So one of the Monster Mile races is gone? A sold-out Nashville probably makes more money than a half-full Dover. I'm certain Bristol's not giving up a date -- even though blowing off the spring dirt race wouldn't be the worst thing.

 

Dover lost a race in 2021 when it moved it to the big track in Nashville. Maybe the Fairgrounds would get the second Atlanta date, or even COTA?

I was reading that the Nashville Metro Council might not approve the mayor’s deal, although I don’t know the likelihood of it.

 

See how little I pay attention?

 

I’m not sure they’d stay at the big track. SMI just bought Dover Downs and its holdings, so that date could just slide to the fairgrounds.

 

The renderings remind me of a racetrack version of Camden Yards.

And I'd think SMI wants two dates at a redone Fairgrounds track, so you're probably right.

 

That’s always a crapshoot. Beverly Briley, the first mayor of the merged city and county, famously referred to the council as “40 jealous whores” and the nickname has stuck for a half-century.

 

I'm not sure if I'd love or hate to be in the senior assisted living center on the corner of the fairgrounds property. I guess if you take your hearing aids out, it wouldn't matter. And maybe you could pay for bingo cards with the parking fees.

 

This should be a fun listen. The clips shown here were interesting. Apparently Junior and Harvick haven't been sending each other Christmas cards for a few years.

 

Harvick's one of those guys who seems to be carrying a whole lot of baggage underneath that poker face and those sharp, biting retorts. He's the guy who replaced Earnhardt, won in just his third Cup start, but has had so many feuds with owners, drivers and crew chiefs, it's hard to keep track of who he's pissed at recently and the number of retaliatory incidents he has stored up in his brain.

The weird thing about "Happy": He's really engaging if you get him to talk about anything other than NASCAR racing. One of my favorite stories was hearing about him and Clint Mears sneaking into a race under a tarp in the back of Ron Hornaday's truck. Or ask him about architecture or building a replica of Augusta's No. 12 in his backyard.

But he's extremely guarded about everything else, particularly his "friendships" with other drivers. Walking the garage area, I rarely saw him interacting with many other people outside of his team. And yeah, he never looks like he's ever pleased to be anywhere but behind the steering wheel of the car.

At least with Shrub and Kurt, you know what you're getting. And Stewart's Foyt-like soft side was pretty well-known. But Harvick's an enigma.