The No. 43 car’s journey back to Victory Lane has been anything but easy for Richard Petty Motorsports, but on a historic weekend in Daytona the iconic car was a winner once again.
@aric_almirola drove the famed car number to its first win in 15 years in Sunday’s unusual crash-marred, rain-shortened Coke Zero 400. The victory came on the 30th anniversary of team owner Richard Petty’s 200th career win in the same race,
Continue reading “POPULAR SPEED: Perseverance, Petty, and The Power of a Win”
After a soggy and wreck-filled weekend at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR decided to end the drawn-out ordeal early – much to some drivers’ chagrin.
With 48 laps to go in the Coke Zero 400, NASCAR declared Sunday’s postponed race official under a red flag due to inclement weather.
“This sucks,” fifth place finisher @AustinDillon3 muttered to @BrianLVickers as they took the podium in the press room after the race.
Continue reading “POPULAR SPEED: Many Unhappy with NASCAR’s Decision to Call Race Early”
It may have come about under unusual circumstances, but Aric Almirola’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory coming at Daytona was something he had imagined for a long time.
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a better place to get my first win,” Almirola said after taking home the checkers in the weather postponed, rain-shortened event. “Of all the places I could pick to win, I would pick Daytona.”
The Saturday night race began on Sunday morning thanks to weather,
Continue reading “Florida native Almirola wins one in the rainy Sunshine State”
The Coke Zero 400 Saturday night race will become a Sunday morning race after rain post-poned the traditional Fourth of July weekend event.
This isn’t the first time this year Daytona has been jinxed by bad weather. Oddly enough, as this night race turns into a day one, February’s daytime Daytona 500 turned into a night race after a six hour rain delay.
The race has been rescheduled for 11:00 am on Sunday morning.
Continue reading “Rain postpones Coke Zero 400 to Sunday morning”
With this year’s Chase format, NASCAR Sprint Cup victories become more and more precious as the opportunities to earn them dwindle with every race, and victory lane real estate at the Coke Zero 400 is looking pretty valuable. This track plays to the strengths of a few drivers who excel at superspeedways, but in stark contrast, is also known for elevating some of the weaker ones with its unexpected nature.
While Daytona is always a prime chance for lower-tier teams to make waves with a win and a Chase berth,
Continue reading “POPULAR SPEED: Some Drivers In Desperate Need Of a Date with Daytona Victory Lane”
A crapshoot.
That’s what many teams and drivers chalk up Daytona to be, but at Hillman Racing, they’re not settling for the luck of the draw that is characteristic of this superspeedway. Driver @LandonCassill will start third in the Coke Zero 400 after qualifying was cut short due to rain, but he thinks it’s no coincidence his team will be at the top of the heap come green flag on Saturday.
Continue reading “POPULAR SPEED: Hillman Racing Setting Their Sights on Superspeedway Success”
A 2,400-mile, 9-day, 12-state journey of nearly 100 antique cars known as “The Great Race” ended in The Villages on Sunday.
In a vintage car show meets rally race spectacle, this year’s Great Race followed a route of back roads from Maine to Florida, and thousands of spectators showed out to see the competitors from around the country cross the finish line at Lake Sumter Landing.
“I knew it was a car-crazy place,
Continue reading ““The Great Race” Vintage Car Rally Finishes in The Villages on Sunday”
Saturday night, the Florida Sports Talk team broadcasted from the Powell Memorial at Volusia Speedway Park and despite the rain, the night was a success – both on the racing and broadcast fronts! Mark Whitener took home his first official Powell Memorial win and I clocked my first race as pit reporter for the NBC Sports Radio turn-by-turn team.
If you don’t know about the Powell Memorial already, it’s a late model race that commemorates the family of James Powell,
Continue reading “Powell Memorial Race Broadcast on Florida Sports Talk”
Two years ago, the Association for Women in Sports Media gave me the opportunity to intern as a production assistant at the ESPN headquarters and to attend their 2012 convention in Chicago. Ever since that summer, my career will never be the same.
When I applied for the internship, I didn’t know much about the Association for Women in Sports Media, affectionately called AWSM (pronounced “awesome”) by its members for short.
Continue reading “2014 Association for Women in Sports Media Convention”
1) The red flag was the right choice
It was unprecedented in this race, yes, and defies typical tradition. But IndyCar found a phenomenal way to avoid ending under caution (as it unfortunately has the past 4 years) and still stick to their staunch belief that the Indy 500 should be ONLY 500 miles and nothing more. The decision to throw the red when Townsend Bell wrecked near the end of the race gave fans a thrilling final 9 laps,
Continue reading “5 Takeaways from the Greatest Day in Racing”
