#9 Kyle just couldn't do it

Kyle Busch was on fire in 2008. He was winning in all three NASCAR series: Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Craftsman Truck. I just felt that when he unloaded his truck at Kentucky in July 2008 that he was going to win.

He qualified second and took the lead on the start. He lead 43 of the first 49 laps and was looking like he was going to cruise.

And then he had to make a unscheduled pitstop. Kyle had to go to the back of the pack but immediately whizzed by most of the field.

Trouble struck again. Busch got caught up in a wreck with 30 laps to go and was forced pit again.

Kyle only made it back to sixth. His wrecked truck was still better than probably all but the winner.



Stats courtesy of racing-reference.info

The winner? Johnny Benson Jr.

#10 Hornish back to the front

I went up to the speedway in August 2006 by myself. There were others there I didn't know so I didn't feel too lonely. I can't remember why my father couldn't go but I decided to go up to see the race.

I remember Sam Hornish taking the lead late (lap 196 because I looked it up) and driving to victory. The race saw a track record 23 lead changes. Will the Cup boys out do the Indycar guys for this record?

Hornish was on top and his dominance in Indycar led him to give NASCAR a try. He had decent equipment in NASCAR but never visited the victory circle and now is hit and miss in the Nationwide.

It would be nice to see Hornish show up at Kentucky in the future.

11: A sick day in July

I was scheduled to go with the Cricket Wireless promotional marketing team to the 2006 Truck race at Kentucky Speedway. One problem the morning of: sickness and many moments spent in the facilities. I would not be going.

The Cricket team went without me as they should have and I am not sure I even watched the race that night. It could happen at any time, but it is the only time I missed a race at the track when I was scheduled to go, for that I am blessed.

Moment 12 is all for the littleman

I was restless to get back to Kentucky Speedway after being away for almost two years. I didn't renew my season tickets but my father was able to get tickets to the Nationwide series race in June 2006.

The 2006 Nationwide season had seen a Sprint Cup driver win every single race up to that point. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Denny Hamlin were all present and ready for their "Buschwhacker" victory. But the one guy that no one had heard of, David Gilliland, qualified fourth in a little-bit sponsored Chevrolet.

The race saw a lot of lead changes and Gilliland hung near the front the entire race. He would lose time on pit road because his crew was not experienced. Fortunately for Gilliland, there was not a late pit stop needed and he outraced J.J. Yeley and Hamlin. I was shocked to see a guy win that I heard so little about and such little sponsorship. No Stp or Exxon for Gillilland!

How unlikely was the victory for Gilliland? Outside of his win, his other eight finishes that year in Nationwide:

- 39th, 29th, 33th, 30th, 26th, 36th, 29th, and 30th.

13 to go. Dark for me in 2005

I took to the book field in 2005 and wasn't able to attend the Kentucky Speedway. Being in California, I wasn't able to see the Busch or Trucks race on TV. I did catch the end of the Indy Car race on TV.

#14 CART to Indy for Fernandez

2004 for the Indy Car boys and girls brought in Adrian Fernandez to Kentucky Speedway. The Mexico City native came over from CART after a successful career and got off the snide and won his first IRL race at Kentucky. The win propelled him to two more wins before the season ended.

Fernandez was not the first to come over from CART and he wasn't the last. I was glad to see his success in Indy Car for such an accomplished driver.

15th moment goes to Chevy

In August 2003, the Indy Car series invaded the Kentucky Speedway for its fourth race at the track. Racing was tight in years past for the Indy Car series at the track, but for the 2003 season, the cars supplied by Chevrolet engines were not cutting the mustard, so to speak. They were slow. Something had to be done to make the field more even.

Thus, Chevy developed a new engine and allowed on driver from its camp to use it at selected events throughout the year.

The Kentucky race's new Chevy engine belonged to Sam Hornish Jr. The result? Hornish dominated the race going away. He wasn't challenged for the second half of the race and I blinked and the race was over. It only lasted 90 minutes. Being a Nascar fan, I wasn't used to being a race for such a short amount of time.

16 sees the first flip for Carl

The Nascar Trucks rolled into Kentucky Speedway in July 2003. The race at Kentucky was a stand alone truck event for the fourth straight year. I looked forward to the race because the Truck series had some young guns in fast trucks that were still getting their feet wet.

One of the young guns was Carl Edwards. Carl was still looking for his first win as a Nascar driver and ran well enough during the season to win but couldn't make it happen up to this point.

Kentucky was different. Carl took advantage of his competitors dropping out from engine failures or bad racing fortune. He took the checkered flag and drove to close the finish line on his cool-down lap. He got out, saluted the crowd, and then did a back flip off of the window sill onto the ground! It was something to see and I am glad to having witnessed it.

Memory number 17 belongs to Felipe

My memory of the best Indycar race at Kentucky Speedway occurred in August of 2002. The series was putting on great races with close racing and closer finishes.

Sarah Fisher set the track record with a lap of 221.390. Sarah was one of the fan favorite before Danica Patrick burst onto the scene. She was from nearby Ohio and had a large following of fans to see her race.

The race saw lead changes and side-by-side lap after lap after lap.

The race was won by my favorite, Felipe Giaffone. GEE-ah-phony. He was no phony when he raced though. It was Felipe's only win, because he broke his leg at Kansas the next year and was never the same Felipe. He was through racing not soon after that when his comeback didn't yield the results owners wanted.


Courtesy for statistics from racing-reference.info

18: A Father's Day finish that is the best to this point

Rain was an issue in the early years at Kentucky Speedway. It seemed that every weekend a race was to be held at the track during the year, the rains would find a way to dent the plans in some form or fashion.

The Busch series weekend in June 2002 was no different. The feeder series raced on Friday night. Rain washed it out until Saturday. The Busch series only raced 82 laps on Saturday night before the rains came. I remember sitting there enjoying the race one moment and then having a completely-soaked t-shirt the next. It was raining that hard.

The rain set up for the completion of the race for Sunday afternoon on Father's Day. Sunday was a beautiful sunny day. Jason Keller led the race before blowing his engine. Todd Bodine, driving the #92 Execedrin Chevy, began to race towards the front. Greg Biffle was the best car as the race wore down. Biffle was committed to the bottom and Bodine was for forced to find another line if he wanted to win. He decided to move up to the top groove and started eating up Biffle's lead. Bodine and Biffle were side by side coming to the finish line and Bodine took the win by .036 seconds.

I didn't know who had won. Biffle bounced off Bodine and spun into the grass as he crossed the finish line. What a finish!

#19: Corvair 500 at the big track in Sparta

The first Saturday of November in 2001 was the Kentucky Speedway's drive the track sale. I was excited because I was going to get my first crack at driving the track. I had seen about 10 races and took notes on the racing line and was ready for the hot laps. It's not everyday that you get to drive on a Nascar track.

The 'golden ticket' for passage to drive was a minimum purchase of $40 in the Speedway gift shop. I bought a lined wind breaker with a hood, embroidered with Kentucky Speedway, that I still have to the day. It is warm and repels the rain. Can a jacket get any better?

Eight or nine Corvairs drove up that day to take advantage of the promotion. My dad let me drive his 1963 Corvair Spyder Convertible and he rode shotgun. Being only 18 years old at the time, I guess he had a lot of trust in my driving or he just wanted to see what I could do.

I didn't hold back. We all drove out there on the track and I was sixth or seventh in line. The track is so wide that we were able to spread out and actually make some passes.

The story goes like this: I pedaled to the metal and pushed 90 miles per hour into turn one. This is hauling the mail in a Corvair! The car pushed up towards the wall. It wasn't looking good for making the corner. My dad calmly and gently said, "I would back off just a little." I backed off and the car was more responsive to my turning hard left on the wheel. It was quite the thrill. I am glad I didn't wad his car up!

#20: Bring on the Busch

The Nascar Busch (now Nationwide) series took to the Kentucky Speedway for the first time in 2001. Kevin Harvick was the pride of Nascar as he was competing in the Busch as a regular and the Cup as the replacement for Dale Earnhardt. Harvick had huge shoes to fill and was doing a better job than anyone could have expected. He was in the top 10 in the Cup and lead the Busch points.

The race saw the reigning 2000 Busch champion, Jeff Green, tangle with upstart Jimmie Johnson in turn three. Johnson said on the radio, "There's your Busch champion!"

Harvick had to start in the back of the pack because he missed qualifying but charged through the field to take the lead by lap 70. He never looked back and beat out Greg Biffle for the victory.

I also remember Travis Kvapil flipping his racecar down the backstretch with about 10 laps to go.

Number 21: Game two of the doubleheader: I had never seen a car go that fast

Number 21 is all about the INDY car series coming for the first time to Kentucky. I had never seen an INDY race of any sorts so I had no idea what to expect. I knew the INDY cars hustled the Kentucky Speedway on average about six seconds faster per lap than the NASCAR guys and the engines made a loud whiz sound when they went by.

My mother made the trip up to the track with me and we were treated to quite the show.

On lap 2, Jaret Schroder and Eliseo Salazaar, battling for the lead, made contact going into turn one and both crashed into the wall. It all happened right in front of us. I had seen a lot of wrecks in NASCAR, but this was different because it happened so much faster. One little touch and both were out of the race.

The race resumed and by half way, an upstart by the name of Sam Hornish Jr. traded the lead for 10 consecutive laps. I think Hornish faded or blew his engine but his strong run helped him land a bigger ride for the following season.

Sarah Fisher also led some laps late on her way to a third place finish. I will talk about her more in a few days.

Buddy Lazier, or as a buddy of mine called him, Buddy Lazy-er, won the race. The INDY cars at Kentucky always put on a great show.

The race this year is in October and the second to last race of the year so it will be pivotal in winning the championship.

Let's play two! Number 22: Hello, Newman!

Just as in baseball, last night's blog got rained out. Thus, we are going to have two blog posts today.

Number 22: The Ryan Newman ABC schedule runs through Kentucky. Ryan Newman, one of my, if not my biggest, favorites, came into the Cup series with a decorated unorthodox racing background. He graduated from Purdue with a degree in engineering as most of the other racers barely make it out of high school because they skip too many classes because of driving fast and turning left.

As a young unpolished driver, Newman caught Roger Penske's eye and Penske decided the best way to get Newman ready for the Cup series was to race him in a mixture of Arca, Busch (now Nationwide), and Cup races. The ABC schedule. This schedule opened up for Ryan to race the Arca race at Kentucky in August of 2000. Newman came in and dominated the field. His car was so much faster it wasn't really even fair.

Newman returns to Kentucky batting a thousand and looks to take the checkers again.

23: The trucks take the main stage

As pointed out to me earlier in the day, many missed the first 'major' race at Kentucky Speedway due to traffic hazards on Interstate 71. My father and I avoided the logjams by turning just before the I-71 interchange. We went across a bridge over I-71 that led to a home, where we eventually parked. A long but uncomplicated walk allowed us time to get to our seats and take in the big race.

Bryan Refner took the pole and led early. A 21 year old young gun from Las Vegas, Kurt Busch, was still looking for his first win. He was fast in practice and took the lead in the race on lap 95. He led the next 12 laps but wrecked hard into the wall on lap 112 and finished 29th. I didn't know that Kurt and his brother Kyle would go on to take NASCAR by storm. The Busch brother bring their talents in July.

Greg Biffle, Kurt's teammate, went on to win the race by over two seconds over Jack Sprague.

Thanks to Racing-refence.com for the statistics.

Number 24: Kentucky Speeday opening night

There is nothing quite like opening day. The grass is green, the lines are straight, everyone is healthy and in first place. Even though racing is a bit different, there is still a similarity to the stick and ball sports.

For Kentucky Speedway and then-owner Jerry Carroll, they were in first place and healthy. The track was magnificent upon my first glance. I remember walking in thinking, "I can see the entire track from any seat."

The mile and half super speedway is nestled in the river hills of 'southwest' northern Kentucky, in between the cities of Cincinnati and Louisville, and due southeast of Lexington. For me, it was only one hour and fifteen minutes away from my home on Windward. I had never lived so close to a speedway of major racing before. Indy was 3 1/2 hours away, Bristol was 4 1/2 hours, and Michigan was 6 hours up I-75. It was nice to have a track that I could wake up the morning of the race, drive to the track, and make it home in time to enjoy a good sleep in my own bed.

I loved the wide open spaces at Kentucky Speedway. The track is 70 feet wide with plenty of room to race. Comparatively, Daytona is 40 feet wide and Kansas Speedway is 55 feet wide.

My dad and I get up to the track and the Trucks were practicing, blistering pace because no one knew how fast the track would be.

The trucks wouldn't race until Saturday so to fill the void, the Nascar Goody's Dash Series series raced. The guy that won the race had the victory taken away later that night because he was cheating with an unapproved motor.

My 25 things to know Kentucky Speedway in 25 days: Number 25 and counting down

With Mark Story for the Herald Leader offering his 30 things to know about Kentucky Speedway in the 30 days heading up to the big race, I offer my insights and experiences about the track and its history.

What qualifies you, Joe? I had the luxury of season tickets from 2000 (year the track opened) until 2004. I took to the California book field in the summer of 2005. From 2006 until 2009, I attended most of the major events. Last year was a year of wedded bliss, so I did not attend a race up at the facility. But don't hold that against me.


We are only 25 days away so I will only offer 25 things to know (or forget).

25 days to go: The first time I ever laid eyes on the facility was in the summer of 1999.




We were playing a baseball tournament up in southern Indiana and stopped to see the construction progress on the way home. The walls were up and the track was still dirt. What if it had stayed dirt? Now that would have been something! Sailing the cars off in the corners at 180 MPH and doing the slide job!