It was a long weekend covering the NASCAR happenings at Phoenix International Raceway for the Arizona Republic and doing a special edition of The Race Reporters live from PIR on Saturday. To me, Denny Hamlin was the big story, racing days after surgery to repair a torn ACL. I don't understand why Joe Gibbs didn't step-up and tell Hamlin to get out of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota when the car lost two laps changing a battery. Gibbs told me he didn't consider it. Hamlin told me he did it to gain respect within his team. Didn't he have that already?
Hope you enjoy some of my stories:
Sunday: Why didn't Gibbs pull Hamlin?
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/2010/04/10/20100410nascar-denny-hamlin-joe-gibbs.html
Sunday Notebook (PIR likely to keep two Cup dates, etc.):
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/2010/04/10/20100410nascar-sprint-cup-phoenix-races.html
Saturday Q&A with Kurt Busch:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/2010/04/09/20100409nascar-pir-kurt-busch.html
Saturday Notebook (Denny Hamlin, new PIR sponsor, etc.):
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/2010/04/09/20100409nascar-denny-hamlin-knee.html
Kyle Busch Wins Nationwide race:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/2010/04/09/20100409nascar-nationwide-kyle-busch-phoenix.html
Friday Notebook (Jeff Gordon, West series race):
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/2010/04/08/20100408jimmie-johnson-foundation-100-eric-holmes.html
Here's a link to my new April "Drags, Dollars & Sense" column on CompetitionPlus.com. It's about the communications crisis in drag racing:
http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php/drag-racing/editorials/13798-drags-dollars-a-sense-of-crisis-management-and-communication
Upcoming The Race Reporters guests:
(Show is live Wednesdays at 7 p.m. EDT, downloadable, and available on-demand at no cost. Click on TRR page logo in upper right-hand column.)
April 14 -- Newsmaker: Melanie Troxel. Panelists: John Sturbin, Bobby Bennett. Plus, Peter De Lorenzo.
April 21 -- Newsmaker: Patrick Long. Panelists: Larry Edsall, Jonathan Ingram. Plus, Matt Yocum.
April 28 -- Newsmaker: Simona De Silvestro. Panelists: John Oreovicz, Jim Pedley.
[ Melanie Troxel news note Thursday . . . ]
