POWER PLAYERS for the week of April 3: This week's 10 most influential
people in the Business and Politics of Motorsports, as selected by long-time journalist/publicist and industry insider Michael Knight. 1. Mark Miles, Jay Frye and Bryan Sperber -- IndyCar's top two executives and Phoenix International Raceway's president took the risk and successfully brought the series back to the Valley of the Sun after an 11-year absence. Crowd of a little under 20,000, with good corporate sales, wasn't quite enough to make a profit but there's enough bottom-line optimism for a 2017 return to PIR.
4. Eddie Gossage -- Let the hype begin. NASCAR heads to the Texas Motor Speedway's president's showplace. It's Saturday night to avoid Sunday conflict with The Master's final round.
5. Kyle Busch -- Sweeps Martinsville in Truck and Cup series.
6. Jason Line -- The Summit team boys continue to dominate NHRA's Pro Stock class, with Line winning at Las Vegas. He's been in four consecutive final rounds with two wins.
7. Antron Brown -- Top Fuel winner in Vegas, everytime he's in the winner's circle it's good for the drag racing sport.
8. Matt Yocum -- He proves you can have a pleasant presence and still ask meaningful questions on pit road.
9. Keke Rosberg -- Wow! Two-for-two in Formula One this season. Yes, it's in a Mercedes. No, it's not Lewis Hamilton.
10. Scott Dixon -- American racing's most relentless driver wins Phoenix and has to be the pre-Indy 500 favorite. At least for this week.
10. Scott Dixon -- American racing's most relentless driver wins Phoenix and has to be the pre-Indy 500 favorite. At least for this week.
[ more next week . . . ]
