Current Articles
2/25/2008 The 'New' Dale Jr.
There's a "new" Dale Earnhardt Jr. and it's the boldest change of an American favorite since "new" Coke 20 years ago. (Yes, I know, Junior's now a Pepsi man.) Reformulating the iconic beverage proved to be a marketing Hindenburg. To be honest, I thought... Read more.
2/11/2008 The Numbers that Made Daytona
It's the 50th anniversary of "The Great American Race" and numbers help us understand why the Daytona 500 has become No. 1 on the U.S. motorsports scene. In particular, I'm thinking 3 and 43; '76 and '79. That means Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty; David... Read more.
12/3/2007 Man of the Year 2007
Race cars are built from the ground up. Race teams, too. In a sport where so much attention is focused on equipment - chassis, engines, tires, dynos, wind tunnels, shaker posts - it's easy to forget success really comes down to people. Someone has to... Read more.
11/12/2007 How I'll Remember 2007
Some years, well, you wish they'd last forever. Other years, well, you'd like to forget. I write the following with all due respect to the race winners and series champions whose achievements this season have earned our applause and respect: I'll remember... Read more.
10/29/2007 Here They Come
I'm of sufficient vintage to remember when Jack Brabham and Jimmy Clark and Colin Chapman showed up at the Indianapolis 500 in the early 1960s. That was enough to set off the old-timers, called "railbirds" back then, to decry this "foreign invasion."... Read more.
10/15/2007 Change the Chase
It's time for the ace mechanics in NASCAR's executive offices in Daytona, New York, Charlotte and Los Angeles to dig deep into the toolbox and rev-up the Chase. As Larry McReynolds might say, it doesn't need tunin', it needs adjustin'. NASCAR released the... Read more.
10/1/2007 Talladega Upsets
"Alltime Upset" was the headline that jumped-off the cover of Sports Illustrated after Appalachian State stunned No. 5-ranked Michigan to open the college football season. As a Division I-AA school, the Mountaineers' triumph was the rough equivalent of... Read more.
9/17/2007 The Strange Case of 'Petty Larceny'
The hot issue of "team orders" has reared-up again in recent weeks. Sorry, but this has provided me with a good laugh, one as long as the list of sell outs at Bristol and as loud as the fans who gather there on a Saturday night each August. "Team orders"... Read more.
9/4/2007 Back in the Day
The Honda ad in the Indy 500 program book keeps drawing me back, like the rich and famous to Monte Carlo. There he is, motorcycle and Formula One and Can-Am champion John Surtees, all four treaded tires off the ground. Surtees is in a Honda Grand Prix... Read more.
9/4/2007 Back In the Day
The Honda ad in the Indy 500 program book keeps drawing me back, like the rich and famous to Monte Carlo. There he is, motorcycle and Formula One and Can-Am champion John Surtees, all four treaded tires off the ground. Surtees is in a Honda Grand Prix... Read more.
Displaying 41 - 50 of 193 Items
About I.N. Sider
I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.