UNION, Ky. — Who will make a late-race rally to steal a victory at Florence Speedway's 29th annual Sunoco Race Fuels North-South 100? Well, there's no guarantee we'll have another winner who takes the lead at the white flag, but the $50,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event has been fortunate enough to have such dramatics the past two seasons.

This year's event is shaping up to have some interesting storylines, but a few drivers stand out: last year's winner Jimmy Owens, two-time MORE

Finishing seventh out of a field of 12 Late Models is hardly anything to write home about. Every time we race though, I try to take something positive away from the experience. You know how all those NASCAR guys climb out of their cars after a wreck or DNF and spout out the standard rhetoric?

They always stammer on about how they had a great (insert sponsor here) Chevy/Ford/Dodge/Toyota. And that they were headed for a great finish, but never really had the track position to show it and that MORE

Sometime ago I did a blog where I listed 10 things I felt were essential to the success of a dirt track. One of those 10 items I listed was track preparation. In my order of importance, I listed it as eighth out of the 10 points.

Here was what I said in that column: “Track preparation. I know some will probably think this element seems a little too low on my list. I am not saying track prep is not important. It is the key to having exciting and entertaining racing. But I know that there are MORE

In journalism school they teach you that objectivity is king, and that it’s wrong to be drawn into caring about the subjects and people you write about. I guess that’s why I was never interested in journalism school.

As you get to know racers and officials and sponsors and such, you’re exposed to a vast array of personalities. You find a few people difficult to like, because they’re users or abusers or just plain not nice people. But there are also those with whom you seem to find a MORE