I hope everything is OK.

Hello Rog, I live in Texas , met you at 281 Speedway one night and sure have enjoyed following your website. I hated to see you leave Texas as you did a ton for racing here in this area. But, I know you were moving back home to Illinois .
I noticed you haven't posted any photos or new articles/entries in awhile on your "writers" page. I hope everything is OK.

Your tremendous amount of hard work and effort covering racing is greatly appreciated.

Thank you


Tuesday April the 2nd I got this letter from +Wes Games, down at 281 Speedway, Stevensville TX. The letter did several things for me:

#1. It made me feel really good that somebody notices how hard we work at trying to promote racing.

#2. You have no idea of how bad I’m missing Texas and all the racing people.

#3. Made me realize I wasn’t taking care of things the way I should with my column.

Now I’m gonna make my excuses and then we’ll get on with this thing. Its April 3rd we’ve snow in the effin ditches! They ran at LaSalle last week and they had to take a end-loader to clear off the track. It was the $10,000 to win Late Models Spring Thaw. Brian Birkhofer was the winner. There wasn’t another race within 250 miles!

LarrE down in South Carolina got to go to Lancaster Speedway for the $30,000 to win Carolina Crown that Jonathan Davenport won. I saw Jonathan run at the Winter Nationals down in Florida. He’s always been BAD fast but this year he was GOOD fast. And you knew he was gonna have a breakout. I’m happy to see it happen for him.


In South Carolina you can catch a race every single week. The tracks close at Thanksgiving and they don’t open ‘til the first of March. But, in between someone is having a race every week. So… if you’ve got the bug you can go. In Texas the tracks all close at the end of October, but each weekend, a different track runs a big 2 or 3 day race to finish the year. This that goes on until the first week of December. In Texas they say they’re gonna start again the 1st of February, but they can’t do it cause it rains a lot until the 2nd week of March.

I used to go to Flordia for the Winter Nationals, and when I came back from the Winter Nationals everyone was racing. It made in nice and easy for me to get to a race. LarrE has gone to over 20 races this year so far! VADirt has covered over 10. Goose has been to 6 different race tracks and he lives in Colorado! But here I am in this God-forsaken place, out on the prairie, with snow in the ditches the first week in April. So those are my excuses, and they’re not very good. Sorry you have got so little from me , but we have had you a lot of coverage from our other LuvRacin Reporters. Check it out!

I started out dissing this GEN 6 car from NASCAR, but I think it’s a race car. The last three races have been really good. If people didn’t like what happened at California Speedway then they don’t like racing! The finish was fantastic. The car is racey, and it’s not easy to pass, but you can pass. They had several leaders in the race. Kurt Busch got penalized had to go to the back and made a run for the front. I really like what he’s doing in the Furniture Row car. Regardless of what you think about them, the Busch boys can drive race cars.

Kyle Busch led most of the race, and he had fallen back just a little bit. Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin were battling for the lead. Ever since they split up as teammates at Joe Gibbs racing, the two have been going back and forth…even sharing words on Twitter. In the last 15 laps they put on an absolutely great race. On the last restart Joey was leading and he went low to block Stewart and shut Tony’s run off. This seemed to make Tony really upset, and after the race he went up and punched him! And Joey punched him back.

In the race for the win with Denny Hamlin they wrecked each other. Kyle Busch went by on the high side and ended up winning the race. Denny Hamlin ended up in the hospital with broken vertebrae in his back. He’s out for “6 weeks”. I’ve seen other drivers with the same injury and they were out for the whole year. I hope that’s not the case with Denny. I think the reason that everybody’s mad at Logano is, that every race this year he’s been there at the end. He’s gonna start winning and live up to all the hype that everyone gave him when he came into the series.

We’ve got several new reporters at LuvRacin! Craig Gabriele, out of Connecticut, is covering the Asphalt Modified at Stafford Speedway and Waterford Speedbowl. Not only does he shoot pictures but he writes! Read his stuff on his page. Full throttle on the writers photographers page. Pete Smith also writes. He’s in Ohio. He covered the opener at Attica and it’s kind of a family milestone in the spring for Pete when Attica opens. I think he’s been going there 20 years with his father Mike. You can read his stuff on the writers and photographers page: Buckeye Openwheel. Eating Dirt with big Steve is Steve Wright’s column, but Steve doesn’t write. He’s got pictures of Jackson County. He’s also in Ohio. And then there’s Jenn Wasnea who just covered LaSalle as her first time reporting for LuvRacin! This week she’ll be at the World of Outlaw Illini 100 in Farmer City. So we’ve got four new reports covering racin for you across the country.

As for me, I’m going to be at Illini 100 and the opening at Macon! My favorite track!

If you weren't there you missed out.  +LuvRacinRog   www.LuvRacin.com

NASCAR not WWF

Congratulations to Brad Kos asking when are the NASCAR Sprint cup championship. I was wrong I never thought NASCAR would let Brad when because Chrysler Corporation and Dodge's lead in the series. So NASCAR is on the up and up and it’s not that World Wrestling Association. I apologize for my thoughts.




Jeff Gordon won the race. Think the problem with Jeff Gordon has been that Jeff was just too nice and I think is just sick and tired of losing and I think that the drive that he put on at Richmond was fantastic. Jeff Gordon made all those fans by the way drove and he made a fan out of me at Richmond. You have to have fire in your belly to be a champion and I think he has the fire back in his belly. I think he willbe the one watch out for next year.



Kurt Busch had his third straight top 10 finish at Homestead Speedway. This is a team that's going to have to be reckoned with next year and with Kevin Harvard leaving RCR that might leave the seat open for Kurt. This guy cans driver racecar. I think they'll be in the mix for the championship next year.



I was glad to see Clary’s Speedway in Brinkley North Carolina re-open. Track it been closed for 4 years. Buddy Isles has leased the track and worked hard to get back in shape. He wanted run a couple of shows this year show everybody that it was going to be open next year so they can make their plans. He opened on 11-17 with 85 cars on a frigid North Carolina night. How many tracks you have in your area that could be reopened? VADirt covered the event. See it on his page “VA Dirt". Click on the writers and photographers button on the front page.





The annual Blue Gray 100 was held at Cherokee Speedway in South Carolina. Lenny Buff and the crew Cherokee run some outstanding late model races. March Madness kicks off the year. And Blue Gray 100 finishes it for late models. Cherokee is definitely a place that you want have on your bucket list. It's probably the most famous dirt track in South Carolina. LarrE had the coverage. See it on his page " On Track". Click on the writers and photographers button on the front page.

Great Chicken!

Brad Keselowski put it on Kyle Busch to win the Talladega NASCAR race. Brad knows how to win it from the front and how to win it from the second. After the race, kyle said “if he was smart enough to make that move, he deserved to win the race cause he’s smarter than me.”

Brad said in victory lane “ I dreamed about coming down in the same position that we are and I thought about 100 0times how we’re going to do it… it was really hard to make myself go high in 3 and then cut down across Kyle but it was the right move and it won us the race.”

Glad to see a good crowd!


I went to 85 Speedway Saturday night at Ennis, Tx. Randy Ferrell, former announcer at Ennis, went with me. I’m hoping randy will come on and cover everything from Waco to Ennis to Houston to Kilgore. Randy’s got lots of friends at the race track and if he decides to come on board you can count on him doing a good job.

Lots of friends at Ennis. Saw Brandon Leopolis, a friend I first met at the Chili Bowl. You can catch him and his crew in the front row outside of turn #2 on the back stretch. Those guys are the reason that Budweiser sponsors so many races. He was working on the Wally Beaty team #75 Mod. I said is this a fast driver? And Brandon told me he better be because its our truck and not his and he’ll be walking home if he don’t run good. One of the sponsors on Wally’s car is “Smokin Hot Wife”.


Miss Ramsey, that runs Texas Dirt Trackers, was there taking pictures. Always a delight to talk to her. 85 Speedway is such a relaxing place to watch a race. I think the fans may be the most laid-back fans in Texas. But the racings not laid-back at all. Its tough, fast, go hard or go home racing.


About 17 new bios to put up and 11 update photos so you might want to check out the 85 Speedway page.

Had the best piece of chicken that I’d ever had at a race track. It was their bbq chick and they smoked it. They were out of sausage which disappointed me. But I’m glad because I got the chicken. It was tender and moist and had just the right flavor. They’ve got good cheeseburgers also. After the races I saw the kid that was selling the snow cones at the convenience store where I was filling up and he asked me if I liked the chicken cause he recommended it… told him he did a good job.

I was gonna take pictures of the flagman waving the checkered flag and put that pic on my column… thought this could be the checkered flag on my Texas racing career but I thought …what the heck I’m gonna be back to Texas. Don’t do that Rog.

I have a driving experience that I have to take at Texas Motor Speedway before the 29th of August. I also have a guided fishing trip and overnight stay at Tanglewood that Sharyl got for me that I have to do before the 1st of September. So we’ll be back sometime this summer.


Got a new guy, Jon Aldridge, outta West Virginia covering some Penn races, and Jon does a really good job. Check out his coverage on the Penn Nationals on the Pennsylvania State page. Charity covered Diamond Park Speedway, VA Dirt got rained, LarrE flew home from California so he should be back at the races next weekend. Ina had her grandkids. Goose was in Colorado getting the Aerostar ready to roll. Bruce covered the Motorcycle Show for the Vietnam Veterans at Whiskey River in Texarkana Texas.


623 + stories posted on our racing news THIS WEEK. We have a new state page on Nebraska and a new Late Model Section page! They both have like buttons on it. Check it out and hit the “like” button…let’s see how many people we can get on those pages.

The movers are here. Sharyl’s callin. I gotta go…………………… to the next set of race tracks.


LuvRacin Rog

What's wrong with NASCAR?

What’s wrong with NASCAR? I have been at Bristol and turned down $450 for my ticket. Last race had 58,000 empty seats. I think it is many things and I am interested in your thoughts. Racing on Saturday night does not endear the Saturday night racer to NASCAR. The Saturday night racer is the back bone of racing and it is where the drivers and the crowd for NASCAR USED to come from. Their arrogance and lack of loyalty has offended their core base. There are a lot more of us Saturday Night People than Sunday afternoon dudes. I think we need a strong NASCAR leading racing. But when Roaring Knob PA has a record crowd of 10,000 + for the Lucas Oil Late models, and is only one of 1100 weekly racing shows that are having record crowds to start the season, then they have to recognize where the problem is. An example of how they treated their core is friend mine that had tickets to Talladega for 23 years in a row. He ordered his tickets right after the race and sat in the same seat for years. He made about 6 races a year. He told me one year he ordered, and they said his seat was not available. When he got to the track his seat was part of a BIG corporate block. Suuuuuuuuuuure makes you want to go back. Several years ago I was in Florida for the Winternationals. A friend in the news business and I were talking. I said it must be great to have your races sold out and the same people year after year in the seats. He said “Rog you are wrong! Over half of the people at a NASCAR race have never been before.” I did not believe him so I started asking and he was right. In the fall I saw him at the PRI and I said “I did not believe it but you were right. Why do you think that is? He said well they jack the ticket prices so they can turn over the people in the crowd. If you have been 10 times you already have your shirt and your hat and your jacket. If its your first time then not only are you buying you a hat and a shirt, but you are getting one for your brother in-law and 3 of the guys you work with. I guess I am DUHHHHHH I saw Bill France speak once and he was talking to a group of promoters. He said My Father and I have made every decision based on what right for racing and the money has flowed to us. Make your decisions on what’s right for racing and everything will come out right for you. Do you think they are making decisions based on what is right for racing? Kudos to Burton Smith he is listening to the fans and he is doing something to Bristol to try to fix it. Super Bowl Speedway, Sat Night: Sharyl and I were showing Sherry Hastings how to do the driver interviews and up dates. Sherry and Lonnie are going to help us keep up with the drivers across the south Dallas area. Superbowl is a great track; almost every race is won on the high side. And James Bryant almost always has smooth fast track. We had 186 race car drivers we have done stories on at Superbowl. So we have a lot of good friends we are leaving in good hands, with Lon and Sherry. Becky is always nice to me. They have great crowds and great car counts every week. Out newest reporter, Short Stuff, Ina Morrell, form Columbia SC covered the WoO Late Models at Tazewell TN. Great coverage for a start. See it on our New Late Model page. VA Dirt did a Pictorial on Johanna Long in the Nationwide series. It is the start of a new series on Women in Racing. You can see it on our feature page. Lots of rain in the Midwest keep others from the races. One more racing weekend in TX. Then the Big move. If you have not been to the races in Texas you are missing out!

New People, More Coverage

Tony Stewart’s always in the lead paragraph. He won the ASCS sprint car race at Lincoln, NE Saturday night. Goose covered it. He wins in a variety of cars in a variety of places. I know he’s the best since Foyt. AJ Foyt was the best race car driver I ever saw. Mario Andretti was the most talented and smoothest race car driver I ever saw. Scott Bloomquist is the smartest racecar driver I ever saw. Tony luv’s racin. Geez, he’s won in go karts this year, Sprint cars this year. He’s won prelude to the dream in a Late Model. He’s won in Indy Cars. He’s been the champion in Midgets and Sprint cars. And most important, Tony hasn’t forgotten his roots; he continues to help promote racing at every level – not just the top. Thank you, Tony! Denny Hamlin won the cup race at Kansas with Tony’s old crew chief. Martin Truex ran second, and had a couple of real good tries. All the Toyotas are running better this year. Truex is 2nd in points, and the Joe Gibbs guys are doing great. On to Richmond where I Think VA Dirt will have coverage. It was a little too cool Friday night to go to the races so I went to Joe’s Crab Shack and ate by myself. Sharyl’s still in Illinois, preparing the way (the move is going to be May the 11th). She found a Four-Leaf-Clover in the yard of the house we’re moving to, and she’s never found one before. She said it’s a good omen. Lucky Sharyl! Lucky me! I got to go to 2 racetracks in one night on a Saturday night! First I went to Cowtown Speedway which is always a great track with great racing. Jeff Martinez is doing a great job of getting the Cowtown crowd back. Then I went to Richard Snyder’s Kennedale Speedway Park. 25 cars in the A Modified Main. 24 cars in the Sport Mod main. 24 cars in the I-Stock main. Absolutely great racing. I talked to Doug Rollo and Neil Palmer who announce at Kennedale. (Neil also announces at Boyd Speedway on Friday night). They have a new deal going on at RacingWithNeil and they’re doing in-depth interviews with local drivers. They go to their shop to do it. Check it out at RacingWithNeil. If you can’t find it, we have a link on our Texas Link Page to Neil’s great site. I’m trying to get around to all the North Texas tracks before I go. I think next weekend I’ll go to HOT, Heart O Texas Speedway, on Friday night and either Ennis or Devil’s Bowl on Saturday night. Next week I think I’ll do RPM Speedway and Super Bowl Speedway. We need people to help from Dallas on South… if you’re interested in being a race reporter, contact me. VA Dirt covered the opening of Virginia Motor Speedway. We’re now starting to get coverage in the West VA and Penn area. Jon Aldridge is our new guy in West Virginia. He loves Late Models. He went to Roaring Knob Friday night where they had 10,000 people for the Lucas Oil Late Models. We’ve also got coverage from Bryan Chase. He’s our Pennsylvania guy. He went to the opening at Penn Can. Charity Price was holding down Diamond Park Speedway. Ina Morrell and her husband chase races all over the country. She came on with us, and she had some coverage of the USAC Midges at 311 Speedway. She has a really ambitious summer plan. I don’t have her page yet but it’ll be called Short Stuff Shots. There are 642 racing news stories posted on our racing news this week. Check out the news in your area! LuvRacinRog

Top that!

Greg Biffle won the race on a windy night in Texas. This put Jack Roush’s cars back up front. Hendrick didn’t win his 200th win even though Johnson dominated the lead. Johnson was gritty and daring. Biffle’s won Championships in every class he’s ever run in except the NASCAR sprint cup. If he wins the Sprint Cup Championship he’ll be the only person that won the trucks, the Nationwide, and the Sprint Cup. Carl Edwards recovered nicely to help his point situation. Tony used the back up car to finish 2 laps down.

Bob Sargent opened Macon Speedway to the tune of 116 cars and a full house. They had record crowds at Ooltewah, TN. Mountain Creek’s picking up a few cars every week. Local racing is healthy! Got rained out in Illinois all weekend. So I didn’t catch a race. James told me that William Gould had a heck of a run in Hobby Stock at Grayson County. I like to watch William run anything he’s running. There are some guys you just like. Johnny “The Jett” Saathoff, Don O’Neal, David Murray, they imbed themselves into your mind.

Scott Bloomquist won the $25,000 at Virginia Motor Speedway. VA Dirt has coverage!
Scott’s the smartest racecar driver I ever saw. Saw the pay-out for the MLRA Late Models at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska. It was higher than the ASCS Sprint Car payout. Check it out on the Nebraska State Racing News Page.

Charity Price had some great Drag Racing photos at Prescott Raceway in Arkansas.
Biggest racing in the country was this weekend at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, NC… cars go 4 wide racing. 230+ In a thousand feet! Unbelievable horsepower. I don’t like drag racing until I go and then the equipment makes my heart pound. Check out your local drag racing. 230 miles an hour in 1000 feet is amazing to me.

If you can top that this week, let me know!


LuvRacinRog

Everything but a crowd

I went to Mountain Creek Speedway Friday night formally Outlaw Speedway, formally Grand Prairie Speedway, and it was hard to recognize the place; so much work had been done to clean it up and make it nice. Charlie Upchurch and crew have done a great job in refurbishing the place. They had 68 cars that showed up, a smooth, fast race track, and a program that was run with efficiency. Three Groove Racing had a lot of moves. They have a $2 hotlink that’s outta this world. I think the lighting may be the best at a race track in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. They had give-a-ways for kids from Easter Baskets to bicycles. Security was visible from all over the place. And maybe 10% of the grandstands were full.


We all know the reasons (promoters in and out, shows that didn’t get paid for, points that didn’t get paid) they’re the decline. But there’s no reason for this racetrack not to succeed. Gather up a car-load and some kids who’ve never been to the races, and get down to Grand Prairie on Friday night. It’s only about a mile off of Loop 12.


Talked to Jeff Martinez, promoter at Cowtown speedway. He was there on Friday night. Talked about his Midget deal and how good it was. He said there was a $70,000 purse and they lost about $5000. They had 64 Midgets which is a great turn-out. He said they were going to run it again next year. I also saw the video of the tornado that came through Cowtown Speedway. There was some damage to the dragstrip but they still raced on Sunday.


I went to Grayson County Speedway for their opening Saturday night. I missed Harold Brown. He needs your prayers. Harold’s only missed 2 races at Grayson County Speedway since the speedway opened. Greg and Rana Cooper do such a good job. They had 84 cars and a full grandstand. Greg’s an old-time throw-back promoter. He’ll try anything. All the drivers marched down the front stretch and up in the grandstands, picked out a kid, and gave him a free HotWheels. LuvRacin.com also had autograph cards for the kids to sign, and there was lots of excitement.


Wild Wayne lost his phone and his camera. He had 16 bios and hundreds of update photos for Grayson County. If it turns up in one of your trucks or in your toolbox, please give it back to Wayne.


As I left Grayson County Speedway, sadness and nostalgia overwhelmed me. I made so many great friends here in Texas, and I’m going to miss seeing them in the pits and how they handle a car on the track.


The beauty of the net is that you can keep those contacts and see what’s going on with people. Whereas, if this was 10 years ago, it would have already just been the end.


I went to church Easter Sunday, and the pastors talk was that the end was the beginning.


So the sadness passed, and the anticipation of the move to Illinois rose.