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none as yet - Live ESPN Coverage (no link)IRL Driver Kenny Brack and Tomas Scheckter were involved in a severe crash with approx. 14 laps to go in the IRL season's last race. Brack was surrounded by close to 15 medical and rescue personnel after his car went airborne, struck the retaining fence, and spun horizontally perhaps 5 rotations before coming to rest.ESPN announcers are fearing the worst. And for good reason, seeing the crash, which occurred at roughly 200 mph. No word yet on Brack's condition, though the presumption is that he is alive at the infield care center....

Hamilton finishes second; now 4th on GCThe anticipated Tour de France clash between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich came to a soggy conclusion in Saturday's 49-kilometer 19th stage from Pornic to Nantes. Armstrong all but sewed up his fifth overall title while Ullrich will settle for second a fifth time. Armstrong widened his margin to Ullrich to 1 minute, 16 seconds in the Tour's penultimate stage and only has to avoid disaster Sunday before becoming the fifth man to win the Tour five times. Armstrong admitted this was the hardest Tour victory since his courageous cancer comeback in 1999. The...

DAYTONA BEACH -- Even at speeds of almost 200 mph, NASCAR can't outrun racial controversy. More than 100,000 fans packed Daytona International Speedway for the Pepsi 400 on Fourth of July weekend, and the overwhelming majority were white -- just like all of the drivers. While trying to broaden its appeal to minorities, NASCAR has found itself in the middle of a political brawl and taking punches from both sides.

(CNSNews.com) - Officials with the popular stock car racing organization NASCAR have privately acknowledged that auto racing is seen as "a redneck cracker sport," to much of the public, according to the director of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Sports division. NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) representatives have made no such public acknowledgement and have recently refused to comment about their two-year financial relationship with Jackson. But Rainbow Sports director Charles Farrell Thursday said NASCAR officials acknowledged their image problem during private meetings. "Even in discussions with NASCAR, there is agreement that there is a perception that stock car...

You may not know: Bob Graham, 'rat running for President, has now weasled his way into the sponsorship for a NASCAR truck that is part of the ROUSH RACING team. The web site above is the URL for Roush Racing, and below is the address for the truck driving team that is going to have Bob Grayed Ham's name plastered all over their vehicle.NASCAR fans aren't too keen on Democrat clowns, and perhaps NASCAR fans may want to express their opinions to Roush. Here is the address: Craftsman Truck Series Jon Wood and Carl Edwards 122 Knob Hill Rd. Mooresville,...

<p>Trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas don't agree on much, including the future of the horse racing series that's made them famous.</p> <p>Baffert embraces the traditions of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, the three races that make up the sport's prestigious Triple Crown. Lukas thinks the series needs an overhaul -- including different distances, dates and purses -- to draw a new generation of fans.</p>

Lowe's Power of Pride Salute Hits the Road, Race Track for Memorial Day Tribute WILKESBORO, N.C., March 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse and Team Lowe's Racing are joining forces with the United Service Organizations (USO) to carry out the 2003 Power of Pride program and implement "Operation USO Care Package." The Lowe's and USO alliance will enable individuals to support America's men and women in uniform deployed overseas through personal messages and care packages specially requested by the military. "We want to give Americans an opportunity to express their personal gratitude to the men and women serving our...

<p>The two cars idled side-by-side at the top of the hill, the adrenaline building in the two teenage drivers getting ready to race to the bottom.</p> <p>It was just after 8:30 p.m. Friday. The night was clear and crisp. Lights from the valley floor twinkled below. The boys rolled down their windows to talk first. It's uncertain what they said, but for one it would be his last conversation.</p>

Monster Squid Grips Racing Yacht? AFP Jan. 16 — A French yacht taking part in the Jules Verne round-the-world sailing trophy was gripped by a giant squid for about an hour in the mid-Atlantic, its skipper announced by radio-link. Veteran yachtsman Oliver de Kersauson, at the helm of the trimaran Geronimo, said the three-hulled boat was hit by strange vibrations on Sunday, so he sent a crew member below deck to try to identify what was wrong. "Suddenly he saw something moving," de Kersauson said. "It was tentacles. "The squid was pulling really hard, so we put the boat...

• Army of "01"? Inspired by its new motto, the United States Army Winston Cup car will carry the number "01" during the 2003 NASCAR season. The black and gold Pontiac Grand Prix, owned by MB2 Motorsports, will be driven by Jerry Nadeau. "We chose the number 01 to reinforce our slogan 'An Army of One', " said Lt. Gen. Dennis Cavin, U.S. Army Accessions Commander. "The individual talents of each soldier are melded to create a single-minded team." The No. 01 replaces the M&Ms-sponsored No. 36, which was the MB2 car number since the team joined the Winston Cup...

....my front tire is sitting on the chalk line, and my eyes are riveted on the face of the flag man. He rolls up the flag, turns to look at us, and at once my world, my existence, is only this man. I'm electric in my total absorption of the flag man and there is nothing else -- the motorcycle and I are fused, an explosive device awaiting its trigger. I'm unconscious to all my senses except sight. Eye contact, sudden release....I regain consciousness about 50 feet from the starting line, now completely focused on the bike's performance...For the full...

For a sport with roots steeped in the South, it appears NASCAR could find itself again heading southward in a quest for new fans and new horizons. South of the border, that is. With last month's announcement that Brazilian open-wheel driver Christian Fittipaldi will leave CART and become a full-time driver on the Busch circuit in 2003, it's likely more Latinos will soon follow Fittipaldi, either as fans or as drivers, team members or team owners. And it's that same community -- with its sheer numbers, markets and rabid fan base -- that NASCAR covets so highly. It's no wonder...

"Great feat, but not a great athlete Armstrong winning Tour impressive, but it’s not athletic COMMENTARY July 24 — Someone postulated on National Public Radio a week or so ago that Lance Armstrong was the greatest athlete in the world. Greatest athlete in the world? I wonder if he’s an athlete at all. CERTAINLY ARMSTRONG IS A HELL of a bike rider, but does that make him superior to Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Jerry Rice or Marion Jones? Does it make him a better athlete than the Williams sisters? Does the ability to sit on a skinny bicycle seat for...

Congratulations Michael Schumacher!French GP – Race report [21/07/02 - 15:35] Congratulations Michael! he French Grand Prix, an event where Michael Schumacher could claim his fifth world crown and fans await the beginning of the 72-lap event anxiously. Lining up second on the grid alongside Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael settles his F2002 into place awaiting the start of the formation lap. Only 19 drivers are taking part here this afternoon after Giancarlo Fisichella failed to qualify following a heavy shunt in Saturday practice and both Arrows drivers missed the mark due to ongoing financial concerns. Beautiful weather conditions continued with ambient...

Ex-Triple Crown Champion Seattle Slew Dies in Sleep By RICHARD ROSENBLATT .c Associated Press Seattle Slew always had a sense of timing. Winner of the 1977 Triple Crown and sire of more than 100 stakes winners, the big black stallion died Tuesday -- 25 years to the day after his victory in the Kentucky Derby. For the first time since Sir Barton won the Derby, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1919, there is no living Triple Crown winner stabled anywhere in the world. A big gangly yearling who turned into a muscular colt with "blinding speed and burning determination,"...