Free Republic

The dirt track spectacle hearkens back to the origins of NASCAR — moonshine runners attempting to outrun the law in rural Appalachia.Stock car racing is about to get very dirty. On Sunday, NASCAR’s Cup series will race on a dirt track created at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway.While the sport’s truck series ran one dirt race a year from 2013 to 2019 (lockdowns canceled last year’s event), Sunday’s feature represents the first time the sport’s premier series has raced on dirt since September 1970 — a race won by stock car racing’s “king,” Richard Petty.Bristol TransformedThe race this coming weekend,...

As he takes the green flag at Daytona on Sunday, by recognizing the gift of his second chance, Kyle Larson already stands as a winner in the race of life.As the NASCAR season kicks off with Sunday’s 63rd Daytona 500, two events will mark the “Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing.” First, as the event marks 20 years since the death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, many in the auto racing community have focused on how Earnhardt’s death helped revolutionize safety innovations over the past two decades.Another storyline represents a comeback story...

A Sumter race car driver went on a rampage with his car shortly after the green flag dropped Saturday night at Sumter Speedway. Once the race-turned-demolition-derby was over, Robert L. Disher, 31, of 4404 Wrangler Trail was arrested and charged with assault and battery with intent to kill. When the race started, Disher immediately ran into the car of a rival racer, causing a multi-car tangle on the track, according to reports from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Off-duty deputies working security at the track reported that Disher, clear of the wreck, then put his car in reverse and began...