Pole qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 will take place this weekend and for the first time since the split in open-wheel racing there is an air of excitement surrounding the race.
With reports of morel mushrooms now being found, don’t forget WWKI’s Mother of All Morels contest. If you are lucky enough to find what you think may be the “Mother of all Morels,” take your fantastic fungi to the radio station office, located at 519 N. Main St. any weekday during regular business hours.
To err is human, to forgive divine is a famous quote from Alexander Pope but it’s doubtful many NASCAR drivers will be willing to forgive Kevin Lepage.
The starts must be in alignment for Indy Racing League founder Tony George.
For the final time in history, the Champ Car World Series will be in competition this weekend on the street course in Long Beach.
Shane Cottle took home another feature win in the Contos Racing No. 4 entry in the season-opener Friday night at the Gas City I-69 Speedway.
In years past you could usually find Jim Baker swinging a hammer, a well-worn nail pouch hanging from his hip.
During the remainder of the month of April, weather permitting, fans of late model and stock car racing will have the opportunity to watch five national touring series at four different Hoosier race tracks.
The long wait is all but over now.
Saturday night, weather permitting, the USAC Lucas Oils National Sprint Car series will kick off the new season when it opens up things up here in the Midwest at the Eldora Speedway.
It can happen to anyone — an auto accident, a work-related mishap, one wrong step in a tree stand. In less time than it takes to read this sentence, you could become someone with a disability, your life dramatically changed forever.
Erica Johnson placed the aluminum arrow on the string and in one fluid motion drew back her Hoyt compound bow — eyes focused intently on the paper target’s multi-colored bull’s-eye. Relaxing her fingers the arrow flew downrange in a blur. A confident smile crossed her face. Her shot was perfect.
Tuesday night, as I put a headline on the Oral Roberts-IUPUI story, I wondered, is there anything more deflating in sports than to say such-and-such team “hopes to get an NIT bid?”
Over the past few years there have been several constants when it comes to NASCAR racing, one seems to be yearly complaints by drivers and teams about the tires offered by Goodyear.
You can slip on the ice while duck hunting, cracking your head and the stock (did it).
FLORA — The shock is still reverberating, but the hysteria and satisfaction are even more overwhelming and satisfying.
Carroll basketball diehards will never forget Saturday, March 1, 2008.
Twice in the last couple weeks I’ve listened as national sports radio hosts lamented that this is the worst time of the year, the dead time. The Super Bowl is over and the NFL draft has yet to begin. There’s nothing to talk about.
They are one of Indiana’s most elusive animals. And chances are if you ever see one, you’ll never forget it.
I’m here this morning to dispel the rumor that flights into Indianapolis this week were diverted because of the cloudy stench that originated in Bloomington and spread over our entire state by Friday.
Beginning April 1, residents age 64 and older, born after March 31, 1943, will need to purchase a senior fishing license to fish in Indiana’s public waters.
The public getting a look at Brian McNamee in person may have been Roger Clemens’ best defense Wednesday, at least until U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., came to McNamee’s rescue.
A recent report from a Washington D.C. study proved that Indiana’s 822,000 hunters and anglers are among the most prominent and influential of all demographic groups, spending more than $1 billion a year on hunting and fishing.
A familiar name to open wheel racing fans in central Indiana is that of Brian Tyler, who has deserved a shot to display his talents at the next level for many years.
Slow and deliberate, Ron Brown picks his way along an overgrown, brushy fence row, stopping to kick thick stands of weeds. A thick leather glove covers his left hand.
After Adam Petty died in 2000 following a crash at New Hampshire International Speedway during a practice session, his parents turned their grief into inspiration for thousands of children.
Eleven years ago a super late model series was formed in Indiana. The Champion Racing Association continues to grow and there remains reason to be optimistic that success will flourish.
The Northwestern boys basketball team has racked up a lot of impressive accomplishments including back-to-back Howard County Tournament championships and an ongoing 25-game winning streak.
With HBO offering a pay-per view opportunity, local open wheel fans will be glued to their televisions Saturday to watch the stars and cars from all over compete in the annual running of the Lucas Oils’ Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
Do plunging temperatures and the year’s shortest days force you to huddle indoors?
The latest Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll shows just three Big Ten teams, which is probably an accurate reflection of the conference considering how things went the first six weeks of the season.
During 2007, there was plenty of good racing in central Indiana, but the best race of the year had to be the Daytona 500.
It seems like people are so distracted with missing basketball games that used to be on Ch. 4 and are now on the Big Ten Network that a glaring omission on this season’s Big Ten men’s basketball schedule has flown under the radar.
On Tuesday, Feb. 19, Purdue travels to Indiana for the first Boiler-Hoosier game of the season.
There is no scheduled second game.
Sooner or later, everyone does it. Every January, books of resolutions are offered up by people of all ages, occupations and walks of life
I guess the purists were right, life is unfair. Because we always lose the good ones.
The Christmas season is rapidly approaching and NASCAR drivers have plenty of available cash to purchase gifts for friends and family members.
Tony Gabriel wouldn’t have wanted me to write this column. He wouldn’t have wanted the attention or to be singled out as being anything special. He was most comfortable in the background, leading a quiet life.
Some people describe Hoosiers as unique. We who were born and bred as Hoosiers readily understand that uniqueness covers a lot of territory including descriptions such as ingenious, savvy, loyal, honest, friendly, funny, likeable, engaging, hard-working and God-fearing.
It seems only yesterday that an extremely polite young quarter midget driver came up to me at the Kokomo Speedway, introduced himself and let it be known that one day he was going to drive a sprint car.
Kokomo Speedway track champion Shane Cottle opened many diehard race fans’ eyes a few winters back when he took second in the famed Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
One would like to think that Indiana University athletic director Rick Greenspan’s contract extension for interim football coach Bill Lynch was made for all the right reasons.
For open wheel racers, there are keystone events that help boost a résumé and go a long way toward making a career complete.
Got a call the other day from my 81-year-old buddy, wanting some help figuring out how to watch the Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball team’s game against Chattanooga.
“I’ll never forget the discussion you had with your youngest son about the right reason to hunt,” said Mike Newton, as we talked about the large number of children who would be taking part in this year’s deer hunting season.
“Sunup is the coldest time of day,” will be said time-and-time again.
Since joining Nextel Cup, Jimmie Johnson has established himself as one of the elite drivers in stock car racing.
“If it wasn’t for Thanksgiving, I’d hate November,” a young lady said last week after hearing the impending weather forecast which called for sub-freezing temperatures and the possibility of snow flurries.
Once again the races comprising the All American 400 weekend at the Music City Motorplex this past weekend met fans’ expectations.
The final points races of the USAC season are coming to a grinding halt this weekend after the USAC Lucas Oils National/CRA Sprint Car Series’ merged in the 12th running of the Budweiser Oval Nationals at the Perris (Ca.) Auto Speedway.
Dean Shadley knows how quickly the situation can get ugly when a hunter crosses that not-always-clear line and becomes a trespasser.
The best late model drivers will be invading the Motor City Motorplex in Nashville, Tenn., for the annual All American 400 this weekend.
Northwestern High School senior Eric Metz became a Boston Red Sox fan at a young age. He attended a game in Fenway Park and quickly fell in love with the team and the atmosphere inside the stadium.
“I’ve been bow hunting for five years now, but have never taken anything,” a friend said sheepishly as a group of us sat around a crackling campfire talking.
The Hendrick Motorsports team probably wishes NASCAR would schedule more than two races each year at Martinsville, a track that in my opinion should be eliminated from the chase for the championship.
The chase for the Nextel Cup title began with 12 drivers hoping to wear the champion’s crown, but after five events the field has been whittled down to three contenders.
With victories in the last two races at Talladega and Lowe’s Motor Speedway, former Indiana resident Jeff Gordon is rapidly moving toward a fifth championship.
In 1998 at the age of four, Anthony Matamoros of Plainfield was riding in a Ford Escort with his mother. Strapped in a car seat, Anthony and his younger brother, Austin, watched the passing scenery.
Robert Ballou made it seven in a row aboard his No. 81 MPHG sprint car in the $3,000-to-win Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) event at the Florence (Ky.) Speedway Saturday night.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be allowed to cover the area race scene for the Kokomo Tribune now for nearly 10 years. During that time it’s been my privilege to witness countless exhibitions that are truly memorable.
The USGA puts on a number of major national championships for different categories of golfers. They offer professional and amateur events, men’s and women’s events, youth, mid-amateur and senior events. It is not unusual for some of these golfers to come from small towns.
But 2007 had to be a record of sorts for our small town.
Officials of the Indy Racing League are considering a new and unique approach to increase the number of teams competing in the open wheel series.
Since its inception, the IRL has offered exciting side-by-side racing on oval tracks and this year started competing on road courses, with favorable results.
With the 2007 season winding down, the Gas City I-69 Speedway crept closer to its season finale on Friday with an exciting feature in the non-wing sprint car series.
Have you noticed? We are beginning to see subtle changes leading to one of our most celebrated and beautiful seasons — autumn
The Wabash River has always been Indiana’s most famous waterway, both in historical nature as well as fishing opportunities.
It will come as no surprise when Dario Franchitti announces that he will be switching to stock car racing with the Ganassi Motorsports team in 2008.
I know not everyone in this town can be a Chicago Cubs fan.
While heading up the press elevator at Indiana University Saturday night, a guy asked if I’d heard the Michigan score.
I nodded, saying I had.
High school football teams begin conference play Friday and I’m ready to offer some predictions. Cass, Hamilton Heights and Western will take the top three spots in some order in the Mid-Indiana Conference. Clinton Central or Lafayette Central Catholic will win the Hoosier Heartland Conference. And, Sheridan is the team to beat in the Hoosier Conference.
There is nothing worse for a team owner then to watch two of his charges take out each while battling for a win.
It certainly seems that the “good ole boys” have decided to take on the role of bully, but I doubt that Juan Pablo Montoya is going to play along.
With but three points events left in 2007 at the Kokomo Speedway, I thought this might be a good chance to reflect on what has happened and what remains of the season yet.
The Taylor football team took a big step forward last season.
It was the perfect stage for nose-to-nose, no-holds barred street ball theatrics and those who rank Indiana’s game right behind God and the American flag and dead even with Mom’s apple pie.
He was the ultimate competitor, the gentleman assassin who regarded challenge as just another opportunity and success the reward for total dedication and effort. His God-given ability, honed by an insatiable work ethic and a gold-plated attitude, were trademarks that made him one of a kind.
There is only one word to describe the final laps of the first ever Busch Series race in Canada - fiasco.
INDIANAPOLIS — Conversation over lunch on Sunday at the Brickyard 400 was centered around recent major announcements at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The most lively conversation was regarding the termination of the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix.
It was a typical Jim “Moose” Carden Kids Fishing Clinic Tournament graduation tournament — 135 wonderful, wide-eyed and rampant boys and girls ages 6 through 15 stalking the Kokomo Reservoir for a posse of completely innocent wiggly things that never had a chance.
It was a special day for young boys. We are blessed to live in an area where so many different fishing opportunities are available for the taking.
As summer moves on, many of us are spending a lot of time outdoors, and we should.
A few months ago, as the Ball State men’s basketball team was mired in another awful season, a Cardinal friend of mine and I were conversing via e-mail about whether or not Ronny Thompson was going to work out at Ball State.
Although I don’t agree with the Indy Racing League competing on street and road courses instead of the ovals on which the series was founded, it is exciting that the IRL will return to Watkins Glen.
Those marvelous faces, bulging eyeballs and little guy and girl looks of wonder and awe were as priceless as ever — collector’s items and the most genuine of scrapbooks.
Last week, while reflecting on different eras in sprint car racing, the one thing for certain was Jon Stanbrough is quickly becoming a driver for all ages.
For men wishing to make a name in coaching college football, Ann Arbor is a destination point, so is Columbus, Gainesville, Happy Valley and South Bend. These are football havens where great players, huge stadiums and fat contracts are a way of life.
The sense of anticipation was building before Lewis Hamilton ever set foot on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week, the realization the world of motor sports was seeing something it had never anticipated.
And Lewis Hamilton didn’t disappoint.
Somehow the word “legend” seems inappropriate and shortsighted but only because there’s nothing artificial about public esteem and just reward.
Starting April 1, 2008, our state’s senior citizens will be required to purchase a discounted fishing license before plying public waters as a result of a bill signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
As Kokomo’s baseball team prepares to head to Indianapolis Saturday in search of a Class 4A state championship, one can’t help but see the similarities in this squad and the one that captured the single class state title in 1985.
Owners of NASCAR teams are criss-crossing the nation looking for the next young driver to become the equivalent of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson or Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Arguably the busiest week to date for the full-time Lucas Oils USAC National Sprint Car Series came to a close Saturday night at the Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
For 19 years Mark Tucker wasn’t overly enamored with his career choice. For nearly two decades he worked as a service manager for a car dealership in Marion.
In my last article, I mentioned that there are golfers who just can’t get enough of golf. It could be playing golf, watching golf, reading about golf or just thinking about golf. It made me wonder, is there such a thing as golf addiction?
It was on a cool, foggy night last September that the World of Outlaws made its last visit to the Kokomo Speedway. Noticeably absent that evening was the all-time king of the Outlaws, Steve Kinser.
INDIAN RIVER, Mich. — Making a life changing decision can leave you wondering if it was the right call.
The true definition of a champion is one who shows class in victory as well as defeat. With that in mind, it would be hard to find a greater champion than Dave Darland.
Normally pay-per-view events on television in the past have been the chosen venue of boxing and wrestling events, neither of which I am a fan.
The month of May, especially the end of the month, typically is one of the busiest of the year for local race car drivers.
Webster’s dictionary defines bump as: verb (used with object). Informal. To dislodge; to appropriate the privileges of; When the general found there were no additional seats on the plane, he bumped a major. The airline bumped me from the flight.
Each February, David Lloyd and his wife Jan start thinking about spring. Sure, warm weather and our flora returning to life are on their minds, but their real interest is hunting morels.
For the first time in three years the Indy Racing League got to use the new qualifying format for the running of the Indianapolis 500 and it delivered the desired results.
For the second straight week, Halen Shafer and Bob Bourff registered feature wins at the Miami County Speedway. Both drivers picked up wins last April 28 before hitting paydirt again Saturday night.
It looks like winter has finally headed out. If you were opportunistic, you could have played golf between Christmas and New Year’s. I played twice!
A casual drive down our county roads last weekend proved they were out in force. Several days of rain followed by beautiful sunshine meant the time was right.
