Fan interest flags for NASCAR’s Indy event
MOTOR SPORTS NOTEBOOK or Andretti, might have told him they already have one of those races in Indianapolis, that they run it every year on Memorial Day weekend, and that when they ran it for the 100th time this year, more than 350,000 turned out to see it.
The innkeepers in Brownsburg had their hands full. GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED
His kid brother has been dominating NASCAR headlines the past couple of weeks (along with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s head wooziness). But if Kurt Busch, also originally of Las Vegas, now of a lake outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, completes all 160 laps at Sunday’s Pocono 400 in the verdant hills of Pennsylvania, he will become the first Cup driver to have completed every lap through the first 21 races of a season. Busch has completed 5,673 laps without fail — 20 races worth — tying Junior’s record set in 2012. The elder Busch brother should wear a pink driver’s suit and flip-flops with his dark sunglasses, and he should beat a bass drum in the garage area, because he’s the Energizer Bunny of the Cup series.
DC Solar, which would be a great name for a fleet-footed outfielder in Kevin Costner’s next movie about baseball, has been named title sponsor of the Oct. 1 NASCAR truck series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. DC Solar is LVMS’s official off-grid mobile solar partner, one of those clean energy industries — like Sunoco Green 15, an ethanol blend of biofuel that is said to reduce greenhouse emissions by 20 percent while still allowing Dale Earnhardt Jr. to pass guys on the high side.
Tweet(s) of the week, courtesy of NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, who at first said he was having a “fun day of testing” at Watkins Glen, and that he was waiting for a long changeover in the paddock so he could interact with his fans on Facebook live. That was before he clouted the tire wall, causing a changeover of interminable duration. Always quick with the wit, Keselowski immediately posted photos of his bent steering wheel and totally wadded-up Ford: “NOT doing Facebook live today. Sorry.” Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. His motor sports notebook runs on Friday. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski