Bullring winners
Opening night, Saturday, Las Vegas Motor Speedway: ■ USCLI Bandolero Bandits: Cody Kiemele ■ USLCI Bandolero Outlaws: Dezel West ■ USLCI Thunder Cars: Ron Reed ■ NASCAR Super Stocks: Robert Negrete ■ USLCI Legends: Michael Todd Glazier ■ Skid plate cars: Robert Smotherman ■ NASCAR Grand American Modifieds: Doug Hamm ■ NASCAR Bombers: Aaron McMorran ■ NASCAR Super Late Models: Peyton Saxton its Super Bowl, the season-opening Daytona 500 and ancillary events, forward a week to remove any chance of a conflict.
It was a smart move by NASCAR. Only a crazy person or Kyle Busch would challenge the NFL to a fight on pit road. WHELDON’S WIDOW SPEAKS
It has been a little more than five years since Dan Wheldon, the popular two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was killed in a fiery wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Until recently, his widow, Susie, had not spoken about it.
She broke her silence to the Tampa Bay Times before IndyCar opened its season in St. Petersburg, Florida, Dan and Susie Wheldon’s adopted hometown. It wasn’t easy for her. “I just remember it being really chaotic,” Susie Wheldon said while choking back tears in a video that ran with the story. “I knew it was pretty bad …
“Grief is just messy. It’s lonely, and it’s all those things. But if you can kind of push through, you can be hopeful again …”
Five years later, Dan Wheldon’s death is still a compelling story that tugs at heartstrings. ILL-FITTING SUITS
It is my belief that auto racing fans could not care less about lawsuits and other stuff that happens away from the track. But let the record show that Kurt Busch, the reigning Daytona 500 champ from Las Vegas, has filed a counter suit, claiming he already has paid Jon Caponigro $1.3 million of the $1.4 million his former manager has sued him for. Busch is seeking “millions” in counter damages, because he claims Caponigro gave him bad advice. FLIPPIN’ CRAZY
The Monster Energy folks posted a short video of a Monster SUV performing the first front flip in Monster Jam history at Sam Boyd Stadium last weekend.
Somebody on Twitter compared it to Kirk Gibson hitting a home run in the World Series off Dennis Eckersley.
“I can’t believe what I just saw,” wrote a monsterly energized fan with a Twitter account. Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.