News-Record.com

The NASCAR NYC banquet, I trust, was a success. I didn't go, and neither did Dustin, and I didn't watch a single minute on TV.

They'll be back next year. But ISC, which desperately wanted to build a track in NYC, bailed on the project. The full AP story is after the jump.

What's missing in the story is exactly why ISC pulled out. The reason isn't the public ruckus -- no one wants to live next to a major sports venue (or even a minor one, as local events have suggested). ISC's smart enough to know folks will object.

The reason is money. At some point the ISC folks realized they couldn't make money (or enough money) on the project. My guess -- and it's only that -- is that they can't figure out a way to get a date. Drivers complained at the end of the year that the season is too long, and the sagging TV rating suggest that maybe, just maybe, folks are either tired of racin' or distracted by the NFL or both.

It could be a case where ISC didn't want to jeopardize getting a date for its proposed Washington State track. Or maybe Brian France doesn't have the clout as NASCAR boss to expand the schedule or strip other tracks of dates or whatever. Or maybe the land is unsuitable, which is something ISC isn't going to admit because it has to find some sucker someone to take this dead white elephant off their hands.

Whatever, there are a lot of tea leaves and pig entrails you can read here. Have at it - any other guesses?

Tuesday uppdate: ISC press release is here. The Staten Island paper is all over the story. And the SILive.com forums overfloweth with opinion pro and con. Hey, there's always the landfill.

That thing at the top of the page? It's new. I wonder if Jayski will add it to his paint schemes page?

Well? Pro-con reactions in comments, please.

Or tell me how I did in 2006 and what you'd want to see more of/less of in 2007. Consider this an all-purpose feedback thread.

Apparently Greg Biffle will get that prize, which will be a charred rear quarter panel mounted atop a shredded Goodyear tire.

The guy who helped pull Biffle out of his en fuego race car: Kyle Busch, younger brother of Kurt and brother-in-law to Eva, who had it out with Biffle's girlfriend back in April.

Lots of interesting subplots in what appears to be a routine crash. Conspiracy theorists, start your engines. Besides, it's about the only thing going on in racin' these days.

Update: In addition to being maybe the last wreck of 2006, it also might be the most serious -- Biffle dislocated his shoulder. Ouch. That's gotta hurt. Full release -- and Biffle's apology (though he has absolutely nothing to apologize for) for missing the Busch dinner -- after the jump.

No, Greg Biffle's dustup at Vegas last week wasn't the last wreck of 2006.

Jimmie Johnson decided to one-up him Friday and broke his left wrist after he fell out of a golf cart. The company line is that the wrist needs four weeks to heal and he'll be fine for Daytona.

If there's any good news for JJ fans, it's this: He was a passenger. Can you imagine the amount of grief he would get if he had been driving?

Update: The first version of the story used the wrong prepositions. It turns out that JJ wasn't in the golf cart -- he was on it. And he didn't fall out of the cart -- he fell off of it. AP has the story.

Actually, not so much. It's my offseason, too.

In the meantime, the Boss opened up a NASCAR thread on his blog. If you have some ideas for what Dustin Long should do in 2007, journalistically speaking, weigh in.

About three responses into it, though, I think JR remembered why the N&R has a separate racin' blog.

Unrelated: I'm totally opposed to the idea that Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Gordon are breeding. Why? Because their new SuperChild will put my children at a distinct competitive disadvantage.

NASCAR's No. 2 series will be called "Busch" for only one more year because Anheuser-Busch will spend its sponsorship dollars elsewhere in 2008.

The series has been Busch for the last, what, 20-some years? But, hey, we'll adjust. Remember, the top series used to be called the Winston Cup. It's been a pretty easy transition to calling it the Alltel Sprint Cingular Nextel Cup.

My vote for new series name: Grand National. It's timeless and classic.

Your nominations in comments, please.