Emily Heisler Photoby Matt Panure for RacingOnline.com
SLINGER, Wis. (July 11, 2011) – Eric Fransen waited through 62 laps, fireworks, a victory lane celebration and interviews to say his piece. And not to whom anyone would have expected.

Fransen retired from the 2011 Slinger Nationals on lap 138 after making contact with Dennis Prunty while racing for the fifth position. A flat right front on Prunty and a flat left front on Fransen ended both drivers’ chances to claim victory. Fransen suffered bigger issues when a Teflon washer broke causing an oil leak on that very same caution.

After a brief word to Prunty, the normally mild-mannered, veteran racer Fransen waited for 2011 Nationals Champion Kyle Busch to scale his racer. What ensued was a nearly-two-minute verbal outpouring of displeasure from Fransen. The heated exchange was broken up by officials.

Although the two never locked into battle on the track, Fransen was incensed over the restart after the lap 100 break. The first attempt was waved off because Dave Feiler was ruled to jump the start on the outside. The second attempt took, and a melee almost followed, Fransen said.

“On the second (restart) the 51 car just drove into one, and in the middle of one he ran the 40 car up to the wall like I have never seen before,” said Fransen, who restarted directly behind Feiler. “It was the dirtiest thing I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked.”

“It was horrible. They almost wrecked about five cars on the backstretch. I was sideways and one of my crew guys said my rear wheels were in the air,” he said.

Fransen was able to straighten his machine and file back in line in sixth behind Prunty. The two raced furiously side-by-side for several laps until they made contact.

After coming up just a lap or two short of a Nationals win to Matt Kenseth just two seasons ago, the part-time Slinger competitor felt that he may have had a shot to grab the crown. With Fransen methodically working his way through the field and hanging with the lead trio of Busch, Feiler and Lepak, 2011 seemed to be as good of a shot for Fransen as 2009 was.

Emily Heisler Photoby Matt Panure for RacingOnline.com
SLINGER, Wis. (July 11, 2011) – Anyone looking for Jeff Holtz could find him sitting under the big shade tree that has become a cornerstone of the Slinger Speedway pit area. Thoroughly exhausted and beside himself with happiness, Holtz seemed more concerned with recovery than celebration.

“I think I need to work out more, I hate to say it,” said Holtz who could barely stand. “We need to get some more fans and cooling in there. Holy man, those yellow flags killed me.”

Although the exhaustion caught up to Holtz after the 200 laps were complete, the majority of his energy was utilized in the first half of the race, he said.

“I think after that first 80 or 90 laps when the car was a handful it was wearing me out,” Holtz said. “I actually had more energy the second half even though I’m dead now. That first half killed me. We didn’t have the best handling car.”

Through the first half of the race Holtz struggled to make any head way. While the likes of Kyle Busch, Eric Fransen, Conrad Morgan and Dennis Prunty were moving through the field, Holtz had fallen to 14th at the 100-lap break.

In fact, Holtz was in danger of going a lap down as Busch had caught him and Kelly Bires, who was the final car on the lead lap when the first segment ended.

During the break Holtz and crew made some adjustments and ran a consistent second 100 laps.

“The car sure was good that second half,” Holtz said. “We had a lot of good breaks. This is as good as winning on a regular night.”

Holtz’s ascent to the top five didn’t come without a few nervous moments. When Dennis Prunty and Eric Fransen made contact on lap 136, Holtz made a daring pass to the inside to take two spots. Biding his time, Holtz had a few more cautions to negotiate.

by Matt Panure
Last season 141 Speedway made a huge leap. When Bruce and Rene Conard bought the facility three seasons ago as part of a group of investors, they inherited a quarter-mile asphalt track. Flash forward to today, and you’ll happen upon a third-mile dirt facility.

2010 Homestead Nov NNS prerace Joey Logano and crew national anthem (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)by Dana Kuyawa
More winnings, more poles, that’s the power of Joey Logano. Well everyone has heard it this way, “More savings, more doings, that’s the power of the Home Depot,” but then some of you may think that this article is about Tony Stewart. In fact this article is about the newest driver in the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. His Nicknames are Sliced Bread or King of Kentucky this article is about the JOEY LOGANO! So sit back and chilax because this one is going to be a great one!

Joey was very young when he started racing. At the age of six he drove quarter midgets. So many people may wonder how Sliced Bread got his ride with Joe Gibbs racing; here’s your answer Joey had a DVD of him racing and one day he was with Scott Zippedeli and showed it to Joe Gibbs.

Joey Loganos’ favorite tracks are Charlotte and of course KENTUCKY! Some of you might wonder who is this mans’ inspiration to race… Joey just wanted to race because he wasn't any good at any other sports.

Joey likes racing ovals better than road racing. So I asked Joey “do you like to be called Sliced Bread or King of Kentucky better?” Joey laughed and said “I know that most people said that I was the best thing since Sliced Bread; but I never heard of King of Kentucky before but I like that one.”

I asked Joey if it is hard to keep speed limit down pit road. Joey responded yes it is because it’s a race to be the first one in and out of pit road. And again many of you race fans wonder if its hard to make pits stops especially with NASCAR. Here’s your answer yes it is with all the cars coming in and out because you don’t want to run into anyone or any other car.

Joeys’ favorite music is, well, basically everything. He listens to what’s on the radio but doesn’t like listening to one song over and over again. Joey doesn’t really have a favorite animal and no he doesn't have a pet. Being gone all the time makes a pet nearly impossible to care for.

Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon lead the field to the green flag to start the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)by Matt Panure
As cliché has it has become, indeed, the Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl (trademark, all rights reserved – whatever keeps me out of trouble with the NFL) of the NASCAR season. No, it doesn’t determine the champion and yes, it is odd to have the biggest event of the year as the opener. However, this is the event that even the “casual” fan will lock into.

Although I am an avid racing fan, I would consider myself a “casual” NASCAR fan. In fact, ROL columnist Jordan Kuehne will stop by later this week with a column recapping the 500 and foreshadowing the 2011 season. But as a casual fan, I did watch the 500 rather intently yesterday and could feel the adrenaline pumping in the final laps.

Love it or hate it, the 2011 Daytona 500 had a little something for everyone. Personally, I enjoyed the storylines that were away from the track (or in the infield afterward). Some of my observations from the 500:

It Takes Two to Tango
Where was Gecio with their newest commercial to cash in on this? You know, the commercial where the man asks, “does it take two to tango?” then provides footage of three people trying to tango. The awkwardness from the Geico commercial was exactly what we saw when three cars tried to hook up in the draft – a pretty wild contrast from what we’ve seen in past plate races at Daytona.

“Will You Dance with Me?”
At some point this whole Daytona 500 looked like a high school dance. Shyly, drivers would contact one another over the radio and request a drafting dance. Some were rejected and some received the answer they were hoping for. Trevor Bayne was that nice person who would never turn down a dancing partner, no matter what they looked like. In the end it all worked out for him, he got the hot girl.

by Matt Panure
Surprisingly, there are a lot of words that begin with the letter c that have a negative connotation in the world of short-track racing. Cheating, crashing, catastrophe, cancellation and any variation of those terms are things with which no one wants to be associated. And that’s just the short list (or at least the ones that I can publish). However, these days, none of those seem to be the dirtiest word in short-track racing.

One word that begins with the letter c sends everyone in an uproar in these days of short track racing. One word causes more controversy (another one of those c words) than any other term we throw around. That dirty c-word is change.

It seems something changes every year. Whenever you get back to your short track, something isn’t the same as it was when you left it, for better or worse. But why can’t things stay the same, especially if things were going well the previous season?

Some changes are bred by necessity: the pit steward can’t make it on Saturdays, your track gets a better deal from one soft drink Company than the other, or a new noise ordinance pushes the curfew a half-hour earlier. But some changes leave us all scratching our heads.