Stephen Cox blogs about the appeal of undervalued specialty cars that often go
unnoticed on the auction circuit.
I have a confession to make. I don’t pay much attention to the multi-million dollar collector cars on the auction block. They prance across the stage looking really hot and endlessly tease you with something you know you can’t afford. Insert Britney Spears joke here!
However, I do have a raging passion for under-appreciated cars that average, everyday people can actually...
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Stephen Cox
SHORT TRACK RACING: BEST VS. WORST TIRES!
‘Wide, sticky tires really do ruin racing,” blogs Stephen Cox who presents a really interesting case for choosing the right tires.
Doug Strasburg is an easy guy to talk with. His humble, soft-spoken manner belies a lifetime of motorsports experience and wisdom. The Mid-American Stock Car Series has thrived under his leadership despite being on the endangered species list not many years ago. When you disagree with Doug, believe me, you'd better do it on very solid grounds. The man knows auto ...
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STEVE KINSER, OUTLAW: SPRINT CAR CHAMP!
Stephen Cox talks with the short track racing legend who plans on hanging up
his helmet after 2014 season.
If you haven’t see the Beatles in concert, your opportunity is gone forever. If you missed Elvis when you had the chance, you never will. And in a few decades from now, the auto racing world will be sharply divided among two classes of people: those who remember watching Steve Kinser race, and those who don’t. Make sure you’re among the former, because those who had a chance...
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IndyCar: WHERE HAVE ALL THE HEROS GONE?
‘The trouble with IndyCar is not that there's no one available to take Dario Franchitti's place. It’s that no one cares who takes Dario Franchitti's place,’ blogs Stephen Cox. ‘The series is fast running out of heroes and reinforcements aren't arriving quickly enough. This is bad business.’
Let's look at a few successful business models.
When high school basketball star Damon Bailey began playing for Indiana University in 1990, be brought legions of fans with him. Everyone in the state kn...
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SLOT CAR RACING: AMERICA’S LOST HOBBY!
Stephen Cox has figured out what’s wrong with America’s youth today: They don’t race slot cars anymore!
Racing HO scale Aurora AFX slot cars with the greatest man I’ve ever known – my Dad – in our garage in the summer of 1969 taught me pretty much everything I needed to get through life. After slot car racing, formal education was anti-climactic. Because of slot car racing, I could identify a Mustang, Camaro or Corvette on sight. I knew Trans-Am from Can-Am. I learned that the Indy 500 is...
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JIM GUTHRIE: THE MIRACLE IN PHOENIX!
‘One of the biggest miracles ever on four wheels took place on March 23, 1997 at Phoenix International Raceway,’ blogs Stephen Cox.
I remember sitting in my living room and watching the entire Indy Racing League Phoenix 200 on ABC, stunned into silence. It was an upset so staggering that it transcended the petty IRL-vs-CART arguments. I bet you remember this race, too. So I called up Jim Guthrie's office last week and asked him to re-live the moment for us. The story goes like this:
Jim G...
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RACING’S GREATEST UPSETS?: MONEY TALKS!
‘Oh wait, there really aren't many great upsets,’ blogs racer Stephen Cox!
Think for a moment about the most famous upsets in sports history.
The New York Giants beat undefeated New England in Super Bowl XLII. Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in Tokyo, February 1990. The U.S. Olympic hockey team manhandled the supposedly unbeatable Russians in 1980. Every year the major sports magazines print lists of the greatest upsets in sports history, and every year they all have one thing...
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SHORT TRACK RACING: CALAMITOUS COMMITMENT CONE!
Stephen Cox, below, blogs about 'The Cone' and racing at Wisconsin’s La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
Having never been to La Crosse before, it was no surprise that I qualified near the back of the field last weekend after only six laps of practice (throttle stuck... don't ask!). But my pit guys are amazing. They still gave me a fantastic car for the race. Wisconsin is an awesome place, rabid fans, and lots of tracks, good cheese and great football.
But several of the area's short tracks ha...
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ROAD RACING AT INDY: GRAND PRIX?
‘It’s a Band-Aid for a broken arm,’ blogs Stephen Cox about road racing at IMS.
I love the idea of adding a road race for Indycars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What worries me are the reasons for doing it. In this afternoon's press conference at IMS introducing the new Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles asked, “What if we could jump start May? Ignite May in a way that brings more people here?”
“That was the premise. We did a lot of work on it, and we conclude...
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SHORT TRACK RACING: MIDWEST MAYHEM!
Stephen Cox chats with National Short Track Championship promoter,
Gregg McKarns.
For 48 years, race fans have sojourned to Rockford Speedway in northern Illinois to watch the finest short track stock car drivers in the world compete for the national title. Rockford is the ultimate bullring. Built in 1948, the speedway remains the oldest continuously operated sports venue in the region. Rockford's quarter-mile, high-banked oval has graduated as many racing greats as any racetrack on th...
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