Shav Glick Passes Away At Age 86
Former Los Angeles Times beat writer Shav Glick passed away Saturday morning in his Pasadena (Calif.) home after a bout with cancer. He was 86 years old.

A native Californian, Glick got his first byline in a daily newspaper in 1935 at the Pasadena Post – he was 14 years old. In 1954, legendary publisher Otis Chandler recruited Glick to the Los Angeles Mirror, which became a part of the Los Angeles Times in 1963. In 1969, Glick began covering motorsports for the Times, retiring from that post in January 2006.

"Shav never met a stranger," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president of communications. "He was a great guy, always fair. His contributions to the sport reached well beyond the pages of the Los Angeles Times."

Glick won countless awards in a career that spanned nearly 70 years. In 2004, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He won the Jim Murray Outstanding Journalist Award; STP/AARWBA Writing, Broadcast and Photography honors; and the AMA Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award. He was only the fourth person in the 18-year history of the Motor Press Guild to receive a lifetime achievement award, and was a member of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.

Shortly after his retirement, Glick was honored as the Grand Marshal of the 2006 Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

DEI Fires Three Employees
Three Dale Earnhardt Inc. employees who allegedly planned and paid for a derogatory banner to fly over Lowe’s Motor Speedway last weekend have been fired.

The banner, which read, “How much does Bobby Ginn owe you?” was pulled by a plane and flown over Lowe’s before the start of last Saturday night’s race. The banner was directed at the former NASCAR team owner, who allowed his organization to be acquired by DEI after just one year of ownership, leaving about 100 people out of a job.

But Kasey Brooks, Mike Clark and Greg Price were hired by DEI after the merger, and are believed to be responsible for the banner. Clark and Price were fabricators at DEI, and Brooks worked in the parts department.

“We addressed the situation internally, dealt with it appropriately and we’re quite frankly embarrassed that this situation ever arose,” DEI general manager John Story said.(thatsracin.com)

Skinner Survives Martinsville Wrecks For Fifth Victory
Jack Sprague had a plan going into the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway. The plan was to stay out on all the cautions and coast to victory in the end. Terry Cook had the same plan and when Sprague and the entire field pitted on lap 25, Cook stayed out and took the lead. It appeared that Cook's plan was working better until he and Sprague got to beating on each other with 65 laps to go. While the two were fighting to regain control, Mike Skinner shot through the hole, taking the lead in the process. Despite many caution periods (13 altogether), one red flag, tons of sheet metal strewn along the frontstretch, Skinner fought off all the advances of Sprague who was running second and held on to win his fifth race of the 2007 Craftsman Truck Series season. It was his third victory at Martinsville and the 24th of his 150 Truck Series race career. Skinner is the second driver to sweep a season at Martinsville in the series.

Sprague, beaten and battered settled for second while Ron Hornaday Jr. was third. Rounding out the top ten were David Starr, Rick Crawford, Mike Bliss, Chad Chaffin, Ted Musgrave, Dennis Setzer and Johnny Benson. The race featured several "Big Ones", normally reserved for tracks like Daytona or Talladega. With nine laps to go, at least ten trucks piled up coming off the fourth turn, and then on the final lap, same thing, but this time it appeared to be 10 or 12 trucks. The frontstretch resembled a beach with all the speedy dry that was poured all over the track.

Jacques Villeneuve and Dario Franchitti drove fairly good races but Dennis Setzer wrecked Franchitti and Clint Bowyer wrecked Villeneuve. They both retired from the race on lap 157. Hornaday Jr. came into the race leading Skinner in the point standings by 14 and leaves trailing Skinner by 11 points. It is the fourth change in the point lead in the past five races. Toyota clinched the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturer's Championship on Saturday -- their championship in the past two years.

Sprague Sits On Martinsville Truck Pole
Jack Sprague put up a lap at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday good enough for the pole in the Kroger 200 Craftsman Truck Series race, scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. Sprague's lap of 19.796 seconds around the half-mile track translates to a speed of 95.656 mph. Matt Crafton will join Sprague on the front row with Denny Hamlin starting third and Mike Skinner fourth.