Downsizing

April 2008

Race fans, this is the most difficult column I’ve ever had to write. After 12 years of offering the best coverage of NASCAR in print, Racing Milestones, America’s Race Fan Magazine, is changing its format.

Just like some race tracks in the Southeast that lost races in NASCAR’s realignment in recent years, Racing Milestones is scaling back. It will no longer be a monthly publication. Instead, you can lookforward to a NASCAR Preview each February and a Chase Preview each August. In between, Racing Milestones will publish special issues from time to time. As always, you will find these on Auto Trader racks in convenience stores and gas marts nationwide.

There will be no annual subscription. Subscribers, you will receive a refund for the unused portion of your annual sub rate.

In Racing Milestones’ dozen years, we’ve seen huge changes in the sport and we’ve shared triumphs and tragedies. With you, our loyal readers, we watched the boom in NASCAR and the rise of new tracks in the West and Midwest. We cheered when Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 in 1998, cried together when we lost Adam Petty and Dale Sr. We weathered the change from the Winston Cup to the NEXTEL Cup to the Sprint Cup, from the Busch Series to the Nationwide Series. We explained the new rules for the Chase, and introduced Toyota and the Car of Tomorrow to you.

Through all of that, our focus was largely on the drivers. Each month, we featured three or four drivers in stories by the best writers covering motorsports. And in each issue, more than 100 photos brought the drivers and their families as well as plenty of race action into your homes.

We had a lot of fun, too. From the earliest issues, we published recipes from drivers’ wives in “Fast Food,” which eventually evolved into Angie Skinner’s “Hot Grills.” We wrote about collectibles, apparel, home décor for your racing room and even reported on fans who turned old school buses into race day motorhomes.

You responded enthusiastically with more letters than we had space to print each month. We always welcomed your comments and gave you a forum to share your views on NASCAR’s latest move.
In this last monthly issue, you’ll enjoy an outstanding cover story on Kasey Kahne. He’s Bud’s new pitchman and you can be sure he’s going to re-boot and have a good year in 2008.

You’ve heard about Joey Logano, I’m sure. He will be driving in the Nationwide Series, beginning in May when he turns 18. He’s the best talent the sport has seen in many, many years and you’re going to love following his career.

We also offer you a close look at David Reutimann and David Ragan, both drivers we’re betting will impress you more and more as you get to know them.

And looking forward, we thought it was important to fill you in on the differences between an open wheel car and a stock car and the difficulties drivers find in making the transition. The exodus of drivers from open wheel to fenders may build to a stampede. You may see Danica Patrick in NASCAR in another year or two.

Watch for the Racing Milestones Chase Preview in August on Auto Trader racks.

Until next time, enjoy the races.

Mary Scully
Email Mary Scully directly at mscullyracing@hotmail.com