Jimmie Johnson wins 6th Sprint Cup series championship. But is he an athlete?

Sunday, Jimmie Johnson took home a historic sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship down at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  That puts him one away from tying the record of seven, held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.  And as of right now, there doesn’t seem to be any reason that he can’t beat that record.  Old-school NASCAR fans cringe at the thought, but Johnson’s Chad Knaus-led team is just that strong.

Scratching that late model itch with the K&N Pro Series at Lebanon I-44 Speedway

Kansas City used to be a hotbed for asphalt late model short track stock car racing, with at least two tracks here in the area.  Over the years, those tracks have either closed or been covered with dirt, so now the only asphalt circle track is the big one-and-a-half-mile Kansas Speedway.  But I’ve been jonsein’ to see some good late models on a paved track lately, and the only way to do that is to hit the road.

Lakeside Speedway. Go there.

Lakeside Speedway has a rich history in Kansas City, but when I reported from there at the beginning of last season, it looked like that history was going to come to an end.  Well, I went out there Friday night, and I am happy to tell you that Lakeside is back and better than ever, and it is definitely a place that you want to check out this summer.

Opened at the Leavenworth Road location in 1955, Lakeside hosted some of the biggest names in the early days of racing. Right up until it closed, Lakeside was the most popular dirt track in the area, drawing a rabid following of fans and cars.

CARB Race-On Car Show is a Snake Saturday tradition in North Kansas City

The CARB Race-On Car Show during the annual Snake Saturday Parade is a North Kansas City tradition. What is not a tradition is the beautiful weather with which this year's installment was blessed. Normally, people are wrapped in blankets and parkas, and drinking coffee and cocoa. This year it was shirt sleeves and soft drinks. It has been a mild winter, indeed.

Johnson, Keselowski, and Bowman conquer Kansas Speedway while the crowd takes a siesta

My wife tries to tell me all the time that the races at Kansas Speedway are boring. I always defend them, telling her they were a little dull when the track opened, but now that the track has some age on it, they've become really exciting.

But then, they have a weekend like this one. And suddenly, Craig is proven wrong ... once again.

Lakeside Speedway prepares for flooding. Hopefully this report doesn't cover the last night of racing

Everybody is talking about how the Missouri river is about to come out of its banks and flood everything in its path, but there is a significant potential casualty that isn't getting much attention.

Lakeside Speedway is a Kansas City institution. And next week, that institution will be silent. Kansas City, Kan., emergency management officials told the owner of the track to prepare for the worst, so the upcoming races have been cancelled to give the track a chance to move their equipment to higher ground.

Lakeside Speedway 2011 Season Opener may have saved lives

For race fans in Kansas City, Budweiser Opening Night at Lakeside Speedway is the only thing that helps them survive the winter. Many of these people wouldn’t make it one more week. And yet, the cold, rainy weather nearly resulted in tragedy, as opening night was postponed from its usual Friday night time slot.

Luckily, they only had to hold out a couple more days, because Sunday was nice and sunny, and track owner Marc Olson opted to run this event then.

Like Harry Hogge said, "There's nothing stock about a stock car."

“They ought to do it like the old days—just weld a roll bar in a stock vehicle and let the best car win!”

You hear that from people all the time. “There’s nothing stock about a stock car.” “Why do they even bother to call them Fords and Chevys?” And on. And on.

Back in the early days of NASCAR, stock cars really were just that—stock. Competitors would often drive their race car to the track, participate in the event, and drive it to work the next day. The biggest modification may have been removing the hubcaps.

But it wasn’t all perfect in stock car land. Drivers regularly suffered serious injuries and death. The cars were difficult to handle at speed. And even at that, they weren’t going as fast as the risks may indicate. Sure, those old news reels of the early days of NASCAR are great to watch now, but let’s consider what America’s number-one motorsport would be like if it followed the same formula today.

Assuming NASCAR could even regulate the technical aspects of a modern computer-controlled, technologically-advanced vehicle, it would be hard to imagine the close, fast racing we have today.

I might not have the winning Pinewood Derby tips, but we didn't completely embarrass ourselves

Yesterday, my son, AKA "BHo", entered the ranks of competitive auto racing. No, there were no fiery crashes or serious injuries, but he was able to run head-to-head in an all-out battle for supremacy on a 45-foot, four-lane track of hell known as the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.

In a way, BHo is lucky we even made it there at all. His bonehead crew chief and father almost botched the dates. I thought we had like another month to get the car built, and my wife said something like, "when are you going to work on that car?" on Saturday. To add to the situation, I was leaving Sunday to go to the Detroit Auto Show, and wouldn't be back until late Wednesday night. Nothing like adding a little drama to the festivities.

More than 100 photos from the legendary I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo. The most awesome race track I've ever been to

I've been in the picture scanning mode lately, and I decided to go all-out and share my photo collection from what is easily the most interesting job I had, working in the front office of I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo.

I-70 was a Kansas City racing institution. Opened in 1969 by salvage yard owner Bill Roberts, the track proved to be one of the fastest, toughest, most significant venues in the Midwest. For its time, I-70 Speedway was state-of-the-art, with modern concession stands and restrooms, individual boat-type seats in the grandstands, and a VIP suite/media center. Short tracks didn't get much better than this.