So, over the past few weeks, we’ve had a lot of things going on and in Driver Suit Blog HQ. As a direct result, we’ve had a lot of technical issues, through no fault of our own. The village is replacing the pipes in our neighborhood, and a cable got cut during the work. As a result, the WiFi has been iffy for most of this time, so I haven’t been able to commit to The Driver Suit Blog as much as I would like.
This is not unique to the blog, as I’m also far behind on YouTube material as well. I knew that this could be a problem, but it’s so much worse, and has been so much longer than I could have ever predicted. So, columns will be shorter until this situation has been resolved, whenever that might be.
With that said, this whole fiasco did have one silver lining, I was able to finally finish a project I’ve been working on since January. In January of 2020, before all this COVID horseshit, I purchased a pachislo machine for the purpose of making YouTube videos.
Knowing nothing about these machines, I purchased a 30 pound lot of tokens for use. I didn’t realize that I needed actual Pachislo tokens, not random quarter-sized tokens. I had to purchase 1000 of these tokens, which left me with the 30 pound lot of over 3300 tokens just sitting in my office.
I eventually organized the tokens into categories, which I kept in bags. In January of 2025, I decided to put these tokens into square coin flips, and eventually in pages in binders. With the time freed up with these technical issues, I was finally able to finish this project last week. All of the tokens worth displaying are displayed, and the rest are listed on eBay.
I love how these binders look, and I love how it looks in the display. I’m also happy I’m done with this project. I’m looking forward also to the sewer pipes being replaced, and the street repaved, so my house will stop shaking when they tear up the street.
I’ll figure something out for next week, hopefully, but if nothing surfaces, you’ll know why.
Just a quick column this week. If you’ve been on the internet for ten seconds in the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard of “Phillies Karen.” If you somehow haven’t, let me remind you. In short, after a father got a home run ball for his son, Phillies Karen walked up, and screamed at him, until he gave her the ball. The Phillies, obviously embarrassed by this situation, was nice and kind to the family.
The internet, as is often the case, was out for blood. The search for who Phillies Karen is underway, with several suspects wrongfully accused.
A question that has been asked about us as a culture is why do we support the “bullying” of these kinds of people. Well, there is a very simple answer. We enjoy watching bad people get what they deserve. Every single one of these stories always ends with the bully getting their noses broken, their eyes blackened, and their teeth knocked out. They lose their jobs, and get humiliated.
Be it sports fans who bully other fans, a veterinarian who kicks a pony, racists bullying minorities, or just being jerks, bullies never change. I’m not going out on a limb when I say that, many people have been bullied, be it at school, at work, or somewhere else. So when we see a bully get bullied, it makes us happy. Good people having good things happen to them is a good thing. Bad people having bad things happen to them is also a good thing. Anytime a bad person gets what they deserve, we are happy as it makes the world a better place.
I typically write these columns on Mondays, unless something of note happens during the week. On Labor Day, I write the column well in advance, so I can watch the NHRA US Nationals. I love FOX’s coverage, they really do have the best auto racing coverage in America.
I do have two issues with the current NHRA coverage. Number one is that I do NOT like the method of having the first two rounds of the nitro categories followed by Pro Stock and Pro Stock motorcycle. I prefer the old way of every round in its entirety followed by the next. It flows much better. This is, to me at least, a much more cluttered way of doing things.
My other big issue is with lead broadcaster Brian Lohnes. Don’t get me wrong, he is great in his role, and he is a student of the game. I really do like Brian Lohnes. That being said, he need to erase the word “eliminator” from his personal dictionary.
For reasons I can’t understand, he will refer to various categories with the word “eliminator.” The category most affected is Pro Stock, which he calls “Pro Stock eliminator.” I’ve also heard him say “Top Fuel eliminator.” If he’s used it in other categories, I’m not aware at the moment.
Why is he doing this? It’s never been “Pro Stock eliminator” it’s just pro stock. Adding eliminator doesn’t really work. If he is doing this on his own, he’s out of touch. If he is being told this is a good move, he’s getting bad advice. Adding a buzz word to a racing category is a terrible move. Unless eliminator is an official name of the category, I don’t want to hear it.
This is only the beginning though. The word “eliminator” in sports is pointless. It’s used in boxing. In boxing, according to betway.com:
“An eliminator is a fight that determines the next mandatory challenger. If a fighter wins a final eliminator, he is guaranteed a mandatory title shot.” I’ll accept that, since it does make logical sense when you think about it.
Now we get to eliminator matches in All Elite Wrestling. Eliminator matches in AEW were cooked up some time ago, and they are just as pointless as you could imagine. An AEW Eliminator match sees a sitting singles champion facing an opponent in a non-tile match. Should the opponent win, they are guaranteed a title shot.
Should the opponent lose however…well…nothing really. It’s not like they aren’t able to compete for the championship down the line. It’s not like Lyra Valkyria in WWE, who can’t compete for the Women’s Intercontinental Champion as long as Becky Lynch is champion as a result of a lost match. They just can’t challenge yet.
It’s also important to note that while these matches were going on, there were also number one contenders for all of these championships. So the whole “eliminator match” bullshit was nothing more than an excuse for a champion to wrestle a non-title match on television. I have no idea if AEW does house shows, but probably not. However, unlike Brian Lohnes, AEW figured out how dumb this was, and killed off the eliminator match.
Bottom line here is that, while some buzz words work, others do not. Eliminator is a word that simply does not work outside of boxing. It’s not working in AEW, and it isn’t working in the NHRA. Please stop trying to make eliminator a thing. It will never be a thing.
I’m not a regular consumer of Cracker Barrel. In the 43 years I’ve been on this planet, I’ve never been to one before. That isn’t likely to change anytime soon. So when I saw that they were redesigning their logos and restaurants, I brushed it off. I just thought this was just another example of a casual dining chain trying to get younger customers. Holy Hell, was I ever wrong!
The response to the announcement was…well…overwhelming to say the least. People were pissed at the changes. Even the President has stated he felt that they should reverse course. Even rival chains have decried the change, to the point that the CEO is walking back a little bit. Not long thereafter, Cracker Barrel reversed course, and announced that the original logo was here to stay.
Well, I can’t say I’m shocked at the outcry now that I think about it. Cracker Barrel is learning a lesson that NASCAR learned years ago. When your core demographics are older Americans and conservatives, you have to understand that they do NOT like change! Many of them are even scared of change.
Another trait that both older Americans and conservatives have is that they are fanatically loyal. That should come as no surprise. But the thing I’ve noticed is that their disloyal sides are disloyal, as their loyal sides are loyal. If alienated, they will leave in droves and NEVER come back.
NASCAR has been learning this lesson the hard way for 20 years now. Their core fan bases WERE older Americans and conservatives. When NASCAR started changing against the wishes of the core fan base, they left. They have lost millions and millions of viewers and fans and are continuing to lose fans. The summer Daytona race lost viewers for fuck’s sake!
NASCAR and Cracker Barrel have fucked around, and they found out. The worst thing any company can do is to piss off their core demographics. There is nothing wrong with going out for new customers, but it should NEVER come at the expense of their core demographics. Sometimes change is needed, but remember that the most fanatical of your clients are also some of the biggest. Keep your big fans, but find a way to find new ones without pissing off your core fans. Sadly, Cracker Barrel figured this out, NASCAR never did.
Now this isn’t really “news” but I found this, and I’ve been mesmerized by it. For those who remember, BK Racing was a NASCAR team owned by Ron Devine. According to Wikipedia:
“Like Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins, principal owner Devine’s many Burger King franchises allow him to advertise the brand on the cars when there is no outside sponsor. Prior to the 2012 Daytona 500, Burger King announced a “licensing agreement” with the team, authenticating the paint schemes of the 83 and 93 and the usage of the company’s logos, though it is unclear whether or not the company and/or franchisee Devine funds the team. According to a 2013 Autoweek article, the partnership is limited to the licensing agreement, with Burger King not sponsoring the team. The Burger King partnership includes the branding of Dr Pepper, a soft drink served at Burger King restaurants.”
Well, this partnership wasn’t very profitable. Again, according to Wikipedia:
“In August 2018, BK Racing was liquidated, with most of its assets acquired by Front Row Motorsports (FRM). Other teams, including Obaika Racing and Rick Ware Racing, also received portions of the team’s assets. FRM won the bankruptcy auction with a bid of US$2.08 million, surpassing GMS Racing’s offer of US$1.8 million. Previously, FRM had purchased a charter from BK Racing after the 2016 season for US$2 million. This transaction is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Union Bank & Trust Company, which claims ownership of the charter due to a lien at the time of sale. On December 20, 2022, team owner Devine was ordered to pay US$31 million to the trust managing BK Racing’s bankruptcy. On October 18, 2023, Devine was indicted on four counts of failing to pay payroll taxes by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Investigations revealed that some of the misused funds were used to finance the team. On January 17, 2025, an appeals court upheld the US$31 million judgment, finding that Devine used multiple corporations and family trusts as alter egos to divert approximately US$6.4 million from the team. On April 29, 2025, another appeals court upheld a separate US$2.5 million judgment. On June 11, 2025, Devine pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the 2023 payroll tax case.”
So Ron Devine is in jail, and BK Racing is dead…right? Maybe? Well, on August 25 at 10:04 PM, the BK Racing Facebook page posted this image:
If this seems odd, you have no idea. All the old content from BK Racing is still there. It’s almost like everybody forgot this Facebook page even existed. Even more perplexing is the fact that the previous posts were from 2022. Long after the corpse of BK Racing was finished off by the vultures. The post before those two. was from February 9, 2015…over TEN YEARS AGO!
I honestly have no idea who posted this, or why it was posted. I will keep paying attention, and if anything changes, I will let you know. It’s an odd little mystery.
So when this news first broke, I was going to add it to the column last week, but it was far too long. So, I’m going to talk about the news about the title sponsor of NASCAR’s secondary series. Specifically, starting on January 1, 2026, NASCAR’s secondary series will go from the NASCAR Xfinity Series to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell said of the partnership:
“Like the great sport of NASCAR, O’Reilly Auto Parts was born in America and built on the hard work and drive of passionate people. This new partnership allows us to continue to fuel that passion for the next generation of NASCAR’s stars and fans while celebrating the journey we’ve been on together for decades.”
Look, I’ve been a fan for a long time. I’ve seen what NASCAR was in the 1990’s, and I see what it is now. The 1990’s are gone and are never coming back. Viewers are gone, sponsors are leaving, TV numbers are down. At least with the Cup Series, they solved the problem a long time ago.
That was what I was thinking about, for the Xfinity Series. Why not do a Cup Series style sponsor partnership. Instead of one sponsor paying $10 million, why not have four or five sponsors paying $2 million apiece per year? Call it the NASCAR Grand National Series, and that would work a lot better.
Money is tight, and getting tighter, so why not make this better for sponsors, NASCAR, and the fans? For major sponsors, $2 million a year is much more justifiable than $10 million. Think realistically, and fix the problems. Focus on what you have, not what you want. The problems can’t fully be fixed, but the damage can be mitigated at least.
Now to the other major news story. I’ve talked in the past about Dodge wanting to return to NASCAR. Well, they are a lot closer. Starting in 2026, Ram Trucks will be returning to the Craftsman Truck Series with Kaulig Racing. Kaulig Racing does not currently have a Truck Series team, but they will start one in 2026.
While I get that Kaulig Racing is very dedicated to racing, why would Ram Truck choose a team with no Truck Series experience at all? Wouldn’t you at least try to pilfer a team that already exists? At least that way, there are some current drivers and engineers that could provide advice. A couple of small but established Truck Series teams would be a much better bet than one team with no experience. I did notice this quote from the NASCAR.com Article:
“Nate Buelow — SVP of Brand Marketing for Stellantis North America, Ram’s parent company — indicated that for now, the automaker was exclusively partnered with Kaulig Racing as the “anchor team for our entire endeavor.” Buelow said that signing additional partner teams was a part of the manufacturer’s plans, but that Kaulig would be the centerpiece of Ram’s initial thrust.”
Again, the idea of signing with a team that has no Truck Series experience at all as a centerpiece, to me at least, doesn’t make sense. The lack of said experience could hold Ram back for a while, without other teams. I wish them well, but I hold out little hope.
So I meant to post last Friday, and while I got around to writing, I got sidetracked, so I never actually posted it. I’m going to post both this week and last week’s columns this week. First, how I spent my summer vacation.
So every year I take two content breaks. One in July, and one in December. My July break is spent enjoying Chicago in the summer. I did a lot. While I didn’t produce content, I did get a number of things ready for YouTube. I also hung out with my buddies, one of whom comes in from California. We ate, played video games, and hung out. It was great.
My big project is something I’ve actually worked on for almost all of 2025. I’ll have more to say at a later date, but I’m still working on it as of this writing. Hopefully I will get it done by the end of 2025.
And, of course, I watched racing. I always watch racing.
With that, let’s discuss the column I planned for this week.
I don’t watch tennis that much. I’ll watch if it’s playing somewhere, but I really don’t have a vested interest. But when I saw this story, I had to talk about it. The title sums it up. This is from The Daily Mail:
“Emma Raducanu calls for crying child to be EJECTED from stadium, sparking tense row with umpire in narrow defeat by Aryna Sabalenka.”
Here is the first part of the article:
“Emma Raducanu called for a crying child to be ejected from the stadium as she came within inches of the biggest win since her 2021 US Open triumph, losing narrowly to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka triumphed 7-6 (6-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) at the Cincinnati Open but there was a flashpoint while Raducanu was serving at a crucial stage in the deciding set.
Cries from a child in the stands took her focus away, causing her to stop the service action and tell the umpire: ‘It’s been, like, 10 minutes.
The official replied: ‘It’s a child. Do you want me to kick the child out of the stadium?
Raducanu shrugged but some fans shouted up ‘yes’ on her behalf before the Brit indicated her agreement.
‘I can call in, but we need to continue for the moment,’ the umpire explained during a break in play.
Raducanu went on to hold serve for 4-4 but ended up narrowly losing the match’s conclusive set.”
That whole debacle brought to mind an advice column from a few years ago. This is from Care and Feeding by Nicole Cliffe on Slate.com. The article is entitled “Was I Wrong to Let My 4-Year-Old Explore the Restaurant While We Ate?”
“Dear Care and Feeding,
My wife and I and our 4-year-old son were out to dinner last week. It was a medium-nice restaurant, not fast food, but not super fancy either. My son is a normal, active little boy, and it’s hard for him to sit through a whole dinner, so we let him explore the restaurant a little. I noticed our waitress giving him the hairy eyeball, so we asked him to stop running. He was pretty good about it after that, but he did get underfoot when she was carrying a tray, and she spoke to him pretty sharply to go back to our table and sit down. I felt it was completely uncalled for, and she should have come and spoken to us personally instead of disciplining someone else’s child.
I tipped 5 percent and spoke briefly to her manager, who gave noncommittal replies. My wife agrees with me, but when we posted about it on Facebook, we got a lot of judgy responses.
—It’s Hard for a 4-Year-Old to Sit Still”
So before I get to the official response, let me say my part. I’ve been seeing this as a trend. Parents will let their children do whatever they want, regardless of how much it bothers anyone else. I’ve seen this in movie theaters, restaurants, stores, and many other public places.
As a childless adult, I can say that this is never not annoying. I just want a nice meal or to go see a movie without kids running around and screaming. I’ve even seen whole families kicked out of places for just this reason.
The parents in this article are really enraging, because they honestly see nothing wrong with allowing a 4-year-old to run around a restaurant unsupervised. I guarantee that they will NOT be welcomed back. The aggravation you brought wasn’t worth the money you spent. Oh, and the “manager, who gave noncommittal replies,” I promise you that he was very much committed, she didn’t get in trouble, she wasn’t the one at fault.
Now to the official response:
“Dear Sit Still,
Yeah, this is your fault. It’s hugely your fault. Of course it’s hard for a 4-year-old to sit still, which is why people usually stick to fast-dining establishments while working on restaurant manners. It’s why one parent usually responds to a fidgety kid who wants to “explore” by taking him outside the restaurant, where he can get his wiggles out while not taking laps around servers precariously carrying trays of (often extremely hot) food and drink.
A kid “exploring” a restaurant is not a thing. When you did intervene, it wasn’t to get him back in his seat. It was just to instruct him to “stop running.” You weren’t parenting, so a server did it for you. She was right. You were wrong.
Your son is not ready to eat at a “medium-nice” restaurant again until he is capable of behaving a little better. You can practice at home. You can practice at McDonald’s. You can try a real restaurant again with the understanding that one of you may need to take him out when he starts getting the urge to run an obstacle course.
I doubt that you will do this, but I encourage you to return the restaurant, apologize to the manager for complaining about your server, and leave her a proper tip.
Mend your wicked ways.”
Perfect response. Parents like this need lessons in how to parent. Kids are dumb, they come into this world dumb, they can’t help it. You as a parent have one job: Smartening up your kids. Sometimes this might come at your own determent. No nice restaurants for some time, get used to kid-friendly restaurants. You chose this life, so live with your choices.
So I wanted to discuss this last week, but the column was way too long, so I’ll discuss it here. It was announced that FOX will be purchasing 1/3 of IndyCar from Roger Penske. This will, according to the press release, create:
-Innovative and industry-leading racing and entertainment events
-A hyper-engaged digital strategy and immersive content focus
-Enhanced promotion and star-building opportunities for NTT IndyCar Series drivers
While get what they are trying to do, I kept circling back to one singular question. That question is, given the current viewership numbers, and overall trends, what does FOX think they can accomplish? This isn’t a boom period, the 1990’s are over. IndyCar has made mistake after mistake after mistake during the boom period and since.
When Penske bought IndyCar, I, like many fans, thought this would change IndyCar for the better. A fresh owner would bring fresh changes, and the sport would improve. Not only didn’t anything really improve, but it got worse. The utter disaster that was the two races at Thermal made the sport look really bad. Penske blew many opportunities to bring fans in.
IndyCar moving from NBC to FOX was the best thing that happened in the last few years. NBC has been a joke to racing fans for years. It was so refreshing to watch the Toronto race on a regular tv instead of Peacock. All of the races are on broadcast TV, and ratings are up 31%. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing, but, how long can these ratings raise last? NASCAR’s ratings are down, F1 and the NHRA ratings have plateaued.
This move does have the advantage of injecting cash into IndyCar, but, again, how long can this last? FOX and IndyCar are for-profit businesses. As such, they need to make money to survive. This will work for a short while, but the fact that the fans are gone will affect things going forward. This partnership will work for a while, but FOX might sell their stake sooner rather than later.
The fan bases of racing are slowly going down. F1 and the NHRA have a very stable fan base, and they aren’t really doing badly. NASCAR has burned so many of their long-time fans, that they’ve left. IndyCar spent 35 years making the worst decisions at the worst times. Bottom line here is that this deal sounds good, but let’s see how long this lasts. Now, on to Randy Couture’s Pro Mod crash. According to TMZ:
“UFC legend Randy Couture was airlifted to a burn center with serious injuries after crashing during practice runs at a racetrack in Kansas City … TMZ Sports has learned.
Couture — who was slated to make his National Hot Rod Association racing debut this year — was involved in an accident during preparation on Tuesday … resulting in first- and second-degree burns, trauma injuries and smoke inhalation.”
Now, before we get to my Uni-Watch comment, let’s get technical and discuss the NHRA uniform requirements for Pro-Mod
NHRA Pro Mod Firesuit requirements, NHRA rule book Section 6, page 12. PDF page 166. The following items are required for all NHRA Pro Mod drivers to wear.
-SFI 3.3 head sock or SFI 3.3 skirted helmet is required on all cars.
-Fresh-air breathing system mandatory.
-Glove under-liners made of flame retardant material and socks meeting SFI 3.3 mandatory.
-All clothing containing metal or plastic prohibited.
-Undergarments that are worn in addition to those mandated that are made of flammable materials (e.g. nylon, rayon, polyester,spandex, etc.) are prohibited.
-All jewelry prohibited, with the exception of a high temperature rated silicone wedding band.
NOTE 1: SFI Spec 3.2A refers to SFI Spec 3.2A, which is the SFI standard for firesuits.
NOTE 2: SFI Spec 3.3 refers to SFI Spec 3.3, which covers all other Driver Accessories. These include gloves, underclothing, hoods, socks,shoes and boots,helmet supports,harness pads,arm restraints,helmet skirts and sports bras.
Note 3: SFI 3.2A/20 and SFI 3.3/20 are rated to protect the wearer from second degree burns for 45 seconds. These suits have up to seven layers. A typical NASCAR Cup Series or IndyCar Series driver suit is rated SFI 3.2A/5, is rated to protect the wearer from second degree burns for 10 second and has three layers.
Now I’m going to repeat what I said on Uni-Watch about the situation:
“My feeling is that one of two things, if not both, happened. Either he was not wearing the appropriate rated suit (since this is practice, the rules might not be as rigidly enforced) or since this was practice, a full safety team may not have been in place during the run in question. Safety officials were on scene, but not as much as a full race weekend. Since Pro Mod cars can reach speeds over 270MPH in a matter of just under six seconds, if something were to occur with one or both of these scenarios, it could easily lead to what happened.”
With that, It’s also possible that it was just an accident, and even with all of the saftey systems in place, it still caused the damage. Auto racing is an inherently dangerous sport, and accidents happen. Randy is up and about, and he is still preparing to debut in Pro Mod sometime in 2025. That is a good thing.
Next week, unless something major happens, how I spent my summer vacation.
I was going to do a “how I spent my summer vacation” column this week, but events transpired that I need to discuss. The first, and most obvious, is the fact that the Chicago Street Race will not be coming back in 2026. Instead, San Diego got a street race, and Chicago’s place on the NASCAR calendar moving forward has yet to be determined.
I can say a lot, but I can’t say that I’m shocked. While it proved decently popular with NASCAR and many of their fans, it wasn’t popular with Chicago residents. Many people were pissed that the Taste of Chicago got moved to August, and many more who live and work in Downtown Chicago were pissed at street closures. All in all, this was inevitable, and I’m not sure it will come back. Given how it came to be in the first place, this isn’t shocking.
Second news story is the Shawn Reed crash. At Seattle, Reed suffered a crash as a result of a blown tire. As a result, Reed suffered a hand injury, damaged thumb, the loss of his left index finger and broken ribs. Reed has stated he plans to make a comeback. He also discussed the tire in question. To quote Autoweek.com, link at the bottom, according to Reed:
“Goodyear’s reached out and they’ve found about 99% of the tire. They took some time and picked up every single piece—and that thing was bagged up and sent back to their home office in Akron where they’re dissecting everything. I’m not going to speculate. We do the best we can with what we’ve got, and they’re trying to put out the best tires. These cars are exceeding speeds today and forces that they probably never even thought about 10 years ago.
Whether that tire came apart or whether something went through it, we’ just have to work toward making them better. If we find that something went through it, we have to find what went through it and work on keeping it attached to the car. If it’s a freak accident and something blew up and something broke, then we have to find a better way to attach that stuff. That’s all I’m after and I think that’s what most racers are after.”
My thoughts and prayers to Shawn Reed.
Now for my most controversial story, the death of Hulk Hogan. On July 24, 2025, Terry Gene Bolea, known to the wrestling world as Hulk Hogan passed away. This let people into one of two camps. Camp #1 is the camp that remembers Hulk for all the good work he did in the ring. Camp #2 reviles Hulk for the who he is as a person. I’m firmly in camp #2.
It’s 2025, we have to stop separating the art from the artist. We can’t just judge things based on how successful they are anymore. We have to accept that a lot of celebrities are terrible people at their core. Hogan has a decades’ long list of confirmed examples of being a terrible person. He died on the 24th, but look at what people were saying about him on the 23rd.
In a Slate article, Luke Winkie made my point better than I ever could. In an artilce titled “Everyone Hated Hulk Hogan,” Luke stated the following, link at the bottom:
“Why do people despise Hogan? You need simply look at the cavalcade of hurt feelings and callous double-crosses he left in his wake. In a career spanning half a century, the man developed a genuinely Jay Leno–like reputation for the viciousness in which he protected his top spot in World Wrestling Entertainment. His ego frequently degraded the product itself.
There are too many stories to recall here, and all of them require a certain fluency with pro-wrestling customs, but I’ll try to distill a few highlights in layman’s terms. For instance: In 1993 Hogan outmaneuvered Bret Hart—another one of the greatest wrestlers of all time—by persuading company Chairman Vince McMahon to alter the ending of WrestleMania IX at the last minute. Instead of Hart defending his title in the main event, Hogan snatched the belt back on an anticlimactic technicality. Hulk paraded around the gold for the last few months he had left on his contract, in a farewell tour only he seemed to want. Hart never forgave him.
An even weirder incident occurred four years later, when Hogan was working for WWE’s rival wrestling promotion WCW. He was playing a bad guy at this point in his career, and he was booked to wrestle the beloved babyface Sting. It was, legitimately, the most anticipated match of its era, and the company cloaked it in all sorts of soap-opera pageantry. The storyline, heading into the match, was that Hogan had skewed the rules to his favor with a crooked referee named Nick Patrick. Patrick was supposed to execute what is known in the industry as a “fast three count.” When Hogan pinned Sting, Patrick would pound the mat as fast as possible to award Hogan the victory—thus ditching the impartial cadence enforced by the imaginary rulebook. It would demonstrate to the crowd, in no uncertain terms, that its hero had been screwed out of his rightful victory.
The one problem? When the match reached its climax, Patrick didn’t perform a fast three count after all. There are conflicting reports on why, but years later Patrick alleged that Hogan was the one to call the audible. At his most ruthless, it could often seem like Hogan believed wrestling to be real.
To be fair, he was not alone in that distinction. Pro wrestling has always been a cutthroat institution and, historically speaking, has favored its most cold-blooded operators (Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even the Rock all come to mind). But Hogan’s crimes had a nasty way of escaping the fantasia of the ring.
In 1986 Hogan committed perhaps his greatest sin, when he scuttled a burgeoning unionization effort in the WWE. The labor action was led by future Minnesota Gov. Jesse “the Body” Ventura. He planned to organize a wildcat strike in the days before WrestleMania II, when the performers had maximum leverage. (Health care and retirement benefits were among his core demands.) After Hogan caught wind of the effort, he took it straight to McMahon, who subsequently threatened to fire any wrestler involved in the effort. Just like Hart, Ventura never made amends with Hogan, who characterized what he did as a betrayal. To this day, WWE wrestlers lack a union.
I could go on. Hogan was the vessel for one of Peter Thiel’s first forays into political donorship, when the tech baron dumped oodles of cash into a lawsuit that brought about the destruction of Gawker Media. Hogan was suing the publication ostensibly because it had published his sex tape, on which he uttered racial slurs, specifically about the Black man his daughter Brooke was dating. In reality, it seemed clear he was Thiel’s willing partner to take down a longtime foe. Still, the slurs got him briefly booted out of the WWE, and when the company reinstated him in 2018, he offered a half-hearted mea culpa to the wrestlers backstage. According to those present, Hogan began his apology by warning the roster to be mindful about being recorded without their knowledge, rather than addressing the charges head-on. A group of prominent Black wrestlers eventually released a statement about the meeting, asserting that they’d need to see Hogan make a “genuine effort to change” if he were to gain their trust again. (It is safe to say that that never happened.)
So this is where we leave Hogan—a conniving and sadistically opportunistic person who is, nonetheless, permanently sanctified in the canon. I’m sure if you had the chance to ask him, he’d contend that all of those qualities were vital to his success, that it is impossible to scale the oily theogony of pro-wrestling immortality without making a gallery of enemies, both on-screen and off. The trade-off? Unlike so many of his peers, Hogan never did earn a beatific final chapter. Nobody came to kiss the ring. Those glory years in the 1980s, when Hulkamania truly ran wild, have been completely overshadowed by his cruelty. Toward what we now know was the end of his life, fellow legends seemed to take special pleasure in offering parting potshots. Just days ago, I listened to the Undertaker give his opinion on the hellish reception Hogan received in Los Angeles: “Sometimes in life, things come back.”
In the end, Hogan’s life and career in the ring will forever be overshadowed by who he was as a person. Why should we overlook a life of a Racist, greedy, backstabbing, untrustworthy, selfish, narcissistic entitled shill because he could cut good promos and wrestled well enough? Why should we separate Hulk Hogan from Terry Bolea? Granted there are wrestlers who were worse, but they don’t deserve praise either.
The bottom line here is that who you are off screen will be judged as harshley as you are on screen. Hulk Hogan is another example of bad behaviour behind the scenes tarnishes a legacy. Hogan isn’t the first, he isn’t the worst, he won’t be the last, but he is a perfect example.
This will be my last column before my annual summer vacation, where I take the month of July off, to spend the summer with friends, and enjoying myself. Before I do, I’ve been wanting to discuss the recent news that the United States Mint will cease production of the penny. It needs to be clarified for some people that the penny will continue to circulate and is still legal tender.
The cited reason for eliminating the penny is the costs involved in producin the penny, specifically the fact that each individual penny costs. In the words of Chris Isidore and Matt Egan of CNN:
“A Treasury spokesperson said the government made its final order of penny blanks this month, and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies only as long as an inventory of penny blanks exists. Consumers with pennies will still be able to use them for purchases. But without new pennies moving into circulation, businesses that complete cash transactions will have to start rounding up or down to the nearest nickel.
Each penny costs 3.7 cents to produce and distribute. While production costs have risen for each of the coins below, pennies and nickels are the only two that cost more to make than they’re worth. In 2024, it cost four times more to make a penny and three times more to make a nickel than it did 20 years ago.
But the cost of a penny might be a smaller problem than the alternative. That’s because the Mint actually loses even more money on each nickel it produces. Each nickel costs 13.8 cents, with 11 cents of production costs and 2.8 cents of administrative and distribution costs. These figures are for the government’s most recent fiscal year, which ended in September.”
First off, lets discuss this idea that pennies will vanish sooner than later. According to estimates, there are as many as 114 billion pennies currently in circulation. Since the US population is 340 million, this means that there are 325 pennies per citizen in the US. Second, unlike a dollar bill, which has a useful life of 2 years, pennies have a lifespan that lasts for decades. It’s going to take on hell of a long time for pennies to be few and far between.
The most crucial aspect to why people shouldn’t really be worried is that we are closer and closer to being a cashless society. Seriously, cash only businesses are fewer, and cashless stores are more common. Are we going to see some stores roll up to the nearest nickel for cash purchases, but it’s not an immediate threat.
Also, who is to say that this decision can’t be reversed. My thinking here is that if copper is too expensive, then another metal can be used. Same thing with nickels. If costs are too much, why not change the metal? We saw this back in 1965, when silver was taken out nickels and quarters. Who is to say that a more cost-effective metal can’t be used? Time will tell, of course.
But this got me to thinking…when was the last time the US Mint officially canceled a denomination of coin? With the help of Wikipedia, I was able to find a list of obsolete us coins. They are, in order of denomination:
-Half cent ½¢ (1793–1857)
-Fugio cent 1¢ (1787)
-Large cent 1¢ (1793–1857)
-Two-cent piece 2¢ (1864–1873)
-Three-cent silver 3¢ (1851–1873)
-Three-cent nickel 3¢ (1865–1889)
-Trime 3¢ 1865–1889
-Half disme 5¢ (1792)
-Half dime 5¢ (1792–1873)
-Twenty-cent piece 20¢ (1875–1878)
-Gold dollar $1 (1849–1889)
-Quarter eagle $2.50 (1796–1929)
-Three-dollar piece $3 (1854–1889)
-Half eagle $5 (1795–1929)
-Eagle $10 (1795–1933)
-Double eagle $20 (1850–1933)
So the last time the US eliminated a denomination of coin was 1933. However, the Eagle and Double Eagle were eliminated due to the Gold Reserve Act of January 30, 1934. Outside of that, there haven’t really been many coins that have ceased production since the late 1800’s. Again, with the number of pennies in circulation, and the fact that we are closer and closer to being a cashless society, it won’t be a big issue for some time, and a lot can happen.
So some newsworthy racing stories happened this week. The first of came from the NHRA. I’ll quote the NHRA from their own website:
“NHRA has levied a $5,000 fine and deducted 100 championship points from Erica Enders’ score for the use of rear wheels at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals that did not meet NHRA’s approved specifications for Pro Stock.
Following the disqualification of Erica Enders’ run during the fourth round of qualifying on Saturday in Bristol due to the use of rear wheels that did not meet NHRA’s approved specifications for Pro Stock, the following additional penalties have been announced: a 100-point deduction and a $5,000 fine.
The team has the right to appeal the financial penalty if they wish to do so. The funds collected from this fine will be used to support and enhance the capabilities of the NHRA Safety Safari.”
The NHRA later followed up on this statement clarifying the issue at hand:
“The NHRA Technical Department has issued a statement to further explain the fine and points penalty levied on Erica Enders’ Pro Stock team after it was found to be equipped with prohibited beadlock liner wheels at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.
Following the fourth round of qualifying at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Erica Enders’ Pro Stock car was found to be equipped with beadlock liner wheels, including an inner liner tire. These wheels and (inner/liner) tires were originally developed to provide increased sidewall support during launch and reduce the likelihood of tire shake. The widespread adoption of this combination in other categories where wheel liners are legal demonstrates that the performance benefits of improved tire support outweigh the added weight.
Based on this, the NHRA Technical Department determined that the use of these wheels and (inner/liner) tires was intended to create a performance advantage not permitted in the Pro Stock category.
The 2025 NHRA Rulebook clearly states that “…unless optional performance equipment or performance-related modification is specifically permitted by this Rulebook, it is prohibited. All model, engine, or equipment changes or modifications not specifically addressed in this Rulebook must be submitted in writing to NHRA for consideration prior to competition…”
The Elite Motorsports team had a conversation with an NHRA Official regarding this topic during the Epping event, and this rule was communicated to them at that time. By choosing to use these wheels and tires in Bristol, they demonstrated a willful disregard for the instruction given by NHRA.”
Based on that, I think that there’s no room for interpretation. This was clearly an attempt from a struggling team to get a competitive advantage using an illegal strategy. It’s been no secret that Elite Motorsports has been struggling for some time. It’s no secret that they are frustrated, and want to turn things around. But did they really think they would get away with it?
Seriously, do cheating teams thing that sanctioning bodies are that dumb that they could run blatantly illegal equipment and not get caught? It rarely works, and there are serious consequences. The loss of points has effectively ended her playoff hopes. Her season is over. Even if the team appeal the penalty, it’s unlikely she will win. It’s not like these wheels are in the gray area. They are outright banned. Teams and drivers know good and well what equipment is legal and what equipment is illegal. Erica is screwed, she knows it, and she can’t blame anyone but herself.
Next we move on to Formula 1. The 2026 Formula 1 schedule came out, and a stunning change was made. To quote the Formula 1 website:
“The calendar sees further improvements to the geographical flow of races, including the Canadian Grand Prix now following Miami in an earlier slot from May 22-24, delivering significant freight efficiencies as some equipment can move directly from one event to the other.
This change creates a consolidated European leg of the season across the summer months, beginning in Monaco from June 5-7 and finishing in Spain, where Madrid will make its F1 calendar debut from September 11-13.”
As Adam Stern phrased it:
“Person familiar with @F1’s thinking disputed the characterization that the Canada switch was made to encroach on the Indy 500, adding that F1 respects Indy but had to better regionalize its schedule and factor in the wishes of the @F1GPCanada promoters.”
Well, here’s the problem. Regardless of intention, F1 is running opposition to the Indy 500. While the Monaco/Indy/Charlotte system worked well for years, and got everybody good TV numbers, this new setup will cost F1 a lot of live viewers. NASCAR, which does three to four times the viewership that IndyCar does, won’t try to run opposition, since they understand the significance of the Indy 500 in North America.
The only time a nationally televised race tried to compete with the Indy 500 was the 1996 US 500, which was CART desperately trying to prove they were just as good as the Indy Racing League. It was such a disaster, CART never tried to compete with the Indy 500 again. It says a lot that, in 1996, the US 500 couldn’t get a broadcast tv deal, or a title sponsor.
If Formula 1 thinks they are going to win this battle, they are dead wrong. Formula 1 barely has the foothold in America to tie NASCAR, even with the move to Amazon Prime. If they honestly think they are going to put a dent in the Indy 500 viewership, they have another guess coming. The Indy 500 is too important to the American racing scene for the Canadian Grand Prix to put a dent in the ratings.
Why would F1, which is desperate for a foothold in the American market try this is mind boggling. This won’t work, and even with a broadcast on ABC, they won’t put a dent in the Indy 500 ratings. I know I sound like a broken record, but it just won’t happen. It won’t work, so please don’t try.
Person familiar with @F1’s thinking disputed the characterization that the Canada switch was made to encroach on the Indy 500, adding that F1 respects Indy but had to better regionalize its schedule and factor in the wishes of the @F1GPCanada promoters. https://t.co/27ockxKSgj
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