Story Archives of 'Auto Racing'

Each year over 100,000 people travel up to Loudon for races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the track owned by the Bahre family but sold to new owners in 2007. Senior Vice President Jerry Gappens was made the track’s new General Manager; we talk to Jerry Gappens about his new role and the role of auto racing in New Hampshire.

Guest

• Jerry Gappens, General Manager for the New Hampshire Motor Speedway

There was a time when NASCAR officials thought New Hampshire was about five miles from the North Pole.

That was before the Southern sport - along with the culture, dollars, and perhaps even the so-called "NASCAR dads" voting block - revved across the United States to stop off right here in Loudon, home of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a track that can seat 105,000-plus people.

As local racing fans gear up for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 this coming Sunday, industry insiders are thinking about the future of NASCAR. Track attendance is down, corporate sponsors may be pulling out, and gas prices are at an all-time high, affecting the race teams as well as fans who trek in from across the country to hear the engines roar.

Charlie Pierce wrote about the foothold NASCAR now has in New England for The Boston Globe Magazine, and he joins Word of Mouth to talk about NASCAR's financial crunch - and its identity crisis.

(Photo by pocketwiley)

The State Senate has killed a plan supporters say would have restored local oversight to the regulation of private race tracks.

New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports.

It's the number one spectator sport in the state, and it's not politics! New Hampshire fans love the drama, intrigue and high speed stakes of NASCAR racing. And for one weekend in July, a local racetrack become's the state's second largest city, welcoming over 100,000 visitors. Laura's guests are Gordon Kirby, a racing journalist who travels the world covering the sport of auto racing, Kevin Provencher, Sports Writer who covers NASCAR for The Manchester Union Leader, and Pete Pistone, Executive Editor and Sports Journalist for Racing One Magazine. Petes' uncle was "Tiger" Tom Pistone who raced NASCAR in the 50s.

The battle over a proposed auto racetrack in Tamworth continued this week.

The track's developers are seeking state approval to dredge and fill wetlands.

Critics continued to voice concern about the possible impact on water quality.

They also argued the track would need a thirty-five foot wall to control noise.

The track has been a hot issue for months in this small town just south of the White Mountains.

New Hampshire Public Radio Correspondent Trish Anderton reports.