Full Throttle

A few notes as NASCAR Nation (or is it Hip-Hop Nation?) heads west to the land of Fruits & Nuts.

First, a story that dots both the Daytona and California “I’s.”

Michael Yaki is an American of “blended Asian ancestry,” including Japanese and has written a piece for the International Herald Tribune.

In The Jingoism 500 he takes on the issue of Toyota’s entry into America’s most popular racing series. In “many Nascar-related forums and chat rooms” Yaki has seen a rise in the use of the “J” word, the Asian equivalent of Amerca’s “N” word.

As one who has noted the same I’ll call this my read of the day. However, his call for NASCAR to “take measures to reject the appearance and insinuation of intolerance and prejudice in its ranks,” is a bit over the top. The sanctioning body has no control over what is written in forums and chat rooms and even if they did someone would haul out the censorship bogyman followed shortly by a battery of lawyers.

Disappointed Mark Martin fans might take heart from his prior performance at Fontana. Martin has one win, three top-five and six top-10 finishes in 13 starts at California.

He also has led 271 laps