Mackenna has come a long way

By Roger Diez

Nevada Appeal Sports Writer

Congratulations to Mackena Bell on her selection for NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program. NASCAR released information on this year's selections on Friday, and Bell will be driving the No. 11 AC Delco Super Late Model for Luis Martinez under the Position One Motorsports banner. Bell will run a minimum of 18 races in the Whelen Series at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Cal.

It seems like just yesterday that she was wheeling a Box Stock Outlaw Kart around the infield at Champion Speedway here in Carson City. I have watched her progress through the karting ranks into Legends and Late Models, winning races and championships along the way, and I can tell you that this is a young driver with both the talent and the will to succeed.

Others know it as well, because she is being besieged by several different agencies that want to promote this very "marketable" talent. It may not be too long before we have a local driver to cheer for as we watch NASCAR's major division races on TV.

Mackena will be in attendance at this weekend's Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale, fresh from the inauguration ceremonies in Washington D.C., and press duties in North Carolina. She won't be driving in the Shootout this year, but will be presented as the Diversity driver who will be running at the speedway for the 2009 season.

- Another local racer will be at Irwindale this weekend. Bobby Hodges was invited to participate in the Whelen All-American Series Late Model 75-lapper as part of the Toyota All-Star Showdown program. Hodges is taking some time out of his engineering studies at Cal Poly to take part. If you missed qualifying on SPEED last night, be sure to catch all the racing action tonight from Irwindale.

- And at noon today, FOX will cover the first 90 minutes of the Rolex 24-hour endurance race from Daytona, with coverage switching to SPEED until 7 p.m., when the Toyota All-Star Showdown airs. SPEED will also show the last nine hours of the Rolex 24, ending at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Yes, folks, it is racing season again " and not a day too soon!

With the 2009 racing season finally underway, and a mere two weeks from the Budweiser Shootout to start the NASCAR season, here are some interesting facts from 2008, with my comments in parentheses:

- NASCAR was number one in attendance figures at sporting events with 17 of the top 20 events.

- Sprint Cup Series events averaged nearly 120,000 fan.

- NASCAR racing is the number two-rated regular season sport on television.

- NASCAR is televised weekly in more than 100 countries and in more than 30 languages. (I wonder what "Boogity, boogity, boogity" sounds like in Japanese?)

- More than 400 unique corporate sponsors are involved in NASCAR (I suspect that number may decline in 2009).

- NASCAR has the most Fortune 500 involvement in all of professional sports (so that's where some of that $700 billion in bailout money went).

- NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks across more than 30 states, Canada and Mexico.

And to show how competitive NASCAR racing has become, here are some competition statistics from the 2008 season:

- Twenty-nine Sprint Cup Series drivers had at least one top-five finish; in the Nationwide Series there were 43, and 28 in the Craftsman Truck Series.

- Thirty-seven Sprint Cup drivers had at least one top-10 finish, with 49 Nationwide drivers and 43 Craftsman Truck drivers in that category.

- Sprint Cup races averaged 11 leaders and 21 lead changes.

- Sixty Nationwide drivers led at least one lap.

- Twenty Craftsman Truck Series races had a margin of victory less than one second.

(Yes, I know it's the Camping World Truck Series now, but last year it was Craftsman).

Finally, we have more local racing in store beginning in April. I have it on good authority that Reno-Fernley Raceway's dirt oval, after being idle in 2008, will be running at full-throttle again for 2009. Full details were not available at press time, but watch this space next Saturday for more information.