LOS ANGELES — Shav Glick, who covered the Indianapolis 500 and a variety ofother races during 37 years writing about motorsports for the Los Angeles Times,has died. He was 87.

Glick died Saturday at his Pasadena home of complications from melanoma, thenewspaper confirmed Sunday. He retired at 85 last year.

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By Bruce Martin PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

MARTINSVILLE, Virginia (Ticker) – NASCAR would kill for a good finish, just ask David Ragan.

In what was supposed to be a “green-white-checkered flag” finish to Sunday’s Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Ragan’s Ford spun out and stopped in between turns 1 and 2 at the tight .526-mile short track.

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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA (TICKER) — Defending champion Jack Sprague will be the leader of the pack in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Sprague’s time of 19.796 at a speed of 95.656 mph on Saturday earned him the pole in this the 21st of 25 Craftsman Truck Series races.

This is the second pole of the season for Sprague, who will be participating in the 400th NASCAR national series race of his career. The 43-year-old veteran also won the pole here a year ago and went on to win the race.

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By Bruce Martin

PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

MARTINSVILLE, Virginia (Ticker) – Kyle Busch knows he probably won’t win The Chase.

After all he enters Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Subway 500 sixth in points, 280 behind the leader, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, with only five races remaining in the season.

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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jeff Gordon won’t have to pass Jimmie Johnson this time.

The points leader failed for 53 laps at the end of the Nextel Cup spring race Martinsville Speedway to get around his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, and wound up second as Johnson took the checkered flag on NASCAR’s shortest circuit.

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By Bruce Martin PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

MARTINSVILLE, Virginia (Ticker) – Jeff Gordon’s “Drive for Five” championships got a little smoother on Friday when the NASCAR Nextel Cup points leader won the pole for Sunday’s Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Gordon won his 63rd career pole and his sixth around the flat, .526-mile paper-clip shaped track with a lap at 94.974 miles per hour in a Chevrolet Impala SS.

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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — David Ragan’s second career Nextel Cup Series start — and his first at tight, tricky Martinsville Speedway — could hardly have gone worse.

A year ago, he was involved in several accidents, infuriated veteran racers Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader and wasn’t allowed to race the following week at Atlanta.

On Sunday, Ragan will be back on the smallest circuit in the series, this time battling the heralded Juan Pablo Montoya in the race for the series’ top rookie.

“A lot has changed for the good,” Ragan said on a rainy Friday at Martinsville, where practice time was short and he qualified 41st for Sunday’s Subway 500.

Ragan still went to Atlanta last season, finished sixth in a Craftsman Truck Series race and met with NASCAR officials to discuss his situation. He also made a winning bid of $5,750 for a pre-race ride with Stewart, and used it to pick his brain about racing.

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By Scott Serrano

PA SportsTicker Auto Racing Editor

Matt Kenseth has continued his trademark consistency in NASCAR’s “Chase for the Nextel Cup.” Unfortunately for the 2003 champion, that consistency has been finishing in the back of the pack.

Since starting the Chase with a solid seventh-place run at New Hampshire, Kenseth ran into an uncharacteristic string of bad luck over the next four races to all but erase any title hopes for 2007.

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CONCORD, N.C. — There was a time not too long ago when Jeff Gordon wondered if he’d ever win another race.

His personal life was in shambles, and a long losing streak had the four-time series champion doubting himself for the first time in his storied NASCAR career. The wins were few and far between, and the consistent title contender had turned into a perpetual also-ran.

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By Bruce Martin

PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

CONCORD, North Carolina (Ticker) – Clint Bowyer realizes he needs some help if the second-year NASCAR Nextel Cup driver is going to win the “Chase for the Championship.” But he’s certainly having the most fun of the 12 drivers that started NASCAR’s 10-race chase.

Bowyer finished second behind race-winner and Nextel Cup leader Jeff Gordon in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Although he is third in the Chase, 78 points out of the lead, the race driver from Emporia, Kansas is having an outstanding season even if it doesn’t result in the Nextel Cup title.

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