Brokeback NASCAR?

Here's a little NASCAR news for this Atlanta Motor Speedway weekend:

1. Bobby Hamilton, former Cup driver and now a regular in the Truck Series announced that he's been diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Hamilton ran his last truck race (for a while) last night and will immediately begin treatment for the disease. He hopes to be able to rejoin the series at the last race in Homestead in November.

Hamilton's one of the good guys, and our prayers are with him.

2. Bill Lester will be the first African-American to start a Nextel Cup Division race since 1986. Lester qualified 19th in a Bill Davis Racing car. Lester has been a regular in the Truck Series for several years, but hasn't made a huge splash in that division. He ran a great lap to get into the Cup race, and hopefully he'll have a good day on Sunday.

I know NASCAR would really love to see an African-American succeed at the Cup level as that could open up a whole new fan base for the sport. However, given Lester's record in the Truck Series, I'm not sure he's going to be the guy to do it..

3. Line of the day: During an interview prior to qualifying last night, Kyle Petty was asked about his new fire suit which appeared to be two or three sizes too large (he has a new sponsor this weekend). Kyle said "I know Darrell (Waltrip) wants to drive one of these cars, so he can just hop in here (his firesuit) and we can be Brokeback Race Car Drivers". Needless to say, the entire broadcast crew collapsed in laughter.

4. Kasey Kahne's on the poll for Sunday's race at the fastest track on the NASCAR circuit. These guys will be doing 190 mph on a 1 1/2 mile high-banked track. It's always a very exciting race, and is often decided by just inches after 500 miles.