Early start at Fernley Speedway

Fernley 95A Speedway is back in action this afternoon, with a full racing program on the clay oval. It is the second and final early start, with racing commencing at 2:30 pm. Spectator gates open at noon. Tomorrow the track has a swap meet beginning at 8 a.m. and going until 3 p.m. The cost is $25 for a booth, with free admission to shoppers.

•••

If you think NASCAR drivers are all dumb rednecks, prepare to be disabused of that notion. On April 15, at 6 p.m. in the Bob Boldrick Theater at Carson City’s Community Center, Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky might just open your eyes. With a PhD in condensed matter physics from Michigan State University, she has devoted a great deal of time on the science of motorsports. Her lecture, titled “The Science of Speed: Why Driving Fast is Harder than You Think,” delves into the physics and mathematics that successful racing drivers must master. If you can’t make it on Tuesday (should have done those taxes earlier), you can check out her blog at www.buildingspeed.org/blog.

•••

Once again, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series fell afoul of Mother Nature at Texas Motor Speedway. The race was run on Monday after being rained out on Sunday. Forget global warming, NASCAR seems to be suffering from global wetting this season. The delayed race saw the seventh new winner of the 2014 season, as Joey Logano joined his teammate Brad Keselowski as a probable Chase contender. Bad luck once again befell Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kevin Harvick. At least Junior and Harvick have one in the win column, but six-time champ Johnson is still winless on the season. So is teammate Jeff Gordon, who couldn’t catch the flying Logano on the final restart. Gordon is having a terrific season, as competitive as I’ve seen him in years. It can’t be long before the two Hendrick teammates take a checkered flag.

•••

Voting is now open for the fan selection of a driver to compete in the Sprint All-Star race, which will take place at Charlotte on May 17. Kyle Larson got my vote when he mentioned racing karts against Mackena Bell last week. If you want to vote for Kyle or any other driver, go to http://www.nascar.com/sprintfanvote or NASCAR mobile app on your Sprint cell phone (mobile votes count double).

•••

From the other side of the pond, Italian and German media have reported that seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher has been making eye contact and responding to voices, on his way back from a head injury and months-long coma.