If the chance at winning the last Elvis trophy isn't enough incentive to win the Kroger On Track for the Cure 250 today at Memphis Motorsports Park, series sponsor Nationwide Insurance has sweetened the pot.
This season, Nationwide started a "Dash 4 Cash" program with a bonus $25,000 at the races at Nashville, Kentucky, Iowa and Memphis for eligible drivers. As an extra carrot, the eligible driver with the most points overall at the four races gets an additional $50,000.
Brad Keslowski has won $75,000 so far as part of the program, and said it does enter into drivers' minds while on the track.
"We're still out there to win every week," Keslowski said. "There's just a little more emphasis on it, and you'll take a little more risk to do it. I'm a big fan of the program. I was a big fan of the program before I won the money. It's nice to see a program that supports the series and the intent of the series."
Practice results
Mike Bliss and Steve Wallace led the practice sessions for today's race.
Bliss led the first practice with a best lap of 117.863 mph. Landon Cassil was second best with a 117.688 mph lap.
Wallace's lap was 117.947 in the second practice with Jason Leffler, who was been fighting flu-like symptoms on Friday, second with a top speed of 117.755 mph.
Track Walk
Between this morning's qualifying session and the start of the race will be a NASCAR Foundation Track Walk at 11 a.m.
Fans with a race ticket will be able to make a donation, which will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast cancer research foundation, and be able to walk around the .75-mile oval with participating drivers.
Those who wish to participate can register online at nascar.com/foundation or can register on site at either the expo area or Gate 46, where the walkers are scheduled to meet before taking to the track.
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Traffic problem spots run through Cordova
Wherever a traffic accident occurs, there is often more than enough blame to go around.
"In the majority of cases, two people are at fault and it's our job to find out which one was more at fault," said Lt. Phil Rosser of the Memphis Police Department's Traffic Division.
The blame, however, also extends to high-incident intersections, such as four problem spots on Germantown Parkway.Of the 20 Memphis intersections with the highest number of crashes, four are along the Cordova stretch of roadway, according to accident data compiled by police from 2006 through June of this year. More than 1,000 accidents occurred at the intersections of Germantown Parkway at Trinity, Cordova Road, Dexter and U.S. 64 during the 2 1/2 year time period tracked.
Police used the data to determine at which intersections to place red-light cameras.
Each day, 60,000 to 85,000 vehicles travel Germantown Parkway, according to city traffic engineer Richard Merrill. But Merrill does not look to place blame on either the road or drivers.
"We don't look at it in those terms," Merrill said. "We look at it terms of if there's a problem let's see what we can do to fix it."
Widening Germantown Parkway might be a long-term improvement, but would be very expensive and time and labor intensive. The installation of the red-light cameras, which began on Oct. 14 on Germantown Parkway with northbound, southbound and westbound cameras at Germantown and Trinity, is perhaps an immediate way to reduce the number of accidents.
From 1994-2005, New York City's Red Light Camera Program resulted in a 72 percent reduction in red-light violations and a 41 percent decrease in collisions, said Jason Norton, a senior manager with St. Louis-based American Traffic Solutions, the company that Memphis has contracted with for its red-light project.
"We test every direction at an intersection and that determines where a camera is installed," Norton said. "Just because an intersection is dangerous, that doesn't mean you have a red-light problem or a problem from every direction."
Source
"In the majority of cases, two people are at fault and it's our job to find out which one was more at fault," said Lt. Phil Rosser of the Memphis Police Department's Traffic Division.
The blame, however, also extends to high-incident intersections, such as four problem spots on Germantown Parkway.Of the 20 Memphis intersections with the highest number of crashes, four are along the Cordova stretch of roadway, according to accident data compiled by police from 2006 through June of this year. More than 1,000 accidents occurred at the intersections of Germantown Parkway at Trinity, Cordova Road, Dexter and U.S. 64 during the 2 1/2 year time period tracked.
Police used the data to determine at which intersections to place red-light cameras.
Each day, 60,000 to 85,000 vehicles travel Germantown Parkway, according to city traffic engineer Richard Merrill. But Merrill does not look to place blame on either the road or drivers.
"We don't look at it in those terms," Merrill said. "We look at it terms of if there's a problem let's see what we can do to fix it."
Widening Germantown Parkway might be a long-term improvement, but would be very expensive and time and labor intensive. The installation of the red-light cameras, which began on Oct. 14 on Germantown Parkway with northbound, southbound and westbound cameras at Germantown and Trinity, is perhaps an immediate way to reduce the number of accidents.
From 1994-2005, New York City's Red Light Camera Program resulted in a 72 percent reduction in red-light violations and a 41 percent decrease in collisions, said Jason Norton, a senior manager with St. Louis-based American Traffic Solutions, the company that Memphis has contracted with for its red-light project.
"We test every direction at an intersection and that determines where a camera is installed," Norton said. "Just because an intersection is dangerous, that doesn't mean you have a red-light problem or a problem from every direction."
Source
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