Sam McQuagg, the 1965 NASCAR rookie of the year, died of cancer Saturday in Columbus, Ga. He was 73.

In July 1966, Sam McQuagg made a memory for his two sons that will last a lifetime.

Sam McQuagg, the 1965 rookie of the year in what was then NASCAR’s Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup), died Saturday morning. He was 73. McQuagg competed in 62 races in NASCAR’s top series, getting a victory in the 1966 Firecracker 400 at Daytona in a Dodge owned by Ray Nichels. He won more than 250 feature races at local tracks, highlighted by his 1963 season at Thunderbowl Speedway in …

If there was any lingering hope that Jack Frost might go easy on Western New York this winter, that hope was buried under a pile of snow this weekend as a blustery, winter snow storm settled itself over much of the Buffalo area. Heavy snowfalls on Fri., Dec. 19 and storms on Sun., Dec. 21 led to tough travel conditions and plenty of shoveling practice for local residents.

“The first time I went over the wall,” said 2005 East Aurora High School graduate Greg Cwiklinski, “I felt like I was flying and everything was in slow motion.” That’s quite something, considering over the wall is a NASCAR term meaning hefting two 80-pound racing tires over a 36-inch-high concrete wall in Pit Row, removing the old tires from the race car or truck, installing the new ones, …

I have a friend who insists there were at least a dozen movies made in the 1960s starring Elvis Presley as a race car driver named Rick.

Former Daily Press auto racing writer Al Pearce travels the world to get autographs for a helmet he’ll auction for charity. The idea that someone could gather the signatures of all 20 living Formula One World Driving season champions onto a single helmet raised doubts among those familiar with the planet’s most popular motorsports series.

A detailed, absorbing look at the culture that spawned NASCAR. In 2008, after years of phenomenal growth, interest in NASCAR racing fizzled noticeably. Fans cite a litany of reasons: the poor economy, mediocre racing, the ill-conceived pseudo-playoff known as the “Chase for the Championship,” the presence of (horrors!) a Japanese automaker in the Sprint Cup, and the pathetic spectacle of the …

When you cover motorsports in Charlotte, it’s difficult to separate the biggest stories for the industry from those that have the most impact locally. NASCAR’s success, to be certain, also is success for Charlotte, for Mecklenburg County and for the surrounding ring of counties where stock-car racing makes its home. So the year’s big story in NASCAR also is the year’s biggest motorsports …

One team and a pair of races folded last week. Longtime car owner Bill Davis, who celebrated the Craftsman Truck Series championship last month with driver Johnny Benson, sold his racing assets, including the company that supplies engines to NASCAR teams in the truck and Nationwide Series.