"nascar" news and stories

Tofurky has gotten racy.

"The blare of revving engines, the squeal of tires leaving pit row, it's not an atmosphere where you'd expect someone to be touting the benefits of vegetables, recycling, composting and canvas bags. And that's exactly what makes rising star race car driver Leilani Munter so interesting," says HuffPo writer (and program director of Meatless Mondays) Chris Elam.

A biology graduate turned race car driver, Munter began racing stock cars 10 years ago, and now competes in both NASCAR and IndyCar. She's been voted "the hottest woman in NASCAR," and is only the fourth woman in history to compete in the Indy Pro Series.

Read Elam's full interview with Munter, and hear how she manages her ironic dual identity of race car driver and environmentalist.

Matt Edwards, executive director of the tiny Mount Airy Museum of Regional History that's just mounted an exhibit chronicling stock car racing's bootlegging roots, won't say whether there was any moonshine at an opening reception last weekend.

"I'm going to plead the fifth," Edwards says after three long, quiet seconds.

Yet the 1,200-square-foot gallery on Main Street in the town that inspired Mayberry isn't at all sly about the drinking locals used to do. While some NASCAR critics have accused the organization of sanitizing the sport's past, "White Liquor and Dirt Tracks: The Origins of NASCAR" contends millions of fans wouldn't tune their sets to coverage of Bristol and Talladega if it weren't for the thirst of yesterday's mountaineers.

"There's no denying the bootlegging background," Edwards says. "We wanted to show the shift from illicit moonshine to bragging on the tracks."

In case there was ever any doubt, here is further proof that everyone is getting in on the convenience-beverage craze. Hooters has announced that they will be launching a new energy drink this spring, complete with pictures of real Hooters waitresses on the cans. According to their website, there will be regular and sugar/carb-free versions of the drink, in orange and berry flavors, and it will sell for $1.99. Hooters has also announced that the new brand will be sponsoring Casey Kingsland at the NASCAR Craftsman truck racing events, and subsequently selling a whole new line-up of racing merchandise - at the track and at the store.

The vice-president of marketing for Hooters, Mike McNeil, said in a statement: "We are very excited to launch this new product into the dynamic energy drink market. When you think of Hooters you think of high energy." Really? Is that really what you think of when you think of Hooters? I'm not so sure.

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• Brooklyn has become America's food design central.
• Mario Batali has a new book out about NASCAR? Okay.
• Three star chefs make simple but elegant desserts.
• What the heck is Big Wine, and is it good or evil?
• Slashfood isn't the only one who has photo contests. Food & Wine is running their first ever.
• The mag also wants your input on how to improve their web site.
• This month's recipes include: Goat Cheese Stuffed Roasted Figs, Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup, Napa Cabbage Salad, White Cheddar and Scallion Muffins, Crispy Monkfish with Capers, Grilled Hickory-Smoked Hanger Steak, Apple Crumble Cakes with Chestnuts, and The Icebreaker, a cocktail made with ice wine, grapes, and Vodka.

Just like the participants in so many other sports, even NASCAR drivers have to watch what they eat. Don't think it's a tough job? Consider that the drivers spend over 3 hours in a 120F car going 190mph - a car in which he is wedged firmly, uncomfortably into place, breathing exhaust fumes and fighting the pull of G-forces. A nutritionally sound diet can not only help the driver concentrate and drive better, it can help him (or her) win.

Sliver-slim restaurants take into account that diners want find food in addition to some entertainment, so they're not just seating guests at the bar, they're taking out the tables. Could the ulterior motivation of the restaurateurs be that New York real estate is so high?

The difference between types of honey can be huge and once you get a taste for honeys from specific flowers, plants and fields, the applications for the sweet stuff suddenly seem endless - as some chefs are already finding out.

Don't fear spices. While subtlety is pleasant, there is much to be learned from using spices by the handful, not the quarter teaspoon, as they are used in Middle Eastern cuisine. Try Spoon Lamb or Spicy Carrot Puree.

Perhaps the greatest of all champagnes, Bollinger's Vieilles Vignes Françaises, comes from grapes that are some of the few in France not grown from American roots.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, takes a look at the bitter green arugula with white bean and salt cod salad.

Frank Bruni dines at Dona and gives it two stars.

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