Smoke on the RadioHe has lots of friends, and he has lots of enemies, but they all call him Smoke. That's because Tony Stewart is one of the most outspoken drivers in all of motorsports, but he's also arguably the best all-around driver since A.J. Foyt. Starting next January, Tony's getting his own weekly radio show on Sirius satellite radio. As someone who calls his peers idiots and morons on a regular basis, Tony Stewart could prove to be just as entertaining on the air as he is on the track. The two-hour show will feature high-profile guests from the entire spectrum of racing and let listeners call in to pick Tony's brain. "Our show will allow us to speak with the fans on our terms, where we're free to talk about anything and everything from racing and rock 'n' roll to our travels across America," Tony said. The show will be just one of dozens of programs on Sirius' upcoming 24/7 NASCAR station. -Stephen Kim
MowZillaThe combination of spare parts lying around and time on your hands tends to lead to offbeat projects when you're a gearhead. Callie and Jordan Vogel at Callie's Kustoms are two such gearheads. They run a small screen-printing shop in their attic with shirts aimed at the hot rod and 4x4 communities. "Shirts for gearheads, by gearheads" is their motto. Beginning mostly as a joke with side hopes of driving a little more traffic to their new Web site, a secondhand push mower was outfitted with spare parts from their '58 Chevy flatbed project. The tactic worked, and the daily hits to the site skyrocketed, so the couple decided to go all out and build MowZilla. We don't know if the K&N filter or Cherry Bomb muffler added any power, but the NOS Powershot system certainly did. If you want to see MowZilla in all its tree-munching, watermelon-destroying glory, check out the video on www.callieskustoms.com. We can't wait to hear about the variations that are built after this. -Christopher Campbell
Royal Purple and Nish Motorsports aim for Summers Brothers RecordThe Nish Motorsports streamliner has scorched the Bonneville Salt Flats at over 380 mph, but it has yet to officially break the Summers Brothers' 41-year-old record of 409.277 mph. The Nish family, with loads of support from Royal Purple, are gunning for that BNI world record at this August's Speed Week and the FIA record at the World Finals in October. To that end, they're having Tom Klein of Klein Engines (Chandler, Arizona) build a radical 673ci Arias big-block that should make 2,200 hp . . . naturally aspirated. A few bottles of nitrous will be onboard, just in case.
Jim and Benjamin Burkdoll are modifying the body, engine cover, and air inlet at Autobody Express in Ogden, Utah, and Tim McNees is modifying the frame structure. Nish Motorsports' crewchief Cec McCray is busy making all the necessary in-house modifications as well as preparing the support equipment. The Nish family will be attempting to break a few racing barriers: The first is the Summers' 409.277-mph record set in 1965, and the second is to push the new Royal Purple Streamliner past 425. See www.nishmotorsports.com -Rob Kinnan
Blind Guy Drives a 12-Second Corvette!Of all the senses, the one we'd most hate to lose is our eyesight. That very thing happened to Dave Morgan of Lake Orion, Michigan, a few years ago due to detached retinas. That meant he only had two years to enjoy driving his '98 Corvette. But the crew at Wheel to Wheel Powertrain in Madison Heights, Michigan, gave Dave another chance behind the wheel of his Corvette after they installed a high-stall converter and deeper rear gears in the car. Dave ripped off a 12.84 at 111 mph without the ability to see . . . on the chassis dyno, of course. "It was a thrill and a half that I have been waiting three years for," Dave said. "You made my year." Watch it yourself at http://w2wpowertrain.com/images _w2w/movies/bcp.wmv -Rob Kinnan