NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. has been named Colorado’s 2017 Sportsperson of the Year, the top honor awarded annually by Mile High Sports.
The Furniture Row Racing driver, who graces the cover in the recent issue of Mile High Sports Magazine, was also named Colorado’s “Fan Favorite” Athlete of the Year in a fan vote conducted at MileHighSports.com.
The Denver-based Furniture Row Racing also was cited for excellence, claiming the Mile High Sports honor as Colorado’s Team of the Year. Joe Garone, Furniture Row Racing team president, was a finalist in the Executive of the Year category.
Truex, who had eight wins in 2017 and led in virtually every major statistical category as the driver of the No. 78 Toyota Camry, captured the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship with a dramatic victory in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) reported overall sales of 154,919 units in November 2017, which represents a 4 percent decrease from November 2016. Retail sales actually grew by 2 percent, but fleet sales were down, which led to the overall decrease.
Among the FCA vehicles with a strong November showing were:
-- Chrysler Pacifica minivan, with sales up 51 percent
-- Jeep Compass, with sales up 34 percent
-- Jeep Grand Cherokee, with its best sales numbers for November since 2003
-- Sales increases were also found on: Chrysler 300, Fiat 500L, Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Durango and Ram ProMaster City
The good numbers keep on coming for Audi of America.
In November, a month where many automakers were flat or even down, Audi reports their numbers rise 12 percent to a total of 19,195 deliveries. For the year, Audi sales are up 6.7 percent, with just under 200,000 vehicles sold.
One new item that helped in November was the A5 Sportback, a new arrival in the U.S. that totaled 1,130 sales.
The biggest sales increases came on the SUV side, with Q5 sales increasing 31 percent (5,467 sold) and Q7 sales growing 31 percent (3,292 sold).
Sunday was an emotional day in the NASCAR world -- there’s no way around that.
For a sport that’s all about horsepower and strength, whose heroes have names like the Intimidator, there’s a lot of heart underneath.
Who among us -- after watching and hearing about all the personal trials and tribulations that Martin Truex Jr., Sherry Pollex, and the entire 78 team for Furniture Row Racing, have been through in the past few years -- wasn’t moved by that championship win? Who among us watching that epic battle at the end didn’t get a little misty-eyed to see the pure joy in their celebration -- a celebration by a driver who didn’t know if he’d even have a career after a controversial end to his time at Michael Waltrip Racing (itchy arm syndrome race) and his girlfriend who has been courageously battling cancer?
“It’s just overwhelming. To think about all the rough days and bad days, the days that couldn’t run 20th, to be here, I never thought this day would come and to be here is so unbelievable,” Truex said after his win.
When I was 19, like most people I was still trying to figure out what to do with my life.
As we head into the final Cup race of 2017, here are some facts that can not be denied about the incredible youth movement we are seeing in today’s NASCAR world.
-- William Byron, age 19, won the Xfinity title on Saturday. He had to fight off a 20+-year veteran in Elliott Sadler, age 42, to do so, and quite frankly Byron had a dominating season in 2017.
-- Cole Custer, also age 19, dominated the Homestead Xfiniity race and nearly lapped the field in the process. Impressive, and his future is bright.
-- Going over to Trucks, where so many young drivers start to grab our attention each year, Christopher Bell, age 22, has been knocking out wins all season and capped the year off with a Truck series title. He also beat some legends of the series in Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter to do so.
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