Wheels and deals
Colby Lewis calls himself a hot rod guy.He has restored several classic cars from a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro to a 1963 and 1964 Chevy II to a 1965 Chevy Malibu. Given his love for cars, it’s no surprise that Lewis has been in race mode this past week with the NASCAR circuit in town. He’ll be attending today’s NASCAR Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, and talked about his racing roots Saturday. How did you get into racing? I love hot rods and what’s more of a hot rod than a car doing 200 mph? I’ve always watched it growing up and especially going to school with Kevin Harvick and getting to know him, it’s taken off since high school. Do you have a favorite track? I like the shorter ones, so I like Phoenix. I’ve been to Daytona, Indianapolis, Texas, Fontana and some more. I’d really like to go see Martinsville and Bristol. Those are big on my bucket list because I’m a short-track guy. I love half-miles with a lot of banging and jockeying going on. You have a nice go-kart track in your back yard, too, right? It’s a dirt track but it looks paved because we got it so smooth. It’s all lit up with lighting and it’s got a big sign that says ‘Sunnybank International Raceway.’ That’s the street I live on, so it’s fun. We’ve got like 13 karts right now and we probably run eight in our Turkey Classic. Any memorable wrecks? No, they sit pretty low and it’s pretty clean racing. We have the bumpers up so we don’t jump tires and it’s not open-wheel racing. We probably run at 40 mph around there, but it feels way faster than that when you’re sitting two inches above the ground. But one of the worst wrecks was probably when three guys spun out after barely getting into each other. They might have broken a tie rod or spindle or something like that, but they weren’t like flipping over. But I’m super safe with it. I wear a neck brace, helmet, gloves, shoes, I wear the whole deal. But the closer we got to spring training, I found myself not getting in them as much.Number of the day1.72 Justin Grimm’s ERA at Double A Frisco last season over 16 games, including 14 startsInjury report RHP Colby Lewis (flexor tendon surgery in July): Threw 25-pitch bullpen session Friday and will have another next week. 3B Adrian Beltre (right calf inflammation): Could be ready for game action Monday. OF Nelson Cruz (muscle strain in chest region): Resumed baseball activities and started Saturday’s game. OF Engel Beltre (left shoulder strain): Went through full workout Saturday and is scheduled to play Sunday. Will join Team Spain for World Baseball Classic next week. RHP Kyle McClellan (shoulder soreness): Long-tossed Saturday. RHP Joakim Soria (Tommy John elbow surgery in April): Threw 45-pitch bullpen session Friday. RHP Neftali Feliz (Tommy John surgery in August): Throwing out to 75 feet. RHP Tanner Scheppers (strained left hamstring): Will throw live batting practice Sunday. RHP Matt West (Tommy John surgery Aug. 12): Throwing out to 60 feet. RHP Roman Mendez (surgery for stress fracture in elbow in November): Threw bullpen session Friday. RHP Wilmer Font (shoulder tendinitis): Throwing off flat ground out to 120 feet. RHP Yoshinori Tateyama (lower back stiffness): Threw bullpen session Friday. C Eli Whiteside (left calf strain): Day to day.Videos of the dayCheck out Matt Harrison’s postgame interview and, as always, see manager Ron Washington’s daily media briefing on our Rangers blog, Foul Territory, at star-telegram.com/rangers.Drew Davison, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @drewdavison
