Time for a look at the most-searched auto racing drivers of the past week:
1. Dale Earnhardt
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Kenny Irwin
4. Mark Martin
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6. Tony Stewart
7. Jacques Villeneuve
8. Michael Schumacher
9. Matt Kenseth
10. Eddie Cheever
11. Mika Hakkinen
12. Eddie Irvine
13. Dale Jarrett
14. Richard Petty
15. Adam Petty
16. Kyle Petty
17. Rusty Wallace
18. Bobby LaBonte
19. Jeff Burton
20. Paul Tracy
The hard truth about auto racing: two of these drivers are on the list due to their deaths in separate crashes at the same track in New Hampshire: Adam Petty (#15) on May 12 and Kenny Irwin (#3) on July 7.
The Petty racing family are oddly co-equal in popularity: Adam is just above his father Kyle (#16) and both are topped by Kyle's legendary father Richard Petty (#14).
Nascar still dominates auto racing queries. The organization itself is #31 on this week's Lycos 50 (just above marijuana!) and 14 of the top 20 drivers are Nascar men.
CART and the Indy Racing League both have one driver (Paul Tracy and Eddie Cheever, respectively), reflecting those organizations' current hind-teat status in U.S. racing.
Formula One racing makes a surprisingly strong showing with four drivers: Eddie Irvine, Mika Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher and the dashing Canadian Jacques Villeneuve. And how often do you see the words "dashing" and "Canadian" together? (Kidding! Just kidding!)
For more on motor sports, see our Lycos Sports auto racing pages.
