View Full Version : The Official Motor Sports Thread
juanbong
05-28-06, 05:13 PM
I know what you are thinking, WTH? But, with summer here and it seems that every other sport has its own thread here, why not racing? Not just for "rednecks" anymore, but a growing sport with many different aspects going on at any given time. I do not watch much NASCAR (maybe 3-5 races a year), but it can be fun and I look forward to actually going sometime soon. Anyways, here you go. I am a Tony Stewart fan (He used to have a pretty bad attitude, but the past couple seasons he has wised up.).
Well, I grew up in the NASCAR world as my father once worked on the circuit. I guess I was born into it. :) Of course, for most race fans, today is a HUGE day. Right now is the Indy 500 (Go Danica!!!!) and later tonight is the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. 1100 miles of racing in one day.....all is good!
Johnnie, not only has Tony calmed down a bit....it seems like he's stopped working out as well. I saw when he crashed last night in the Busch race and as he was walking away from the car I was wondering how they got him in the car. ;) I'm not really picking on Tony, but I remember what he looked like when he drove Indy cars. I guess there's more room in that Monte Carlo huh? :)
juanbong
05-28-06, 05:41 PM
Quoted by Leuthen:
Johnnie, not only has Tony calmed down a bit....it seems like he's stopped working out as well. I saw when he crashed last night in the Busch race and as he was walking away from the car I was wondering how they got him in the car.
:rotfl:
Yeah, I think the fighting with everyone actually gave him a workout. He is getting a little pouch there in the gut. That's good stuff!
rottenralf
05-28-06, 06:24 PM
I am a die hard Mark Martin fan, and have been for years. I used to go to The Glen and to Pocono regularly but then I had to take a hiatus from racing (first wife). When I got back into NASCAR (very early '90's) I was a Bill Elliott fan, but I kept noticing this driver who was always up front and was a true gentleman (as opposed to Waltrip or Earnhart) so I started following the #6 and he became "my driver".
Hodgepodge
05-30-06, 10:04 PM
Big F1 fan here! Probably 20 years or more. Michael Schumacher won the pole for the Grand Prix of Monaco. But, because he left his Ferrari in a precarious position, he was forced to start from the pit lane. I'm a Schumacher fan, but what he did was so obvious to keep anyone from beating his time for the pole.
Alonso won the race for Renault, with Montoya second in his McLaren/Mercedes. David Coultard who drives for Red Bull/Ferrari, formerly Jaguar, came in third. First podium for Red Bull! :Cheers:
juanbong
05-30-06, 10:20 PM
Quoted by Hodge:
Michael Schumacher won the pole for the Grand Prix of Monaco. But, because he left his Ferrari in a precarious position, he was forced to start from the pit lane. I'm a Schumacher fan, but what he did was so obvious to keep anyone from beating his time for the pole.
Yeah, I didn't understand this move. Showboating? It was kind of pretentious to me, but I am not an expert.
Hodgepodge
05-31-06, 12:46 AM
Yeah, I didn't understand this move. Showboating? It was kind of pretentious to me, but I am not an expert.There were a couple other drivers capable of beating him for the pole position on their final laps. So, he left his car right at an apex. As I said, I'm a fan, but he deserved what he got. JMO!
Hodgepodge
07-06-06, 01:15 AM
Another win for the Prancing Horse! Lead is down to 19 points.
BubbleBoy13
07-06-06, 01:16 AM
ricky bobby rules all....(Talladegga Nights)
imjusthatawsum
07-06-06, 01:25 AM
Haha, I wanna see that soooo bad.
Anyways, I'm not a huge racing fan but I was in Cleveland the day of the big race at the end of June and we went to get a parking spot by the waterfront and we couldn't, it was freakin packed!
Quite possibly the biggest news to hit the F1/NASCAR world in I don't know how long.
Juan Pablo Montoya (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=2514365) will be driving for Chip Ganassi in NASCAR in 2007! Wow! Big news indeed.
I've following Juan since he was driving in the IRL/CART series. The guy can flat out drive a racecar and it'll be interesting to see how he does in NASCAR next year.
juanbong
07-10-06, 04:10 PM
Hey Leuth, have heard this piece of gossip?
Rumor has it that Danica may jump ship and go to NASCAR next year. During the race yesterday, Danica's parents were asked what does the future hold for their daughter, and they mentioned going to where the money is found...NASCAR. Interesting, and I am looking for a better source. The source I heard it was from Tony Bruno on Sporting News Radio.
ETA: Just found this right after posting. Source ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=1&id=2515044).
Yeah Johnnie, I heard about it this afternoon. I doubt it'll happen, but who really knows. Depends on how much Rahal-Letterman Racing thinks Danica is worth to their program and the IRL in general. Hell, she's hot regardless of what she's driving. However, if you take a look at her website (my sig pic is a link) you'll find out that she's not really all that compatible with the NASCAR crowd. It'd be interesting to watch though! :)
Hodgepodge
07-11-06, 12:30 AM
Quite possibly the biggest news to hit the F1/NASCAR world in I don't know how long.
Juan Pablo Montoya (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=2514365) will be driving for Chip Ganassi in NASCAR in 2007! Wow! Big news indeed.
I've following Juan since he was driving in the IRL/CART series. The guy can flat out drive a racecar and it'll be interesting to see how he does in NASCAR next year.And Leuthen, he swears he still had options in Formula 1. I can't believe that. You don't leave F1 and go to NASCAR, without all doors shut in your face! :confused:
I agree Hodge! I'm reading today that Juan Montoya may actually be dropped (http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17106.html) from his F1 ride before the end of the season. (Read : He's as good as gone right now. It's just about money at this point.)
That will clear up his seat in F1 for his apparent successor, Pedro de la Rosa as well as free him up to begin his transition into the NASCAR ranks. Chip Ganassi will put him in a Busch Series car for the remainder of the season and plan a few Nextel Cup series starts later this year with the emphasis being a full time go in 2007.
Judging by how he drove Jeff Gordons 24 car last year (exhibition type trade off thing between he and Jeff), it should be fun to watch him transition. The guy can drive a racecar, but the one and only time he drove a "stock car", he misjudged the braking ability of the car and did some agricultural racing. This should be fun to watch. :)
WOW I just found a place to post racing thoughts!!!!
NASCAR brass should all be fined for allowing Jeff Gordon to get away with that intentional dumping of Kenseth yesterday... It was obviously blatant and can any of you folks honestly say if a Casey Mears or a Clint Bowyer woulda done that... that they woulda gotten away with it? NO
That kinda driving shoulda died with Earnhardt Sr.
NASCAR effectively told the drivers it was OK to do it... so now when it happens again... and it will happen again... everyone will be screaming hypocrite when NASCAR decides to do something about it, becuase they let Jeffy get away with it...
It was a sad day for NASCAR... Jeff shoulda been blackflagged and either put at the tail end of the longest line or penalized a lap... Kyle Busch did something similar earlier this year and he got blackflagged...
The announcer's are ranting about has 'classless' it was for the fans to throw stuff on the track... what I think was completely classless was that these announcers don't have the cahones to say anything bad about the NASCAR officials...
:soapbox: getting off my soapbox now...
on the brightside... my guy Junior passed the points leader (JJ) on the last lap for a top 5 finish to solidify his spot at 3rd in the points standings...
GOOOO JUNIOR!!!!!!!!!!
Hodgepodge
07-11-06, 06:22 PM
I agree Hodge! I'm reading today that Juan Montoya may actually be dropped (http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17106.html) from his F1 ride before the end of the season. (Read : He's as good as gone right now. It's just about money at this point.)
That will clear up his seat in F1 for his apparent successor, Pedro de la Rosa as well as free him up to begin his transition into the NASCAR ranks. Chip Ganassi will put him in a Busch Series car for the remainder of the season and plan a few Nextel Cup series starts later this year with the emphasis being a full time go in 2007.
Judging by how he drove Jeff Gordons 24 car last year (exhibition type trade off thing between he and Jeff), it should be fun to watch him transition. The guy can drive a racecar, but the one and only time he drove a "stock car", he misjudged the braking ability of the car and did some agricultural racing. This should be fun to watch. :)That's exactly what happened! I was reading in f1.racing-live (http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/), he will not compete in this weekends French Grand Prix. As you mention, his place will be taken by test/Friday driver Pedro de la Rosa. I'm completely flabbergasted! :confused:
ILikeLostBrunettes
07-11-06, 06:36 PM
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmdanicapatrick...............
That's exactly what happened! I was reading in f1.racing-live (http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/), he will not compete in this weekends French Grand Prix. As you mention, his place will be taken by test/Friday driver Pedro de la Rosa. I'm completely flabbergasted! :confused:
I was coming here to post the same thing, Hodge. I knew as soon as they announced it yesterday, that he was as good as gone. Can't say it really surprised me much when I read it tonight. Oh well, here we go! :)
ETA - For those, like me, interested in Danica and her possible move to NASCAR, here's a link to Jayski's (http://www.jayski.com/teams/drivers.htm#patrick) Danica stuff.
ETAII - For anyone out there you know who is a diehard Dale Jr. race fan, he's selling his 2005 Corvette. Here's the eBay listing (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230004931928). Better hury, it ends Jul 15. ;)
BubbleBoy13
07-13-06, 02:51 AM
I went to my first NASCAR race the other day at the Kentucky Speedway!! The Ford Built Tough 225....and i bought a cool hat! and it was so loud and that night all i could hear were NASCAR trucks! we were 7 rows from the track and the first turn!
I went to my first NASCAR race the other day at the Kentucky Speedway!! The Ford Built Tough 225....and i bought a cool hat! and it was so loud and that night all i could hear were NASCAR trucks! we were 7 rows from the track and the first turn!
Welcome to our world BB13! :) My father used to work on the NASCAR circuit (for those who care, he worked for driver Buddy Arrington) when I was a baby so my first race was back when I was still in diapers. However, I'm sure you'll agree, what you on television versus what you see in real life are completely different. There's nothing like seeing it live. The smells, the sounds, the feel.....it's great!
BubbleBoy13
07-13-06, 03:28 AM
ooh ooh i saw this big fat hairy guy who licked beer cans and put them on his head and started flexing!!!
Jason and the ARGonauts
07-13-06, 03:30 AM
^ Awesome. That's going in my sig.
ooh ooh i saw this big fat hairy guy who licked beer cans and put them on his head and started flexing!!!
:rotfl: If that's the worst thing you ever see at a race, you'll count yourself as lucky! There's always the mud-fighting in the Talladega infield.....you don't want to know. ;)
BubbleBoy13
07-13-06, 02:04 PM
It cracked me up! I took his picture and put it on my cell phone so when i flip it open its him!!
When i get a USB cord to put pictures from my phone onto my computer ill post the picture......
Hodgepodge
07-13-06, 07:15 PM
Someone asked Danica the question yesterday at the ESPYS. According to her, she has no plans to go to NASCAR.
OMG its LFG
07-13-06, 08:17 PM
I like demolition derbys... can i join your cool club?
Someone asked Danica the question yesterday at the ESPYS. According to her, she has no plans to go to NASCAR.
Apparently that all got started when her dad made a comment about wanting to get her in NASCAR. He's also her agent so that explains part of it. I read an article about it yesterday where they quoted her as saying she wouldn't rulle it completely out, but she isn't interested at this point in her career.
Personally, I don't care if she goes to race lawnmowers, as long as she's in the media and I can watch it on TV, I'm there. I mean.....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Danica/67631_6_1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Danica/67691_2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Danica/danikabig.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Danica/danicapatrick.jpg
let's face it.....she's the hottest 24 year old in a firesuit on any given race day! :)
Unfortunately, she'll always be a tad controversial. Last year Robby Gordon said that she had an unfair advantage in the IRL/Indy 500 because she only weighs 100 lbs.....half of what most male drivers weigh.......then again, he's an idiot.
Then during a radio interview the other day, fellow IRL driver Ed Carpenter (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=1&id=2517648) made a joke about her driving during "that time of the month." Luckily she didn't get offended or she might have just beat his ass. :)
Hodgepodge
07-18-06, 12:21 AM
Leuthen, you should've seen the red dress she wore to the ESPYS. Great googlie-mooglie! :itmdrool: Now that I think about it. It may've been red paint. ;)
Hodge,
The only pics I've found of her at the ESPYs are here (http://www.sexydanicapatrick.com/danicaphoto.html). (You'll have to scroll down to see them.)
Changing gears, and organizations a bit here.
John Force has a new show coming out on A&E called Driving Force (http://www.aetv.com/drivingforce/). I'm not one much for reality TV, and I don't know for sure if that's what this is going to be at all, but I think I'll tune in for a few reasons.....at least initially.......
Ashley, Brittany, and Courtney Force:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Force/Shot23-0044.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Force/Shot24-0018.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Force/Shot09-0037.jpg
Hodgepodge
07-18-06, 05:05 PM
Ferrari won again this past Sunday. The event was the French Grand Prix. That's two in a row for the "Prancing Horse". The Renault of Alonso came second, with the second Ferrari coming third. Alonso's lead is now down to 17 points.
ETA: Drag racing was my first love growing up in SoCal. Love John Force's arrogance. And his daughters aren't to bad to look at either. ;)
Hodge, I was only able to catch a few minutes of that race last weekend, how did Juan Montoya's replacement do? I tried to catch the leaderboard but either I missed him, or he wasn't running.
juanbong
07-19-06, 02:17 AM
Quoted by Leuthen:
John Force has a new show coming out on A&E called Driving Force. I'm not one much for reality TV, and I don't know for sure if that's what this is going to be at all, but I think I'll tune in for a few reasons.....at least initially.......
Got it set already on the TiVo. This will be interesting to watch!
ILikeLostBrunettes
07-19-06, 01:55 PM
I just have to say... Smoke has had some bad luck recently. But as long as he wins the championship every couple of year, I'll be alright.
Hodgepodge
07-19-06, 05:07 PM
Hodge, I was only able to catch a few minutes of that race last weekend, how did Juan Montoya's replacement do? I tried to catch the leaderboard but either I missed him, or he wasn't running.Wasn't really a factor. Although, he did finish in the points (7th place).
He's leading the testing for McLaren/Mercedes this week in Spain. Mercedes have come up with a couple of tweaks for their engine.
juanbong
07-20-06, 11:58 PM
Patrick nearing deal to stay in IndyCar
By CHRIS JENKINS, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Danica Patrick sounds as if she has already made a decision on her racing future, even if she's not quite ready to announce it. Despite recent speculation that she would head to
NASCAR after her contract with the Rahal-Letterman IndyCar Series team is up at the end of the season, Patrick said she's leaning toward staying in the IndyCar Series and is "far down the line" toward getting a deal done with for next season.
Which team? She isn't saying.
"That would just be giving it all away, wouldn't it?" said Patrick, in town for Sunday's ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile.
Patrick said if she did sign a new deal, any announcement would be up to the team she signed with. Such an announcement could be coming soon.
"Negotiations are far down the line, for sure," Patrick said.
Patrick is coming off a season-best, fourth-place finish at Nashville last Sunday, but she needed a few good breaks to do so. The Rahal team generally hasn't been competitive this season.
"We are not the fastest car," Patrick said. "Nobody's going to disagree with me on that one. So we have to catch a couple breaks. And we did, finally."
Patrick she didn't rule out the possibility that she would look to another team for a better chance to win.
"I need to be the best driver I can," Patrick said. "I need to leave nothing to the (imagination) to what I could have done more."
Asked about loyalty to team owner Bobby Rahal, who gave Patrick her first shot at big-time racing, Patrick said, "I would hope that over the course of the last year and a half, and even before that, I would hope that I have brought things to him, too. I would hope that I have helped him in some way."
Patrick's father, T.J., caused a stir two weeks ago when he showed up at the Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway and told a Chicago Tribune reporter that Patrick was interested in switching to NASCAR.
But Patrick said she was just exploring every option and was always leaning toward staying in IndyCar.
"I have been leaning that direction, even since my parents went to Chicago and before that," Patrick said. "That's no different. For me, it was a matter of looking at all the options. And even though I wasn't there looking, my parents are just as good as me going there."
Patrick's possible next destination could be Andretti-Green Racing.
Asked in an ESPN interview last week what IRL team other than Rahal Letterman could meet or exceed her expectations to field a competitive car, Patrick said Penske and Ganassi are two strong teams.
"Then I think there's a lot of strength in AGR," she said, referring to Andretti-Green. "They did very well the last couple years. They have lots of talent there. There are a lot of options out there."
Team owner Michael Andretti couldn't immediately be located at the track on Thursday, but said last weekend that he would be interested in hiring Patrick.
"Would I be interested? Yeah, but I don't know what her plans are," Andretti said. "I'm just hearing all the rumors that she's available and stuff. I didn't know that Rahal didn't have her tied up," Andretti said. "We'll see."
A more competitive IndyCar ride might be a palatable alternative to NASCAR for Patrick, who said she likes the intense fan following in NASCAR but doesn't necessarily like the intense schedule that comes along with it.
The Nextel Cup Series races 38 times a year — 36 points races and two exhibitions — and IndyCar only has 14 races.
"From the outside looking in, it looks like there is not time to go to the bathroom," Patrick said.
And Patrick said she still has unfinished business in IndyCars — despite her unprecedented success, after all, she still hasn't won an IndyCar race.
"I want to win in IndyCar. I want to win the Indy 500. I want to do well," she said. "I want to help the series. I'm not done yet. And so if there's a team in this series that will give me that opportunity, this is where I'll be."
Wasn't really a factor. Although, he did finish in the points (7th place).
Huh...go figure. ;) Why doesn't that surprise me at all? Sorry, I'm rather hard on all newbies regardless of location. :) What really hacks me off is that they won't, as of yesterday, let Juan out of his contract so that he can get up to speed with NA$CAR and his team for next year. From what I'm reading, they won't even let him test. I think Daimler/Chrysler might have a little to say about that in the days to come. Stupid contracts. ;)
He's leading the testing for McLaren/Mercedes this week in Spain. Mercedes have come up with a couple of tweaks for their engine.
Well that's nice to hear I suppose. Being a Daimler/Chrysler/Mercedes fan myself, I hope he does well along with the rest of the teams.
Am I the only one who thinks those "Ask Dr. Z" ads are funny as hell? :Cheers:
Hodgepodge
07-21-06, 04:27 PM
...What really hacks me off is that they won't, as of yesterday, let Juan out of his contract so that he can get up to speed with NA$CAR and his team for next year. From what I'm reading, they won't even let him test. I think Daimler/Chrysler might have a little to say about that in the days to come. Stupid contracts. ;)...
...Am I the only one who thinks those "Ask Dr. Z" ads are funny as hell? :Cheers:That's unbelievable. They didn't want to renew his contract, but they won't release him from that same contract. I'm with you. Stupid contracts ;)
Regarding the "Ask Dr. Z" ads! Are there more than one? I'm only familiar with the one where the guy catches him coming out of the building. And you're right, they are funny! :D
juanbong
07-25-06, 07:50 PM
Danica to stay in IRL, but switch to Andretti GreenAssociated Press (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=1&id=2529364)
CHICAGO -- Danica Patrick signed with Andretti Green Racing on Tuesday, deciding to stay in the Indy Racing League instead of switching to NASCAR.
Patrick will start driving for her new team in 2007. Her current contract with Rahal Letterman expires at the end of the season. Though she toyed with joining NASCAR, Patrick said last week she was leaning toward staying in the IndyCar Series.
"My heart and soul is in IndyCar racing," Patrick said at a news conference. "NASCAR is not out for good. It's out for right now."
Patrick, the 2005 IndyCar Series rookie of the year, is the third driver under contract to Andretti Green racing for 2007. She joins Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti. Andretti Green has four full-time entries in the series.
"Danica has shown great talent during her first two seasons in the IndyCar Series," CEO Michael Andretti said in a prepared statement. "Our focus has been and always will be on winning races and winning championships. We certainly believe Danica will do that. She has made it very clear that one of her goals as a driver is to win the Indianapolis 500 and we are looking forward to giving her a great opportunity to do that."
Patrick has finished fourth in back-to-back races and is currently ninth in the IndyCar standings, but her Rahal team generally hasn't been competitive this season.
"I've had a very good run, a very good relationship with Rahal Letterman and Bobby Rahal. He helped me when no one else stepped up. And I will be forever grateful for that," Patrick said.
"But at some point in time, there's just time for a change, time for something new. I feel Andretti Green is going to give me the opportunity to win races, and while Rahal Letterman still can, too, I have to go with what I think is best for my future. I feel like that's the place," she said.
Patrick and AGR officials refused to release the length of the deal.
Patrick's father, T.J., caused a stir earlier this month when he showed up at a Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway and told a Chicago Tribune reporter that Patrick was interested in switching to NASCAR.
But Patrick said she was just exploring every option and was always leaning toward staying in IndyCar.
Damn, you beat me to it Johnnie. I think she'll do well over at Andretti/Green. Hell, she can't really do any worse.....not that's she driving badly right now.
Hodgepodge
07-26-06, 12:35 AM
I think it's a good move on her part. She'll be with a bigger team. The name alone (Andretti) is known throughout the World. Michael has a lot of money in sponsorship behind the team. And, will get more with her under contract. IMO, she could've done a lot worse!
I root for Dale Jr. #8. Long story; ask me when I'm sober. Heh.
Hodgepodge
08-01-06, 12:23 AM
Another 1-2 by Ferrari in yesterdays German Grand Prix. Championship points leader Alonso ended up 5th. The lead is down to 11 points in the drivers catagory, and 10 in the team catagory. :Cheers:
You can't make this stuff up. Seriously, I hope Cristiano da Matta is going to recover fully, but how often have you ever heard of a racecar hitting a deer (http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/5843584)? That must've been a hell of a mess. Hope he pulls through.......Cristiano that is, I think we know the fate of a deer hit by a Champ Car.....venison anyone?
Just an update on the story posted above.
Doctor's encouraged by da Matta's progress. (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=5&id=2546832)
DENVER -- Champ Car World Series driver Cristiano da Matta is no longer under sedation and is making slow but steady progress from a serious head injury, a week after his car hit a deer during a practice session in Wisconsin.
But he's still not responding to commands.
"When they ask him to open his eyes, he's not doing anything like that," Champ Car medical director Chris Pinderski said during a news conference Friday at the Grand Prix of Denver. "How the future goes is still unknown at this point."
The 32-year-old da Matta was injured when a deer ran onto the track at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., on Aug. 3. He's recovering at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wis. He will remain there for at least two more weeks, at which time a decision will be made about where to transfer him for continued care.
RuSPORT team president Jeremy Dale has been in constant communication with the da Matta family, who have been camped out at the hospital since arriving from Brazil.
"They wanted me to thank everyone for [the] support and all the love," Dale said. "He's not awake yet, but he's getting there."
While da Matta's health remains the top priority, Dale said preliminary discussions have taken place on who will drive the No. 10 car.
"To say we haven't had discussions would be a lie," Dale said. "We have been 100 percent focused on Cristiano and his family and getting him and them everything they need.
"We've had discussions, but it's not been a focal point for us. It will become a focal point pretty quickly. I think it's safe to say in the next seven days," he said.
Pinderski said doctors caring for da Matta have been encouraged by his steady progress.
"As long as he's doing more day to day, we view that as progress," Pinderski said. "[These] injuries are very, very difficult to predict. There's no way to tell what the outcome is going to be. It's literally a day-to-day progress.
"When he's going to wake up, if he's going to wake up, is still unknown at this point. Brain injuries are too hard to predict what's going to happen in the future," he said.
Da Matta was under heavy sedation for the first few days following the accident to restrict brain activity. The fact he's no longer under sedation is viewed as a good sign.
"He's been under very intense management of the brain swelling and it's actually receding," Pinderski said. "Each day he has progressed a little bit more.
"The injury he sustained, it's a pretty bad brain injury. I think it's safe to say he's a little bit better than we expected at this point. He's doing a little more each day. You have to look at that as a positive," he said.
Hodgepodge
08-11-06, 11:41 PM
It's good to hear he's getting better! And you're right Leuthen! There's no way you can plan for something like this.
Hodgepodge
08-13-06, 12:23 AM
Have any of the NASCAR fans gone to see Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby?
Have any of the NASCAR fans gone to see Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby?
I'm waiting for the book. ;)
Report: Formula One great Schumacher to retire (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=6&id=2575660)
One of Formula One's all-time greats reportedly is ready to vacate his ride permanently.
Michael Schumacher will announce his retirement at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, the German newspaper Bild reported.
The newspaper gave no source for its report.
The seven-time champion, who holds every major record in Formula One, had previously said he would announce a decision on his future at the race.
"We can't comment on everything. As we said, there will be more on Sunday," Schumacher spokeswoman Sabine Kehm told Bild.
Schumacher's contract with Ferrari expires at the end of this season. He trails defending F1 champion and current leader Fernando Alonso by 12 points in the standings with four races remaining.
Hodgepodge
09-07-06, 04:30 PM
I'm hoping it's not true Leuthen. He's definitely needed for the sport to prosper with the likes of Max Mosely heading the FIA. :(
I don't think Schumacher would allow a leak like this to stand unanswered for long. As his spokesman said, we'll find out more on Sunday. *sits and waits*
Looks like he's leaving..........
Schumacher announces retirement from Formula 1 (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=6&id=2581691)
MONZA, Italy -- Michael Schumacher will retire from Formula One after this season, his announcement coming after the seven-time world champion won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 37-year-old Ferrari driver, who holds every major record in the sport, will leave after the year-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Oct. 22.
"Soon my future will belong to my family," Schumacher said in a statement. "But for now, what matters is this world championship."
Schumacher's seven titles are two more than Juan Manuel Fangio's five. He trails Fernando Alonso by only two points in this season's standings with three races remaining.
Schumacher won his first two titles with the Benetton team in 1994 and '95, then restored Ferrari to prominence with five consecutive championships from 2000-04.
The German showed signs of vulnerability when he won the 2003 title by only two points over McLaren-Mercedes' Kimi Raikkonen. Schumacher responded with another dominant year in 2004, though, winning a record 12 of the first 13 races.
Alonso ended Schumacher's title run last year, with Schumacher and Ferrari struggling to adapt to rule changes intended to stop their dominance.
Ferrari attributed the problems to its Bridgestone tires. Schumacher won only one race, the U.S. Grand Prix in which only six drivers competed because of safety concerns with rival Michelin tires.
In Sunday's race, pole-sitter Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes finished second and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica was third.
Alonso's race ended because of a mechanical problem on the 43rd lap. Smoke began billowing from the back of the Spaniard's Renault on the main straightaway and he came to a stop.
Alonso was penalized five places on the starting grid for blocking Ferrari's Felipe Massa during qualifying and he started 10th. He had just moved into third position when his engine failed.
Ferrari also announced that Kimi Raikkonen and Brazilian Felipe Massa will race for the team next season.
Ferrari said in a statement after Sunday's Italian Grand Prix that Raikkonen, currently with McLaren, had agreed a three-year deal.
Massa's contract was extended to the end of 2008.
Hodgepodge
09-11-06, 07:30 PM
Alonso's lead is down to two points. And, Ferrari took the lead in the Manufacture's Championship. I hate to see Michael leave the sport. But, he's been in it for a long time. I remember his first race. The Belgium Grand Prix some years ago. I think he was like 20 years-old, but qualified like third or something. He's been showing his talent ever since. :cry:
juanbong
09-14-06, 04:03 PM
Danica's new ride for next year, from Andretti Green Racing.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060912/capt.06ffdc775fe24f95bfcd4faa9a0b45d4.irl_patricks _car_auto_racing_cx109.jpg
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060912/capt.0275aa0753254dc6a59dc911dd5d895a.irl_patricks _car_auto_racing_cx107.jpg
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060912/capt.f6d75e9d9378419996d6bf7ccb171b86.irl_patricks _car_auto_racing_cx108.jpg
Hodgepodge
09-14-06, 04:26 PM
She's a little cutie-pie isn't she. Looks like a lot of sponsorship money painted on that car. Honda, Motorola, Argent, and XMradio. You go girl! :Cheers:
For those who remember his crash, and thought he was most likely dead, this is an interesting story.
Amputee Zanardi completes F1 return five years later. (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=6&id=2675775)
VALENCIA, Spain -- Alex Zanardi, who lost both legs in a crash five years ago, completed his return to Formula One on Saturday by becoming the first double amputee to test drive an F1 car.
The 40-year-old Italian drove 14 laps in a modified BMW-Sauber C24-B car at the Cheste circuit.
"It's fantastic," Zanardi said. "When I dropped my visor, the emotions were very heavy. It was pure pleasure being back in a fantastic race car.
"I do understand this is about much more than just driving a race car. To put a guy with no legs in an F1 car is something very special."
Zanardi, who last drove an F1 car in 1999, lost his legs in a racing crash in September 2001 in the CART series, now known as the Champ Car World Series.
His smiling eyes were matched by the grin on his face when he drove into the garage. He was helped out of the car and immediately embraced by BMW Motorsports director Mario Theissen.
"It's a wonderful day, I'm very happy that we were able to make this happen," Theissen said.
The former Williams, Minardi, Jordan and Lotus driver improved with each lap, dropping his time on the 2.5-mile circuit from 1 minute, 27.2 seconds to 1:21.6.
"We gotta go under 1:20," he told the pit crew upon hearing his final lap-time.
As the weather and his tires became warmer, Zanardi managed it in his second session -- just.
He brought his time down to 1:19.9 on his fifth, and final, lap of the afternoon.
"I told you I would show you how fast your car can go," Zanardi said to Theissen. "The guys in the shop did an unbelievable job. I'm sure 90 percent of people watching can't believe we didn't do a test previously."
Zanardi praised the work of his crew after only three prior meetings and four test laps on Thursday.
"Everything was absolutely working to the best -- like a Swiss watch," he said. "I'm a little disappointed I can't push it as hard as I like because I'm not conformable sitting in the car."
Zanardi said the main problem had been using only his right hand to steer through corners, as his left operated the throttle.
"The steering wheel is practically on my lap, which is why I can't push as much as I would like to," he said.
Though Zanardi had an unspectacular F1 career, he holds the modern CART record for points in a season -- 285 in 1998. He also holds the CART record for most consecutive poles (six), front-row starts (11) and top-three finishes in a season (15).
For his wife Daniella, it was just another day at the track.
"Yeah, this is OK," she said. "This is normal for me."
Making an attempt at the resurrection of this thread.
NASCAR goin' to Hot'lanta this weekend. The fastest speeds of the season on one of the most excitiing tracks. Anyone remember the Carl Edwards/Jimmie Johnson finish from '05?
GO JUNIOR!!!!!!!!!
jamiept
03-15-07, 03:02 PM
I am wondering how Bobby Labonte will do here with the type of season he has been having....
Lost In His Eyes
03-19-07, 04:58 AM
VR00o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0oo0m!!!
AND THEY'RE OFF!
...
or is that horseracing...
It sure would've been nice if Jimmie Johnson wouldn't have squeezed Tony into the wall. I believe it would have been a much closer finish... Tony did race Jimmie clean.......
Debuting the COT at Bristol really ain't gonna be that big of a deal... A track like Bristol is all chassis anyways... so the new body ain't gonna be that big of a deal...
please oh please NOOO Kurt Busch win this Sunday...
GO JUNIOR!!!!!!!!
CENSORED
03-22-07, 11:30 AM
ITony did race Jimmie clean.......
Debuting the COT at Bristol really ain't gonna be that big of a deal... A track like Bristol is all chassis anyways... so the new body ain't gonna be that big of a deal...
please oh please NOOO Kurt Busch win this Sunday...
GO JUNIOR!!!!!!!!
Tony, a clean race?....well I guess there's a first time for everything.
That's probably why they're debuting at Bristol, so then the teams can get a track with the car under their belts without there being many malfunctions.
please oh please NOOO Kurt Busch win this Sunday...
GO JUAN PABLO!!!!!!
Tony, a clean race?....well I guess there's a first time for everything.
That's probably why they're debuting at Bristol, so then the teams can get a track with the car under their belts without there being many malfunctions.
please oh please NOOO Kurt Busch win this Sunday...
GO JUAN PABLO!!!!!!
Not really saying Tony the whole race clean lol... just saying he raced Jimmie clean there at the end :D
Bristol is good for the debut. Aero means pretty much nothing there so they can beat n bang up them new bodies as much as they want to with no worries... AND get a race under there belts with the new car...
I gained a lot of respect for Montoya at Atlanta... that takes some balls of steel to stay on the gas and run it high, wide and handsome around the high groove at Atlanta in your very first race at the track!!!
I watched the Old Dominion 500 today from 1968 on the Speed Channel. Martinsville. The King won. That was so very cool. Won it driving that old Plymouth lol... Chevelles racing Torinos and everything!
Sad news today.
NHRA driver Medlen dies in hospital (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=8&id=2809984)
NHRA Funny Car driver Eric Medlen died Friday, four days after he suffered a severe head injury in a test session crash at Gainesville, Fla. He was 33.
Medlen's family elected to have him taken off life-support systems, which they said was Eric's wish for this type of situation.
Medlen's Mustang Funny Car crashed head-on into the right concrete barrier after it blew a tire on a test run Monday, the day after the Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Medlen was one of four drivers for John Force Racing. The other three JFR drivers -- Force, Robert Hight and Ashley Force -- stayed in Florida with Medlen's family.
"Eric was the son I never had," said Force, who has four daughters. "He was the leader of my next generation of drivers. This loss is a huge blow, not only to the Medlen family, but to drag racing and to John Force Racing."
Doctors placed Medlen in an induced coma at the surgical intensive care unit of Shands hospital at the University of Florida Medical Center. John Medlen, Eric's father and crew chief, said doctors did all they could to save Eric.
"I want to thank the medical staff at Shands, not just for giving Eric the very best care, but for the compassion they showed for Eric and all those close to him," John Medlen said. "I also want to thank the thousands of people who offered their prayers and support to us during this very difficult time."
Doctors removed the front portion of Medlen's skull Tuesday to relieve pressure and attempt to improve blood flow to the brain.
"Eric suffered from severe traumatic brain injury with diffuse axonal injury, or DAI," Dr. Joseph Layon, Professor of Anesthesiology, Surgery and Medicine and the Chief of Critical Care Medicine at UF, said in a release. "Survival rates associated with DAI are low.
"Despite receiving the most aggressive treatment, Eric continued to have uncontrollable intracranial pressure. His body lost the ability to manage its salt and water levels and he began displaying the complicating factors associated with DAI."
Medlen was competing in his fourth season as a driver. He won six NHRA events in his first three seasons and finished a career-best fourth in the 2006 Funny Car standings.
Medlen spent eight years as a crew member for Force's Funny Car, learning the mechanical side of the sport from his father.
John Medlen was the crew chief for Tony Pedregon when Pedregon won the NHRA Funny Car title for John Force Racing in 2003. Eric took over for Pedregon when Pedregon left to form his own team.
Medlen grew up in Oakdale, Calif., where he was a high school rodeo champion in calf roping. He contemplated a career in pro rodeo before his father called in 1996 to offer him a mechanic's job at John Force Racing.
Medlen was a supercharger technician and later a clutch specialist for six of Force's 14 championships before becoming a driver.
Watching a fun lookin' Truck race at Martinsville right now. I'm expecting Harvick to win it. He's running 6th right now so we'll see. Looks like 200 laps to go.
I say Harvick would've had something for Skinner there at the end. We'll never know cause some fool 2 laps down ran him up the track and cost him his track position. Anyways...
Rock on! The King! Richard Petty gave the command today. Gentlemen, start your engines!!!!!
BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY! LET'S GO RACIN' BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just saw on ESPN where Michael Waltrip was charged with reckless driving and failure to report an accident after hitting a telephone pole and rolling his car Saturday.
As if his year wasn't going bad enough already. The thing at Daytona. Hasn't even qualified for a race since then. Now this. I like Mikey but geez what a bad year for him so far.
mrBIGstar
05-14-07, 04:28 PM
Hi there.
Does no-one else watch F1? I love it.
Also, does anyone have a link to a video of Alex Zanardi's crash?
I watch F1 whenever I find it on television but I don't actively seek it out. I haven't been much of a fan since Schumacher retired though. Same thing with NASCAR (for me anyway) after Earnhardt died and R. Wallace retired.
That said, today is the 91st Indianapolis 500. Anyone else watching? I think it's rather obvious who I'm pulling for. :)
ETA - mrBIGstar, I'm not sure how much video you're look for re: Alex Zanardi's crash but here's a short version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wXDQcFRY9I). It was good to see him get back into the car there a while back.
Hi there.
Does no-one else watch F1? I love it.
Used to love it. Stopped watching when M. Schumacher quit.
Hodgepodge
05-31-07, 10:58 PM
Hi there.
Does no-one else watch F1? I love it.
Also, does anyone have a link to a video of Alex Zanardi's crash?I don't miss a race! :Cheers:
did everyone hear about nascar coming to montreal this year? first race ever in cananda. bush series in august.
Hodgepodge
06-11-07, 10:25 PM
Lewis Hamilton in only his 6th Formula 1 race, scored a win at the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday. There was carnage everywhere. Three black flags and four safety car appearances. Kubica hit a wall going 190mph, but lived to tell the story.
moonshadow707
06-12-07, 02:59 AM
Lewis Hamilton in only his 6th Formula 1 race, scored a win at the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday. There was carnage everywhere. Three black flags and four safety car appearances. Kubica hit a wall going 190mph, but lived to tell the story.
:Cheers: to Lewis Hamilton! He might be a reason for me to start watching F1 again. I used to be a Nigel Mansell fan, back in the day.
I was so caught up watching Kimi Raikkonen there toward the end that I forgot all about Lewis Hamilton. I need picture-in-picture for these races. :)
YAY!!! our promotions director just called me and said he got me 2 tix to the bush series race here in montreal!!!
Hodgepodge
06-15-07, 05:03 PM
Anybody going to the U.S. Grand Prix this weekend in Indy?
Anybody going to the U.S. Grand Prix this weekend in Indy?
*raises hand..I might be going..well..I might be dragged along by my friends would be the better word. I'm not a racing fan per say. :p
Hodgepodge
06-15-07, 10:01 PM
*raises hand..I might be going..well..I might be dragged along by my friends would be the better word. I'm not a racing fan per say. :pWell, if you go, make sure and report back Monday. And Foxxie, it might be a good idea to take along a couple of muffins. :nanabobo:
ETA: Well, Lewis Hamilton has two in a row. By winning the U.S. Grand Prix last Sunday, he puts himself 10 points ahead of his nearest rival, Fernano Alonso for the F1 Drivers Championship.
I was disappointed for Lewis Hamilton that he didn't win Silverstone, but he still hasn't missed the podium this season - he is amazing! I guess he can leave winning Silverstone for next year!
I think this has been a pretty interesting F1 season - true, the battle is among the top four, but that beats those years when Michael pretty much walked away with the championship by the fifth race!
Hodgepodge
09-07-07, 05:05 PM
I know I've got better things to do, but this Formula 1 espionage case has me by the tail. For the uninitiated here's a little background.
It seems a very in-the-know Ferrari engineer sent a competitor (McLaren/Mercedes) a copy of their "book". This "book" was 780 pages of everything you want to know about the newest Ferrari F1 car, the F2007. McLaren has denied any wrongdoing, and has since suspended the recipient of the "book". The Ferrari engineer has been fired and is being questioned by the Italian Authorities.
The issue went before the governing body of F1, the FIA World Motorsports Council, some months ago. They found McLaren guilty of receiving the "book", but since its contents weren't used, no penalty was deemed necessary. Obviously, this pissed off Ferrari to no end. They requested the FIA, through its President to revisit the case. This is/was scheduled for September 13, 2007.
The Formula circus is now at Monza for this weekends Italian Grand Prix . It was announced earlier this week that the World Motorsports Council was reopening the case because new evidence was found. It seems, certain aspects of the "book" were circulated to other members of McLaren including its drivers. If the Council finds this to be true, McLaren, who is currently leading both the Drivers and Manufacturers titles would be suspended for this and next season. Where's James Bond when you need him?
Warthawg1
09-07-07, 06:06 PM
Where's James Bond when you need him?
He's switching to Nascar. He'll be driving the 007 car for Joe Gibbs racing next season.
Well, Bond only drives Ford products and Gibbs is switching to Toyota next season. May be a manufacturer conflict there. :) ;)
I hadn't heard much about that Hodge. Thanks for the quick update. I'll have to keep my eyes out for more stories as they come out.
Warthawg1
09-10-07, 06:39 PM
Fords huh....Yes, I clearly remember Bond driving that LTD-Country Squire wagon back in '77
TheBigCat
09-10-07, 07:42 PM
Well, he can't get AMCs anymore.
(get the reference?)
I heard that back when there was some Internet discussion about why all of the Transformers in the movie were GM products. Something about manufacturers signing contracts with the studios or something. I never really paid it any attention or I would have gotten a better reference. I'm not sure who owns Aston Martin now so I apologize for not doing my homework prior to posting. :) ;)
Hodgepodge
09-11-07, 06:24 PM
...I'm not sure who owns Aston Martin now so I apologize for not doing my homework prior to posting. :) ;)David Richards, formerly with the Honda F1 team bought Aston Martin a couple of months ago. Paid close to a Billion dollars IIRC!
Hodgepodge
09-13-07, 10:45 PM
At today's FIA WMSC meeting in Paris, McLaren-Mercedes was penalized their complete complement of Manufacturers Championship points, along with a fine of $100,000,000. That's a 100Mil! HMoG!
Their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who are one two in the Drivers Championship respectively, were not punished.
Holy steep penalties Batman! 100 Million? Seriously? Holy hell that's a lot of money.
Think they made their point, Hodge
ETA - Found an article (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=6&id=3017450).
September 13, 2007, 5:16 PM ET
PARIS -- The McLaren team was fined $100 million and stripped of its points in the constructors' standings Thursday in the spying scandal that has rocked the sport.
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, seen Thursday in Paris, and teammate Fernando Alonso can still compete for the F1 series title. The penalties levied against McLaren were far more severe.
McLaren, which leads the current drivers' and constructors' standings, was punished by the World Motor Sports Council for allegedly using leaked secret technical documents belonging to F1 rival Ferrari.
Team drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, currently 1-2 in the championship standings, were not punished and can continue to compete for the season title.
"Ferrari is satisfied that the truth has now emerged," the Italian team said in a statement.
The $100 million penalty includes McLaren's expected loss of income, and McLaren still could be penalized for the 2008 championship, FIA said in a statement after a hearing.
Fernando Alonso spent much of his news conference at the Belgian GP declining to answer questions on the McLaren scandal.
"We have never denied that the information from Ferrari was in the personal possession of one of our employees at his home," McLaren team chief Ron Dennis said. "The issue is: Was this information used by McLaren? This is not the case and has not been proven today."
McLaren escaped the harshest possible penalty, as FIA could have kicked the team and its drivers out of the 2007 and 2008 championships. In December, FIA will decide on any possible sanctions against McLaren for the 2008 season.
FIA said it did not penalize McLaren's drivers "due to exceptional circumstances" because they provided evidence in exchange for immunity.
"We believe we have grounds for appeal," team chief Ron Dennis said. "But of course we are going to wait for the findings of the FIA which are going to be published. The most important thing is that we go motor racing this weekend, the rest of the season and next season."
The case broke open in July when a 780-page technical dossier on Ferrari cars was found at the home of McLaren's chief designer, Mike Coughlan, who later was suspended. Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stepney, who allegedly supplied the documents, was fired.
Rookie English driver Hamilton leads the standings with 92 points, followed by two-time F1 champion Alonso of Spain with 89. Ferrari teammates Kimi Raikkonen (74) and Felipe Massa (69) are third and fourth. Four races remain in the season, starting with Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
Alonso and Hamilton finished 1-2 in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix -- at Ferrari's home track of Monza -- to extend McLaren's lead in the constructors' championship to 23 points. McLaren had 166, Ferrari 143.
Under Thursday's ruling, McLaren loses all its constructors' points and is ineligible from scoring any more in the season's final races.
The World Motor Sport Council ruled in July that McLaren was guilty of fraudulent conduct for possessing the Ferrari documents but did not punish the team because there was insufficient evidence the material was misused. However, the council warned that McLaren could be kicked out of the 2007 and 2008 series if it is found in the future that the information has been used "to the detriment of the championship."
FIA announced last week it was calling a new hearing of the council after "new evidence" had emerged.
Among those appearing at the hearing before the 26-member council were Hamilton, Dennis and McLaren test driver Pedro De La Rosa. Alonso did not attend.
Others attending included Ross Brawn, Ferrari's former technical director, and team officials from Red Bull, Williams and Spyker.
FIA president Max Mosley sent letters to Alonso, Hamilton and De La Rosa on Aug. 31, saying the sport's regulator had been told that "one or more McLaren drivers may be in possession ... of written evidence relevant to this investigation."
Mosley asked the three drivers to cooperate "in the interests of the sport and the championship" and offered them amnesty in return. Mosley also wrote that "serious consequences would follow" if they were later found to "have withheld any potentially relevant information."
The case against McLaren reportedly consists of a 166-page dossier that includes e-mail exchanges between De la Rosa and Alonso, as well as details of phone and text message traffic between Coughlan and Stepney supplied to FIA by authorities in Italy.
Separately, McLaren was notified Saturday that it is being investigated in a separate criminal inquiry in Italy. Dennis and five other team personnel are reportedly under investigation.
Those allegations stem from Ferrari's criminal case against Stepney for allegedly placing a mysterious white powder on the gas tanks of the team's cars before the Monaco GP, in a supposed sabotage attempt.
Hodgepodge
09-14-07, 02:42 AM
Holy steep penalties Batman! 100 Million? Seriously? Holy hell that's a lot of money.
Think they made their point, HodgeThat's a HELL of a lot of money Brian. Granted, McLaren-Mercedes is a rich outfit, with sponsor money and all, but that's got to hurt. :eye-poppi
TheBigCat
09-15-07, 08:31 AM
Those allegations stem from Ferrari's criminal case against Stepney for allegedly placing a mysterious white powder on the gas tanks of the team's cars before the Monaco GP, in a supposed sabotage attempt.
He was trying to give the gas tank inhalation anthrax???
island_maverick
09-15-07, 09:56 AM
Granted, McLaren-Mercedes is a rich outfit, with sponsor money and all, but that's got to hurt. :eye-poppiI'll refrain from going into the machinations regarding the jury verdict at this point, but the level of the fine is truly unprecedented and, frankly, pulled out of thin air.
That's what happens when a billion dollar industry is run by power broker(s) who cannot see to extend their rhetoric beyond the bounds of a personal whim.
I mean, it is their business so they can do what they want with it, but that is a BIG fine. Is it fair and reasonable, is it proportional? You could argue either way, but I'd also suggest those involved in the 'decision' were too personally invested.
Hodgepodge
09-16-07, 12:12 AM
Here's something I just found out Brian and Mav.
You both may know, there's not a lot of love between Ron Dennis, Managing Director of McLaren-Mercedes, and his driver Fernando Alonso. This split came about at the Hungarian Grand Prix a couple of races ago (I won't go into those details).
According to sources, Ron Dennis is the person who contacted the WMSC with the new evidence which reopened the case. In other words, he blew the whistle on himself. I thought, what a magnanimous guy. To put the rules above himself and his team. :Cheers:
Now I find out, Fernando was going to blow the whistle if McLaren-Mercedes didn't let him out of his current contract. Alonso was actually blackmailing his own team. Dennis decided to beat Fernando to the punch. Not sure he's so magnanimous now. :rolleyez:
I hate news like this. I really, really liked watching Colin McRae race.
Ex-rally champion McRae, 5-year-old son die in crash (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=99&id=3022712)
Updated: September 16, 2007, 11:36 AM ET
LONDON -- Colin McRae, whose fascination with cars grew into an obsession that led him to 25 wins in a World Rally Championship career, was killed in a helicopter crash along with his 5-year-old son and two others, police said Sunday. He was 39.
McRae was piloting the helicopter, which he owned and was licensed to fly, when it crashed Saturday in a wooded area near his home.
Colin McRae was the son of five-time British rally champion Jimmy McRae. Colin won the rally championship in 1991 and 1992.
McRae raced in the World Rally Championship from 1987 until 2004, becoming champion in 1995. He also took part in the Paris to Dakar rally, the Le Mans 24 hour race, the Race of Champions and the X Games.
McRae also lent his name to a best-selling computer game, but it was his flamboyant racing style that earned fans in all types of motorsport and lifted the profile of rallying in Britain.
"He was really daring, always pushing it further," Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen said. "I always liked his attitude. It was maximum attack always and he had some big rolls sometimes. Every time he had one, though it was like: 'Oh well, it's just a roll,' and he just carried on."
Two other people also died in the crash -- 6-year-old Ben Porcelli and 37-year-old Graeme Duncan. The aircraft was badly burned, making it impossible for police to immediately identify the occupants.
The son of five-time British rally champion Jimmy McRae, Colin McRae was competing on motorbikes by age 7. He competed in his first rally in 1985, but qualified as a plumber while he built his racing career, which kicked off when he became the British rally champion in 1991 and 1992.
"There was never a minute when he didn't try 100 percent and, of course, we had lots of accidents," said David Richards, who owned the Prodrive team that McRae raced with when he won his world title. "And it is with great irony that, with all the accidents he had in rally cars that he walked away from unscathed, this happens in a helicopter."
He lifted the world title in 1995, and was runner-up in 1996, 1997 and 2001. He won 25 races in a World Rally Championship career that ran from 1987 to 2004. He made intermittent appearances on the WRC circuit until 2006.
"I didn't set goals as I went along," McRae told Autosport Magazine in January. "I just wanted to be quick as possible and win as much as possible."
McRae spent 2006 working on an auto camp in Are, Sweden, which he wanted to become the world's premier driving center. He also took part in a rally contest at the X Games over the past two years, including last month's event in Carson, Calif.
In the 2006 event, McRae flipped his Subaru, tearing a wheel off the car but still finished second.
McRae's success on the rally circuit led to a computer game "Colin McRae Rally," first released in 1998, which is now found on PlayStation, Game Boy, Xbox and PSP platforms.
McRae received an MBE award in 1996 from Queen Elizabeth II. He was married and also has a daughter.
Yeah I am so sad. :(
RIP :(
island_maverick
09-16-07, 10:29 PM
This is devastating news. My heart goes to his family.
Colin was widely regarded as one of the 'legends' of Rallying. He was an utterly natural talent. As you mention, Brian, he was great to watch, being flamboyant yet highly skillful.
Damn it. He lived life on the edge at times, I guess piloting a private helicopter was one way to go.
ISLANDLEA
09-23-07, 07:03 PM
go Matt :nanabobo:
edit- ok, maybe he needed a Dodge...lea
ISLANDLEA
09-30-07, 07:10 PM
go Matt :blinkie: ...lea
King of Snake
09-30-07, 08:52 PM
Go Lewis Hamilton. Wooooo
ISLANDLEA
10-01-07, 06:04 PM
Matt, get a Dodge ! ...lea
Talladega weekend coming up!
First time in the CoT and I am betting on at least a 20 car pile-up
island_maverick
10-06-07, 10:45 PM
Come on Lewis! You can do it.
T minus 6 hours.
Hodgepodge
10-06-07, 11:04 PM
Come on Lewis! You can do it.
T minus 6 hours.Yeah, I watched him win the pole.
He's an unbelievable driver Mav. I've been watching F1 for 20 years, and this guy is among the best I've seen. This is his first season in F1 and he's a win away from securing the Drivers Title. And, add to that, he's only 22years-old.
He may break every record in the book. And some set by Michael Schumacher I didn't think they'd ever be broken. The kid is phenomenal. :Cheers:
He's good, but he still makes mistakes like a new driver. I was actually surprised when he got stuck in the gravel coming onto pit road today. It seems that if he knew there was a problem with the tires, he'd have been a little more careful than that.
island_maverick
10-08-07, 04:48 AM
He's exceptional, no question. To come in to his first F1 season and be on the cusp of winning the title is amazing (although he's won everything he's competed in leading up to this season so perhaps it shouldn't be such a surprise).
Unfortunately he did make a vital newb mistake in China, he even admitted as much in the interviews. Still, it makes it become one of the most exciting ends to a season in the last race - there's three drivers who can all win the title now, and I don't think that has happened for at least ten years, if not twenty.
Hodgepodge
10-08-07, 04:13 PM
He's good, but he still makes mistakes like a new driver. I was actually surprised when he got stuck in the gravel coming onto pit road today. It seems that if he knew there was a problem with the tires, he'd have been a little more careful than that.
...Unfortunately he did make a vital newb mistake in China, he even admitted as much in the interviews. Still, it makes it become one of the most exciting ends to a season in the last race - there's three drivers who can all win the title now, and I don't think that has happened for at least ten years, if not twenty.Yeah, that definitely was a beginners mistake. And, as you mentioned Mav, one he owned up to.
I'm really looking forward to the finale. It's probably been ten years since the title has gone to the last race. Michael Shumacher dominated the series for so many years, this will be good for the sport.
Hodgepodge
10-19-07, 10:13 PM
Practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the final race of the season, has both McLaren-Mercedes (Hamiliton faster than Alonso) ahead of the two Ferrari's.
island_maverick
10-20-07, 03:56 AM
Yes, I've got my fingers crossed for Lewis.
Although not sure what McLaren were up to with that tyre stunt. Oh well, at least they got fined and nothing came down on Lewis.
Hodgepodge
10-20-07, 09:52 PM
Final qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix:
Pole - Felipe Massa - Ferrari
2nd - Lewis Hamiliton - McLaren/Mercedes
3rd - Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
4th - Fernado Alonso - McLaren/Mercedes
island_maverick
10-20-07, 09:53 PM
The tension builds, Hodge.
Hodgepodge
10-20-07, 10:04 PM
The tension builds, Hodge.You know it Mav! :)
I'm really impressed with this Lewis kid. He's never raced on this circuit before, but it took a perfect lap from the "Brazilian" Massa to unseat him. Just Amazing! :Cheers:
island_maverick
10-20-07, 10:11 PM
It's mad, isn't it?
Putting aside his racing heritage - yes, even at his age he's got ten winning years under his belt - to hit F1 on your debut season and consistenly be one of the top three fastest drivers on the circuit is phenomenal.
As you've been regularly pointing out, Hodge, the kid turns up at circuits he's never seen and drives them like he's known them for years.
Oh, but what a heartbreak today. Another rookie mistake at the start of the race...what was Lewis thinking? But an amazing final race, and I think it is a little ironic that Hamilton and Alonso end the season tied. What a great season this year!! Can't wait to see what next year brings!
Hodgepodge
10-22-07, 07:01 PM
Oh, but what a heartbreak today. Another rookie mistake at the start of the race...what was Lewis thinking? But an amazing final race, and I think it is a little ironic that Hamilton and Alonso end the season tied. What a great season this year!! Can't wait to see what next year brings!Brdmom, he let his bad start go to his head. He only needed to finish 5th, but wanted to get in front of Alonso. This is why I've always loved Alain Prost. He knew how to win championships. He wasn't always the fastest, but he was always the smartest.
There was no way Kimi was suppose to win the Driver's Championship. But my hats off to the whole Ferrari team. They stuck together and pulled off both championships. :Cheers:
island_maverick
10-27-07, 03:49 AM
Yes, congrats to Kimi for capitalising at the right time. That's all he needed to do. He's a nice guy, too. Lewis will have many, many more times to try and win the title. In the end, Lewis is still hot news, his financial position is obscenely strong, and if he had won the title, the next season would have been huge pressure for him to maintain it. Now he can enjoy next season with just a little less pressure, possibly!
Anyway, bit of fun... if you think about things with a conspiratorial mindset (as fans should do when it comes to Bernie Eccelstone!), it's quite easy to be very skeptical about the final outcome. Was Spygate really over with in the courts.. Not only did Maclaren lose the ability to win the Constructors' championship, but....
Hodgepodge
10-29-07, 05:38 PM
Mav, I'm not a fan of Bernie Eccelstone. I think he's a weasel. :mad: Anyone who runs a concern like Formula 1, shouldn't come out and promote one driver over another.
Before the Brazilian Grand Prix, he came right out and said the worst thing that could happen to F1, would be for Kimi to win the championship. What a Napoleonic little bastard. :mad:
island_maverick
11-02-07, 01:05 AM
LOL. Hodge, couldn't have said it any better.
Bernie and Max Mosley are, frankly, way too powerful - they appear to run the whole shooting match with significant personal bias one way or another, and have done for years.
It's just great that we currently have some top drivers like Kimi and Lewis (ok, and Alonso too *sigh*) who strive to entertain us in spite of all the political shenanigans.
Hodgepodge
11-03-07, 10:37 PM
After a turbulent season, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes today confirmed that double world champion Fernando Alonso will not race with the team in 2008. The following is a press release from the team. Read more here (http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/071102131232.shtml)!
island_maverick
11-04-07, 05:11 AM
Renault have offered him a return..and he did previously win 2 titles with them.
It would be interesting to see what happens if Alonso goes back to Renault since Renault had a pretty poor season this year.
Maestra
11-05-07, 07:57 AM
I know there's not much NASCAR talk in here, but...
I'm a fan of Jimmie Johnson, and today he took the points lead.
Next weekend I'm going to the race here in Phoenix, which is the second-to-last of the season.
I'm a bit excited. :D
It's difficult to get excited about a Hendrick car taking the points lead, especially when you're not a Hendrick fan. :)
However, I hope you enjoy the race in Phoenix! I'd love to come see a race there some time as it's such an odd looking track. :)
I saw Harvick win his first ever truck race at PIR... I was sitting in turn 4 at the top of the stands... I really enjoyed the track
ETA: (PIR = Phoenix International Raceway)
island_maverick
11-05-07, 03:40 PM
Given that Alonso is basically *tainted goods* at the moment, I think he and Renault will be a good pairing to repair themselves without too much respective pressures on one another.
Hodgepodge
11-05-07, 10:36 PM
It would be interesting to see what happens if Alonso goes back to Renault since Renault had a pretty poor season this year.
Given that Alonso is basically *tainted goods* at the moment, I think he and Renault will be a good pairing to repair themselves without too much respective pressures on one another.Rumor has it, Alonso only wants a one-year contract, so he can race for Ferrari in '09.
I heard Toyota offered him a three-year contract at $26Mil a year, but he turned it down. HMoG! Also in the running is Red Bull/Renault. I've heard they wouldn't mind giving him a one-year contract. The publicity alone would help sell more of the energy drink. ;)
Wow this is a lot of money.
Alonso's two-year deal reportedly to pay him $51.3M per season (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=6&id=3148557)
December 10, 2007, 9:15 AM ET
MADRID, Spain -- Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso is heading back to Renault.
The 26-year-old Spaniard announced his return to the French team Monday after a turbulent season at McLaren.
At Renault in 2005, Alonso became the youngest driver in F1 history to win the title. He repeated in 2006.
"I am delighted to be returning to Renault," Alonso said in a statement. "This is the team where I grew up as a driver in Formula One. Now it is time for us to begin a new chapter together."
Renault said that Alonso, who agreed to a two-year contract, would drive along with Nelson Piquet Jr. The duo will make their debut testing the new R28 car at Valencia from Jan. 22-24.
"Fernando and Nelsinho will form one of the most exciting driver lineups of 2008," Renault managing director Flavio Briatore said. "We are delighted to be welcoming Fernando back home to the team where he enjoyed his greatest success. His abilities as a driver and a team leader are well known, and we look forward to forging another strong partnership."
Spanish media reported that Alonso would earn $51.3 million per season, though Renault would not confirm the figure.
Alonso had been linked with a return to Renault ever since he was released from his three-year contract with McLaren in November. A move to the French team gained momentum Friday when FIA decided against penalizing Renault for possessing confidential information about rival team McLaren.
"To be honest, the first three weeks of November, I was on a much needed vacation and during which I disconnected from Formula One," Alonso said. "The decision to choose a team did not take more than a week, as me and the people close to me were clear about what we wanted."
Alonso dismissed talk that he could have taken a year off, preferring patience while analyzing all of the possible options.
"It would have never come to me not having a drive for next season," Alonso said. "We are talking about a very important decision and since I could not get back at the wheel of a car until January or February, there was no rush."
Alonso finished third in the 2007 drivers' standings with 109 points, though his season is better remembered by rocky relations with rookie driving partner Lewis Hamilton and a spy scandal that cost McLaren $100 million and all of its constructors' championship points.
Renault finished third in the constructors' championship in 2007 with 51 points, 153 behind champion Ferrari.
Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001 with Minardi and spent three years at Renault from 2003-06. In 105 races, he won 19 and finished on the podium 49 times.
Giancarlo Fisichella and Heiki Kovalainen drove for Renault in 2007.
"Renault had a difficult year in 2007, but I know that the team has real strength in depth," Alonso said. "I am confident they can produce a fast and competitive car and be back at the top in 2008."
Hodgepodge
12-10-07, 11:46 PM
Yeah, I read it this morning Brian. :wave2:
It was rumored, Alonso was waiting to see if Renault would be sanctioned like McLaren for their own spy scandal. Ain't F1 grand! :nanabobo:
island_maverick
12-12-07, 09:06 PM
What wasn't mentioned was that Alonso apparently had a clause that he would only join if the existing no1 was displaced (sacked) so he could become the undisputed no1 in the team.
I shouldn't be surprised, it's been done before, but still.. just seems petty.. and a little insecure.
Hodgepodge
12-12-07, 10:46 PM
What wasn't mentioned was that Alonso apparently had a clause that he would only join if the existing no1 was displaced (sacked) so he could become the undisputed no1 in the team.
I shouldn't be surprised, it's been done before, but still.. just seems petty.. and a little insecure.I read that too Mav. That's why Fisichella and Kovalainen lost their seats, replaced by Piquet Jr. Rumor has it, Kovalainen will join Hamilton at McLaren/Mercedes.
Two-time Cup champ Johnson to race former F1 ace Schumacher (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/columns/story?seriesId=2&columnist=smith_marty&id=3154388)
By Marty Smith
December 14, 2007, 12:40 PM ET
LONDON -- Many Formula 1 racing fans scoff at the very thought of NASCAR, consider it no more racing than a Monster Truck rally, and perceive it as a dog 'n' pony show contrived from corporate marketing that belongs on the main stage at the county fair.
Conversely, many NASCAR fans fly the single-digit salute at F1, pay it little -- if any -- mind, figure it's a glorified homecoming parade at 200 mph staged in some faraway land they can't even pronounce.
Jimmie Johnson calls his head-to-head battle with Michael Schumacher a "great opportunity to race against the best in the world."
Love lost? Not so much. It's a lack-of-respect thing.
Well, folks, listen up. Regardless of your respective allegiance, come Sunday evening you'll have unmistakable bragging rights. Why? Because the very best in NASCAR is set to strap in and square off against the very best in F1 -- in identically prepared cars -- as part of the 20th running of the Race of Champions Nation's Cup.
Race organizers told ESPN.com on Thursday that Jimmie Johnson and Michael Schumacher will race head-to-head in Sunday's event.
Back-to-back Cup champ vs. seven-time F1 title-winner.
No excuses.
"It's one hell of a great opportunity to race against the best in the world, and as a driver that's what you're always looking for -- it's what you want," Johnson said Thursday while dining on sushi at Nobu London. "It's a different type of race. We're only going about 30 mph [average], so we'll have to be really technically sound. Hitting your marks will be key."
Thirty miles per hour. That may seem mundane -- your granny drives that speed on the highway, after all -- but it's not. Far from it. Having covered this event last year in Paris, I will testify to its intensity and precision. These boys are here for three reasons: (1) It's fun as hell; (2) To beat the best in the world; (3) To win for their country.
And they mean it. Go through the motions? Get embarrassed.
"Everyone recognizes [Schumacher] as a champion, and after winning my second straight championship in NASCAR, I hope I'm perceived that way," Johnson said. "Beating him and helping Team USA win the Nations Cup would be the perfect ending to the best year of my career."
If Johnson prevails over Schumacher, it will boost the perception of stock car racing overseas. Schumacher retired last year, but don't think for a minute he's lost anything behind the wheel. And rest assured, he wants to win this badly, too.
Some say NASCAR and F1 don't pay mind to one another because they have completely separate goals. Whatever. Everybody wants to be king.
Think about it. For a random guy here in London to pick up the paper Monday morning and see that a NASCAR guy beat one of the most celebrated drivers of all time would have to positively affect NASCAR. And though neither side will admit it, there is an unspoken rivalry between NASCAR and F1.
Juan Pablo Montoya told me earlier this year that I was reaching for something that's not there. He'd know, so he's probably right. But it's the biggest thing in the States vs. the biggest thing in Europe. How could there not be a rivalry?
All said, this faceoff is a race fan's dream scenario. Johnson and U.S. teammate Travis Pastrana will run head-to-head against Team Germany, for whom Schumacher is paired with Sebastian Vettel of F1's Scuderia Toro Rosso team.
Johnson and Schumacher will be driving four-wheel-drive Fiat Grande Punto S 2000s in a two-lap sprint before handing the wheel over to their respective teammates.
The ROC concept is akin to that employed by the former IROC in America -- pitting champion drivers from various forms of motorsport against one another in identical cars to determine who's best. But whereas IROC was run on ovals, the Race of Champions is staged on an asphalt track laid inside a stadium.
After several years at the Stade de France in Paris, the event moves this year to London's hallowed Wembley Stadium.
And ROC is broken down into two competitions -- a team competition in which eight two-man teams will battle for the Nation's Cup, and an individual competition in which every driver on hand races to be crowned best of the best.
Nation's Cup comes first. USA vs. Germany.
Johnson vs. Schumacher.
But if you ask me, there's a lot more on the line than just Johnson vs. Schumacher.
island_maverick
12-16-07, 06:23 AM
That's going to be an interesting event. It's a shame it's not a direct head-to-head. Why doesn't someone like the Sultan of Brunei just ask Schumacher plus A.N.Other (be it Johnson, Hamilton, Alonso, whoever) to visit the desert for a week and have a private race! The Sultan does the same thing with music legends & concerts etc.
Heard a funny story about Schumacher the other day. He was running late to catch a flight and when the taxi driver arrived to pick him up, Schuey told him, "I'm driving". He just made the flight by the skin of his teeth, and the taxi driver told reporters that he just sat there and enjoyed the ride. I'm not sure if he made Schuey pay his fare though!
It would be interesting to see them go head-to-head someday in a full on race setup. :)
As for the other, I wouldn't have made him pay. I'd have done the same thing, just sit there and enjoy the ride.
ETA - The results should surprise no one:
Schumacher bests US duo in ROC; Germany wins Nation's Cup (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=99&id=3157157)
By Marty Smith
December 16, 2007, 1:48 PM ET
LONDON -- During the stop-and-go, 10-mile trek from his hotel to Wembley Stadium Sunday morning, Jimmie Johnson voiced concern that he wasn't acclimated to the four-wheel drive rally car he would pilot later that day in a highly-anticipated duel with seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher.
Those reservations would prove worthy, as Schumacher single-handedly eliminated Team USA from the Race of Champions Nation's Cup, then joined teammate Sebastian Vettel in defeating England then Finland to win the overall team Nation's Cup championship. It is Germany's first such victory.
Schumacher opened the competition by outrunning Johnson to win by a landslide.
Afterward, Johnson was visibly steamed.
Germany's Michael Schumacher opened the Nation's Cup by outrunning Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
"Hell yeah I'm [upset] -- I want to win," said Johnson, the two-time defending NASCAR Nextel Cup champion. "I went out and did all that I could. I just do not understand the four-wheel drive, hand brake, Rally car driving.
"I don't have a lot of experience at it, and to show the level that he showed in the car, I think he's had some days in it. He certainly navigated."
Other than ROC, Johnson has never driven a four-wheel drive car in competition. Then again, the same goes for Schumacher, who would later stall the same car -- the Fiat Abarth rally car -- in which he beat Johnson at the starting line in a loss to Finnish F1 star Heikki Kovalainen.
"Even guys in the drivers' room were like, 'That's pretty good for an asphalt guy driving like a Pro Rally guy,'" Johnson said. "But he did an awesome job. I wasn't even close."
Mistakes cost Johnson dearly. More than once he mistakenly grabbed the hand brake rather than the gear shift. Again, that goes back to lack of experience in these types of cars.
After the race, Schumacher insisted he'd never run the cars prior to this week, or prior to his last ROC appearance in 2004. In fact, in racing Johnson, Schumacher felt he had some trouble with the Fiat.
"I didn't get so well along with the Rally car," Schumacher said. "I need some open wheels. They spin more easily for me."
Asked about the outcome, Schumacher was matter of fact.
"I won it, so it was straightforward," Schumacher said.
Despite Johnson's loss, it wasn't over for Team USA just yet. Johnson's teammate, Travis Pastrana, kept the U.S. team alive by beating Vettel in a race of Aston Martins. That set up a Schumacher/Pastrana match up in rear-wheel drive buggies to decide which team advanced to the quarter finals of the team competition.
Different cars. Same outcome.
"I drove too fast for my abilities, started hitting walls and then started going very slow," said Pastrana, who paid homage to Schumacher's prowess at the starting line with a prayer pose and a peer towards the sky. "After the first wall I just kind of kept hitting them.
"I was really hoping Jimmie was going to beat that there Michael Schumacher. I was happy, though. I just drove too hard. I think he would have won anyway, but I really wanted to put in a good drive and I kept overshooting the corners and overshooting my breaking marks."
Schumacher, widely considered the greatest race driver in the world, didn't disappoint.
"He's definitely not overrated," Pastrana said. "The more pressure the better I usually do. But I definitely overdrove the car. If it was someone I thought I could definitely beat by just driving consistently, I would have had a much better run.
"But honestly I didn't think my driving consistently would have won that match, so I had to try to drive a little harder. He might get a lot of byes by people trying to overdrive the car. He's earned that reputation. He definitely lives up to the hype."
Hodgepodge
12-17-07, 10:22 PM
...Rumor has it, Kovalainen will join Hamilton at McLaren/Mercedes.It's been confirmed, Kovalainen did get the second seat at McLaren/Mercedes.
...Heard a funny story about Schumacher the other day. He was running late to catch a flight and when the taxi driver arrived to pick him up, Schuey told him, "I'm driving". He just made the flight by the skin of his teeth, and the taxi driver told reporters that he just sat there and enjoyed the ride. I'm not sure if he made Schuey pay his fare though!Rumor has it, the taxi cab owner is considering selling the taxi. He needs the money! :rolleyez:
Probably a little late with this since it just started, but don't forget race fans, the Bud Shootout from Daytona is going on tonight. :Cheers:
i will be watching brian :D
Well, Theresa, seemed like a good idea at the time, huh? :)
It's good to see Jr in Victory Lane again even if it is just a non-points, show event. :Cheers:
Maestra
02-10-08, 02:25 AM
It was great to see that smile on his face, wasn't it? :)
yeah, that was a fun race to watch... it is good to see him back winning...1 of my favorite drivers even tho he isnt with budweiser anymore :(
*gives the finger to that bitch of a step-mom Theresa*
Looks like Lewis Hamilton is picking up pretty much where he left off last season. This was a hell of an opening race for the F1 season. It's good to see the F1 guys back in action. Looks like they did finally nail Rubens Barrichello for his red light stop in the middle of the race. The announcers (and I) thought he'd gotten away with it. :)
If anyone has any questions about why NA$CAR coverage sucks, just watch an F1 race and see how the announcers conduct themselves and how they talk about the drivers, sponsors, manufacturers, etc.
Hamilton starts F1 season with win from pole at Australian GP (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=6&id=3296127)
March 16, 2008, 1:47 PM ET
MELBOURNE, Australia -- McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the Australian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday after an accident-filled season-opening race.
Hamilton, who was No. 2 in last year's drivers championship, started from pole position and avoided the mayhem behind him for his fifth victory in 18 GP starts.
The 23-year-old British driver led from pole position and was never seriously threatened before finishing 5.4 seconds ahead of BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in second place and 8.1 ahead of Williams' Nico Rosberg in third.
"We got away to a really great start -- we've done a superb job all weekend," Hamilton said. "It was close going to the first corner, but I was able to keep it cool and look after the tires.
"From then, I paced myself and didn't overdo it -- I had plenty of time in me."
Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari ran out of gas as he entered the pits with five laps to go. He earned one championship point when stewards excluded Rubens Barrichello's sixth-place for Honda because he left the pits while the exit lights were red. It was Ferrari's only point, representing the Italian team's worst season-opening race since 1992.
Only seven of the 22 cars on the grid finished the 58-lap race.
The race ended at the first corner for four cars, with 2005 Australian GP winner Giancarlo Fisishella skidding off in the Force India team's debut. Local favorite Mark Webber and Honda's Jenson Button were also among the five cars out by the end of the first lap on the 3.295-mile Albert Park circuit.
Fernando Alonso, the two-time champion who is back at Renault after a season at McLaren, finished fourth. It was the first time since 2003 that he did not finish on the podium at Melbourne.
Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen was fifth, with Barrichello crossing in sixth and Williams' No. 2 Kazuki Nakajima seventh -- the only cars to finish. Nakajima was elevated to sixth after the race.
Four-time Champ Car series winner Sebastien Bourdais was prominent throughout in his F1 debut before the engine in his Toro Rosso failed with two laps to go, but was finished in the final points-paying position of eighth.
Hamilton, who was third here in his debut last year behind Raikkonen and Alonso, said the win reminded him of his first F1 victory.
"It was a bit like my first win last year in Montreal where we had four safety cars," he said. "It was a good challenge but we've all done a great job. ... I felt fantastic. You'd never thought it would have been as physically a breeze as it was. It's great preparation for Malaysia -- bring it on, I'm really looking forward to it."
Hamilton, who was passed for the drivers title by Raikkonen in the last race at Brazil in 2007, gained an early advantage in what was expected to be another McLaren vs. Ferrari season.
"It is the perfect way to begin the season," he said. "We need to continue with the momentum. We could have gone quicker, so I'm not particularly bothered by the Ferrari's pace."
Ferrari's Felipe Massa started in fourth place on the grid but spun out on the first corner, and had to pit twice in the first three laps before retiring on the 30th lap soon after a big collision with Red Bull's David Coulthard.
Raikkonen moved up from his starting place of 15th to third place on the 30th lap before running into the gravel after an overtaking maneuver on Kovalainen. His wheels appeared to lock and he drove straight off the track, coming back in 11th place and he headed directly for the pits.
The series moves to Malaysia next week.
TheBigCat
03-16-08, 07:40 PM
If anyone has any questions about why NA$CAR coverage sucks, just watch an F1 race and see how the announcers conduct themselves and how they talk about the drivers, sponsors, manufacturers, etc.
Brian, NASCAR sux, period. There is literally nobody there with any class.
you wanna talk about sucking let's talk some F1 cause that is just about the most boring ass dren I have ever seen...
it is more exciting watching old men race their go-cart wheelchairs than it is to watch a F1 race :rotfl:
if NASCAR sucked so bad you wouldn't have drivers from F1 leaving to come to our sport ;)
You've had 1.
JPM likely wouldn't even be in NASCAR if he hadn't burned nearly every bridge he ever made in his life on his way to F1.
ETA - There was a time when I liked JPM, and was excited about him moving to NASCAR, but that faded the more I saw him in that environment. He should've stayed in F1 or gone back to IndyCar where he had so much success. *shrug*
I guess you don't count former F1 champ one Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve
too bad he sucks and lost his ride
I'm a fan of all racing from Saturday night dirt tracks to offshore boat racing and everything in between. My comments were criticizing the coverage that NASCAR has seem to have embraced in recent years. Either NASCAR, or the networks covering it, have run off the decent announcers they had at one point and they're announcing to the lowest common denominator at this point. Everything has become a music video it seems and that's likely attributable to FOX considering they have a stellar track record of screwing up just about everything they put their hands on. Seems like NASCAR, or FOX, thinks their fan base is now the prepubescent girl demographic.
I shouldn't have said what I did about JPM, because he doesn't "suck" so much as he should have, IMO, stayed where he was so successful. Moving to NASCAR isn't turning out how I'm sure many thought it would because he's little more than field filler at this point. The same could be said about many of the IndyCar drivers who made the switch this year. The argument could be made that they simply need more experience in these cars since open wheel cars are worlds apart from "stock" cars.
JPM did win a NASCAR race... it was a road course but still lol...
I do happen to agree with you though
NASCAR's tv coverage does kinda suck
you know who I think has good coverage? MRN
if I got them on the radio out here I would listen to those guys while I watched the coverage on the tv... that's what I used to do when I lived in the mainland but we don't get MRN coverage out here
Well, he won a Busch race, and even that was mired in controversy. Just ask Scott Pruett.
Thankfully Darrell can't talk today because when he does, I put the TV on the race and my surround sound on MRN. It's easier to watch that way. Darrell's voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I couldn't stand him when he drove and that hasn't changed.
F1 does have some spectacular crashes though.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/f1crashvw2.jpg
Maestra
03-16-08, 08:42 PM
F1 does have some spectacular crashes though.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/f1crashvw2.jpg:rotfl:
I'm not a JPM fan at all. I don't follow F1, so I don't know how he acted there, but I don't appreciate him at all in NASCAR.
The Indy drivers need more wheel time before I can judge whether or not they're cut out for stock car racing.
I'm really tired of all the music videos on FOX. If I have to hear that chick sing "Let's Go Racing Boys" one more time, I may throw my TV off the balcony.
I'm delighted F1 is back! What a wild and crazy race in Melbourne. I hope everyone settles down in Malaysia...
It was over 100 degrees here on Sunday - about 120 in the pits I believe ! I stayed home and watched it on TV. It was not an exciting race - By the end it was just a question of whether they were all going to make it or not !
Will Mark Webber ever finish a race ? Poor guy gets so hyped up - the great Aussie hope - and this year he didn't even make the first lap.
island_maverick
03-20-08, 06:42 AM
Tater, if there is any pattern at all then it is drivers from the US circuits moving over to F1. Drivers that migrate the other way tend to be those who have struggled make it in F1 or are fading as a power in F1. JMO.
name me one big name NASCAR guy who has left to join F1
TheBigCat
03-20-08, 07:24 AM
Tater, NASCAR guys couldn't drive F1 if they wanted to. For starters, they don't know how to make a right hand turn. ;)
you are wrong... wrong twice
Sonoma, California:
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:-o2POlLaLZ8L8M:http://www.indux.com/map/1590_InfineonRaceway_NASCAR_tn.jpg (http://www.indux.com/map/1590_InfineonRaceway_NASCAR_tn.jpg)
Watkins Glen, New York:
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:1ZrIrvWdqSJAiM:http://www.gotickets.com/cached/_images/443.443.watkinsglenspwy_racetrack.fit.a2a84c4b4749 bcfb07382d4e1265b691.gif (http://www.gotickets.com/cached/_images/443.443.watkinsglenspwy_racetrack.fit.a2a84c4b4749 bcfb07382d4e1265b691.gif)
before I get into a NASCAR vs. F1 argument...
I have massive respect for F1. The race cars they have are amazing. I perfectly well understand how big F1 is worldwide. It's massive. I am a casual fan of F1... if I am around and watching tv and I see F1 on I will change it to that channel... I don't keep it with it week by week but I like to see who the champ is and keep up with a general overview of the sport...
...but from a fan's perspective, watching the racing on tv, it's just not as exciting and entertaining to watch F1 as it is NASCAR.
I will be the first person to tell ya that people who do not understand the technical aspects of racing cannot truly appreciate what is really going on. F1 is a very higly competetive sport and the casual fan may not truly understand why that guy just led the whole race with no one challenging him for the lead or racing him hard or doing anything but following around behind him...
from an intelligence standpoint, I appreciate F1 very much
from a fan's standpoint... not so much
It's boring!!!!!!!! I mean... come on... there is no side by side racing... there is no guy who just drove from the back of the pack to win the race... there isn't a whole lot of position changing in general.
example: last week at Bristol Junior started the race 13th and his car sucked... and he kept slowly dropping back... was even riding around down in the 30's at one point in the race... but after a few pit stops and a few adjustments... he had that car running a lil better... and slowly, but surely, he made his way back up through the field... and I'll be damned if he didn't pull her home with a top 5 finish on the day
so what... the guy in F1... he started 3rd... faded to 4th... and finished 2nd
where's the fun in that?!
this is not a debate on which racing is better... the entire point is this:
A NASCAR race is more exciting to watch for a casual fan than an F1 race.
There are people driving side by side... beating and banging... there are pissed off drivers who just wrecked talking :censored: in thier interviews... there is a lot more competition in the sense that any one of maybe 20 or 30 drivers have a real shot at winning the race rather than just 2 or 3 really good cars that stand the only realistic shot at winning a race in F1...
okay, I'm rambling at this point and will shut up lol
TheBigCat
03-20-08, 05:13 PM
Find a map of the Monte Carlo course and compare it with the Watkins Glen and Sonoma tracks, keeping in mind that it's only showing two dimensions. F1 is an entirely different skill set from NASCAR. (Or IRL for that matter) It is much more gear-box intensive.
I remember reading an interview with Little Dale about a year or so after his Pa died, he was saying that he loves racing games. (Makes perfect sense to me.) He mentioned one PS2 game that had some realy great track-realism. In fact, he had just raced Watkins Glen for the first time, but before going there in RL he ran the virtual course for about 2 months and it was so close (he said the shift points were only a couple of yards off) that it cut his learning curve in half when he actually got there. Impressive for what it says about game designers, yes, but also for what it says about the difference between racing and oval and racing a road course.
Also, in F1 you can't go out and use your car like a sledgehammer. Try swapping paint with someone and one of you will end up trying to fly a wingless glider. Papa Dale died cutting off someone. He let off the throttle just enough that he got tapped from behind, which broke his rear end loose and sent him straight in the wall. Pull that stunt in F1 and if you live you will never race again.
I'm not going to disagree with you there... I am a fan of Junior but I never was a fan of Senior
Dale Sr. was a dirty drivin' sum'bitch who got himself dead by driving dirty.
Junior doesn't drive dirty like his daddy did.
I love watching the race at Monaco. Only a little over a month away I believe.
I don't think you can really compare F1 and NASCAR because they're worlds apart both culturally and mechanically. They each bring something to their fans which the other can't and that's all good. As for drivers who change over, I don't think it would be easy to go either direction, especially after years in a certain racing discipline. Probably the most successful was Mario Andretti, though he could win on or in anything with wheels I believe. :)
island_maverick
03-21-08, 08:25 AM
Tater, I wasn't trying to compare NASCAR v F1, and I think Cat and Brian have covered a number of points that reflect my view.
The point I was trying to make before was that, as far as I could tell, drivers who move from the US circuits (not specifically NASCAR) to F1 are doing so as a career move in the hope that they might break into the arguably more technically challenging F1 environment.
Similarly, drivers who move from F1 to the US are often those who are coming to the end of their F1 careers or have struggled to make an impact in F1.
I think it's kind of funny that the Indy champ from last year left to join NASCAR
island_maverick
03-22-08, 06:37 AM
Perhaps he's happy in the US.
Either that or he didn't want to be part of the merger this year. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
On a different note, this new F1 qualifying is easier to get used to than I thought it would be, at least as a viewer. :)
island_maverick
03-22-08, 07:19 AM
What merger? *displays ignorance of US racing*
Yeah, the new F1 qualifying system is working out great. It's adding more opportunities for quicker times and creating it's own mini competition for the day. Cracking idea.
*ignores Mav's ignorance of US racing*
the merger of Champ car and Indy...
cause open wheel sucks and all their big name driver's are leaving for NASCAR
on a side note...
I would like to be a bigger fan of F1... so if someone more knowledgeable would like to help me along... I admittedly don't know as much as I should, but I would like to...
What merger? *displays ignorance of US racing*
The Indy Racing League (IRL) is merging with the Champ Car World Series (formerly CART). Actually, what they're doing is re-unifying after years of being split up. I never really understood all of the reasoning behind the split to begin with because they cars are, as far as I know, pretty much the same.
There's an article on the reunification here (http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=10557).
Basically mav, the US will now have just 1 major open wheel series.
Anyone watching the miami race?
145 out of 200 laps and only 5 cars on lead lap?
4 of 25 cars finish on lead lap
Awesome. Danica Patrick wins the IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. First major open-wheel victory by a woman. :Cheers:
I guess now they can stop asking her when she'll win. :)
:clap: Danica... good job girl!! :Cheers:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Danica/rpm_a_patrick4_sq_300.jpg
Danica quiets her critics with landmark victory in Japan (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/indycar/columns/story?columnist=oreovicz_john&id=3355243)
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The last weekend in which American open-wheel racing is split into two entities certainly started with a bang.
With a third of the IndyCar field watching from Long Beach, where the Champ Car World Series is gathered for its grand finale, Danica Patrick scored her long-awaited first IndyCar Series victory. She claimed the rain-delayed Japan Indy 300 by 5.86 seconds over Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon.
Patrick led only three of 200 laps and she certainly didn't have the fastest car on the Twin Ring Motegi oval nestled in the mountains northwest of Tokyo. Her win was the product of a disciplined final stint that allowed her to stretch a 22-gallon tank of ethanol farther than anyone else.
But a win is a win is a win.
And as any driver who has won a race on fuel mileage can attest -- most recently, Jimmie Johnson in last week's NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Phoenix -- they pay the same prize money and there's no asterisk in the record book.
After 50 tries, Danica Patrick is a winner in IndyCar.
"Finally," she said, fighting back tears in Victory Lane. "Finally. I knew there was a reason I always liked coming to Japan."
Patrick has been answering the question "When are you gonna win?" for the last three years, ever since she shot to prominence in her third IndyCar Series race. It was at Motegi, where in 2005 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing, she qualified on the outside of the front row and led 32 laps on the way to a fourth-place finish.
A few weeks later, when Danica nearly nabbed pole position for the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and led laps late in the race before -- ironically -- slowing for fuel mileage concerns, expectations were raised even higher.
The rest of Patrick's rookie campaign brought three poles, but her racecraft still needed work and fourth place remained a personal glass ceiling through the end of the 2006 season. At that point, she made her most significant career move to date, leaving Bobby Rahal's team in favor of a lucrative multiyear contract with Andretti Green Racing and sponsor Motorola.
The move to the four-car AGR juggernaut helped Patrick raise her game, and she made the podium three times in 2007 with third- and second-place finishes. But a win remained elusive.
Until Sunday in Japan.
Thanks to crew chief Kyle Moyer's gambling fuel strategy, Danica took the checkered flag for the first time since winning the Professional Division of the 2002 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
It's arguably the most significant motorsport achievement to date for a female driver. But Patrick played it humble.
"It wasn't even a matter of doing anything different," she said. "It was everything coming together with a bit of luck and good pit strategy.
"I feel like a wuss crying, but it's been a long time coming. Finally ..."
She would deny it, but by the way she broke down in Victory Lane, it was obvious that a great weight had been lifted from Patrick's shoulders.
"I'm so happy for her and so proud of her," exclaimed team owner Michael Andretti. "It's always been a question of when -- not if -- she was going to win, and I'm so proud of the way she did it. She did a really good job sticking to the numbers while still keeping her speed.
"I love this girl," Andretti added. "She is just a first-class individual and I'm so happy that monkey is off her back. You'll see -- there is going to be more of this to come."
Patrick started the Motegi race in sixth place based on her championship standing after qualifying was rained out. She held that position for most of the race until the final stint, when the fuel strategies began to play out.
Most of the leaders pitted under yellow with 57 laps remaining. Patrick and Castroneves made an additional stop to top off with 52 laps to go.
At that point in the race, 51 laps was the most anyone had run on a tank of ethanol. And that included some fuel-saving laps run under caution behind the pace car.
Dixon was the leader, but the Ganassi team seemed to switch his strategy from speed to fuel saving with about 30 laps to go. When the last quarter of the race was run without incident, the decision didn't pan out and the New Zealander relinquished a 3.6-second lead when he pitted on lap 195. Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan pitted a lap later, leaving Patrick and Castroneves to dispute the win.
Helio backed way off to make the flag, and Patrick quickly capitalized to claim the historic milestone.
"I can't say that the last stint was exactly hard," Patrick explained. "You're taking it easy and taking care of the car. I did feel at the end that it was fast and I was managing to save fuel while still keeping the speed. And I heard from Kyle that all I needed to beat was Helio.
"So when I saw him I knew I had been saving a little extra throughout the stint. I knew he was the one to beat and I didn't want to make the mistake of not pushing really hard to get by him."
As usual, Danica had her close-knit family by her side in Japan, including mom Bev, dad TJ, and husband Paul Hospenthal.
"She's worked so hard, and I'm so proud of this team," said Bev Patrick. "We finally got the win that everybody has been waiting for, and she's been waiting for it more than them."
"It's the best day of my life," TJ Patrick added. "I've dreamed about it and I'm so proud of her. For all the grief she gets over it, she just proved to everyone that she can win races, and she's going to win a lot more."
For many drivers, gaining that first win unlocks potential they didn't know was there. Michael Andretti is convinced that will be the case with Danica.
"She wanted to win so bad," Michael said. "She's such a competitor, so I think it's more a monkey off her back for herself, not everybody else. That's the type of individual she is.
"Now that it's off, I think you're going to see a different person. I think this is the first of many."
One thing for sure: Danica won't have to answer those questions about if she's ever going to win anymore.
In fact, in his postrace interview, ESPN reporter Jack Arute already gave her a taste of what to expect from now on.
"Danica, when are you going to win again?"
ETA - Haha...the trophy's almost as tall as she is. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Danica/captd18f7921d4e64256a6d55c30af4a0aa.jpg
TheBigCat
04-20-08, 10:07 PM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/Leuthen2/Danica/captd18f7921d4e64256a6d55c30af4a0aa.jpg
ETA - Haha...the trophy's almost as tall as she is. :)
And Helio, not very tall himself (as any fan of DWTS will attest) is standing 6" lower, is still taller and is pointing to his puny 2nd place trophy for comparison. :rotfl:
Danica ran over someone in the pits today... I think the guy is okay except for a concussion.
Damn women drivers. Wait, what? ;)
ETA - In all seriousness, it's good to hear he's going to be OK.
I'll be watching on tv... wave to us!!! :wave2:
Here we go Indianapolis 500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will never, for the life of me, understand how something like that could be considered a starting grid. They look way too spread out.
TheBigCat
05-25-08, 05:15 PM
Come On Helio!!!!
I will never, for the life of me, understand how something like that could be considered a starting grid. They look way too spread out.
I was thinking the same thing. I was wondering... are they gonna get lined up? And no... they didn't.
T.K. just went from the lead to the wrecker in the span of one turn.
NASCAR needs to take a hint with how that just worked... they were in commercial, but they had the side-by-side thing going. So when T.K. got t-boned by Sarah Fisher we didn't miss it due to commercial.
HEY NASCAR!!! PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!
I love the way they do the side-by-side because even though the audio isn't there, you can still see what's going on.
...and 95% of the time the announcers aren't telling us anything important anyways.
That's why I like FOX race coverage so much. At least when they are talking the usual race announcer gibberish they are entertaining and funny. ABC/ESPN just doesn't have it.
Is it just me or does hearing Brent Musburger make you think it's college football season?
Danica just got taken out on pit road by someone else's mistake. :mad:
Wow Danica was going after him!!! Boy she's pissed!!!
That was funny seeing the big crowd chasing after her trying to keep up lol
Whoa!!!! They just had a wild ass wreck in the Indy race... somebody jumped another guy's car!!!! :eek:
I guess this is just about as good a place as anywhere to post this...
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2119/brownfailku8.jpg
TheBigCat
06-08-08, 04:09 AM
Should I change the name of this thread to Official Racing Thread (NASCAR/Formula 1/Horse)?
How about... (F1/Indy/NHRA)
hmmm...
TheBigCat
06-08-08, 09:45 PM
Actually it would be better if we just had an official motorsports thread and let the Sprint Series thread continue just like we have separate NFL and NCAA football threads.
And also start a thread for horse racing, like you should have done with that picture.
And also start a thread for horse racing, like you should have done with that picture.
Consider me told what's what. ;)
TheBigCat
06-09-08, 07:11 AM
Then consider me following through on my own advice. ;)
Any thoughts on Lewis Hamilton bashing into the back of Kimi in pit lane in Canada?? Did he avoid Kubica on purpose? Talk about a mistake that you beat yourself up about!
TheBigCat
06-10-08, 06:24 AM
If I knew what you were talking about I might be able to comment. Could you provide a story link please?
Sorry - at last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix (Formula One), Lewis Hamilton smashed into the back of Kimi Raikkonen's car which was stopped at the red light at the end of pit lane. It was a pretty bonehead move...
But here's an article link if you are interested -
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=63ec0f4f-3b6a-42ef-ad03-49ffb1ed5236
TheBigCat
06-11-08, 06:18 PM
Boneheaded move, to be sure, but I would question why Formula 1 has a red light for cars exiting pit row. That sounds like asking for someone to be a bonehead.
Dammit.
Two-time Top Fuel champ Kalitta killed during SuperNationals qualifying (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/nhra/news/story?id=3455554)
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. -- Scott Kalitta died Saturday when his Funny Car burst into flames and crashed at the end of track during the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
The NHRA said the 46-year-old Kalitta -- the 1994 and 1995 Top Fuel season champion who had 18 career victories, 17 in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car -- was taken to the Old Bridge division of Raritan Bay Medical Center, where he died a short time later.
Kalitta's Toyota Solara was traveling at about 300 mph when it burst into flames.
The Palmetto, Fla., resident started his career at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 1982. His father, Connie Kalitta, was a longtime driver and team owner known as "The Bounty Hunter," and his cousin, Doug Kalitta, also drives competitively.
"We are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere condolences to the entire Kalitta family," the NHRA said in a statement. "Scott shared the same passion for drag racing as his legendary father, Connie. He also shared the same desire to win, becoming a two-time series world champion. He left the sport for a period of time, to devote more time to his family, only to be driven to return to the drag strip to regain his championship form. ... He will be truly missed by the entire NHRA community."
Kalitta had most of his racing success in Top Fuel, highlighted by his series titles in 1994 and 1995. He retired from racing in 1997, sitting out most of two seasons before returning for a 10-race campaign in 1999. He sat out three more seasons following that brief stint and then returned again in 2003, joining cousin Doug as a second driver for the family's two Top Fuel dragsters.
Kalitta started his pro career in Top Fuel in 1982, running limited events for four seasons before moving to Funny Car in 1986 for his first full season of competition. He returned to that category full-time in 2006.
One of only 14 drivers in NHRA history to win in both premier nitro categories, Kalitta's last victory came in Chicago in 2005 in Top Fuel. He had a runner-up finish two weeks ago in Chicago, his 36th career NHRA final-round appearance.
He's survived by his father, wife Kathy and sons Corey, 14, and Colin, 8.
NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Brad Keselowski -- a native of Rochester Hills, Mich., about 20 miles away from Kalitta's hometown of Mount Clemens -- learned the news from a television report.
"That really hits close to home," Keselowski said after winning the pole position for Saturday night's race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis. "[He was] a friend of my family's, and I send my thoughts and prayers out to him. That's tough to hear."
Last year, Funny Car driver Eric Medlen died after an accident in a testing session at Gainesville, Fla.
This absolutely awful news. I am going to have to see what is in the local paper tomorrow. Wonder how the NHRA will handle this. RIP Scott :pray1:
strandediniowa
06-22-08, 01:32 AM
Bad news indeed. They run funny cars in Knoxville (Iowa) and drivers are injured far too often. RIP Scott and sympathies to his family.
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o390/JokersCardGame/other%20pics/WrongWay.jpg
Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off : Fast, Loud Cars (http://www.frontstretch.com/mmclaughlin/17950/)
June 26, 2008
For most race fans, the root of their interest in the sport is fast, loud cars. I’m one of them, having grown up in the heyday of the muscle car era. The streets near my home rumbled with the throaty sounds of Shelby and Cobra Jet Mustangs, Hemi Plymouths, 442s, Ram Air Goats, and big block Chevys, some of them modified by Motion Performance just one county over. The first true love of my life was a neighbor’s silver 70 Mach One Cobra Jet four speed missile: I’d wash it for free just to be allowed to touch the car and for an occasional ride in that muscular Ford.
My love of fast, loud cars led to my interest in auto racing. Richard Petty’s Plymouths resembled some of the GTX’s and Road Runners that cruised the beach roads near my home, and David Pearson’s red and white Mercurys looked like the Cyclone my buddy’s dad drove to work daily. It was the cars that hooked me. Learning about the drivers and the strategies of stock car racing was just the icing on the cake.
But growing up on Long Island, stock car racing mainly took place in the far distant South in those days. So, back when my primary means of transportation were a pair of black Converse high tops, a Schwinn with apehangers and a banana seat, and, eventually, a Yamaha Mini-Enduro that I cut grass all summer to afford, I was, at heart, a drag racing fan.
There were several dragstrips on Long Island in that era and during the summer months, our dads frequently loaded my friends and me into a car and took us to see the drags. For a kid addicted to fast, loud cars, it was Nirvana cubed. Most of the cars that raced weekly looked just like the muscle cars that cruised the streets of my hometown; and not only that, but an added attraction were all the old-time hot rods running in the gasser classes. If I recall, in that era there was a lot of enmity between the hot rod types and the late model racers. The hot rodders felt anyone could buy a fast car off the showroom floor, while the late modelers felt it took a real man to build one up from scratch, assembling a variety of parts not meant to fit together easily.
Hey, I was a kid back then; I didn’t take sides. I just liked cars, and the faster and louder the better. It didn’t matter to me if it was a ’30 Ford Coupe, a ’41 Willys, a ’57 Chevy, or a ’70 Road Runner. If it was fast and loud (and especially if it could lift the front wheels during the launch), I loved it. Afternoons and evenings spent at the drag strip were the highlights of my youth.
The class cars were cool, but when the big name drivers in the fuel classes came to run grudge matches, that was the best. I remember watching guys like Wild Willy Borsch in his Winged Expressed altered, Jungle Jim Lieberman in a series of blue Chevy funnies and, of course, the heroes to my generation Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen running their Hot Wheel-sponsored Plymouth floppers. The funny cars in the day were nowhere near as fast as they are today, but they were plenty fast. Watching a pair of the FC cars run side by side down the strip so fast that it seemed impossible restored my youthful belief in magic way back when. The noise, the fire, the smoke — iit was all pretty heady stuff.
And yes, I still remember seeing my first bad wreck at the strip. It was a red, white and blue shoebox Nova that got crossed up in the traps and hit the guardrail hard. That little Chevy began rolling time after time, shedding parts in every direction before grinding to a stop upside down. The rowdy crowd instantly became dead quiet as the ambulance and rescue team rushed towards what was left of that Chevy. After an eternity, the normally hysterical announcer, all at once sedate, announced the driver was live and conscious, able to speak to the medics. He’d suffered some bad injuries, but he was being taken to the hospital and was expected to survive.
A deafening cheer went up through the crowd and along the staging lanes. I still remember what was left of that Chevy being dragged back down the return lane to the pits and wondering how on earth anyone had survived such a violent wreck. That sight led me to investigate the interiors of the cars in the pits a bit more closely. (Yes, back in that that era an eleven-year-old could walk right up to a race car and eyeball it that way.) The rollcage, the drivers’ restraints, the fuel cells…all that stuff began to fascinate me in the same way the stuff that made the cars fast did. After all, I went to those meets to see the daredevils walk out on the tightrope. I didn’t want to see them fall.
Make no mistake about it, the NHRA has always been a safety conscious organization. Wally Park originally formed the sanctioning body to get drag racing off the streets — where it put both racers and innocent lives in danger — and onto the strips. Right from the get go, the NHRA developed their traveling safety team, the Safety Safari, which might be the premiere such organization in racing today. These guys are flat on it. They are rolling before the wreck even finishes, beating back flames and making every possible effort to extract the driver from his car as quickly as possible. At this point, it’s rare to meet a Top Fuel driver who hasn’t been rescued by the Safari at least once. Considering the rescue crews’ response times at Pocono, those guys would be advised to watch a few NHRA events to see how it’s done.
But it doesn’t stop there. Even as far back as the fourth grade, I attended lectures conducted by State Troopers in full uniform telling us kids who were into cars to take our rods to the strip rather than race them on the street for safety’s sake. Those lectures had some effect: I did in fact race a series of class and bracket cars at Atco back in the day, though admittedly, we ran ‘em in the street as well because it paid better.
While my affections eventually were swayed towards stock car racing, I’ve always been a drag racing fan as well. For me it’s a busman’s holiday, being able to watch the NHRA races without worrying about having to write about them afterwards. I watched drag racing and attended the occasional Nationals as a fan just because I still dig fast, loud cars. Over the years, I’ve watched the rails evolve from front engines to rear engines and the funny cars go from steel bodied altered wheelbase, injected door slammers to the current generation of flip bodied tube framed blown monsters. I’ve always had a weak spot for the funnies because, like most casual drag racing fans, I’m a huge fan of John Force. Force is to drag racing what Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt combined are to stock car racing. (Though he’s won more titles than either of them). Drivers like Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch would do well to study tapes of Force’s post-race interviews. Win, lose, or draw, he’s always “on,” grinning ear-to-ear no matter what you ask. When you talk to Force, he shows other drivers how it’s possible to speak your mind and openly display your true personality without being a jerk. My favorite pearl of wisdom from the inestimable Mr. Force is, “If you learn how to play pool drunk, you can never shoot worth a damn sober.” Force thanks his sponsors, apologizes for having done so, then launches into a series of stream of consciousness rants that bounce to and fro like a pinball.
To those of you aren’t fans of drag racing, it seems like it’s a terribly simple form of motorsports. In fact, an old saw postulates that the first drag race was staged the first time the owners of two of those new-fangled automobiles lined up beside each other at a stop sign. All drag racers do is hit the throttle when the light goes green and hold the steering wheel straight for a quarter of a mile, right? Sure, and all stock car racers do is drive fast in circles. The head games during staging, the technique of the launch, trying to ride a 3,000 horsepower rodeo bull as it gets squirrelly at half track and starts shaking the tires, and pedaling furiously away is an art form all to itself. The reactions, courage, and cunning of a championship level drag racer rival any other form of motorsports, even if each run lasts less than five seconds when it all goes right.
But despite the emphasis the NHRA has always placed on safety, right now the sport of drag racing is in the same sort of grim period that stock car fans endured back in 2000 and 2001 when we lost Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Tony Roper and Dale Earnhardt. Last year Eric Medlen, John Force’s son-in-law and teammate, was killed in a testing wreck in Florida. Last Fall, drag racing fans watched in horror as two of the sport’s biggest names — John Force and Kenny Bernstein — were involved in a top end wreck at Dallas that left Force badly injured.
Last Sunday, Scott Kalitta’s funny exploded in flames at the top of the track, sailed through the sand trap, and erupted in a ball of flames. Kalitta died as a result of his injuries. He leaves behind a wife, two young sons, a legion of fans, and his dad and cousin, both of who are stars of drag racing as well.
Being from the Northeast myself, I have heard from several friends who were at Englishtown on Saturday, and their accounts of the scene and mood at the track are all similar to my recollections of seeing my first bad wreck. First, a gasp goes up through the crowd. Then, there’s stunned and reverent silence as fans wait anxiously for word on the driver’s condition. (Though in this era of cell phones, I don’t doubt countless people were frantically calling friends to tell them, “You won’t believe what just happened…”) There was a palpable anxiety in the stands at Englishtown as the wreck, particularly that fireball in the aftermath of it, was as bad as it gets. But over the years, drag racing fans have seen countless cars explode into flames, break in half, or roll over violently at speed, only to see the driver emerge from the wreckage and wave to the crowd moments later. As time passed with no definitive word on Kalitta’s condition, people began fearing the worst while still desperately hoping for the best. Sadly, fear overcame hope as news spread Scott Kalitta died during that fiery crash.
Drag racing fans were hit by this news the way a lot of us faced the death of Dale Earnhardt back on that dark day in February, 2001. Even today, drag racing remains a lot like stock car racing used to be in the good old days. For the price of a ticket, fans can go stroll the pits and stand behind the taped lines to look at the race cars up close and personal as they are rebuilt between rounds. For anyone who’s ever rebuilt an engine over a long weekend, watching those mechanics tear down and reassemble a blown decedent of a 426 Chrysler Hemi in a half hour is nothing less than awe-inspiring. What’s more, NHRA drivers don’t hide in their motor coaches. They’re right there in the pits, working the tape lines, signing autographs, posing for pictures, pressing the flesh, and exchanging a few pleasantries with their fans. I’m told by some of Kalitta’s fans that he was a master of the tape line. If you waited your turn, you could have your autograph, your picture, or your brief conversation and, for those few brief seconds that the two of you talked, Kalitta made you feel like a new friend and the most important person to him in the universe right then and there. Kalitta was a no-nonsense sort of guy who faced life wide open, but he made time for his fans and appreciated their support.
Kalitta was an interesting sort of guy. He grew up around racing at the heels of his father Connie “The Bounty Hunter” Kalitta, one of the sport’s most colorful personalities. The younger Kalitta didn’t have to race to put food on the table; in fact, he’d amassed a fortune comfortable enough to retire on at a young age from business interests outside the sport. He didn’t have to race to prove anything to anyone, either; Kalitta won NHRA Top Fuel Championships in 1994 and 1995. Kalitta did retire from drag racing twice after that, once for nearly two years and the next time for almost three. And when he did come back, he didn’t return to the sport for the glory or a paycheck. Kalitta returned to drag racing because it was an all consuming passion for him. Recently at Joliet, Kalitta made his first final round appearance since 2004. Even though he lost to Tony Pedregon in that race, the joy and enthusiasm Kalitta displayed in his post-race interviews made it sound like he had never been to the big dance before, rather than that of a driver on the tail end of his career who’d scored major championships.
Most of us can understand the pursuit of things we feel passionate about. All of us accept different levels of risk to do the things that thrill us, whether it’s strapping into a 3,000 horsepower missile for a four second ride down the quarter-mile, cruising the back roads on a Harley, or technical rock climbing. On the more sedate end of the scale, others will risk a potentially life-threatening case of Lyme disease to hike through a meadow in pursuit of sighting a bird we’ve never seen before. (I’ll stick to the Harley. That Lyme Disease is nasty stuff.) Others seem determined to live without risk, hoping to die safely in bed at a ripe old age. I don’t get that mindset, personally … I cannot see myself dying at the age of 100 in my own bed lying there considering the chances I never took, the dreams I never chased, and the roads I feared to travel. All of us set up our own standards of potential reward versus risk we are willing to accept in order to live a joyful life.
Scott Kalitta accepted the risk involved in doing what he loved; and after spending time with him, it’s clear he drove cars faster and louder than even the most devoted car guys will ever get their hands on.
It’s sadly ironic that Kalitta’s birthday was February 18th, the same date on which NASCAR’s legend Dale Earnhardt passed away. Dale was 49 when he died in a wreck; Scott was 46 when he died Saturday. According to actuarial tables, most of you reading this will live to be older than either. But most of you will never live a life as full, textured, and rewarding as Earnhardt or Kalitta.
When the funny cars run at night, flames come out the tips of all eight header pipes. In drag racing parlance, that’s “all candles fully lit”. A driver on a successful run will have all eight candles lit from starting line to finish line despite the mechanical mayhem that is fuel racing today, basically a pair of scud missiles launched down the strip to see if either makes it before they explode. And that brings to mind the famous poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay:
My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends – it gives a lovely light!
So to Scott Kalitta’s family, friends and fans, from stock car racing fans everywhere, we know your pain and you are in our prayers just as we were in yours seven years ago. And to Scott Kalitta, from a casual drag racing fan and a big fan of fast, loud cars, thanks for all the thrills you provided. It lasted all too briefly, but oh, what a lovely light. Godspeed.
Excellent article, excellent. He is correct about funny cars and night racing. It is a beautiful sight to behold. :Cheers:
Good lord that is a long article... I am way too ADD to read all that.
Heh. It is a long article, but it's a good one. :)
***grabs Tater by the collar:*** I know you don't want me to use your favorite smilie to maintain your attention so http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn137/Dew2008/Smilies/alc.gif try reading int again...it is a good article http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn137/Dew2008/Smilies/Langue31.gif
It's all just one big blur of words... :faintthud
TheBigCat
06-27-08, 04:15 AM
Try to get through it a paragraph at a time.
:rotfl: @ "What the hell?!"
hXUd6n1Vti8
Hehe. I heard about it but that's the first chance I've had to see it.
"It's not my fault that you're slow!!" -Danica Patrick
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Hodgepodge
08-20-08, 05:10 PM
The F1 European Grand Prix is this weekend. This year its being held at the new track in Valencia, Spain.
Hodgepodge
08-25-08, 05:04 PM
Here are the results of the European Grand Prix held at the new street circuit in Valencia, Spain:
1st - Felipe Massa - Ferrari
2nd - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren/Mercedes
3rd - Rober Kubica - BMW-Sauber
I saw that Massa had beaten Hamilton but I missed the actual race.
Hodgepodge
08-25-08, 11:33 PM
I saw that Massa had beaten Hamilton but I missed the actual race.It was a procession Brian. :sleepzzz:
It was a procession Brian. :sleepzzz:
Glad to know I didn't miss much. I was able to catch almost all of the early races this year on TV but I've missed the last 3 or so.
island_maverick
08-31-08, 06:47 AM
It was a procession Brian. :sleepzzz:..and F1 returns to normal service.
Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh -- considering how starved of any action/competition F1 has been for years until recently -- but the past few faces have had a dull feel about them.
Hodgepodge
09-03-08, 12:07 AM
Mav, we may still have a procession, but we're coming to my favorite two races. The Belguim Grand Prix, held at the famous Spa Francorchamps natural road course. And, the Italian Grand Prix held at the ultra-fast Monza track. The hairs on my arm just stood on end! :Cheers:
island_maverick
09-03-08, 10:34 PM
Hodge, I completely agree about Spa. It's a great circuit and often produces good races.
Hodgepodge
09-08-08, 05:31 PM
Controversy at the Belguim Grand Prix. The winner McLaren/Mercedes driver Hamilton was given a 25 second penalty for gaining an advantage at a turn. This sent him back to third place and gave the win to Ferrari and Felipe Massa and promoted the BMW driver Nick Heidfeld to second.
Is it just me, or do the Stewards have it in for the McLaren/Mercedes team? It doesn't matter what they do, their hit with some type of infraction. I'm not a fan, but come on, fair is fair. :rolleyez:
Looks like its down to two drivers and two teams:
Current Standings
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren/Mercedes) - 76 pts.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 74 pts.
Robert Kubica (BMW) - 58 pts.
Oh, that just ruins the race for me! That was a great race, and Lewis did not gain advantage at that turn. Kimi forced him off the track, he let Kimi get ahead and then he passed him. And then Kimi passed him back, (didn't he?) and then Kimi crashed. And that was Kimi's fault.
But I think this has been a pretty exciting season!
island_maverick
09-09-08, 04:39 AM
Seemed a bit harsh. Jobsworthy perhaps.
If you're a conspiracist then you'd have a growing collection of evidence.
Either way, the great Niki Lauda said the decision to penalise Hamilton was the worst ever officiating decision at a Grand Prix. And I tend to respect Mr Lauda's opinion.
Hodgepodge
09-09-08, 05:07 PM
Oh, that just ruins the race for me! That was a great race, and Lewis did not gain advantage at that turn. Kimi forced him off the track, he let Kimi get ahead and then he passed him. And then Kimi passed him back, (didn't he?) and then Kimi crashed. And that was Kimi's fault.
But I think this has been a pretty exciting season!
Seemed a bit harsh. Jobsworthy perhaps.
If you're a conspiracist then you'd have a growing collection of evidence.
Either way, the great Niki Lauda said the decision to penalise Hamilton was the worst ever officiating decision at a Grand Prix. And I tend to respect Mr Lauda's opinion.Brdmom, I think you're right. Lewis mentioned he received a call over his headset to allow Kimi back around, which he did. And to my knowledge that should've taken care of the "advantage". Not sure what the Stewards wanted.
Mav, Sir Jackie Stewart, who it so happens hates Ron Dennis, agrees with Niki Lauda. He's been calling for full-time, paid Stewards for years. He's hoping that now the FIA might come to their senses.
Monza this weekend! I think I wet myself. :)
TheBigCat
09-10-08, 01:54 AM
Well now. You have Jackie...sorry...Sir Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda, two chaps who, to my knowlege never had a nice thing to say about one another for years (I believe when that Lauda Air cargo plane crashed in South East Asia because the thrust reversers on one engine mysteriously deployed in midair, basically bankruptung Lauda and putting an end to his air cargo venture, Stewart couldn't even be bothered to mutter "Tough break, that." under his breath.") agreeing on something.
By the way, maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time seeing the pairing McLaren/Mercedes. It would be like seeing an airplane made by Hawker/Messerschmitt. *shrug*
Hodgepodge
09-13-08, 07:21 PM
Wet conditions brought about an unusual qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Italy.
Sebastian Vettel, of the Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari team (the Red Bull Jr. Team) ended up on pole. With McLaren-Mercedes driver, Heikki Kovalainen in second. Mark Webber, of Red Bull-Renault third with Vettel's teammate Sebastian Bourdais fourth.
Oh, that just ruins the race for me! That was a great race, and Lewis did not gain advantage at that turn. Kimi forced him off the track, he let Kimi get ahead and then he passed him. And then Kimi passed him back, (didn't he?) and then Kimi crashed. And that was Kimi's fault.
But I think this has been a pretty exciting season!
Brdmom, I think you're right. Lewis mentioned he received a call over his headset to allow Kimi back around, which he did. And to my knowledge that should've taken care of the "advantage". Not sure what the Stewards wanted.
Mav, Sir Jackie Stewart, who it so happens hates Ron Dennis, agrees with Niki Lauda. He's been calling for full-time, paid Stewards for years. He's hoping that now the FIA might come to their senses.
Monza this weekend! I think I wet myself. :)Here's the clarification of the rule in debate:
FIA race director Charlie Whiting clarified to drivers and team officials at Monza what is expected in terms of fair overtaking.
A furore was triggered after the Belgian Grand Prix one week ago, when Lewis Hamilton's victory was retrospectively taken away because he had passed Kimi Raikkonen shortly after cutting a chicane.
In the regular pre-race drivers' briefing at Monza, scene of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, Whiting told the gathering that, if a driver negotiates a corner illegally and gains a place, he should wait at least one more corner after giving back the position before launching another overtaking move.
Red Bull driver Mark Webber said after the briefing: "Generally, it is pretty clear (now) for people to probably not attack immediately again, which wasn't mega, mega clear in the past."
It is understood that Whiting made clear his information was simply a clarification, rather than a new interpretation of the existing rule, or a new rule altogether.
Wet conditions brought about an unusual qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Italy.
Sebastian Vettel, of the Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari team (the Red Bull Jr. Team) ended up on pole. With McLaren-Mercedes driver, Heikki Kovalainen in second. Mark Webber, of Red Bull-Renault third with Vettel's teammate Sebastian Bourdais fourth.
Here's the clarification of the rule in debate:
FIA race director Charlie Whiting clarified to drivers and team officials at Monza what is expected in terms of fair overtaking.
A furore was triggered after the Belgian Grand Prix one week ago, when Lewis Hamilton's victory was retrospectively taken away because he had passed Kimi Raikkonen shortly after cutting a chicane.
In the regular pre-race drivers' briefing at Monza, scene of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, Whiting told the gathering that, if a driver negotiates a corner illegally and gains a place, he should wait at least one more corner after giving back the position before launching another overtaking move.
Red Bull driver Mark Webber said after the briefing: "Generally, it is pretty clear (now) for people to probably not attack immediately again, which wasn't mega, mega clear in the past."
It is understood that Whiting made clear his information was simply a clarification, rather than a new interpretation of the existing rule, or a new rule altogether.
Wow! That must have been a heck of a qualifying - I can't believe my husband forgot to DVR it. Should be a good race! I think this has been a really exciting season!
Interesting about the rule clarification.
island_maverick
09-15-08, 03:14 PM
The gap narrows to Lewis.
Thought he did extremely well to climb 8 places in those conditions. At one point I think if he had had better grip he might have been able to out-manouvre Massa and grab 6th.
Hodgepodge
09-15-08, 05:48 PM
The gap narrows to Lewis.
Thought he did extremely well to climb 8 places in those conditions. At one point I think if he had had better grip he might have been able to out-manouvre Massa and grab 6th.Down to one point Mav.
I still don't believe the results.
1. Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrarai
2. Heikki Kovalinian - McLaren-Mercedes
3. Robert Kubica - BMW
So now, we've had two new individuals and Team winners this season. That's good for the entire sport. :Cheers:
island_maverick
09-15-08, 10:14 PM
By all accounts, Hodge, the Germans rate Vettel as the new Schumacher. Which sounds ominous for the rest of the field!
But yeah, I agree, two new winners for individuals and teams is a good thing.
Hodgepodge
09-24-08, 05:46 PM
We've got a special treat this weekend. The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. It will also be the first F1 night race. I'm not going to past judgement until I see that its safe. And, if its visually appealing for the viewing public and television audience. But, are you ready for this? :rolleyez:
Surely it can't be any less safe than running around 100+ MPH in the rain. :) It should be interesting to say the least.
Hodgepodge
09-30-08, 12:23 AM
When I was a kid, my father took me to a night race at Ascot track in Los Angeles. This came to mind while watching the Singapore F1 Grand Prix Sunday.
I can understand the need to increase the "WOW" factor in Formula One, but I'm not sure this is the way. And, the "mighty midget" wants more of these spectacles in the near future. :rolleyez:
Oh, I almost forgot the results:
First Place - Fernando Alonso - Renault
Second Place - Nico Rosberg - Williams/Toyota
Third Place - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren/Mercedes
The Ferrari boys got it all wrong again. They should probably abandon their pitlight thingy until its perfected. This was the second time it was to blame for a loss.
Well, I will agree with you in that I hope it's not something that becomes a common occurrence. For a one time thing, though, it was interesting. Reminds me of several years ago when NASCAR went to Japan. It was interesting, but not something I'd want to see them do every year. It did prove that NASCAR, actually GoodYear, does have the ability to make a rain tire for stock cars and for the life of me I can't understand why they don't utilize them especially since F1 and IndyCar run in the rain.
Well, I will agree with you in that I hope it's not something that becomes a common occurrence. For a one time thing, though, it was interesting. Reminds me of several years ago when NASCAR went to Japan. It was interesting, but not something I'd want to see them do every year. It did prove that NASCAR, actually GoodYear, does have the ability to make a rain tire for stock cars and for the life of me I can't understand why they don't utilize them especially since F1 and IndyCar run in the rain.
You're kidding, right?
Didn't you see that debacle in Canada earlier this year in the Nationwide race there?
It proved that although you can put rain tires on a stock car for a road coarse, it's not a very good idea.
Even if ya did apply that to the Cup series... only twice a year would it even be helpful. And then really only once... Watkins Glen. It never rains in Sonoma, right?
As far as every other track goes... rain tires would never work. The cars weigh too much to hold on the banking of a wet track and the first turn of the first lap would be a 30 car pile up. Now as entertaining as that might sound, it wouldn't exactly be a good thing for NASCAR.
No, I wasn't kidding. At least not that I'm aware of. So, NASCAR doesn't allow its drivers to drive in the rain because they're incompetent. Sounds like as good a reason as any I guess.
They don't let them run in the rain because you can't run in the rain...
You are going to sit there with a straight face and honestly tell me you think they could race at Talladega in the rain? What about Bristol? How do you think that would work out? There wouldn't be anybody left after the first few laps!
I'm sure the wrecks would be hilarious though! :rotfl:
Maybe this will help...
Mike Mulhern
If Formula One races in the rain, why can’t NASCAR’s Sprint Cup drivers? Well…………
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Goodyear is developing a new NASCAR rain tire for 2009, so teams need to get serious about water-proofing for racing in the rain (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
mmulhern@wsjournal.com
LOUDON, N.H.
While 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel was making a little bit of Formula One history in heavy rain Sunday in the Italian Grand Prix over in Monza – and proving that even the smallest team in F1 can win against the giants—NASCAR drivers and crews here were sitting around waiting out the rain in their haulers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway watching those F1 racers juking and jiving in the sloppy wet.
Which raised the obvious question: Why can those guys run 200 mph in the rain over there, and yet these guys here can only sit and watch a downpour?
Racing in the rain?
Of course it’s not a new question for NASCAR, and the answers really haven’t changed in decades, though NASCAR did make something of a rainy breakthrough last month in Montreal in a Nationwide race. But that event, where too many drivers and crews were ill-prepared for the bad weather, showed once again all the issues that must be resolved in order to race in the rain.
The easy answer to the NASCAR rain question is this: F1 cars are lighter, have a lot more aerodynamic downforce, and much bigger tires, which means better car-control, especially under braking. In a sense, it’s not the racing in the rain that’s so much the issue as it is the stopping in the rain for the corners. NASCAR stockers simply don’t stop very well even when it’s dry.
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Monza was soaking wet for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, but the Formula One drivers didn’t simply sit around their haulers watching it rain (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)
“These cars simply aren’t designed to run in the rain at all,” Gil Martin, Clint Bowyer’s crew chief, says. “They’re not water-tight, they don’t have the air flow to keep the visibility where you can see out of them.
“There is no question we could race in the rain. But the way these cars are designed today they’re not designed to run in the rain. We’re not even close to being serious about it.
“They did learn a little about how to race in the rain in Montreal, how to go a little faster. But the major problem was visibility. They couldn’t see.
“That Nationwide show, they were trying to get that show over and completed. Especially when you’re racing outside the country.
“But this show is not prepared for racing in the rain. I quite frankly don’t think any aspect of our division is ready to run in the rain. Our timing and scoring, our radios…nothing about this whole series is prepared to run in the rain. And it’s a waste of time to talk about it or develop tires for it.
“Unless they say that definitely by 2011 be prepared for it—racing in the rain—nobody is going to prepare for it.”
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Crew chief Gil Martin says NASCAR teams could race in the rain...if NASCAR executives would get serious about it (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
So what to make of Goodyear’s word Sunday that the tire maker is developing a new NASCAR rain tire for 2009?
Cup teams have never really raced on rain tires (which were originally designed for NASCAR’s 1996-1997-1998 Japan exhibition races at Suzuka and Motegi), and the Montreal race six weeks ago was a first for the sport, on the Nationwide side.
However, aside from political considerations, there is no legitimate reason that if NASCAR officials are willing to put Nationwide drivers out in the rain on a road course that they shouldn’t also be willing to put Cup drivers out there in rain too.
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Scott Miller, Jeff Burton’s crew chief, says he likes the idea of getting more serious about racing in the rain—on road courses, at least (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Scott Miller, Jeff Burton’s crew chief, points to the different physics of racing 3400-pound stock cars in big packs on high-banked ovals versus racing lithe 1400-pound F1 cars in single-file on flat road courses:
“I don’t think Formula One would race in the rain on an oval track either. Indy cars have raced in the rain on road courses and street courses but not on ovals.
“I’m in favor of us developing a rain tire for the road courses and just say it’s a rain-or-shine event, and then go on down the road.
“But it would be ill-advised to go down that path on ovals. Now that might be a lot of fun, there would be a lot of stuff torn up, and fans might like it. But…..
“At Watkins Glen you run 155 to 160 mph on one part of the course, and you’d slow down to maybe 30 mph in that corner in the rain. At Pocono you run 200 mph down the straightaway and normally slow down to about 140….so in the rain you’d slow down to 80 or 90. The thing is getting slowed down from 200 to 80.
“These Formula One cars can still making brake-torque because they have so much downforce. Even though the track is wet they can still get some grip.
“But nobody in the history of motorsports has tried racing in the rain on ovals…and there’s a reason for that.”
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The Montreal crowd, though soaked, witnessed NASCAR history...but what all did NASCAR officials and their teams really learn? (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)
While NASCAR, under weekend time constraints at Montreal, ordered teams to put on rain tires there, drivers say that NASCAR executives have told them they wouldn’t have to worry about running any Cup races in the rain.
However Goodyear officials say it would definitely be possible to run races in the rain at flat tracks like this Loudon track, even if not on high-banked tracks like Charlotte.
“Theoretically, based upon speeds and track configurations, you could run rain tires here, and at Milwaukee, at the slower, low-banked tracks,” Goodyear’s Justin Fantozzi, marketing manager for racing, says.
“I would not do it at high-banked tracks like Charlotte.
“But you could run rain tires at Pocono.
“There is of course the practicality of it – visibility and driver comfort.”
The weekend rain here, and the June rain during race weekend, and last September’s rain issues here all point to the heart of the issue…plus making it obvious that new track owner Bruton Smith needs to install lights at this one-mile oval, in order to have a longer weather window on race day. Smith says he will indeed be adding lights.
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Greg Zipadelli is no fan of racing in the rain, and says NASCAR’s Montreal race was a bummer (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)
Greg Zipadelli, Tony Stewart’s crew chief: “Formula One cars have bigger tires, more downforce. They can adjust their chassis for the rain. They’ve three or four different sets of tires they can pick from.
“And look at their crews – they’re under cover. We’d get electrocuted on pit road if we tried to race in the rain. I’m serious.
“Our cars, our electrical systems would have to be redesigned to race in the rain. Now you can do it one time like in Montreal, but to seriously do it, you’d have to spend a fortune redoing all the wiring harnesses and switches.
“And we don’t even have enough braking in the dry; don’t put us in the rain.
“And don’t even think about it at Watkins Glen. Was Montreal a good race? You couldn’t even see it. It’s just not a good form of racing.”
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Crew chief Greg Erwin (R), with his driver Greg Biffle, says the rainy Montreal race wasn’t so much racing in the rain as paddling a canoe at 150 mph (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Greg Erwin, crew chief for Greg Biffle, agrees with Zipadelli: “I watched Montreal, and it wasn’t much of a race.
“Greg (running Montreal) said he was all but wrecking under yellow, the cars were hydroplaning so bad.
“We don’t race in the rain because we haven’t prioritized racing in the rain. As a sanctioning body and as competitors, we’ve become accustomed to racing in the dry. And all the stuff we have on these cars just isn’t set up for racing in the rain. We’d need defogger systems….
“This sport has been fairly fortunate over the years in getting these races in, or at least to the halfway point.
“If it ever got to a situation where we were really backed into a corner and had to reschedule a race more than just to a Monday or Tuesday, because of the weather, maybe they’d start to look at it a little harder.
“But we’ve been getting away with it for so long I don’t see it changing.”
Why is it possible to race in the rain on a road course like Montreal or Monza but not on a flat track like this one? “Good question,” Erwin replies. “I think it has something to do with the closeness of the cars on these short tracks, where they’re two and three-wide, not strung out like they get on road courses.”
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Goodyear’s specially-grooved NASCAR rain tires worked very well at Montreal....but the rest of the car, well, there’s a lot more to racing in the rain than just slapping on special tires (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)
Fantozzi says Goodyear is developing a new NASCAR rain tire for 2009 and will be testing it over the off-season.
“They were pretty serious about racing in the rain at Montreal, and our tire performed excellently,” Fantozzi said.
“But there is a pretty tremendous expense to make sure your car can properly race in the rain...with the money you’d have to spend to make sure your setups are right, that you’ve got the right wiper blades and the proper defogging system, and ensuring your car is sealed up.
“Visibility was one of the big issues at Montreal. They kept asking Ron Fellows and those guys ‘Can you see,’ and when they said ‘No,’ they said ‘That’s it. We’re done.’
“We have a facility at Goodyear that is pretty sophisticated, with ‘glass plate’ testing, where we can flood the surface and then run a vehicle across the glass plate and take pictures from underneath, as we try to optimize the tire for full-wet weather. As you drove to this track today there were degrees of wetness on the road, and that’s the same in racing.”
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Toyota’s Lee White, now running TRD in NASCAR, knows how to race in the rain—he has 30 years of road racing to draw upon (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)
Toyota field manager Lee White, who spent some 20 years road racing with Ford’s Jack Roush, said “That Monza race scared the heck out of you, didn’t it, especially those in-car camera shots that showed you just what they could see.
“Why can’t we race in the rain here? Physics. This is a completely different discipline.
“They tried it on a road course in Montreal, and if NASCAR wanted to pursue that, on road courses, they could probably do that. Because you’re accelerating straight and you’re stopping straight, and then you turn around a fairly flat corner.
“But NASCAR racing is really oval racing, with very high speeds and very hard walls.
“You couldn’t really race these things in the rain here. It’s ludicrous to even think about that.
“They did it in Montreal on a road course, and it worked out, and it was okay. It was a great show…it was different, novel…and the people were not even remotely prepared for that, and yet they did it in spite of that, and put on a great show.
“And if they (NASCAR) wanted to work at that, and give the teams more time to prepare those cars….because that’s the big challenge, visibility. Believe me, and I spent 30 years doing that – when you’re racing an enclosed sedan, with exhaust systems running through the interior, and tires are splashing water up on hot exhausts and hot engines and making steam to cloud the windshield….
“I have a picture in my house of a 1990 race at Topeka, Kansas – of Robby Gordon in one of my Cougars leading Hans Stuck….and Robby was driving with his left foot up cleaning the windshield. A contortionist at 130 mph.
“It’s simply outside the realm of physical possibility to think of this type of racing in the rain.”
http://independenttribune.net/images/uploads/82066746RL037_Napa_Auto_Par.JPG
Jacques Villeneuve, as a former Formula One World Champion, knows a thing or two about racing in the rain....but this NASCAR stuff is another animal in the wet (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)
SOURCE (http://independenttribune.net/index.php/sports/jnowcomments/if_formula_one_races_in_the_rain_why_cant_nascars_ sprint_cup_drivers_well/)
TheBigCat
09-30-08, 05:18 AM
Don't you remember Robert Duval in Days Of Thunder explaining the difference between open cars and stock cars to Tom Cruise? Well, their characters, anyway. Stock cars weigh twice what open cars do and the tires are half the size.
Don't you remember Robert Duval in Days Of Thunder explaining the difference between open cars and stock cars to Tom Cruise? Well, their characters, anyway. Stock cars weigh twice what open cars do and the tires are half the size.
Yeah and if Robert Duvall says it, you better damned well listen up! Duvall speaks the truth! :D
TheBigCat
09-30-08, 06:00 AM
Oh, that's right. There's two "L"s in his last name. My bad.
That man right there is a man who know's his racin'. ;)
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/12/225px-Dot004.jpg
Hodgepodge
10-08-08, 05:05 PM
Well, there's three remaining races on the '08 F1 calendar. This weekends Japanese Grand Prix held at the famous Fuji track should go a long way in showing whose going to win this years World Championships.
Lewis Hamilton of McLaren/Mercedes, holds a slim seven (7) point lead over Ferrari's Felipe Massa. The Drivers title will come down to these two competitors.
The Constructors championship is even closer. Again, McLaren/Mercedes hold a precarious one (1) point lead over the "prancing horse" Ferrari.
And the race at Fuji certainly was interesting - no points for Lewis, one for Felipe (I guess it is two now), and Kubica still in the hunt! Lewis better pull it together the next two races if he wants to win the title!
Hodgepodge
10-14-08, 05:35 PM
Brdmom, it looks like its going down to the wire once again. :Cowdance: I like this much better than Schumacher dominating the series.
It looked like Massa clipped Hamilton on the latters passing maneuver. Reminds me of the Prost/Senna fights in the '80s. If I can't win, neither are you! :nanabobo:
Hodgepodge
10-20-08, 06:33 PM
Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese F1 Grand Prix Sunday. Followed by the Ferrari pair of Massa and Räikkönen.
Hamilton's lead going into the last race in Brazil is 7 points. Didn't he have a lead like that last year and ran off course and lost the title?
It was something very similar Hodge. I'd have to go back and look it up to know for sure, but it was almost a forgone conclusion that he was going to win the title and something stupid took him out of contention. For some reason I'm remembering something about some rain and pit road? Didn't he get caught in the grass/gravel or something coming into pit road? Maybe I'm thinking of something else.
It was something very similar Hodge. I'd have to go back and look it up to know for sure, but it was almost a forgone conclusion that he was going to win the title and something stupid took him out of contention. For some reason I'm remembering something about some rain and pit road? Didn't he get caught in the grass/gravel or something coming into pit road? Maybe I'm thinking of something else.
China was when Lewis went into the gravel along pit road. In Brazil I think he tried passing someone and got whacked. If I'm remembering correctly, he was at the back of the pack and then there was some little safety car shenanigan that let him move forward, but it wasn't enough. Basically, he only had to finish fourth or something like that to win, but he was being too aggressive.
(I'm going off of my memory here, so someone correct me if I'm making stuff up!)
What an exciting season it has been! And with Alonso really moving forward lately, there could be four viable constructors teams next year!
That's very likely what I'm remembering brdmom. :) I wish I had payed closer attention to the series last year.
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