That might sound like a strange headline coming from me. As most of you know I despise Tony Stewart and I think he is a bona fide jackass and a cry baby. I know he is a great race car driver and is generally good for the sport, but his bullshit outweighs (by a large margin) the good. That said, last week Smoke, as his fans call him, made statements on his radio show that enraged the powers that be down in Daytona Beach but endeared him to me.
Stewart said he was tired of NASCAR throwing phantom yellow flags near the end of races to bunch up the fields to provide a more thrilling finish. Strong words? Sure, but for those of us who have felt the same way and have been turned off by NASCAR's ways over the past several years it was music to our ears. Many claimed Stewart was just whining again because he was beat, but he said he knew he was going to lose and this was not an isolated incident.
As a race fan I used to be a big NASCAR fan. I admit that the sport hasn't been as big to me since Dale Earnhardt passed, but the BS that goes on in the NASCAR offices is what really pisses me off. Rules changes in season, 35-8, the provisionals, the phantom yellows and the general arrogance are what really has turned me off. I like the drivers and teams, and yes, even not liking a Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon makes it fun to root against them because they are so good.
Tony Stewart said nothing more than people like me have thought for years. NASCAR has become a joke and is more entertainment than sport. Sure it rakes in millions of dollars daily, but so does the WWE.
Unfortunately we live in a world where short attention spans are the norm. NASCAR has decided that their fans either can not or will not abide a driver running away with the win. They have decided that their fans are only happy when the race comes down to 2 or more cars crossing the finish line within a half second of each other. Don't get me wrong, close finishes are good for the sport and fun to watch, but manufactured finishes like Smoke is talking about are what has turned a lot of fans against NASCAR. I mean, God forbid that a team comes to a track, has their shit together, has a driver who is focused and hungry, have the best race strategy and win by a wide margin because everyone else doesn't have their shit together.
For Stewart's part he was fined and placed on probation by NASCAR. he also "retracted' his statements. Fine, but obviously we can not "un-hear" his words. He said it, you know he meant it and a lot of fans agree. Even Ol' DW seemed to be leaning Stewart's way during the Phoenix race when no one could find any debris the brought out the yellow.
Maybe NASCAR will heed Smoke's (unspoken now) words and quit playing God with their races. The last few years the IRL seemed to be going down that route, but so far this year the have let them run. Maybe a driver winning by a lap isn't as exciting as a duel decided by .0001 of a second, but that .0001 of a second finish is only good if it is legitimate and not manufactured.
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Today is May 1. Sunday the Speedway opens for a couple of days of rookie practice with everyone getting going on Tuesday. Unfortunately excitement for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 doesn't seem to be at a fever pitch. Looking at it I don't even see 33 car/driver combos. But things change rapidly at the Speedway in May and they'll probably get there.
The housekeeping first. I'll be out there on Fast Friday (May 11), Pole Day (May 12), the second week of qualifications (May 19-20), Carb Day (May 25) and Race Day (May 27). I do have some tickets for sale if anyone is interested. I have two up high in the NW Vista (turn 4) and two in H Stand (coming out of 4) about halfway up. I'm looking for face value for them. The NW Vista are $85 each and he H are $70 each. Use the Contact Me link above left if you are interested.
As for the actual racing Dan Wheldon has to be considered the favorite going in. Target Chip Ganassi Racing team mate Scott Dixon looked fast last weekend and should challenge. Their main competition from last year, Penske, seems to be a bit off. Frankly I think Sam is already gone to NASCAR in his mind. Julio may be able to get it done, but the team has struggled everywhere but St. Pete. Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti both have been strong for Andretti Green, but Marco has been an embarrassment on the ovals and I think he is spooked, Danica has been so-so and God only knows what Michael will bring to the show.
Frankly, everyone else seems to be an also run. Tomas Scheckter had a decent run at Kansas, but if the winner doesn't come from Wheldon, Scotty D, Sam, Julio, TK or Dario I'd be surprised. I'd really like to hear Kosuke drop another F-bomb while he's here!
See you at the track!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
R.I.P.
I killed my wife's car Saturday night. The green meanie rides no more. A word of warning, anyone going to Harley's Tin West would be well served by checking out the parking lot before going in. It is dark, oddly shaped and guarded by two retention ponds and mud. We'll miss the old girl, but honey is getting a new car this week. For the record I just dumped it in the drink, one of the other outlaws is good for the front right corner!!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
The World Champion Indianapolis Colts!
When it was in the bag Sunday night and the final few second ticked off the clock I was torn between emotions. On one hand I was so happy to see my team finally get over the hump and win the Championship. On the other hand I had a great feeling of relief.
All week long I had really thought the Colts would win and that feeling never really escaped, but I had no illusions that the Bears would back down. But as the game approached I felt more and more anxious about what "they" would say if the Colts lost.
Sure I shouldn't care what the media says, but after being so close with this team the past few years and having them rip my heart out time and time again, I just didn't know how I could face another media blitz on the Colts and how they proved they could not win the big one and were simply a soft dome team. I was concerned that we would face another off season of questions about the players and coaches. Of course any time you don't win it all you face that, but this team has been preseason favorites the past three or four years and has always managed to fuck it up. By winning it, they put all of that chatter behind them and it just feels like a relief to me.
Honestly though I am just so happy. I got a little misty after the game when Don Shula presented the Lombardi Trophy to Jim Irsay. Monday morning I was watching Sports Center and Mike and Mike and flipping between tuners and pausing one when I went to the other. I read all of the articles in the paper and literally had tears streaming down my face. Good thing the wife wasn't home!!
Monday after the pep rally in the dome I was just drained. It was such a high for that 24 hours. By the time the rally ended I was ready to just lay down and sleep. Starting today we can start to dissect the draft. We can begin the talk about our free agents, who to keep, who to lose. We can discuss the chances for a repeat. Why didn't the defense show up until the playoffs? Is this team truly bored with the regular season? If so, how does winning it all help? Can this team regroup and take everyone's best shot next year and even make the playoffs? Do we have the makings of a dynasty or did we get ours too late into the game for our core group of players? How much longer will Marvin play? And for God's sake, can we take down those ridiculous "Wild Card" and "AFC Finalist" banners in the Dome?
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
All My Teams
The Colts are in Miami. Yesterday there were a couple of big send offs in town. Unfortunately I was unable to attend, but that's okay. It was cold anyway! It did make me think though. Here we are, fans of a team that is 60 minutes from a World Championship. 3600 measly seconds from the biggest thrill a fan of a team can have. I sometimes look back and see that the Indiana Pacers of the ABA were the only professional winners this city has ever had, but still, I have been lucky as a sports fan.
Those of you who know me, know also that I was a Bengal and a Raider fan prior to 1984 and the Colts arrival in Indianapolis. Being a long time fan of the game I knew about Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Ray Berry, John Mackey, Artie Donovan etc. I was never a Colt fan, but those were household football names. As a Raider fan however, I was ecstatic when they won it all in 1976 against the favored Vikings, again in 1981 as the first Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl and again in 1984 when, again as underdogs, beat the piss out of the Redskins. Hell by the time I was 24 my favorite football team had won three championships.
However, as time moved on and I became more and more involved with being a Colt fan, my love of the Raiders waned (despite what Neil might say!!) Sure I rooted for them a few years back against the Tampa Bay Bucs, but they were so outmanned it was ridiculous!
I also have been a Cincinnati Red and New York Yankee fan. The Reds took the title in 1976 and 77 and again, miraculously destroyed what everyone said was a superior Oakland team in 1990. The Yankee's always seem to be in contention and won three in a row at the end of the century.
These were all great as a fan, but they still left me wanting. Now of course there are the Indiana Hoosiers. National Champions in 1976, 81 and 87. Led by a series of All-American players and a hall of fame coach, the Hoosiers were a joy to watch and root for and few were bigger fans than me or my friends. We all knew when the team played and usually worked schedules around it. Of course we were all younger and had relatively few responsibilities, but by God, if the Hoosiers were playing we were together and watching.
Times changed for me over the years though. I still like the Hoosiers (although I really have not warmed up to the new coach) but it is nothing like the passion I had back in the 80's and 90's. Maybe it is because I feel like Bob Knight let us down beginning in 1994, maybe it was the lackluster teams. I don't really know, but in 2002 when the guys got to the title game I watched, but it was just different. Some of you may have been at DK's house when they won 1987 and know what that was like. Going to the final game in 2002 was nothing like that for me.
But all-in-all I have to admit I have had some good teams to root for. Hell, even Roncalli HS has given me some very proud moments over the years. The Pacers, well they had a couple of close calls, but still led us on some wonderful journeys over the years. But the Colts, well, pretty much until Peyton Manning arrived the team has sucked. Sure we had the 95 team that was so close to the Super Bowl. An unlikely bunch out of nowhere that was a dropped pass from playing the Cowboys.
But this time we are there and if the team can bring home the win I imagine it will eclipse all of the Raider, Hoosier, Reds, Yankee and Rebel wins combined. Like I said, I count myself lucky enough to have been fans of those teams when they won. Maybe it is just me being selfish. I do know what all this means, and I want it!
Those of you who know me, know also that I was a Bengal and a Raider fan prior to 1984 and the Colts arrival in Indianapolis. Being a long time fan of the game I knew about Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Ray Berry, John Mackey, Artie Donovan etc. I was never a Colt fan, but those were household football names. As a Raider fan however, I was ecstatic when they won it all in 1976 against the favored Vikings, again in 1981 as the first Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl and again in 1984 when, again as underdogs, beat the piss out of the Redskins. Hell by the time I was 24 my favorite football team had won three championships.
However, as time moved on and I became more and more involved with being a Colt fan, my love of the Raiders waned (despite what Neil might say!!) Sure I rooted for them a few years back against the Tampa Bay Bucs, but they were so outmanned it was ridiculous!
I also have been a Cincinnati Red and New York Yankee fan. The Reds took the title in 1976 and 77 and again, miraculously destroyed what everyone said was a superior Oakland team in 1990. The Yankee's always seem to be in contention and won three in a row at the end of the century.
These were all great as a fan, but they still left me wanting. Now of course there are the Indiana Hoosiers. National Champions in 1976, 81 and 87. Led by a series of All-American players and a hall of fame coach, the Hoosiers were a joy to watch and root for and few were bigger fans than me or my friends. We all knew when the team played and usually worked schedules around it. Of course we were all younger and had relatively few responsibilities, but by God, if the Hoosiers were playing we were together and watching.
Times changed for me over the years though. I still like the Hoosiers (although I really have not warmed up to the new coach) but it is nothing like the passion I had back in the 80's and 90's. Maybe it is because I feel like Bob Knight let us down beginning in 1994, maybe it was the lackluster teams. I don't really know, but in 2002 when the guys got to the title game I watched, but it was just different. Some of you may have been at DK's house when they won 1987 and know what that was like. Going to the final game in 2002 was nothing like that for me.
But all-in-all I have to admit I have had some good teams to root for. Hell, even Roncalli HS has given me some very proud moments over the years. The Pacers, well they had a couple of close calls, but still led us on some wonderful journeys over the years. But the Colts, well, pretty much until Peyton Manning arrived the team has sucked. Sure we had the 95 team that was so close to the Super Bowl. An unlikely bunch out of nowhere that was a dropped pass from playing the Cowboys.
But this time we are there and if the team can bring home the win I imagine it will eclipse all of the Raider, Hoosier, Reds, Yankee and Rebel wins combined. Like I said, I count myself lucky enough to have been fans of those teams when they won. Maybe it is just me being selfish. I do know what all this means, and I want it!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
AFC Title Game Day
The Indianapolis Colts are going to the Super Bowl!! In what can only be described as an unbelievable game, the Colts exorcised their demons and beat the Patriots 38-34. You all know the story of the game, here are just a few thoughts from Sunday.
Got up early and went to church. Me and the Mrs. have been pretty remiss about that since we got married and it felt god to go. Naturally I prayed for the Colts, but I have no illusion that God cares who wins a football game. Nor should he. I just prayed that the guys played to the best of their abilities. For 25 minutes of that game, I was pretty sure my prayers were not to be answered.
Went to lunch at Bahama Breeze for Brooke's birthday and to their house for cake. By this time my stomach feels like it has bats instead of butterflies! I'm confident, but very anxious at the same time. After we leave we go by the house and I grab some brews, my hat and coat and a trash bag and we head to Tom's.
I get to Tom's first followed by Paw and Tim and finally Neil. We have Bombs to get the day started although I could go for a cat nap to get lunch past me. I have a Red Bull and feel fine. Another round of Bombs and a beer and we are ready to go. We pile in the Caddy and head for Mo's.
The atmosphere downtown is charged. There do seem to be a lot of Pat fans around the area and my anxiety level increases. I am not sure if I can handle a stadium full of those idiots. Still, there is a lot of blue as well. We make our way to Pullmans for what has become our traditional pregame stop. We have one, go to the can and I make a call to the wife and tell her we are heading in. I am assuming voice conversations once inside the dome are not going to be possible.
Once we get in the Pat fans are few and far between, but of course that doesn't mean there are 5 sitting right in front of us. Craig warns me to behave, later Eric does as well, but these guys look pretty harmless. I assure Craig all will be well. I really wanted to hit them a little later, but I kept my cool and just yelled louder and "accidentally" spilled a little beer on their jacket.
Most of the usual's were there. Butch and his crew, Dan-o and Mark, the Legend, the Girls, my buddy who always speaks (who unfortunately may have broken his ankle in the first quarter) was there, the BILF, the throwback helmet guy and the myriad of other usual fans were all in attendance!
Then the unthinkable happened. PM threw a pick that was run back for a TD. Patriots 21, Colts 3. Tom headed out to smoke and I don't think he came back until the half, Paw was giving up his tickets next season, Timmy was moved to seat 110 and I had pretty much thrown in the towel. The Pat fans were chest bumping and high-fiving. They were calling and texting their friends back in Boston or wherever Pat fans come from. Without the FG at the end of the half for the Colts the dome may have begun emptying out by the half.
The good news is that the fans didn't leave. We all stayed and we just yelled louder. I made sure the guys in front of me knew this fan was going to stay in the game. It was worth it! As the Colts stormed back from 15 down it was apparent PM was going to pick his game up. Even the 80 yard KO return after the Colts tied it up didn't bring us down.
Eventually, as you know, we pulled it out! Marlin Jackson, in place of the injured Nick Harper, picked off Tom Brady's pass with 16 seconds left to go and the game was over. The Pat fans in front of me were gone before I was done with my first hug. But only the Pat fan left. As you can see from this picture, Colt fan stayed late! We hugged and high-fived. We laughed and teared up. We felt the weight of not only the last few years of heartbreak, but of 23 years of trying to get over this hump. None of us had much of a voice left but who cared.
When we finally filed out of the dome, with smiles splashed across our faces the cheering continued. Number one fingers all around, more high-fives, chest bumps and general fun! We headed over to the Ugly Monkey and got drinks and went out n the patio and high-fived hundreds of passing fans and tossed snow balls at passing cars. All in good fun. We finally headed up Illinois Street in the Caddy and with the other idiots, honked our horn and joined in the fun! Even saw some Bear fan who promptly got the finger.
It was a great day. We can only hope that in two weeks we beat the Chicago Bears. While I have a problem when people say "we" meaning the fans deserve this, it is a great feeling and one I want to take into the offseason! Let's Go Colts!!
Got up early and went to church. Me and the Mrs. have been pretty remiss about that since we got married and it felt god to go. Naturally I prayed for the Colts, but I have no illusion that God cares who wins a football game. Nor should he. I just prayed that the guys played to the best of their abilities. For 25 minutes of that game, I was pretty sure my prayers were not to be answered.
Went to lunch at Bahama Breeze for Brooke's birthday and to their house for cake. By this time my stomach feels like it has bats instead of butterflies! I'm confident, but very anxious at the same time. After we leave we go by the house and I grab some brews, my hat and coat and a trash bag and we head to Tom's.
I get to Tom's first followed by Paw and Tim and finally Neil. We have Bombs to get the day started although I could go for a cat nap to get lunch past me. I have a Red Bull and feel fine. Another round of Bombs and a beer and we are ready to go. We pile in the Caddy and head for Mo's.
The atmosphere downtown is charged. There do seem to be a lot of Pat fans around the area and my anxiety level increases. I am not sure if I can handle a stadium full of those idiots. Still, there is a lot of blue as well. We make our way to Pullmans for what has become our traditional pregame stop. We have one, go to the can and I make a call to the wife and tell her we are heading in. I am assuming voice conversations once inside the dome are not going to be possible.
Once we get in the Pat fans are few and far between, but of course that doesn't mean there are 5 sitting right in front of us. Craig warns me to behave, later Eric does as well, but these guys look pretty harmless. I assure Craig all will be well. I really wanted to hit them a little later, but I kept my cool and just yelled louder and "accidentally" spilled a little beer on their jacket.
Most of the usual's were there. Butch and his crew, Dan-o and Mark, the Legend, the Girls, my buddy who always speaks (who unfortunately may have broken his ankle in the first quarter) was there, the BILF, the throwback helmet guy and the myriad of other usual fans were all in attendance!
Then the unthinkable happened. PM threw a pick that was run back for a TD. Patriots 21, Colts 3. Tom headed out to smoke and I don't think he came back until the half, Paw was giving up his tickets next season, Timmy was moved to seat 110 and I had pretty much thrown in the towel. The Pat fans were chest bumping and high-fiving. They were calling and texting their friends back in Boston or wherever Pat fans come from. Without the FG at the end of the half for the Colts the dome may have begun emptying out by the half.
The good news is that the fans didn't leave. We all stayed and we just yelled louder. I made sure the guys in front of me knew this fan was going to stay in the game. It was worth it! As the Colts stormed back from 15 down it was apparent PM was going to pick his game up. Even the 80 yard KO return after the Colts tied it up didn't bring us down.
Eventually, as you know, we pulled it out! Marlin Jackson, in place of the injured Nick Harper, picked off Tom Brady's pass with 16 seconds left to go and the game was over. The Pat fans in front of me were gone before I was done with my first hug. But only the Pat fan left. As you can see from this picture, Colt fan stayed late! We hugged and high-fived. We laughed and teared up. We felt the weight of not only the last few years of heartbreak, but of 23 years of trying to get over this hump. None of us had much of a voice left but who cared.
When we finally filed out of the dome, with smiles splashed across our faces the cheering continued. Number one fingers all around, more high-fives, chest bumps and general fun! We headed over to the Ugly Monkey and got drinks and went out n the patio and high-fived hundreds of passing fans and tossed snow balls at passing cars. All in good fun. We finally headed up Illinois Street in the Caddy and with the other idiots, honked our horn and joined in the fun! Even saw some Bear fan who promptly got the finger.
It was a great day. We can only hope that in two weeks we beat the Chicago Bears. While I have a problem when people say "we" meaning the fans deserve this, it is a great feeling and one I want to take into the offseason! Let's Go Colts!!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Stupid Pacer Tricks
Yesterday the Indiana Pacers made one of the stupidest trades in team history. Not since bringing back Bob Netolicky has the team veered so far of course. Yes, we are now rid of the thug Stephen Jackson, but love him or hate him, he could play ball. But as if that weren't bad enough, we also allowed Al Harrington, Sarunus and Josh Powell to the Warriors for four backups. Fuck Larry Legend, how much did you have to drink before pulling the trigger on this one?
Granted there are a lot of fans out there who are thrilled to see Jack gone, but we got the short end of the stick on what seems like a desperation move by the organization. this team spent the past two lamenting the loss of Harrington who they drafted out of high school 8 years ago. He spent two years in the ATL and seemed happy to be back in Indy. We were all told by Carlisle in the preseason how this team was going to play up tempo and be exciting. Unfortunately Carlisle's demand of control on the team would never allow him let the team play. As it is, the team is dull and hard to watch. Al has indicated he is happy to leave because of this.
So instead of making the change where it needs to be, at head coach, we gut the team to save the feelings of the coach. Bird is so far in over his head as an NBA team president it isn't funny. Donnie Walsh can't retire because Larry sucks. He scouted Sarunus for months in Europe proclaiming him a great point guard. He never really caught on and like Harrington, found himself at odds with the coach and gameplan.
Now we get that faggy Mike Dunleavy, slow and steady Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu, who may be he only bright spot when all is said and done and Keith McLeod who is now going to his 4th team in 5 years.
As a longtime Pacer fan I feel sick by these moves. Back in the day the team didn't win, but they were lovable and had some nice players. Larry Brown took us far and caretaker coach Bird got us to the finals. Since then it has been downhill except a couple years with the Pistons. This season wasn't going great, but we were 4 games over .500 and in playoff position. I wouldn't look for that to last. Maybe Larry is a genius and is setting us up for the Oden lottery before it's too late!
Granted there are a lot of fans out there who are thrilled to see Jack gone, but we got the short end of the stick on what seems like a desperation move by the organization. this team spent the past two lamenting the loss of Harrington who they drafted out of high school 8 years ago. He spent two years in the ATL and seemed happy to be back in Indy. We were all told by Carlisle in the preseason how this team was going to play up tempo and be exciting. Unfortunately Carlisle's demand of control on the team would never allow him let the team play. As it is, the team is dull and hard to watch. Al has indicated he is happy to leave because of this.
So instead of making the change where it needs to be, at head coach, we gut the team to save the feelings of the coach. Bird is so far in over his head as an NBA team president it isn't funny. Donnie Walsh can't retire because Larry sucks. He scouted Sarunus for months in Europe proclaiming him a great point guard. He never really caught on and like Harrington, found himself at odds with the coach and gameplan.
Now we get that faggy Mike Dunleavy, slow and steady Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu, who may be he only bright spot when all is said and done and Keith McLeod who is now going to his 4th team in 5 years.
As a longtime Pacer fan I feel sick by these moves. Back in the day the team didn't win, but they were lovable and had some nice players. Larry Brown took us far and caretaker coach Bird got us to the finals. Since then it has been downhill except a couple years with the Pistons. This season wasn't going great, but we were 4 games over .500 and in playoff position. I wouldn't look for that to last. Maybe Larry is a genius and is setting us up for the Oden lottery before it's too late!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Go Colts!
Well Colt fan, here we are facing the biggest game in team history. Our first ever AFC Championship game in the Dome. For us loyal Colt fans, this is what we have been waiting for, especially with this team. I know it isn’t the Super Bowl and just getting there is by no means enough. Not by a damn sight. But the only way the Colts win it is to win Sunday. Twenty three seasons we have waited for an opportunity like this. Sure we were in this game in 1995 and 2003. Unfortunately we were on the road. Honestly we should have beaten the Steelers in 95, but we played poorly in Foxboro a few years ago.
Since then we have posted great season records including last years stellar 14-2. But as any fan can tell you, those games are pretty much meaningless unless the team backs them up in the playoffs. Ask anyone on the team, they’ll tell you!
This year has been different. This year the team had another great regular season, but was lousy on defense and struggled down the stretch. Looking back a month one wonders if they weren’t just ready to get to January and the playoffs.
So we go into Sunday, against the team I consider the Colts biggest rival. Pat fan might not call it a rivalry, but they are lying to themselves. Once they owned us. Hell for the first 21 years the Colts have been in Indianapolis they owned us. But on prime time TV both this year and last, the Colts have extracted a measure of revenge by beating them in their stadium, soundly. It may have been only the regular season, but if anyone believes the games meant any less than a playoff game to either team they aren’t paying attention.
As the week goes on expect the city to reach a fever pitch. The Pat fans say they are coming, but I bet their numbers in the dome are negligible. Look for more blue being worn. Posters in windows. Debate on talk radio. Discussion on TV. Expect the experts, especially the noted Colt haters Mark Schlereth and Sean Salisbury to call the Colts soft and incapable of winning this game. Expect to hear about how Pat coach Bill Belichick has Peyton Manning’s number and how Tom “Man purse” Brady is the best QB ever. Expect talk about how 18 has played in the playoffs, but don’t expect much about the D. Some of what you read and hear is true, some, pure folly. All of it, however, means they are talking about our Indianapolis Colts who stand just two victories from history.
And look out. If the Colts are to win, which I truly believe they will, watch for the media to jump all over the Bear or Saint bandwagon next week. Especially the Saints. God forbid they lose and ruin the “America’s new team” mantra some seem to have bestowed upon them.
Well America, you may not have been Colt fans before and you may not be now, but the bandwagon is gearing up again and there is plenty of room. Jump on board! Don’t let the uppity fans not let you. Let’s make this our week! As we know, these opportunities don’t come along very often!
Since then we have posted great season records including last years stellar 14-2. But as any fan can tell you, those games are pretty much meaningless unless the team backs them up in the playoffs. Ask anyone on the team, they’ll tell you!
This year has been different. This year the team had another great regular season, but was lousy on defense and struggled down the stretch. Looking back a month one wonders if they weren’t just ready to get to January and the playoffs.
So we go into Sunday, against the team I consider the Colts biggest rival. Pat fan might not call it a rivalry, but they are lying to themselves. Once they owned us. Hell for the first 21 years the Colts have been in Indianapolis they owned us. But on prime time TV both this year and last, the Colts have extracted a measure of revenge by beating them in their stadium, soundly. It may have been only the regular season, but if anyone believes the games meant any less than a playoff game to either team they aren’t paying attention.
As the week goes on expect the city to reach a fever pitch. The Pat fans say they are coming, but I bet their numbers in the dome are negligible. Look for more blue being worn. Posters in windows. Debate on talk radio. Discussion on TV. Expect the experts, especially the noted Colt haters Mark Schlereth and Sean Salisbury to call the Colts soft and incapable of winning this game. Expect to hear about how Pat coach Bill Belichick has Peyton Manning’s number and how Tom “Man purse” Brady is the best QB ever. Expect talk about how 18 has played in the playoffs, but don’t expect much about the D. Some of what you read and hear is true, some, pure folly. All of it, however, means they are talking about our Indianapolis Colts who stand just two victories from history.
And look out. If the Colts are to win, which I truly believe they will, watch for the media to jump all over the Bear or Saint bandwagon next week. Especially the Saints. God forbid they lose and ruin the “America’s new team” mantra some seem to have bestowed upon them.
Well America, you may not have been Colt fans before and you may not be now, but the bandwagon is gearing up again and there is plenty of room. Jump on board! Don’t let the uppity fans not let you. Let’s make this our week! As we know, these opportunities don’t come along very often!
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Morons
With more than 2000 dead and 20,000 wounded American soldiers in Iraq isn’t it about time we called the “War” a failure? What have we done to make it a success? Sure we got Hussein out of power, but has the killing stopped? How many Iraqi’s are dead? You "patriots" probably don't care, but you should care about the Americans.
The Bush administration has gone unchecked long enough. Those who say this wasn’t about revenge, oil and money are deluding themselves. War on terror my ass. Bush is a liar and his cronies are all full of shit.
The GOP is a mess with scandals that make it look like the biggest bunch of hypocrites ever. Hell , we all know the Democrats are perverts, thieves and crooks, but the Republicans act as though they’re above it. Folks let me tell you, they’re not.
What we have is an ineffective leader in Bush. The fucker has this country so divided it will take years to repair it. A VP who is sitting back getting rich on his war tiem contracts and business interests and a tough talking Secretary of Defense who in actuality probably couldn’t fight off a cold.
Hey dickheads, tell you what, why don’t you try to win this fucking war or get the fuck out. We allegedly have the greatest weapons ever invented to fight a war and the highly trained and “motivated’ US soldier, yet we can not get an edge on a group of people who use rocks and Molotov cocktails as their main weapons. Rumsfeld talks a great game, but we just keep losing bright young men and women, and for what?
And before any of you so-called conservatives think I am endorsing the Dems or liberals you can take your heads out of the sand and wise up. Fuck the democrats and the liberals, but at least we know where they stand. Allegedly the Bush administration was for the US and making things right in the world. All I see is a failed war in Iraq, the head of Al-Queda still running around free as a bird and a country and world divided over our idiotic actions.
The Bush administration has gone unchecked long enough. Those who say this wasn’t about revenge, oil and money are deluding themselves. War on terror my ass. Bush is a liar and his cronies are all full of shit.
The GOP is a mess with scandals that make it look like the biggest bunch of hypocrites ever. Hell , we all know the Democrats are perverts, thieves and crooks, but the Republicans act as though they’re above it. Folks let me tell you, they’re not.
What we have is an ineffective leader in Bush. The fucker has this country so divided it will take years to repair it. A VP who is sitting back getting rich on his war tiem contracts and business interests and a tough talking Secretary of Defense who in actuality probably couldn’t fight off a cold.
Hey dickheads, tell you what, why don’t you try to win this fucking war or get the fuck out. We allegedly have the greatest weapons ever invented to fight a war and the highly trained and “motivated’ US soldier, yet we can not get an edge on a group of people who use rocks and Molotov cocktails as their main weapons. Rumsfeld talks a great game, but we just keep losing bright young men and women, and for what?
And before any of you so-called conservatives think I am endorsing the Dems or liberals you can take your heads out of the sand and wise up. Fuck the democrats and the liberals, but at least we know where they stand. Allegedly the Bush administration was for the US and making things right in the world. All I see is a failed war in Iraq, the head of Al-Queda still running around free as a bird and a country and world divided over our idiotic actions.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
2006 Racing Mid-Season Report
Well we are truly immersed in the 2006 racing silly season. Driver changes are occurring, firings have taken place and the rumors are swirling. Some changes have already proven beneficial for certain drivers, while others have been treated poorly in my opinion. Here is a brief view of my thoughts as we move forward into the second half of the 2006 racing season.
First up is the release of two drivers from their IRL teams this week. Buddy Lazier was released by Dreyer and Reinbold Racing (DRR) and AJ Foyt has released Felipe Giafone (Mike).
I suppose there are a couple of ways of looking at these firings. One, is that the results simply have not been there. In Lazier’s case, the top finish was 12th at Indianapolis. At the tracks with fewer cars his top finish was three 15th place finishes. Not exactly the kind of results one expects from the 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion. Mike failed to post much better numbers. His 5th at the Glen was his season high along with a couple of top 10 finishes in the first two races. While the numbers were better than Lazier’s, his 16th, 17th and 19th place finishes over the past three races have to be viewed as disappointments.
On the other hand, Lazier and Mike were given little chance of success when they climbed in the cars of DRR and AJ respectively. These two teams have been at the back of the pack for most of the decade and I don’t see how any of that is going to change. DRR is simply a small budget team competing against teams who are exponentially larger than they are. You know Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl want to continue to race, but you really have to wonder how long they can spend money on the venture.
In AJ’s case, he has a serious sponsor so the lack of results on the surface seem more intriguing. However, AJ himself seems to be as big of a factor in their performances as anything else. AJ is known to hate the engineers and technology that comes with today’s racing and refuses to embrace it. Of course by doing this he gives his team little or no chance to win. AJ was one of the greatest drivers the Speedway ever saw, but he may be the worst owner it has seen. How long he sticks around is a big question.
I hope Buddy and Mike land rides in the IRL, but I have my doubts. I think Buddy just never fit the mold for the big teams and Mike just doesn’t excite fans or sponsors. I think they were both wrongly fired by their crappy teams, but that doesn’t make them the first or the last to be held out as the scapegoats.
While on the subject of DRR, they have hired Ryan Briscoe as their driver for the next four races. Briscoe was unceremoniously dropped from the Target Chip Ganassi Racing(TCGR) team last season after hitting everything but the pace car. DRR may not have liked what Buddy was doing in their car, my feeling is that they will like what Briscoe does even less. Unless this guy has changed his mindset he’ll be the undertaker for DRR. I like DRR and I hope he does okay. I just have my doubts.
Let’s keep it in the IRL for the moment. My favorite driver, yeah right, Danica Patrick has been in the news this week. Seems her father was poking around the NASCAR garages this week and announced to the media that his daughter was looking for a Cup ride for 2007. Her contract with Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) is up at the end of the season. RLR has really struggled this year. They lost Paul Dana in a freak wreck at Homestead. Since that time they replaced Dana with Jeff Simmons who has not found any traction. Patrick and team mate Buddy “FITP” Rice have made little impact on the season. Sure they are not a factory Honda team anymore and yes they lost a driver. But it seems as though there may be more to it than that. I don’t know, but the team is a damn sight off of where they were a year ago. Of course with the dominance of TCGR and Penske Racing, most teams are off, but RLR seems to be in more trouble than the others.
Anyway, the “sis-boom-bah, rah-rah IRL” cheerleaders were all up in arms over the news. Many were in denial at the story, some were ready to hang themselves while others ran and hid.
There was a piece that Derek Daly said Patrick leaving would be a good thing for the IRL in that it would speed up unification when they saw the direness of the whole thing. For his part Daly, who does Champ Car races and F1 on TV, as well as covering Indy in May, was lambasted by the rah-rah’s as a traitor and a person who never liked Indy. Face it fans, he hates the IRL almost as much as I do, but like me, he loves Indy.
Ultimately the story, while true, was more of a ploy to get a better contract for Patrick. Danica announced yesterday that, while NASCAR is still a desire for the future, she fully intends on staying in the IRL.
Two thoughts on that. One, this is good news for the IRL. FTG still has his number one marketing tool, even if it is a gimmick. His hiring of Gene Simmons has produced nothing but the ridiculous “I am Mindy” anthem. Two, with all of the money that is bound to be spent in NASCAR when Toyota gets there next year, how wise is it to hire a gimmick like Patrick who will never be able to compete. Roush may make his money off of the merchandising of Patrick, but she’ll be a joke otherwise.
To wrap up the IRL let me say this about the whole Simmons/Abrahamson deal. Seriously, what have these people done? When the season started we had 20 cars and have gone to 18 for this weeks Nashville race. Carmelo Anthony lent his name to Hemelgarn Racing and that was supposed to attract sponsors. It failed and Hemelgarn is “parked”. FTG and his crew have once again completely missed the boat on this thing.
On to NASCAR. Frankly I don’t follow this that much, but there was a huge announcement this past weekend that compels me to write about it. Juan Pablo Montoya(JPM) is coming to America and he is going to be racing in the Nextel Cup Series (NCS) for Chip Ganassi. You may remember JPM won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 with TCGR as they cherry picked the 500 from their lofty perch in CART. JPM went on to win that series and was soon headed to F1.
While there, JPM did manage to win 7 races, but he probably ruffled as many feathers as he did excite team owners. Most of his success came with the Williams BMW team. When he moved to McLaren he struggled with the car and being second fiddle to team mate Kiwi Raikkonen. When it was announced that JPM would be making the move to NASCAR for 2007, McLaren made quick work of releasing the Colombian. With extra time now on his hands it will be interesting to see when JPM starts his NASCAR career. He is supposed to run some Busch races this season and possibly a Cup or two, but now he has half a season and I doubt Ganassi wants to have him sitting around doing nothing. JPM who makes his home in Miami hasn’t said what the extra time means as far as racing is concerned.
What is sure to happen is a big swell of interest from the US F1 fans as well as US open wheel fans when JPM gets to Daytona next year. Go Juan! I think he’ll do fine. It’s going to take a little practice to get the feel of the car, especially after the F1 cars, but he is a great driver and will succeed whether the good old boys and girls like it or not.
JPM’s replacement at McLaren is Pedro de la Rosa. Not a name to generate any interest here in the states and interest ought to be a thought. With the potential demise of the USGP, F1 ought to be kissing our asses for the money they make here. But since that is unlikely here are my thoughts on the future of the USGP. It will be back and back for a long while. I don’t say that because I love it, but I think FTG and FBE know a good thing when they see it, well maybe not FTG, and aren’t willing to screw it up.
Finally, it has been suggested and disputed and rumored to death the unification of the IRL and the Champ Car World Series. These rumors reared their heads the past couple of years, but this year FTG and FKK gave credence to the talk by admitting they had been meeting. They cautioned that the talks were in the early stages and that nothing had been decided. Anyone with half a brain can see that the continued split in open wheel will have even more devastating effects than it already has had. The sponsors that are here will leave and the car counts on both sides will continue to drop. 18 entered at Nashville this week, 17 were at the CC race at Toronto last week. Both numbers are down and the likelihood of them going up is doubtful. I’ve been all over the split so I will not continue to discuss it here, but the end must be soon or open wheel racing will be a distant memory in just a few years. More importantly the Indianapolis 500 is losing luster as the days roll on. As it is, barely 33 cars even show up and some are so far off the pace it isn’t funny. If the two sides can get together these trends can be stemmed. Now I don’t think anyone with half a brain thinks there will automatically be 35 cars at Kentucky and 50 at Indianapolis, but the car counts should improve. With that improvement means more competition and it probably will signal the end of teams like AJ Foyt, Hemelgarn and even DRR. The bottom line is that it is no longer necessary to unite to fight NASCAR, that ship has sailed. It is necessary to unite to give some hope to the future of open wheel racing in general and the Indianapolis 500 in particular. I don’t want to see 33 fucking Silver Crown cars running the 500 no matter what these so-called purists assholes think.
First up is the release of two drivers from their IRL teams this week. Buddy Lazier was released by Dreyer and Reinbold Racing (DRR) and AJ Foyt has released Felipe Giafone (Mike).
I suppose there are a couple of ways of looking at these firings. One, is that the results simply have not been there. In Lazier’s case, the top finish was 12th at Indianapolis. At the tracks with fewer cars his top finish was three 15th place finishes. Not exactly the kind of results one expects from the 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion. Mike failed to post much better numbers. His 5th at the Glen was his season high along with a couple of top 10 finishes in the first two races. While the numbers were better than Lazier’s, his 16th, 17th and 19th place finishes over the past three races have to be viewed as disappointments.
On the other hand, Lazier and Mike were given little chance of success when they climbed in the cars of DRR and AJ respectively. These two teams have been at the back of the pack for most of the decade and I don’t see how any of that is going to change. DRR is simply a small budget team competing against teams who are exponentially larger than they are. You know Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl want to continue to race, but you really have to wonder how long they can spend money on the venture.
In AJ’s case, he has a serious sponsor so the lack of results on the surface seem more intriguing. However, AJ himself seems to be as big of a factor in their performances as anything else. AJ is known to hate the engineers and technology that comes with today’s racing and refuses to embrace it. Of course by doing this he gives his team little or no chance to win. AJ was one of the greatest drivers the Speedway ever saw, but he may be the worst owner it has seen. How long he sticks around is a big question.
I hope Buddy and Mike land rides in the IRL, but I have my doubts. I think Buddy just never fit the mold for the big teams and Mike just doesn’t excite fans or sponsors. I think they were both wrongly fired by their crappy teams, but that doesn’t make them the first or the last to be held out as the scapegoats.
While on the subject of DRR, they have hired Ryan Briscoe as their driver for the next four races. Briscoe was unceremoniously dropped from the Target Chip Ganassi Racing(TCGR) team last season after hitting everything but the pace car. DRR may not have liked what Buddy was doing in their car, my feeling is that they will like what Briscoe does even less. Unless this guy has changed his mindset he’ll be the undertaker for DRR. I like DRR and I hope he does okay. I just have my doubts.
Let’s keep it in the IRL for the moment. My favorite driver, yeah right, Danica Patrick has been in the news this week. Seems her father was poking around the NASCAR garages this week and announced to the media that his daughter was looking for a Cup ride for 2007. Her contract with Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) is up at the end of the season. RLR has really struggled this year. They lost Paul Dana in a freak wreck at Homestead. Since that time they replaced Dana with Jeff Simmons who has not found any traction. Patrick and team mate Buddy “FITP” Rice have made little impact on the season. Sure they are not a factory Honda team anymore and yes they lost a driver. But it seems as though there may be more to it than that. I don’t know, but the team is a damn sight off of where they were a year ago. Of course with the dominance of TCGR and Penske Racing, most teams are off, but RLR seems to be in more trouble than the others.
Anyway, the “sis-boom-bah, rah-rah IRL” cheerleaders were all up in arms over the news. Many were in denial at the story, some were ready to hang themselves while others ran and hid.
There was a piece that Derek Daly said Patrick leaving would be a good thing for the IRL in that it would speed up unification when they saw the direness of the whole thing. For his part Daly, who does Champ Car races and F1 on TV, as well as covering Indy in May, was lambasted by the rah-rah’s as a traitor and a person who never liked Indy. Face it fans, he hates the IRL almost as much as I do, but like me, he loves Indy.
Ultimately the story, while true, was more of a ploy to get a better contract for Patrick. Danica announced yesterday that, while NASCAR is still a desire for the future, she fully intends on staying in the IRL.
Two thoughts on that. One, this is good news for the IRL. FTG still has his number one marketing tool, even if it is a gimmick. His hiring of Gene Simmons has produced nothing but the ridiculous “I am Mindy” anthem. Two, with all of the money that is bound to be spent in NASCAR when Toyota gets there next year, how wise is it to hire a gimmick like Patrick who will never be able to compete. Roush may make his money off of the merchandising of Patrick, but she’ll be a joke otherwise.
To wrap up the IRL let me say this about the whole Simmons/Abrahamson deal. Seriously, what have these people done? When the season started we had 20 cars and have gone to 18 for this weeks Nashville race. Carmelo Anthony lent his name to Hemelgarn Racing and that was supposed to attract sponsors. It failed and Hemelgarn is “parked”. FTG and his crew have once again completely missed the boat on this thing.
On to NASCAR. Frankly I don’t follow this that much, but there was a huge announcement this past weekend that compels me to write about it. Juan Pablo Montoya(JPM) is coming to America and he is going to be racing in the Nextel Cup Series (NCS) for Chip Ganassi. You may remember JPM won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 with TCGR as they cherry picked the 500 from their lofty perch in CART. JPM went on to win that series and was soon headed to F1.
While there, JPM did manage to win 7 races, but he probably ruffled as many feathers as he did excite team owners. Most of his success came with the Williams BMW team. When he moved to McLaren he struggled with the car and being second fiddle to team mate Kiwi Raikkonen. When it was announced that JPM would be making the move to NASCAR for 2007, McLaren made quick work of releasing the Colombian. With extra time now on his hands it will be interesting to see when JPM starts his NASCAR career. He is supposed to run some Busch races this season and possibly a Cup or two, but now he has half a season and I doubt Ganassi wants to have him sitting around doing nothing. JPM who makes his home in Miami hasn’t said what the extra time means as far as racing is concerned.
What is sure to happen is a big swell of interest from the US F1 fans as well as US open wheel fans when JPM gets to Daytona next year. Go Juan! I think he’ll do fine. It’s going to take a little practice to get the feel of the car, especially after the F1 cars, but he is a great driver and will succeed whether the good old boys and girls like it or not.
JPM’s replacement at McLaren is Pedro de la Rosa. Not a name to generate any interest here in the states and interest ought to be a thought. With the potential demise of the USGP, F1 ought to be kissing our asses for the money they make here. But since that is unlikely here are my thoughts on the future of the USGP. It will be back and back for a long while. I don’t say that because I love it, but I think FTG and FBE know a good thing when they see it, well maybe not FTG, and aren’t willing to screw it up.
Finally, it has been suggested and disputed and rumored to death the unification of the IRL and the Champ Car World Series. These rumors reared their heads the past couple of years, but this year FTG and FKK gave credence to the talk by admitting they had been meeting. They cautioned that the talks were in the early stages and that nothing had been decided. Anyone with half a brain can see that the continued split in open wheel will have even more devastating effects than it already has had. The sponsors that are here will leave and the car counts on both sides will continue to drop. 18 entered at Nashville this week, 17 were at the CC race at Toronto last week. Both numbers are down and the likelihood of them going up is doubtful. I’ve been all over the split so I will not continue to discuss it here, but the end must be soon or open wheel racing will be a distant memory in just a few years. More importantly the Indianapolis 500 is losing luster as the days roll on. As it is, barely 33 cars even show up and some are so far off the pace it isn’t funny. If the two sides can get together these trends can be stemmed. Now I don’t think anyone with half a brain thinks there will automatically be 35 cars at Kentucky and 50 at Indianapolis, but the car counts should improve. With that improvement means more competition and it probably will signal the end of teams like AJ Foyt, Hemelgarn and even DRR. The bottom line is that it is no longer necessary to unite to fight NASCAR, that ship has sailed. It is necessary to unite to give some hope to the future of open wheel racing in general and the Indianapolis 500 in particular. I don’t want to see 33 fucking Silver Crown cars running the 500 no matter what these so-called purists assholes think.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
2006 Indy
As we race towards the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 the landscape of open wheel racing may be getting ready to change. Talks between the IRL and Champ Car have been taking place and both sides have acknowledged as much. Where those talks lead us is likely to shape the future of the sport or doom the sport to no future.
We all know the history of the war between the former CART and the IRL. Tony George felt slighted when he was offered a non voting seat on the CART board. George had a “vision” to get the open wheel world back to its North American roots of oval racing and to develop those young sprint and midget drivers eventually leading them to Indy and try to keep some of them from bolting to NASCAR.
We all know of the infamous 25/8 which was hastily abandoned, albeit a little too late. We know the “vision” has changed several times. We know that neither the IRL nor CART/OWRS/CC is able to draw any TV ratings and that the IRL has suffered from poor attendance. In fact, the once venerable race at Phoenix is now completely gone from the schedule after drawing about 8000 fans last year. Phoenix used to be the race before Indy and the winner was usually the favorite when the track opened in May. We know that CC has all but abandoned oval racing and for that matter, road course racing for street racing. We also know that Long Beach and Monaco are the only ones who really can pull that off. We also know that driving a front engine midget or sprint car lends itself much more to the front engine NASCAR cars than it does to the rear-engine, more nimble and faster Indy Car, thus making the whole point of the original “vision” moot.
All of these are points the fans of open wheel racing, or should I say Indy Car racing (be it IRL or CC) have come to grips with. We also have heard the past couple of years about a possible unification of the two series, but they ended up being smoke and mirrors. At least this time the parties involved are admitting to talks.
But where do we go with these talks? IRL fan is certainly not going to stand for a schedule even half and half oval/road course. CC fan may never return if it goes oval heavy. I have posted my dream season at Indystar.com so I will eschew doing it in detail here, but suffice it to say some of the tracks in the IRL will have to go away just as some from the CC schedule. I think it is imperative to be in Canada at least once and preferably twice and I’d like to see the series in Mexico once. As long as Honda is involved I think you have to keep Motegi. I’ve never been a big fan of the Australia race so as far as I am concerned it can go. Europe? Forget it.
As for the cars, well I will leave that to those who know about such matters. Frankly, it matters little if the cars are turbocharged or normally aspirated.
The biggest issue to me is who is going to run the show? This isn’t the NFL/NBA/MLB so a commissioner in that traditional sense won’t work in my opinion. Racing is a different animal. Drivers can and do get hurt bad or killed. Of course people get killed doing all sorts of jobs, but racing has an inherent danger not found in other sports. If a team suffers a streak of bad luck with injuries/deaths they will leave. Then again if teams suffer lack of funding they will leave. Looking down the pit lane this past weekend at Indianapolis gives me hope that the sponsors are coming back, but I wonder if it is proportionately the same to sponsor a car as it was in 1995. CC is really hurting for sponsors so unification may not exactly set the open wheel financial world on fire.
When CART was formed the team owners wanted the power and the say so. When I think about that it is hard to find fault with it. It is their asses on the line. Still it is wrong when some of those owners also decide to be promoters at their tracks and even worse when races are guided to tracks purposely because of an owner.
The commissioner in CART never worked because he was a puppet to the owners and there weren’t two sides such as labor and management in the traditional stick and ball sports. Unfortunately the owners in this high stakes game rarely agree on anything. Ultimately CART went under and lots of people lost a lot of money. Was it mismanagement or simply a matter of trying to corral owners who did not want to be corralled?
ext bring on the IRL. Tony George had the track, he made the rules and he ran the shows. I thought he was acting low budget, but he isn’t very smart and needed help that he must have refused. Face it, everyone and their brother knew TG was subsidizing teams in the IRL and especially in the 500. He tried to get out of it one year by proclaiming “33 is just a number”. Had he mumbled that in front of a crowd of race fans he probably would not have survived the day. He was stuck then subsidizing teams to bring the count to 33 for the Memorial Day weekend classic.
Apparently tired of doing that, he started his own team. Vision Racing! My question is how is this any different than what was happening in CART? A lot of people are still convinced Paul Tracy won the 2002 Indianapolis 500 and that George unilaterally ruled against him. IF and it is a big IF at this point, one of his cars was involved in a similar situation, how would he act? Even if Barnhart were to rule, he is in lock step with TG so how would he rule?
These are issues that have to be resolved, but rest assured, I hope they do resolve them and get this thing back together. In 1995 the track was packed on race day, now we have many areas with empty seats and scalper prices are at an all time low. Each year the Speedway talks about ticket sales being up, but it certainly is not evident.
Face it, the race ain’t as big of a deal as she once was. It can recover, but greed, paranoia and mistrust have to be taken out of the equation to make it happen.
We all know the history of the war between the former CART and the IRL. Tony George felt slighted when he was offered a non voting seat on the CART board. George had a “vision” to get the open wheel world back to its North American roots of oval racing and to develop those young sprint and midget drivers eventually leading them to Indy and try to keep some of them from bolting to NASCAR.
We all know of the infamous 25/8 which was hastily abandoned, albeit a little too late. We know the “vision” has changed several times. We know that neither the IRL nor CART/OWRS/CC is able to draw any TV ratings and that the IRL has suffered from poor attendance. In fact, the once venerable race at Phoenix is now completely gone from the schedule after drawing about 8000 fans last year. Phoenix used to be the race before Indy and the winner was usually the favorite when the track opened in May. We know that CC has all but abandoned oval racing and for that matter, road course racing for street racing. We also know that Long Beach and Monaco are the only ones who really can pull that off. We also know that driving a front engine midget or sprint car lends itself much more to the front engine NASCAR cars than it does to the rear-engine, more nimble and faster Indy Car, thus making the whole point of the original “vision” moot.
All of these are points the fans of open wheel racing, or should I say Indy Car racing (be it IRL or CC) have come to grips with. We also have heard the past couple of years about a possible unification of the two series, but they ended up being smoke and mirrors. At least this time the parties involved are admitting to talks.
But where do we go with these talks? IRL fan is certainly not going to stand for a schedule even half and half oval/road course. CC fan may never return if it goes oval heavy. I have posted my dream season at Indystar.com so I will eschew doing it in detail here, but suffice it to say some of the tracks in the IRL will have to go away just as some from the CC schedule. I think it is imperative to be in Canada at least once and preferably twice and I’d like to see the series in Mexico once. As long as Honda is involved I think you have to keep Motegi. I’ve never been a big fan of the Australia race so as far as I am concerned it can go. Europe? Forget it.
As for the cars, well I will leave that to those who know about such matters. Frankly, it matters little if the cars are turbocharged or normally aspirated.
The biggest issue to me is who is going to run the show? This isn’t the NFL/NBA/MLB so a commissioner in that traditional sense won’t work in my opinion. Racing is a different animal. Drivers can and do get hurt bad or killed. Of course people get killed doing all sorts of jobs, but racing has an inherent danger not found in other sports. If a team suffers a streak of bad luck with injuries/deaths they will leave. Then again if teams suffer lack of funding they will leave. Looking down the pit lane this past weekend at Indianapolis gives me hope that the sponsors are coming back, but I wonder if it is proportionately the same to sponsor a car as it was in 1995. CC is really hurting for sponsors so unification may not exactly set the open wheel financial world on fire.
When CART was formed the team owners wanted the power and the say so. When I think about that it is hard to find fault with it. It is their asses on the line. Still it is wrong when some of those owners also decide to be promoters at their tracks and even worse when races are guided to tracks purposely because of an owner.
The commissioner in CART never worked because he was a puppet to the owners and there weren’t two sides such as labor and management in the traditional stick and ball sports. Unfortunately the owners in this high stakes game rarely agree on anything. Ultimately CART went under and lots of people lost a lot of money. Was it mismanagement or simply a matter of trying to corral owners who did not want to be corralled?
ext bring on the IRL. Tony George had the track, he made the rules and he ran the shows. I thought he was acting low budget, but he isn’t very smart and needed help that he must have refused. Face it, everyone and their brother knew TG was subsidizing teams in the IRL and especially in the 500. He tried to get out of it one year by proclaiming “33 is just a number”. Had he mumbled that in front of a crowd of race fans he probably would not have survived the day. He was stuck then subsidizing teams to bring the count to 33 for the Memorial Day weekend classic.
Apparently tired of doing that, he started his own team. Vision Racing! My question is how is this any different than what was happening in CART? A lot of people are still convinced Paul Tracy won the 2002 Indianapolis 500 and that George unilaterally ruled against him. IF and it is a big IF at this point, one of his cars was involved in a similar situation, how would he act? Even if Barnhart were to rule, he is in lock step with TG so how would he rule?
These are issues that have to be resolved, but rest assured, I hope they do resolve them and get this thing back together. In 1995 the track was packed on race day, now we have many areas with empty seats and scalper prices are at an all time low. Each year the Speedway talks about ticket sales being up, but it certainly is not evident.
Face it, the race ain’t as big of a deal as she once was. It can recover, but greed, paranoia and mistrust have to be taken out of the equation to make it happen.
Friday, March 3, 2006
Lose the Battle, Win the War!
A couple of weeks ago my fiance and I were at a small get together with what I have to describe as my friends. I'd like to call them our friends but I am no in the least bit convinced she likes my friends. Be that as it may, we were having a good time playing cards and having a few drinks and some food. It was a pleasant evening even though we had arrived significantly late. To a certain extent I have given up the fight for being on time as my honey just will not make herself be on time. That pretty much goes for anything; work, church, parties. You name it we are late. Any of you who know me know that I have always been very punctual as I find it a good trait and above all else, courteous.
Well, as it turned out I placed second in the card tournament we were playing. My honey finished fourth or fifth, can't really remember. As I was playing in the final three I noticed her begin to yawn. Mind you it was not yet 10:00 pm and we had not been there for three hours yet and our hosts had fed us. Now before I go on I should say that while my baby really liked watching the World Series of Poker last fall on TV, she really likes to play dealer choice poker better.
As it turns out I finished second in the tournament at about 10:10. I know my friends and I knew there would be a second game. When I asked my babe if she wanted to play she said no, knowing damn well I wanted to. She gave a couple of half-assed "go ahead and play" remarks, but I knew what that meant. So being a person who likes to get along I decided we would not play. Of course I pouted for the next 20 minutes and basically wouldn't look at her. I acted like a spoiled baby, which meant two of us were doing it, because I couldn't play.
All week this has really bothered me. Mainly because I just think she doesn't like my friends, which she better get over, because I am too old to get all new ones. But second it bothered me that she had so little regard for me and my feelings. I felt hurt that night, but am over it now, or am I?
There will be a next time to play poker and it will come up soon. And I am playing. But looking back I am sure I did the right thing by capitulating.
You see I have come to the conclusion that manners are not everyone's strong suit. I can't help most of them, but I can help my honey. In life there are battles every day. In a relationship, one or both parties can make proverbial mountains out of molehills. Thankfully we are not like that.
I honestly believe that there are battles that are and are not worth fighting, let alone winning. I also believe that with a little effort EVERY battle is winnable. But why? Why win every battle? Where does that leave me? I have watched my friends who are married and I see the pitfalls of their relationships and how they are smoothed over. I know that this is all a give-and-take and have found I really like to give. Trying to win every battle and giving the effort needed to win them made me forget what it is like to be happy. Last August when my honey and me got together formally I gave up winning them all. Hell losing a few can be even more rewarding!
I love my honey and next time there is a poker game I will simply tell her we will be playing two games and she can choose to go or not go. I love her and I want her there, but I gave up the last fight to retreat to a better strategy one that takes both of our feelings into account. After all, that is what the giving and taking is all about
Well, as it turned out I placed second in the card tournament we were playing. My honey finished fourth or fifth, can't really remember. As I was playing in the final three I noticed her begin to yawn. Mind you it was not yet 10:00 pm and we had not been there for three hours yet and our hosts had fed us. Now before I go on I should say that while my baby really liked watching the World Series of Poker last fall on TV, she really likes to play dealer choice poker better.
As it turns out I finished second in the tournament at about 10:10. I know my friends and I knew there would be a second game. When I asked my babe if she wanted to play she said no, knowing damn well I wanted to. She gave a couple of half-assed "go ahead and play" remarks, but I knew what that meant. So being a person who likes to get along I decided we would not play. Of course I pouted for the next 20 minutes and basically wouldn't look at her. I acted like a spoiled baby, which meant two of us were doing it, because I couldn't play.
All week this has really bothered me. Mainly because I just think she doesn't like my friends, which she better get over, because I am too old to get all new ones. But second it bothered me that she had so little regard for me and my feelings. I felt hurt that night, but am over it now, or am I?
There will be a next time to play poker and it will come up soon. And I am playing. But looking back I am sure I did the right thing by capitulating.
You see I have come to the conclusion that manners are not everyone's strong suit. I can't help most of them, but I can help my honey. In life there are battles every day. In a relationship, one or both parties can make proverbial mountains out of molehills. Thankfully we are not like that.
I honestly believe that there are battles that are and are not worth fighting, let alone winning. I also believe that with a little effort EVERY battle is winnable. But why? Why win every battle? Where does that leave me? I have watched my friends who are married and I see the pitfalls of their relationships and how they are smoothed over. I know that this is all a give-and-take and have found I really like to give. Trying to win every battle and giving the effort needed to win them made me forget what it is like to be happy. Last August when my honey and me got together formally I gave up winning them all. Hell losing a few can be even more rewarding!
I love my honey and next time there is a poker game I will simply tell her we will be playing two games and she can choose to go or not go. I love her and I want her there, but I gave up the last fight to retreat to a better strategy one that takes both of our feelings into account. After all, that is what the giving and taking is all about
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
2005 IRL Wrap
You know, I am sort of glad I waited until today to write the IRL post season wrap. Yesterday’s race at Fontana proved to be eventful in and of itself as Danica allegedly struck Jacques Lazier in the safety vehicle after they crashed yesterday. It capped off one of the most tumultuous seasons in IRL history that was notable for its extreme highs and lows.
As usual hope sprung eternal as the season opener approached in Homestead. The tests in the west were wrapped and it looked like the league was on solid footing and poised to take this fight with Champ Car to its end this season. Unfortunately as has been the case for so long in the IRL, everyone was never on the same page at the same time?
Right out of the gate a couple of things were noticeable. One was that the Toyota looked like it was back in business as it took second as well as 7 of the top 10 positions. Honda was still strong as eventual series champion Dan Wheldon took the win. A little known Danica Patrick also made her IRL debut. She crashed and would miss the next race. Attendance was sparse, but the TV ratings were up slightly which gave reason for optimism. Something that sadly, the IRL never grasped.
As the league moved west to Phoenix and the traditional spring date at PIR the IRL was going to reach its low point. A mere 8000 fans showed up for the race. Rumors blamed the promotion, the league, the racing, me and whoever else could be blamed. The TV ratings were shit and my prediction of the end of the IRL by the end of 2006 looked generous.
It was becoming clear the IRL was not going to be winning any battles this year. At least at this point. Next up was the race in the streets of St. Petersburg. The IRL for once pulled it together and put on a show. For the purists it would be the shot heard round the world as it became clear crowds liked street festivals. There was a nice crowd and TV ratings were up. Dan Wheldon would win and it would be the first of three in a row that culminated in his winning the Indianapolis 500.
Generally the race was considered a huge success and you could just see the little wheels spinning in FTRG’s head about more and more of the streets.
Motegi was notable as Danica took the pole. Otherwise it was a forgotten race, but Honda won in the Land of the Rising Sun and that should have made them happy. Next up was Indy.
Practice that first week at Indy was as spirited and active as ever. However, by Fast Friday afternoon the skies opened up and it rained all night. Dickhead Brian Brainfart, in his infinite wisdom called the track closed by noon on Pole Day even though skies were clearing and the sun was coming out. So the Pole was settled on a chilly, breezy Sunday in from of about 50 people. TK got the pole and Danicamania was in full gear. The girl qualified fourth, but could have had the pole except for a bobble on lap 1.
The next weeks were filled with little excitement. Only Bump Day provided any real excitement and in the end it was all BS. Carb Day on Friday this year was a crazy one as usual.
Congrats to Dan Wheldon for winning the 500. Patrick showed her true colors by taking out Panther Racing and being able to change her car and make it faster. She would continue to suck the rest of the year. She did lead a couple of laps, but ultimately she was a loser.
Rolling out of Indy though the Danica factor was in force and the league looked ready to pounce. Tickets for upcoming events were selling at record numbers and the IRL seemed to have the marketing machine at full song. Unfortunately the good feelings didn’t last. At Texas Scheckter won, but by Nashville the wear of promoting Danica, who by this time had faded into the woodwork with her crappy performances, over legitimate drivers was wearing thin. AGR actually skipped the autograph session and were promptly reprimanded. ABC/ESPN and the IRL had pushed the real drivers just a little too hard with all the of Danicamania shit.
As the season progressed, Wheldon continued his drive to the championship, but the league lost its momentum. By the time Milwaukee rolled around attendance was back in the crapper and Michigan was downright embarrassing. Two weeks later at Sparta, KY the crowd was decent, but nowhere near the sellout some would have you believe was there (and blamed on the heat) but each year it gets better.
Finally they got back to the road course part of the season, but at Infineon the crowds were bad and a decent crowd at Watkins Glen wasn’t really enough to carry the rest of the season. Crowds yesterday at Fontana were awful.
As with any season there are good points and bad points. For the IRL in 2005, there were some good ones, but the bad continues to outweigh and I refuse to change my mind about this series being around in 2007.
As far as good goes, Danicamania had to be the top story. She had some good qualifying runs and got her name in front of the public. Unfortunately the IRL marketing hacks botched this opportunity. They overexposed her and virtually forgot all of the other drivers including Dan Wheldon who won the 500. Marketing has been a problem over at 16th and Georgetown for some time now and it appears as though nothing has changed.
AGR had a great season and had great sponsors, but little Mikey threw a tantrum about Danica and pulled his stunt at Nashville. Very childish. The street race in St. Pete was a huge success, but the roaders were so-so. Good attendance at St. Pete, Nashville, Kansas, Chicagoland and Kentucky were negated by terrible turnouts at Fontana and Phoenix and disappointments at Indy, Michigan, Milwaukee and Phoenix.
For all of their posturing about races in Portland, Long Beach and Canada, the schedule for next year is smaller, not larger and does not include any of those venues. I do however like the length of the season which has been cut down by a month and a half.
Chevrolet is gone. Reports of them staying arose after TS won at Texas but the GM people stayed committed to their plans and have pulled their effort. Toyota has announced it is gone after 2006. While Honda says it will stay until at least 2009 one has to wonder what the future holds. I think doing away with the engine leases and letting the rule book free up a little may entice companies to build an Indy engine. It’s funny, but the influx of Toyota and Honda money was hailed by many sides as the savior and proof the IRL had won. It is now apparent that is not the case at all.
Overall I give the league a C+ for the season. It failed miserably to maintain the momentum coming out of Indy. To top it off, one of the leagues biggest allies was basically told to wait. Eddie Gossage and his Texas Motor Speedway, mainstays of the IRL after Indy were thought to be shuffling elsewhere on the schedule. Gossage bitched and it seemed Texas might be gone. In the end it was averted and the league will go to Watkins Glen after Indy and two weeks later race at Texas.
There was just too much Mickey Mouse crap to say the season was a success. TV ratings, while higher remained low. Indy is no longer a sellout. But the real hurtful factor is that Champ Car actually had a decent season. It is obvious they are not going away. Unfortunately with the split, one league will and if Champ Car is not, who does that leave?
Enjoy the offseason. I might do something of a wrap on NASCAR if they ever get done!
As usual hope sprung eternal as the season opener approached in Homestead. The tests in the west were wrapped and it looked like the league was on solid footing and poised to take this fight with Champ Car to its end this season. Unfortunately as has been the case for so long in the IRL, everyone was never on the same page at the same time?
Right out of the gate a couple of things were noticeable. One was that the Toyota looked like it was back in business as it took second as well as 7 of the top 10 positions. Honda was still strong as eventual series champion Dan Wheldon took the win. A little known Danica Patrick also made her IRL debut. She crashed and would miss the next race. Attendance was sparse, but the TV ratings were up slightly which gave reason for optimism. Something that sadly, the IRL never grasped.
As the league moved west to Phoenix and the traditional spring date at PIR the IRL was going to reach its low point. A mere 8000 fans showed up for the race. Rumors blamed the promotion, the league, the racing, me and whoever else could be blamed. The TV ratings were shit and my prediction of the end of the IRL by the end of 2006 looked generous.
It was becoming clear the IRL was not going to be winning any battles this year. At least at this point. Next up was the race in the streets of St. Petersburg. The IRL for once pulled it together and put on a show. For the purists it would be the shot heard round the world as it became clear crowds liked street festivals. There was a nice crowd and TV ratings were up. Dan Wheldon would win and it would be the first of three in a row that culminated in his winning the Indianapolis 500.
Generally the race was considered a huge success and you could just see the little wheels spinning in FTRG’s head about more and more of the streets.
Motegi was notable as Danica took the pole. Otherwise it was a forgotten race, but Honda won in the Land of the Rising Sun and that should have made them happy. Next up was Indy.
Practice that first week at Indy was as spirited and active as ever. However, by Fast Friday afternoon the skies opened up and it rained all night. Dickhead Brian Brainfart, in his infinite wisdom called the track closed by noon on Pole Day even though skies were clearing and the sun was coming out. So the Pole was settled on a chilly, breezy Sunday in from of about 50 people. TK got the pole and Danicamania was in full gear. The girl qualified fourth, but could have had the pole except for a bobble on lap 1.
The next weeks were filled with little excitement. Only Bump Day provided any real excitement and in the end it was all BS. Carb Day on Friday this year was a crazy one as usual.
Congrats to Dan Wheldon for winning the 500. Patrick showed her true colors by taking out Panther Racing and being able to change her car and make it faster. She would continue to suck the rest of the year. She did lead a couple of laps, but ultimately she was a loser.
Rolling out of Indy though the Danica factor was in force and the league looked ready to pounce. Tickets for upcoming events were selling at record numbers and the IRL seemed to have the marketing machine at full song. Unfortunately the good feelings didn’t last. At Texas Scheckter won, but by Nashville the wear of promoting Danica, who by this time had faded into the woodwork with her crappy performances, over legitimate drivers was wearing thin. AGR actually skipped the autograph session and were promptly reprimanded. ABC/ESPN and the IRL had pushed the real drivers just a little too hard with all the of Danicamania shit.
As the season progressed, Wheldon continued his drive to the championship, but the league lost its momentum. By the time Milwaukee rolled around attendance was back in the crapper and Michigan was downright embarrassing. Two weeks later at Sparta, KY the crowd was decent, but nowhere near the sellout some would have you believe was there (and blamed on the heat) but each year it gets better.
Finally they got back to the road course part of the season, but at Infineon the crowds were bad and a decent crowd at Watkins Glen wasn’t really enough to carry the rest of the season. Crowds yesterday at Fontana were awful.
As with any season there are good points and bad points. For the IRL in 2005, there were some good ones, but the bad continues to outweigh and I refuse to change my mind about this series being around in 2007.
As far as good goes, Danicamania had to be the top story. She had some good qualifying runs and got her name in front of the public. Unfortunately the IRL marketing hacks botched this opportunity. They overexposed her and virtually forgot all of the other drivers including Dan Wheldon who won the 500. Marketing has been a problem over at 16th and Georgetown for some time now and it appears as though nothing has changed.
AGR had a great season and had great sponsors, but little Mikey threw a tantrum about Danica and pulled his stunt at Nashville. Very childish. The street race in St. Pete was a huge success, but the roaders were so-so. Good attendance at St. Pete, Nashville, Kansas, Chicagoland and Kentucky were negated by terrible turnouts at Fontana and Phoenix and disappointments at Indy, Michigan, Milwaukee and Phoenix.
For all of their posturing about races in Portland, Long Beach and Canada, the schedule for next year is smaller, not larger and does not include any of those venues. I do however like the length of the season which has been cut down by a month and a half.
Chevrolet is gone. Reports of them staying arose after TS won at Texas but the GM people stayed committed to their plans and have pulled their effort. Toyota has announced it is gone after 2006. While Honda says it will stay until at least 2009 one has to wonder what the future holds. I think doing away with the engine leases and letting the rule book free up a little may entice companies to build an Indy engine. It’s funny, but the influx of Toyota and Honda money was hailed by many sides as the savior and proof the IRL had won. It is now apparent that is not the case at all.
Overall I give the league a C+ for the season. It failed miserably to maintain the momentum coming out of Indy. To top it off, one of the leagues biggest allies was basically told to wait. Eddie Gossage and his Texas Motor Speedway, mainstays of the IRL after Indy were thought to be shuffling elsewhere on the schedule. Gossage bitched and it seemed Texas might be gone. In the end it was averted and the league will go to Watkins Glen after Indy and two weeks later race at Texas.
There was just too much Mickey Mouse crap to say the season was a success. TV ratings, while higher remained low. Indy is no longer a sellout. But the real hurtful factor is that Champ Car actually had a decent season. It is obvious they are not going away. Unfortunately with the split, one league will and if Champ Car is not, who does that leave?
Enjoy the offseason. I might do something of a wrap on NASCAR if they ever get done!
Friday, October 14, 2005
2005 F1 Wrap
With Sunday’s running of the IRL race at Fontana and the F1 boys over at Shanghai the real racing season will come to an end. It has been a bittersweet year to be sure and unfortunately for the open wheel guys, NASCAR remains the 800 pound gorilla that everyone is gunning for. So what happened this season and why did it happen? Who is staying put and who is moving on or out? Who, for that matter is moving in? And who should be in but aren’t and probably won’t be and who will stay in that should be out?
F1 got things going in March with their annual return to the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. Controversy swirled over whether or not the Minardi team would be allowed to run using last years equipment. The rules had been changed enough that the older equipment was no longer legal. Of course the assholes from Maranello pitched a bitch over the perennial backmarker being able to run. As the lawyers got involved Minardi failed to show at the first day of practice. The FIA successfully argued that Minardi would not be allowed to run the old equipment. Miraculously at the 11th hour, new parts arrived and the Minardi’s took their place at the back of the grid. A position they would continue to defend the rest of the season.
What was apparent however, was that the new Ferrari was not going to blow away the competition the way they had the previous five years. There was no reason to think Schummi and the Sandwich were losing their edge, but the car was not up to par, at least in Australia. As apparent as Ferrari’s drop was the continued emergence of the Renault team. In fact Giancarlo Fisichella won the opener. While Fish failed to ever reach the summit again this season, the message was clear, Renault’s strong 2004 season was no fluke.
Unfortunately that was not the case for two of last years stronger teams. BAR had engine trouble at Melbourne and continued that Mo for the first half of the season. McLaren, usually strong in Australia also suffered engine problems and got off to a bad start.
As the circus rolled on, Freddie Alonso emerged as the new man to finally beat Schummi. Eventually Kimi would join that fight, but by the time McLaren got their shit together it was really too late for him to mount anything more than a cursory charge. Kimi will go down with the most wins this year, but when he was bad, he was awful. Most of it not of his doing, meaning mechanical problems, but it proved too much to overcome as Freddie cruised to the championship.
JPM got off to a rocky start as well. The Colombian missed three races with an injured shoulder. Allegedly he hurt it playing tennis, but the scuttlebutt was that he fell off of a motorcycle. Either way it was a long first season at McLaren for Juan. The team can still win the constructors title this weekend at Shanghai, but JPM will have to drive smart and give his team a chance. Something he has not been doing most of the year.
By the time the teams hit European soil it was clear Ferrari was not going to be a factor this year. It was also clear that the economy was having a say so about the F1 crowds as the San Marino GP was very poorly attended. Spain was good because of Freddie’s run and Monaco was okay, but Hockenheim was once again plagued by mediocre attendance.
By this time the title was down to Renault and McLaren with Ferrari still in the hunt but just barely. BAR was out. Williams was out and Toyota had only one bright moment out of each of their drivers all season.
The season was already taking its toll on the rule book as well. Qualifying had been changed from a session on Saturday and one on race morning to the older Saturday only session with the order being culled from the previous race. Teams still had to deal with the one tyre and no changes and one engine per two races rules. As the teams came to North America, the shitstorm of the year was at hand.
An uneventful race at Canada, well until the last lap when Kiwi broke up, brought the team to the US. The weather was absolutely perfect for four days as the teams gathered. The walkthrough on Thursday was a huge success again as were Friday and Saturday. However, on Saturday rumors began to swirl that there was a problem with the Michelin tyres. Ralfie had slammed the turn 13 wall on Friday and was out of the race. Fingers were pointed with Michelin ultimately being the scapegoat. Be it political or just stupid, Michelin advised their teams not to bring a safe tyre compound to go with the fast tyre. When it became apparent their tyres were unsafe, negotiations took place to either allow new tyres to be brought in or for a chicane to be built to slow the cars.
Everyone knows the story so I will leave most of it out, but suffice it to say that I felt then and still do that it was a political ploy to further the divide between the teams and the FIA in light of the startup GPWC being heralded by many of the teams and manufacturers.
In the end 6 cars answered the starting flag and many feelings were hurt and worse. In the days and weeks following the debacle people blamed the FIA, Tony George, the Speedway, Michelin, Ralfie, F1 and anyone else they could think of. Michelin finally agreed to take the blame and refunded the ticket money to the ticket holders of the race and offered to buy several thousand tickets to next years race. It remains to be seen if F1 will ever recover in the US.
As the circus rolled back to Europe it was clear no one was in much of a forgiving mood. The FIA has tried to ward off the split in the series but it no longer has the teeth it once had. Bernie has all but lost all face in his attempt to keep things together.
But the races continued and Kiwi was coming strong. BAR was finally finishing races, but Ferrari was still down. There was no doubt McLaren had the car to beat in the second half of the season, but Freddie was so consistent in his Renault and he could not be passed for the championship.
All in all it was a pretty eventful season for F1. With Indy, the fall of Ferrari and Schumi, BAR’s struggles and the rise of Renault there was more than just the crap we had been seeing the past few years. Thank God for that.
Off track there will be political ramifications until everyone gets on board with either the FIA and FOMA or with the GPWC.
As far as drivers go, American Scott Speed got his first shot at a test drive for the Red Bull team. As they make plans to scoop up the Minardi team it is very possible Scott will get a race day drive next year. Unfortunately, Takuma Sato looks like a man without a ride. He has been linked to the Jordan/Midland team but with them going with the Toyota engine it doesn’t seem possible. It is entirely within the realm of reason that TS could be in the IRL next year with a Honda team.
Jensen Buttons got his deal with Frank Williams dissolved. A year ago he wanted to do anything to get out of BAR, this year he wanted to do anything to stay with the Brackley team. He’ll stay and be $30 million lighter in the wallet for it.
One of the best driver rumors of the season was of Kiwi going to Ferrari. While I don’t see it, there is a seat open as the Sandwich moves to BAR for next season. Kiwi also had his share of headlines overseas as he apparently likes to go out drinking. Good for you Kiwi! I knew there was a reason I liked you!
Williams has inked a deal with Cosworth to develop a new F1 engine. This will probably keep the team from Grove down for a couple of seasons, but Sir Frank will probably come out on top on this one. Starting next year, Ferrari moves from Sauber to Red Bull. I guess the only question is how many cars does that entail. And finally, engine manufacturer BMW is striking out on its own as it has purchased the Sauber team and will begin development of a chassis.
It has been a lot of fun watching this season and while I wasn’t on here as much it didn’t mean I was mad at F1. Enjoy China and the offseason and go Kiwi and Juan!!!
F1 got things going in March with their annual return to the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. Controversy swirled over whether or not the Minardi team would be allowed to run using last years equipment. The rules had been changed enough that the older equipment was no longer legal. Of course the assholes from Maranello pitched a bitch over the perennial backmarker being able to run. As the lawyers got involved Minardi failed to show at the first day of practice. The FIA successfully argued that Minardi would not be allowed to run the old equipment. Miraculously at the 11th hour, new parts arrived and the Minardi’s took their place at the back of the grid. A position they would continue to defend the rest of the season.
What was apparent however, was that the new Ferrari was not going to blow away the competition the way they had the previous five years. There was no reason to think Schummi and the Sandwich were losing their edge, but the car was not up to par, at least in Australia. As apparent as Ferrari’s drop was the continued emergence of the Renault team. In fact Giancarlo Fisichella won the opener. While Fish failed to ever reach the summit again this season, the message was clear, Renault’s strong 2004 season was no fluke.
Unfortunately that was not the case for two of last years stronger teams. BAR had engine trouble at Melbourne and continued that Mo for the first half of the season. McLaren, usually strong in Australia also suffered engine problems and got off to a bad start.
As the circus rolled on, Freddie Alonso emerged as the new man to finally beat Schummi. Eventually Kimi would join that fight, but by the time McLaren got their shit together it was really too late for him to mount anything more than a cursory charge. Kimi will go down with the most wins this year, but when he was bad, he was awful. Most of it not of his doing, meaning mechanical problems, but it proved too much to overcome as Freddie cruised to the championship.
JPM got off to a rocky start as well. The Colombian missed three races with an injured shoulder. Allegedly he hurt it playing tennis, but the scuttlebutt was that he fell off of a motorcycle. Either way it was a long first season at McLaren for Juan. The team can still win the constructors title this weekend at Shanghai, but JPM will have to drive smart and give his team a chance. Something he has not been doing most of the year.
By the time the teams hit European soil it was clear Ferrari was not going to be a factor this year. It was also clear that the economy was having a say so about the F1 crowds as the San Marino GP was very poorly attended. Spain was good because of Freddie’s run and Monaco was okay, but Hockenheim was once again plagued by mediocre attendance.
By this time the title was down to Renault and McLaren with Ferrari still in the hunt but just barely. BAR was out. Williams was out and Toyota had only one bright moment out of each of their drivers all season.
The season was already taking its toll on the rule book as well. Qualifying had been changed from a session on Saturday and one on race morning to the older Saturday only session with the order being culled from the previous race. Teams still had to deal with the one tyre and no changes and one engine per two races rules. As the teams came to North America, the shitstorm of the year was at hand.
An uneventful race at Canada, well until the last lap when Kiwi broke up, brought the team to the US. The weather was absolutely perfect for four days as the teams gathered. The walkthrough on Thursday was a huge success again as were Friday and Saturday. However, on Saturday rumors began to swirl that there was a problem with the Michelin tyres. Ralfie had slammed the turn 13 wall on Friday and was out of the race. Fingers were pointed with Michelin ultimately being the scapegoat. Be it political or just stupid, Michelin advised their teams not to bring a safe tyre compound to go with the fast tyre. When it became apparent their tyres were unsafe, negotiations took place to either allow new tyres to be brought in or for a chicane to be built to slow the cars.
Everyone knows the story so I will leave most of it out, but suffice it to say that I felt then and still do that it was a political ploy to further the divide between the teams and the FIA in light of the startup GPWC being heralded by many of the teams and manufacturers.
In the end 6 cars answered the starting flag and many feelings were hurt and worse. In the days and weeks following the debacle people blamed the FIA, Tony George, the Speedway, Michelin, Ralfie, F1 and anyone else they could think of. Michelin finally agreed to take the blame and refunded the ticket money to the ticket holders of the race and offered to buy several thousand tickets to next years race. It remains to be seen if F1 will ever recover in the US.
As the circus rolled back to Europe it was clear no one was in much of a forgiving mood. The FIA has tried to ward off the split in the series but it no longer has the teeth it once had. Bernie has all but lost all face in his attempt to keep things together.
But the races continued and Kiwi was coming strong. BAR was finally finishing races, but Ferrari was still down. There was no doubt McLaren had the car to beat in the second half of the season, but Freddie was so consistent in his Renault and he could not be passed for the championship.
All in all it was a pretty eventful season for F1. With Indy, the fall of Ferrari and Schumi, BAR’s struggles and the rise of Renault there was more than just the crap we had been seeing the past few years. Thank God for that.
Off track there will be political ramifications until everyone gets on board with either the FIA and FOMA or with the GPWC.
As far as drivers go, American Scott Speed got his first shot at a test drive for the Red Bull team. As they make plans to scoop up the Minardi team it is very possible Scott will get a race day drive next year. Unfortunately, Takuma Sato looks like a man without a ride. He has been linked to the Jordan/Midland team but with them going with the Toyota engine it doesn’t seem possible. It is entirely within the realm of reason that TS could be in the IRL next year with a Honda team.
Jensen Buttons got his deal with Frank Williams dissolved. A year ago he wanted to do anything to get out of BAR, this year he wanted to do anything to stay with the Brackley team. He’ll stay and be $30 million lighter in the wallet for it.
One of the best driver rumors of the season was of Kiwi going to Ferrari. While I don’t see it, there is a seat open as the Sandwich moves to BAR for next season. Kiwi also had his share of headlines overseas as he apparently likes to go out drinking. Good for you Kiwi! I knew there was a reason I liked you!
Williams has inked a deal with Cosworth to develop a new F1 engine. This will probably keep the team from Grove down for a couple of seasons, but Sir Frank will probably come out on top on this one. Starting next year, Ferrari moves from Sauber to Red Bull. I guess the only question is how many cars does that entail. And finally, engine manufacturer BMW is striking out on its own as it has purchased the Sauber team and will begin development of a chassis.
It has been a lot of fun watching this season and while I wasn’t on here as much it didn’t mean I was mad at F1. Enjoy China and the offseason and go Kiwi and Juan!!!
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Late Racing Season 2005
It is now football season and that generally means the end of the racing season. Of course NASCAR will run until Thanksgiving with their chase and the IRL and F1 still have a few races left, but for the most part, their champions have been decided.Congrats to Dan Wheldon for his victory Sunday at Chicagoland which virtually wrapped up the season title and ensured that Wheldon becomes the first Indianapolis 500 winner to win the series championship in the same year since the inception of the IRL.
Congrats also to Fernando Alonso who finished second to Kimi Raikkonen at Spa yesterday and also made losing the championship an impossibility. Unlike Wheldon, Freddie does have to show up and race and actually score a point. Wheldon just has to show up and start at the Glen in two weeks.
NASCAR goes into their ridiculous chase starting next week. As much as I hate Tony Stewart, he has earned the title with the season he has had. He ended up more than 200 points ahead of anyone, yet at the next race he will have that lead reduced to 5. NASCAR is stupid for punishing a season like Stewart has had and like Kennseth had a couple of years ago. But then again, FUCK NASCAR!!!
It has been a bittersweet season for both the IRL and for F1. In the IRL, attendance was up at most venues, but at Indy it was down and Phoenix was awful and is being pulled from the schedule. Fontana, which has suffered several years of poor attendance, is also on the chopping block. These cuts wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that they will most likely be replaced with road or street courses.A rookie sensation, Danica Patrick, spurred Danicamania and has captured a couple of poles and nearly took the pole at Indy. She has since been exposed as the rookie she is, but she did really give the league a boost coming out of Indianapolis. Unfortunately, when her talents failed to live up to the hype, the mania waned and only the IRL and FTG bootlickers are really interested in her.
It was good to see former league champ and 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier back at Indy and a few other races. My boy Scheckter won at Texas and in all, 8 different winners have graced victory lane so far this season. St. Pete was a huge success crowdwise. Kentucky had a few more than last year. Kansas City, Nashville, Chicagoland and Texas had nice crowds.Sadly, the Toyota engine has been crap again this season and they have announced they will hang it up in the IRL after next season. GM is out after this campaign despite the thoughts they might stay after 4’s win in Texas. Mo Nunn Racing officially closed down this year. Dreyer and Reinbold Racing has been pitiful. AJ has had another crap year and rumors of AJIV’s departure to NASCAR have swirled. Besides Indy and Phoenix, Milwaukee and Michigan had terrible crowds.
But with all of that going on in the IRL, the worst is yet to come. That would be next years schedule. Keep in mind; this is a league that told us how it was growing after Indy. How attendance was up in key markets and with the targeted audiences. This was all told to us by Fred Nation and Brian Barnhart with straight faces. Now we find out that Texas will not follow Indy, but rather Watkins Glen will settle in between Indy and TMS. Fontana, out. Phoenix, out and Pikes Peak, out.
The schedule is reduced to 14 races. 11 ovals and 3 roads/street.If you have followed this blog, you know I have said I didn’t feel the league would make it past next season. I have no reason to think I am wrong. This thing has been a shoestring budget, low rent thing since its inception, yet it seemed to make some progress over the past couple of years, albeit minor, and with Danicamania seemed to be on its way. Somewhere along that way Danica was exposed as just another driver out there who doesn’t have what it takes to get to the top.I am so sick of what is happening to the sport that I am almost to the point of just giving up. I know I will be at Indy next season, but the powers that be, and that is not just George and Barnhart, but Kalkhoven and Forsythe as well have just about taken the fight out of me.
Congrats also to Fernando Alonso who finished second to Kimi Raikkonen at Spa yesterday and also made losing the championship an impossibility. Unlike Wheldon, Freddie does have to show up and race and actually score a point. Wheldon just has to show up and start at the Glen in two weeks.
NASCAR goes into their ridiculous chase starting next week. As much as I hate Tony Stewart, he has earned the title with the season he has had. He ended up more than 200 points ahead of anyone, yet at the next race he will have that lead reduced to 5. NASCAR is stupid for punishing a season like Stewart has had and like Kennseth had a couple of years ago. But then again, FUCK NASCAR!!!
It has been a bittersweet season for both the IRL and for F1. In the IRL, attendance was up at most venues, but at Indy it was down and Phoenix was awful and is being pulled from the schedule. Fontana, which has suffered several years of poor attendance, is also on the chopping block. These cuts wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that they will most likely be replaced with road or street courses.A rookie sensation, Danica Patrick, spurred Danicamania and has captured a couple of poles and nearly took the pole at Indy. She has since been exposed as the rookie she is, but she did really give the league a boost coming out of Indianapolis. Unfortunately, when her talents failed to live up to the hype, the mania waned and only the IRL and FTG bootlickers are really interested in her.
It was good to see former league champ and 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier back at Indy and a few other races. My boy Scheckter won at Texas and in all, 8 different winners have graced victory lane so far this season. St. Pete was a huge success crowdwise. Kentucky had a few more than last year. Kansas City, Nashville, Chicagoland and Texas had nice crowds.Sadly, the Toyota engine has been crap again this season and they have announced they will hang it up in the IRL after next season. GM is out after this campaign despite the thoughts they might stay after 4’s win in Texas. Mo Nunn Racing officially closed down this year. Dreyer and Reinbold Racing has been pitiful. AJ has had another crap year and rumors of AJIV’s departure to NASCAR have swirled. Besides Indy and Phoenix, Milwaukee and Michigan had terrible crowds.
But with all of that going on in the IRL, the worst is yet to come. That would be next years schedule. Keep in mind; this is a league that told us how it was growing after Indy. How attendance was up in key markets and with the targeted audiences. This was all told to us by Fred Nation and Brian Barnhart with straight faces. Now we find out that Texas will not follow Indy, but rather Watkins Glen will settle in between Indy and TMS. Fontana, out. Phoenix, out and Pikes Peak, out.
The schedule is reduced to 14 races. 11 ovals and 3 roads/street.If you have followed this blog, you know I have said I didn’t feel the league would make it past next season. I have no reason to think I am wrong. This thing has been a shoestring budget, low rent thing since its inception, yet it seemed to make some progress over the past couple of years, albeit minor, and with Danicamania seemed to be on its way. Somewhere along that way Danica was exposed as just another driver out there who doesn’t have what it takes to get to the top.I am so sick of what is happening to the sport that I am almost to the point of just giving up. I know I will be at Indy next season, but the powers that be, and that is not just George and Barnhart, but Kalkhoven and Forsythe as well have just about taken the fight out of me.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Augyst 2005 IRL
It’s official, Chevrolet will not return to the IRL Indy Car Series next season. In a year where they have had some success despite supplying only one team with engines for the most part, it was thought they may change their mind and stick around. Saturday in Colorado the dreaded announcement came. This will be the last season for the bow tie.
What’s worse is the fact that Toyota is leaving after the 2006 season and Honda has made it clear they are not interested in being the only engine manufacturer in the series. League president Brian Brainfart basically said there is no new manufacturers showing interest in the league at this time.
Two months ago Chevy was staying, Hyundai was looking at it and Porsche was showing signs of interest. All gone today. If you look back at my posts you will find where I think the IRL will fold by the end of 2006. At the rate they are going it will happen.
This has been a bittersweet year for the IRL. Danicamania ran rampant for half the season, but has cooled recently as she has shown she is not much of a racer. She qualifies well, but that is about it. Dan Wheldon has emerged as the cream of the crop this season. Winning Indy was huge for the Englishman. However, the IRL only focused on Danica and eventually the whole Andretti Green team took exception to the coverage, or lack of coverage of the Indy 500 winner.Indianapolis crowds were down, although not to a huge extent and Carb Day was large.
Phoenix saw a “crowd” of just over 8,000 and has been dropped from next years schedule it appears. Milwaukee and Michigan didn’t exactly set the box office on fire either. On the other hand, St. Pete was a success, great crowds were at Pikes Peak, Nashville, Texas and Kansas and the Kentucky race draws more people every year. Races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen should be well attended, but it is unlikely California will draw much.TV ratings are also up from previous years, but they still aren’t good.
So as Danicamania dies a slow and painful death, the IRL’s summer of promise begins to circle the drain as well. Champ Car has put on new events that have drawn good crowds and kept their once dying league in place. In fact they may be stronger than the IRL at this point. Unification talks are dead and both series have become niche sports and will remain in the WNBA realm of interest to the mainstream fan and media. Even the Indianapolis 500 has been reduced in stature. The once proud cornerstone of American auto racing is now second to the Daytona 500.
I have been critical of Tony George in the past and I still think he is in over his head. The IRL marketing strategy is for shit. The “vision” has changed so many times it makes ones head spin. Road courses, engine leases and spiraling costs were rampant in the CART series and originally what FTG wanted to stay away from. Now they are the mainstay of the IRL and the bootlicking fans cum all over themselves welcoming Honda and Toyota when they were bad for the other series.It’s a shame, but what had so much potential may end up in the crapper less than two years after its finest hour.
What’s worse is the fact that Toyota is leaving after the 2006 season and Honda has made it clear they are not interested in being the only engine manufacturer in the series. League president Brian Brainfart basically said there is no new manufacturers showing interest in the league at this time.
Two months ago Chevy was staying, Hyundai was looking at it and Porsche was showing signs of interest. All gone today. If you look back at my posts you will find where I think the IRL will fold by the end of 2006. At the rate they are going it will happen.
This has been a bittersweet year for the IRL. Danicamania ran rampant for half the season, but has cooled recently as she has shown she is not much of a racer. She qualifies well, but that is about it. Dan Wheldon has emerged as the cream of the crop this season. Winning Indy was huge for the Englishman. However, the IRL only focused on Danica and eventually the whole Andretti Green team took exception to the coverage, or lack of coverage of the Indy 500 winner.Indianapolis crowds were down, although not to a huge extent and Carb Day was large.
Phoenix saw a “crowd” of just over 8,000 and has been dropped from next years schedule it appears. Milwaukee and Michigan didn’t exactly set the box office on fire either. On the other hand, St. Pete was a success, great crowds were at Pikes Peak, Nashville, Texas and Kansas and the Kentucky race draws more people every year. Races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen should be well attended, but it is unlikely California will draw much.TV ratings are also up from previous years, but they still aren’t good.
So as Danicamania dies a slow and painful death, the IRL’s summer of promise begins to circle the drain as well. Champ Car has put on new events that have drawn good crowds and kept their once dying league in place. In fact they may be stronger than the IRL at this point. Unification talks are dead and both series have become niche sports and will remain in the WNBA realm of interest to the mainstream fan and media. Even the Indianapolis 500 has been reduced in stature. The once proud cornerstone of American auto racing is now second to the Daytona 500.
I have been critical of Tony George in the past and I still think he is in over his head. The IRL marketing strategy is for shit. The “vision” has changed so many times it makes ones head spin. Road courses, engine leases and spiraling costs were rampant in the CART series and originally what FTG wanted to stay away from. Now they are the mainstay of the IRL and the bootlicking fans cum all over themselves welcoming Honda and Toyota when they were bad for the other series.It’s a shame, but what had so much potential may end up in the crapper less than two years after its finest hour.
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
F Fucking 1 and the I Fucking RL
Hi everyone and sorry for being so remiss in posting to the blog. It has been both a hectic and discouraging time for me. I was in Vegas for the Texas IRL race and then the next week was the FIAsco at the Speedway when the F1 boys came to town. I did get to watch the entire Richmond race and saw some of the Kansas race.
Those of you who follow racing know what happened so I won't rehash the entire thing in detail.
I would like to touch on some points though that have piqued my interest over the past few weeks.
Danicamania. Jesus F Christ I am sick of this phenomenon. Alright, I know that Danica Patrick is good for the IRL, but Holy Crap, can you just make sure that those who need the mesage get it and get it out of my face. Shit, this broad ain't done shit except at Indy and she ain't all that hot. I still like the bartender better!!! Please, wake me up if Danica does do anything.
F1, where to start...Michelin. Fuck you and your little political games. You fuckers want out of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA? Then fucking leave, but don't pull what you did in Indianapolis three weeks ago. That was bullshit and could have been avoided. But no, you had to make a stand on what is arguably F1's biggest target market. Bad call Michelin and frankly your offer to refund money and buy tickets to next years race is not enough. You were here for four years and you couldn't find a tire. I repeat, FUCK YOU!!!
The FIA. Fuck you Max, you pigheaded greedy, paranoid bastard. You are so worried about keeping your job, that a year ago you said you didn't want, that you let all common sense about the USGP fly out the window. You had 9 teams agree to a chicane. While that didn't relieve Michelin of their moronic behavior, you could have risen above it all and preserved the race for the fans and taken control of F1 for good. Instead you proved the fans are of NO interest to you. You stepped on your dick Max and you will be held responsible just like your little lap dog Bernie.
Bernie and FTG. Hard to place the blame on FTG until an article came out today saying he could have trumped the FIA and built the chicane. Apparently when it came down to it he wilted under the pressure. Bernie, it will be good to see you out of control of the sport. You managed to avert crises like this for the past 20 years, but this time it blew up in your face and you lost yours. Good riddance you piece of shit.
My friends over on the Indystar.com forums need to settle the fuck down. It seems as though the insults and threats increase with the temperature. It is a meltdown waiting to happen over there. Some of them just crack me up!!!I will try to update this a little more often this season. Like I said, things have been hectic and I have been pissed off at racing of late.
Those of you who follow racing know what happened so I won't rehash the entire thing in detail.
I would like to touch on some points though that have piqued my interest over the past few weeks.
Danicamania. Jesus F Christ I am sick of this phenomenon. Alright, I know that Danica Patrick is good for the IRL, but Holy Crap, can you just make sure that those who need the mesage get it and get it out of my face. Shit, this broad ain't done shit except at Indy and she ain't all that hot. I still like the bartender better!!! Please, wake me up if Danica does do anything.
F1, where to start...Michelin. Fuck you and your little political games. You fuckers want out of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA? Then fucking leave, but don't pull what you did in Indianapolis three weeks ago. That was bullshit and could have been avoided. But no, you had to make a stand on what is arguably F1's biggest target market. Bad call Michelin and frankly your offer to refund money and buy tickets to next years race is not enough. You were here for four years and you couldn't find a tire. I repeat, FUCK YOU!!!
The FIA. Fuck you Max, you pigheaded greedy, paranoid bastard. You are so worried about keeping your job, that a year ago you said you didn't want, that you let all common sense about the USGP fly out the window. You had 9 teams agree to a chicane. While that didn't relieve Michelin of their moronic behavior, you could have risen above it all and preserved the race for the fans and taken control of F1 for good. Instead you proved the fans are of NO interest to you. You stepped on your dick Max and you will be held responsible just like your little lap dog Bernie.
Bernie and FTG. Hard to place the blame on FTG until an article came out today saying he could have trumped the FIA and built the chicane. Apparently when it came down to it he wilted under the pressure. Bernie, it will be good to see you out of control of the sport. You managed to avert crises like this for the past 20 years, but this time it blew up in your face and you lost yours. Good riddance you piece of shit.
My friends over on the Indystar.com forums need to settle the fuck down. It seems as though the insults and threats increase with the temperature. It is a meltdown waiting to happen over there. Some of them just crack me up!!!I will try to update this a little more often this season. Like I said, things have been hectic and I have been pissed off at racing of late.
Politics and Racing
There has been a lot of talk of Tony George’s role in last month’s USGP. Almost universally, FTG has been absolved of any blame in the matter, although it came to light this week that as the promoter, FTG did have the final say so on the proposed chicane.Be that as may be, a lot of people have come up with yet another, although completely unfounded reason why FTG started the IRL. They say he did it so he could have control and so something like what happened at the USGP would not happen at the Indianapolis 500. In the words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friends.
Now this is not designed to tear down FTG nor is it supposed to prop him up. My dislike of the guy has been well documented on these pages and there is no reason to keep dredging up the old stuff. But to claim FTG started the IRL on the premise of no boycott happening is ludicrous at best!Now we all know what happened at Indy in June. Seven teams boycotted the USGP. Okay, but why? There are only two possible reasons. Michelin’s bad product or politics.
Maybe Michelin did bring an inferior and dangerous product to the Speedway and we just take them at their word. However, they had been at the Speedway the past four years and they were supposed to have a “safe” tyre that could be used. Somehow, all of the teams forgot to pack those tyres. That leads to the idea that this was all a political ploy. Based on the climate of F1 over the past 2 years and the fact that the GPWC is a legitimate entity with manufacturer backing, it is highly likely it was political.
The bottom line is that we ended up with a boycott.
Now back to FTG and his “control”. Despite the fact that he has control of the IRL and the Indianapolis 500, what is there to stop a boycott of the event should issues get out of hand? You see there is none. We all pray that things would never get to such a point in the IRL that would precipitate a boycott, but there are no guarantees.So before anyone goes handing FTG the Abe Lincoln Medal of Honor, keep in mind that racing, unlike many other sports, has a very legitimate life threatening element.
Passions run deep in all sports, but auto racing seems to be more fervent than others and it may be because of that life threatening element. FTG has made it clear he will relinquish no control of the league. For the time being that suits even me as fine. But what happens if there become disagreements and he refuses to budge on an issue?
Don’t ever forget the reason why FTG started the IRL and celebrate it if you wish, just don’t honor him for something he did not do.
Now this is not designed to tear down FTG nor is it supposed to prop him up. My dislike of the guy has been well documented on these pages and there is no reason to keep dredging up the old stuff. But to claim FTG started the IRL on the premise of no boycott happening is ludicrous at best!Now we all know what happened at Indy in June. Seven teams boycotted the USGP. Okay, but why? There are only two possible reasons. Michelin’s bad product or politics.
Maybe Michelin did bring an inferior and dangerous product to the Speedway and we just take them at their word. However, they had been at the Speedway the past four years and they were supposed to have a “safe” tyre that could be used. Somehow, all of the teams forgot to pack those tyres. That leads to the idea that this was all a political ploy. Based on the climate of F1 over the past 2 years and the fact that the GPWC is a legitimate entity with manufacturer backing, it is highly likely it was political.
The bottom line is that we ended up with a boycott.
Now back to FTG and his “control”. Despite the fact that he has control of the IRL and the Indianapolis 500, what is there to stop a boycott of the event should issues get out of hand? You see there is none. We all pray that things would never get to such a point in the IRL that would precipitate a boycott, but there are no guarantees.So before anyone goes handing FTG the Abe Lincoln Medal of Honor, keep in mind that racing, unlike many other sports, has a very legitimate life threatening element.
Passions run deep in all sports, but auto racing seems to be more fervent than others and it may be because of that life threatening element. FTG has made it clear he will relinquish no control of the league. For the time being that suits even me as fine. But what happens if there become disagreements and he refuses to budge on an issue?
Don’t ever forget the reason why FTG started the IRL and celebrate it if you wish, just don’t honor him for something he did not do.
Thursday, June 2, 2005
May 2005 Racing Wrap
IRL
After a month of paltry crowds, a ridiculously rained out Pole Day, too many beers, mild sunburn and trading pins the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500 took place Sunday. Congrats to Dan Wheldon for the win. As I stated in my last post, Dan is deserving and has been as good as anyone over the past year. If it had not been for TK, he would have won the title last year.
The emotion has started to die down after what has to be considered one of the greatest races ever at Indy and an instant classic for sure.Some of the other stories from the race were the fine run by Buddy Lazier. He took his Panther/Byrd car and was at the front all day. A little bad luck down the stretch put him back a bit, but Buddy was as strong as he has been since winning the 1996 race.
Unfortunately Bruno broke his back making him the third serious back/neck injury of the month. Something has to be done about the design of the cars.Congrats to Vitor for a fine run. I said all month that he and Scheckter were going to win. Scheckter was probably out when Danica whacked him, but Vitor may have been able to pull off the pass had the race not finished under yellow.It was a pretty good month with the exception of Pole Day.
I still think the purse needs to be larger. But all in all it was good. Check out the pictures on my web site if you don’t believe me.
Carb Day was once again just off the charts. Early indications are that the race drew a 6.6 rating which was a 40% improvement over last year. Let’s hope they can keep that momentum going into Texas and long into the summer!
F1
Well what can you say for Kimi? The guy starts the last lap of the race and ka-blooie, his front left tire explodes on him. Kim spun off into the sand trap and ended up out of the points after another dominating performance for the McLaren team. Fred went on to win and increase his points lead.
Now the F1 boys are coming to North America. Next week they are at Montreal for the Canadian GP and will be back in Indy for the USGP the following week. I’m looking forward to it!
Now, however, all the talk in F1 is about tyres. With Kimi’s big wreck at the end of Sunday’s European GP all the parties are up in arms over the amount of tyre failure this year. Grandprix.com is even running an article about how the battle between tyre manufacturers has always caused problems in racing. I find all of this more than ridiculous.The problem is not the tyres themselves or the manufacturers. These people are putting out fantastic product under rules that are beyond stupid. One set of tyres each race? Are you fucking kidding me? The FIA and F1 made rules changes for cars to slow them down. They had to know they had no chance of working, yet pushed forward anyway. Leaving drivers out there for a whole race on one set of tyres is like playing Russian roulette. It’s not a matter of if the tyres will fail, but when they will fail.
The FIA and F1 made a pretty nice rule about engines having to last two weeks. They missed on qualifying, but have rectified that. I know they want to curb costs to help draw new blood into the sport, but F1 is expensive by nature. It is highly technical and very cutting edge. But making a one tyre rule for an entire race is asking for trouble.
F1 missed the boat on this one in my estimation. I hope they have the cajones to step up and make the change. Despite the arrogance of the FIA, they have been pretty good at fixing mistakes.
NASCAR
The boobs put on quite a show the other night in Charlotte. New records for crashes and yellows. Nice job taxi cab boys. Your days are numbered.
After a month of paltry crowds, a ridiculously rained out Pole Day, too many beers, mild sunburn and trading pins the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500 took place Sunday. Congrats to Dan Wheldon for the win. As I stated in my last post, Dan is deserving and has been as good as anyone over the past year. If it had not been for TK, he would have won the title last year.
The emotion has started to die down after what has to be considered one of the greatest races ever at Indy and an instant classic for sure.Some of the other stories from the race were the fine run by Buddy Lazier. He took his Panther/Byrd car and was at the front all day. A little bad luck down the stretch put him back a bit, but Buddy was as strong as he has been since winning the 1996 race.
Unfortunately Bruno broke his back making him the third serious back/neck injury of the month. Something has to be done about the design of the cars.Congrats to Vitor for a fine run. I said all month that he and Scheckter were going to win. Scheckter was probably out when Danica whacked him, but Vitor may have been able to pull off the pass had the race not finished under yellow.It was a pretty good month with the exception of Pole Day.
I still think the purse needs to be larger. But all in all it was good. Check out the pictures on my web site if you don’t believe me.
Carb Day was once again just off the charts. Early indications are that the race drew a 6.6 rating which was a 40% improvement over last year. Let’s hope they can keep that momentum going into Texas and long into the summer!
F1
Well what can you say for Kimi? The guy starts the last lap of the race and ka-blooie, his front left tire explodes on him. Kim spun off into the sand trap and ended up out of the points after another dominating performance for the McLaren team. Fred went on to win and increase his points lead.
Now the F1 boys are coming to North America. Next week they are at Montreal for the Canadian GP and will be back in Indy for the USGP the following week. I’m looking forward to it!
Now, however, all the talk in F1 is about tyres. With Kimi’s big wreck at the end of Sunday’s European GP all the parties are up in arms over the amount of tyre failure this year. Grandprix.com is even running an article about how the battle between tyre manufacturers has always caused problems in racing. I find all of this more than ridiculous.The problem is not the tyres themselves or the manufacturers. These people are putting out fantastic product under rules that are beyond stupid. One set of tyres each race? Are you fucking kidding me? The FIA and F1 made rules changes for cars to slow them down. They had to know they had no chance of working, yet pushed forward anyway. Leaving drivers out there for a whole race on one set of tyres is like playing Russian roulette. It’s not a matter of if the tyres will fail, but when they will fail.
The FIA and F1 made a pretty nice rule about engines having to last two weeks. They missed on qualifying, but have rectified that. I know they want to curb costs to help draw new blood into the sport, but F1 is expensive by nature. It is highly technical and very cutting edge. But making a one tyre rule for an entire race is asking for trouble.
F1 missed the boat on this one in my estimation. I hope they have the cajones to step up and make the change. Despite the arrogance of the FIA, they have been pretty good at fixing mistakes.
NASCAR
The boobs put on quite a show the other night in Charlotte. New records for crashes and yellows. Nice job taxi cab boys. Your days are numbered.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Indy 2005 Notes
I’ll keep this brief this morning and elaborate more on all of the racing over the weekend tomorrow.
Yesterday may well have been the best 500 I have ever seen. As many as 6 had a shot at the end and the racing was ferocious all day long. Besides the winner, Wheldon, Patrick, Hornish Jr. TK and Mr. Judd all lead. I may be missing one there because of pit stops. It was just what the league needed.
There were some empty seats, but not many. Still, I hate to see them at Indy.As for Danica Patrick, I couldn’t have scripted it better. She was all the focus going in and didn’t disappoint. But when it counted I didn’t want her to win. She was solid all the way down to the end, but she did make several mistakes. She may be the real deal.
It was great however, that Dan Wheldon, who has been the best driver in the IRL over the past year, got the win. Hopefully the media will focus on Dan as well as Danica and help get this league moving.
Yesterday may well have been the best 500 I have ever seen. As many as 6 had a shot at the end and the racing was ferocious all day long. Besides the winner, Wheldon, Patrick, Hornish Jr. TK and Mr. Judd all lead. I may be missing one there because of pit stops. It was just what the league needed.
There were some empty seats, but not many. Still, I hate to see them at Indy.As for Danica Patrick, I couldn’t have scripted it better. She was all the focus going in and didn’t disappoint. But when it counted I didn’t want her to win. She was solid all the way down to the end, but she did make several mistakes. She may be the real deal.
It was great however, that Dan Wheldon, who has been the best driver in the IRL over the past year, got the win. Hopefully the media will focus on Dan as well as Danica and help get this league moving.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
2005 Indy Prognostication
Sunday marks the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500. Defending champion and stupid way of hat wearing Buddy Rice will not be there to defend his title. With Rice out only Julio, Kenny Brack and Buddy Lazier have won the race before and as you all know, Buddy doesn’t count.
So who will win the race this year? Let’s take a look at the field and see if we can narrow it down.
Andretti/Green Racing has just about put the kibosh on competition in the IRL over the past year. TK won the title last season and Gentleman Dan Wheldon has won 3 of the 4 races so far this year. Only Sam Hornish Jr. has kept AGR off the top of the podium for the season. TK is my pick to win the race and is starting from the pole. He knows his way around and is just so hard-nosed about it. Wheldon failed to impress during qualifying and there are all kinds of rumors about his tenure with the team. With that being said he has won three of the four races this season and I really doubt if Little Michael is going to show him the door. Dario “Mr. Judd” Franchitti seems to have what it takes to win races at this level, but I don’t see him taking Indy. He seems to grow bored or disinterested towards the end of oval races. Finally Bryan Herta”bees” rounds out this team. Herta has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment on this team. He doesn’t qualify very well and is pretty much at a loss on the ovals. His one run at St. Pete didn’t exactly paint him as the all fire hot road racer either. I think it is safe to say he will not win although he definitely has the equipment.
Rahal/Letterman Racing are the defending champs and are anxious to keep it that way. Danica Patrick is by far the most popular driver on the circuit and is rounding into her groove at just the right time. She was on the pole in Japan and is in P4 for the 500. She may win the 500 in the future, but I don’t see it this year for her. Kenny Brack is back. Kenny replaces Buddy Rice for at least Indy. He returns to the IRL for the first time since his horrific crash in the season ender at Texas in 2003. He proved to be a quick study this week as he qualified fastest of everyone on Saturday. The only question will be Kenny’s stamina. I think he is over the crash mentally, but physically this is a long race. He’s done it before and you can’t teach experience. Finally Vitor Meira rounds out the team. Meira has quietly gone about his business in the face of the media blitz with Danica and Kenny. His work alone makes me like his chances Sunday. His talent just may take him to the top in great equipment.
Panther Racing has three cars this year, although the Buddy Lazier effort is kind of an offshoot of the main team. Tomas Scheckter has a heavy right foot and it has got him in some trouble over his career in the IRL. However a more poised and mature Tomas may be reaching his potential at just the right moment. IF, and it is a big one, if he can stay out of trouble on the track and have good clean pit stops he will win the race. Not everyone can say that. Tomas Enge has been so-so this month but has run many laps getting ready for the race. I like the way Enge drives, but I don’t see this rookie as a threat for the Borg-Warner. Buddy Lazier is the 1996 winner, but those days are long ago. This team is one of the lower budgeted teams, but they have a lot of heart. If they can keep the Chevy under them all day and avoid trouble he could get there, but like Scheckter, that is a big if.
Marlboro Team Penske is the only team that has been able to beat AGR this season, but this is Indy and despite sitting on the front row, the Toyota is simply not the engine to have. Granted this team does all their own engine work, but as much as I like Sam and Julio I just don’t think they can bring home the bacon.
Whatever happened to Target/Chip Ganassi Racing? Well it looks like the Toyota just can’t keep up with the Honda’s. They have qualified poorly all season and it looks as though Scott Dixon is still dealing with not getting the Williams ride last year. He has been terrible. Darren Manning is back for the second time and hasn’t fared much better. Rookie Ryan Briscoe had to qualify on the second weekend because of a crash the week before. This team is down right now and I don’t see any end to their problems any time soon.
The Fernandez Racing stable is an interesting situation. Adrian is running the team of Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsura. Meanwhile he has teamed with Mo Nunn for a ride in Sunday race. Last season AF really came on strong at the end of the season, but this year he hasn’t even really raced since because of a lack of funds. Still he has to be considered a threat. Kosuke has had a rough year and is probably anxious to get back in everyone’s good graces, but I don’t see him as a potential winner. Scott Sharp is a definite threat. He is starting in P3 and has a good car. Scott Sharp would be a hugely popular winner with the IRL fans.
Newman/Haas is sending Bruno and Seabass over for the one off 500. Bitter old Paul Newman still won’t make the trip. Good riddance you old goat. As far as the team goes they are a threat. Bruno has run well here and if the rain would have occurred 15 minutes earlier or later last year he may have won. Seabass has only come into Champ Car and won everything in site. He seemed to struggle early on in May and looked a little frightened. I don’t see a win, but a good finish could be in the cards.
The rest of the field looks like also-rans.
AJ has IV, Larry and Mike in the show. Mike has the experience, but he is starting last and his chances in that car are pretty much nil. Still, look for him to finish ahead of his team mates. Dreyer and Reinbold bring Roger Yasukawa and Jeff Bucknum. Roger has been here before and may surprise with his finish, but he won’t win. Bucknum, the 41 year old rookie has not shown anything.One of the biggest disappointments has to be Red Bull Team Cheever. Eddie is clearly out of his element as a car owner. He burnt his bridge with Buddy Rice a couple of years ago, ran off Tomas Scheckter and now his team of Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier are among the slowest on the grid. Carpentier has even been rumored to be on his way out as word of conflicts between him and Eddie have been making the rounds. This team would have to pull the upset of the century to make the end of the race, let alone see victory lane.
Vision Racing is just a joke. A lot of people want them to fail, but their reasons are not all the same. Some just hate FTRG and want to stick it to him. Others want to see him fail so he can see how it works in the IRL and to see how tough it is for the little guy. He is going to fail. I like Jeff Ward’s tenacity and drive, but in this car it looks like he would need divine intervention to win. Special Ed is probably still in over his head in an Indy Car.
Sam Schmidt’s driver, Richie Hearn has been here enough to know his way around, but he won’t win. Look for Sammy’s team to pull a decent finish. Playa del Racing has Jacques Lazier aboard. They should have a decent run, but don’t look for them in the top three at the end of the race.
“Momma wants you” Marty Roth has to be considered one of the real longshots to win this thing. And finally Jimmy Kite, who is replacing the injured Paul Dana is probably going to be lapped by the 1/10 mark of the race.
So in order of chance they have to win, here is my lineup for Sunday. As a gauge, if you are listed below Scotty D I really don't think you have a chance to win.
TK
Scheckter
Vitor
Dan W
Bruno
Scott S
Kenny
AF
Sam
Julio
Buddy
Dario
Patrick
Seabass
Enge
Mike
Herta
Manning
Scotty D
Jacques Lazier
Hearn
Disco Briscoe
Kosuke
Roger Yasukawa
Alex Barron
Patrick Carpentier
AJ IV
Larry Foyt
Jeff Ward
Kite
Roth
Jeff Bucknum
Ed Carpenter
So who will win the race this year? Let’s take a look at the field and see if we can narrow it down.
Andretti/Green Racing has just about put the kibosh on competition in the IRL over the past year. TK won the title last season and Gentleman Dan Wheldon has won 3 of the 4 races so far this year. Only Sam Hornish Jr. has kept AGR off the top of the podium for the season. TK is my pick to win the race and is starting from the pole. He knows his way around and is just so hard-nosed about it. Wheldon failed to impress during qualifying and there are all kinds of rumors about his tenure with the team. With that being said he has won three of the four races this season and I really doubt if Little Michael is going to show him the door. Dario “Mr. Judd” Franchitti seems to have what it takes to win races at this level, but I don’t see him taking Indy. He seems to grow bored or disinterested towards the end of oval races. Finally Bryan Herta”bees” rounds out this team. Herta has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment on this team. He doesn’t qualify very well and is pretty much at a loss on the ovals. His one run at St. Pete didn’t exactly paint him as the all fire hot road racer either. I think it is safe to say he will not win although he definitely has the equipment.
Rahal/Letterman Racing are the defending champs and are anxious to keep it that way. Danica Patrick is by far the most popular driver on the circuit and is rounding into her groove at just the right time. She was on the pole in Japan and is in P4 for the 500. She may win the 500 in the future, but I don’t see it this year for her. Kenny Brack is back. Kenny replaces Buddy Rice for at least Indy. He returns to the IRL for the first time since his horrific crash in the season ender at Texas in 2003. He proved to be a quick study this week as he qualified fastest of everyone on Saturday. The only question will be Kenny’s stamina. I think he is over the crash mentally, but physically this is a long race. He’s done it before and you can’t teach experience. Finally Vitor Meira rounds out the team. Meira has quietly gone about his business in the face of the media blitz with Danica and Kenny. His work alone makes me like his chances Sunday. His talent just may take him to the top in great equipment.
Panther Racing has three cars this year, although the Buddy Lazier effort is kind of an offshoot of the main team. Tomas Scheckter has a heavy right foot and it has got him in some trouble over his career in the IRL. However a more poised and mature Tomas may be reaching his potential at just the right moment. IF, and it is a big one, if he can stay out of trouble on the track and have good clean pit stops he will win the race. Not everyone can say that. Tomas Enge has been so-so this month but has run many laps getting ready for the race. I like the way Enge drives, but I don’t see this rookie as a threat for the Borg-Warner. Buddy Lazier is the 1996 winner, but those days are long ago. This team is one of the lower budgeted teams, but they have a lot of heart. If they can keep the Chevy under them all day and avoid trouble he could get there, but like Scheckter, that is a big if.
Marlboro Team Penske is the only team that has been able to beat AGR this season, but this is Indy and despite sitting on the front row, the Toyota is simply not the engine to have. Granted this team does all their own engine work, but as much as I like Sam and Julio I just don’t think they can bring home the bacon.
Whatever happened to Target/Chip Ganassi Racing? Well it looks like the Toyota just can’t keep up with the Honda’s. They have qualified poorly all season and it looks as though Scott Dixon is still dealing with not getting the Williams ride last year. He has been terrible. Darren Manning is back for the second time and hasn’t fared much better. Rookie Ryan Briscoe had to qualify on the second weekend because of a crash the week before. This team is down right now and I don’t see any end to their problems any time soon.
The Fernandez Racing stable is an interesting situation. Adrian is running the team of Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsura. Meanwhile he has teamed with Mo Nunn for a ride in Sunday race. Last season AF really came on strong at the end of the season, but this year he hasn’t even really raced since because of a lack of funds. Still he has to be considered a threat. Kosuke has had a rough year and is probably anxious to get back in everyone’s good graces, but I don’t see him as a potential winner. Scott Sharp is a definite threat. He is starting in P3 and has a good car. Scott Sharp would be a hugely popular winner with the IRL fans.
Newman/Haas is sending Bruno and Seabass over for the one off 500. Bitter old Paul Newman still won’t make the trip. Good riddance you old goat. As far as the team goes they are a threat. Bruno has run well here and if the rain would have occurred 15 minutes earlier or later last year he may have won. Seabass has only come into Champ Car and won everything in site. He seemed to struggle early on in May and looked a little frightened. I don’t see a win, but a good finish could be in the cards.
The rest of the field looks like also-rans.
AJ has IV, Larry and Mike in the show. Mike has the experience, but he is starting last and his chances in that car are pretty much nil. Still, look for him to finish ahead of his team mates. Dreyer and Reinbold bring Roger Yasukawa and Jeff Bucknum. Roger has been here before and may surprise with his finish, but he won’t win. Bucknum, the 41 year old rookie has not shown anything.One of the biggest disappointments has to be Red Bull Team Cheever. Eddie is clearly out of his element as a car owner. He burnt his bridge with Buddy Rice a couple of years ago, ran off Tomas Scheckter and now his team of Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier are among the slowest on the grid. Carpentier has even been rumored to be on his way out as word of conflicts between him and Eddie have been making the rounds. This team would have to pull the upset of the century to make the end of the race, let alone see victory lane.
Vision Racing is just a joke. A lot of people want them to fail, but their reasons are not all the same. Some just hate FTRG and want to stick it to him. Others want to see him fail so he can see how it works in the IRL and to see how tough it is for the little guy. He is going to fail. I like Jeff Ward’s tenacity and drive, but in this car it looks like he would need divine intervention to win. Special Ed is probably still in over his head in an Indy Car.
Sam Schmidt’s driver, Richie Hearn has been here enough to know his way around, but he won’t win. Look for Sammy’s team to pull a decent finish. Playa del Racing has Jacques Lazier aboard. They should have a decent run, but don’t look for them in the top three at the end of the race.
“Momma wants you” Marty Roth has to be considered one of the real longshots to win this thing. And finally Jimmy Kite, who is replacing the injured Paul Dana is probably going to be lapped by the 1/10 mark of the race.
So in order of chance they have to win, here is my lineup for Sunday. As a gauge, if you are listed below Scotty D I really don't think you have a chance to win.
TK
Scheckter
Vitor
Dan W
Bruno
Scott S
Kenny
AF
Sam
Julio
Buddy
Dario
Patrick
Seabass
Enge
Mike
Herta
Manning
Scotty D
Jacques Lazier
Hearn
Disco Briscoe
Kosuke
Roger Yasukawa
Alex Barron
Patrick Carpentier
AJ IV
Larry Foyt
Jeff Ward
Kite
Roth
Jeff Bucknum
Ed Carpenter
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Mid May 2005
IRLTime trials are complete and the field is set for the 89th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. There was a surprise bump when Mike hopped in the 48 car and bumped Little Arie out at 5:30. Of course the move was not without controversy or conspiracy theory.Frankly I found the whole day rather surreal. First Big Arie was on TV talking about Jrs. chances. He thought Jr. was listening to him, but that he really needed laps and that he was doing it the hard way by having to learn in the race. Strangely enough, Jr. didn’t make an appearance on the track until 3:00. He wasted 3 hours when he could have been on the track, getting comfortable in the car and getting up to speed.As the day wore on, word of Mike’s arrival permeated the Speedway and finally the 48 car was rolled on to pit lane and sent out to practice.Jr. had already put his car in the field but his time was weak. 49 laps later Mike stuck her in the show with an average over 217. Jr. mounted one last charge but was way short. It just really puzzled me that Jr. wasn’t out earlier. I did notice a trace of trepidation on Arie’s face at noon. I’m not sure he thought Jr. was ready.Now there has been talk that Brian Barnhart actually went to Foyt and presumably Toyota to get the 48 car in the field because the 98 wasn’t fast enough. As much as I have come to dislike Barnhart over the past weeks, I find this conspiracy theory absurd.Anyway, Sunday is race day. I like Tony Kanaan to win the show. I’d rather the chick not win. This year at least. My guess is that Friday’s Carb Day will be very uneventful. Right now the weather looks good for the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.F1The Monaco GP post mortem is ugly. For the record Kimi won the race going away. It was his second win in two races and he has led every lap of both. There were a couple of stupid incidents on the track however that warrants mentioning.First let me say that in the field there was some of the best racing I had ever seen at Monaco. But there was some ugliness as well. First it was the Sauber teams’ little stunt, or more precisely, JV’s shunt. When is this dickhead going to learn? Coming off the front stretch, this imbecile takes an ill-advised line to overtake his team mate Felipe Massa. He doesn’t stick the move and ends up running Mass off the road effectively ending any chance of either of them getting any points.Villeneuve has pretty much sucked since 1999 and his own arrogance makes him dangerous. Peter Sauber has to be fed up and needs to can his ass today.Late in the race Schummi was up to a bit of nastiness himself when he ran the Sandwich out of room coming out of the tunnel and made a pass in the chicane. The move was dangerous and against a team mate. On the next lap he did the same thing to brother Ralf and his Toyota. Ralfie is steamed and said that one of them could have been killed. Schummi said he wasn’t on no damn day trip and pretty much told Ralfie to shut the fuck up. This could get good. Schummi is struggling unlike he has at any point in his career and the frustration mounts with each passing race. With Toyota getting things together the two may spend more time together on the track.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Kenny Back at Indy
2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice has been medically ruled out of the 2005 race after suffering injuries to his back last week in practice for the 89th running. After 16 or so hours of speculation, Rahal-Letterman Racing has named 1999 winner Kenny Brack as Rice's replacement.Rice will continue to be evaluated as to his participation in the IRL for the rest of the season.Brack who was hurt in a horrendous crash at Texas at the end of the 2003 season replaces Rice who ironically replaced Brack. I have my doubts about Kenny. He hasn't run an Indy Car in a year. He did a practice last year at Richmond and was nowhere near ready. Everything I had heard from him made me think he would not be racing at this level again. I like Kenny. He won for AJ, but I am really skeptical about this one.Honestly I think Kenny will run today and find out he still isn't ready. What then? There are other good drivers out there, but are any of them up to RLR standards? Today will be interesting. I wish I was out at the track to see what he is able to do.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Stupid IRL Tricks
Just when I thought it was impossible for the IRL to be any more Mickey Mouse they go and pull a stunt like this! What is this stunt? It is the POC call made by Brian Barnhart on Saturday. At 12:15 pm this genius decided to close the track for the day. It was one of the lamest moves in IRL history, and God knows these buffoons are masters at lame moves!Now I could care less about the $10 I spent to get in. What galls me is the bullshit reasons for the call.We left home at about 11:15 to head to the track. On the radio they were talking about how it had quit raining and the trucks were on the track getting it dried off. Having seen the track be dried in about an hour last year at the 500 I knew we were going to see some qualifying. We had no sooner got to the Pagoda when the announcement came. The track was closed for the day.Disgusted and disappointed we moved over to the seats to see if any of the people we were supposed to meet had shown. I engaged a yellow shirt in a brief conversation and was just lied to. It is like fucking Nazi Germany out there. Toe the company line at all costs. This dumb bastard first told me it takes 3 hours to dry the track. (Company line) I told him that was BS since it was dried fast last year at the race. Next he told me there were puddles this (about a foot using his hands to show me) deep on pit lane and on the track. There is no way there were any puddles that deep anywhere on the newly paved track and for God’s sake, it hadn’t rained that fucking hard. Next he tried to tell me that another storm was coming in. Do these people think we are stupid? We saw the radar, he was lying.Barnhart’s arrogance was the motivation for this call. He had his precious little new format and he was afraid to miss any time for it. Therefore the couple of thousand people who went out there got screwed. Oh sure we could have used Saturday’s stub to get in on Sunday, but I couldn’t go yesterday and I am sure I wasn’t the only one. Instead the Speedway just makes more money for nothing. Too bad it didn’t rain on them yesterday.I love the Speedway, but it seems I become more disillusioned with it each and every day. The powers that be out there are completely wrong on so many fronts. For some reason they think they can just put the Indianapolis 500 out there and everyone will come running. I got news for you FTRG and all of your cohorts, THOSE DAYS ARE GONE!!
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Early May 2005
Today concludes rookie practice for the Indianapolis 500. So far Danica Patrick has been the fastest of the group with Patrick Carpentier and Ryan “Disco” Briscoe close behind. Tomorrow the whole group will take to the field and we will be looking for any surprises that might creep up. Probably most won’t occur until next week.Today I am going to look at the impact FTRG has on US open wheel racing and if he is good or bad for the sport.Back in 1994 Tony George approached the powers that be in CART seeking a board membership. Depending on whom you believe, George was offered a token, non-voting position and laughed out of the meeting. Keep in mind this was the man who for all intents and purposes owned the Indianapolis 500 which CART was still anxious to participate in as it was the key to their season.As we all know, George left that meeting and formed the IRL. Now I have documented the various versions of TG’s “vision” when he created the Indy Racing League and how it has veered more and more off course as time has gone by. IRL fans can sneer when their league is called “CART II” but how can anyone really argue the point?But for all of George’s bluster in the early days of the IRL, I honestly thought he had the best interests of open wheel racing in mind. Nowadays, I have a pretty good idea he not only does not have the best interests in mind, but is focused squarely on killing Champ Car. Now FTRG and his lieutenants rarely ever speak of Champ Car, and boy do his supporters like to bring that up. But do we really have to look any further than what has happened over the past few years to be convinced. Engine leases, an influx of foreign drivers and finally street and road courses. On top of this, is there any doubt that more road courses are on their way? Already there is talk about Toronto and Montreal as well as what will probably be an attempt by the IRL to take Long Beach and then even doing Road America.As they say, actions speak louder than words.Then there is last years fiasco at Portland. The contract with Champ Car was up and it looked like they were going to struggle to get back together. The IRL swooped in and entered discussions for a race in the Rose City. As it turned out, FTRG simply bid on the race in an attempt to raise the price and keep CC out. I have no doubt that FTRG never intended to race at Portland and his intentions were just to injure an already bleeding competitor.The same can be said about the CART bankruptcy hearings where George was intent on buying CART and killing it. The judge saw this and awarded the assets and the bankruptcy to the Three Stooges, Gerry Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven and Paul Gentilozzi. George thought he could throw some money around and get his way.You see, there are ways to kill your competition without being an ass or by just throwing money around. What he did in court was make an ass of himself and strengthened what became Champ Car and solidified its fans. If there was a chance they would ever be back at the Speedway, it was gone then. Same with Portland. It also gave CC a bunch of free publicity which they seized upon. Granted they probably aren’t going to make it, but they would be gone by now had George been patient.He is so bent on the end of CART or CC that he can’t see the problems with the IRL. I don’t mind the foreign drivers, but it would be nice if some Americans could get in. I’d like to see diversity in products and equipment. More of a run what you brung mentality. FTRG will continue to be in bed with the Honda’s and Toyota’s until they tire of his series. He’ll continue to add street and road courses until he has all but squeezed out the ovals. He will continue to stomp on tradition at Indy where a steady downturn in interest and attendance have occurred over the past 10 years. The fans who have left because of the change of vision or because they are CC fans aren’t ever coming back, no matter how many road courses he runs. He not only is bad for open wheel racing, he probably will be the one credited with killing it in America.
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