A couple of weeks ago, I was discussing auto racing with a few colleagues. Specifically, we were discussing the IRL/CART merger. It should be no secret that I much prefer open-wheel road racing. But a colleague, who’s a big fan of taxi cabs playing bumper cars while driving around in circles, err, NASCAR, was boasting about how many of the top open wheel drivers like Jacques Villeneuve, Dario Franchitti, and Juan Pablo Montoya were all making the switch to NASCAR. My initial response was that I want those open-wheel drivers with foreign names to start dominating the circuit, just to piss off all the rednecks. But I immediately realized that this isn’t what I really want. Quoth me:
No, what I really want is for a black Muslim driver in the #666 ACLU Toyota to start winning all the races.
Heh. That would make some good-ole-boy heads explode powerful quick!
UPDATE: Between comments from readers and friends, there are a few important refinements. The driver should also be openly gay, and instead of a Toyota, the car should be a Renault (French car).
March 14th, 2008
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Sports, Humor, Auto Racing |
13 comments
And the bad guys won:
With America’s two open-wheel series finally unified, the calendar poses the next roadblock: The season-opening race is just five weeks away.
At this point, nobody knows how many teams and cars will move from the now-defunct Champ Car World Series to the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series in time for the March 29 opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
…snip…
Even before Friday’s announcement that IRL founder Tony George and Champ Car co-owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe had signed off on the agreement to close down Champ Car and run as a unified series, teams were preparing to make the move.
The open-wheel rivalry lasted 12 years. The peace process began several weeks ago when George, also president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, offered any Champ Car team interested in switching to the IndyCar Series a free Honda engine lease program, free Dallara chassis and $1.2 million in team incentives.
Champ Car team owner Derrick Walker said last week he already put his Champ Car equipment at the back of his Indianapolis garage and was beginning to work on new IRL cars in preparation for the move.
“The path won’t be easy in the beginning, but Walker Racing is ready for the challenge,” Walker said. “It’s going to be a rough old ride because we don’t have the familiarity with the Dallaras and it’s a more experienced formula. But the bottom line is that it’s great news to put this thing together.”
Long-term, it’s in the best interests of open wheel racing to have a single series. The problem is, the inferior series is the one that survives. Gone is the sleek Panoz chassis. Gone is the turbocharged Cosworth engine. Gone is “Power To Pass” (P2P), one of the most interesting innovations in racing in a long time. Gone is the Portland race, which was preparing to host its 25th anniversary. Gone are two of the best road courses in North America: Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI and Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
Instead, we’re left with the bulky Dallara chassis, the naturally-aspirated V-8 Honda, and a series dominated by ovals.
I wish I could be more excited about this, but I really don’t see how this is much different than if Champ Car had simply folded. They’re calling it a “merged” series, but it just looks like the same old IRL to me.
February 24th, 2008
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Sports, Auto Racing |
2 comments
Via SpeedTV:
Again, it’s more evidence of the twisted state of affairs in American racing, where NASCAR is king and quality in any other flavor is ignored. The ridiculous popularity of a stock car racing is truly discouraging to the thinking race fan open to other motorsports experiences. Of course, just because The Jerry Springer Show gets big ratings doesn’t mean it’s quality material. Nor does it mean is has any redeeming social value. It only means a large number of Americans fill their leisure time with garbage.
(If yesterday’s resume/résumé thing got some heated responses, this should really get them worked up!)
June 21st, 2007
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Sports, Weekend Flame Bait, Auto Racing |
no comments
