Racing Of The United States Variety

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Wheres the MAZDA in that? At least they could have used the Mazda bonnet....talk about sticker racing....

Whats the engine? A Ford? (That being legitimate considering the tie between Ford and Mazda)

Couldn't tell you. It's in the NASCAR Corona Series that runs exclusively in Mexico; I know nothing other than seeing that and noting it of interest that Mazda's playing with stock cars in some way.

I was watching them buzz around behind the safety car, and the though that crossed my mind was that these cars are half the downforce of F1 and they're trying to get a race going...then it was red flagged, and then postponed...good call as water on concrete is really bad.

However, why are they not racing at Interlagos....FIA thing perhaps? Street races are cool and all that, and the race last year I thought was a good one, but like you say Eric, road courses don't have the drainage of a purpose built track, even one like Between the Lakes where it becomes a lake.

I'll be recording it...just so long as it has gotten scheduled into normal programming here of the fifth replay of the weekends rugby....

They don't want to be at Interlagos. Want to set themselves apart from F1. You run Interlagos, and they look like some feeder series/junior series/whatever to F1. They wanted a street circuit instead to be unique and have their own identity. I like it, I just think it's **** luck.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Handy...

The allowed engines in the series are Chevrolet, Dodge, and Ford. Crate motors, it appears. Fiberglass bodies. Not sure what the Toyota-bodied cars use for an engine...

[HandyNZL 1]

I heard somewhere, that the General was supplying engines for the Toyota's. Might be wrong....

But Mazda/Ford both put out the same car (exactly) ex Japan with, for instance, the Ford Laser and Mazda 323, being same car, different badge on the bonnet and rocker cover. Hence, thinking the Mazda would have a Ford engine.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

The team owners have voted against having multiple aerokits in 2012.

Down with the owners and their trash. CART failed for a good reason (team owners cannot run a series successfully), this is Randy's show, and he's got a decent list of teams wanting to get involved in 2012 (and he reduced the costs for all teams, existing and new, by an assload from the present), many from the sports car world. They can do their dumb 15-0 vote; it's meaningless.

The last thing this sport will ever need is an owners' union. Penske's been successful because he won't play under any rules unless he wrote them; it would be the right thing for Bernard to be the first to stand up to him, and fortunately, Bernard has long stood by the "that shipped has sailed" mentality of the 2012 regulations. Leave them unchanged. This is Randy's big test, it's his big moment, and it's his time to tell them to quityerb*itchin.

The owners can have concerns, and that's fine, but they have affordable options (i.e. just running the Dallara if they want to). I don't know why they have to try to bring the sport down with them when they fall on hard times after years of being subsidized by INDYCAR.

Pansies. Looks like the Eurotrash has made it here.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Also want to mention the Trevor Bayne situation:

After going to the hospital about one month ago for a bug bite, Trevor's been in the hospital for about one week now, and moved to Mayo Clinic. When someone's at Mayo Clinic, it's usually pretty serious. It's apparently unrelated to the bug bite (though initially, they said it may have been), and they're struggling to diagnose. There have been a lot of rumors circulating, none of which I want to repeat here until Bayne's officially diagnosed with something. It's definitely concerning.

Really hope Bayne will be alright. He's had a bit of a rough time on the track after winning the 500, but that all seems so small now. Great guy and a huge part of NASCAR's future, so I hope he'll be 100% and back on the track soon.

[HandyNZL 1]

The team owners have voted against having multiple aerokits in 2012.

Down with the owners and their trash. CART failed for a good reason (team owners cannot run a series successfully), this is Randy's show, and he's got a decent list of teams wanting to get involved in 2012 (and he reduced the costs for all teams, existing and new, by an assload from the present), many from the sports car world. They can do their dumb 15-0 vote; it's meaningless.

The last thing this sport will ever need is an owners' union. Penske's been successful because he won't play under any rules unless he wrote them; it would be the right thing for Bernard to be the first to stand up to him, and fortunately, Bernard has long stood by the "that shipped has sailed" mentality of the 2012 regulations. Leave them unchanged. This is Randy's big test, it's his big moment, and it's his time to tell them to quityerb*itchin.

The owners can have concerns, and that's fine, but they have affordable options (i.e. just running the Dallara if they want to). I don't know why they have to try to bring the sport down with them when they fall on hard times after years of being subsidized by INDYCAR.

Pansies. Looks like the Eurotrash has made it here.

As Manuel from Fawlty Towers would say...ke?

But are not Lotus and a couple others going to make aerokits? Seems a weird move...must be more to it than just "we only want one aerokit". Maybe they are wanting more...ie...let Lola and Swift make chassis too. I quite like both of their concepts. Enough of this Dallara Italian Eurotrash...lets have some Lola Britishtrash and some Swift USTrash too!!!

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Nope; team owners do not want more. They were the reason they didn't use Swift, Lola, etc. They want reduced costs; there is a government subsidy on the Dallara aerokit in 2012, so every team wants to run that aerokit as it will be 50% cost of the others (Lotus, Chevrolet, and HPD confirmed...), but they are scared that someone might run one of the others and be more competitive. So they all voted to not allow the others for fear that one might be better than the other in a sport where the goal is, indeed, to beat everyone else.

Penske has another angle, too. Chevrolet pooped the bed and don't expect their aerokit to be done in time, which would leave Penske with no choice but to use the Dallara, and if that were to prove uncompetitive, he couldn't switch.

TCGR's Mike Hull and Dario Franchitti both expressed wanting the aerokits in 2012; boss Chip Ganassi voted no, however.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Eddie Gossage has a very understated opinion on the team owners' recent vote.

http://espn.go.com/b...s-drop-the-ball

I really believe in Randy Bernard, and as a non-motorsports guy, he really does need go to the people who know all the time. Well, Randy, few, if any, know more about the American racing scene and the American racing fan than Eddie Gossage. Listen to him and tell the owners where to stuff a DeltaWing...

[HandyNZL 1]

article, that one Eric.

We shall wait and see what happens

[lewisthegreat2 0]

OLD TIME STOCK CAR RACING LIVES!

Regan Smith, driving for the under-funded, low-sponsor, small team of Furniture Row Racing, won his first career Sprint Cup race against teams with F1-level budgets. Furniture Row's average finish as a team since they debuted in 2005 happens to be 29.7. A win is massive for them; they've only ever finished in the top ten one other time. Smith himself has been highly unsuccessful in NASCAR's top levels, mostly due to poor equipment. Strategy paid off and they got a win after some really impressive qualifying results all year. Look at the car...it looks like something you'd throw together for a local short track, not a polished Sprint Cup machine.

And then there was some argy-bargy with Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

See it all here. Smith had to fight off the big guns at Roush powering Carl Edwards, and Harvick had to fight Busch. Watch the whole video. It gets better as it goes.

Classic NASCAR. Love it. Smith was wrecking on that last lap, and he held on. As cool as Trevor Bayne's Daytona win was, this is even cooler.

Two notes: Darrell Waltrip sounds like such a dumb*** with his "huhuhuhuh he's after him" comment. And Kyle Busch looks like such a freaking pansy. Harvick gets minus 10 for keeping the helmet on. Kyle gets minus 100 for keeping the entire freaking car on. Get out and fight back!

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Furniture Row fun fact:

The team has failed to qualify in 33 of the 170 races they have entered; 19.4%. Most recent DNQ in 2008.

Now they've just won a Sprint Cup race.

That's crazy.

Team's based in Denver, Colorado. That's 1600 miles away from the center of NASCAR technology, talent, etc. (Charlotte, NC).

Regan Smith, in 2006, was the lowest-ranked driver to have started every single race in what is now the Nationwide Series (NASCAR's number two division). Never would have predicted him to be as talented as he is if you didn't take equipment into consideration.

Amazing what you can do with a small group of devoted, talented individuals and what you can make up with a little bit of extra effort.

[JHS 1]

That video made me smile. Did Harvick's car get damaged there? If it did, I bet that would have made him even more angry. Clever idea by Busch though, didn't think that would've worked.

[HandyNZL 1]

Oh wow. They've got really big penis'. So ya crash...big deal....get over it. Surely he's going to get fined or suspended for those pit lane antics...especially with the car spearing off on its own.

[Rainmaster 7]

I heard the NASCAR handbags story on Autosport, watched it on YouTube. Funny stuff (and I thought the MotoGP guys were bad..). Though I still can't decide whether it hurts NASCAR's image or benefits it

[lewisthegreat2 0]

That video made me smile. Did Harvick's car get damaged there? If it did, I bet that would have made him even more angry. Clever idea by Busch though, didn't think that would've worked.

Not clever at all by Busch; dangerous and complete chickenSh#t. He started a fight, and then he pussied out. You don't call someone a name and then run away laughing. You make the action, you gotta defend it, and Busch decided to just use his car.

I have no respect for either driver, personally, but Busch handed his man-card in with that one. He deliberately and dangerously used his car as a weapon on track, and then in the pit lane he ran and hid from his actions. All douchebag, zero balls.

Oh wow. They've got really big penis'. So ya crash...big deal....get over it. Surely he's going to get fined or suspended for those pit lane antics...especially with the car spearing off on its own.

I have no problem with confronting another driver after he deliberately wrecks you. NASCAR's not going to step in, so sometimes the driver has to. Both just need to learn how to actually fight.

NASCAR won't suspend either driver. Probably a small fine and "probation," but nothing really.

The car spearing off...you put the car into neutral and take the wheel off, it has a tendency to turn left. The car only moved after Busch rammed into it. Had it not been hit, it would have stayed there.

I heard the NASCAR handbags story on Autosport, watched it on YouTube. Funny stuff (and I thought the MotoGP guys were bad..). Though I still can't decide whether it hurts NASCAR's image or benefits it

It's good for NASCAR in that it has people talking, but it's definitely not good for the image to have two drivers look like complete pansies out there. There have been plenty of fights in the NASCAR pits, one of which is the main reason NASCAR began to take off in national popularity (1979 Daytona 500), but this wasn't a fight...it was two primary schoolers. NASCAR would benefit from a real fight where two drivers agree to take the helmets off and go. That would be a big ratings boost.

And it's not Harvick's first time in a scrap...

youtube.com/watch?v=atHh2MSwU8I

youtube.com/watch?v=2cvgEIk1nH0

youtube.com/watch?v=IMCmiTnFlL4

Survey says...he can't fight for crap. Not a single punch thrown! So much for being a tough guy...

...but at least he shows up and doesn't cower in his car like Kyle. Two jokes those guys.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Concepts (concepts, and by that I mean concepts, which translates to concepts) of the 2012 INDYCAR were unveiled today.

They are not the actual 2012 INDYCAR.

They demonstrate two extremes of what the aerokit designers could do, one being super road course extreme and one being super oval extreme. Both aerokits were designed by Dallara; neither will actually be used.

The "safety cell"/tub (the part that would remain if you removed the sidepods and the wings) is close to what the final will be, so the real aerokits, however they may look, will likely be attached to a similar car. This means that the 2012 car will likely be the first raised-nose oval car ever.

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg614/scaled.php?tn=0&server=614&filename=oprbt.jpg&xsize=480&ysize=480

http://desmond.yfrog...e=480&ysize=480

I like the actual car (the part without the aerokits). The aerokits were meant to be radical, so we'll see what happens there. Definitely interesting ideas.

I am still curious about the airbox. I figured that, being turbo cars, they would use a sleeker engine covering like the Champ Cars had, so still seeing the bulkiness of that part is kind of surprising. That is part of the aerokit, though, so it's very much subject to change.

Overall, it's a start, and a sneak peak at what we may see. I do like the aerokit idea and I think we'll see some variety. Car looks better than the original drawing we saw way back when, and better than the current one I think.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110510/SPORTS0107/110510010/

More angles.

Liking these so far.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Best gallery yet.

http://indycar.com/multimedia/photos/6277-2012-dallara-concept-unveiling/page/1/

A bit of Le Mans in there...

Note that while these are not "real," they are within the final 2012 rules, so they could be run. Keeping this in mind, I think the "bumper" on the end is mandated for safety (see Conway's Indy wreck). Not the most attractive thing, but...interesting.

[HandyNZL 1]

http://www.indystar....0107/110510010/

More angles.

Liking these so far.

Photo 14 looks the best by far...I especially like the use of the all white body work...really hides the aero work on the car nicely.

Certainly interesting looking cars. A complete departure to the "norm" for an open wheeler.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Wade Cunningham's car. It's awesome.

That's all.

[HandyNZL 1]

Wade is awesome too mate... Just never had the money to go the next step, which is sad, as he was always lightning fast in any type of car (open and tintop) in NZ.

Love the flag in the number...ahhh...

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Yeah, it's a very nice detail on the car. The guy who designed it made a name for himself on indycar.com's fan "Design It" page and has since become a legit car designer. This is his first "real" car, and it's really well done.

I agree on Wade's talents, and I think anyone who saw him in Indy Lights thought he deserved this years ago, let alone now. I'm confident he'll give the car a good run. His decision to run three races without Indy over doing an Indy-only was probably the smart one, though it has to eat at him to not be racing this month while his team fields three cars (two in cooperation with other teams) and assists two others.

You're right about the money, and I know he's still struggling there, but I have heard that the long gap between graduating had a lot to do with his attitude. He wouldn't be the first young driver to put team owners off and eventually grow up if that's all true; he's never come across as having a bad attitude in my opinion.

Either way, really glad Wade's joining the series. Some great rookies this year.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Speaking of the 99 car...

Katherine Legge will be in it for some races this year, too, making her the third driver (in addition to Cunningham and Townsend Bell) of that vehicle. I think she'll have a tough time being out of open-wheel cars for so long, and the DTM stint had to damage her confidence just a little. She has some talent, but got rushed up into Champ Car (I'm fairly confident that in light of the Danicamania of 2005, Kalkhoven felt pressure to get her in a car when she really needed another year of Atlantic competition).

[JHS 1]

There's a stream for the Sprint Cup right here for anyone interested. First NASCAR race I've been able to catch in a while through holidays/time difference/general life.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Jimmie Johnson's new number, and no, it's not for 5 championships.

All-Star Race only. What a terrible livery.