Racing Of The United States Variety

[JHS18 0]

Remembered about the Nationwide and watched it whilst keeping one eye on the ALMS. Great race, really enjoyed it. Glad Villeneuve got beaten in the end as well.

[Massa 0]

Villeneuve's a big-time ***wipe. I can't believe Allgaier even bothered to apologize. The race was strange...those restarts into the one-two complex rarely end well. I'm surprised how much fuel economy Villeneuve could stretch, and so, so, so glad he lost. I want Hornish to win the title, so a nice recovery for him, too, after McDowell McDowelled him. Nothing personal against Danica, but I was glad when she pulled into the garage...as much as she deserved a good result today, they were literally only showing her car and her radio chatter the entire time I watched until her trouble. I know she's very important for ratings and her sponsor pays ESPN a ton of money, but there are other storylines. Consider, too, that if another car is having trouble, ESPN isn't going to show 100,000,000 angles highlighting the trackbar and U-joints. Why is that a problem? Well, ESPN's images helped her crew determine the problems and try to resolve them. A different driver in a different team giving the same feedback, and they may have never known. So over-exposure of one driver can have some kind of impact on the race. I'm not one of those "IT'S NOT FAIR" kind of people, and Danica deserved a lot of attention today because for someone who struggled a lot in IndyCar on road courses, she's been lights-out this year. She runs well and **** goes wrong a lot. JR Motorsports equipment isn't particularly good, and her crew chief has a lot of trouble with the modern chassis. So she's doing well this year and I give her a lot of credit. But beyond the f-bomb, nothing enlightening came from 24/7 Danica coverage today.

The rumor is that Nationwide will get a fourth road course next year, going to Mosport. It's a great track, so I hope it doesn't get modified for these cars. Truck may join them and Truck may also go to Road America. Expanding road racing in NASCAR can only be a good thing and I know that if there could be an opening in the calendar, Sprint Cup would go to Montréal. The crowd is huge.

The Tagliani fanboy in me was so happy to see Villeneuve lose. So, so, so happy.

On another note, Paul Page will leave ESPN at year's end. He currently calls NHRA drag racing and the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Page is apparently going to return to IndyCar, filling the vacancy at NBCSN as Bob Jenkins retires. You guys know how I feel about Page so I'd be pleased, but I just hope that in his older age he is still sharp. Jenkins gets a pass because he obviously has circumstances outside of racing weighing on him, but it's always tough to see your old favorites in the commentary box damaging their legacy, in the same way it works for drivers like Bobby Labonte who were champions and are now backmarkers.

[Massa 0]

And one more thing RE: Villeneuve. I want to illustrate something. Believe it or not, a lot of NASCAR drivers say they love racing against Kyle Busch because, while he's aggressive, he's really clean and doesn't pull cheap shots.

Earlier in the race, Kyle Busch and Kyle Kelley made contact coming out of turn two. Kelley began to spin and Busch immediately backed off, allowing Kelley to make one hell of an awesome save (but of course this got no replay). Busch didn't force it...he let Kelley gather it back up and got around him the right way. That's how you race hard, but with respect.

Villeneuve comes out of two and hits Tagliani. Tagliani starts to spin and Villeneuve slams the gas until he dumps him. That's classless. He's really a hack and everyone in the garage knows it. I can't wait for someone to just give him his one day.

[Massa 0]

The 2013 Sprint Cup cars that were tested at Martinsville had carbon fiber bodies. NASCAR has yet to approve this, but it is expected that at least some parts of the body will be carbon fiber.

I love this. It's time to turn stock cars into racecars. The other thing...if you make it more expensive to upgrade to the 2013 spec, you're going to see start and park teams eliminated. Now, I know NASCAR doesn't want to have fewer cars in their races, as the TV contract guarantees 43, but it would be so nice to see the next TV contract (negotiated this year and next for 2015) not make that guarantee, such that start-and-park can be banned.

I know a lot of people will complain about "haves" and "have-nots" but that's racing. It's auto racing, not driver racing. It's supposed to be about bringing the absolute best car first, and then having the best driver to drive it as a secondary measure. I'm 100% fine if Hendrick, Roush, Penske, and Gibbs show up with carbon fiber and JTG-Daugherty, Front Row, and Furniture Row are tooting around with sheet metal. If they're going to dominate (and they already do), they may as well be allowed to dominate for bringing something better.

[JHS18 0]

I had an (interesting for me, anyway) thought whilst watching the Nationwide race, and also based on the NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen.

It is clear from what I've seen and read that the two road course races, particularly at the Glen, were much more exciting than most of the races on ovals so far this season. The Nationwide also proved how good (if a little chaotic) the racing can be.

The idea I had was this: why not create something like an officially NASCAR licensed championship, that runs ONLY on road and street courses? Almost like how that old Trans-Am series used to be. Take inspiration from how the Nationwide cars look (which I think look great), how Trans-Am used to be, and how V8 Supercars is now and surely you couldn't go too far wrong...

But I'm probably completely wrong. You will probably know much more than me on whether the type of thing I'm talking about already exists or very good reasons if it doesn't.

[Massa 0]

I think it's a great idea, obviously. If I had my way, Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck wouldn't have any oval races. The appeal of oval racing, to me, is the pure speed of it, but obviously, Indy is faster on ovals, and the really fast ovals (Daytona and Talladega, which are so fast you need an FIA Platinum license to run on them, hence Brian Vickers is a Platinum-rated driver at Le Mans...bizarre, I know) require restrictor plates to make the cars slower, eliminating the speed element from it.

Meanwhile, the appeal of stock car racing, to me, is the ability to make contact and therefore take big chances. But with the aerodynamics playing a huge role on big ovals, you can't do that anymore. Only on road courses where, in a stock car, the aero doesn't matter as much because these cars don't turn anyway.

I think NASCAR's biggest reasons not to do it:

1. They don't want to compete with themselves. There would be people, like me or you, who would probably watch a lot more of the road racing series than the main one. Likewise, NASCAR likes to schedule companion weekends, where all the series race at the same track. Scheduling a road course series would be a nightmare, because it would have to be racing on opposite ends of the country to not detract from race-goers for the other events.

Solution: Run it in warm climates (Florida, Texas, California) during the off-season.

2. NASCAR owns Grand-Am, which sanctions the Rolex Sports Car Series, the Continental Tire Series (which they call "stock cars" and in a pure sense, they are, in a bizarre way), and the North American Ferrari Challenge. They also wanted to sanction an American DTM in 2013 but it's never going to happen. So they do have plans in road racing, but I think they want to keep it differentiated from NASCAR's main series.

Solution: Sell Grand-Am to Dr. Don Panoz who can merge it into ALMS.

At present, the trend is away from road courses. The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series runs just 5 road courses now. The NASCAR Toyota Series in Mexico has become a predominantly oval series as well (their major road course is an oval with a chicane in it ), even at tracks like Hermanos Rodríguez (the former F1 course) and Miguel E. Abed (WTCC raced there) that have both ovals and road courses.

Then there's the NASCAR Euro Racecar Series, which runs almost exclusively on road courses, but for three races on the same oval in Tours. They run some interesting tracks, and I even recognize Javier Villa from GP2 and James Winslow from Atlantics...

http://hometracks.na....com/races/EURO

http://www.racecarseries.com/racecar-teams-gb.html

SparkNotes: I like the idea a lot, but don't think NASCAR would bite.

[JHS18 0]

Good points, all of them - I for one will be interested to see whether NASCAR does start adding a few more road courses to the Cup schedule over the next few years, but I suspect not much will change. It'd definitely be cool to have something like a Watkins Glen in the Chase though to mix things up nicely.

Just wondering are road courses still a bit of a sour subject with the majority of NASCAR fans, or, especially after an ending like Watkins Glen, have more fans come to support them?

I guess the only way a NASCAR road/street racing series would succeed is if some or all of the manufacturers supported it. But it'd be cool to have something similar to Nationwide cars racing regularly on road courses - heavy cars, with a lot of power, a lot of mechanical grip but not much aerodynamic grip - would produce some great racing on the basis of things we've seen before, and would probably be quite physical to drive as well. It'd be great if they could produce rain tyres too.

Also, whilst we're on the subject, what did happen to Trans-Am?

[Massa 0]

They actually have rain tires for both Nationwide and Cup. They are used in Nationwide in race situations. They are not used in Cup under any circumstances, so why they exist, I don't know.

NASCAR have expressed interest in adding more road courses, but they will not extend the calendar beyond the 36 races they currently have. Because NASCAR is still a very healthy event, even as attendance has declined, NASCAR has the least amount of schedule turnover of just about any professional series despite having the largest calendar. No one wants to give up a race date. The only way to get on NASCAR's calendar is to buy a track that already has a race for the sole purpose of taking that race off and putting your race on. So, I too don't expect to see any races really added. Iowa Speedway and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve both want Cup dates, but no Cup race ever fails, which is obviously a good thing for the health of the sport, but frustrating if you want to see new venues.

I do think support for road racing in NASCAR has increased. Compared to other Sprint Cup races, Sonoma and Watkins Glen are about equal in TV viewership, though still a little on the low side. The Nationwide road courses...there's no meaningful data because the ratings swell when Danica is at the front and dive when she isn't, so with her running so well at Road America and Montréal, they're actually really high.

I think with the potential of getting different viewers from normal for road races (i.e. me; I don't watch many ovals but don't miss the road courses), the TV networks like it (in fact, they put the NNS from Watkins Glen on ABC). Most weeks, you get stuck in viewer redundancy, where the same people watch every NASCAR race, so your advertisements and sponsorships aren't reaching anyone new, but you can get some different fans who will watch a road course.

I'd love stock car road racing on a more regular basis. Getting the Truck Series back on road courses next year as planned would be nice.

Dramatic finish to today's race, by the way. Kind of cool for an oval.

RE: Trans-Am. It folded in 2005 due to short fields and no interest. It was re-born as something closer to a club racing series in 2009. SCCA sold it for 2012 to a different group, but still sanctions the races. Highlights from the first five rounds can be found on GoRacingTV, the owners of the series.

http://www.goracingt...coverage-shows/

[Massa 0]

Robin Miller says four or five team owners are trying to buy the IndyCar Series from the Hulman-George family.

We've been here before...

[JHS18 0]

Thanks for the information - that was an interesting read. It does seem odd that NASCAR goes to the same venues every year with no alternatives, but it seems like there are good reasons for that from what you say. Oh well, hopefully one day someone will create the championship that we want!

Read that NASCAR are investigating Mark Martin's crash from yesterday. Have to say it looked a very nasty one, however freak it was, and could have been much worse. Amazed me that there are still unprotected pit wall ends around and that something similar has not happened in the past.

[Massa 0]

From 1995 to 2003, Bobby Labonte was third among all drivers in NASCAR Sprint Cup wins during that time with 21.

Now he's taken out the leader two weeks in a row. Oiling the track at Watkins Glen to ruin Kyle Busch's race and ultimately his chance of making the Chase, and now taking out Mark Martin by spinning.

Please retire, Bobby. PLEASE.

NASCAR is extremely reactive about safety. They don't even have a full-time safety team; each week it's a different set of volunteers. NASCAR never foresees a problem with anything they do; they just respond once the problem happens. They wait for the worst possible things to transpire prior to acting.

To be fair, most racing series are like that. Even F1. Take the extra driver protection around the cockpit that was implemented after Webber and someone else's crash at Melbourne. They waited for the problem to happen before addressing the problem. I don't think it's correct to be reactive, but they all are.

I'm not sure how it didn't dawn on them that the main pit walls have some protection on the ends, so that all other openings would be exactly the same and you'd want protection.

But...they let this happen with an unsecured opening...

And then they let this happen at the same track...unsecured opening again...

So...

[Massa 0]

Miller: four or five team owners and one non-team owner are trying to purchase the sport. Some of the team owners already have "tried and failed" at running it before, in his words. That leads me to believe Kevin Kalkhoven (who ran Champ Car) is involved.

Tony George technically is a team owner with Ed Carpenter Racing, but it'd be awkward if he were trying to buy the series from his own family. Still, if it's to get Randy Bernard out, I can see it.

Bobby Rahal ran CART for a while, and Roger Penske has run open-wheel unofficially forever and still does.

The issue is the cost of the DW12 and replacement parts being much higher than Randy Bernard promised.

[JHS18 0]

The issue is the cost of the DW12 and replacement parts being much higher than Randy Bernard promised.

Now where have I heard that before?

Ah yes, BTCC with the NGTC. Supposed to be a "cost cut" car, and for many teams running an NGTC is turning out to be more expensive than an old S2000.

Seems there's quite a few championships that like to lie when talk of new regulations is around.

[Massa 0]

It depends.

Most estimations of costs are always wrong. Not necessarily lies, and more just stupidity to believe any estimation of the cost of something won't increase by some percentage.

Things that are "cost-cutting" rather than exact figures, on the other hand, usually refer to long-term reduction in costs than short-term ones.

Every series has a lot of complaining when a new car comes in. Part of it's resistance to change, part of it's high up-front costs. But usually, a series doesn't guarantee an exact cost per part, only for the supplier to jack those prices up 25% (assuming the owners aren't exaggerating that). Not sure if the BTCC did that or not.

To me, the bigger issue is aerokits. They said we'd have them this year, but then they were delayed to 2013. And now they're cancelled. So you have the team owners who don't want aerokits, you have the series that caved in to the team owners, and now you have Honda and Chevrolet who are upset that there are no aerokits because that was their inspiration, more than the engines, to join. If you p**s Honda and Chevrolet off enough, that's a tough place to be, and I have to say I've lost a ton of interest knowing there won't be aerokits. I just have no interest in watching spec racing.

[Massa 0]

This is strange and moderately upsetting:

http://deadspin.com/5936579/

On another note, Aaron Fike was arrested in July 2007 for possession of heroin. He was suspended from NASCAR on July 11, 2007. Five years, one month, and ten days later, Aaron Fike has been reinstated to NASCAR. He is currently racing in USAC.

[Massa 0]

IndyCar driver Alex Lloyd drives a sprint car. Worth watching. Just goes to show you how massively different driving race cars across disciplines is, and gives you huge respect for guys who can be versatile. Also shows how disconnected IndyCar is from grassroots American racing.

[Massa 0]

Newman/Haas racecars from 2002. They had LEDs on the wheels to advertise. I didn't watch CART much that year, so I have no memory of these. Silly and wasteful, but pretty cool, too.

Also sad that the last innovation to come from Indy-style racing, which used to really lead the charge in road car innovations back in its origins in the early 1900s, was LED advertisements on wheels. Talk about useless.

[Massa 0]

[JHS18 0]

Thanks for that. I enjoyed it.

What is it with bad tempered drivers this weekend?

Plato gets punted off in race one at Knockhill, says all sorts of things as per usual.

In a dramatic (yes, you read that right) DTM race, Tomczyk (who drives for BMW) spun Paffett. Paffett's closest championship rival? Spengler, who drives for BMW...Paffett confronted Tomczyk after the race.

And this...

[Massa 0]

Something I've been doing recently: watching the Winston Cup races from 2000. It was the first year I watched a full season (I watched a few in 1999, most of which I can't remember though I know I saw the season finale in Atlanta that year), so obviously I'm going to remember it fondly. I wanted to know, was the racing really better? Was the TV coverage really better? Were the drivers really more interesting? All three are personal opinions and will vary, but I was just curious if it was a case of nostalgia or actual beliefs. Surely I wasn't as critical as a kid than I am now.

Anyway, I've made it to round three, Las Vegas, and no one has the full race up so I've resorted to Eurosport's coverage. I share this because I think you'll recognize the commentator from BBC's F1 coverage, among other things...

I found it quite bizarre to hear that voice doing NASCAR, and to hear British pronunciations of things like "Home Depot" and "Ray Evernham."

You can also tell that Ben was less than thrilled about covering NASCAR, and didn't know a whole lot about it. He sounds so bored.

[Massa 0]

I'd heard about this before, and maybe even shared it then, but I find it pretty interesting:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/will_carroll/08/29/simpson-ganassi-helmet/index.html?sct=nfl_wr_a3

[Massa 0]

This will mean nothing to anyone, but this thread means nothing to anyone, so here goes.

This tinyurl will take you to a YouTube video. 1,000,000 units of respect if you can figure out the significance of the first minute or so that will play to U.S. auto racing. If you can't, scroll down to the first comment.

http://tinyurl.com/9l78twf

Like babies, I had never realized where it came from, but unlike babies, I sort of understand this.

[Massa 0]

Want to see a 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup car in full livery?

Here you go, from @MWRteam on Twitter:

From an unknown source:

https://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/647757905.jpg?key=640480&Expires=1346441038&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIYVGSUJFNRFZBBTA&Signature=kIUcCK3FXVcWktR4cngmdWXjxswK~iw-AlshHW2T7W58pDLSEGYfuP-AOQEOnFcfLghytD9kvEzQcmXq8anyZ5o12QVgkOUMpqqw9entg9QG9jUUlB-~y14T3vhufxQAHQ~ZQOUMpIprxznLPqAw5KMcDTpwFTdHVpyehIFLzBE_

These new Cup cars look so, so awesome. I don't know if it will improve the racing, but they look great.

Compare to this year's box with zero body lines:

http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2012/sprintcup/indy/12-INDY-56.jpg

And to the production car:

http://ecarsupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2013-Toyota-Camry-Review1.jpg

These are very well-done. It's so cool to see Cup cars with actual body lines. They look mean.

[Massa 0]

I haven't followed IndyCar much this year but their season finale is tomorrow night.

Mike Conway has stepped out his ride. He does not feel safe racing this track or on ovals in general.

E.J. Viso is now saying that if they do not add downforce, he will withdraw from the race as well.

To be fair, Conway drives for A.J. Foyt. Foyt's been known to set up his racecars in a very...unique...way and if the driver complains, Foyt tells him to man up and drive it. And Conway's had some terrible oval crashes. Viso is certainly on the lower-end of the performance spectrum.

But...it makes you wonder. Can the problems of last year ever be solved? The pack racing has been broken up, but now the cars require a lot more to control. I remember saying, back then, that you run into an issue if you take downforce out. Yes, the packs break up, but all you do is create really horrible single-car wrecks as opposed to really horrible multi-car ones.

It's auto racing and 218 mph isn't safe. But are wide, banked, sweeping ovals something that should be a part of IndyCar? It's a debate that obviously was fueled by Wheldon's death. Nearly a year later, we're still having it, and one driver has already withdrawn, another about to. I don't have the answers...I just hope nothing happens Saturday, and I know I don't have the guts to watch it.

[Massa 0]

So, Bob Jenkins has called his final auto race. His wife is battling brain cancer; Bob himself is a colon cancer survivor. Bob's a great guy on a personal level, and he's a true professional. He's been calling races for decades and is truly one of America's auto racing voices, calling IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula One, USAC, Champ Car, so much more I can't even remember. He was so instrumental in auto racing even being televised in the U.S., with his early work at ESPN, who gave us so much televised motorsports content and set the stage for the U.S. offering as much as, if not more, racing broadcasts than any other country. I grew up with Bob, Benny, and Ned calling the NASCAR races and it was a great introduction to the sport. I'm not sure why, but I do get a little emotional when I listen to Bob closing the final race of NASCAR's 2000 season, which was the final NASCAR race on ESPN for the foreseeable future (they eventually returned in 2007). He thanked the fans with "without you, there would have been no magic," and after that year, NASCAR really went into a new direction largely dictated by these huge TV contracts from new partners that did not employ Bob's services. It was truly a changing of the guard for stock car racing. I've exchanged email correspondence with him before and he's just a wonderful guy to communicate with.

Here is NBCSN's tribute to Bob:

And here's Bob, signing off for the final time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQGkxNe_J8

Best wishes to Bob and his wife Pam, and you know, without Bob calling them in the way he did, watching all those NASCAR races as a kid with Bobby Labonte winning, of course , there just wouldn't have been any magic.