Racing Of The United States Variety

[Massa 0]

Chris Economaki passed away at age 91 today. He truly was American motorsports media. Not part of it. No an icon of it. He was it. NASCAR, F1, Indy, everything. From his very own publication, the best paper in the world back when it circulated in print (my dad used to get it when he was a kid, and I used to get it a good five decades after that):

http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/more/chris-economaki-dies-at-age-91/

[Massa 0]

It's baaaaaaaack.

For the third time this year, it is being reported that Tony George, Kevin Kalkhoven, Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske, Michael Andretti, and Zak Brown are trying to by the IndyCar Series. This time from the Sports Business Journal, which is more credible than the past reports from Robin Miller.

INDYCAR has issued a denial. Michael Andretti has issued a denial. Roger Penske has not issued a denial but Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press says he isn't involved. But Jenna Fryer is also not a journalist, just a hack.

I hope they sell it. It's going nowhere and while I don't really like the idea of team owners owning it, Chip Ganassi is one of my favorite people in auto racing, and I think Zak Brown could do a good job (considering he's supposed to be Ecclestone's successor) getting this series going. I know Ganassi supports aerokits, which I support as well, so that's a good thing. I'd like for IndyCar to be something I could enjoy. Right now, it isn't.

Now, do I think that it's the best thing for the sport? No idea. It has potential to be good for me, though.

[Massa 0]

NASCAR tested the 2013 car at Talladega yesterday. Nothing we haven't seen yet; the Chevrolet is still under huge camo, but will be unveiled in two weeks or so. That said, the Chevrolet test car looks a lot like these renders of the road car, so I have a feeling we're looking at this:

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-chevrolet-ss-spy-photos-and-renderings-news

Anyway, the big development? Exhaust exit is now at the rear, not the sides. This means that "bump-drafting" is largely eliminated because it will break the exhaust (or, you can basically hit someone in the rear and end his/her day).

Furthermore, Kasey Kahne says that the tandem-drafting is no longer as big of an advantage with the new car, and is much more dangerous because of the curved front of the car, making it very easy to spin someone around when you run behind them.

Kahne predicts that the racing will be more exciting, but will come with the consequence of more crashes.

Not a fan of crashing at all, personally. I like the look of the car, and I'd like the racing to be watchable (but that would really start with shorter races and fewer safety cars, in my opinion ), but I don't want more carnage. We'll have to see what happens at Daytona and beyond, though. A new car is definitely needed.

[Massa 0]

Looks like the exhaust was just an experiment, actually.

http://aol.sportingn...e-perform-kahne

A picture. Two Fords up top (Stenhouse and Hornish). The 42 is Montoya's Chevrolet. The 15 is Bowyer's Toyota.

Really not much difference between the Toyota and the Chevrolet, is there? The Ford's the most unique.

[Massa 0]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will miss the next two races due to a concussion sustained in his Talladega wreck. Regan Smith will be in the car. I was hoping for Kurt Busch, personally, but I guess the sponsors would've hated that, and I'm sure Dale's more comfortable with a choice like Smith who won't out-perform him in his own car (something I bet Kurt could do).

Interested to see the TV ratings for that.

Also, 2013 cars, better look at the Chevrolet we haven't seen. Seems to have big-time door indentations like the now-deceased Charger.

http://www.jayski.com/news/schemes/story/_/page/2013-NASCAR-Sprint-Cup-Manufacturers-Images

I'm almost excited about next year...

[Massa 0]

Wow.

NASCAR needs to step up their concussion testing and disclosure policy.

Earnhardt has had multiple concussions in his life (he said he can't even remember all of them) and two in the last six weeks alone. He had one in a private test at Kansas. He did not disclose it and continued racing because he was afraid he'd miss the Chase.

This is really not good. Concussions are cumulative. They don't go away. Tons of professional athletes lose their careers to them. Then they lose their day-to-day abilities. Then they lose their lives.

I'm glad Earnhardt's finally stepping out for two weeks, but NASCAR needs to take some action now to look at their policies. Their are big-time loopholes that allow drivers to race with concussions, including the rule that if you drive the car back to the garage after an accident, you don't need to submit to medical testing. Earnhardt drove back to the garage at Talladega, hence he was not tested. Driving back tests car damage, not driver damage, though...

The more they happen, the more prone you become, and man, concussions suck.

[Massa 0]

NASCAR might just be the spam of the auto racing world.

First, a four-time champion ignores a black flag to ride around with a flat tire for the sole purpose of intentionally wrecking someone (and collecting others). That someone who was wrecked was one of three drivers in championship contention, by the way.

Then the wrecked driver's pit crew comes and fights the wrecker's pit crew. The wrecker was scooted into a trailer. The wrecked driver came sprinting over but was denied entry.

The race restarts and Jeff Burton inadvertently wrecks Danica Patrick, who was having the best run of her life (a stunning P13). No caution comes out...Danica is limping around the bottom of the track at like 10 mph leaking oil everywhere. The leaders hit the oil coming to the checkered flag, a lot of guys in the top ten wreck, and one slams into Danica's slow-moving car causing a big impact. NASCAR was "unaware" of this situation...because a bright green car making smoke and laying oil down is very easy to miss, you see.

Someone's going to die in NASCAR one of these days. The sport has no rules and is a lot less safe than they'll have you believe; it's only "safe" because drivers aren't tested for anything and hide injuries to stay in the points championship...

[HandyNZL 1]

I think that was the best report you have ever made on NASCAR, Eric.

In their defense though, who watches the girl racers anyways...they never win