Category: Auto Racing

Lewis Hamilton should be on TV selling tires. Because of Formula 1 licensing and sponsorships, they would likely have to be Pirelli tires. All they need for a 60 second spot are some video clips of the Canadian Grand Prix and a female voice-over.

Yes, a female. Practically any of the Pirelli girls from the starting grid will do. Men will watch a pretty girl talk about anything. Women will listen because they are tired of their husbands telling them anything.

Hamilton won in Canada after a pit on lap 50, coming out in 3rd and passing the leaders within the remaining 20 laps for the win. This was the seventh race of the season and makes Hamilton the seventh race winner. He also takes over the driver points lead… Just barely. Two points separate him from 2nd place overall held by Fernando Alonso.

All of that is detail and not necessary for the commercial. (more…)

Racing at Pocono shook things up a bit. Early crashes, points lead change, pit road police…

Good racing at Pocono with Joey Logano taking the pole and the win for the day… Seventeen lead changes… Greg Biffle had some engine issues with a lazy cylinder and fell back off the points lead after finishing midpack.

Early laps saw loose cars in turn 3. The new surface at Pocono raised questions on set-ups, speed and handling and the start of the race saw turn 3 serve up some free tickets to a slip-n-slide.

Landon Cassill went for a slide and AJ Allmendinger was caught up on the first lap. At the 13th lap, J.J. Yeley, Reed Sorenson and Tony Raines took the ride and beat up some sheet metal.

However, it was pit road that made for many surprises until drivers began to bite the brake and just roll with it as best they could. The re-surfacing at Pocono also did a number on the speed markers along pit road and caught many drivers with penalties. It was as if they set a speed trap just outside of town after a big party at the local hot spot… (more…)

NASCAR and the races have been taking a little fan heat with talk of not enough excitement.

There is not enough close racing. They aren’t bumping and banging like they used to. There isn’t enough action.

Yeah yeah yeah….

Driver’s want to finish. Owners want to finish. Sponsors don’t want their logo in the garage and out of the spotlight. The points are tight.

Yeah yeah yeah…

Well fans, we give you Dover. A big smash up, some engines blow, a pit action near miss, Johnson in clown hair…

What more do you want? (more…)

The Grand-Am ROLEX racing has come down to a classic American rivalry. It appears as if the “Chevy vs. Ford” argument is being played out on the course from race to race with Chevy and those new Corvette styled Daytona Prototypes placing some good punches.

Ford and Starworks Motorsport are leading the Driver and Team points marks while Chevy has the manufacturer’s lead. Ford swept the top 3 at the ROLEX 24 with Starworks sandwiched between the Fords of Michael Shank Racing. However, from that point on to just this last race in Detroit, the Chevy teams have taken the top spot on the podium.

Will the “Corvettes” dominate for the rest of the season? Will the Ford folks fight back? Can Chip Ganassi hold on while clinging to BMW power?

It does have to be difficult for the BMW / Ganassi Racing teams being the lone guns up against a field overrun by Detroit muscle. They get little sympathy from the Ford teams as the Corvette DP teams are running the show with four consecutive wins following the Daytona opener. (more…)

You would think the folks from MUFON should be getting calls from Southside Virginia as the area just east of Danville and a rock throw from the North Carolina line was occupied by “greys” and UFOs. The UFOs, or “Unidentified Fast Objects”, were hypothetically occupied and operated by NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series drivers. The “greys”, in this particular context, were often seen moving about in the larger groups of UFOs…

An invasion it may have been but it was not extraterrestrial. For several years, NASCAR teams descend on Virginia International Raceway and take over the rolling, countryside road course to test their ability to build cars that can, amazing as it may sound, turn right as well as left. This visit to VIR has become somewhat of a tradition as the season winds close to the road courses of Sonoma and Watkins Glen. NASCAR rules and regs do not allow teams to test set-ups at “sanctioned” tracks (as in the ones they will be racing on) except on specified times and days associated with the race schedule at that venue. However, there is no such rule concerning testing at a facility that is, in many ways, very similar to the sanctioned and scheduled  raceways.

Open the gates and man the flag stations, we’re making right turns in 750 horsepower machines that have the handling characteristics of a lead-lined brick. (more…)

Sunday racing was a full day. A wake up with Formula 1 followed by the showcase Indy 500 and close it down with NASCAR at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.

F1 gave us a spin or two and a Kobayashi bunny hop at Monaco. A good start to the day. From Monaco to Indianapolis the racing went up a notch and was matched up in Charlotte with the Coca-Cola 600.

There might have been a phone call. “I’ll do it if you do it!”

We’re referring to Dario Franchitti and Tony Stewart. It is odd that on the same day two defending champions encounter the same incident, and relatively speaking, at the same location. Coming into the pits at Indy, Franchitti is clipped by E.J. Viso and is spun sideways in the pit stall. The extra time and damage check put him to the back of the field. Skip ahead to the Coca-Cola 600 and here comes Tony Stewart to the pit stall only to have Brad Keselowski make the bump sending “Smoke” around facing traffic. (more…)

Advertising drives racing. The cars have sponsors. The race has sponsors. The TV and radio broadcasts have sponsors. We expect it and accept it. Watching F1 and the Monaco Grand Prix we’re in awe at the beauty and diversity of the city and the view. The Marina is filled with blue sea and watercraft of every design. The cityscape rises set against the view of the hills. The sponsor banners line the streets with every color.

At best, they present a subliminal impact as they eye is drawn to the speed and road clinging action of open wheel power amidst the tight turns and narrow straights that make up the course in this showcase city with French and Italian influence.
There is a flash of Johnnie Walker, UBS, Pirelli, Shell V-Power, DHL and Zepter. We don’t know what Zepter is but from the tunnel we get flashes of “Home Art” and “Cosmetics”. (more…)