tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-263494152024-02-23T02:43:22.080-05:00The SpeedGeek's MotorSports BlogA periodic (i.e. whenever I feel like) journal of Motorsports stuff (i.e. whatever I feel like) and opinions (i.e. just whatever).The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-25534445137226676162011-01-10T23:17:00.005-05:002011-01-10T23:25:26.811-05:00Now Available in a Grab Bag!Hey, kids. For all six of you who may still be checking this site from time to time and who may not have had me personally tell you either in person or over the phone, I'm now appearing elsewhere. Thanks to the good folks (and hosts of the <a href="http://www.grabbagsports.com/search/label/blogathon">World Renowned Blogathon</a>! Which is happening! Again! In a couple of weeks!) at <a href="http://www.grabbagsports.com/">GrabBagSports</a>, I've got a far classier (read: we've got graphics and working sidebars and stuff) place to pour my prose all over like so much sugar-free imitation maple syrup. So, if you've really got a hankering to see what I'm thinking about, or more accurately, to see what Allen and Mike are thinking about, since I still blog about once every Mayan calendar cycle, head on over there. I mean, <a href="http://www.grabbagsports.com/">here</a>. Thanks.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-14890343950304439592010-07-21T09:46:00.003-04:002010-07-21T09:55:30.584-04:00The ICONIC Decision - From the Guestroom<em>Hey, everybody. I've been meaning to write up a full breakdown of how I feel about last week's ICONIC panel announcement about the new-for-2012 IndyCar. Instead, my buddy Rick (who you'll all know from the last two posts here) and I have been e-mailing (the venue where we solve all of life's problems) non-stop about it. This is a few days belated, but a few days ago he sent me an e-mail that sums up my thoughts about the whole matter 100%, down to the last word. So, with no further ado, here's Rick's take. I'm The Speedgeek. And I approved this message.</em><br /><em></em><br />My take on 2012:<br /><br />Ok, what does everyone want?<br />Competition. Innovation. Close racing. Safety. Speed. Different looking cars. Multiple manufacturer involvement.<br /><br />What is the ultimate goal?<br />More fans in seats to get more corporate involvement and interest to get more fans in seats to make the sport bigger and more popular and more successful with more teams and drivers.<br /><br />What do we have so far?<br />Engine specs friendly to multiple manufacturers with present or higher power outputs.<br /><br />What is the worst case scenario?<br />Another ugly spec car and engine.<br /><br />How does that prevent reaching the ultimate goal?<br />Indycar racing continues on its same staid, stagnant path with no new interest from any comers.<br /><br />What is the best case scenario?<br />33 different car and engine combinations on the grid at Indy that show off the talent and ingenuity of mechanics and engineers as they try to capture the biggest trophy in sports.<br /><br />What’s wrong with the best case scenario?<br />It’s cost prohibitive, especially in today’s economic environment, and prevents the reaching of the ultimate goal because no one, or very few, would be able to compete in that environment. Further, racing history has shown again and again that open-rules formulae tend to favor the team with the most resources, who will eventually dominate to the exclusion of everyone else.<br /><br /><br />Here we have the crux of the issue. I think everyone thinks the “best case scenario” (bcs) is pretty darn cool. Some of us understand that, in the long run (or the long short-run), such an approach is actually detrimental. The opposite approach results in the “worst case scenario” (wcs). A spec series that no one is interested in dominated by the teams with the most resources-because they are the only ones who can afford to spend the money on those diminishing returns. What to do? The answer here, as in much of life, is compromise. Yes, the c-word. Well, not that c-word, but a slightly less offensive one. Slightly.<br /><br />Compromise is necessary in racing. For example, the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race is won by the car that first completes the 500 mile distance. Simple in theory, right? Unfortunately, sometimes a car will crash or break on the track during the attempt. For the safety of the driver or drivers involved, a caution period is invoked. All of the drivers competing to finish the 500 miles first reduce their speed and bunch up so that disabled vehicles and debris can be removed and involved drivers attended to safely. Slowing a race is a compromise. A necessary compromise in the interest of safety, but a compromise nonetheless. This week we are talking about necessary compromise in the rules that shape the car itself. With unlimited specials out of the question, the next step is to determine where on the spectrum of “Spec engine and chassis to Unlimited Special” the car should land. Or, the degree of compromise. With teams and sponsors hurting for money because of the economy, NASCAR, poor management, etc, it will probably have to be towards the spec end of the spectrum. But we want to see what we can do. What do we know about the proposals?<br /><br />- BaT, Swift, and Lola simply had to be sole suppliers.<br />- Dallara has lots of experience and the existing capacity.<br />- DeltaWing is more a theory or philosophy than an actual car. It was not specified who would actually build it.<br />- BaT is another start-up, with unproven and nonexistent manufacturing capability.<br />- Swift would build in California.<br /><br />Let’s add in some more relevant factors.<br />Local and state government is involved with tax breaks for Indiana-manufactured and -based entries (this is HUGE. PUBLIC money going towards racing??? This isn’t even building a football stadium that will be used 16 times a season or a baseball or basketball stadium used dozens of times a year. This is teams. This is HUGE and unheard of. I don’t know if I would have been politician enough to suggest this! Big, big, big. I don’t think this can be understated.)<br />Teams are generally strapped for cash.<br />There isn’t much time before the start of the 2012 season.<br />Engine manufacturers have yet to be nailed down.<br /><br />With our bcs, wcs, and all the factors in mind, let’s start eliminating. BaT, Swift, and Lola are out if we want avoid having a de facto spec series. BaT is unproven and Swift would build in California, earning more strikes against them. The DeltaWing concept realistically has a long, long way to go before it sees the track. What will the car itself look like? Who will build all the parts? Where? The safest bets to exploit all the economic advantages and get the things built in time look to be Dallara and Lola. And, frankly, between the two, Dallara’s openness to competition and track record work in its favor.<br /><br />We’re still not that far from a spec series(If Dallara and Lola are chosen, then Dallara says “ok”, Lola can’t make the price point and begs off. Back to one.). So what do we do if only one manufacturer is going to work out? Where can we get some innovation? Well, everyone wants a “Safety Cell”, so lets make that spec. Fans (average and avid) –who pay the bills directly and indirectly- can’t see or tell the difference between all the dirty bits, so let’s make those spec. That leaves all the aero stuff. We can leave that open. To prevent the gorillas from dominating, we’ll cap the price and limit the number a team can have. Since Dallara isn’t in the business of selling consumer products and really isn’t advertising (their final customer is the race team or sanctioning body), they don’t really care how the cars are badged. So anyone else can fund an aero package and brand it. And a compromise is struck.<br /><br />Let’s see what we have here-Competition (aero and engine manufacturers), Innovation (ditto), Close Racing can be dialed in with regulations (see last year vs this year), Safety (common safety cell), Speed (more power, less weight), Different looking cars (aero kits), multiple manufacturers.<br />I think we have a win-win-win situation here. Is it ideal? No, but we’ve already established that the bcs is unfeasible, so a compromise was necessary. Is it exactly what I wanted? No, but I think it’s probably better in that it’s more realistic. I was, honestly, taking Ben Bowlby’s word for a lot of it. The concrete facts seem to favor this concept a bit more.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-46469196661544728662010-07-01T17:25:00.003-04:002010-07-01T17:32:43.085-04:00The 2012 IndyCar Chassis - View From the Guestroom<em>Hey, everybody. Still trapped under the boulder. This doesn't mean that I can't still keep this space open for our outstanding guest poster Rick. This week, in advance of the rapidly approaching announcement by the ICONIC panel on the chassis that'll be used by the IndyCar series in 2012, Rick's got his take on what he'd do if he were in their shoes (or boots, in Randy Bernard's case). To disclaim a bit: Rick's views on the chassis selection do not mirror my own 100%, but I think that his take is pretty interesting and I would not be at all disappointed if what he wants came to be in 18 months from now. With that, here's the floor, fella.</em><br /><em></em><br />Over the past 15 years, a division of resources, poor decisions, and a burgeoning rival have conspired to move American open wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 from national prominence. 2010 has seen new life breathed into the series. A new CEO, reinvigorated racing, and an enthusiastic title sponsor promise to bring Indycar racing back to a place of interest for fans, manufacturers, and sponsors. With the decision to retire the long-in-the-tooth Dallara chassis made, a unique opportunity presents itself: Reinvent the Indy Car. A new design could hold a number of advantages that could be exploited to fuel a new era of growth in the sport. The best way for this to happen would be to adopt a radical solution like the DeltaWing concept.<br /><br />First, a radical new car will draw attention. Race fans, laypeople, and journalists alike will talk about the new shape of racing and what the future of racing will look like. That kind of press and buzz is essential to any kind of growth.<br /><br />Second, redefining what an "Indy Car" is will separate the series from other forms of racing competing for the fan's ticket dollar and the TV channel's ratings point. Create a shape that differs markedly from what has been the norm for nearly 30 years and casual fans will no longer refer to Indy cars as "F1s".<br /><br />Third, a radical change lends credibility to the technology leadership platform Indy car racing has long held. SAFER Barriers, HANS devices, ethanol fuel, attenuators, and other advances only mean so much when tacked on to the same old tired machine.<br /><br />Fourth, the safety progress of the last decade can be taken even further. At the forefront is preventing wheel-to-wheel contact. Mike Conway's wreck at Indianapolis was only the latest hint of what catastrophe might come about if wheels remain unshielded.<br /><br />Many of the complaints I've heard revolve around the DeltaWing concept's aesthetics. I shared many of these concerns until seeing the mock-up in the flesh. The distortions of two dimensional images and unusual viewing angles don't do this car any favors. I've also been told that it looks even better decorated in sponsor livery.<br /><br />One complaint is that it "doesn't look like a car". To that argument, I'd say that it's been a very, very long time since what raced at Indianapolis bore any resemblance to street cars of the day. Why must Indy cars resemble street cars now?<br /><br />To those that say the DeltaWing concept "doesn't look like an Indy car", I'd suggest that it doesn't have to look like an Indy car, and maybe it shouldn't look like an Indy car. (See above.) Further, after a closer look, I'd say that maybe it's not so far off. The modern Indy car includes a long, narrow "fuselage" containing the driver. The front wheels are widely spaced and joined to that fuselage only by long, spindly suspension members. The DeltaWing concept has the fuselage and just eliminates those suspension members and moves the wheels to the naturally resulting locations.<br /><br />It's human nature to react to the new and different with reluctance and trepidation. In this case, I think the new and different must be embraced to give Indycar the best chance possible to return to its once-lofty status.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-92145899609158376432010-06-18T17:46:00.004-04:002010-06-18T17:59:32.314-04:00The Next IndyCar Engine Formula - A Guest Poster's View<em>Hey, everybody. I've been trapped under a rock, yet again, but I've managed to maneuver my arm out from under this thing just enough to operate the keyboard and mouse. Until I can get around to putting together some time to write up some very random thoughts from some days at the track that nobody's thought or cared about in almost a month now and until I can send up a flare to get a rescue party over here to get this boulder the rest of the way off of me, I've got a guest poster for everybody to enjoy. So now, ladies and germs, introducing my friend, occasional drinking buddy and longtime race-going companion Rick (and do not dare call him "The Rick", thank you very much, or you will be escored from the premises forthwith) with some thoughts about the next IndyCar. Enjoy.</em><br /><br />Like most Indycar series fans, I have some opinions about the direction the upcoming formula should take. In short, I’m in favor of a radically different chassis powered by 4-cylinder turbocharged engines.<br /><br />The engine formula must, first of all, attract one or more manufacturers to the series to assist with advertising, promotion, and development. At the same time, it must provide the chassis with sufficient power to achieve the desired performance (at or above current levels). Cost, durability, parity, and adjustability are other considerations.<br /><br />In the current automotive market where fuel economy and emissions are key selling points, the four cylinder engine is experiencing a resurgence. Vehicles of all categories are or will be powered by four-cylinder engines, often with technologies like turbocharging and direct injection to assist efficiency and output. Indycar vehicles powered by similar engines give an immediate incentive for marketing and development. Even if the idea that modern race engine technology can actually relate to street car engines is laughable, the manufacturer can find immediate returns through marketing value and developer training.<br /><br />Four cylinder engines offer the advantage of relative simplicity. Fewer cylinders means fewer pistons, rods, valves, and parts overall. Fewer parts translate directly into lower costs at all stages of the engine’s life, bringing value to every party involved. Simplicity and lower parts count also contribute to durability, which feeds back into the cost equation.<br /><br />Many suggest that four-cylinder engines are inferior or undesirable. First, the value to a manufacturer that wants to change this perception would be considerable. Second, a shift to smaller engines could precipitate a marketable focus on efficiency and environmental concerns. Power levels of four cylinder engines should not be a concern (especially with turbocharging), as history is full of racing and street vehicles capable of impressive performance numbers with four-cylinders. Finally, the storied Offenhauser engine (owner of more than one quarter of all Indianapolis 500 wins) is a four cylinder engine. If a new engine is aesthetically similar, this could be a source for a heritage marketing campaign.<br /><br />The primary advantage of turbocharging in this engine formula is power. A boosted engine’s output is largely dependent on manifold pressure. Even a small displacement engine is capable of very, very high power levels if pressure is sufficient. Further, this power level is adjustable. Engines of varying designs from different manufacturers could easily be equalized through management of their allowed boost pressure with the use of pop-off valves. Different power levels could also be specified for different types of tracks, again by managing allowed boost pressure.<br /><br />I believe that an affordable manufacturer engine lease program is probably the best path to take. While individual engine builders may want to experiment and innovate to find an advantage, removing this possibility works to the advantage of all of the teams on the grid. Centralized test and rebuild services would keep prices for everyone down, and small teams would not have to be concerned with excessive costs, testing time, or being financially responsible for the destruction of an engine.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-70882856504435357452010-05-30T02:50:00.002-04:002010-05-30T02:53:52.061-04:00The Last Minute PickI'm going with.......<br /><br />Dario. That is it, that is final. Full reports from the whole weekend and much, much more to come after the race. Enjoy, everybody!The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-59335791327343316372010-05-28T23:58:00.007-04:002010-05-29T00:51:26.116-04:00Carb Day...LightsThe title of this post was going to be "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Carb</span> Day Highlights", until I realized that some of the things that I saw were not highlights at all, but were instead either <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">lowlights</span> or just...lights. Something in the middle. With that, and with the thought in mind that I need to wake up in a little under 7 hours if I'm going to make tomorrow's (what? After midnight? Damn. Then it's today's) <a href="http://planet-irl.com/2010/05/14/planet-irl-to-host-indycar-blogger-forum-at-indianapolis/">Planet-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">IRL</span>.com First Annual Blogger Summit</a>.<br /><br />- The day started off on an up note for me when I, running late because I failed to realize that the North 40 Lot would be a vortex of parking insanity on Carb Day, ran into a buddy of mine on staff after I'd only gotten about 200 yards inside the north end of the track. He charitably let me catch a ride on his golf cart over to Pagoda Plaza, where I just made it in time for the daily 15 minute live version of the <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside">"<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cavin</span> and Kevin Show"</a>. Nice. Very nice.<br /><br />- I spent about four minutes gawking at the Delta Wing prototype. I firmly believe that the car should be shown in pictures with a banner hanging behind it that says "Delta Wing: Better In Person".<br /><br />- Then, it was cars on the track. Actual <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCars</span> on the actual Indianapolis Motor Speedway track. I think I spent the hour of practice switching between Tweeting strings of unrelated consonants and blacking out. I can't really remember what happened here.<br /><br />- The Lights race. Too bad for Pippa. Too good by Wade Cunningham (again, yawn). Too weird by <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">JK</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Vernay</span>, who ground to a halt right in front of me in the pits with an apparent locked rear end after one lap, then whose crew got him going again after six laps (aided by Pippa's and Jeff Simmons' second lap crash and caution), and who then spent the race carving up through the field until he threatened (repeatedly and forcefully) to reclaim one of those six laps from the leaders.<br /><br />- Spent some nice time meeting and catching up with Allen Wedge from <a href="http://furiouswedge.blogspot.com/">Furious Wedge</a> and his wife Kelly (who my wife would say spells her name wrong). Actually, this time alternated between "nice" and "infuriating", as Allen appears to have far better formed opinions about most things <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> than I do. Me? I just like watching cars going fast, I guess. Anyway, it's never exactly fun when you figure out you're not only not the smartest person in the room, but you're also not the second smartest. In a room containing three people.<br /><br />- I had the brief chance to meet face-to-face with the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Incorrigible</span> Roy <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hobbson</span> from <a href="http://www.silentpagoda.com/">The Silent Pagoda</a> during the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">ZZ</span> Top concert. Actually, it wasn't a "meeting" so much as just a "receiving a high five from somebody running past me who is wearing one of those 'beer can helmets' that's been modified to carry two pony kegs of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hamm's</span>". Anyway, I'm certain that was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hobbson</span>, and I'm certain that right now he's either half-buried in one of the infield's sand traps or all-incarcerated in the infield <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">pokey</span>.<br /><br />- I did actually see a couple of guys on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hulman</span> Blvd. who were being shaken down by the infield cops. It took everything I had not to go over and recite entire sections of the famous Bob and Tom bit, "Sid Gurney: Infield Security", just to rub it in.<br /><br />- Oh, back to the fifth circle of hell, aka, the North 40 Lot. 800 feet in 40 minutes, you say? While 75% of the day's total crowd is still shotgunning Miller Lite inside Turn 3? Sure. That sounds reasonable.<br /><br />- From the ridiculous to the sublime: The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">Carb</span> Night Burger Bash! OK, to be serious for one second, I look forward to the Burger Bash as much or more as any other event that happens during my calendar year that doesn't have the words "Race" and "Day" attached to it. This year did not disappoint. I met up with fully 4/11<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">ths</span> of the rest of my intrepid All Racing Fantasy League team owners (Craig, the aforementioned Allen Wedge, and the brother assassins, Jesse and Ryan; good fellas, all), hammered down a burger, a bushel or so of fries and roughly a gallon of vanilla milkshake (I'm bringing plenty of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">souvenir</span> cups home, honey!), threw empathetic vibes toward a clearly downcast Pippa Mann, who stopped by to chat with Curt, Kevin and the crowd for a few minutes, basked in the aura of one Tony <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kanaan</span> for about a half an hour, spent a good 20 minutes holding my hands to the sky during Randy Bernard's brief Q&A session like those snake-handling <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">churchy</span> people you see in certain movies, and was, of course, thoroughly entertained by Curt <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cavin</span> and Kevin Lee. The bar has been raised yet again by those guys. If you did not make it this year, you made a grave mistake. Rectify that next year, for your own sake.<br /><br />- A <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">lowlight</span>: many, many <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">bloggers</span> and Twitterers in attendance at the Burger Bash. Alas, I and my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">ARFL</span> chums spent so much time busting on each others' teams and generally busting on whatever <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">happened</span> through our stream of consciousness that I didn't get a chance to make a full set of rounds. That's a bad job by me. So, my work is cut out for me at the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bloginator</span> Conference tomorrow (dang! Today!).<br /><br />OK, you'll all have to excuse me for no pictures for now, as A) it's nearly 1:00 AM now, and B) I'm dumb, and forgot my download cable in Nebraska. There is more, more, more to come from Indy! We're just getting started!The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-61989182572507548542010-05-28T01:47:00.002-04:002010-05-28T02:08:42.707-04:00Midway MutteringsSome quick thoughts in advance of this year’s Indy 500, scribbled down while shanghai’ed (briefly, and only because President Obama was allegedly flying through at the time, but still) at Chicago Midway International Airport, on my way to Indy for the weekend:<br /><br />- “Red” cars almost locked out the first two rows in qualifying. However, other than Helio’s pole speed, the entire bulk of the field is covered by less than 4 MPH. With the draft supposedly making more of a difference in traffic this year, and the addition of the “push to pass” button, we might be in for a decent race on Sunday. Well, at least among the “red” cars at the front, and then another decent race for 6th through 10th for the entire rest of the field.<br /><br />- Bruno Junquiera ran the seventh-best speed of the entire field, in worse conditions than the Pole Day qualifiers ran in, and after only seven laps of getting up to speed. Um, I think he’s going to be fast on Race Day.<br /><br />- Andretti Autosport was out to lunch on qualifying weekend. I don’t think that will hold come race day. TK will be doing a patented Derek Daly “burn from the stern” (that’s the phrase patented by Derek, not the actual act) from his 33rd starting spot, Marco and Danica will be able to hang in there in the mid-pack, and move up with other peoples’ mistakes, John Andretti will be doing his thing of being completely invisible until you read the race rundown in the paper in the next day and you find out that he finished 12th, and RHR will be doing RHR things all day (that’s “passing people” and “being a general nuisance to people in theoretically superior equipment” to the uninitiated out there).<br /><br />- The KVRT drivers will probably continue to damage equipment, both theirs and others’. Sorry, Jimmy. I love ya, but you’ve got a team full of crashers there.<br /><br />- Alex Tagliani will hang with the lead pack until the first round of stops, have a slightly slow pit stop that puts him between the leaders and the midfield, and will drive around by himself until he falls afoul of some nonsense. Sorry, Alex, but the fairytale is going to end around lap 80, and probably at the hands of one of the aforementioned KV guys.<br /><br />- First out? Sebastian Saavedra. Sorry, kid. Your gearbox is gonna give up on lap 14.<br /><br />- Speaking of 14…Vitor…get comfy in the 10th through 15th range, and then be ready to move up late in the day. I’ve got you pegged for a semi-out-of-nowhere 9th place this year.<br /><br />- The “New” Snake Pit will be derided by the oldtimers as too tame and by the family crowd (which, who am I kidding? I’m probably a member of now) for being inappropriate for any year post-1983. My opinion? If you have to start a Twitter campaign to publicize your “drunken outsider festival of alcohol-laced debauchery with extra booze on top”, that's not a good sign. Um, you know who else uses Twitter to disseminate PR material? Scott Dixon. You know who else? CNN News. You want to be associated with the wild and crazy likes of those folks, “New” Snake Pit? Didn’t think so.<br /><br />- I will quadruple my all time record for money spent on merchandise in one weekend, between the new Izod throwback t-shirts, some great looking new team and driver hats, and my sudden compulsion to buy a diecast to put in amongst all the butterflies that adorn my daughter’s room.<br /><br />- Between Izod’s publicity campaign (including getting Mark Wahlberg and Jack Nicholson to be front and center on Sunday), some great potential stories on Race Day, and some potential history in the making (Helio matching Mears, Foyt and Unser), the 500 will be in the top-3 stories on Sportscenter on Sunday night. And we were all here for the comeback. Bask in that.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-60022982863493243882010-04-22T16:42:00.003-04:002010-04-22T16:54:04.270-04:00No Paternity Test Necessary<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8j75rJ3Tye35_T4JKBW4ZUe24ooRUEYT8neo4FJ6Pc9L_kwS8P6zdJMKeW1zxxQJmzcClad51W1m5ytQLPyB8h13C8396q-qWPcmD0-8Ox4sQ-S6uFLFMj16mrZS4ROz5v-Ytg/s1600/Racing+Small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463065302988049730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8j75rJ3Tye35_T4JKBW4ZUe24ooRUEYT8neo4FJ6Pc9L_kwS8P6zdJMKeW1zxxQJmzcClad51W1m5ytQLPyB8h13C8396q-qWPcmD0-8Ox4sQ-S6uFLFMj16mrZS4ROz5v-Ytg/s400/Racing+Small.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Yep, she's my daughter, all right. You can take <a href="http://www.mauryshow.com/">Maury Povich</a> off of high alert.</div>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-80067587054398289472010-02-18T13:28:00.006-05:002010-02-18T14:04:55.924-05:00Stepping Out for a BitHey, readers (that's all fourteen of you),<br />I'm not usually somebody who's given to gloom and doom, especially when it comes to motorsports. The sport has been through tough times: the World Wars, the 1955 Le Mans disaster and its fallout, the 1970s fuel embargo, the 1996-2008 open wheel split, economic recessions, both past and present, but people always come back to racing. It's in peoples' blood. It's a part of peoples' identities. For a lot of people (myself included), giving up racing is similar to giving up breathing. It's something that can be attempted, but something inside you makes you start again.<br /><br />Let me be clear here. I am not giving up on racing. I'm still going to watch a slew of races this year, and I'm going to be more than happy to discuss racing with people, here, on other blogs and even in person, very soon. This isn't my attempt to say goodbye to the sport.<br /><br />What this is, though, is a brief embargo on my following the minutiae of the sport. Over the last two weeks, four different manufacturers have unveiled their suggestion for the next generation of IndyCar, slated to begin racing in 2012. As a car nerd, I have loved looking at the different concepts, and I've enjoyed (to an extent) hearing peoples' opinions on the cars as people have debated which might be the best path forward. It's still very, very early in the process of deciding what the new car is going to be, though, and there are many missing details for all of the designs. I can't wait for those details to come out (engine format, aesthetic revisions, wind tunnel models and numbers, etc.), but I am happy to be patient. Rome was not built in a day, and nine different IndyCar concepts will not be transformed from foam models and CAD sketches to running cars in a day, either.<br /><br />However, all of the "debate" surrounding the new cars has completely sucked the fun out of following IndyCar racing (and most other racing, where there is precious little in the way of good news lately) for me. I've enjoyed doing some doodling on scratch paper, trying to figure out how the <a href="http://deltawingracing.com/">Delta Wing</a> chassis works. I've enjoyed attempting to answer peoples' questions on this same topic, though my attempts are simply guesses, because even as a trained engineer, I have not been sitting next to Ben Bowlby as he fiddles with his design programs. I've enjoyed dreaming up "improvements" to the cars' appearances, specifications and concepts. I've enjoyed daydreaming about what IndyCar could become in the future, and a posible return to prominence in the American (and worldwide) sporting scene.<br /><br />I have not, however, enjoyed having my comments answered with "That car looks like it should be called the Delta Wang!" I have also not enjoyed reading comment after comment, blog post after blog post and <a href="http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-millers-mailbag-217/">e-mail after e-mail to Robin Miller</a> that fall in the two camps of "If they pick such-and-such car, I'll never watch another race!" or "The IRL are a bunch of idiots if they don't pick the car by so-and-so!" I have had enough of the pithy, one-line comments making fun of a car, or a person, or an entire sanctioning body. Nobody is listening to each other. Everything is a quip- or rant-contest.<br /><br />I hear you. "It's the internet, dude! That's how people interact out here! Lighten up!" Look, I get that. I've been writing here sporadically for almost four years now, and regularly reading other folks' blogs for almost as long. It's just...sometimes you get a gut full of something and you lose your taste for it. I know people who worked at Pizza Hut, for instance, and say that after they'd been there for six months, they couldn't stand to eat pizza for a really, really long time. That's about where I am with internet discussion about IndyCar racing. It's not fun anymore, and I can't stand how depressed it all makes me feel about the sport I love.<br /><br />I'll cut the melodrama right here. I'll be back. Remember, I can't quit racing same as I can't quit breathing. Just don't expect much in the way of posts here for a while (yeah, yeah, you didn't expect any, anyway) and don't expect much in the way of my comments elsewhere for a while. I just need to cleanse the palate for a week or three. Not that things are going to be any better by then, but I'm going to be ready for some actual racing by the time the transporters are unloading in Sao Paulo (and Melbourne, for F1 that same weekend), as opposed to faceless internet bickering, which is the only thing going on right now.<br /><br />OK. Take care, everybody. Back soon.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-78097114916914884072010-02-09T20:55:00.006-05:002010-02-09T22:47:05.525-05:00Standing UnitedIt's been a hot topic for quite some time, and looks like it'll continue to be a hot topic for some time to come for the IndyCar series: how do we draw more eyeballs to our on-track product?<br /><br />One idea that's been kicked around in the blogosphere and in multiple calls to <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/">Trackside</a> over the last year or so is that of trying to get an IndyCar race on a common weekend with a NASCAR Cup race. This idea has been floated about several tracks, but the one that seems to come up the most often is the spring NASCAR weekend at Phoenix. <a href="http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/">Curt Cavin</a> has said that he understands that the IndyCar series has been offered by Phoenix International Raceway (a track owned by International Speedway Corporation, a sister company of NASCAR) a Thursday race day for that weekend, and that the IndyCar brass have turned down this option. I can't say that I blame them, as Cup team haulers are barely arriving in town by Thursday, much less any race fans. The majority of the attendance for such a race would have to either be local or willing to spend the entire week in the area, and anybody who wanted to come in for just the weekend and catch the IndyCar race would be out of luck.<br /><br />I do not believe that NASCAR has any intention of helping the IndyCar series in any way, as any extra attention paid to the IndyCar series by fans, the media or sponsors could be taking away from the attention that all of these parties pay to NASCAR. <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-grandam-shouldnt-race-at-ims.html">I've said in the past</a> here that NASCAR treats GrandAm, another sister company to NASCAR, as a third rate citizen when they share a track, making GrandAm race hours in advance of any other NASCAR action or even days before the headlining race. They would treat IndyCar no better should they ever decide to share a race weekend with IndyCar.<br /><br />So, in order to get more eyeballs on the IndyCar series, are there any series out there that could team up fanbases? The obvious (I would hope) answer here is the American Le Mans Series, a series that already shares a couple of weekends per year with the IndyCar series. Things have not always been happy in that partnership, from what I've heard, with the two sides tussling over who headlines at what race and which series gets what amount of track time. The time for this ego-driven bickering to stop is right now.<br /><br />The IndyCar series does not appear to be as healthy as many people would like. Several top line drivers, including Graham Rahal, Oriol Servia, Bruno Junquiera, J.R. Hildebrand and Buddy Rice are currently without rides, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is sponsored by the series title sponsor, Izod, lacks the sponsorship dollars for an entire season. By all accounts, car counts will not top last year's, and there's a good chance that some fields will be back down to the 20-21 car range. Meanwhile, the ALMS has had to consolidate its prototype classes and introduce two "spec" classes, one prototype, one GT, in order to boost car counts beyond 20. For either of these two series to categorically say that they are in superior enough shape to dictate terms of race weekends to the other is absurd at this point.<br /><br /><a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2008/08/buckle-up-ok-get-ready-geek-fans-its.html">I wrote here about going to a joint ChampCar / ALMS weekend at Road America a couple of years ago.</a> It remains one of the best race weekends that I've ever attended, even though we skipped out on the Sunday ChampCar race (I had little interest in flying home at midnight after watching only 17 cars race, and with a couple of those occupied by the immortal Tristan Gommendy and my personal favorite, "Bleepy" Dan Clarke, who actually posted one of his two career ChampCar podiums that weekend). I can tell you from my personal experience that that weekend was by far the most crowded non-Indianapolis USGP road race that I've been to, far beating out events that I've seen at Cleveland and Mid-Ohio.<br /><br />IndyCar and the ALMS share weekends this year at Long Beach and Mid-Ohio, but this could be much, much better if IndyCar's new management and ALMS's long-standing management could put aside their egos and work together on their 2011 calendars. With few exceptions, IndyCar and the ALMS should race together just about every time IndyCar takes to a road course. With a couple of IndyCar's current road races possibly going away for next year (Edmonton is rumored to be on the rocks, and Sears Point seems to be universally reviled by the fans, if not team sponsors), IndyCar could even add a couple of ALMS events to its calendar without upsetting the balance of ovals / road courses.<br /><br />I don't mean for this to turn into a "if I could run the racing world and construct my favorite calendar" exercise. I want this to represent what the IndyCar calendar could look like, if they were to sit down at the table with the ALMS and tweak their schedules to dovetail one another's. Here goes:<br /><br /><br />March 5, 2011 - Homestead (an oval-based series ought to start on an oval; this is a separate blog post, I think) - IndyCar only<br /><br />March 19-20 - Sebring - ALMS 12 Hour race on Saturday, IndyCar 200 Mile race on Sunday, or they could swap the order to maintain ALMS's headliner status (Sebring would be great for IndyCars: long straights, wide, plenty of passing; this would replace St. Pete, which I wouldn't miss much)<br /><br />April 2-3 - Barber Motorsports Park - IndyCar on Saturday, ALMS on Sunday<br /><br />April 16-17 - Long Beach - ALMS on Saturday, IndyCar on Sunday<br /><br />May 7 - Kansas Speedway - IndyCar only<br /><br />May 21 - Indy Pole Day (assuming that the current qualifying rules stand next year, <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2009/12/indys-new-schedule-nice-try-better-luck.html">not that they should</a>)<br /><br />May 28 - Indy 500 - IndyCar only<br /><br />June 4 - Texas Speedway - IndyCar only<br /><br />June 19 - Iowa Speedway - IndyCar only<br /><br />July 3-4 - Watkins Glen - ALMS on Sunday the 3rd, IndyCar on Monday the 4th (this is tricky; the ALMS teams will be back from Le Mans by now, but will ISC be willing to allow this to happen at one of their tracks?)<br /><br />July 17 - Toronto - IndyCar only (unless ALMS wants to come play)<br /><br />July 30-31 - Mid-Ohio - IndyCar on Saturday, ALMS on Sunday (giving a nod to ALMS headlining a weekend; ALMS usually puts on a better show at Mid-Ohio, anyway)<br /><br />August 13-14 - Road America - ALMS 500 Miler or 6 Hour on Saturday into the evening, IndyCar 200 Miler on Sunday (this needs to happen, and I will not argue about it)<br /><br />August 27 - Motegi - IndyCar only (if it must stay on the calendar for now...)<br /><br />September 4 - Kentucky - IndyCar only (a quick turn around from Motegi, but it's close to most teams' shops)<br /><br />September 17-18 - Road Atlanta - IndyCar on Saturday, ALMS on Sunday for Petit Le Mans (changing Petit from Saturday to Sunday to maintain ALMS headlining status for their season finale)<br /><br />September 25 - Chicagoland - IndyCar only (the season finale MUST be at Chicagoland)<br /><br /><br />The ALMS will have to make a couple of concessions with this schedule, namely shifting their Miller Motorsports Park date back to May and moving their Lime Rock date to coincide with IndyCar's Toronto date or one of the oval weekends. But, they also have some latitude to fit in a race at Laguna Seca, six-hour, sprint or otherwise, possibly in late August. The ALMS might be upset that they're not headlining more dates than they are, but if you're only fielding 20-25 car fields over four classes, can you really call yourself much of a headliner?<br /><br />Anyway, how's that for a schedule? Eight ovals, three street races (if you include Sebring), and five road courses, including the triumphant return of Road Atlanta and Road America. We lose St. Pete for Sebring, Sao Paulo goes away (it sounds like it's on somewhat uneven footing this year, but if it turns out to be a success, maybe we can slide it in by moving up Homestead one week and putting it before Sebring), Edmonton drops off (as it might anyway), and Sears Point goes the way of the dodo. IndyCar and ALMS fans both win because now they get fantastic value for their dollar at SEVEN different tracks, and every non-NASCAR fan in the country has those dates all circled on their calendars. I don't know about you, but I'd be seriously tempted to turn in my Indy tickets in exchange for weekend passes at Sebring and Road Atlanta. OK, maybe that's a stretch, but you get my drift.<br /><br />The era of insisting on standing and succeeding on one's own is more or less over for both IndyCar and the ALMS. It's time to put away the egos, embrace what the fans have been asking for and stand together. It might be their last chance.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-49039266408760661822010-02-02T21:50:00.008-05:002010-02-02T22:37:44.835-05:00Sitting Up and ListeningThe winds of change are blowing, all across American <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">motorsport</span>. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> has got a <a href="http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=15714">new CEO</a>, introduced earlier today. Sports car racing is scrambling to reposition itself within the entire scene as a whole, just in order to stay alive. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">NASCAR</span>, as documented <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2010/01/shoud-fans-call-shots-in-daytona.html">here</a> and in many other places, is trying to reconnect with its hardcore <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">fanbase</span>, after a couple years of dwindling attendance and television ratings. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> is grappling with its next generation car, apparently picking between two fundamentally different designs, one of which will be introduced in 2012.<br /><br />These last two items sound basically unrelated, but in reality, they’re pretty closely linked. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">NASCAR</span> has angered a large part of its classic <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">fanbase</span> by making all of their cars nearly identical with its Car of Tomorrow. Meanwhile, many existing and past <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> fans have become frustrated with the spec car racing that the current formula has resulted in. <a href="http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/the-delta-wing-quandary/">Other writers</a> have tackled the issue of whether or not <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> should be looking at using more than one chassis going forward from 2012, in order to create technical intrigue. Curt <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cavin</span>, on <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Trackside</span></a> a couple of weeks ago and in a couple of his <a href="http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/">Q&A columns</a>, has said that the two potential new cars, the Delta Wing and the evolutionary <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dallara</span>, will be cheaper than the current cars, but also that their business models are based on the assumption that they will be supplying the whole field, creating another spec car situation unless multiple engine manufacturers come on board.<br /><br />I have been vocal, both here and in my comments on other blogs, that it is most important that the cost for the next car to come down so that more teams can afford to come compete in the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> series. This is important because if the costs creep up and the teams go away because they can't afford to run anymore, you’ll no longer have a series. Given a few weeks of reflection, now I also feel that it is very important that the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">IRL</span> investigate using more than one chassis manufacturer. It appears that even the most staid and change averse sanctioning bodies are capable of <a href="http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/2010/2/1/fumes.html">sweeping change</a>, if the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">fanbase</span> and environment dictate them. In this linked piece, <a href="http://www.autoextremist.com/">Peter M. De Lorenzo</a> (a fantastic automotive and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">motorsports</span> writer, who tells the truth, even if it’s uncomfortable) talks at length about changes that are likely upcoming in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">NASCAR</span> over the next 2-3 years. Stock-based, manufacturer identifiable bodies. Direct fuel injection. Bio fuel. Sequential shift gearboxes. An extra road course race, likely during the “Chase”. For a series that uses 3400 pound, carburetor-engined cars as they have since the 1940s, this is nothing short of earth shattering.<br /><br />Some of those changes are a nod to shaking things up and increasing competition. Some of them are a nod to the manufacturers, who are clearly not happy that the cars on the track bear very little resemblance to what they sell to consumers. Some of them are a nod to the fans, who are clamoring for the “old days” of when they could tell the brands apart, and could pull for the make of car that they’d driven to the track. In any case, all of these things are a nod to the idea that it’s not 1958 anymore. This is a great thing. I wish that <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">NASCAR</span> would also address their <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2009/10/nascar-nitwits-against-safety-crashes.html">spotty attitude on safety</a>, but I’ll take what I can get at this point.<br /><br />OK, back to my point: what does this have to do with <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span>? What all of this tells me is that sometimes you HAVE to listen to the fans. Sometimes you HAVE to embrace some things that are kind of scary in order to evolve for the future. Sometimes when the playbook is all used up and not working anymore, you HAVE to try something new to get things jump started again.<br /><br />This is why <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> needs to attempt to have multiple manufacturers again, both engines and chassis. If Delta Wing and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dallara</span> have staked their business cases on selling 50 chassis per year, then ask them to re-do their spreadsheets for a scenario where they’re selling 25 per year, or roughly half the field (that’s for primary and back-up cars). Do whatever it takes to get multiple engine manufacturers back to the table. Tell them that you want to use an F1-style common engine control unit to control engine revs and turbo boost and outlaw traction control, but that you want their input on how they’d like to display their proprietary engineering in the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> series. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">Biodiesel</span>? <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cellulosic</span> ethanol? Hydrogen? For the sake of getting cars on the track in two years, you’ll need to limit the ideas to internal combustion engines, but no idea is too crazy. There is plenty of <a href="http://www.ricardo.com/en-gb/Software/">good engine simulation software</a> out there that you can use to come up with equivalency formulas among engine types and configurations. It’s not the ‘70s or ‘80s anymore, when the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-error">FIA</span> made wild guesses as how to best balance turbos versus normally aspirated engines in F1. It’s possible, you just have to give it a try and then work through the data. Once you’<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">ve</span> got the basic engines specs sorted out, then you can work through a similar program of balancing the performance of the Delta Wing and the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dallara</span>. Turbo boost levels, engine revs, ballast weight, keep everything on the table for now.<br /><br />There is plenty of time to get new, varied cars on the track in time for the 2012 <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> season. The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-error">IndyCar</span> brass needs to sit up and listen to the fans and manufacturers, then get started right now. After all, if <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-error">NASCAR</span> - the sanctioning body that seemingly <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_30" class="blsp-spelling-error">hasn</span>’t changed the way they race or do anything else since the ‘50s - can make sweeping changes to its formula in order to stay relevant with fans and manufacturers, there’s no reason that the folks in Indianapolis <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_31" class="blsp-spelling-error">shouldn</span>’t be able to do the same.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-66000107655802849072010-01-30T15:00:00.002-05:002010-01-30T15:06:12.698-05:00Blogathon 2.0!For anybody who reads my blog who might not be aware (this might be about three of you), the guys at <a href="http://furiouswedge.blogspot.com/">Furious Wedge</a> are running another edition of their 24 Hour Blogathon today. The main thing they're covering is the 24 Hours of Daytona, but they're also going to be touching on the Australian Open Men's Singles final, the X-Games, college basketball, and just about anything else you can think of that's going on right now. It was a ton of fun last year, and this year they're going bigger and better. I'll be back again to lend my "Geeky Thoughts", but there'll be a cast of thousands from across the blogosphere there as well. In addition, there'll be a live chat going on during the last hour or so of the TV coverage on Speed, which will be followed up by some international Mario Kart Wii. It's going to be a blast. Anyway, I'm signing off from here for the next 24 hours, but I'll be posting over there as much as I possibly can between all my other obligations at home.<br /><br />See everybody at <a href="http://furiouswedge.blogspot.com/">Furious Wedge</a>!The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-25571630274193936652010-01-10T15:35:00.011-05:002010-01-10T22:39:38.131-05:00Should Fans Call the Shots in Daytona?I am at a loss.<br /><br />NASCAR, after years (specifically, 2001 through 2006) of research, introduced a new specification car in 2007. This car, dubbed the "Car of Tomorrow", has undoubtedly improved the safety of the sport through the introduction of new thinking and new technology. The CoT moved the driver's seat inboard and added additional crush structures to the sides of the car. It also made provisions for larger window openings, in order for drivers to get out easier in the case of fire. There could be no question from any halfway rational fan of racing that any of these developments were positive.<br /><br />However, the CoT has come under fire from many camps because of the way they look and the way that they race. The question of aesthetics is simply that, a question of what one individual thinks is attractive and what another doesn't. I, personally, am in the small group of fans who don't mind the new car. Frankly, the old car had morphed from something that very closely resembled machinery that you could buy in a showroom to a car that was unlike anything seen outside of a local short track. People have derided the new car for the same reason, but the people who want to go back to the old car constantly ingnore the fact that the old car didn't look anything like their street car, either. The new front splitter and new rear wing have also been derided, but as somebody who also likes sports cars and touring cars, both of which have carried splitters and wings for years, I actually sort of like those things.<br /><br />As an additional factor, the wing was also introduced as an easy way for NASCAR to better adjust (and lessen) the rear downforce of the CoT and a way to better manage the air that flows over the car in the instance of the cars spinning and travelling down the track backwards. In short, when turned backwards to the direction of travel, a wing will allow some air to flow underneath it (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing">this is how a wing works</a>, with airflow over both surfaces) and escape over the roof, whereas a spoiler will not. This escaping air would lower the pressure under the rear of the car, thus lessening the tendency of the cars to flip over, and thus making the racing safer. Additionally, the wing end plates would spoil some of the air flowing over the rear of the car, where a spoiler has no end plates.<br /><br />As for how the new aerodynmics have affected the way the cars race, this is an ongoing source for debate. Many people bemoan how the cars can no longer run nose to tail, and the preponderance of "aero push", caused by air no longer reaching the front of a trailing car. What people forget is that the old cars also had terrible aero push. The new cars are also more dependent on mechanical grip for their overall balance (due to NASCAR reducing the overall level of downforce on the CoT), and so teams have been experimenting with radical suspension geometries and setups: coil-binding, sway bars, and the like. What people easliy forget is that teams had already been experimenting with these things before the CoT was even introduced, so the CoT has actually changed this aspect of the sport very little.<br /><br />This week (<a href="http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/spencer-wings-are-for-planes/">and before</a>), there has been <a href="http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-major-changes-being-mulled-at-nascar/">much talk</a> of NASCAR getting rid of the wings and front splitters, probably because of input from the fans. I've read hundreds of comments and blog posts and dozens of calls into Wind Tunnel over the last two years to the effect of "the cars are ugly! The wings look stupid! Bring back the spoilers!" Look, folks. Those splitters and spoilers were introduced for a reason. Can any of these commenters or bloggers please do some lateral thinking and then tell me what will happen if the spoilers are brought back? I'm thinking not, mainly because the CoT has never been fully tested with spoilers instead of wings and splitters. Jimmy Spencer (in the first of those two columns I just linked to) spent an entire column saying that wings are terrible and are causing all sorts of problems. However, he presented no evidence of what the wings are actually doing, and showed absolutely no awareness of how the wings even work. At one point, he even blamed the wing for Joey Logano's flip at Dover, a flip that occurred at far below normal racing speed (he'd already hit the wall and slid along it for a couple hundred yards before flipping) and with two cars piledriving him into the wall. Yet Jimmy, who admits in his column that he is not an engineer though he certainly pretends to know better than those of us who actually are, claims that the flip would never have happened if there'd been a spoiler on Logano's car. OK, Jimmy! Got some wind tunnel data to back that up, then? No?<br /><br />I only hold up Jimmy Spencer's column because it has been so symbolic of what I've heard so much from many NASCAR fans in the last year. Many of these opinions are not based in any sort of reason, and many of them have not taken into consideration the effects of what they've suggested. So, then, should NASCAR use these comments and complaints to change what they're doing on and off the track? I'm going to sound like an asshole here, but who should be designing the aerodynamics of a race car, a group of aerodynamic engineers with a wind tunnel at their disposal or a high-school educated backhoe operator who calls into Wind Tunnel every week to bitch about how bad the new car sucks?<br /><br />In a similar vein, NASCAR appears to be considering <a href="http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-major-changes-being-mulled-at-nascar/">wholesale changes</a> to the way they police their races at the restrictor plate tracks at Daytona and Talladega. Among other things, they may be bringing back allowing bump drafting in the corners and opening up the apron to allow cars to race below the yellow line. I'm sorry, but I thought that those two rules were introduced in the effort of improving safety. People seem to be claiming that passing will be improved and increase if those areas are opened up. You know what will definitely increase if they allow those things? Giant wrecks that knock peoples' favorite drivers out of races and reduce the spectacle of racing through increased yellow flag laps. You know what will increase passing? BANNING BLOCKING!<br /><br />Getting rid of a no-talent tactic that decreases passing and makes the sport more dangerous? <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2009/05/good-call-bad-call.html">What a revolutionary thought</a>.<br /><br />Michael Waltrip went even further this week in <a href="http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-mikeys-modest-proposal/">suggesting that each lap led at the plate tracks should be worth one point</a>. Sure, this may encourage people to try to get to the front of the pack instead of riding around in the back like Jimmie Johnson did this fall at Talladega (though his goal was not to lead but to survive until the end), but what happens for the people at the actual front of the pack? Leaders are apparently already allowed to do whatever they like to keep cars behind them, but if you start rewarding laps led with extra points without also banning blocking, you will see a huge increase in blocking and possibly even less passing. And that's fun to watch, right?<br /><br />This may be a bit presumptuous, but I thought that Brian France, Mike Helton and Gary Nelson were each getting paid millions of dollars per year to make tough decisions about the safety of their sport. In fact, they're all getting paid to think about these things as their full time job. The fans, though? Many of them do not understand what actually happens on the race track. Watching Wind Tunnel for a week or two should illustrate that point quite nicely. So, why are they potentially putting the safety of the drivers (and fans) in the fans' hands?<br /><br />Look, NASCAR can do whatever they want, and they certainly don't have to listen to me. Lord knows they sure haven't so far. But the idea to allow the fans to dictate what they do, either for aesthetic or un-thought-out emotional reasons, is a terrible precedent to make. If you need to make concessions to the fans (as some folks, drivers included, <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/drivers-debate-possible-rule-changes-car-racing-also-debate-danica">are saying</a>), then reduce ticket prices or give away free t-shirts. But, if this is what NASCAR is going to resort to, allowing the fans to make new rules and decrease the safety of the sport, then they better be prepared to install torture racks at every track, for whenever Kyle Busch makes contact with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-72738769669526924952009-12-18T19:19:00.004-05:002009-12-18T19:28:05.486-05:00An Introduction's In Order<div>World, meet Senna Renee Miller, the newest of the Speedgeek Clan.</div><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416736511472417266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbR3v9ErliSZ2cyMkqgUNuIIxxOERpZ_pY8y8oOOJToh8FS97t5X4OidgVl69hgQDZheZkMPoHO34fJeD3LG98QOOF9JvgGMJgPR1uVzAUIke4JbP17zV58dI4KtlOg71ngoDlg/s400/P1000951.JPG" /><br /><div>Born December 18, 2009 at 4:47 AM, 7 lbs. 9 ounces, 20 inches long. Coming soon to a racetrack spotter's stand near you!</div>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-70301453546593775472009-12-16T12:16:00.003-05:002009-12-16T12:34:37.777-05:00Indy's New Schedule - Nice Try, Better Luck Next YearIndianapolis Motor Speedway announced yesterday a <a href="http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=15562">raft of changes</a> to the Month of May. You can read about the particulars elsewhere, but here’s a quick summary of what they announced:<br /><br />Opening Day – Saturday May 15 (includes Rookie Orientation somehow, it’s unclear how at this time)<br /><br />Practice – Sunday May 16 through Friday May 21<br /><br />Pole Day – Saturday May 22<br /><br />Bump Day – Sunday May 23<br /><br />Carb Day – Friday May 28<br /><br />Race Day – Sunday May 30<br /><br /><br />First, I’ll give them props for moving Opening Day from a Tuesday to the weekend. That was a no-brainer, <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2009/05/good-call-bad-call.html">in my opinion</a>, and something that should have been taken care of this year.<br /><br />I’m going to keep the criticism very short and sweet, due to some severe time limitations on my part that’ll keep me out of the loop for several days here. In my opinion, this is not the most thought out schedule that IMS could have come up with. What we got is seven days of practice and two days of qualifying, way more practice than what’s needed for two days of qualifying. To boot, any team that would have been prone to doing a “second week” program for additional car or cars after putting a primary car or cars into the race on the first weekend will no longer have that option. With the new schedule, they will be trying to get their primary cars into the race early on Saturday, and then they’ll have a matter of mere hours to put together additional efforts, where before they had several days.<br /><br />Here’s the schedule I would have gone with, as I <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10031074">wrote in to Trackside’s website</a> back in May of this year:<br /><br />Rookie Orientation Program – Thursday May 13<br /><br />Opening Day – Friday May 14 (perfect for folks looking to play hooky)<br /><br />Practice – Saturday May 15<br /><br />Pole Day (first 21 grid slots) – Sunday May 16<br /><br />Track Closed – Monday May 17 through Wednesday May 19<br /><br />Practice – Thursday May 20 and Friday May 21<br /><br />Day 2 Qualifying (positions 22 through 33) – Saturday May 22<br /><br />Bump Day – Sunday May 23<br /><br />Carb Day – Friday May 28<br /><br />Race Day – Sunday May 30<br /><br /><br />You want days on track cut back, so that teams aren’t spending as much money on track time? My pre-race schedule has seven total days of pre-Carb Day track time, eight if you’re doing ROP. The actual new schedule has nine. Mine’s one better. When are the fans most likely to come out to the track? In my opinion, that’s for qualifying, since not too many people are liable to come out for just practice. My schedule has three days of qualifying, as opposed to the actual schedule’s two. Again, one better. Less practice, more qualifying. With my schedule, there can be “second week” deals aplenty, as the teams that qualify on the first week have plenty of time to work out terms and then try to get up to speed. The actual schedule gives you less than 24 hours, from “ink drying on the contracts” to “in the qualifying chute”. My schedule is short of pre-Pole Day practice, but really, any team that’s trying to get into the first seven rows won’t need seven days of practice to tune and tune and tune (as the actual schedule has). Both schedules have days built in for weather delays, though I prefer where mine fit (Pole Day can be Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, and still leave time for second week deals).<br /><br />Again, props to IMS for trying something to save the teams (and themselves) some cash, but this could have been better executed.The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-73694630893506670152009-12-10T18:12:00.006-05:002009-12-11T09:37:22.458-05:00A Tale of Two DriversTwo stat lines:<br /><br />81 career starts; 1 win; 3 poles; 5 podiums; 13 races led; best season points finish of 5th<br /><br />84 career starts; 1 win; 2 poles; 6 podiums; 13 races led; best season points finish of 6th (twice)<br /><br /><br />Startlingly similar lines there, huh? Who can tell me who those lines represent? The first one might be familiar to anybody who’s been paying attention to IndyCar news, and all of the IndyCar blogs with their chatter about this week’s <a href="http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/nns-patrick-coming-to-nascar/">JR Motorsports announcement</a>. That’s right, the first line is the summary of Danica Patrick’s career IndyCar stats, from her debut in 2005 through now in 2009. Her level of success to date and her potential for future success have been hot topics ever since…well, right about the time she strapped into one of Bobby Rahal’s Panoz-Hondas. And now, she’s going to be tackling NASCAR in a limited format next year, with a debut in February’s ARCA race at Daytona, and then a slate of races in Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Nationwide car, whenever it doesn’t intrude on her IndyCar duties with Andretti Autosport.<br /><br />Danica’s place in IndyCar and motorsports history is far from determined. People struggle on a seemingly daily basis to figure out where she stands in today’s driver hierarchy, and therefore what her projected success rate might be in NASCAR. Most people would agree that she has not been as successful as Dario Franchitti has been in IndyCar. Dario had a horrible time in his brief NASCAR career in 2008, but most people can also agree that he was not in very good equipment, nor on a particularly competitive team. The same can be said all the way around for Sam Hornish Jr. Danica is likely to be given moderately better equipment, relatively speaking, than Dario or Sam, given that JR Motorsports is basically an offshoot of the dominant Hendrick Motorsports. But, what is she going to do with that equipment?<br /><br />It’ll be a tough row to hoe for her, as her complete prior experience in race cars in excess of 2200 pounds is limited to one start in an ALMS-spec Ferrari 550 Maranello in 2003 and two starts in the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Daytona Prototype in 2006 and 2009. That’s a pretty limited roster of experience in relatively low-downforce, heavy cars. It’s not going to be an overnight transition for her to get up to speed in any kind of stock car, ARCA, Nationwide, or otherwise. Nobody should expect any wins from her in a stock car in 2010, or probably even in 2011, given that she’s only making a dozen or so starts this year.<br /><br />To complicate matters, she is also planning on maintaining her “day job” in the IndyCar series, which means that she’ll be doing a fair amount of jumping back and forth between a high-downforce 1600 pound car and a low-downforce 3400 pound car. Is that going to help her case in IndyCar? I’m…more than a little dubious on that.<br /><br />Let me get this out there now: I am not a Danica hater. I’ve actually been a fan since her Barber Dodge days, though I’ve sure wished that she’d won more races (of any type) by now. This piece is not meant to be a demolition job on her career thus far, nor should it be taken to mean that I’m either guaranteeing or rooting against her success in NASCAR. It’d be nice if she could win some races over there, and show that an above average IndyCar driver can be competitive, given top-line equipment. However, I remain unconvinced that Danica Patrick is going to be a breakthrough star, transcending gender and sporting lines, and draw more fans into NASCAR or even into IndyCar (though she remains one of IndyCar’s marquee names).<br /><br />Why is that? Well, let me get back to those two original stat lines. I’ll admit, I cheated just a little bit when I came up with the second line. That’s not representative of that driver’s complete career, though it does only omit two top-5 finishes that came in that driver’s last five years in CART. The years that those stats call out are 1981 through 1987, and the driver’s career that they represent is Kevin Cogan’s. That’s right, <a href="http://www.race-database.com/driver/career.php?driver_id=kcoga1">THE Kevin Cogan</a>, who is largely known as something of a punchline nowadays, and who Robin Miller regularly refers to as “that damn Coooogin,” as A.J. Foyt allegedly called him at Indy in 1982.<br /><br />Let’s have a closer look. Cogan burst onto the IndyCar scene with a spate of good finishes in 1981 and 1982, including a 4th at Indy in 1982 in his first full year in an IndyCar. Danica burst onto the IndyCar scene in 2005 with a couple of good finishes, led some laps at Indy, the first ever by a female, and finished 4th at Indy. Cogan made an early signing to a top team, Penske, for 1982. Danica signed on to a top team relatively early in her career, Andretti-Green, for 2007. Cogan made a high-profile, possible “rookie mistake” crash at Indy in 1982 that took out several drivers, including Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt. Danica made a high-profile, possible “rookie mistake” at Indy in 2005, taking out several drivers, including Tomas Scheckter. Cogan nearly won the Indy 500 in 1986, but was passed by Bobby Rahal with less than ten laps to go. Danica nearly won the Indy 500 in 2005, but was passed by Dan Wheldon with less than 10 laps to go. Cogan followed up a long debut period of no wins by winning his 54th IndyCar start in his 6th season. Danica followed up a long debut period of no wins by winning her 50th IndyCar start in her 4th season.<br /><br />Where did Cogan go from his strongest season in 1986? That season, he won the first race of the season at Phoenix, nearly won Indy, and finished 6th in the points. From there, Cogan never finished in the top-10 in IndyCar points again, though he was still driving for Pat Patrick’s team in 1987, as he had in 1986. Thereafter, he drove for smaller, less competitive teams, and never really had much of a shot at the top of the sport again. He had a solid career, all in all, even if his early promise never really panned out.<br /><br />Danica’s career is far from over at this point, but her results have not really backed up the amount of attention that she’s received. The question is: how can she avoid becoming this generation’s Kevin Cogan, a driver who possibly commanded more attention than his results really warranted? A good start for Danica would be to ensure that she stays in a ride that’s capable of winning races. As long as she’s at Andretti, that will be the case, but if she starts to seriously sniff around at running NASCAR more than a dozen times per year, no front-line IndyCar team will want to put her in their car. Top (read that: championship- and race-winning) IndyCar teams are generally only interested in drivers who can compete for championships. If Danica starts to run NASCAR races during the IndyCar season, her chances of winning an IndyCar championship will be over, even if she might be able to score an occasional fluke-y win for a smaller team. Nobody has been able to successfully switch between an IndyCar and a stock car on a regular basis since Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney did it in the 1960’s, and Danica’s far from the level of those legends of the sport.<br /><br />Danica can do whatever she wants, clearly, but if she wants to be remembered as a racing driver who could do more than just win a race once in a blue moon, she’s going to have to concentrate on one thing. And if NASCAR doesn’t pan out, sooner rather than later, that thing that she’ll need to concentrate on should be IndyCar, the type of car that she’s been training to drive since she was a small girl. Otherwise, 20 years from now she’s liable to be largely remembered as a novelty racer who appeared in some commercials and couldn’t deliver the goods. A lot like Kevin Cogan.<br /><br /><em></em><br /><br /><em>Note: Huge thanks to Sean at <a href="http://www.race-database.com/">Race-Database.com</a> for the fantastic one-stop racing statistics shop that he's built. I couldn't have written this without it. If you haven't seen his site, head over there now. Just make sure you've got a couple free hours to spend.</em>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-37428290678089692482009-10-30T10:41:00.006-04:002009-10-30T11:11:33.032-04:00An Open Letter to TracksideFor last night’s <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/">Trackside</a> show, <a href="http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/">Curt Cavin</a> and Kevin Lee solicited ideas for increased visibility for the IndyCar series. What they asked for were quick, sound-bite-y ideas, but anybody who’s read even one of my posts knows that brevity is not my strong suit. Big thanks to Cavin and Kevin for reading the Cliffs Notes version of my ideas on the air, but for anybody who might be interested, the full text of my letter is below.<br /><br /><br />Kevin,<br />Many thanks to you and Curt for opening up the “what does IndyCar need to do?” debate for your show listeners. Hopefully, we’ll get some good ideas out there, and maybe some high-up folks will get something to carry forward. I’ve banged on about some of this on both my blog and others’ blogs (George Phillips’s <a href="http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/">Oilpressure</a> blog, for instance), but I’ll try to do some show-friendly nutshell ideas here:<br /><br />1) Possibly the most important: increased driver visibility. The most visible people associated with the League are the drivers, so let’s get them out there more. Autograph sessions and Tweet-ups at the tracks are a good start, but the people attending those are likely already fans, so that’s not necessarily enough to bring in new fans. What’s needed is getting the guys (and girls) out in front of some new eyes. There’s plenty you could do here, but I’ll confine my idea to just the following. As an example, the late Stan Fox came to my high school in Wisconsin back in the early ‘90s (’92 or ’93, I think) to speak about highway safety. I’ll not elaborate on the <a href="http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/irl/55614">horrible, horrible irony</a> involved there, but I know for certain that between his visit, the short IndyCar video that was played before his speech and the Menard’s show car they displayed outside the gym, there were some very interested (impressionable) minds turned toward the 500 and the IndyCar series the next season. What I’m suggesting is an IRL-sponsored highway safety campaign, done in cooperation with high schools who are either local to IRL races or just scattered around the Midwest, for ease of displaying a show car along with the driver’s speech and Q&A. If every driver could be required to do five of these per season, that’d be 100 or more events per year, times several hundred kids per event. I’m sure that somebody could work up some quick numbers for the break-even point of appearance costs versus additional ticket sales, but I’m thinking it wouldn’t be more than a couple thousand extra seats total for the whole year (and this doesn’t even include the potential increase in TV viewership, since that’s harder to nail down). As a residual effect, sponsors would also be displayed to new audiences, through footage on an associated video and through what the drivers wear to the event (be it race suit, polo shirt, Geico gecko or Ronald McDonald costume [ha!], or whatever), so there is value added for them as well.<br /><br />2) Holding down costs in order to attract more teams and potentially increased competition. The next generation of cars needs to be made cost effective so that existing teams can afford to ante up for new equipment and so that new teams can be persuaded to come over from other forms of motorsport (Lights, Atlantics, GrandAm, ALMS, etc.). This can be done by standardizing the design of the carbon fiber tub among the chassis manufacturers, but also by limiting the amount of carbon fiber that’s used through the rest of the car. Aluminum and aluminum honeycomb are nearly as lightweight as the carbon equivalents, but less than half the cost. And, as carbon is used more and more in other areas (aeronautics, mainly), it’s not getting any cheaper. Limit the use of carbon fiber to the tub, the sidepod covers and the engine cover, aluminum for everything else (floor, wings, etc.). More teams in the series and the reset in chassis data for all teams (especially Penske and Ganassi) that comes with a new car means more teams that are potentially able to compete at the top of the leaderboard. That’s good for fan interest.<br /><br /><br />3) New manufacturers will bring more eyeballs to the series, through increased interest from domestic ALMS and F1 fans, and through the increase in advertising that the new manufacturers would likely bring (newspaper ads, TV spots, etc.). There does not need to be a huge escalation of cost with the addition of new manufacturers. First, and with the consultation of the potential new manufacturers, commission a standardized engine control unit with a limited scope of engine control. F1 has recently done this with McLaren Electronics and GrandAm recently accomplished this with Bosch. In both of those cases, the standard controller effectively outlawed traction control, so this would achieve the same for the IRL, along with a turbo boost limit, a limit on the number of engine maps (thereby ripping out the fuel knob, as <a href="http://pressdog.typepad.com/dogblog/">Pressdog</a> likes to say), etc.. With this in place, engine manufacturers can still attempt to show their technological superiority through means that are expanded from the current spec-engine format, but in a more limited manner than the wide-open late-‘90s. As a side note to this, I understand that a full-season engine lease deal for a Mazda 2-liter turbo engine for the ALMS is under $100,000, and that’s with them using their own ECU and only two cars in the series (i.e. basically no economies of scale). If that’s the case, then why can’t IndyCar set a target for a season lease for a similar engine with a standardized ECU from all of the new manufacturers at $500,000-600,000? That would be 50-60% of the current one, wouldn’t it? Between this limit and making the chassis more affordable (see item #2), you encourage new teams to enter the sport while addressing the financial concerns of all of the current teams by bringing down the price to play. Meanwhile, new manufacturers bring their advertising budgets to the table, along with their activation and increased fan interest.<br /><br />There’s plenty more that can be done, I’m sure, but these three things are my pet ideas. Upon re-reading all of that, it looks a little long-winded. Please feel free to edit as necessary for brevity, or simply hang onto all of that for posting on <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/">The Fan</a> website if you prefer.<br /><br /><br />There you have it. Any thoughts on any of this? Anybody?The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-46457928186752095442009-10-25T18:16:00.009-04:002009-10-25T22:10:16.941-04:00NASCAR = Nitwits Against Safety; Crashes Are Rad!Is there a faction within NASCAR who have decided that safety is about the sixth or seventh priority for their drivers, crews and fans? That would be sixth or seventh behind profit, "entertainment" value, profit, column inches written, profit, and maybe t-shirt sales?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2009/09/20/cup.lou2.high.final.nascar/index.html?MostPopular">Five weeks ago at New Hampshire</a>, A.J. Allmendinger spun out of turn four when coming to the white flag. NASCAR allowed the entire field to run nearly the entire lap before half-heartedly throwing a caution flag when the leaders were coming out of turn four. The "reason" given for doing what they did was that NASCAR wanted to give Allmendinger a chance to restart and get going again. This is absurd. The leaders were all separated by several carlengths, and Allmendinger getting restarted would likely have given very few drivers a chance to take a shot at the driver in front of them on that last lap. Meanwhile, Allmendinger barely got rolling again amid a huge cloud of tire smoke, the field packed up accordion-style coming out of turn four and NASCAR got away lucky with just a couple of cars with bent sheetmetal. Let me repeat that: NASCAR got lucky. Can you imagine what the result would have been if Allmendinger hadn't quite gotten going, then somebody had come down the front straight, unsighted by the cars in front of him, and plowed at full speed into Allmendinger's driver side door?<br /><br />After the lessons "learned" at Loudon, I'd have thought that that scenario would not play out again for quite some time, if ever again, even if NASCAR seemed to fail to understand that they'd done something wrong when they made statements about the situation in the press. <a href="http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2009/10/25/cup.mar2.high.finalb.nascar/">I was wrong.</a> For the second time in the last six races, NASCAR failed to throw a caution flag on the last lap of a race while a car sat stationary on the front straight, boradside across the track. This week at Martinsville while coming to the white flag, John Andretti spun coming out of turn four with a little help from a couple of other cars. Yet again, NASCAR allowed the entire field to run the full lap, at a track where the leaders would be arriving on the scene in 10-15 seconds. This is not a time or a place to trust that a driver is going to get a hot race engine restarted in a time-effective fashion. The only difference this time is that NASCAR never did throw a yellow flag, though they yet again got lucky in that the only result was some bent sheetmetal by cars packing up while trying to avoid the stationary Andretti.<br /><br />I am certain that the "reason" that will be given for both of these events is because NASCAR wants races to finish under green flag conditions. I understand that, though I've made it patently clear in this blog on <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2009/05/good-call-bad-call.html">several</a> <a href="http://speedgeek.blogspot.com/2007/02/as-ive-been-saying-would-happen-for-two.html">occasions</a> in the past that the desire to finish the last lap, or last half of a lap, or last turn at the expense of drivers' safety is idiotic. I remain convinced that a Green-White-Checkered finish will kill a driver, or worse yet, a fan or several fans, at a restrictor plate race sometime in the near future. We have had huge accidents on the last laps of the last two restrictor plate races at Talladega and Daytona this year, one with a car getting up into the fence and injuring several fans and the other with a car coming dangerously close to doing the same.<br /><br />What has been NASCAR's response to these accidents? Nothing. Not "no more black and white decisions about yellow line infractions" and not "no more blocking allowed". Nothing. NASCAR is simply crossing its fingers that the accidents that we've seen are the absolute worst case scenarios and that nothing bad will ever happen again.<br /><br />There is no question that the first priority for racing sanctioning bodies should be the safety of the fans, followed by the safety of its drivers. Failure to ensure that your fans are safe from flying race cars is an invitation to be bankrupted by a litigous group of families who have had family members who have been killed at one of your events. No disclaimer that's printed on the back of a ticket stub will prevent a talented prosecutor and a sympathetic jury from relieving a sanctioning body of tens of millions of dollars. Or, prevent congress from instantly stopping all of your activities, should they find that there was something that could have been done to prevent the massive loss of life of patriotic taxpayers.<br /><br />It's not 1950 anymore, NASCAR. It's not enough to put SAFER barriers on all of the walls of your tracks and come out with a car that's marginally safer than your last one and then call it a day. Unless you continue to take action to ensure the safety of all of your participants, you deserve any bad things which come your way in the future. Here's hoping that I'm wrong and that you're right in your inaction, but I doubt it.<br /><br />Let's see what happens at Talladega next weekend...The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-30526528187394472912009-09-03T13:01:00.002-04:002009-09-03T13:08:35.932-04:00Why GrandAm Shouldn’t Race at IMSGrandAm is testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway today, and circulating rumors (including those mentioned by Curt & Kevin on <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/">Trackside</a> this week) say that there could be a <a href="http://www.grand-am.com/">GrandAm</a> endurance race at IMS in 2011. People will tell you things about how endurance racing won’t work there, because the track doesn’t want to release fans into the surrounding neighborhood late at night, and things like that, but let me add some more points to the list of why GrandAm should not be let onto the grounds to stage an actual race.<br /><br /><strong>1) The cars are not viewed by ANYBODY as the most sophisticated in their field.</strong> IndyCars are the fastest single seater cars that run anywhere in the US. Formula 1 are the fastest cars that turn right and left anywhere in the world. MotoGP bikes are the motorcycle equivalent of F1. NASCAR Cup cars are the fastest “stock cars” anywhere, and the top-drawing form of motorsport in the US. These are the types of events that belong at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. GrandAm cars are not the fastest sports cars in the world, and are not even the fastest sports cars in this country. The Grand Am GT cars are basically at the same level of speed as the newly introduced GT-Challenge class in the American Le Mans Series. This GT-C class did not even run at Mosport last weekend, because the closing rate between it and the cars in the prototype cars was judged to be too great to be safe. That does not sound like the sort of car that should be on the track during a “feature” race.<br /><br />Similarly, the GrandAm headlining Daytona Prototype cars are only marginally faster than the GrandAm GT cars, and in fact, sometimes struggle to get through slower GT traffic, due to insufficient straightaway advantage and microscopically better braking. If your headlining cars are only 1-2 seconds per lap faster around the track than the under-under-undercard Porsche Supercup cars that graced the Speedway back in the USGP years, then you probably ought to stay home.<br /><br /><strong>2) There is no proven fan following of the GrandAm series, either in Indianapolis or anywhere else in the US.</strong> When NASCAR arrived at the Speedway in 1994, it was obvious that there would be a sell-out, as NASCAR’s popularity was clearly in the midst of a 20+ year upswing. When F1 arrived in 2000, there was no question that well over 100,000 tickets would be sold, since American F1 fans had gone without a US Grand Prix for eight seasons, and were starving for a chance to see F1 cars on home soil again. Add to that the factor that tickets would be far cheaper than tickets for any of the European rounds, so there would be many fans coming over the Atlantic for a relatively inexpensive racing weekend in Indy. On the other hand, can anybody tell me what the biggest crowd has been for GrandAm during the entire Daytona Prototype era (2003-now)? 25,000? 20,000? Possibly far less? Why should anybody expect that GrandAm at Indy would draw well in excess of double the largest previous crowd in series history? Even if they did draw 50,000 people to the Speedway somehow, how embarrassingly empty would the grounds look, at only 15-20% full? And would even 50,000 ticket sales be enough to justify all of the costs incurred simply by opening the gates (yellow shirts, security, EMTs, concession workers, clean-up crews, the electric and utility bills)? Unless your face values start at $200 a piece, then I’m thinking probably not.<br /><br /><strong>3) When GrandAm shares a track with NASCAR for a weekend, it is always treated like a 4th class citizen.</strong> At Daytona this year, during 4th of July weekend, the GrandAm cars had to practice, qualify and race all in one day, with the two hour race itself starting SIX hours before that night’s Cup race. How many Cup fans do you think came out to the track six hours early watch a bunch of guys they’d never heard of driving cars that don’t appear to be going as fast as Cup cars? I’m thinking not too many. At Watkins Glen last month, the same sort of thing played out, with the GrandAm race starting two full hours after Cup qualifying had wrapped up. Given the choice between staying at the track for 2-4 extra hours to watch GrandAm and going into town to get dinner, how many NASCAR fans do you think chose the former? Just last weekend, when sharing the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with NASCAR’s #2 series, GrandAm was relegated to running its race on Saturday, so as to not impede on the “fantastic” “racing” of the Nationwide series (material for another blog post sometime, though you should check out <a href="http://www.mynameisirl.com/2009/09/weekend-to-remember-and-other-thoughts.html">Declan Brennan’s take on the weekend</a>). Anyway, if NASCAR, whose parent company ISC also owns GrandAm, doesn’t see fit to bill the GrandAm series at least as highly as the Truck or Nationwide series, then why should such a clearly lower run series be allowed to be a clear #1 for a whole weekend at the Speedway?<br /><br /><strong>4) GrandAm does not appear to be a series on the rise, but in fact seems to be a series that’s withering away.</strong> Let’s look at average car counts in the headlining Daytona Prototype class:<br /><br />2006: 26.1 cars entered per race<br />2007: 19.9<br />2008: 18.9<br />2009 (so far): 16.9<br /><br />The current rumor is for a GrandAm race to run at the Speedway in 2011, as part of the Centennial Era celebration. Are we so sure that the series is going to be around that long? If it actually makes it two more years but the trend continues, who is going to come out to watch 10-12 DPs and a dozen or so GTs run around for 6-12 hours? Won’t that look kind of silly?<br /><br /><br />Look, I love racing. The more, the better, as far as I’m concerned. However, there is something special about Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For 83 years, only the Indy 500 took place there. For the last 15 years, only top-level motorsport events have come to town. But, once you open the gate to clearly inferior forms of motorsport, then where do you draw the line as to who to let in and who gets shut out? If GrandAm gets to run, do you also kowtow to future overtures from NASCAR to run Nationwide and the Trucks there? Does the Speedway circle a date for <a href="http://www.scrafan.com/isw/main.html">Indiana Sprint Week</a>? How about karts or quarter-midgets? They’d be cute to watch there, right? On the other hand, if they’re going to start running autocrosses on the front straight, complete with a Chicago Box on the yard of bricks, maybe I should shut up and start thinking about booking my hotel room for 2015…The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-25353191954369038822009-07-06T23:11:00.005-04:002009-07-06T23:26:18.075-04:00Elaboration<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Tahoma;font-size:11px;"><div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;">From the Watkins Glen IndyCar lap chart and memory:</span></span></div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;">Lap 41: Justin Wilson and Mike Conway stop, pitting from first and second, respectively. New leaders are Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon, all covered by roughly a second.</span></span></div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;">Lap 42: Helio stops. ABC cameras show the stop, then show Helio cruising down pitlane. The Turn 1 camera picks him up, pans back to allow Wilson into the frame, both cars are approaching Turn 1, but it’s not clear who’s going to win the race to Turn 2, or how far back Conway might be. Our screen cuts abruptly to Briscoe and Dixon back at about the outer loop, separated by roughly 4 car lengths.</span></span></div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;">Lap 43: Having followed Briscoe and Dixon around to the pits, and Marty Reid/Scott Goodyear having not even speculated on who might have won the race between Wilson and Helio to Turn 2/3 or the bus stop, Briscoe makes his stop. ABC cameras show the stop, then show Briscoe cruising down pitlane. The Turn 1 camera picks him up, pans back as if to show Wilson and/or Helio running parallel to Briscoe on the track. We never get there, because the screen cuts abruptly to Dixon negotiating the outer loop BY HIMSELF. The cameras follow Dixon all the way around to the pits, while Reid/Goodyear continue to crow about how this stop is the deciding factor of the race. Well, guys, there have already been four stops made that were just as decisive, and we got to see exactly zero pit exits. Oh, also we haven’t actually seen Justin Wilson on the screen for roughly three minutes now.</span></span></div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;">Lap 44: Dixon pits and exits, and we finally get to see where all of the cars are relative to each other, while Reid/Goodyear utter the name “Wilson” for the first time since probably Lap 42. We’ll have to wait another 5-6 laps to hear the name “Conway” again. Thanks, ABC. The most riveting four lap sequence of the entire season to date, and you got roughly 10% of it right (showing the pit stops themselves).</span></span></div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="x_MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;">That, friends, is a master class on how to ignore everything that everybody has learned about how to cover road racing in the last 20+ years, and how to unnecessarily infuriate every single knowledgeable fan who has managed to find the race on your network. As mush as I and my blogger brethren have railed on the IRL about the need to fix the current generation of racecar (which they are already taking some baby steps toward doing), they absolutely MUST sit down with their long time broadcast partner and lay out what is expected of them. No more brain dead directing, and far less comatose commentary, at a minimum. If they can't deliver these things, it's time to start looking for escape clauses in their network TV contract.</span></span></div></div></span>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-57866044578564157732009-07-05T22:56:00.003-04:002009-07-05T23:06:47.828-04:00Two Quick Post-Glen Thoughts1) If a race has come down to the last round of pitstops (as it appeared to have done today), and how the cars come out of the pits relative to one another, it might be a good idea to see where the cars, you know, actually come out of the pits. Watching the cars exit their pitboxes, get almost down to the pit exit and (with the other direct competitors also on screen, just the other side of the pitwall), then cutting abruptly away to cars that are on the complete opposite side of the track and who are either not vying for position or running along by themselves...maybe not such a good idea. Doing this on consecutive laps, leaving us to wonder for a solid 3-4 minutes who is ahead of who among the cars who have pitted? That is very, very not cool...ABC Sports.<div><br /></div><div>2) Yeah! Big, huge ups to Justin Wilson and the entire Dale Coyne Racing team! As a guy who thought very strongly about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Wilson#Investment_scheme">buying into Justin's career</a> when he was in F1 (and which I would have done, had I not been flat broke at the time), this was probably the best thing I could imagine happening in today's IndyCar scene. As you can imagine, I'm biased there, but I defy you to find me anybody who's ever said anything bad about the guy, or anybody who was pulling against Coyne, 558 races deep into his IndyCar career without a single win. Just awesome, and I hope that all of the warm fuzzies generated this weekend can last us for several weeks. Hey, we'll probably all be bickering about the downforce levels of the cars again come Kentucky, but a guy can dream, can't he?</div>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-40936130191112389972009-06-18T18:59:00.003-04:002009-06-18T19:10:12.761-04:00What to do?<p class="MsoNormal">OK, I’ve been sitting on this post for quite a while now, probably too long, since the uproar after the non-race at <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:state> has been somewhat forgotten and died down by now. But, I wanted to get some thoughts out there before this weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway and before tonight’s <a href="http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/">Trackside with Cavin and Kevin show</a>, when they’re going to be tackling this same subject with Larry Curry of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>To briefly reiterate the point that I’ve read and heard all over TV and the blogosphere since the Texas IndyCar race: IndyCar’s current oval racing largely sucks. There is very little side-by-side racing, no pack racing, and basically no passing is possible unless you have a huge performance advantage over the car in front of you. Two of those things, the first two, I don’t necessarily think we need to have in the sport. If we wind up with side-by-side or racing in packs, that’s fine, but the thing that I think is potentially lethal to the series as a whole is the inability of cars to pass each other.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>It’s been well documented that Ryan Briscoe led roughly 518 laps at Texas and at one point held a 96 second lead, however, once he was passed by Helio Castroneves in the pits, he was unable to find a way back by. Fishy, no? Seems like somebody who is able to pull away from the entire field<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>while supposedly still conserving fuel should be able to complete one pass (even if it’s one on his teammate for the lead) in the final 30 laps of the race, especially if it’s on a track that has long been renowned for its spectacular competition. It was the same sort of thing that we saw at <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kansas</st1:place></st1:state>, and most of the day at Indy: you make a pass in the first lap or two after a restart, or in the pits, or you’re cruising around holding your position, unable to make much of an impression on anybody in front of you. There were a few exceptions to this rule (Oriol Servia and Townsend Bell at Indy, Marco Andretti at <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:state>), but nothing like the ability to pass that we’ve seen at any other point in the history of the series.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>What do we do? First off, let me say that something absolutely must be done. The next generation of cars are not due to appear until 2012, or maybe even 2013. That is a long, long time from now. Judging by the discontent in the blogosphere, among people who are long time hardcore proponents of the sport, people are going to start walking away or turning the channel. (Personally, I'm going to skip Iowa this weekend, even though the fact that it's a short track means that the racing might be better. If it turns out to be another woofer, I don't feel like going to my third sub-par oval race this season.) If TV ratings do not increase past where they are now (and if the racing continues not to inspire fans, they won’t), there will likely not be a 2013 for the League. Sponsors will evaporate, teams will close their doors, and then we’ll wind up with four red and white cars driving around with 5-6 guys following them around, laps behind.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>For starts, I’d like the League to acknowledge that we have a problem. It’s pretty clear that nobody, not myself, not Robin Miller, not Jack Arute, not Andy Granatelli, knows of a silver bullet that will fix the racing overnight. An overnight fix is probably not even possible. But, I’d sure hope that Tony George, Brian Barnhart, Tony Cotman, Terry Angstadt, and whoever else at the IRL is ordering food in every night, locking themselves in a conference room on 16<sup>th</sup> Street, sleeping under their desks, calling every technically minded person they know and burning the midnight oil, until they can hatch a plan to make next year markedly better than this year.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Let me get them started: aerodynamically-induced understeer is keeping drivers from getting close enough to the car in front to attempt a pass. OK, where does most of the problematic turbulence come from? The wings. Get Dallara started on making smaller, less effective wings, right now. Hey, Dallara, you got an exclusive contract to build the next generation cars, right? You wanna see that next generation actually come to light? Then help fix the one we’ve got now. Cut the wing-produced downforce by 10-20%, and work on instituting ground effect tunnel blockers to cut another 10-15%. You need some help on that? OK, <a href="http://www.autoracing1.com/MarkC/000801AeroProposal.htm">here you go</a>. I found that on The Google in 0.25 seconds. Search “cart+tunnel+blocker” for more info there, or ask <a href="http://www.adrianreynard.com/">Adrian Reynard</a>. There, it’s a front wing, a rear wing and some underbody parts. You’ve got about four months to do the design work, and then a further 5-6 months to crank out enough parts for all of the teams.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>What is all of that going to fix? Drivers will be able to follow closer than they can now, and the good ones will be able to set up and complete passes like they could before the days when the cars were pinned to the track by over a ton of aerodynamic assistance. It’s true that it’ll probably be even harder for people to go side-by-side than it is now, but I think all we’re really asking for is passing. Side-by-side for lap after lap after lap isn’t actually all that fun, really. Watch NASCAR at <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Talladega</st1:place></st1:city> this fall. Is it thrilling? Sure, but only because you’re waiting for somebody to do something dumb and spark a 30 car pileup. We’re looking to avoid that in the IndyCar series, since a multi-multi-car pileup would likely result either in a car getting in the grandstands, or a team going out of business due to a huge repair bill.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Next, most folks think that the current cars don’t have enough power. Well, Honda has a perfectly good 4.0 liter V-8 engine that they’re using in <a href="http://www.americanlemans.com/">another series</a> right now, but rumor has it will be on a shelf collecting dust next year. Some minor tweaks will make that compatible with oval racing, given that it’s a development of the 3.4 liter LMP2 engine, which was in turn a development of the Honda IndyCar engine. <a href="http://www.mulsannescorner.com/AcuraARX-02.html">Some sources</a> say that the 4.0 liter is good for “620+ HP” breathing through restrictors, so taking the restrictors off should be good for at least 700. 50+ extra horsepower over what we’ve got now is a good start. Plus, that engine is designed to run for 12+ hours, so reliability shouldn’t be a problem. Swap the 4.0 liter in for the current 3.5 liter, and let’s see which drivers can handle the extra power. Also, with all of that reduced downforce from above, we’ll be looking at straightaway speeds of at least 5-10 MPH more than what we’re currently getting, plus visible acceleration out of corners. Fast is good, right?</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">OK, next, get Firestone on the line, and tell them to make the tires softer, and maybe even a little wider. Reliability problems, you say? Well, three paragraphs ago, I took 20-35% of the downforce off of the cars. That’s a lot less vertical force on the sidewall, and subsequently, a lot less horizontal strain on the tread in the corners. Soften up the tires and we might get some side-by-side back, plus it’ll force drivers to be careful about abusing their rubber. Beat on your tires too much, and you’ll be vulnerable to the smooth guys (and girls) before your next pitstop, just like with the current option tires on the road courses. I’ll hear no talk about “marbles” here. They’re already a problem that is getting no better, even with Firestone making harder tires every year, so you might as well go the other way and see if you can improve the show.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There you go, the entire Dallara-Honda-Firestone package re-imagined in under a dozen paragraphs. It’s possible that this formula would produce racing that’s no better than the 2009 product. But, can we really afford to knowingly accept two more seasons of what we’re currently getting?</p>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-88558172739513885322009-05-24T08:11:00.004-04:002009-05-24T08:26:40.960-04:00Quickie 500 PredictionsAfter some troubles with Blogger yesterday (i.e. trying to reload it for 45 minues, while it simply refused to work), I've only got time for a couple of quick race morning Indy 500 predictions.<br /><br /><div><div>Obvious Pick: A red and white car. OK, you want more specific than that? Well, Penske had three of the top five cars on Carb Day. That said, I don't think that Will Power is quite as quick (or experienced at avoiding trouble) as the other two guys, so he's out. That leaves Helio and Ryan Briscoe. Helio's having a dream month: stayed out of jail, won the pole, fastest on Carb Day, won the pit stop competition. Seems like a good time for a clean sweep? I say no. The fairy tale ends here, though he's likely to still finish top-5. I'm taking Briscoe. Nobody's been better since mid-season last year, and he's ready to take home the big one.</div><br /><div>Dark Horse Pick: This one, I always wait on until race day. This year's pick isn't maybe quite as dark as my usual dark horses, but I'm taking the kid that's starting 4th. I clocked Graham Rahal with my stopwatch doing mid-221 mph laps for four consecutive laps on Carb Day, even in light traffic. The kid is ready to win another race, and I think he's just fast enough to win the 500.</div><br /><div>Any way you slice it, it ought to be a good day and a great race, even if the odds are that one of the guys below will wind up being the one ultimately smiling...</div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339365651754845938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 254px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSV47VeuRPL1a1cfI08xGkc4SbvRNoIGxVjgIj7gMFXZsB_BiqxIu7PQrt1qSz9SehKASfyv2OJK3dPWBKDx6QNU7ERXc8r7yM3hZpopGyh-L-_n2Jx8DfWAN8uOC6ppPb-buog/s400/Chip+and+The+Cap%27n.jpg" border="0" />Enjoy the race, everybody!</div>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-53602615933931779702009-05-05T21:41:00.004-04:002009-05-05T23:19:02.551-04:00Good Call / Bad CallGood day, everybody, and I mean that in the most literal sense. Cars (IndyCars, thanks very much) ran today for the first time in the Month of May 2009. That means that it's time for me to hum "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" over and over in my head for three and a half straight weeks. And it doesn't get old, either.<br /><br />I've decided to introduce a new periodic entry here on my corner of the Interwebs. It's a little something that I'd like to call "Good Call / Bad Call". Bear with me and I think you'll get the hang of it.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Good Call:</strong> The FIA hands down a <a href="http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21427.html">"suspended penalty"</a> on McLaren for Liegate.</span><br /><br />As I covered here earlier, McLaren had done several things to atone for the "sin" of lying about something that happened during the Australian GP.<br /><br />1) Given up the six points Lewis Hamilton had theoretically scored for third place in Melbourne.<br />2) Fired Team Manager Davey Ryan.<br />3 (unofficially) ) Declared the effective resignation of Ron Dennis from the F1 team.<br /><br />That's plenty. No need for a three race ban, or a 30 point constructor's championship penalty. McLaren's already in rough shape this season, and plenty of teams have gotten away with taking liberties with the truth in the past (like when Felipe Massa lied to the stewards at Monza in 2006 about getting held up by Fernando Alonso in qualifying, and Fernando got penalized grid positions in the race). Let's get on with the racing.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Bad Call: </strong>The opening two days of practice at Indianapolis are on a Tuesday and a Wednesday.</span><br /><br />Huh? I realize that they're trying to condense the schedule for the month of May, thereby limiting the amount of mileage (and expense) that the teams pile up, but...wouldn't it make more sense to have opening day be on a weekend (Sunday, let's say), then you have a couple of days off, then a couple of days of practice, then Pole Weekend? How many spectators were at the track today? 30? 40? How many are going to be there tomorrow? About the same? Meanwhile, how many people were forced to watch the proceedings through live timing and scoring and Twitter while at work, when they'd have gladly shown up in person if that whole nasty "job" thing didn't get in the way? I'm guessing the answer to that is "more than 40".<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Good Call:</strong> The triumphant return of Johnny and The Duke on the <a href="http://livefastracing.blogspot.com/">Live Fast Racing Podcast</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br />I Twittered about this a couple of weeks ago, but it bears repeating: go download their latest show from April 9th, right now. They pull no punches, put up with no BS, and tell the truth, always. Let me say it again: go download their latest show. Now.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Bad Call: </strong>Widely respected and revered (by me, as well) PR Supremo / Motorsports Writer / Blogger Michael Knight going "<a href="http://spindoctor500blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/twits.html">full coot</a>" about Twitter.</span><br /><br />Dude, there may be a lot of imposters on Twitter, but...what's the harm in that, really? Nobody's selling illegal merch or asking for credit card numbers on there, or really sullying anybody's name for real. Besides, most of the dumb ones are pretty easy to sniff out in a few posts. On the other hand, getting live, real time Tweets from race teams from trackside, and being able to chat with all of your online "racing buddies" during races...that's really cool. Besides, the <a href="http://twitter.com/maxpapis">Real Max Papis</a> is, like, always on there.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Good Call: </strong>Some amount of variation in the car paint schemes at the Speedway.</span><br /><br />Yes, some of them look like they're advertising for <a href="http://www.indy500.com/photos/2009/05/05/926/Rookie_Orientation_Program/80183">Pepto</a>, and some may look like they're going to be REALLY trying to <a href="http://16thandgeorgetown.blogspot.com/2009/05/wheldons-new-indy-paint-scheme.html">sneak up</a> on people on race day, but at least we haven't had announcements for 15 new red-white-blue or red-white or all-black cars in the last week. Danica's at least staying <a href="http://www.mynameisirl.com/2009/05/danicas-car-has-been-found.html">distinctive</a>, with her splashes of orange, even if I still stand by my statement that her teammate Marco Andretti is going to look pretty <a href="http://16thandgeorgetown.blogspot.com/2009/04/marcos-venom-car-unveiled.html">anonymous</a> in an almost all-black car. A few more cars are yet to be announced, but there are <a href="http://16thandgeorgetown.blogspot.com/">quite</a> <a href="http://www.mynameisirl.com/">a</a> <a href="http://furiouswedge.blogspot.com/">few</a> <a href="http://mvn.com/indyracingrevolution/">folks</a> who are tracking the paint schemes. Keep an eye there for the new stuff.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Bad Call: </strong><a href="http://www.indycar.com/">IndyCar.com</a>, for not turning over all website decisions and content editing to the good folks at <a href="http://silentpagoda.com/">The Silent Pagoda</a>.</span><br /><br />The Silent Pagoda crew are the only people out there who are willing to print the real behind-the-scenes stuff that we all want to read. Like the <a href="http://silentpagoda.com/blog/2009/03/16/hvm-racing-tears-gaping-hole-in-fabric-of-universe-unbridled-awesomeness-ensues/">conversation</a> that would have happened between EJ Viso and Ryan Hunter-Reay, when they were slated to share a car at the barber Motorsports Park test.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Awful Call: </strong>"We are constantly evaluating safety initiatives."</span><br /><br />This was the line from NASCAR VP of Communications Jim Hunter put out there after Carl Edwards almost wound up in the laps of 200 of his closest friends at Talladega a couple of weeks ago. The basic reaction that I've read from <a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/9509284/Making-sense-of-the-Talladega-madness">NASCAR</a> and a lot of <a href="http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-the-beast-strikes-again/">NASCAR-focused media</a> is that "a car knocking another car up into the fence is basically the worst-case scenario, the sport is dangerous, people come because it's more dangerous than baseball, and there'll never be a way to make the sport perfectly safe". Some of those things are true, but I would say that one car getting into the fence is not even close to the worst-case scenario. It's not 1955 anymore. If a car were to get into the stands nowadays, on national TV, and in our litigious society, there wouldn't be much in the way of talk right now about Darlington or Indy. There would be talk about who within NASCAR is slated to be appearing in front of Congress this week. This is not worth tempting fate over. Something must be done, even if that something isn't exactly clear, but motions must be made to at least look into what could be done to improve the situation. A couple of <a href="http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/2009/4/27/fumes.html">other</a> <a href="http://spindoctor500blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/dealing-with-talladega-aftermath.html">people</a> have <a href="http://turn-lane.blogspot.com/2009/04/lets-not-miss-point-on-talladega.html">tackled</a> this <a href="http://turn-lane.blogspot.com/2009/04/on-talladega-options-and-safety.html">topic</a> as well (and much better than I have or will), but the fact that we haven't seen NASCAR make promises that they are locking people inside their multi-million dollar tech center to try to figure out how to make the sport safer says an awful lot about where the actual priorities lie with that sanctioning body.<br /><br />What could they do? Let me get them started:<br /><br />1) Cut 500-600 pounds off of the minimun weight of the cars. Race cars do not need to weigh 3400 pounds, and material science has proceeded past the days when chrome moly steel was "high tech". 3400 pounds worth of steel carries a lot of energy, and therefore can deliver a lot more damage than a 2800 pound car can. Cut the weight of the cars and then work on dialing back the speed so that lap times are roughly what they are today.<br /><br />2) BAN BLOCKING. NOW. The culprit of the Edwards Talladega accident is not a product of the yellow line rule, or even restrictor plate racing. It's a product of the attitude that NASCAR has fostered for the last 10-15 years that it's OK for a driver to do anything to protect his position, even if it's weaving down every straightaway, cutting up or down in the middle of turns, or trying to stuff other drivers into the infield on the last lap. That must end. Write a rule that says: if you make more than one move per straightaway to change your line, you will get an immediate drive through penalty. Do it on the last lap of the race, and we're docking you three laps in the scoring. Do it three times in a season, and you're sitting out a race. The racing will improve because people will be able to complete passes, and safety will improve because people won't be actively trying to stuff other people into the wall every chance they get. In fact, if NASCAR were to introduce such a rule, I think that many other sanctioning bodies worldwide would follow suit, and the racing world would be better off for it. Blocking rant over.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Great Call: </strong>It's the month of May. Go see a race. Enjoy it.</span>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26349415.post-83895150831192261152009-04-28T21:49:00.008-04:002009-04-28T23:19:22.566-04:00Wrappin' Up Kansas<div style="text-align: left;">I hope that everybody enjoyed their weekend, and that the Versus coverage of the Kansas IndyCar race was as good as it has been for the first two rounds of the season at St. Pete and Long Beach. From what I read, it sounds like it probably was, though I haven't had the chance to go through the DVR and see for myself. For now, I'll trust what I've read and heard.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>As for me, I had a fantastic weekend, getting to my first in-person race of the season. Mrs. Speedgeek and I headed southward on Saturday at about noon. The plan for us all along was for just Sunday at the track, as the Mrs. is OK with one day at the track, but not so much with two days. Fair enough. In the meantime, we figured we'd go hang around <a href="http://www.countryclubplaza.com/">The Plaza</a>, do some serious posing with the glamorous types down there, and get some fantastic barbecue in the bargain.</div><div><br /></div><div>About that last part, if you haven't tried Kansas City barbecue, or if you have and think that the "original" dive-y places are the only spots where you can get some serious quality meat 'n' sauce...I must heartily disagree. For my money, <a href="http://www.jackstackbbq.com/">Fiorella's Jackstack</a> is where it's at. Their meat is incredible (I love the pork <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_ends">burnt ends</a>), the sides are out of this world (especially the Hickory Pit Beans), and the atmosphere is upscale-ish, but not snooty (jeans and such are welcome; there were a dozen guys there on Saturday night in Chiefs jerseys, celebrating NFL Draft Night). All of that and more, and for around about Famous Dave's prices. It can't be beat.</div><div><br /></div><div>With that plug out of the way (thanks for the free rack of ribs! I wish...), the Mrs. and I had to head down to try out the new Fiorella's branch down on the Plaza. As we were walking in the door, I saw a group of three people coming up behind us, and one of them looked vaguely familiar, as far as I could tell out of the corner of my eye. We put our names in at the hostess's stand, and started to get out of the way for the folks behind us, so that they could do the same. This time, I heard the guy behind me say, "Table of three please. Name? Dan." in a nice, thick British accent. Uh, I think that guy might be famous.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, 2005 Indy 500 champion Dan Freaking Wheldon representing, and here to enjoy some of the world's finest barbecue! I wish I could say that I played it cool, said a quick hello and good luck, but after 10 minutes of sitting across the bar and listening to Mrs. Speedgeek telling me to just go over there, I couldn't resist. As a guy who grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, where the biggest local celebrity is the Pure Water Days Festival Princess, I have a tendency to turn into Chris Farley on "<a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/4186/saturday-night-live-the-chris-farley-show">The Chris Farley Show</a>" around actual celebrities. This day would be no different. I don't think I sounded like too much of an idiot, and I think I limited my stammered pleasantries to 15-20 seconds worth, so I suppose the encounter was a success. Oh, also he signed my race ticket.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOB8QNdHaEjQdWE0LpJh3QgDzaQoktv1bzE1pj0wKnTSIZY8Xmvlo4lSd6GlE4Q1-SlB98x4zdFiNoOrqQBOrsW2ZItd_8Ex3VfSsNrwpHgBgopnowa4SdnAcRoJYc2-msrD-QHQ/s1600-h/Wheldon+Ticket.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOB8QNdHaEjQdWE0LpJh3QgDzaQoktv1bzE1pj0wKnTSIZY8Xmvlo4lSd6GlE4Q1-SlB98x4zdFiNoOrqQBOrsW2ZItd_8Ex3VfSsNrwpHgBgopnowa4SdnAcRoJYc2-msrD-QHQ/s400/Wheldon+Ticket.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329931892119090402" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I have to say, Dan is very pleasant, has a very firm (dare I say, Danica-esque) handshake, and his teeth are slightly less dazzling than they appear on TV, but still made me want to go buy a case of whitening strips. No, I did not notice his shoes. Sorry.</div><div><br /></div><div>OK, barbecue and pleasantries out of the way, on to Sunday morning. We were enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning, chillin' at the breakfast buffet at the Hampton Inn, lounging around our room, etc., when I took a second to see if the <a href="http://pressdog.typepad.com/dogblog/">Pressdog</a> had posted any updates from the track yet that day. <a href="http://pressdog.typepad.com/dogblog/2009/04/live-from-kansas-42609-part-1-schedule-changes-and-weather-watch.html">He had</a>. Off to the track we go, honey!</div><div><br /></div><div>We arrived to the Speedway around about 10 minutes after the Indy Lights were to take the green, but things seemed eerily quiet. As I'd find out later, the race had been stopped in order to clean up a particurlarly nasty wreck early on in the race. As a result, I cruised into the track just in time for a restart on around about lap 20. Not bad. Meanwhile, Mrs. Speedgeek was happy to let me run ahead (which I did, and I'm probably still a little winded for it), and she'd catch up with me later. As it turned out, she'd get turned away at the gate a little later for trying to bring in a couple of mini-umbrellas, and so she went back to the car to nap and read for a bit. Don't worry about her, though. She was OK with that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, the Lights race wasn't a whole lot to write home about. The wind seemed to really play havoc with a lot of the cars. There were a couple of pretty big hits in turn 3 and 4, as the wind was pushing the cars up the track there. Ana Beatriz made a great save while attempting to make a pass for the lead with 10 or so laps to go, and only lost two positions, though she ran out of time (and handling and/or confidence in the car, it looked like) to make either of the places up. Sean Guthrie got parked for coming out of the pits on cold tires, catching up to the pack in turn 3, where there was a clean up effort in progress for Pablo Donoso's accident, locking up his brakes and barely (like, I mean, by a matter of inches) missing a safety truck. He complained loudly about "another dumb IRL decision" on the PA, and is currently doing the same on his team's <a href="http://avocadoamr.com/avocado-teamdriver/sean-guthrie">website</a>. Sorry, Sean, but cold tires or not, that was dumb. Nice win for Sebastian Saavedra, though.</div><div><br /></div><div>IndyCar practice started shortly thereafter, and it was fantastic to get a good look (and listen, and smell) at the cars for the first time in 2009. The cars, I think, maybe don't look quite as zoomy as the Panoz DP01 did, but I'm really not complaining. Time has been fairly kind to the Dallaras, though I certainly wish we were getting new cars before 2012. The new mufflers are great. The cars are noticeably quieter, and the sound is a little higher pitched than it used to be. Not exactly like what a lot of us grew up with in the '70s and '80s, but not too far off. I'll take it. And the smell of the new sugar-based ethanol...it gets me going, and I think it's a little more pleasant than last year's corn-based stuff was. We'll leave it at that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, also I took pictures.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CAGCvUVL9WpY5DSMZ6NBUYGo1Ky0RgRd6gdcvhsge3-rSMs7YE3v1HTHLm76kAMebveGfB7sK8Nyh_Skn04wXnkupu3n3JuMfgcZZnYyaAprd8M_8gr32tDy6eLpfocpus7bXQ/s1600-h/Indy+Practice+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CAGCvUVL9WpY5DSMZ6NBUYGo1Ky0RgRd6gdcvhsge3-rSMs7YE3v1HTHLm76kAMebveGfB7sK8Nyh_Skn04wXnkupu3n3JuMfgcZZnYyaAprd8M_8gr32tDy6eLpfocpus7bXQ/s400/Indy+Practice+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329940465797276258" /></a></div><div>Welcome back, Sarah. Here's hoping we see a lot more of you from here on out.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ28t9xOxsOADIB2dmdvv9LhmQ71ShzMEFbL67ScC0o3Uekpov6N1HdaEbR2lUvgRT3Z8GcKVqREpa3hTCVgRNwZpQEsOn7dMD-gpfxkNoBr3UK2iDerJavZKwCMN5INBK4_qiA/s1600-h/Indy+Practice+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ28t9xOxsOADIB2dmdvv9LhmQ71ShzMEFbL67ScC0o3Uekpov6N1HdaEbR2lUvgRT3Z8GcKVqREpa3hTCVgRNwZpQEsOn7dMD-gpfxkNoBr3UK2iDerJavZKwCMN5INBK4_qiA/s400/Indy+Practice+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329940706581209602" /></a>Marco's new paintjob. I'm sorry, but that's some weak sauce, bro. Another black car? It's going to be rough at Indy telling his car apart from Will Power's and Danica's.</div><div><br /></div><div>On to the race. About an hour and a half before race time, as the Mrs. and I sat in the car (there was a three hour break between the end of practice and the start of pre-race festivities; there aren't nearly enough merch trailers to fill three hours), I noticed that the wind had changed from a southwest-to-northeast direction to a south-to-north direction. This gave me hope that we'd at least get some laps in, if not the whole race, as most of the storms in Kansas were to the southwest. As it turned out, we got the whole thing in. Hooray for changeable midwestern weather. I don't think any of us expected that on Sunday morning. I'm sure that this is what held down the crowd, and I hope that that doesn't get held against the place in the future. I'd have put the place at about 20-25% full, with sections near start-finish pretty full, and sections by us near pit-in about 5% occupied. With the weather being what it was, including nearby tornados on Saturday, I don't think we could have expected any better.</div><div><br /></div><div>This recap is stretching to novel-length, so maybe I'll just hit some high points from here on out. The first half of the race stayed pretty interesting, with Dixon making his way forward, a couple of teams doing a minor variation on pit strategy (if you can call going five laps off sequence a variation), Dario and Helio making their way forward, and Graham Rahal looking reeeeeealllly racy, given his very limited background on ovals. That kid is good, and he's going to be around for a long time. I like it. Someone who I have decided I do not like (again) is...Milka. That woman was in the way all day, and did not seem to be able to keep to a single line. Big surprise there, I know, but I guess I was hoping she'd have learned something by now. I think that Dario was hoping for the same, since I saw him give her "the wave" as he lapped her once, after she'd held him up for a couple of laps. This same actually can't be said for the other "differently speeded" driver of the series right now, Stanton Barrett. I didn't see anybody struggle to get by him all day, and that's good. He can stay.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second half of the race, though... Let me refer to last week's post: I'm not somebody who requires every race to be a "Chicagoland in 2007 or 2008" instant classic, but...that was pretty boring. I know that there were extenuating circumstances (20-40 mph wind gusts) and that everybody was just hoping to survive the day with an intact car, but there really wasn't a whole lot to watch in the last 40 or so laps. I even resorted to getting the stopwatch out to check gaps between cars (most gaps were getting bigger, constantly), and other than one or two passes, not much actually took place. Things got pretty passive-aggressive at times, like when Helio spent 5-6 laps trying to get around the outside of Tony Kanaan, only for Tony to ever so slightly edge up the track every time at the entrance to turn 1, thereby foiling Helio's moves. A couple of other folks did some similar things (Danica, Dixon, probably just about everybody else), nobody really doing much blatant blocking that I could see, but what did transpire didn't make for very compelling watching. I'm not complaining, mind you, I'm just hoping that this isn't a harbinger of what's to come later in the season on the other mile and a half tracks.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, it was a good weekend. We did get 200 laps of racing in, when I woke up hoping to get maybe 40. I did get to hear Sean Guthrie taking the IRL to task for parking him when just about everybody else on the grounds agreed with the IRL folks (believe me, that was the consensus near me in the stands). I heard the phrase "Enjoy the race" from more track personnel (vendors, concession folks, ticket takers) at Kansas than I think I have at every other race that I've ever been to, combined, and as corny as that sounds, it actually made an impact on me. Everybody there wanted us to come back in the future, and to bring all of our friends. That's cool. I'll be back, and I hope to see a lot of familiar folks there in years to come. If you treat me nice, I'll even introduce you to Dan Wheldon.</div>The SpeedGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515637541673575394noreply@blogger.com1