I almost never go to the movies. I really don’t- I think that the last movie I went to was Les Miserables when I went to see it alone on my birthday (despite being sick as a dog) because I wanted to see it one more time on the big screen before it went out of the theaters. It’s not that I don’t WANT to see movies mind you- I will see a preview for a movie and think to myself…HEY!! That looks REALLY good (or REALLY funny).   I always want to see movies if I think they have ANYTHING to do with racing but I also like a little bit of action and of course I tend to like romcoms (extra points if you are an action romcom about racing- I am ALL over that).  I will either forget about that movie by the time it comes out until I see it again on the shelves at Target or at the check-stand at the grocery store or I can’t find anyone who wants to see that particular movie because I have weird tastes in movies. Or I am not in the mood to go to the theater and have the experience spoiled by someone who is ____ (enter offensive behavior here: Talking, kicking my seat, crying, etc).

Case in point: Turbo. It looks adorably cute! AND YES I KNOW IT’S A CARTOON- but it still looks cute.  Who doesn’t love the classic underdog storyline? I am a sucker for it…and a snail that wants to win the Indy 500?! CUTE!  I would like to see it.  I don’t want to have to fight throngs of children to do it (I know it’s a kid’s movie– you don’t have to leave me a comment reminding- I do KNOW this and I am not anti-child really- I love the little boogers. I am anti-parents-who-don’t-watch-their-kids). Plus movie theaters on the weekends where I live make me want to shove popcorn down my throat until I asphyxiate because of all the people- especially around here where there isn’t really anything better to do than to go to the movies. Don’t worry- I probably WILL see it ad nauseum once it comes out on DVD since I have three nephews all three of whom seem to have a love of things with wheels (or wings or both).  Anyway- today I found out that IRL drivers Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Ryan Hunter-Reay all consulted on the movie.  That makes me want to watch it more- how do you even consult on a cartoon- aren’t cartoons all fantasy based anyway? I seriously doubt that there is a real life snail out there that thinks it can win the Indy 500!

(Photo Credit: Universal Pictures – Director Ron Howard’s Formula One-based film, “Rush,” will be in American theaters on Sept. 20 picture found on Autoweek.com)

But then there are movies that MUST be seen on the big screen at least once. I have a feeling that RUSH is going to be one of those movies.  I already want to see it in the theater and you can be dang sure I probably will.  It’s got the racing. It’s got the action. From the preview I saw it looks like it’s got some interesting cinematography.  It’s not hurt ONE bit by the fact that one of the main actors is Chris Hemsworth because well hey he was THOR and I liked him in the Red Dawn remake- despite the fact that I went into the remake wanting to hate it because YOU DON’T MESS with a classic like Red Dawn!   Oh and Ron Howard and F1…and well it’s got great potential! I can’t wait…this one has me looking forward to it. A lot.

What are your favorite race movies? What are you looking forward to seeing?

The Race by Gina Fava

When books get offered up to me to read and review for my readers here at BadGroove- I do it with trepidation because everyone has books that are their “type” and books that aren’t their taste.  I realize that just because I enjoyed delving into that particular author’s world doesn’t mean you will.   I do try to keep the books that I do review at least loosely related to racing of some sort- whether that be fiction or non-fiction- since that is the main focus of BadGroove.   When I agreed to review THE RACE by Gina Fava- I did so with my usual reserve, knowing only that the book’s main character was an F1 driver and well the title was THE RACE so…it sounded like something I might like to read.

The first thing I did when I got it is that I read the back jacket- which as most do gives an overview of the plot of the book (I will be giving you my own soon).  I will tell you this- if I had been browsing at a bookstore (something- unfortunately I do much less than I would like because there aren’t really any bookstores around here- isn’t that sad?) I would most likely NOT have picked up this book. Judging by the synopsis on the jacket I had already decided that this book was probably NOT my thing and thus was going to be a chore to read- and likely review.  However, since I had already promised a review and I didn’t really have anything else to read- I decided to give it a start and let me tell you I AM SO GLAD I DID! Lesson learned: Not only can you not judge a book by it’s cover- but sometimes not by it’s synopsis either. Or maybe I enjoyed reading this particular book because it was a little bit different than what I usually read. Either way- I think you will enjoy this book. (more…)

Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, races Jamie McMurray, driver of the #1 Cessna Chevrolet, and Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Bass Pro Shops / Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 6, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images North America)

Qualified: 13th

Finished: 2nd! WhooHoo- that is nearly a win and I will take it!

Race Winner: Jimmie Johnson

Points After Daytona: 1oth- six points over 11th, and 159 out of first. Houston, we are back in the top 10!

My Mood After Daytona: How could I not be happy with a 2nd at Daytona?!  (more…)

I just wanted to alert you to two fabulous opportunities you have to interact with NASCAR drivers next week ONLINE!

First one is on July 10th on Facebook. Fans have the chance to interact with NASCAR legend Richard Petty and his driver Aric Almirola.  Aric will host a Facebook chat with King Richard Petty live on Wednesday July 10th at 3:00 PM (EDT) on the STP Facebook page.

And STOP THE PRESSES- Tony Stewart (our favorite driver and beloved twitter-aphobe that we all know and love) will be doing a TWITTER CHAT!  From what I can tell it looks like he will be taking over the Indianapolis MotorSpeedway twitter account (@IMS) at some point on July 11th. There wasn’t a time listed- but you can start asking questions to him now using #SuperWeekend.

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, practices for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway on June 28, 2013 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo Credit: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images North America)

Qualified: 25th

Finished: 20th

Race Winner: Matt Kenseth

Points After Kentucky: 16th.  Sigh. 22 points out of 10th, and 153 out of first- another tumble.

My Mood After Kentucky: Not good.

Unfortunately I really don’t have much to say…so here are some pictures from the race that I dug up surfing the web: (more…)

(If you are looking for the 2013 Sonoma Race Diary please go here)

If you know me, read this site, are facebook friends with me, follow me on twitter, instagram etc-  then you know two things about me for sure: I love NASCAR (and fast cars in general) and I have a “thing” for photography. I do not necessarily consider myself a photographer- but I do like to roam around with a camera snapping pictures of this, that and the other.  I do do some post production work in LightRoom- but what I have learned in both photography and LightRoom is pretty much self taught (lots of trial and error) with some guidance from my dad who also dabbles. (more…)

Wow am I late with this race post- but as happens with nearly all races I attend in person- I go to the race- have a blast and then come home and slammed in the face by “reality” when I get back. Sigh. Plus I took 1800+ pictures myself,  with Misty taking an additional 650+ pictures.  I had to then weed through them and process some of them for the blog- which takes time as I am sure you can imagine! A big  thank you to all of my readers for being so patient.

Sonoma Racway 2013. (Photo Credit: Amy K. Marbach)

Misty and I get to Sonoma Raceway early on Friday, pick up our respective credentials, park in lot M as directed by the parking attendants (which in both Misty and I’s opinion seem to be the BEST at nearly any track we have been to thus far), shuttled to the media center- found our respective spots (schwing- right next to each other- no having to ask about swapping and BONUS we had front row window seats that looked out onto pit road and what would eventually be Greg Biffle’s pit stall) and then we headed towards the garage area before it got to crowded. (more…)

First let me congratulate Larry Armitage who was the winner of the GoBowling.com 400/Pocono Raceway Swag prize package.  Random.org picked number 4 and Larry was the fourth commenter on the post. Congratulations Larry- your prize package should be on it’s way to you soon!

And now for the housekeeping part!  Yes I was at the race in Sonoma (I am really starting to love that track).  On the plus side? I took 1802 pictures (not counting the ones I instagrammed through out the weekend). On the not-so-plus side? I  was using a new-to-me camera (a Canon 5D Mark II) and a new-to-me lens -so while some of the pictures came out AWESOME…some also came out not so awesome. I have been going through them and will have them along with the race report up as soon as I can- I have been a bit slammed at the day job so the last thing I want to do it go home and edit pictures (cropping is my friend)!