(photo source: Zimbio.com/Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images North America)
They don’t call Dover International Raceway the Monster Mile for nothing… and Sunday provided the NASCAR Monster Energy Series with quite the challenges. The concrete mile presents its own unique set of racing issues…and it always has. Have you seen the trophy? It’s of the concrete monster mascot, Miles. (more…)
I am a NASCAR fan- but moreover I am a motorsports fan and there is no day quite as good for us motorsports fans as May 28th. It’s a day of solid motorsports- starting with Monaco in the wee (for a weekend day) morning and ended with NASCAR’s version of the endurance race, the Coca-Cola 600. And sandwiched in the middle was the ultimate event in all of motorsports- the Indy 500.
(photo source: Zimbio.com/Chris Graythen/Getty Images North America)
I will be the first to admit that as much as I love motorsports- I also love sleep- so I didn’t catch much of the F1 race in Monaco (remember I am on the West Coast). But I caught every lap of the Indy 500. There is just something about the race that makes it special- so special I will even sit there and watch the pre-race pomp and circumstance that surrounds it- and I will do it with glee in my motorsports loving heart. I agree with the people online who state that “Back Home Again” without Jim Nabors is just not the same. It totally isn’t. I am pretty sure I am the only native born Californian (who had never even been to Indiana) who knew the words to it in elementary school. It was because when I was a kid- I looked forward to the INDY 500 with great abandon. Bubble Day was my favorite qualifying day and I would sit there on the edge of my seat waiting to find out who would make the field and who would be bumped. It was my thing.
I found this year’s Indy 500 to be much more exciting than those of Indy 500′s in the recent past. There seemed to be more racing for position and less follow the leader train style. THAT is what I look for in a race to make it exciting for me. I like to see people passing each other…trying to pass each other. It was a good race with an exciting finish. What was NOT exciting was the Jay Howard/Scott Dixon crash- for many reasons. I was of course rooting for Jay Howard (and Pippa Mann) since he was the Team OneCure driver…but that withstanding that accident was horrifying. With all the safety measures taken across ALL forms of motorsports it’s easy as a fan to become complacent when it comes to the dangers associated with all forms of racing. And while it was wonderful to see that driver capsule hold strong around Scott Dixon- it was scary to see the car take flight like that and come crashing down nearly cockpit down on the retaining wall…only to then roll and indeed land cockpit down on the pavement before righting itself. I was sure we were going to see him removed on a stretcher. When he got out of the car and WALK to the ambulance. Wow.
After a walk of the dogs and doing some other chore like things in between I sat down ready to start the second half of my motorsports day and I was just as excited. This is NASCAR’s version of the endurance race- it’s 600 miles! That is THE longest race. And I know some people don’t like the long races- honestly most of the time I am one of them…but I still think there needs to be at least one 600 mile race. It’s a whole different skillset for the drivers. Just like I am a hearty believer in the road courses- I love road courses because they again require a whole other skillset of the drivers. Do I think the resin helped the 600? Yes I do. I saw lots of passing and racing for position. What didn’t help was the rain delay- but that happens. I am glad it wasn’t along delay as far as rain delays go. It rained and they were able to get the track dry and the race underway in an hour and forty minutes or something like that? That’s pretty quick for a weather related delay. I am thankful that the air titans where there to help with that and get the race back underway.
Now that I consider myself a fan without a driver I necessarily pull for- I find fuel mileage races more exciting I will admit that. It’s a part of racing- who figured out their fuel mileage the best. Who was able to each out that extra little dribble of fuel in their car? Congratulations go to Austin Dillon’s team for doing just that.
(photo source: Zimbio.com/Sarah Crabill/Getty Images North America)
Now let’s talk about the post-race event that everyone seems to want to talk about- Kyle Busch’s short comment in post-race media. “Nothing surprises me any more. Congratulates. *mic drop*” As always there are people on both sides of the fence with Kyle’s comments. I can see and acknowledge both sides of it. I see he’s obviously disappointed. He’s probably hungry (I agree with Dale Jr) and tired. The last place he wants to be is answering questions about a race he REALLY wanted to win but didn’t. Yes it’s his job and he should meet all his media obligations as part of that job. Does it bother me? Not really. He was rude. People have bad days. He was in a bad mood. I am not going to defend his actions but I am not offended by them either. It is what it is and I take them at face value. Drivers say things in the heat of the moment and the face of defeat out of their passion for the sport- as a Tony Stewart fan this is something that I know and expect from drivers so it does not bother me. This behavior and passion for his sport is what makes Kyle Busch Kyle Busch and without a Kyle Busch the sport would be boring.
Now I want you to ready for this because I am probably going to blow some socks off here- because I am about to defend Brad Keselowski. After the media got a hold of Kyle’s words, Brad tweeted something to the effect of him not being sure that Kyle Busch’s behavior is the way to define “hating losing” and that he should probably just keep his mouth shut but he “was taught to hate losing by working harder next time, not by being disrespectful to others.” That is Brad’s opinion and it’s articulately voiced. Andy Graves, a Toyota Racing Development executive got involved and tweeted at Brad that “should have just kept his mouth shut.” That was totally uncalled for in my opinion. You either like Kyle or you don’t. You either like Brad or your don’t, but as an executive representing a manufacturer in the sport I think you should be held to a slightly higher standard in how you voice your opinions. (You can watch Kyle’s comments, read Brad Keselowski and Andy Grave’s tweets in one place here in this article on Fox Sports: NASCAR).
Indy 500 drivers that impressed: Fernando Alonso
Indy 500 drivers that disappointed: I am going with a manufacturer instead: Honda
Coca-Cola 600 drivers that impressed: Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch
Coca-Cola 600 drivers that disappointed: Jimmie Johnson (more Chad Knaus really for the fuel mileage fail), Ryan Blaney
While watching the beginning of the Kansas race I thought the big thing I would have to discuss was Chase Elliot clipping Michael McDowell as Elliot was leaving his pit and McDowell was entering his. Honestly I am surprised that doesn’t happen more often. I think that really that’s his crew chief Alan Gustafson was not on the ball watching for other cars as Chase was leaving his pitstall.
However the story ended up being the big wreck involving Danica Patrick, Joey Logano and Aric Almirola looked absolutely brutal and to be honest the more I have watched it between the replays that evening and re-watching again during this writing-the worse it looked. All three drivers involved hard hits…however if you were to show me the footage and say one of these three drivers gets injured in this wreck which would you think it would be. I would have picked Aric every time. Why? Because not only was the initial impact hard but the fact that the rear of car went airborne and then slammed back down (rewatch it at speed and you will see what I mean about that slam down on the rear) I would be incredibly surprised if that was NOT what caused Almirola’s T5 compression fracture. These cars are safe…and funny thing was is I was just touting the day before the new increased metal around the “driver cocoon” as we call it in my house. But increasing rigidity of the space around the driver to prevent movement of car parts into their area will not keep drivers completely safe- as seen by the injuries suffered by Almirola. I mean the car gets semi airborne and then slams onto the ground- the normal safety equipment (I am thinking things like hans and whatnot) all did their jobs no doubt and protected all three of the involved drivers from suffering from more serious injuries. But much like your regular passenger car- the safety equipment will do it’s job if engaged properly but it won’t prevent every injury- there is no possible way. Aric’s injury also serves as a reminder that auto racing in whatever form you enjoy it in comes with inherent risks. (more…)
Happy Motorsports May everyone! I am obviously a huge fan of motorsports in general- not just NASCAR although NASCAR the main focus of this blog. So May is a big month in the motorsports world. I am pleased to say as a reader I have also been looking forward to May. Why? Because one of my favorite author’s was releasing a book today and I know you are going to LOVE it.
Speaking of readers- some of my fellow readers might understand this feeling I get. It’s a feeling of incredible anticipation that the next new book by a beloved author until that moment when you finally have said new book in your hands only to then experience a fairly significant dread about the fresh book in hand. What if the book isn’t all that I hoped it would be? What if, gasp, I don’t like it? What if my high expectations are disappointed? Maybe I am alone in these feelings but I have them quite frequently with my “beloveds” as I call them when they have a release day. I don’t get it when I am reading a new-to-me author because I usually go into those books with low expectations. But I hold my “beloveds” to a higher expectation and then I worry that I am setting myself up for a big disappointment. Am I the only one?
This feeling of dread hit me when I pulled out the advanced readers copy of the latest Kate Reilly mystery Kiss The Bricks by Tammy Kaehler from the package. I have loved all the previous books in the Kate Reilly series and I always greatly anticipate the next book in the series. For those who are unfamiliar with the series- each book takes place entirely during a race weekend (or weeks in this case). My anticipation/dread was really two-fold for Kiss The Bricks. Not only is it the next book in the series about racer Kate Reilly but it also takes place during the weeks preceding and including the Indianapolis 500 (which takes place in real life at the end of this month). It’s an iconic race and so much could go wrong. But luckily this book did not disappoint me in either aspect.
“Racecars make it all better, even if they’re not running.” – Kiss The Bricks by Tammy Kaehler
Kiss The Bricks follows our heroine, Kate Reilly, a female racer in the Indycar Series (if you haven’t read the series you should- while the books could read as stand alones- I really think that you would be doing yourself a disservice not to read from the beginning because you get to watch Kate develop as a driver and a person through the span of the books) during the month of May. We begin with Kate pulling into the pits from her first practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway confused why everyone around her suddenly seems out of character. Bald John is unusually fumble-fingered helping her get out of the car, her PR person greets her as she get out of the car with her water and towel- when usually a crew member does that. Something is definitely off and she feels it right away. What she doesn’t expect is the reason WHY- that she was the fastest in first practice. (more…)
(Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
It seemed like forever since I have watched a race? Why? Because first we had the Easter break with no racing and then first race back from Easter was Bristol which was delayed until Monday. Well we are coming up on enrollment deadlines at work so it wasn’t possible for me to be able to sit in my office and pay attention to the race as it happened. I knew I would find out who won (Jimmie) and I heard that the racing was really good at Bristol- which made me jealous that I decided to forgo DVR’ing it. Why would I do that? Well there are a couple of reasons. I knew I would know who the winner was before I could get home and watch it (and indeed I did) so I would have already known the outcome. Plus- honestly I didn’t think I would feel like coming home and watching a race. Too bad because I heard from more than one source that the racing at the track was excellent.
(Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
There was so much terrible weather across the United States I was grateful that they were able to race on Sunday at Richmond. I was jonesing for some racing action and I honestly think I got it. When I am talking about racing action- I am talking about side-by-side racing for position. It seems to me that NASCAR was right after all with this segment racing and it really shines on the short tracks. It seems to put a sense of urgency in the racing that seems to make it so that the drivers are not just biding their time for the end of the race.
It seemed that a big complaint among the race fans I follow were the in-race penalties during the race at Richmond. There were several pit road speeding penalties, a couple of lose tire and equipment leaving the box penalties but no more than any other race I thought. So I am wondering if people weren’t talking about the commitment violations for pit road (I guess technically we can’t really call them commitment cone violations since they don’t use a cone at Richmond but instead use an orange square. Apparently it use to be okay if your right side tires hit the orange commitment square on the track but this race they changed the rule so that the tires had to be completely on the left side of the box for pit road and the right side of the box to remain on track. During the national broadcast they said that the change was communicated during the driver’s meeting and I don’t know if a few of the drivers just weren’t paying attention to the rule change or if they were unaware.
I think a lot of people are talking about the incident with Joey Logano ducking in quickly and blocking the view of the commitment box from Kyle Busch who then clearly ran over the box because it was blocked from his view by Logano. Some people think it was a dirty thing for Logano to do. Some people think Kyle Busch is being a whiner. I can honestly see both sides. As the race leader Joey Logano’s job is to protect that lead. Ducking into the pits at the last minute is nothing new- it’s probably one of the oldest “tricks” in the pit strategy sleeve. Nor do I think Kyle has reason to be called a whiner- he was upset- that penalty cost him a decent finish and possibly a win. It’s quite understandable to be upset with the call- especially when you yourself can’t see the box because the view is blocked by the car in front of you. Kyle doesn’t have the vantage point the people on TV have or even the people in the stands. I would call that a “racin’ deal” pure and simple.
Stewart-Haas had a pretty good day overall. All four cars finished in the top 20 with one top five (Harvick), one top ten (Busch), One top 15 (Bowyer) and one top 20 (Patrick).
Drivers that impressed me: Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Daniel Suarez
Drivers that disappointed me: Dale Jr, Clint Bowyer,
Motor Girls: How Women Took The Wheel and Drove Boldly Into the Twentieth Century by Sue Macy.
Sue Macy’s Motor Girls: How Women Took the Wheel and Drove Boldly Into the Twentieth Century caught my attention right away because I would have been a great target audience for this book when I was in the target audience age. It’s audience is an upper elementary school audience and what a perfect audience that is for a book like this. I would have LOVED this book at that age because I was the only girl I knew who watched Motorsports on a regular basis. Also back then I loved a good library and read well above grade level. It was not uncommon during the summer for me to library’s non-fiction section and pick a subject and read all the books about that particular subject. I would have likely been drawn to the fact that this was about women and cars…and I liked cars and the publisher was National Geographic. However even as an adult I loved this book and was fascinated at the history of women and the automobile as I read.
These days it’s more common than not to drive a car. If you saw me driving my Chevy Equinox down the road you wouldn’t give me a second glance unless it was to try to figure out my vanity plate: TSTEW(heart symbol) or to try to figure out what the stickers in my back window say/mean. The fact that I was a woman driving a car wouldn’t be a big deal. But back when the “horseless carriages” were being first engineered, produced and then mass produced this the idea of a woman driving was a major deal. (more…)
(photo source: HHP/Harold Hinson)
Ahh I always look forward to the All-Star race- who doesn’t? It’s time for the drivers to just drive. No points- it’s purely for the cash at the end of the day. For those who are not in the know – the 2017 All-Star Race format has changed (which is no surprise- they seem to tweak this on a yearly basis).
How The All-Star Race Will Work
Four stages for a total of 70 laps. The first three stages are twenty laps a piece. The last stage is a 10 lap shoot out that only 10 cars will race in (whot? I know we will get to that in a second).
The winner of each of the first three stages is guaranteed a spot in the final stage provided they are on the lead lap at the end of stage 3. The rest of the final stage (7 additional cars unless the same car wins multiple stages) will be filled by the cars with the best average finish in the first three stages will make up the remaining spots needed to fill the 10-car final stage again providing they are on the lead lap at the end of stage 3.
The final 10 car field will be lined up by average finish of the first three stages and given the option to pit. If they pit and how they come off of pit road WILL effect how they start the final stage. The winner of the final stage gets the $1 million dollar race purse.
How A Driver Qualifies For The All-Star Race (more…)
(Photo source: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
I have been kind of quiet lately as I process the new racing format and a couple of other issues. To catch you up- if you haven’t been reading me very long- I came out against the new “stages” format at the beginning of the season.
However, it was at the Las Vegas race that my mind started to turn slightly. While at the Vegas race I was talking to Misty and she stated that she thought the stages actually did bring excitement mid race to races that usually lacked a little something in the middle. Because of this it held her attention longer. Also while in Vegas I was privileged enough to listen to Chad Knaus (crew chief for Jimmie Johnson) talk to a group of fans and associates at a Lowes in nearby Henderson Nevada and one of the fans posed a question to him about his thoughts on the new format. He stated that he thought it was a good thing on their end because it honestly keeps even the team more engaged during a long race. I decided to continue to keep my mind open about these stages. It wasn’t until the Martinsville race though that I really personally saw the excitement that the stages bring to the races. I do still think the new format needs some tweaking though. Mainly I think that the caution laps that immediately follow the stages should not be counted towards the total laps of the race. There should be something put in place there so that these cautions – which tend to be longer don’t impact the race so much. (more…)