Race Fans Are Uneducated (well no not really but others think this malarkey)

For now the tears I shed have dried, until Sunday when I watch the memorial. It’s so weird that its been a week since Wheldons passing it still doesn’t seem real. It seems any moment we will all awaken from this dream, and he’ll be there smiling. But now, in this moment, racing is obviously under attack. The sudden self ordained experts of motorsports have come out of the woodwork. Like distant cousins when you win the lotto. Some have stated racing is ridiculous and that cars going round and round is entertainment for the uneducated masses. Others have said racers only do it for the money. Me personally I have huge issues with those statements. Taking a cue from Daniel Tosh, “let’s take a look at this in this weeks ‘Blog Breakdown’”

Money. Ehhh have you seen the prize money from ALMS? Ya not to much to brag about. I work with several aspiring dirt track guys, and I can tell ya its not about money. It’s about going out in a car and having fun. Granted winnings great, but nothing beats battling somebody cleanly lap after lap. Trying to out smart him corner upon corner. I did it in a go kart this summer and let me tell ya its a rush. After I finally put enough pressure on him to screw up he did. He wasn’t happy I got the better of him. He even bitched about it all the way out to his vehicle, to me that’s winning.

Back to the money topic, some people have said Dan Wheldons accident was a product of the $5 million dollar prize. The only thing the prize money did was get him in the car. He didn’t race any harder then he usually did. If some of these “experts” would do some research they would see that well here’s a shock Wheldon was a damn good racer, and what happened was an accident. Not an overzealous narcsist that a commentor on the LA times wrote.

Race fans being uneducated is something that bothers me greatly. Neat how people who really don’t know why racing exists and what advancements it has given the auto industry, are saying we are uneducated. Motorsports is farther reaching then anyone on the outside could ever begin to comprehend. Passenger safety compartments, safety glass, turbo charging, crumple zones, all came from racing. The cars we lust for were born from racing, the 911, the Corvette ZR-1, any Ferrari. All made in the name of racing. If not for racing we would be driving some horrible crap wagons. If we took racing away then what would the stick and ball guys pimp out? Civics? Oh wait those were perfected through racing too. Ehhh I’m done with that rant.

Should racing be banned…..
Football in between ’91-’06 averaged 4.3 deaths a year. Yet, stadiums fill up 6 days a week. Do I think racing should be banned. NO! When Eric Medlen died in one of John Force’s funny cars. Tire deflated causing the car to shake violently down the strip. Essentialy he was shaken to death. What came of that? John Force made it his mission to make a safer car with the Eric Medlen Project. Now the roll cages are heavly padded and covered by nomex among other safety features. This is exactly what REAL race fans are talking about. Don’t stop make it better, make it safer.

Jimmie Johnsons quote about ovals was taken more out of context than the Danica Patrick Brazil quote. Give me a break folks. “Ehhhhhhh he’s never been in an indycar blah blah blah” Atleast he had the cajones to say something. He’s a racer that doesn’t want to see more drivers hurt or worse killed. Can’t say I blame him.

So what’s next for IndyCar. Well……alot. The ball is in the court with the investigation group. There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered, of not only why, but how can we prevent such an accident from happening again. Several actual race fans not the ones seeking fifteen minutes of fame and internet clicks, and drivers have suggested closed cockpit cars. I’m a firm beleaver in this idea. If done right the cars will look not only bad ass, but fast sitting still. I’m sure two Audi drivers wake up everyday thanking the engineers they went to a closed cockpit car. One concern is the obvious what if the cars upside down, or on fire. I’m sure there’s an easy solution maybe a three piece top with doors. I can envision I just suck at PhotoShop.  Thought of the minute, see how the H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes build thier cockpits. Better catch fences, is another area of improvement. One that doesn’t involve the cars ripping apart. Ballistic glass is one I heard, I say make it close to (I’m sure Tony Johns will like this) what a hockey rink looks like. I’m sure there’s more that can be done in the name of safety, like grass at road courses, tire barriers, and others.

Let’s be honest all that can start Monday. Let’s get through Sunday together first.

My jobs version of a test session, and some other useless info.

As I sit in my control room, nestled in the Southeast corner of our newest plant expansion. I cant help but feel like, part driver part team engineer.

In the past two weeks the mechanics, engineers, electricians, business unit leaders, and I have been working diligently to get our new mill running. It’s neat to think I have a 2000hp electric motor at my finger tips. Before, every run we go through a system of checks, to make sure the oil pressure is above 850psi for the Trunions. That air pressure is at or above 75psi for the baghouse. Then finally the cooling water pumps are turned on.

It’s an incredible sight to see this mill come to life. I’d go into details but I pinky promised the company I wouldn’t.

Being able to make the call on where to put the RPMs on a separator or adjusting fan amps to get a good draft, is a bit strenuous at times. It’s similar to a team engineer making sure that, “the cars got to be running 8000rpms in fourth gear before he shifts”.  You have to get that perfect balance, to ensure the dust going to the baghouse is the right size. Also, have to make sure no dust is escaping anywhere.

Sitting in front of the screen there’s several things in the telemetry that I have to check constantly, oil temp, oil pressure, and cooling water temp. If the water isn’t cooling efficiently, the oil heats up quickly. If the oil heats up then we lose pressure. You lose pressure, your mill stops running thanks to safeties built in.

It’s crazy to think we are only testing right now, and that I get to be the “test driver”. Hopefully in the coming days we’ll get everything lined out and perfect. It’s frustrating to think its good to go then have a small thing screw up the whole day. These guys have worked hard for weeks on end. Just hope we can bring it all together and make it good.

Lotus coming to the ALMS
As mentioned before more manufactures will be entering the Lemans Series’. This weeks announcement was Lotus coming to the ALMS in the GT2 class. Which pushes that class to 7 manufactures represented.
BMW
Chevrolet (Corvette)
Ferrari
Ford
Ferrari
Lotus
Panoz
Although Lamborgini started the year with West racing as of a couple months ago the car was for sale. I’m still waiting for the $450,000 loan from my job. Ya they’ll get back to me on it. I’m sure of it

Still holding out hope that Robertson Racing will become a Ford factory team. Crossing my fingers on that one.

Return of a legend
Across the Atlantic,  Ecurie Ecosse makes its return to racing after a 20 year absence. The car will be the Aston Martin DBRS9 as a team partner to the Aston Martin racing team. Ecurie Ecosse was the 1957 & 1958 24 hour of Lemans winners with the Jaguar D-type. I hope they show up with a sweet transporter like they had back in the day!

Kyle Busch turns 100
Ya ok it isn’t cup wins. But, who has he had to beat to get them. Yes you behind the Dell laptop. Correct, cup guys. Granted some wins were just against the regulars. Little known fact he hasn’t won every race entered in the lower series. Gosh golly, that must mean there’s talent in those series. So saying his 100 wins don’t mean squat because it wasn’t in Sprint Cup is a little arrogant.

When he got the Bristol sweep, I beleave 5x time Jimmie Johnson was in the truck race. Busch may only have 22 cup victories but that’s still a not to shabby number either. How many does Jr have again? I’m not a Busch fanboy. But, ill be damned if credit isn’t due. The kid can sling a car. Has a bit of a temper, and will bump and run to win a race. Drives all three series because he likes to race. Can’t slam a guy for a passion that is rarely seen with other drivers, can you?

Incredible Casey Stoner video
Red Bull never ceases to amaze me. Posted earlier via twitter from @midweekmotorsport, is a video of Casey Stoner explaining cornering at high speed on a MotoGP bike at 1000fps. Hope the link works. If not search Casey Stoner 1000fps on YouTube and enjoy.

Losing its luster

One of the worst kept secrets of the past month, was the Grand-Am series coming to Indy. When, Grand-Am tested there awhile back I honestly thought “man this is a great idea”. At the time it was. There’s just something still nagging on me about it. It’s the fact that Indy is a sacred place. A place we all dream about going too as youngster, wither it be as a spectator or a racer. We dreamt about coming out of Gasoline Alley and seeing part of the 250,000 fans. Coming off of 4 into the front straight “tunnel” effect. It’s the one place us as fans and racers a like, will tell the family “hey, don’t bother me for a couple of hours, the they’re racing at Indy.” We love Indy because its one of the few tracks that remains a link to the beginnings of auto racing in the states. Why take that luster and awe away? I get that, yes the 400 has become boring. Maybe it isn’t the events of the weekend as it is the cars…..maybe?

I for one had no problems when Nascar announced they were going to race the Brickyard 400. I also had no problems with F1 returning to Indy. Yes, I said returning, see Indy used to be part of the world championship way back in the day. The reason you ask? Those series, are the top of their discipline. Even MotoGP is a welcome sight. But when you add Nationwide, in which to some aspects its an open practice for cup guys, and Grand-Am. It takes away from the exclusive-ness of the Brickyard. It just doesn’t fit, and leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Although some of the names in Grand-Am are tied to Indy in a legendary manner like Donohue and Gurney. I just can’t help but think it still doesn’t feel right. Why oh why would you take away side by side nascar short track racing, in favor for a parade? Yes nascar that question was directed to you. Harvick was quoted to saying this morning. It’ll be easier to get sponsorship for IMS then indy raceway park. Deciding factor, maybe?

To be perfectly clear I’m not against combined series weekends. As you’ll see in the pre-weekend round up, I encourage it and give a suggestion for two series. When done right it can be highly successful. I hope next years Brickyard weekend busts my pre-conceptions on how its going to stink. I really do. But, for right now, its like a bitter taste that won’t leave.

I’ve seen where others beleave it should’ve been the ALMS. Ok that’s a little better, but let’s up the ante shall we. Let’s make it part of the World Endurance Championship. We could call it the “6 hours of the Indianapolis”. Start it at, oh I say 3:30 pm or 4pm let it get into the night. I mean who wouldn’t want to see the photo opportunities of the scoring pylon, pagoda, and sports car headlights looking down the front straight. Anybody? Hearing the V12 Aston Martin Lola screaming and the whatever the noise is the Audi and Peugeot diesels make going down the front straight. Just thinking about it, makes me want to win the lotto throw a bunch of money at it to make it happen. Of course that makes me sound like a hypocrite in a sense. There is a difference between the WEC and Grand Am though. One actually encourages and embraces technology like Indy used too. Can you guess which one?

I want to see racing at Indy or America once again take a global presence that isn’t negative. Dylan wrote over independence weekend about the lack of American drivers on the global scene. He’s correct, it’s been 15 years since Davy Jones won overall at Lemans. And its been awhile since a natural born American has won in Formula 1. Peter Revsons ’73 Canada Grand Prix win is the last one. With so many of our series going to spec cars due to cost or mindlessness of the series heads. There’s little to almost no change in that fact. Maybe they’ll hear our voices or see our words of discontent, and change. Ehhh……..I doubt it.