Saturday, June 20, 2009
Her mind elsewhere perhaps?
One must assume she was counting the $50 Million she could generate in NASCAR next season, but could it not have waited until she had successfully parked the car?
Friday, June 19, 2009
A record breaking Indy 500
More tremendous nonsense from guest blogger Doug Werner
INDIANAPOLIS -
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in conjunction with Indy Car Series is proud to announce that the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 has been officially recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the World’s Fastest Parade. The new parade speed record is now 150.318 mph, just edging out the previous mark held by the 2007 Iranian Gay Pride Parade in downtown Tehran.*
“This is really a special moment for us at IMS,” stated Tony George. This has been a long time coming and it is great to see that we were able to accomplish this on the 100th Anniversary of this special place. We have been working toward this moment for almost 15 years With the careful addition of particular street and road courses we have been getting close. Last year’s race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma is a great example and I think we really opened some eyes to what we can do this year at Long Beach. But we haven’t been able to achieve the same kind of consistency on our ovals. I would like to thank Brian Barnhart for helping make this happen. The last rule change making a common spec wheelbase proved to be the real clincher.”
“I was real concerned that Dan Wheldon and Townsend Bell would spoil the moment for us but after reading Paragraph 3, section C of the Parade Manual, I knew we had it in the bag.”
Paragraph 3 allows for some changes in the parade order should servicing or assistance be required of the parade participants.
“I would like to extend my thanks to my family. Without their untold millions, I would not have been able to bring the series to where it is today. With the mix of ovals, street and road courses, and the Firestone Indy Lights series so full of foreign talent, I think we are really on the verge of having the perfect series. This is exactly what I had envisioned when I formed the Indy Racing League. Our focus going forward will be on consistency.”
"We were thinking that the ICS would be a lock for the World's Greatest Tragedy in Motorsports History category as well, but it looks like my friend Max is making a push for that again this year after his attempt two tears ago. We have been assured by the panel of experts that we are still in the running and that a decision won't be made until later this year which gives us some time to make adjustments."
“I know a lot of fans want to see us back in Cleveland . The airport course doesn’t really fit our current model but we are trying to see if we can get a street course on the cobble stone lanes of Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland . We should have more exciting announcements shortly.”
*The 2007 Iranian Gay Pride Parade will now be recognized as the fastest parade on a street course.
INDIANAPOLIS -
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in conjunction with Indy Car Series is proud to announce that the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 has been officially recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the World’s Fastest Parade. The new parade speed record is now 150.318 mph, just edging out the previous mark held by the 2007 Iranian Gay Pride Parade in downtown Tehran.*
“This is really a special moment for us at IMS,” stated Tony George. This has been a long time coming and it is great to see that we were able to accomplish this on the 100th Anniversary of this special place. We have been working toward this moment for almost 15 years With the careful addition of particular street and road courses we have been getting close. Last year’s race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma is a great example and I think we really opened some eyes to what we can do this year at Long Beach. But we haven’t been able to achieve the same kind of consistency on our ovals. I would like to thank Brian Barnhart for helping make this happen. The last rule change making a common spec wheelbase proved to be the real clincher.”
“I was real concerned that Dan Wheldon and Townsend Bell would spoil the moment for us but after reading Paragraph 3, section C of the Parade Manual, I knew we had it in the bag.”
Paragraph 3 allows for some changes in the parade order should servicing or assistance be required of the parade participants.
“I would like to extend my thanks to my family. Without their untold millions, I would not have been able to bring the series to where it is today. With the mix of ovals, street and road courses, and the Firestone Indy Lights series so full of foreign talent, I think we are really on the verge of having the perfect series. This is exactly what I had envisioned when I formed the Indy Racing League. Our focus going forward will be on consistency.”
"We were thinking that the ICS would be a lock for the World's Greatest Tragedy in Motorsports History category as well, but it looks like my friend Max is making a push for that again this year after his attempt two tears ago. We have been assured by the panel of experts that we are still in the running and that a decision won't be made until later this year which gives us some time to make adjustments."
“I know a lot of fans want to see us back in Cleveland . The airport course doesn’t really fit our current model but we are trying to see if we can get a street course on the cobble stone lanes of Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland . We should have more exciting announcements shortly.”
*The 2007 Iranian Gay Pride Parade will now be recognized as the fastest parade on a street course.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The IndyCar Racing experience live in your very own home
One of our loyal listeners and serial letter writers to 'Midweek Motorsport', Doug Werner, has some thoughts on this weekend at Iowa. Doug and his wife are having a magnificent internecine battle in the points standings of the MWM Fantasy League and they both seem to be taking it VERY seriously.
You can tune into the show live tonight at 8pm UK (3pm EST) at www.radiolemans.com or catch the podcast at any time on the site or from iTunes (search words 'Radio Le Mans). We have 2009 Le Mans winner, David Brabham joining us tonight alon with Nick Wirth of the brand new F1 team, Manor Motorsport.
---
It’s finally time for my favorite IndyCar race of the year, The Iowa Corn 250 powered by Brazilian Sugar Cane or as I like to think of it, the Moonshine 250. It is a real shame that the ABC is broadcasting this race. This track and locale were meant for Versus TV. Imagine the Versus TV triple header. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen broadcast the Methane 100 from the Iowa Speedway/Velodrome/Rodeo Ring/Tractor Alignment Center. Immediately following the race, cars replace the bikes and the Green flag is dropped commencing the Moonshine 250 powered by Brazilian Cachaca. At the conclusion of another Jack Arute interview comparing Danica’s 5th place finish to a dramatic win by the late, great Emerson Fittipaldi, [sic] we are off to the Main Event on the infield of the Iowa Speedway. The feature event is the triumphant return to bull riding of PBR’s very own Ryan Dirteater, the Scott Speed of professional Bull riding. The packed crowd goes wild.
And truly the crowd will be “packed.” The stands will be “full.” The facility will be “at capacity.” But don’t be fooled into believing that that is the same as a large crowd. Put one person in a phone booth and it is “at capacity.” Put two in and it is officially “packed.” Unfortunately, like the number of TV viewers, it is still just two. The truth is Rusty Wallace created his own miniature Daytona Speedway by putting a high school grandstand in front of a paved horse track with added banking. There will be a crowd, just not as big as that of a 7-on-7 football game on Friday night. What else is there to do this time of year? The State Fair is not for another 8 weeks.
If you can’t be there to witness the parade or watch it on TV here is how you can experience the “fun” at home. You will need a quarter painted red, one painted white, a large bowl, a stool and two posters of Danica. Go to the corner of a room and hang the two posters. Sit down on a stool facing the corner with the bowl in your hands. While moving the bowl in a circular motion, roll the quarters on their edge in the bowl keeping them going by gently sustaining the motion. Continue this while staring into the bowl until you start to feel nauseous. At this point, it is time for a commercial break. While still swirling your racers in the bowl, carefully look up at the posters and stare at each one for thirty seconds. Everyone once in a while mutter, “You deserve respect. You deserve respect.” Repeat until you lose the will to live. Stop swirling the bowl. The last quarter rolling wins. If it is red, Target Chip Ganassi wins. If it is white, Penske does. If they turn into five dimes, Danica wins. Congratulations! You have just enjoyed another ABC broadcast. Go take a walk and get some fresh air.
Let’s face it, this track is so small it should be a cage match, not an IndyCar race. The only question left is who will “tap out” first. This week it might be me.
Emerson Fittipaldi was not harmed in any manner in the writing of this blog. He is happily alive at home watching Professional Bull Riding on Versus.
You can tune into the show live tonight at 8pm UK (3pm EST) at www.radiolemans.com or catch the podcast at any time on the site or from iTunes (search words 'Radio Le Mans). We have 2009 Le Mans winner, David Brabham joining us tonight alon with Nick Wirth of the brand new F1 team, Manor Motorsport.
---
It’s finally time for my favorite IndyCar race of the year, The Iowa Corn 250 powered by Brazilian Sugar Cane or as I like to think of it, the Moonshine 250. It is a real shame that the ABC is broadcasting this race. This track and locale were meant for Versus TV. Imagine the Versus TV triple header. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen broadcast the Methane 100 from the Iowa Speedway/Velodrome/Rodeo Ring/Tractor Alignment Center. Immediately following the race, cars replace the bikes and the Green flag is dropped commencing the Moonshine 250 powered by Brazilian Cachaca. At the conclusion of another Jack Arute interview comparing Danica’s 5th place finish to a dramatic win by the late, great Emerson Fittipaldi, [sic] we are off to the Main Event on the infield of the Iowa Speedway. The feature event is the triumphant return to bull riding of PBR’s very own Ryan Dirteater, the Scott Speed of professional Bull riding. The packed crowd goes wild.
And truly the crowd will be “packed.” The stands will be “full.” The facility will be “at capacity.” But don’t be fooled into believing that that is the same as a large crowd. Put one person in a phone booth and it is “at capacity.” Put two in and it is officially “packed.” Unfortunately, like the number of TV viewers, it is still just two. The truth is Rusty Wallace created his own miniature Daytona Speedway by putting a high school grandstand in front of a paved horse track with added banking. There will be a crowd, just not as big as that of a 7-on-7 football game on Friday night. What else is there to do this time of year? The State Fair is not for another 8 weeks.
If you can’t be there to witness the parade or watch it on TV here is how you can experience the “fun” at home. You will need a quarter painted red, one painted white, a large bowl, a stool and two posters of Danica. Go to the corner of a room and hang the two posters. Sit down on a stool facing the corner with the bowl in your hands. While moving the bowl in a circular motion, roll the quarters on their edge in the bowl keeping them going by gently sustaining the motion. Continue this while staring into the bowl until you start to feel nauseous. At this point, it is time for a commercial break. While still swirling your racers in the bowl, carefully look up at the posters and stare at each one for thirty seconds. Everyone once in a while mutter, “You deserve respect. You deserve respect.” Repeat until you lose the will to live. Stop swirling the bowl. The last quarter rolling wins. If it is red, Target Chip Ganassi wins. If it is white, Penske does. If they turn into five dimes, Danica wins. Congratulations! You have just enjoyed another ABC broadcast. Go take a walk and get some fresh air.
Let’s face it, this track is so small it should be a cage match, not an IndyCar race. The only question left is who will “tap out” first. This week it might be me.
Emerson Fittipaldi was not harmed in any manner in the writing of this blog. He is happily alive at home watching Professional Bull Riding on Versus.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tom Byers, Leonhard Stock and a dog's rear end.
I'm making an appearance on Speed Freaks tonight and their pre show 'hot topic' is concerning the legitimacy of Danica's one and only win in IndyCar seeing as Tony Stewart and Mark Martin have found victory lane in precisely the same fashion over the last couple of weeks in the Sprint Cup. I decided to dig out the blog piece I wrote in the immediate aftermath of Patrick's historic win in Japan.
- April 25th 2008
There was a time in the very early eighties when Grand Prix racing dominated the sporting headlines across Europe. ‘Tell us something we don’t know!!’ shouts everyone at once. But in this case I’m not talking about Brabham v Williams or Cosworth v Turbo. I mean Coe v Ovett v Cram and Ed Moses v the clock v everyone else in his wake. Battles raged on athletics tracks from Zurich to Rome all summer long.
My days as a sports mad 12 year old were marked out pretty much every night of week. I’d be out playing football or pitch and putt or tennis all day with an eye on the clock so I didn’t miss the start of the live coverage of the Grand Prix meeting from Cologne or Oslo, all of which was on proper network television, which somehow made it seem more important than it probably was.
There has always been something alluring and magical about any name said in a foreign language and/or with a foreign accent. Acqua Minerale conjures up glorious images of Ricardo Patrese blowing the San Marino GP lead at Imola in 1983 handing the win to Patrick Tambay’s #27 Ferrari as the Tifosi exploded in ecstasy. I’m not sure my memories would be as vivid if Imola had a corner called ‘mineral water’. The Welt Klasse meeting in Zurich was billed as the ‘Olympics in one night’, the greatest athletes in the world would be there and it was always a special Thursday night. I had no idea what ‘Welt Klasse’ meant but it sounded fantastic! On further examination I discovered it simply meant ‘World Class’ which in retrospect is somewhat disappointing, it seems to be the equivalent of naming your product based simply on a pronoun with as little ambition as ‘Quality Inn’ or ‘Lovely Cheese’ although the later product may only exist in my head.
The Norwegians never had that problem with the Bislett Games in Oslo. Their biggest event was the ‘Dream Mile’ it really did exactly what it said on the tin. It was a mile race which attracted the greatest middle distance field on earth. Year in and year out they would assemble for the race of the year. No doubt about it, this field was better than any Olympic final with the added bonus of a pacemaker or ‘hare’ to pull them along at something close to world record pace. This was an era where the world record for the 1500m and the mile would be broken almost every night somewhere in Europe, a truly ,astonishing and golden era for athletics.
Only the reigning Olympic 1500m champion, Sebastian Coe, was absent from the 1981 ‘Dream Mile’. It could hardly have been a more star-studded field unless Rob Halford had left Judas Priest and taken up middle distance running. The highly knowledgeable Oslo crowd sensed something big was about to take place. The ludicrously cocky Steve Ovett was planning to smash the World Record, he held it jointly with Coe at this time, and further ease the pain of his bronze medal for the 1500m in Moscow the previous season.
With this in mind pace-makers were instructed to push the pace along over the first 800 to 1200 metres, this job was assigned Tom Byers of the USA and he was joined up front by Wodajo Bulti of Ethiopia. Byers had been a distant 6th in the US Championships the week before this event (keep that in mind for later) and was there simply to keep the early pace at world record levels then drop out with a lap or so to go.
Byers pushed the pace forward at a pace that would have threatened the 800m world record let alone that of the mile. His pace was deemed to be so ludicrous that the chasing pack simply ignored him, or so we thought. Byers was 60 metres clear with 600 metres left and nobody was going to challenge him, the Oslo crowd knew what was happening and were totally behind him, banging the advertising hoardings and their Norwegian feet in rhythm with his pace.
This only served to spur Byres on even more and he neglected to step off track at the appropriate time, as all ‘hares’ do. Instead he just kept going onto the final lap, the pack only realized with 300 metres to go that they were racing for second place if they did not do something quickly; Ovett decided it was time to give chase. What was going through Byers head on that final bend is anyone’s guess, but somehow he held on for what has become one of the most amazing victories in athletics history?
At face value it is almost impossible to decipher the thought process of the chasing pack as Byers stretched his lead. All became much clearer when, in a rare interview, Ovett revealed that the official charged with giving the runners the split times, was giving the pack Byers times at the 400 and 800 metre distance, they had no clue that it was not they who were running at record pace but the tall long haired American way ahead in the distance.
So this group of world class athletes simply ignored the performance of the journeyman in front and simply chose to compete amongst themselves leading to one of the most unlikely victories in middle distance history. Now what does that remind you of?
Tom Byers was the second name that went through my head early on Sunday morning when Danica crossed the line to take victory and make history at Motegi. The first was Vittorio Brambilla; the Italian with one solitary GP victory to his name, the man who won in the wet in the rain shortened Austrian GP in 1975 only to put the car in the Armco barrier approximately 50 yards past the finish line.
Danica’s victory has catapulted Indy Car onto the front pages and into the headlines across the USA and that can only be good news for the series. Right now, there is almost no such thing as bad publicity for US open wheel racing. Closer inspection of her victory does lead one to the conclusion that it was simply a perfect storm of circumstances needed for any driver in the lower reaches of the top 10 to win an Indy Car race. For this win to take place, a number of elements had to be in place.
Primarily, the team in question needs to approach the race with the mindset that they would be unable to win in normal circumstances and strategy would be the overriding factor in their race preparation. Luck and timing need to be precisely right in terms of yellow flags and the length of each caution period. Finally there needs to be a collective arrogance or ignorance from the leading pack. Motegi delivered this on all three fronts and Andretti Green Racing capitalized beautifully by ticking every box correctly during the last section of the race.
If all of the teams had taken this approach we would have had the bizarre site of the pack racing at about 95% throttle for the last 25 laps or so in an attempt to avoid a final pit stop, but racers are racers and instinct clearly took over and to a man (quite literally) they chose to floor it and gamble on fuel mileage.
If they had all used Danica’s approach we would have had an athletics style sprint finish off the last corner and it would have been won by whoever had the best throttle response, I do find that quite appealing to be honest. It would have made for great TV!
So right now, as I write this on the eve of the Road Runner 300 at Kansas, we are none the wiser as to what her victory really means. I have made no secret of the fact that I believe she has probably had her moment in the sun. Indy Car fields are only going to get stronger and the number of oval races will be limited to about a half dozen from now on and she has little or no hope of repeating that feat on a road course or on a street circuit. She has done something remarkable that she may well never do again. Is she the Tom Byers of open wheel racing? In all probability the answer is yes.
The best case scenario for her is that she becomes the Leonhard Stock of Indy Car. Stock is the Austrian that baffled the entire world by winning the 1980 Olympic downhill gold at Lake Placid. He had almost no previous form and barely scraped into the team as number two to the great Franz Klammer who took gold in 1976 and again 1984. It was another 9 years and 100 or so events later that Stock won again, this time in a World Cup downhill event. So we can look for Danica to trouble the scorers again in about 2016 when she is 35 or so.
This whole piece is a roundabout way of saying that errrr let me see, how would Ron Dennis describe this? To quote Ron, it would be an ‘infrequent ultra violet canine posterior interface scenario’.
- April 25th 2008
There was a time in the very early eighties when Grand Prix racing dominated the sporting headlines across Europe. ‘Tell us something we don’t know!!’ shouts everyone at once. But in this case I’m not talking about Brabham v Williams or Cosworth v Turbo. I mean Coe v Ovett v Cram and Ed Moses v the clock v everyone else in his wake. Battles raged on athletics tracks from Zurich to Rome all summer long.
My days as a sports mad 12 year old were marked out pretty much every night of week. I’d be out playing football or pitch and putt or tennis all day with an eye on the clock so I didn’t miss the start of the live coverage of the Grand Prix meeting from Cologne or Oslo, all of which was on proper network television, which somehow made it seem more important than it probably was.
There has always been something alluring and magical about any name said in a foreign language and/or with a foreign accent. Acqua Minerale conjures up glorious images of Ricardo Patrese blowing the San Marino GP lead at Imola in 1983 handing the win to Patrick Tambay’s #27 Ferrari as the Tifosi exploded in ecstasy. I’m not sure my memories would be as vivid if Imola had a corner called ‘mineral water’. The Welt Klasse meeting in Zurich was billed as the ‘Olympics in one night’, the greatest athletes in the world would be there and it was always a special Thursday night. I had no idea what ‘Welt Klasse’ meant but it sounded fantastic! On further examination I discovered it simply meant ‘World Class’ which in retrospect is somewhat disappointing, it seems to be the equivalent of naming your product based simply on a pronoun with as little ambition as ‘Quality Inn’ or ‘Lovely Cheese’ although the later product may only exist in my head.
The Norwegians never had that problem with the Bislett Games in Oslo. Their biggest event was the ‘Dream Mile’ it really did exactly what it said on the tin. It was a mile race which attracted the greatest middle distance field on earth. Year in and year out they would assemble for the race of the year. No doubt about it, this field was better than any Olympic final with the added bonus of a pacemaker or ‘hare’ to pull them along at something close to world record pace. This was an era where the world record for the 1500m and the mile would be broken almost every night somewhere in Europe, a truly ,astonishing and golden era for athletics.
Only the reigning Olympic 1500m champion, Sebastian Coe, was absent from the 1981 ‘Dream Mile’. It could hardly have been a more star-studded field unless Rob Halford had left Judas Priest and taken up middle distance running. The highly knowledgeable Oslo crowd sensed something big was about to take place. The ludicrously cocky Steve Ovett was planning to smash the World Record, he held it jointly with Coe at this time, and further ease the pain of his bronze medal for the 1500m in Moscow the previous season.
With this in mind pace-makers were instructed to push the pace along over the first 800 to 1200 metres, this job was assigned Tom Byers of the USA and he was joined up front by Wodajo Bulti of Ethiopia. Byers had been a distant 6th in the US Championships the week before this event (keep that in mind for later) and was there simply to keep the early pace at world record levels then drop out with a lap or so to go.
Byers pushed the pace forward at a pace that would have threatened the 800m world record let alone that of the mile. His pace was deemed to be so ludicrous that the chasing pack simply ignored him, or so we thought. Byers was 60 metres clear with 600 metres left and nobody was going to challenge him, the Oslo crowd knew what was happening and were totally behind him, banging the advertising hoardings and their Norwegian feet in rhythm with his pace.
This only served to spur Byres on even more and he neglected to step off track at the appropriate time, as all ‘hares’ do. Instead he just kept going onto the final lap, the pack only realized with 300 metres to go that they were racing for second place if they did not do something quickly; Ovett decided it was time to give chase. What was going through Byers head on that final bend is anyone’s guess, but somehow he held on for what has become one of the most amazing victories in athletics history?
At face value it is almost impossible to decipher the thought process of the chasing pack as Byers stretched his lead. All became much clearer when, in a rare interview, Ovett revealed that the official charged with giving the runners the split times, was giving the pack Byers times at the 400 and 800 metre distance, they had no clue that it was not they who were running at record pace but the tall long haired American way ahead in the distance.
So this group of world class athletes simply ignored the performance of the journeyman in front and simply chose to compete amongst themselves leading to one of the most unlikely victories in middle distance history. Now what does that remind you of?
Tom Byers was the second name that went through my head early on Sunday morning when Danica crossed the line to take victory and make history at Motegi. The first was Vittorio Brambilla; the Italian with one solitary GP victory to his name, the man who won in the wet in the rain shortened Austrian GP in 1975 only to put the car in the Armco barrier approximately 50 yards past the finish line.
Danica’s victory has catapulted Indy Car onto the front pages and into the headlines across the USA and that can only be good news for the series. Right now, there is almost no such thing as bad publicity for US open wheel racing. Closer inspection of her victory does lead one to the conclusion that it was simply a perfect storm of circumstances needed for any driver in the lower reaches of the top 10 to win an Indy Car race. For this win to take place, a number of elements had to be in place.
Primarily, the team in question needs to approach the race with the mindset that they would be unable to win in normal circumstances and strategy would be the overriding factor in their race preparation. Luck and timing need to be precisely right in terms of yellow flags and the length of each caution period. Finally there needs to be a collective arrogance or ignorance from the leading pack. Motegi delivered this on all three fronts and Andretti Green Racing capitalized beautifully by ticking every box correctly during the last section of the race.
If all of the teams had taken this approach we would have had the bizarre site of the pack racing at about 95% throttle for the last 25 laps or so in an attempt to avoid a final pit stop, but racers are racers and instinct clearly took over and to a man (quite literally) they chose to floor it and gamble on fuel mileage.
If they had all used Danica’s approach we would have had an athletics style sprint finish off the last corner and it would have been won by whoever had the best throttle response, I do find that quite appealing to be honest. It would have made for great TV!
So right now, as I write this on the eve of the Road Runner 300 at Kansas, we are none the wiser as to what her victory really means. I have made no secret of the fact that I believe she has probably had her moment in the sun. Indy Car fields are only going to get stronger and the number of oval races will be limited to about a half dozen from now on and she has little or no hope of repeating that feat on a road course or on a street circuit. She has done something remarkable that she may well never do again. Is she the Tom Byers of open wheel racing? In all probability the answer is yes.
The best case scenario for her is that she becomes the Leonhard Stock of Indy Car. Stock is the Austrian that baffled the entire world by winning the 1980 Olympic downhill gold at Lake Placid. He had almost no previous form and barely scraped into the team as number two to the great Franz Klammer who took gold in 1976 and again 1984. It was another 9 years and 100 or so events later that Stock won again, this time in a World Cup downhill event. So we can look for Danica to trouble the scorers again in about 2016 when she is 35 or so.
This whole piece is a roundabout way of saying that errrr let me see, how would Ron Dennis describe this? To quote Ron, it would be an ‘infrequent ultra violet canine posterior interface scenario’.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
CNN do Texas reconstruction on the 'cheep'
CNN spared every expense to reconstruct Marco Andretti's travails at Texas last Saturday night.
The pigeon was clearly Marco and the various pedestrians were playing the part of Danica. Notice, how the bird gets very close on many occasions but just can't get by.
The pigeon was clearly Marco and the various pedestrians were playing the part of Danica. Notice, how the bird gets very close on many occasions but just can't get by.
Radio Le Mans live today
Dear All,
Don't forget that we have an extra special Midweek Motorsport this afternoon.
We will be on air before free practice today at 2pm UK, 3pm CET, 9am EST & 6am PST.
Lots of live Le Mans stuff as well as all the usual features.
And don't forget to pick up your Le Mans spotters guide, the 2 page guide has all the latest liveries and drivers, correct as of Tuesday evening and is available at http://www.spotterguides.com
The usual place, www.radiolemans.com, just click 'listen live' or tune in on XM/Sirius Channel 126 or on 91.2FM around the circuit.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wow ESPN! Tell us how you realy feel!
I have way too many guilty pleasures in my life. Gloriously over complicated rock music being one of them. How many people do you know hit the gym with 'yours is no disgrace' by Yes reverberating through their ears? Did I just actually type that?
I'm finally admitting it, I love YES
ESPN's 'talking heads' output is another one of those indulgences I pretend I to abhor. 'The Sports Reporters' on a Sunday morning is a perfect blend of seasoned hacks doubling up as grumpy old men, it really speaks to me. In fact, men (and the odd woman) shouting at each other is a key part of the ESPN's lead in to the early evening edition of Sportscenter with 'Pardon the Interruption' being so important that it now has it's own section within 'Sportscenter'. So what leads into 'PtI', Sportscenter's lead in show? That would be 'Around the Horn', a show which lets five guys shout at each other for 30 minutes and in doing so it gives you the basic outline of ESPN editorial focus for the rest of the evening. Whatever the 'Around the Horn' guys argue about, will be re-argued about immediately afterwards on 'PtI' and then analysed on Sportscenter immediately after that. With more than two months to go to the start of the American football season, of course all of the shows are focusing on 'not NFL player' Brett Favre and his shoulder operation.
So where do ESPN, a part of the ABC family of Networks, place the IndyCar Series on their list of 'hot topics', 'public interest' and 'editorial importance'? Well I'll let the following exchange on 'Around the Horn' tear the curtain back for you a little.
A quick bit of background first. The show pits four major sports journalists against each other in lively debate on a set of pre detemined topics (in the UK the show 'Fighting Talk' is based on the same concept). Writers are eliminated after each round until there are two left for the 'showdown'. On Monday (June 8th) the last writer to be ousted before the finale was the one racing fan (NASCAR but it's still racing isn't it?) who regularly appears on the show, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News. As he was ousted, the conversation with the host, judge and jury, Tony Reali went as follows:
Tony Reali: Tim Cowlishaw.......do you have any last words?
Tim Cowlishaw: Last words!! I'm done?!
Tony Reali: Yes! Didn't you see the score you have 22 points.
Tim Cowlishaw: Whose gonna talk about the Bombardier (or Bombadeer as he pronounced it) Learjet 550K if I'm not around?
Tony Reali: Errrm I don't think anyone is....good luck growing that goatee back...that's it for Cowlishaw!
Tim Cowlishaw (lower left) vainly trying to talk IndyCar, yesterday
So there you have it, ESPN have shown their true hand, nobody gives a tinkers cuss about IndyCar racing, it has been reduced to a contractual obligation on the family of networks and is neither loved nor hated it is simply ignored. One could wish for no worse fate than that.
Versus may have started with ratings that almost defy physics and logic but their NHL play off ratings have shown that given time and the right product, they can deliver the goods. The quicker ABC give up the pretense that they care, the better.
I'm finally admitting it, I love YESESPN's 'talking heads' output is another one of those indulgences I pretend I to abhor. 'The Sports Reporters' on a Sunday morning is a perfect blend of seasoned hacks doubling up as grumpy old men, it really speaks to me. In fact, men (and the odd woman) shouting at each other is a key part of the ESPN's lead in to the early evening edition of Sportscenter with 'Pardon the Interruption' being so important that it now has it's own section within 'Sportscenter'. So what leads into 'PtI', Sportscenter's lead in show? That would be 'Around the Horn', a show which lets five guys shout at each other for 30 minutes and in doing so it gives you the basic outline of ESPN editorial focus for the rest of the evening. Whatever the 'Around the Horn' guys argue about, will be re-argued about immediately afterwards on 'PtI' and then analysed on Sportscenter immediately after that. With more than two months to go to the start of the American football season, of course all of the shows are focusing on 'not NFL player' Brett Favre and his shoulder operation.
So where do ESPN, a part of the ABC family of Networks, place the IndyCar Series on their list of 'hot topics', 'public interest' and 'editorial importance'? Well I'll let the following exchange on 'Around the Horn' tear the curtain back for you a little.
A quick bit of background first. The show pits four major sports journalists against each other in lively debate on a set of pre detemined topics (in the UK the show 'Fighting Talk' is based on the same concept). Writers are eliminated after each round until there are two left for the 'showdown'. On Monday (June 8th) the last writer to be ousted before the finale was the one racing fan (NASCAR but it's still racing isn't it?) who regularly appears on the show, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News. As he was ousted, the conversation with the host, judge and jury, Tony Reali went as follows:
Tony Reali: Tim Cowlishaw.......do you have any last words?
Tim Cowlishaw: Last words!! I'm done?!
Tony Reali: Yes! Didn't you see the score you have 22 points.
Tim Cowlishaw: Whose gonna talk about the Bombardier (or Bombadeer as he pronounced it) Learjet 550K if I'm not around?
Tony Reali: Errrm I don't think anyone is....good luck growing that goatee back...that's it for Cowlishaw!
Tim Cowlishaw (lower left) vainly trying to talk IndyCar, yesterday
So there you have it, ESPN have shown their true hand, nobody gives a tinkers cuss about IndyCar racing, it has been reduced to a contractual obligation on the family of networks and is neither loved nor hated it is simply ignored. One could wish for no worse fate than that.
Versus may have started with ratings that almost defy physics and logic but their NHL play off ratings have shown that given time and the right product, they can deliver the goods. The quicker ABC give up the pretense that they care, the better.
And finally we are up to date :)
Can I firstly apologise for taking so long to catch up with the standings. We are a third of the way through the league and in fantasy lineup terms it has been utter chaos. Stanton Barret is out and has been replaced by Jacques Lazier and Richard Antinucci. At this point I must clarify that Lazier will be racing on ovals and Antinucci is in for Watkins Glen, there is no attempt on 3G's part to enter both drivers in the promotional two seater. On saying that, I really love the idea and I must give the good chaps at 3G a call when I have finished posting this.
Vitor Meira's day at Indy involved a giant pit lane conflagration and then a rather shocking accident where he rode the wall backwards (answers to the name 'lucky' as the old joke goes) and ended up in hospital sidelined for the immediate future. His seat at Milwaukee was taken by Paul Tracy who parted company with AJ Foyt after one race on account of the car being less effective than the stint Stevie Wonder had as Travis Pastrana's co-driver recently on the Olympus Rally. AJ Foyt IV climbed into the ABC car in Texas and the result was equally as good or bad depending how you look at it.
So Ben Harris has jumped to the top of the table precisely one third of the way through the year, mainly thanks to the astute pick up of Helio Castroneves as soon as he became available. The Werner family are dominating the Top 10 and have assumed the rights to be known as the 'first family of fantasy motor sport' which no doubt will disgruntle the many members of the Harbey household who are involved in this league.
I do need to give a shout out to Jeff Ianucci who is participating under the name of his excellent blog www.mynameisirl.com and I wholeheartedly suggest that you give it a read. His tenure in the top 10 like Ryan Hunter Reay's was brief, although one feels that Jeff has more chance of making an impact in our little league than RHR has in the championship.
Finally if you look down through the list you will see that our two Star Mazda drivers, Conor Daly and Peter Dempsey are locked in a epic battle for mid-table respectability, they are currently separated by a single point.
1. Ben Harris - 1639pts
IRS Racing: Presented By Helio Castroneves
Castroneves, Rahal, Wilson, Wheldon
2. James Broomhead - 1561pts
Team A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.
Castroneves, Carpenter, Wilson, Wheldon
3. Doug Werner(II) - 1534pts
Team Penske and Friends
Castroneves, Briscoe, Doornbos, Barrett
4. Mike Draize - 1461pts
IRL the feeder series to ALMS
Franchitti, Briscoe, Hunter-Reay, Barrett & Beatriz
5. Julie Werner - 1454pts
Times 101st to 107th Most Influential
Franchitti, Briscoe, wheldon, Barrett
6. Simon Speichert - 1446pts
Felony Pursuit
Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, Rahal, Wilson
7. Julie Werner II - 1442pts
Times 108th to 109th Most Influential
Castroneves, Kanaan, Carpenter, Tracy
8. Robert Duffield - 1401pts
Team IndyCART
Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Rafael Matos, Barrett
9. Jason Kwok - 1355pts
Eco Challenged
Dixon, Briscoe, Carpenter, Wilson
10. Doug Wener - 1336pts
TCG & Friends
Dixon, Franchitti, Wislon, Carpenter
11. Paul Boggan - 1335pts
12. Jeff Ianucci - 1274pts
13. Dan Fay - 1242pts
14. Emiliyan Stoykov - 1216pts
15. Simon Green - 1211pts
16. Matthew Hyndman - 1210pts
17. John Harbey - 1199pts
18. Morwenna Cross - 1197pts
19. Conor Daly - 1179pts
20. Peter Dempsey - 1178pts
21. Dan Enfinger - 1177pts
22. Joe Gaal - 1170pts
23. Chris Buccola - 1124pts
24. Michael Rennick - 1107pts
25. Chris Vince - 1080pts
26. Paul Menard - 1073pts
27. Simon Topham - 1072pts
28. Mike Gathman - 1067pts
29. Robert Melvin - 1045pts
29. Declan Brennan - 999pts
30. Mike Brooks - 941pts
31. Philip Moreton - 931pts
32. Eddie Lynch - 894pts
33. Andrew Haybey - 882pts
34. Vincent Mellor - 865pts
35. Martin Wilz - 858pts
36. TJ Halsema - 837pts
37. Nick Daman - 781pts
38. Jeff Fuller - 744pts
39. Ryan Ligon - 702pts
40. Brian Wright - 682pts
41. Jimmy Magnusson - 680pts
42. Austin Hollobaugh - 669pts
43. James Murphy - 532pts
44. Jeremy Scott - 494pts
---------------------------------------
Vitor Meira's day at Indy involved a giant pit lane conflagration and then a rather shocking accident where he rode the wall backwards (answers to the name 'lucky' as the old joke goes) and ended up in hospital sidelined for the immediate future. His seat at Milwaukee was taken by Paul Tracy who parted company with AJ Foyt after one race on account of the car being less effective than the stint Stevie Wonder had as Travis Pastrana's co-driver recently on the Olympus Rally. AJ Foyt IV climbed into the ABC car in Texas and the result was equally as good or bad depending how you look at it.
So Ben Harris has jumped to the top of the table precisely one third of the way through the year, mainly thanks to the astute pick up of Helio Castroneves as soon as he became available. The Werner family are dominating the Top 10 and have assumed the rights to be known as the 'first family of fantasy motor sport' which no doubt will disgruntle the many members of the Harbey household who are involved in this league.
I do need to give a shout out to Jeff Ianucci who is participating under the name of his excellent blog www.mynameisirl.com and I wholeheartedly suggest that you give it a read. His tenure in the top 10 like Ryan Hunter Reay's was brief, although one feels that Jeff has more chance of making an impact in our little league than RHR has in the championship.
Finally if you look down through the list you will see that our two Star Mazda drivers, Conor Daly and Peter Dempsey are locked in a epic battle for mid-table respectability, they are currently separated by a single point.
1. Ben Harris - 1639pts
IRS Racing: Presented By Helio Castroneves
Castroneves, Rahal, Wilson, Wheldon
2. James Broomhead - 1561pts
Team A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.
Castroneves, Carpenter, Wilson, Wheldon
3. Doug Werner(II) - 1534pts
Team Penske and Friends
Castroneves, Briscoe, Doornbos, Barrett
4. Mike Draize - 1461pts
IRL the feeder series to ALMS
Franchitti, Briscoe, Hunter-Reay, Barrett & Beatriz
5. Julie Werner - 1454pts
Times 101st to 107th Most Influential
Franchitti, Briscoe, wheldon, Barrett
6. Simon Speichert - 1446pts
Felony Pursuit
Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, Rahal, Wilson
7. Julie Werner II - 1442pts
Times 108th to 109th Most Influential
Castroneves, Kanaan, Carpenter, Tracy
8. Robert Duffield - 1401pts
Team IndyCART
Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Rafael Matos, Barrett
9. Jason Kwok - 1355pts
Eco Challenged
Dixon, Briscoe, Carpenter, Wilson
10. Doug Wener - 1336pts
TCG & Friends
Dixon, Franchitti, Wislon, Carpenter
11. Paul Boggan - 1335pts
12. Jeff Ianucci - 1274pts
13. Dan Fay - 1242pts
14. Emiliyan Stoykov - 1216pts
15. Simon Green - 1211pts
16. Matthew Hyndman - 1210pts
17. John Harbey - 1199pts
18. Morwenna Cross - 1197pts
19. Conor Daly - 1179pts
20. Peter Dempsey - 1178pts
21. Dan Enfinger - 1177pts
22. Joe Gaal - 1170pts
23. Chris Buccola - 1124pts
24. Michael Rennick - 1107pts
25. Chris Vince - 1080pts
26. Paul Menard - 1073pts
27. Simon Topham - 1072pts
28. Mike Gathman - 1067pts
29. Robert Melvin - 1045pts
29. Declan Brennan - 999pts
30. Mike Brooks - 941pts
31. Philip Moreton - 931pts
32. Eddie Lynch - 894pts
33. Andrew Haybey - 882pts
34. Vincent Mellor - 865pts
35. Martin Wilz - 858pts
36. TJ Halsema - 837pts
37. Nick Daman - 781pts
38. Jeff Fuller - 744pts
39. Ryan Ligon - 702pts
40. Brian Wright - 682pts
41. Jimmy Magnusson - 680pts
42. Austin Hollobaugh - 669pts
43. James Murphy - 532pts
44. Jeremy Scott - 494pts
---------------------------------------
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Midweek Motorsport Today
Hello all,
'Midweek Motorsport' is back with the full squad this week and arguably, the greatest guest/presenting line up in show history!
Okay we have had bigger guests that Martin Haven but none deliver quite the value for money that MH does and I for one cannot wait to get his take on the first two rounds of the FIA Formula 2 Series. I will be butting in constantly to remind everyone that no matter how good F2 is now, it will NEVER be the F2 that we knew and loved in the late seventies and early eighties. Unless you were born in the eighties then you simply don't know what you were missing. Take for example this footage below. The BMW M12 F2 engine has been around since 1969 and has anything ever sounded better? I admire the guts of the chap sitting in the chassis. By 1982, Formula 2 was not only the best sounding Formula in the World but the chassis were simply gorgeous, particularly the examples from Maurer. Anyway, I digress, no doubt I will bore everyone with more of this on tonight's show.
Allan McNish is the star of the show this week and he will be answering many of the questions that were submitted via the facebook group.
Oliver Gavin will be dropping in to chat about Le Mans and other stuff.
We have reached half way in the 'Race for the Chase for the Cup for the Thing' so the 'Sound of the swinging cymbal' will be making it's seasonal debut, not 'alf!
There will be a quick look at the IndyCar and Indy Lights races from the weekend.
There will be lots of other stuff including a full look at the 'who is in and who is out' nonsense of the 2010 F1 season. From what I can gather Arturo Merzario (including cowboy hat), Hector Rebaque, EuroBrun and Lec are all coming back!
We will also have news of some great new sponsors and exciting new ways to listen for our US contingent (unless you already stick a glass up to the wall of the people next door).
It's all on at the usual time and place. 8pm UK, 9pm CET, 3pm EST, 12pm PT & 9am in Hawaii.
Go to www.radiolemans.com and click 'listen live' or catch us on the podcast which will be availble soon after the show has aired or get us on iTunes.
Dex
'Midweek Motorsport' is back with the full squad this week and arguably, the greatest guest/presenting line up in show history!
Okay we have had bigger guests that Martin Haven but none deliver quite the value for money that MH does and I for one cannot wait to get his take on the first two rounds of the FIA Formula 2 Series. I will be butting in constantly to remind everyone that no matter how good F2 is now, it will NEVER be the F2 that we knew and loved in the late seventies and early eighties. Unless you were born in the eighties then you simply don't know what you were missing. Take for example this footage below. The BMW M12 F2 engine has been around since 1969 and has anything ever sounded better? I admire the guts of the chap sitting in the chassis. By 1982, Formula 2 was not only the best sounding Formula in the World but the chassis were simply gorgeous, particularly the examples from Maurer. Anyway, I digress, no doubt I will bore everyone with more of this on tonight's show.
Allan McNish is the star of the show this week and he will be answering many of the questions that were submitted via the facebook group.
Oliver Gavin will be dropping in to chat about Le Mans and other stuff.
We have reached half way in the 'Race for the Chase for the Cup for the Thing' so the 'Sound of the swinging cymbal' will be making it's seasonal debut, not 'alf!
There will be a quick look at the IndyCar and Indy Lights races from the weekend.
There will be lots of other stuff including a full look at the 'who is in and who is out' nonsense of the 2010 F1 season. From what I can gather Arturo Merzario (including cowboy hat), Hector Rebaque, EuroBrun and Lec are all coming back!
We will also have news of some great new sponsors and exciting new ways to listen for our US contingent (unless you already stick a glass up to the wall of the people next door).
It's all on at the usual time and place. 8pm UK, 9pm CET, 3pm EST, 12pm PT & 9am in Hawaii.
Go to www.radiolemans.com and click 'listen live' or catch us on the podcast which will be availble soon after the show has aired or get us on iTunes.
Dex
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