Monday, October 17, 2005
Racing Without Rednecks
Every NASCAR fan in the country will now pelt me to within an inch of my life. Had a grand time at the Toyota 400 at the California Speedway with Holy Coast.
Rick does a great job reporting on the race itself at the link just presented, no need to repeat here. This is the Speed TV story which covers the issue of whether Kanaan lifted or not pretty thoroughly.
I have to praise the track. I grew up in Indianapolis, seen the 500 dozens of times. This was nothing like it. The shape, lack of banking and narrowness of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway makes it a race where cars pretty much stay single file and wait for the perfect opportunity to pass.
Not here, these guys, inclusive of Danica, routinely came around the turns 2,3 and even 4 abreast. This reminded me of seeing small track sprint racing more than Indy, except it was a whole lot faster -- top laps were around 215.
Typically, Rick had to tell me that when Danica Patrick hooked up with one of Gannassi's pink montrosities (I'm all for supporting breast cancer research, but a pink race car? -- Please!) "a fender might have helped." Oh sure, about 7 laps under yellow followed, but the average race speed was still a lot faster than anything NASCAR can muster, and given that the skill of racing is to AVOID collisions, not survive them, I can tell that Rick still needs a bit of educating.
Ah well, I'll be going to a NASCAR event with him in February, perhaps then he can teach me how to time using a sundial and a rock abacus.
Rick does a great job reporting on the race itself at the link just presented, no need to repeat here. This is the Speed TV story which covers the issue of whether Kanaan lifted or not pretty thoroughly.
Franchitti beat AGR teammate Tony Kanaan to the finish line by 0.1117 seconds, but Kanaan's car slowed dramatically just before he reached the line, leaving Franchitti to wonder if his teammate intentionally lifted. Kanaan claimed he accidentally pressed the pit-speed button instead of the overtake button, but few were buying his explanation.I listened to those pit limiters engage all afternoon -- they produce a very distinct engine noise. I dodn;t hear it....
I have to praise the track. I grew up in Indianapolis, seen the 500 dozens of times. This was nothing like it. The shape, lack of banking and narrowness of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway makes it a race where cars pretty much stay single file and wait for the perfect opportunity to pass.
Not here, these guys, inclusive of Danica, routinely came around the turns 2,3 and even 4 abreast. This reminded me of seeing small track sprint racing more than Indy, except it was a whole lot faster -- top laps were around 215.
Typically, Rick had to tell me that when Danica Patrick hooked up with one of Gannassi's pink montrosities (I'm all for supporting breast cancer research, but a pink race car? -- Please!) "a fender might have helped." Oh sure, about 7 laps under yellow followed, but the average race speed was still a lot faster than anything NASCAR can muster, and given that the skill of racing is to AVOID collisions, not survive them, I can tell that Rick still needs a bit of educating.
Ah well, I'll be going to a NASCAR event with him in February, perhaps then he can teach me how to time using a sundial and a rock abacus.
