It’s All-Star Weekend on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit as the annual Sprint All-Star race, formerly known as The Winston, heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway with a ton of money on the line and no points or pressure. The event’s format breeds controversy with four short 20-lap segments and a final 10-lap dash for a million dollar payday almost certain to feature lay-it-all-on-the-line, hardnosed racing.
Favorites:
Kyle Busch-As witnessed earlier in the year in the similarly formatted Bud Shootout, Busch has the tallest win-at-all-cost attitude of the bunch and that desire should make him a factor in the closing laps this weekend unless he ruffles the other driver’s feathers early and gets turned around but then again as the Bud Shootout proved, it takes a lot to knock him out.
Jimmie Johnson-Johnson answers Kyle Busch’s hard charging style with what could be described as stern finesse he’s aggressive when it’s needed but is hardly ever wild He’s coming off his first win of the season and like all Hendrick Motorsports entries, this team always runs well at Charlotte.
Carl Edwards–Without any points to worry about, Carl Edwards is at his best as evidenced by his win in this race last year. The fact that he hasn’t found victory lane this year, makes him all the more determined this time around and the #99 car should be a factor Saturday night.
Tony Stewart-If it has four tires and a steering wheel, Tony Stewart will drive the daylights out of it and he’s not afraid to put you in the cheap seats if you mess with him. That’s the perfect attitude to have to win an event like the Sprint All-Star race and if it comes down to Stewart and Kyle Busch side by side on the final lap for the win, third place may not be all that bad a place to be in.
Greg Biffle-No one drives flat out all the time more than Biffle but his strong suit this season has been longer runs and this race is made up of four short segments. I have the feeling its checkers or wreckers with Biffle this weekend and he’s either in victory lane or on the hook.
Matt Kenseth-Like Biffle, Kenseth has been outstanding on longer runs this season and has found bad luck on the shorter all-out anything goes dashes (See Las Vegas). If the team can get the car strong enough on the short runs, Kenseth has the ability to mix it up with the best of them and if they make him mad early on Watch Out! He could win going away.
Denny Hamlin-Hamlin could score a ‘where did he come from’ victory Saturday night as this team has been one of the top performers this season while staying somewhat out of the limelight. Hamlin’s aggressive enough to not be left behind early and the main pressure is on the pit crew to get him out early enough for a prime starting spot for the final ten lap dash.
Kasey Kahne-Kahne has had success at Charlotte in the past and he’s behind the wheel of a Hendrick Motorsports car which makes him an automatic contender. Kahne has reeled off four straight top-ten finishes and the team appears to have shaken the bad luck that plagued them early in the season.
Kurt Busch-Kurt Busch certainly has the talent and ability necessary to win this event, but I think the team has had about all the tirades and wrecked race cars it can handle at the moment. A big question mark this weekend will be how well they work together following their disaster at Darlington last week.
Jeff Gordon-Gordon is the only active three-time winner of the Sprint All-Star race but his last victory was in 2001 (the year the field went green in a rain storm and wrecked in the first turn, resulting in all teams pulling out back up cars). However bad luck has followed Gordon this year he began the season upside down in the Bud Shootout and I don’t see him taking the chances necessary to pull off the win in this race. Maybe they should dust off the infamous T-Rex car
Dale Earnhardt Jr—If he doesn’t finish first or second in the Sprint Showdown to make the field, Dale Jr. is all but certain to win the fan vote and he will be racing in the main event. I think it will take some luck for him to win this weekend as quite frankly, there are too many better pure raw talent racers in the field for me to list him as a top contender.
Big Bend, WI (September 27th, 2013) – “Did You See That? – Unforgettable Moments in Midwest Open-Wheel Racing” is a delightful book that’ll make a great holiday present for the sprint car and/or midget racing fan. But then again, any racing fan will love this book too for its incredible images.
The book contains 465 stunning photographs by longtime racing photographers, Allen and Kevin Horcher, Bill Baker, David Hill, Gene Marderness and Mike Campbell. Add the interesting side story and captions by esteemed motorsports journalist, Joyce Standridge and you have a entertaining combination.
The book features photos from 1978 to the present, featuring winged and non-winged sprint cars, USAC Silver Crown cars and midget race cars. How does one organize 465 photos into a book? The book is broken down by track. Chapter one for example is titled “Speed Palaces” featuring Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway including an entertaining page on “allegedly” illegal cars.
There are many action shots, candid driver shots and wild flips some that’ll defiantly get your attention. These are sharp award worthy photos along with Joyce’s sharp and witty comments make a great combination. As the press release stated, “With all photos annotated with insightful and informative captions, as well as thoughtful introductions to each topic, the book captures fully the concurrent joy, energy, color, and heart-ache of one of the truest of American sports.” I agree.
Book is soft-cover, 170 pages. Price: $27.95 ISBN #: 978-0-9857735-2-6
Published and available from Coastal181.com which had over 1000 motorsport books, DVDs as well as hundreds of photos and racing commentaries.
Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.
JEREZ, Spain- Just hours before the first formula one test of the season on February 7th , Williams launched their new FW34 early in the morning hours with a no- frill affair in front of the world’s media.
Drivers Pastor Maldonado and newbie Bruno Senna rolled the car out which like the other F1 cars debuting this week, featured a stepped up nose and a similar rear end like its predecessor last year. But the team will be hoping for a more competitive package that has seen the team decline in many years, especially with the departure of technical director Sam Michael, now at McLaren. Mike Coughlin now replaces him, and is joined by Mark Gillian. For the first time since 1997, the team will enjoy the benefits of a customer Renault engine at their disposal.
Maldonado returns to the team with his heavily financed Venezuelan oil money, and in his second season is looking forward to better results. But Senna is a trademark name that Williams could not miss, since his uncle raced before him in 1994. But the Brazilian replaces a legend in Rubens Barrichello, who after 17 season of F1 driving now is looking at an Indy drive. Already, Senna has raced for such teams as HRT and Lotus Renault GP (now just Lotus), so the young prodigy has a lot more experience than his South American companion.
“We are really looking forward to this season and from a personal perspective I can’t wait to get the FW34 on to the race track.” Said Gillian. “The factory has worked extremely hard over the winter to ensure that the car met its design, build and rig test targets and we start testing with the car prepared to a high standard. We’ve worked in close co-operation with all of our partners to achieve that, including Renault Sport F1. In the run-up to Australia, we will be working hard with our exciting new driver line-up to ensure that we maximize and unlock the full potential of the FW34. It is imperative that we demonstrate a continuous improvement in our performance and deliver results throughout the season.”
Sir Frank Williams, even with the departure of partner Patrick Head, who went to the hybrid division of the company, has been a huge contributor since 1979. But regardless of Head’s decision to move on, Williams believes that it is just another chapter in the team’s history.
One could say that looking at the Williams F1 Team today we are off to a truly fresh start,” Stated Williams. “We have a new car, new driver line up, new engine and new senior personnel. We also have a number of new partners who have joined the team in the past few months. I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome them formally and sincerely wish that they have an enjoyable and, most importantly, a valuable experience with us. The team has had a good winter at the factory and we feel ready and strong for the fight.”
If timing was an issue on this day, then Williams had the pole because only 20 minutes after the launch, Maldonado got into the new car, and began to test. The Venezuelan will test for two days, with Senna finishing the last two.
Mark Gero has written formula one racing stories since 2002 on the Internet for such sites as Motorsport.com, Racing Information Service News and for a brief time at the Munich Eye newspaper in Munich, Germany along with Autoweek online. Mark also has a diploma in journalism from the London School of Journalism in London, England and in addition a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa.
SILVERSTONE, England- After a good wait and so far failing to pass their last of the crash tests, Team Marussia launched their 2012 challenger Monday morning at the teams headquarters in Central England.
With only 13 days remaining until their first race in Australia, the team so far has missed all of the opening pre-season tests, but under the testing regulations, the car is permitted to conduct a shakedown as soon as possible. According to team consultant and former Renault technical director Pat Symonds, the car has one more day, perhaps on Tuesday to achieve that goal.
“The component in question has actually passed an observed crash test but has performing inconsistently in the observed tests,” stated Symonds. “The fail has been marginal but nonetheless, we need to completely eradicate that margin and as such we are taking the time we have to ensure we have an even more robust solution in place.”
Since the team has a technical partnership with McLaren, the car has a similar design which does not feature a “stepped nose “like most of the other manufactures.
Timo Glock returns for another season, but replacing Belgian Jerome D’ambrosio, who now is a tester at Lotus, is Frenchman Charles Pic, who was in the GP2 series last year.
Team manager John Booth expressed the satisfaction of finally getting the car out for the world’s media.
“We are very pleased to be running the new MR01 for the first time this morning,” Booth said. “It has been a long and frustrating wait for everyone in the team but we can now get back on track-literally-and start working towards the first race of the season in Australia next weekend.”
Mark Gero has written formula one racing stories since 2002 on the Internet for such sites as Motorsport.com, Racing Information Service News and for a brief time at the Munich Eye newspaper in Munich, Germany along with Autoweek online. Mark also has a diploma in journalism from the London School of Journalism in London, England and in addition a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa.
Phil Hill, the only American born Formula One World Champion passed away this afternoon at the age of 81. Known as the gentleman racer, Hill possessed great talent and was an ambassador to the sport of auto racing that will be lamented.
Raised in Santa Monica , California , Hill emerged in the sports car growth that occurred after World War II. Hill was a winner from start, winning many stateside sports car races in the golden age of the sport. Hill drew the attention of famed builder, Enzo Ferrari. Ferrari hired Hill in 1956, unlike today, Hill drove both sports cars and Formula One machinery. Hill would win the prestigious 24 Hours of LeMans three times as well as the 12 Hours of Sebring three times. It was in 1961, after an epic season long battle with Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips, Hill won the World Championship at the ill-fated Italian Grand Prix. In that race, Trips was killed in a crash after touching wheels with Jimmy Clark. In that incident, 14 spectators were killed along with Trips. As a result, Ferrari did not participate in the season’s final race at Hill?s home race at Watkins Glen. Thus, Hill was unable to celebrate his championship in his home country.
In 1962, Hill moved on from Ferrari and formed the ATS team with Giancarlo Baghetti, however success did not follow the duo. Moving on to Ford and Jim Hall?s Chaparral team, Hill once again was in victory lane. Retiring after the 1967 season at the age of 30, Hill pursued vintage car restoration as well as writing and television commentating.
Hill was quite the racing historian, his knowledge of cars and tracks was seen in his elegant writings in his Road & Track columns as well as judging at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where he was a judge 38 times, the last being in 2006.
I met Hill several times, he was always a gentleman. I had the opportunity to participate with Hill and former driver David Hobbs page through a Formula One history book, listening to Hill discuss in detail the idiosyncrasies of particular turns at Reims and Syracuse were unforgettable. His knowledge of the cars, espicially Ferrari was immense. His appearances at the Brian Redman International Challenge at Road America were a great opportunity for the fan to meet and greet an international celebrity. Hill could walk in most restaurants in the U.S. and perhaps be recognized by some. However in Italy he was viewed as a hero and would be mobbed by the worshipping tifosi. Racing lost a stately figure today.
Hill was survived by his wife Alma, his son Derek and daughters Vanessa and Jennifer.
Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.
St. Petersburg, FL (March 27, 2011) – Dario Franchitti and the Target Chip Ganassi Team showed no signs of letting go of their No. 1 spot on top of the IZOD IndyCar standings. Franchitti easily won the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Sunday. Franchitti held of Team Penske’s Will Power in winning the IndyCar opener. The talented Scotsman led most of the race at the picturesque 1.8-mile street circuit, for his first victory and fifth top-five finish in six starts at St. Pete.
Most eyes were on the Tony Kanaan and Simon deSilvestro battle late in the race for third place. Kanaan driving in his first race for KV Racing impressed many as he worried after the race whether he set to bar too high holding off the talented Swiss driver. Likewise could be said for deSilvestro and the HVM Team whose departure of engineer Michael Cannon caught them and many outside the team off guard.
I’m really happy,” she said. “I never would have thought, after starting seventeenth, that we’d finish fourth, and we were running second for quite awhile there.
About her team, de Silvestro added, “I’m happy to be working with Brent Harvey because he’s really calm on the radio, which I liked. The team also did an unbelievable job. We had a few new issues to overcome in the beginning of the weekend, but during the race, everything went according to plan. They did great pit stops and I’m really proud to be part of this team.”
I had the opportunity Thursday to take a two-seater ride with IndyCar and World Champion Mario Andretti. Certainly it is something I can check off my bucket list. For me it was like getting a ride with the Navy’s Blue Angels. Many eager riders were in line awaiting their turn, especially many National Guard members, dedicated fans and charity contest winners. Arie Luyendyk, Jr. Was also there giving rides that started promptly at 11:30am and went a bit past 2:30PM. Mario was in his drivers suit the whole time only took three breaks. I asked him if he was out of retirement and he joked “he needed the money.” As a passenger, you really get thrown around, when you think he’ll turn in, he doesn’t, waits a split second longer and then turns in and nails the apex. He came real close to the tire wall several times and really did a phenomenal job displaying the speed in IndyCar racing. It was something special to remember.
In the media center Friday I discussed with several others the IndyCar rumors page from AutoRacing1.com in which Marco Andretti had ignored a couple of fans in the paddock. Interestingly perhaps the team received some feedback because on Saturday I saw Marco sign autographs (about 25-30) for about five minutes when he came out the transporter. Danica equally seem to be more fan friendly as I saw her sign more autographs throughout the weekend than I can remember. Keep it up guys.
Many drivers had concerns about the double-file restarts, but looking at the replays they need to hold their line a bit better and stop diving for the center of the apex. From the looks of it, after the first third of the race they were becoming better at it. Expect a lively drivers meeting in two weeks at Barber Motorsports Park.
Sebastien Bourdais was happy to be back in the IndyCar Series. However he told me Saturday the team and he was struggling. Unfortunately a pre-race crash on Sunday eliminated him from starting the race.
Thanks again to Sayurie Naidoo and the media staff for their hospitality this weekend.
Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg Results Order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any): 1. (2) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 2. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 3. (8) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 4. (17) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 5. (11) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 6. (10) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 7. (16) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 8. (13) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 9. (15) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 10. (6) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 11. (24) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 12. (19) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 100, Running 13. (25) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 98, Running 14. (20) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 98, Running 15. (22) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 97, Running 16. (3) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 96, Running 17. (12) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 96, Running 18. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running 19. (21) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 94, Running 20. (9) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 21. (14) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 58, Handling 22. (23) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 38, Contact 23. (4) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 1, Contact
24. (7) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 0, Contact
Race Statistics Winners average speed: 89.260 Time of Race: 2:00:59.6886 Margin of victory: 7.1612 seconds Cautions: 5 for 13 laps Lead changes: 3 among 2 drivers
Lap Leaders: Power 1-4, Franchitti 5-70, Power 71-72, Franchitti 73 – 100.
Eddie has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up).
BARCELONA, Spain- Being the last team to launch their 2012 formula one challenger, Team HRT unveiled their entry for this year’s season Monday afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Narain Kartikeyan, who is in his second year with the now registered Spanish squad, took controls of the new F112 around four o’clock in the team’s first rollout. But the car like that of Marrussia’s, has failed crash tests and has not made changes before the opening pre-season tests in February. But considering all these setbacks, the car managed to make it out onto the track.
Joining Karthikeyan this season will be veteran Spaniard Pedro De La Rosa, who will give the team plenty of advice in many years of driving and testing experience.
But the drive for Karthikeyan himself was very short lived, as under the regulations, the car could not go any farther than 60 miles of testing, due to the fact that the test itself was only done on Pirelli promotional tires for the event.
Mark Gero has written formula one racing stories since 2002 on the Internet for such sites as Motorsport.com, Racing Information Service News and for a brief time at the Munich Eye newspaper in Munich, Germany along with Autoweek online. Mark also has a diploma in journalism from the London School of Journalism in London, England and in addition a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa.
