Grand Prix Rejects

Salamander wrote:

Wallio wrote:Dale Jr is losing the National Guard after this season, leaving him with 19 races to find sponsors for next year.

It's Dale Jr. He'll have sponsors falling over themselves to sponsor him, especially now that he's good again. I wouldn't be surprised if he already has a replacement.

I agree 100%. But as I said in the Indycar thread, Rahal (who is also losing the Guard) isn't so lucky.

Wallio wrote:I agree 100%. But as I said in the Indycar thread, Rahal (who is also losing the Guard) isn't so lucky.

Rahal's particularly unlucky as he proves to be only as good as the engineers behind him as seen by his resurgence in IndyCar to being able to finish in the top 5 again on road courses. It might be what would happen if Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus parted ways to Johnson seeing his Busch Series numbers which look more like Clint Bowyer than a 6 time champion.

Holy f**k...

RIP Kevin Ward

East Londoner wrote:Holy f**k...

RIP Kevin Ward

RIP Kevin Ward

Tony Stewart may end up in jail for this.

But what the hell was Kevin Ward doing?! You can't stand in the middle of the track shaking your fists at people and expect to tell the tale afterwards! Whether it was accidental or not (and I suspect it was an accident) there was very little chance that that would have ended well for Ward. Really dumb thing to do if I'm honest.

AndreaModa wrote:But what the hell was Kevin Ward doing?! You can't stand in the middle of the track shaking your fists at people and expect to tell the tale afterwards! Whether it was accidental or not (and I suspect it was an accident) there was very little chance that that would have ended well for Ward. Really dumb thing to do if I'm honest.

Never underestimate the blinding power of the red mist. It is certainly not the first time drivers have walked towards the still racing enemy and made their displeasure known. It is though the first time I know of a driver being hit and unfortunately being killed in this situation.

Regardless of who was at fault...what a waste of a life.

Local sheriff's are still investigating, but Tony has lost the PR war if nothing else with his "business as usual" comment. I am a huge TS fan, but if what people are saying is true, and he gunned the motor just before (I refuse to watch the video on Deadspin) well he should never race anywhere again. Period.

DINGERRRRRRRRRR! WOOO!

Absolutely Awesome race!

Wallio wrote:Local sheriff's are still investigating, but Tony has lost the PR war if nothing else with his "business as usual" comment. I am a huge TS fan, but if what people are saying is true, and he gunned the motor just before (I refuse to watch the video on Deadspin) well he should never race anywhere again. Period.

may i ask if anyone knows what preceded the caution period?

RIP Kevin Ward; I'm not going to make judgement yet on Stewart. I've never been a fan of the guy, but there is not enough detail yet aside from the video.

Anyone else reminded of this incident here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9QPLYcrmsQ

Dirt track, similarly hard to control cars, a driver going into the middle of a hot track...it's eerie, and whereas in the video Martin Schanche as lucky, Kevin Ward wasn't.

nome66 wrote:

Wallio wrote:Local sheriff's are still investigating, but Tony has lost the PR war if nothing else with his "business as usual" comment. I am a huge TS fan, but if what people are saying is true, and he gunned the motor just before (I refuse to watch the video on Deadspin) well he should never race anywhere again. Period.

may i ask if anyone knows what preceded the caution period?

Stewart and Ward came together. Racing incident (I watched that video) but it ended Wards day. That led to him getting out of the car.

Great win by Allmedinger
I missed the race reply of first red flg though, but if it's Allmedinger, Ambrose, Kurt Busch on the podium, oh yeah!

Wallio wrote:Local sheriff's are still investigating, but Tony has lost the PR war if nothing else with his "business as usual" comment. I am a huge TS fan, but if what people are saying is true, and he gunned the motor just before (I refuse to watch the video on Deadspin) well he should never race anywhere again. Period.

Tony lost the PR war as soon as Kevin Ward Jr. went under the tires. His previous rage incidents led to what we see in the news. I believe Tony's innocent as they've determined Tony was going no faster than the other drivers, but it's likely to be a career ending incident for Tony given the public image issues that have resulted that would make a return to racing into a canyon of boos and a villain in racing that hasn't been seen since Ed Elisian was involved in the fatal wrecks of Pat O'Connor and Jim Davis within months of each other in the late 1950s. Tony reminds me a lot of Ed at this point. No matter what he does will never be enough to clear the public image of him as a villain to the general public.

Well, I think a tragedy of this kind was expected someday. I think its time for US autosport to rethink about the "payback/revenge" culture.

Dj_bereta wrote:Well, I think a tragedy of this kind was expected someday. I think its time for US autosport to rethink about the "payback/revenge" culture.

NASCAR has made a new rule effective immediately that will tell drivers to stay in their cars until the safety crews arrive unless imminent danger is present, ie a fire. Hopefully, it spreads throughout motorsports as to prevent tragedies like that from happening again.

Stewart to sit out a third straight race this week. Rumors continue to swirl he's retiring. Also talk that there may have been a GoPro on his car afterall......

What a terrible thing to happen.

my guess is that footage will be confiscated by the police department investigating this incident......



then later released.


on the internet.



.....by a shameless employee.





anyways... temporary subject change! in two weeks time, Kurt Busch will be visiting Autobahn Indoor Speedway in Jessup, Maryland, USA.... which is the place i've been hired to work at just two weeks ago!

Tony Stewart will race at Atlanta this weekend. He's going to have a presser tomorrow at 1. The shitestorm that will follow will be unprecedented.

I find disgraceful and most disturbing that Stewart was allowed back to racing and, worst, seen his comeback celebrated by many. Intentionally or not he still killed a fellow racer and a fellow human being... Man kind at its worst really.

Wallio wrote:The shitestorm that will follow will be unprecedented.

I saw no storm, just alot of fawning. Anybody would think Stewart was the one who lost a member of his family.

Time to take up golf Tony.

CoopsII wrote:

Wallio wrote:The shitestorm that will follow will be unprecedented.

I saw no storm, just alot of fawning. Anybody would think Stewart was the one who lost a member of his family.

Time to take up golf Tony.

I have to say, overall I was surprised by this. Not from NASCAR itself of course, everyone knew they were going to shield him. But the media, ESPN and NBC especially, act like he is some returning war hero.

And to have so many sponsors keep their support is baffling. Kyle Busch dropped a few F-Bombs a few years ago, and M&Ms pulled out for the last three races (and nearly for good). Martin Truex, Jr. follows team orders, and NAPA pulls out and shuts the bloody team down. But Tony Stewart kills a man (purposely or not) and everyone has his back.

NASCAR is very strange.

Wallio wrote:Martin Truex, Jr. follows team orders, and NAPA pulls out and shuts the bloody team down.

I don't think Martin Truex Jr had any idea what the rest of MWR was doing. Bowyer, on the other hand...

I met Kurt Busch at my job today. I don't know if that's relevant

It's been raining a bit at Richmond:

Pah, raceable conditions.

watka wrote:Pah, raceable conditions.

Exactly. Gilles Villeneuve would drive through that in slicks. Flat out. Power-sliding. With no helmet. On three wheels.

tommykl wrote:

watka wrote:Pah, raceable conditions.

Exactly. Gilles Villeneuve would drive through that in slicks. Flat out. Power-sliding. With no helmet. On three wheels.

Blindfolded. With his hands tied behind his back. While doing the chicken dance.

Salamander wrote:

tommykl wrote:

watka wrote:Pah, raceable conditions.

Exactly. Gilles Villeneuve would drive through that in slicks. Flat out. Power-sliding. With no helmet. On three wheels.

Blindfolded. With his hands tied behind his back. While doing the chicken dance.

That's nothing. I bet Jacques would finish his race way way sooner than his father!

tommykl wrote:

watka wrote:Pah, raceable conditions.

Exactly. Gilles Villeneuve would drive through that in slicks. Flat out. Power-sliding. With no helmet. On three wheels.

The sad part is, he probably would.

KESELOWSKIWINSLOL.

I feel this needs to be shared. From Autosport:

Ward, who had left his car following a collision and approached Stewart's car on foot when he was hit, was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the accident.

Toxicology evidence suggested that "the levels that were determined were enough to impair his judgement."

Drivers are racing under the influence of drugs? I hope to God that nobody else is doing the same in motor sport.

dr-baker wrote:Drivers are racing under the influence of drugs? I hope to God that nobody else is doing the same in motor sport.

Obviously you've never heard of Shane Hmiel.

As someone who felt sympathy for Ward, that's all gone now. Stoner got himself killed. And now local tracks are going to test drivers much more, which will increase there costs, which will then be passes on to us. Right now, the sanctioning body who holds your license will test you once or twice a year or more if there's just cause (pros are tested at each race). But since Ward was racing at a po-dunk track, those of us in little weekly points series are going to have to pee much more often.

Salamander wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Drivers are racing under the influence of drugs? I hope to God that nobody else is doing the same in motor sport.

Obviously you've never heard of Shane Hmiel.

Or Jeremy Mayfield

Wallio wrote:

Salamander wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Drivers are racing under the influence of drugs? I hope to God that nobody else is doing the same in motor sport.

Obviously you've never heard of Shane Hmiel.

Or Jeremy Mayfield

Actually, Tomas Enge comes to mind. And Wallio, while the financial bottom line is obviously a concern, I presume that you would prefer to know that there are no drug-users around to get in the way of the racing? Particularly when lives are at risk, as this scenario proves.

dr-baker wrote:Actually, Tomas Enge comes to mind. And Wallio, while the financial bottom line is obviously a concern, I presume that you would prefer to know that there are no drug-users around to get in the way of the racing? Particularly when lives are at risk, as this scenario proves.

Sure I would, absolutely, 100% but like everything else there's a line. How often will we be tested? Once a month? Is that enough? Is that too much? And will we go to clinic or will the test be on site? And will we have to wait for the results? ("instant" tests are frightfully pricey). And what will it test for?

Right now the system isn't bad. Add one or two more tests (maybe 4-5 total a year) and will be good. I hope. I guess this shows you can never be sure.

Wallio wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Actually, Tomas Enge comes to mind. And Wallio, while the financial bottom line is obviously a concern, I presume that you would prefer to know that there are no drug-users around to get in the way of the racing? Particularly when lives are at risk, as this scenario proves.

Sure I would, absolutely, 100% but like everything else there's a line. How often will we be tested? Once a month? Is that enough? Is that too much? And will we go to clinic or will the test be on site? And will we have to wait for the results? ("instant" tests are frightfully pricey). And what will it test for?

Right now the system isn't bad. Add one or two more tests (maybe 4-5 total a year) and will be good. I hope. I guess this shows you can never be sure.

You raise some fair, practical questions, and which I cannot give a response without knowing more about how it is priced and how long results take to arrive, etc. But it is interesting that this year, via AlcoSense's sponsorship of one of the BTCC backmarkers, all BTCC drivers and officials are breathalysed for alcohol each and every morning of each meeting, and none are allowed to participate until they give a good sample. Would be a good start for other series, particularly if the tests are sponsored and publicised by the manufacturers of the equipment.

dr-baker wrote:

Wallio wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Actually, Tomas Enge comes to mind. And Wallio, while the financial bottom line is obviously a concern, I presume that you would prefer to know that there are no drug-users around to get in the way of the racing? Particularly when lives are at risk, as this scenario proves.

Sure I would, absolutely, 100% but like everything else there's a line. How often will we be tested? Once a month? Is that enough? Is that too much? And will we go to clinic or will the test be on site? And will we have to wait for the results? ("instant" tests are frightfully pricey). And what will it test for?

Right now the system isn't bad. Add one or two more tests (maybe 4-5 total a year) and will be good. I hope. I guess this shows you can never be sure.

You raise some fair, practical questions, and which I cannot give a response without knowing more about how it is priced and how long results take to arrive, etc. But it is interesting that this year, via AlcoSense's sponsorship of one of the BTCC backmarkers, all BTCC drivers and officials are breathalysed for alcohol each and every morning of each meeting, and none are allowed to participate until they give a good sample. Would be a good start for other series, particularly if the tests are sponsored and publicised by the manufacturers of the equipment.

Now that would be a start. But I often wonder how many drag racers would still be around. I often see many teams partying hard in the pits. Who's the driver? And who, like me, simply pays his crew in beer and let's them loose once the quails are done? I've also had guys I was running, come up to me in the staging lanes and tell me full stop that they were hung over. That wakes you up pretty quick, let me tell you. Hell, Alan Johnson (a very big time pro) was banned just last year for blowing hot at a race.

Most drag racing teams are closeted drinking teams. And that's an issue, because as the stoners correctly point out, alchol is just as bad as weed, from a driving standpoint. I'd be all for breath-o-lizers before running, again, if it doesn't cost too much. Insurance fees are killing enough tracks as it is.

watka wrote:Pah, raceable conditions.

Brian Barnhart (who may or may not become Chief Steward of IndyCar again since, oddly, he still is one of the stewards of the meeting) would have thrown the green flag because there are no umbrellas in the stands (see the Loudon, New Hampshire race of 2011).

dr-baker wrote:Actually, Tomas Enge comes to mind. And Wallio, while the financial bottom line is obviously a concern, I presume that you would prefer to know that there are no drug-users around to get in the way of the racing? Particularly when lives are at risk, as this scenario proves.

Also, Al Unser, Jr. did compete in some IndyCar races under the influence of alcohol. Glad he's turned around towards dryness since.