A New Era for Indycar

2012 IZOD Indycar Series Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg

Racin' The Way It Ought'a Be??

Bristol Motor Speedway...

Half-a-mile long...

24° to 30° of variable banking in the turns...

Two, wide, evenly matched racing grooves...

160,000 seats...

NASCAR short track racing at its most intense...

So why are the stands empty?

And why isn't the racing considered "good enough"?

Lets face it fans loved the old Bristol. For years the track boasted of an unbroken "sold out" streak.

Not any more...

Since the track was repaved and the banking was changed to its current variable configuration fans have turned off and that unbroken run of sold out ticket sales has been well and truly broken. On paper the "new" Bristol should be perfect for modern NASCAR racing. Multiple racing grooves giving the drivers loads of room to race two wide over 500 laps. However somethings not working.

The "old" Bristol was a physical track, physically hard on drivers as well as emotionally and mentally hard. The drivers also got physical with each other, what became known as the "bump'n'run".

A packed house might have booed Dale Earnhardt in the 1999 Bristol night race when he "just meant to rattle" Terry Labontes cage but don't tell me those fans didn't pay their money to see exactly that happen.

However since the track was reconfigured the contact, some might say the "edge" has been lost. In one way this was the reason for repaving the track. The old track had one racing groove and to overtake drivers had to use their front bumper to move the other car out of the way. Now with the variable banking the drivers have two complete racing grooves to work with, negating the need for the "bump'n'run". However I did say "in one way" this was the point of the variable banking.

I fully expected, after the track was reconfigured, the controversial last lap "bump'n'runs" to be replaced by two wide, thousands-of-an-inch close, finishes using the new variable banking to great effect. This was surely the other purpose of the reconfiguration, widen the racing groove. The banking does create this style of racing as the battle between Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth in the latest NASCAR Sprint Cup race proved.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Fans may look back at the "old" Bristol races and remember them as close, good old fashioned short track racing and look at the races on the new surface and consider the racing not good enough. Not enough cars on the lead lap, no dramatic last lap battles, however not every lap of every Bristol race was filled with "bump'n'run" drama. The other 1999 Bristol race only had 13 cars on the lead lap with 222 laps still to go. The one groove nature of the track meant that the races were wars of attrition, patience and stamina, waiting games for 400 laps and full on for the last 100 laps. Remember, 500 laps of any NASCAR race, let alone Bristol, is a long time.

This has not changed with the "new" track. If anything the variable banking has done its job and opened the track up to "real" racing. What I do not understand is why the race finishes have not been that close.

The drivers seem able to race two wide for lap after lap in the middle of the race, however the track is yet to produce the aforementioned two wide, thousands-of-an-inch close finish, using the new variable banking to great effect. To me this is why fans are not buying tickets and are complaining about the new Bristol. It is said the most important parts of a film, stage production, book or TV show are the start and end, as the viewer always remembers these more than the bit in the middle and I wonder if the same can be said of a motor race.

Fans remember with great fondness the "old" Bristol races and say they want the "old" Bristol back. What I think they really want are good "new" Bristol starts and great "new" Bristol finishes. The 300 laps in between are always going to be forgotten.

I just wish I understood why this hasn't happened yet, as I for one quite like the "new" Bristol!

V8 Supercars from the Australian GP

Australian Grand Prix supporting V8Supercars Races

Race 1 Highlights and Race 2 part1




Race 2 part 2



Race 3 part 1



Race 3 part 2

V8 SUPERcars

The first round of this years V8 Supercar Championship, the Clipsal 500, took place last weekend on the streets of Adelaide.

Two races, two different winners, Holden won the first, Ford the second. What both races had in common was a high level of competition, a high level of respect between drivers, along with the high level of driving standards.

The two races which made up the Clipsal 500 showed what touring car racing should be all about. No silly moments, no overly aggressive driving, no heavy contact. Just close, hard racing, and there was a lot of racing.

The first race came down to Ford vs Holden. Will Davisons Falcon on a fuel saving strategy, with Jamie Whincup in a fully fuelled Commodore hunting him down. The lead changed on the last lap as the Holden came storming through. Ford got their own back in the second race with a one-two finish, and Davison won the round overall.

The Adelaide circuit has to be one of the most successful of its kind I can think of. When I say successful I mean in terms of taking everyday streets and turning them into a race track which in turn enables the cars on it to produce great racing. As a track layout it gives the big Aussie sedans room to manoeuvre, fast and slow corners, lots of overtaking places and several big kerbs to bounce over!

The reason I mention this now is because the highlights were on TV here last weekend, and as you can gather the coverage left quite an impression.

I have always been a fan of what is now known as V8 Supercars. Big cars, with big engines and rear wheel drive! I was glad to see that nothing has really changed.

I genuinely look forward to following the Championship all year.

Now I have to decide... A matter of great importance...

Ford or Holden!

More... 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Preview Videos

2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford Fusion



2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Dodge Challenger

Hey Good Lookin' part 3...

2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford Fusion COT "stock car" vs. Road going Ford Fusion...

2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford Fusion COT mark 2 "stock car"... vs. New road going Fusion...

Now we have the best indication yet of how successful NASCARs new "stock" looking bodies for the 2013 season are... the Dodge Charger. The road car is the same, and we can tell how things have moved on...

2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Dodge Charger COT "stock car" vs. Road going Dodge Charger...

2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Dodge Charger COT mark 2 "stock car"... vs. Same road going Charger...

Wow that's what I call a "STOCK CAR"!

2013 is shaping up to be the best looking year for the NASCAR Cup Series in a long time!

What's in store for the next generation Chevrolet and Toyota??

Hey Good Lookin' (part 1) - http://jameswright42.blogspot.com/2012/01/hey-good-lookin.html

I Couldn't Help But Wonder - http://jameswright42.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-couldnt-help-but-wonder.html

Hey Good Lookin' (part 2) - http://jameswright42.blogspot.com/2012/02/hey-good-lookin-part-2-not-necessarily.html

Return of the DeltaWing

I was a fan of the DeltaWing concept during the evaluation process to become the new for 2012 Indycar Series chassis. The dramatic new way of looking at single seater aerodynamics struck a cord with me. Unfortunately the concept was too bold for some in the series and Dallara won the battle with the car now known as DW12.

The DeltaWing car is now being reworked to enter ths years LeMans 24 hour race. I am not a LeMans fan, but I do wish such a bold project well!

Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series

Progress A Fresh Fit At Phoenix

A progressively banked Phoenix gave us a NASCAR Sprint Cup race that got progressively better as it progressed.

Phoenix was a race as much of failures as successes. A brake failure for Casey Mears brought out one of seven cautions. An electronic failure of sorts for a fuel saving Tony Stewart ended his day, while a fuel strategy failure for Kevin Harvick denied him the chance to really go for it at the end. These were offset by some good racing and the early season success of new partners driver Denny Hamlin and crew chief Darian Grubb, the partnership proving to be a "fresh fit"!

Another success of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 was the 312 mile race length. Strange I know, but the race was held over 500 kilometres, therefore 312 miles and laps. Quite what a distinctly European kilometre has to with a distinctly American race series is beyond me, but I have long been an advocate of shortening certain Cup Series races so the principle worked for me. Now use the same thinking at other tracks, Pocono perhaps, but call the race the "Whatever 312" next time and make a feature of the shorter race distance.

The most exciting moments of the race came when Mr Twitter, Brad Keselowski in the, still a Penske Dodge, 2 car battled with the 48 Chevy of, a determined to earn some points this week, Jimmie Johnson and, the always aggressive, Kyle Busch in the 18 Toyota, and when the Rowdy vs Harvick feud reared it's head. These battles proved the still new progressive banking can produce good side by side racing once the grip comes in. I am still not sure about the "short cut" though! The other exciting moments were the closing stages, the "will they make it, won't they make it" laps.

The most bizarre moment of the race came not on the track but in the garage, with the news that to investigate what went wrong with the 14 car, Tony Stewarts crew would have to "plug the car in".

Welcome to the modern world NASCAR. Computers in stock car racing...

That's what they call progress!

2012 Indycar Testing

I have said it before, and I will probably say it again, the new for 2012 Indycars, are growing on me...

The DW12 may not be the bold leap into the future I had hoped for but, dare I say it, they look good in road course spec...

I now look forward to seeing the final oval spec car!!

Rule Breakers

Junior Johnson, Tim Flock, Smokey Yunick, Richard Petty, Ray Evernham, Gary Nelson, Tim Brewer, Chad Knaus...

All names who at one time or another pushed the envelope of what NASCAR would allow.

In the past the rules were not necessarily there to be broken, the rules were written on the back of what some of these guys tried and when NASCAR decided they didn't like it, the rules were written.

Some cars ran illegal engines, some tried to hold too much fuel, some played with weight, some with ride height.

Bit by bit NASCAR have got better at finding the illegalities, better at writing rules, but some still find ways to push the envelope, and at the same time NASCARs buttons.

There has been a long held point of "respect" between NASCAR and the teams in which NASCAR say, don't think you can get an illegal engine or body by us, because we are too good for that. Try other things and take your chances, but mess with a cars engine or bodywork... how dumb do you think we are?

When the COT was introduced and with it the "tech inspection claw" NASCAR made one thing very clear to the car builders and crew chiefs... do not mess with the bodywork!

Chad Knaus is one of our generations most successful Crew Chiefs... but also one of our generations best rule "pushers". This time he had C-posts on the 48 car that NASCAR didn't like, so they removed them. As a consequence of his actions both Knaus and his driver Jimmie Johnson have both received 25 point penalties, and Knaus has a $100,000 fine and a six week ban to worry about.

Chad Knaus has an eleven year career as crew chief. He has won five Sprint Cup championships with Jimmie Johnson but has also been caught and penalized by NASCAR nine times and suspended three times.

Of course the 48 team is appealing the penalties. Over the course of his career, Knaus has won one appeal!

Some might say that innovation, and therefore rule breaking is a fundamental part of a sport founded on "moonshine runners" going racing, but they are also a part of it's history.

What part rule breakers, and innovators like Knaus have to play in NASCAR's future, only time, NASCAR, and it's appeal process, will tell.

Wheel To Wheel Over 24 Hours!

I have just finished watching the highlights of this years Rolex 24 at Daytona race and had to share this great battle between Alan McNish and the eventual winning car driven by AJ Allmendinger / Ozz Negri!





Great cars, great drivers, great race!!