Ridebuyers

Indy infield and buses v. walls

2009-05-26T19:22:00.003-04:00

Deadspin's AJ Daulerio gave a much needed, fresh voice to the coverage of our fair sport. The Editor for the most notable sporting blog on the interweb was strolling the Indy infield on race day and filed this report. Here's an excerpt of his dispatch:

By around lap 46 I was ignoring the cars all together and instead focused on an 45ish-year-old man with a white muscle shirt and an "I Am Indy" hat try to convince a 19-year-old girl to flash for him. "Come on. Just one tit?" Lovely.

Love it. Just outstanding.

On an unrelated/related note Deadspin (and other national outlets) is running the story of the school bus racing accident that took place over the weekend at Columbus Motor Speedway. Now, obviously there is an inherent comedic value to this story. Racing school buses is silly, I get it. I like jokes. But, something like this can literally close a short track. Like, for good. Like, out of business. Forever. And that fucking blows. Once lawyers get involved, things like this get ugly (or uglier). Now, in the interest of full disclosure, Columbus Motor Speedway is my local short track. I like the place. I'll go when sprints or midgets are in town. The USAC National Midget Series started their midwest season at CMS a few weeks back. I was there. It was a good show at a hell of a good price. Tracks like CMS are the backbone of motor racing and, shamefully, becoming few and far between.

Hopefully, my local short track can overcome this bus debacle and continue to provide inexpensive entertainment that churns out droves of new racing fans. Time will tell for CMS. We shall see. In the meantime, everyone should head out and enjoy your local short track ASAP. Buy a ticket, get some food, enjoy giving the track your money.

OK, I'm off the old soapbox. Here's a video of the wreck. Watching that cement fly is pretty nasty. As crazy as it looks, no one was killed.

Larry Rice tribute

2009-05-25T12:18:00.002-04:00

2009-05-25T12:16:00.000-04:00

Indy link dump

2009-05-23T11:36:00.003-04:00

It's been called the "laziest post in blogging," and if I'm one thing, it's lazy. Really lazy. So, here you go, what other people are saying about The Indy 500 across the interwebs.

There are at least 10 interesting things that might happen come Sunday's open-wheel 500. So says Fox, anyway.

10 storylines to follow at Indy 500 (FoxSports.com)

The one called Pressdog is on location at Indy and filing trackside dispatches. Apparently he is sharing a Indy hotel room love-bungalow with a dude. Well done, sir.

Live from IMS 5/23/09 Part 1--Bloggers at the Gate. (Pressdog.com)

From Indy 500 champ, to Dancing stud, to Wesley Snipes, and back to IndyCar glory. It's been quite trip for Heilo Castroneves.

Cleared for takeoff (Indystar.com)

Deadspin editor AJ Daulerio will also be on locale at Indy. He'll be in the infield looking at drunks and searching for the ever elusive set of IUPUI sophomore boobs. His update will be posted Tuesday. Oh, AJ, the "Italian guy married to Ashley Judd" is not Italian.

Of Screeching Tires And Lost Control (Deadspin.com)

Enjoy the race. My Speed fantasy picks are Castroneves, Briscoe, Dixon. They will win. All of the them.

Also, fyi, Shane Hollingsworth won the Hoosier Hundred. Cheers buddy.

2009-05-18T18:55:00.004-04:00

Not to be the guy who laments his fantasy team aloud, but... My starters for this past weekend's Wind Tunnel Seven Whatever went 1-2-3 in ALMS, 1-2-7 in Grand Am, and won the Truck outing in Charlotte. How the hell did I finish in 70's? Jesus, what's a guy got to do? I won every damn race! Christ.

Mistake by The Lake double-dip?

2009-05-18T18:32:00.004-04:00

Like the idea of an IndyCar doubleheader at Burke Lakefront in 2010?

'Hell yes,' you say?

Well... Think about the prospects of running the circuit in an oval configuration one day, then the traditional layout later that weekend.

My god, I think I'd purchase a ticket to an event like that.

INDYCAR: Cleveland Considering Combo Oval/Road Race Event

Should this race somehow happen, it would be the second coolest thing to ever come from Cleveland. This dance number is still cooler:

Much cooler.

I'm alive

2009-04-29T22:29:00.003-04:00

I am, really.

I'm just having a hard time recovering from finishing p2 in Wind Tunnel's fantasy game for April. You may have seen "RideBuyers" on the graphic during last week's WT broadcast. Yep, that's me. I'm around. And I'll be around more. I promise. Have a great race week-

2009-03-31T21:36:00.002-04:00

Truth in 24, the wonderfully brilliant documentary about Audi and Le Mans, is available for free download on iTunes. I watched this past weekend and was thoroughly blown away. Watch it now.

F1 spotter guide

2009-03-28T18:23:00.005-04:00

Has the long off-season made you forget who the driver of the #2 Force India car is? You are certainly not alone. Check out this beautiful Andy Blackmore-designed spotter's guide for tonight's Australian GP. It's like porn, but with racing cars.

Oh, and it's Adrian Sutil, by the way.

Random Sebring notes

2009-03-24T17:46:00.003-04:00

-Alan McNish is an absolute monster. His spot in sporty car racing immortality was cemented well before Saturday's race, but his performance is still something to behold. In a word, devastating.

-Prototype racing will be lame for the rest of the season. Don't try to deny it, the cream of the sports racer crop will not competing in America this season. Acura will win both prototype classes in the ALMS this season (by default) which sucks, because their cars have way too much time and money invested in them to waste their possible awesomeness beating up on privateer machines.

-Speaking of privateers, the weak landscape of prototype racing this season creates two classes ripe for the picking for enterprising non-works outfits. Example: Watch the success of a team like Intersport Racing, contesting P1. With a few missteps or teething problems within the XM or Patron bunches, you could see some surprise results and contenders.

-I love when Justin Bell acts as roaming pitlane reporter for Speed. The definition of classic is when Bell, after asking an interviewee a question, becomes seemingly uninterested in their response, and moves the mic away mid-response. The next Edward R. Murrow has an accent.

-If P1 and P2 entries will be the weakest in recent memory, GT2 will be the strongest. Porsche v. Ferrari v. BMW v. Corvette (after Le Mans) v. GT40 v. Viper. That will be worth the price of admission to any event on the schedule.

- When the hell did Truth in 24 get made/air? I totally missed this and was not even aware of the film's existence until hour 4 of Saturday's race. It was on ESPN? Really? How about a little heads-up there WWL? If anyone knows when a re-air is happening please let me know!

2009-03-18T20:35:00.002-04:00

Hey! Mario wants you ready for Sebring!!! 3 days and counting.

As you were.

Event schedule

The great spec debate

2009-03-18T12:23:00.003-04:00

Part of the fun of following motor racing is getting carte blanche to bitch and moan about a wide array of topics. Which guy’s faster? Who’s cheating? Which team is run by a bunch of morons? Which series is mismanaged? Which journalist is making shit up? And so forth. One of the hotter debates in recent memory is the spec car v. non-spec car argument. This gets the masses fired-up like Michael Phelps at a Kappa Kappa Gamma party. Like abortion and gay marriage, every fool has a spec car opinion that is -more often than not- based upon rumors, hearsay, something their priest told them when they were 12, or other make-believe trinkets of quasi-knowledge.

The fact of the matter is spec car racing has its pros and cons, just like every issue worth debating. There would be no debate, without positives and negatives to kick around, chew, and digest. So, here we go.

I’m about to make a glaring generality, so brace yourself. Most fans of our sport despise the idea of spec car racing. It’s treated like a bastard stepchild. One whose presence at family events is required, yet not embraced, because his “real” mom did meth and he can’t string together a coherent sentence because of the birth defects. Yeah, spec car racing is not that popular with fans.

It’s the concept of spec car racing that gives fans mental syphilis. The practice of spec car is something totally different.

The masses want to see the latest-and-greatest technology showcased. “Innovation” is buzzword tossed about circles of fans, mostly when speaking of the current batch of IndyCar standards. There is a yearning for new ideas and a “clean sheet of paper” approach when it comes to American open wheel racing. Vocal fans want to hear the words “…and a new track record!” reverberate off of the Tower Terrace at IMS. And fans want that record set with a something other than a Dallara chassis’ed, Honda powered, Firestone shod, Xtrac shifted, turnkey data acquisition system programmed, racing vehicle. Fans are pretty damn picky if you want to know the truth of it.

Of course, the totally valid argument against “innovation” and a “clean sheet” of anything are things like “money,” “resources,” and “desire.” All abstract concepts, themselves.

Sure, it would great if there were no restrictions on how to make your motor racing vehicle of choice traverse a circuit, but there needs to be takers to field such entries.

I would surmise that only a handful of teams would have the resources to build something “innovative.” Of those teams, someone would inevitably show up with something that looked like the Batmobile, goes 300-mph, cost $100 million to develop, and would kick everybody’s ass back from where they came. Teams’ would retreat, having sunk gobs of cash into a suddenly obsolete car, and this euphoric series would collapse faster than the Mets in late July. Don’t believe me? Take a look back at IMSA of the early 90’s or the original Can-Am. We know how this book ends. *Keep in mind; this represents the best-case scenario, as it features someone with enough cash to build a damn car. It’s a questionable assumption (at best) to say anyone could find the funding to build a “clean sheet” car today.

Motor racing is a sport that benefits greatly from grassroots participation. Of the fans that yearn for technological advancement to fuel motor racing, some might even participate in an entry-level form of racing. They autocross, go to track days, maybe even have a NASA or SCCA racer. Bet your bottom dollar these folks have an all too well understanding of cost containment in racing.

Spec Racer Ford, Spec Miata and Spec 944 are some of the most popular classes for amateur road racing in this country. The reasons are simple. A car can be built for a (relevantly) small investment, the racing is damn close, and the cars are pretty easy on replacement parts. In short, for a not-astronomically high investment, you get to go racing and car development is limited so things like driver skill, race strategy and car prep make the difference. What’s wrong with that? On a grassroots level, nothing, and no one could possibly argue otherwise.

But, what’s wrong with that on a professional level? I say nothing.

There just needs to be a happy medium between spec car affordability and the ingenuity that our sport was founded upon.

That brings us back to the debate waged by IndyCar fans on message boards, and bar stools across the country. Spec car v. non-spec car. Who is right? Both guys, of course.

Whenever the IndyCar redesign actually happens (2011 or beyond), we need a formula that gives fans and nerdy engineering types the possibility for innovation, development and all that other jazz. (Granted the chassis will still come from a single source, But we’ll overlook that.)

Conversely, the league needs to insure that there is an abundant supply of turnkey cars that a high-level Atlantic or Grand Am team could purchase and run back-to-mid pack right out of the truck. Oh, and for a reasonable price. Sound tough to do? You bet. But creating and nurturing an environment of innovation, while insuring a fresh supply of young teams can complete are two needed facets of competition to get this thing relevant again.

Get local, get fired

2009-03-12T11:47:00.003-04:00

I used to work in radio. It’s an odd business. The people who work in radio are odd. Radio stations are odd. People who listen to the radio are odd. The entire industry, from the highest-level exec, to the lowest of board-ops, has become resigned that they are working in a dying industry. It’s a slow bleed, but it’s definitely a kill, not a wound. (Respects to Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs.) People in radio know their days are numbered, but nobody talks about D-Day. The boat is sinking and the band continues playing as they disappear into icy water. Everybody knows, but nobody acts. Odd.

The radio business was in the tank well before the economy collapsed. This is not like the bank industry, where imminent demise is a relevantly new development. Radio has been in the ICU for years.

It’s the contradictions that make the radio business really weird (and by weird, I mean insolvent).

One such inconsistency is the local-versus-national debate waged numerous times over the course of my sterling yet brief radio career.

Program Directors want to have as much local programming as possible. The idea being that regionally-centric programming will be a greater draw than nationally based shows that may not be relevant to a local audience. That makes sense. Right?

The inconsistency comes when the same PD fires local show hosts to bring in cheap syndicated programming because the station can’t afford to pay a talker 12 bucks an hour. The same story has been played out in AM stations across the country, no matter if the station is a Clear Channel flagship or a 1000-watt station in Bumblefuck, Nowhere.

This drawn-out story and scenario got me thinking about an idea I’ve had for a while and previously published on a now-defunct motor racing interweb site.

In a nutshell, the plan calls for a full time single-car IRL team with a revolving door of local drivers to contest each event. For example, Memo Gidley would be in the car for Sonoma, Clint Field at Mid-Ohio and so forth. Local one-off sponsorships would be sold and the league foots any remaining cost. All crew members, engineers, marketing types and other staff would be up-and-comers, guys and gals with little or no experience in the sport. A few experienced guys (I hear Derrick Walker is free, hint, hint) would mentor the young whippersnappers to make sure everything is safe and done in proper manner. It’s the motor racing equivalent of local programming.

It seems like a no-brainer. Local drivers and sponsorships attract more local fans. Everybody is a winner! Of course, at least now, it’s almost impossible to sell anything, so the financing could be an issue. But, if the league would jump on this plan, and really devote some money and manpower (in terms of some bright young salespeople), this could be a reality. If executed properly, the investment return would be quick.

Alas, someone in the sport has to play the role of radio Program Director (aka the Kill Joy). Is it Tony George? Is it Brian Barnhart? Is it the individual team owners? Yes. Probably. And yes. Local programming has long been cut, and fields are filled with drivers of little relevance to the average fan. Hopefully the IndyCar Series is not subject to the same fate –obscurity, demise, death, and destruction- as radio.

Ed. note

2009-03-05T18:02:00.007-05:00

After admiring the brand-spanking-new banner perched atop the site (successfully designed after hours of painstaking ctrl 'c' + ctrl 'v' maneuvering, three Valiums, and a thoroughly breathtaking poop at the midway point) I came to realize this time of the motoring season is an exercise in contrast. First, there is an elation that comes with the prospects of actual wheel-to-wheel contests taking place. That is exciting. Dare I say, that is very exciting. A new race season is something like Christmas, payday and the five dollar foot long wrapped in one.

Alas, that feeling is short lived, and what comes in the days and months following the "season kick-off" is worse than AIDS. (Kidding. Maybe more like a bad flu with a case of poopy-butt.)

Has the 2009 racing season started? Technically, yes. But, Detroit is technically considered a city and Nickleback is technically considered is a band, so that doesn't mean shit.

Nothing quite compares to the moments leading up to the first big deal race of the year, the Rolex 24. That race makes sane motoring fans want to leave their wives, quit their jobs, punch their dogs and head to Florida for a weekend contest waged on an otherwise uninteresting circuit, with uninspired cars that lasts too damn long. There is no reason for that race to mean as much as it does. But, I'll be the first to say, there is no race I anticipate more than the 24. None. I want the season to start as soon as possible.

That race gives us all the false sense that spring is near, and Friday nights at the local dirt track will be forthcoming. In that regard, the race is a cruel bitch and a farce. After the 24, the next watchable race happens in two months. It still snows in most places for another three months, and the real season-no matter the series-won't develop until May. It's like an addict taking a hit of heroin just before moving in with the Jon and Kate Plus Eight family for 10 weeks. It's not a pretty thing. We are all dealing with these doldrums currently. Hopefully you are coping better than I.

So, here we are. I'm redesigning the site banner and looking at photo galleries on USAC's website. What a dismal time of the racing year. Some real series should take advantage of this time and stage a winter tour of races in the warmth. Put the races on TV or the interweb, toss in some shots of broads in bathing suits, I'd watch.

Until that happens, enjoy the remaining winter and keep looking around here for updates.

PS- Mark your calenders for April 4th, this season's first USAC Natl Midget race in the Midwest. Columbus Motor Speedway. Rb will be there. Will You?

2009-03-03T09:12:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Dale Coyne called to offer Paul his other car beside Justin Wilson in place of Bruno Junqueira. But Tracy refused Coyne's offer. "I told Dale that Bruno is a friend of mine and a good driver who deserves a ride," Tracy said. "I told him I couldn't take Bruno's seat. That wouldn't be right."

- Gordon Kirby

As it turns out PT is a stand-up guy. Good for him. He remains sans ride, but way to take the high road, Paul.

The Way It Is/ North American talent at a record low

Making it rain with Kyle Busch

2009-03-02T22:04:00.005-05:00

What would you do if you just won your hometown NASCAR race?

Party like a rock star? Maybe drop some dimes on 'dem hoes? How about making it rain? Well, if you happened to be Kyle Busch, you'd answer "hell" and "yes" to all of the above.

Good for you, son.

Kyle Busch Executes $5,000 Splash 'n Go (Via TMZ)

The most racy racing circuits the world over

2009-03-02T19:41:00.004-05:00

Google Earth continues to impress the bunch over at Jalopnik. This time they give us a smattering of the world's best racing circuits as seen from the depths of outer space. As with any list that presents a topic in a supposed chronological order, debate should ensue. And debate we should.

First off, Road America is totally undervalued on this list, bringing up the rear at #15. It's the Nurburgring of North America for christsakes. Top five material, no question.

Donnington Park? Really?

This list only encompasses the realm of "proper racing circuits" which, of course, means no ovals. At least that's the logic of Jalopnik guys. We could not disagree more, and Indianapolis needs a prominent spot on any queue of noteworthy racing facilities. Side note: check out the old oval portion of Monza, if you squint it looks like the corner of 16th and G'Town (without the stripclubs and transmission plants anyway).

View Larger Map

Other critiques are pretty tick-tacky. Mosport and Laguna could be a bit higher. Brno should be dropped because nobody knows where the hell it is. The Isle of Man course could be lower because, while cool, it's really only for motorcycle sidecar racing, and that shit looks funny. Aside from those minor points of stickiness, it looks like a fair list. Don't you think? Oh, for those too lazy to follow the link, #1 is Spa. Yeah, no shit.

2009-02-26T18:08:00.003-05:00

Attention foreigners:

The entry list for the 2009 24 Heures du Mans has been released.

That is all.

Go back to your ye olde pints and discussions about the happenings of the fortnight.

USF1 presser: The vids

2009-02-24T19:00:00.004-05:00

We understand if you missed the launch q&a session for USF1 this afternoon. Noon on a Tuesday? Not in front of your TV? Huh. Interesting. Luckily, through the magic of the interwebs, you can see the highlights right here!

We like Mario's pleas to get Marco into a race seat. Nice set, Varsha.

'09 schedule fun dip- ALMS style II

2009-02-24T09:25:00.001-05:00

Generac 500 at Road America

August 16th. Live coverage begins at 12PM EDT on Speed.

Mobil 1 presents Grand Prix of Mosport

August 30th. Live coverage begins at 3:00PM EDT on Speed.

Petit Le Mans

September 26th. Live coverage begins at 11:00AM EDT on Speed.

Monterey Sports Car Championships

October 10th. Live coverage begins at 4:00PM EDT on Speed.

Yasukama returns

2009-02-23T18:19:00.003-05:00

Even the web editors at speedtv.com are susceptible to egregious spelling errors. In that regard, our two sites are pretty similar.

We will let Speedtv.com commentator "Mike Hickman" sum things up:

"Where's that SpeedTV.com spellchecker? His name in the article is Yasukawa not Yasukama. Is this a Freudian slip with F-1 Takuma Sato? Come on Speed, at least get the driver's name spelled right in the headline"

'09 schedule fun dip- ALMS style

2009-02-23T09:04:00.000-05:00

The American Le Mans Series is perhaps the most entertaining big-deal racing series in the country. The hip kids acronym it down to 'ALMS' and the cleverness doesn't end there. The series' features interesting looking cars, manufacturer involvement (that's a novel concept), a tidy television deal, and a stellar on-track product. Add a reasonable schedule with some sexy dates (Sebring and Long Beach?! Really?) and you have the makings of a truly relevant motor racing series. Sure, the loss of Porsche and Audi involvement hurts, but the new Acura looks damn good in a skirt and the Dyson Mazda LMP2 reminds us of the Batmobile. Both are good traits to have.

So, now that you are sold on the ALMS schedule, you'd better be planning a trip to the event nearest your abode. (Or, setting your DVR really far in advance. Either way.) Here's a run down of what's what and what's where for '09.

Oh, with some on-boards. Naturally.

57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida

March 21th. Live coverage begins at 10AM EDT on SPEED.

Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg

April 4th. Live coverage begins at 1:30PM EDT on ABC.

Long Beach Grand Prix

April 19th. Tape delayed coverage begins at 12:30PM EDT on ABC. The actual race is contested on the 18th, for those interested in rocking the LBC in person.

Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels

May 17th. Live coverage begins at 3PM EDT on SPEED.

American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix

July 18th. Live coverage begins at 2PM EDT on SPEED.

Acura Sports Car Challenge

August 8th. Tape delayed coverage begins 2PM EDT on NBC.

The exciting conclusion coming soon. Featured tracks include Road America and Mosport. We can't wait either.

This guy has a cooler driverway than you

2009-02-22T15:21:00.003-05:00

You can do some pretty crazy things with Google Maps. We usually use the street-view feature to lurk outside of strip clubs and rub-n-tugs trying to catch some poor sap freeze-framed in shame. Yeah, that's fun. Carlounge has used the tool for a less creepy purpose, finding this mini-racecourse that doubles as some guy's driveway.

View Larger Map

The curbing is a nice touch. Jealous.

Google Maps via carlounge via Jalopnik

Calling all Ridebuyers

2009-02-17T18:38:00.005-05:00

Most guys who want to dip their toes into the pool of motorsports will buy a kart, go to an HPDE event or hit the local auto-x. The term 'most guys' does not apply to the blokes who are considering ridebuying themselves into a Top Fueler. Not. Hardly.

For an undisclosed amount of cash, you can team with Urs Erbacher and crew chief Wayne Dupuy at an NHRA national event. Yes, you will be piloting a Fueler teamed with the multi time FIA champ Erbacher. Christ, (if you qualify) you could find yourself lined up against a Tony Schumacher or Larry Dixon in round 1! Like, in a real race! Not licensed to run a 1/4 mile is 3.9 seconds? No problem, your new team can help get you approved before your big weekend. Wow!

Interested guys can call Dupuy at 570-709-7195.

**Yeah, we thought it was weird that speedtv.com listed his phone number in the article too. We're putting him on our "must drunk-dial" list.

NHRA: Rent a Top Fuel Ride - a Sign of the Times

Until the 500...

2009-02-14T17:29:00.006-05:00

A smattering of notes on the eve of the Daytona 500:

Tony Stewart is the balls when it comes to plate stockcar racing. There is no equal. Exhibit 'A' would be his performance in this afternoon's N'Wide race. Watch the final two laps with him leading. Youtube it or something. It's bloody impressive. He is certainly the foremost pussy-and- racecar loving, plate-beast to date.

ESPN's stockcar coverage remains dismal. The only highlight of this afternoon's telecast was when Dr. Jerry Punch misidentified the Stealers Wheel classic "Stuck in the Middle," saying the Scottish band's hit was by Bob Dylan. That is inexcusable. Gerry Rafferty will no doubt kick Dr. Punch in the liver should their paths ever cross.

The SCCA has created a 911 GT3 Cup "Shootout" for teams who contest the World Challenge GT series using stock versions of the turn-key racers. Reading this reminded me of how amazingly beautiful racing versions of the Porsche 911 are, and forever have been. Case in point:

And yes, I am aware this is not a Cup car. Relax.

Enjoy tomorrow's stockcar race. Pre-race coverage started an hour ago and the race ends on Tuesday. Here is an extraneous Indy 500 video. Cheers.

Daytona dumping post

2009-02-12T19:31:00.006-05:00

Everything you need to get ready for the happenings at DIS this here weekend (oh, and what you missed while out on Friday trying to find a suitable Valentine's Day piece of ass in a vain attempt to hind your deep emotional trauma from a lifetime of being unloved...).:

Starting Line Up by Row Daytona International Speedway

Schedule of events:

Saturday February 14th
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM – NSCS Final Practice for the Daytona 500
12:45 PM – NNS Driver Introductions for the Camping World 300
1:15 PM - NNS Camping World 300 (120 laps, 300 miles)

Sunday February 15th
2:30 PM – NSCS Driver Introductions for the Daytona 500
3:30 PM – NSCS Daytona 500(200 laps, 500 miles)

Bodine wins first Truck race of season

Harvick takes pole for Nationwide race

2009-02-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

800hp Shelby Prudhomme Edition Super Snake GT500 M

Source: StreetFire via Jalopnik

2009-02-11T21:36:00.002-05:00

Danica Patrick Straddles A Cobra In New SI Swimsuit Issue

Yes, the above link title is pretty clear as to what can be found after the click...

2009-02-10T19:55:00.002-05:00

Gordon Kirby may also hate the Easter Bunny.

"Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick need to grow up and start focusing on their jobs and acting like professionals if they're going to be taken seriously..."

The Way It Is/ Return of the turbo

Sprint car ace to offspring, “go be a lawyer.”

2009-02-09T08:20:00.000-05:00

Joey Saldana’s profession may not be the route he envisions for the future generations of Saldanas. After Saturday’s World of Outlaws feature at Volusia, Saldana expressed his hope that the word ‘litigious’ plays a role in his son’s future.

“This is a very tough sport. I don’t think people realize how tough it is. Sometimes I wonder why I even do it, but when you get an opportunity like that, when you have a son and see what he might be going through, or the challenges he’s going to face in racing, sometimes it’s better to just go to school and try to be good at something, be a doctor, be a lawyer. $10,000 would definitely go a long way toward putting my son through school.”

I offer a motion to amend.

WoO: Joey Saldana, Randy Hall Race Into Alltel All-Star Contest

Better know your go-or-go homers

2009-02-07T10:33:00.003-05:00

Another season of fender-laden America oval racing is upon us. That means it's time to give a refresher course on the rather nuanced (ahem, ridiculous, stupid, not fair, idiotic, ahem) system of qualifying for Cup racing. For now, we shall concentrate on Daytona 500 quals.

Deep breath, here goes:

Thirty-five drivers are locked in the field based on 2008 owner points. That's straight forward enough.

Tony Stewart (new team this year, remember?) gets locked in based on his past championship provisional.

That leaves 21 entered cars (57 total entries were received) to vie for the final seven starting positions.

You can either make the race on qualifying speed tomorrow (Sunday) or by racing into the show on Thursday during the 150-mile qualifying races.

Tomorrow's qualifying will only set the front row.

Two non-locked in drivers from each of the races Thursday get automatic starting spots.

-And-

The rest of the field will be determined by speed.

Oh, Stewart only gets the past champ freebie if he needs it, so should he make the field by other means, Terry Labonte would be next in line, followed by Bill Elliott, should both Smoke and Terry make the field.

Exhale.

Via SceneDaily, here is a list of the drivers vying for those last, none locked spots:

EM Motorsports’ Boris Said, Phoenix Racing’s Brad Keselowski, R3 Motorsports’ Mike Skinner, Kirk Shelmerdine Racing’s Kirk Shelmerdine, Yates Racing’s Travis Kvapil, Tommy Baldwin Racing’s Scott Riggs, Front Row Motorsports’ Tony Raines, Mayfield Motorsports’ Jeremy Mayfield, Richard Petty Motorsports’ AJ Allmendinger, Carl Long Racing’s Carl Long, Blackjack Racing’s Kelly Bires, Norm Benning Racing’s Norm Benning, EM Motorsports’ James Hylton, Gunselman Motorsports' Geoff Bodine, TRG Motorsports’ Mike Wallace, H&S Motorsports’ Mike Garvey, Cope/Keller Racing’s Derrike Cope, Furniture Row Racing’s Regan Smith and Nemco Motorsports’ Joe Nemechek.

Good luck, guys. We're going to go sit down and decompress our brains.

Have a great race weekend.

The end of the world is (reportedly) near

2009-02-03T17:37:00.003-05:00

INDYCAR: Milka Duno and Doornbos to Newman/Haas/Lanigan!

This is hot off the presses. Remember, if you read it on the interwebs it has to be true. Discuss.

Herta Autosport going Lights racing

2009-01-31T16:00:00.005-05:00

The pride of The Ohio State University (that would be Bryan Herta, right?) has teamed up with former AGR engineer Steve Newey to form Herta Autosport. The team will contest the Indy Lights championship with American Dan Herrington (not the poker player) driving.

Check out the team's website. It's a bit light on content, but you get the point.

2009-01-31T13:26:00.002-05:00

To wet your thrust for infinite amounts racing-related ballyhoo, stroll on over to the interweb page of the IMS Video Library. A good amount of video content is being added in advance of The Speedway's Centennial Era Gala at the end of February in downtown Indianapolis. We're awaiting our VIP invites, so we can hit the buffet line with Gordon Johncock. Take it away, Roger:

There is no substitute

2009-01-25T21:27:00.002-05:00

Rolex 24 At Daytona Results

2009-01-23T22:19:00.003-05:00

First race of the sportycar season... wrapped.

KONI: Auberlen, Bell Win Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Opener

To the victors go the spoils. The spoils in Bill Auberlen's case? His wife, of course. (She's the one on the right. Like it matters.)

Go get some rest racing faithful. Tomorrow is a big day.

Daytona update

2009-01-23T11:49:00.004-05:00

Youtube helps out with some fresh updates from the 47th Rolex 24 At Daytona. Below you will find updates from both the Farnbacher Loles and TRG GT efforts. (It was Sylvain Tremblay in GT quals who captured the pole. That's the two in row for his Mazda RX at the 24.)

David Donohue put the No. 58 Brumos Porsche DP on pole. Timo Bernhard was p2 in the newly formed Penske Porsche DP program.

Donohue Captures Rolex 24 At Daytona Pole 40 Years After Father's Victory.

Session one qualifying results.

Session two qualifying results.

The Koni Challenge race will run at 1:45 PM ET this afternoon. Live timing and scoring can be had here.

Race cars make the world happy.

Stolen from the interwebs

2009-01-21T11:43:00.004-05:00

-Rolex 24 edition.

Official entry list.

Event schedule.

TV schedule:

Jan 24, 3:00 PM ET, FOX
Jan 24, 4:30 PM ET, SPEED
Jan 25, 7:00 AM ET, SPEED

Completely extraneous montage of 80's IMSA machinery at Daytona:

Damn it, we're getting fired up.

Welcome back

2009-01-21T11:14:00.002-05:00

Rb editors, staff, our droves of freelancers, and the little Filipino boy who makes us coffee would like to officially welcome you to the 2009 motor racing season. This past month has been a welcome reprieve from the pressures and stress associated with operating the finest motor racing weblog on the intertubes. But the vacation is over. Sporty cars will be turning wheels in anger this weekend at Daytona. Will we be there? No. Will have access to any insider news from the event? Doubtful. Will we cherry pick links and embed youtube video with little discretion? Hell yes. We're back, baby.

Let us all have a great race year.

Return of the Partyboy

2008-12-12T13:49:00.002-05:00

Al Unser, Jr.'s name seems to be intrinsically linked with booze and domestic violence. You can now add "sex tape blackmail victim" to that list. Take it away local Action News Team:

Unser is mentioned in counts 72 and 73 of the indictment. The DA's office said McMullin told Unser he had video of the racing legend in a "compromising position." McMullin allegedly asked Unser for $750,000, or he would release the tape to the public.

Now, according to this story Little Al is nothing but a victim. He did allegedly pay some cash to this skeeze (McMullin) to keep something under wraps. That could point to a sex tape actually existing. Just food for thought. Food for disgusting thought, but still.

Can we now call this the year of the motor racing sex tape? First Max Mosley, now Little Al. We advise A.J. Foyt to keep the old High-8 under lock and key.

DA: Unser a victim of blackmail scheme (KOB 4)

Unser Pays Pimp to Hide “Compromising” Video (SbB)

Al Unser Victim Of Prostitution Ring Blackmail Plot? Let's Go To The Videotape (Deadspin*)

*We love Deadspin more than anyone, but come on guys, tagging this story 'NASCAR'? You're better than that. Really, you are.

2008-12-04T15:48:00.002-05:00

According to GrandPrix.com (via Jalopnik) Honda's F1 outfit could be on the market. No word has come from Japan. Mark Cuban's checkbook is MIA. Coincidence?

Maybe they are not selling as many Accords as we all thought.

Honda Rumored To Be Selling F1 Team

Stolen from the interwebs

2008-12-02T11:57:00.003-05:00

Its been called the laziest post in blogging, link dumps, shit clicks, the list goes on... Occasionally we like to get in on the act, because we are lazy as shit. Where's the harm in that? So, here is our latest iteration of the motor racing-themed, Stolen From the Interwebs. We'll take credit for the name. +1 us.

The fast approaching NASCAR awards banquet is quite the social gathering of roughnecks. We always found it slightly odd that NYC, specifically the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, is the chosen locale for the event. Wouldn't an Arthur Treacher's in the Charlotte area be more fitting? How about the Cracker Barrel in the parking lot of Daytona International? They probably have a room that could be reserved for larger parties. Alas, 301 Park Ave has been the home of NASCAR's tuxedo night for almost 30-years. During that time some pretty interesting/entertaining moments have occurred. Ryan McGee counts them down at the WWL. Here's a sample:

Worst Toast

In 2006, Kyle Busch thanked his girlfriend Eva for her support … then remembered that her name was actually Erica.

The big question on awards night: Are those tuxedos fireproof? (espn.com)

The price of a visor strip on Lewis Hamilton's helmet? Rather high. Like $22 million, high. Diageo (the hooch company behind Guinness, Smirnoff, and Johnnie Walker) is forking over that amount for their Johnnie Walker brand to be prominently displayed on the new champs helmet and suit. Of course, this is not a new deal for walking man scotch brand as they have been associated with McLaren for some time. But, $22 million? We thought you were supposed to hunker down in these trying times. Ah, unless you provide the world with the one thing that can take minds off of the horrendous economic situation... High powered booze. Let us all toast the demise of our retirement funds.

Johnnie Walker Pays $22 Million For Visor Sticker (TIMES ONLINE via SbB)

If there is one thing that racing journalism Czar Gordon Kirby hates, it's spec car racing. Every two weeks or so he pens a scathing article on the demise of racing and the culprit (cars that look alike). Here is his latest piece, published moments before he nailed it to Tony George's door.

The Way It Is/ Fighting the great spec car plague (gordonkirby.com)

2008-11-26T13:51:00.004-05:00

Bernie Ecclestone pulls a Ricky Bobby. "If you're not first, you're last." The F1 boss has plans for a new points system that would award gold medals to race winners. At season's end, the man with the most gold wins. What happens in the event of a tie? Not discussed. Donovan McNabb rejoices, FIA to vote.

Ecclestone expects gold medal plan to be in place for 2009 (ESPN)

One of two ways

2008-11-25T16:46:00.008-05:00

"This really rocks."

-Or-

"This is really sucks."

95% of all new ideas will wind up with one of the above statements directly applying to them. Things either fucking kick ass or blow major boner. Rarely is there a middle ground. It's pretty black and white, clear cut, cut and dry, and so forth.

'Middle of the road' has shrunken to the size of the middle class in this country. (That was topical political humor.) Look at television and movies. I can't name a mediocre show or picture that was made in the last five years. The stuff churned out by the Goldsteins and Winebergs of Hollywood all fall on the opposite ends of the sucking line graph spectrum. Let us look at last night's (11/25) TV listings to illustrate this phenomenon:

*Key: FR=fucking rocks; FS=fucking sucks.

House (FR); Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (FR); Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel (FR. Seriously, watch this show. It's on TruTV and follows around waitresses at the Hard Rock in Vegas. Their uniforms are bikinis. It's a cheep thrill, but I'm a cheep guy.)

Everything else on last night was horrible:

Dancing With the Stars (FS); The Mentalist (FS); NCIS (FS); Fringe (FS)...

Full disclosure: I've never seen any of the 'FS' programs. You know why? Because they suck. There is no possible way The Mentalist is good. So I don't waste my time. I guarantee all of the above shows are disasters.

And that's just TV. Movies are more glaringly one-of-two wayed.

In the past five years, Superbad and The Departed are the only incredible things I've seen. Everything else sucked. (Possible exception given to a few other Seth Rogen films that weren't awesome, but still kind of enjoyable, in a 'if I laugh does this make me guy?' way. But, this would screw up my argument, so these films get omitted.)

This trend is present in everything. Sports? You bet. Trades never have middle ground. Your team either gets a stud for next to nothing or gets stuck with Ron Solt and some other 'pud to be drafted later.'

I have been thinking about how to apply this paradigm to the USAC news about road racing the new "Gold" Crown car. The car is supposed to debut in 2010 and, for those who haven't seen the design, here are some images.

A full field of these things, with live solid axles bouncing around twisty bits could be pretty damn impressive. more importantly, it could be entertaining. On the other hand, a halfhearted group of oval-specialists trying to figure out how to road race a car not suited for the discipline could border on comical. In short, it could suck.

The manufactures need to insure that these things will not be total dogs when turning left and right. That doesn't mean there's a need to outfit hideous wings all over the cars, or to make the suspension package so complicated that an Indy car team couldn't dial them in properly. No, they just need to create a somewhat neutral handling car that can be tossed about the corners and can run in packs. It's a simple concept, really. Hopefully the guys at Riley Technologies, Devin Race Cars and this new Bruce Ashmore company will be able to engineer these things to functionally not suck whilst road racing.

If USAC is serious about this road racing thing, they should really jump in and not ass around. Make a championship supplement for the road course events. Schedule more than a few non-oval races. Make teams and drivers really have to figure out road racing to seriously compete for a title. USAC has a corner on the open wheel oval racing market. Branch out a bit and make this something different and unique.

With the IndyCar Series moving to a more balanced schedule, it's in both organizations best interest to make the Gold Crown series as relevant as possible. Relevancy means balanced schedule, and a car that fits somewhere on the IndyCar Series ladder system.

In short, USAC and chassis designers; don't make this suck. That would really easy to accomplish. Make this series and car fucking rock.

Shafted by "Trackside"

2008-11-24T13:18:00.003-05:00

We haven't listened to talk radio for two years. Let's just say we had our fill of the medium. In a past life, the "royal we" was employed by a msm outlet that featured more local talking-head blowhards and national fist-sitters than a weekend real estate conference in Schenectady. Sure, it was fun to cover some sports, but not that fun. I mean, this station aired Rush Limbaugh for like, hours on end. Who knew that guy was still alive? Really? Rush. Come on.

So, it's not terribly surprising that "Blogger Night" on TRACKSIDE with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee (1070 The Fan, Indy) came and passed without our knowledge. "Noteworthy" motoring blogs were represented, with their founders pontificating about everything IndyCar Series. We've never listened to TRACKSIDE, but know they have a good little following. In fact, Cavin scribes a weblog over at indystar.com that's decent. (We've linked it, so it must be awesome!)

Alas, our fair site was omitted from "Blogger Night." No email. No call. Nothing. We feel slighted. We're like the kid who wanted an action GI Joe Talking Bandit III for Christmas, but got a subscription to Highlights instead. This sucks.

Maybe our invitation was lost in the mail. Maybe our predisposition of using ethnic slurs and misogynistic diatribes to describe the latest in motor racing news caused the un-vitation. Or was it the fact that Robin Miller (indirectly, directly) shit on Cavin during our interview with the Speed star? Did we spend too much time posting on baseball recently? Why the no call?

Members of the Rb nation unite. Inundate Cavin's inbox with your displeasure. Or call him at (317) 444-6409. Tell him we will not go silently into the night. Viva la Rb.

This could be the first blog battle we've waged. It makes us feel warm all over.

For those interested you can Listen HERE to the program in question.

When NASCAR fans push

2008-11-19T10:55:00.003-05:00

Deadspin gives us a terrifying view into the grandstand happenings at Homestead. Hint, it involves a guy getting pushed, then doing nothing, except for being a bitch. (Originally posted at Fandome.)

If you happen to know the crux of this scuffle, let us know. We're thinking the two disagreed on the impact of FDI and economic growth.

Knievel themed comedy hour

2008-11-19T10:40:00.002-05:00

There is no better way to kick off a hump day AM than with some mildly racist, antisemitic humor! Take it away Bruton Smith lookalike!

Ridebuyer FAQ

2008-11-18T18:19:00.006-05:00

Q: When/where/how did the site come to being?

A: Well, I'm glad you asked. Please come in, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? No, you sure? I have Fanta. (Pulls can of soda from fridge.) Hey, your loss.

The blogspot-juggernaut known as Ridebuyer was born in a small cubicle inside of a large building. Therein, during the monotony of making copies and faxing things, a voice from the heavens rained down. "Write about motor racing," it said. "Sports bloggers are not losers. Do it." It was not unlike the scene in Fight Club when Tyler Durden first explained the'Club' to those fat loser guys. In fact, it was just like that.

Q: Why motor racing?

A: Look, I follow a lot of sports. I like most sports. I was even paid to cover the NHL for a star- crossed few weeks. (What a crazy time to be alive that was.) But, motor racing is different. This is the sport I grew up following. Plus, I thought the sports blogophere was void of profanity laced motor racing themed tripe.

Q: Is this a NASCAR site?

A: Nope.

Q: You have such an extensive understanding your subject matter and articulate it so well, you must have some serious cockpit experience.

A: Thanks, that's not a question, but thanks. I had a woefully mediocre career in karting that ended with me cartwheeling down a frontstretch and coming to rest on a grassy knoll. That ended that. I still have a track car that comes out for occasional lapping days and autocrosses. But, no Indy or Le Mans. Shocking, I know.

Q: What's with the Mario banner? Are you implying he was a ride buyer? Wtf?

A: No, I just like the picture. It is kind of ironic, I guess. One of the best atop one of the worst. But, I'll keep the picture up until somebody makes me take it down (probably through an injunction of some kind).

Q: Do you ever feel like an ass for anonymously posting critical things about people who have no way of contacting you to tell you to shut the hell up?

A: No I don't. Because that's not true. My email has been posted here since day one. It's marshalljlongatgmaildotcom.

Q: Do you really have Robin Miller's number in your cell?

A: Affirm.

Thus ends the totally fabricated FAQ section of the post. No one asked these questions. It was just me, asking myself things. Cat out of bag.

Which Johnson had the better weekend?

2008-11-18T12:49:00.003-05:00

Here are your options:

Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson.

The Iggles played a vital role in the first tie the NFL has seen since 2002. Against the Bengals. Yes, the one-win, hopeless, hapless Cincinnati Bengals. The Eagles' D let some fellow named Ryan Fitzpatrick go 29-of-44 for 261 yards. TJ Houshmandzadeh had 149-yards receiving. The plus for Johnson here is that the tie can not be attributed solely to his D. The Bengals were forced to punt 11 times, and Fitzpatrick was sacked eight times. We'll give Johnson a "B-" for the weekend. Hey, at least he knew games could end in a tie. So we think...

South Florida Playboy, former footballing coach, and current TV talking hair Jimmy Johnson.

We have two reliable sources who placed Johnson, after his Fox duties ended Sunday, partying at a Sunset strip club with Frank Caliendo. Our sources say Johnson was 86'ed after a private dance ended with no release. He was heard saying, "If you're gonna talk the talk, you better walk the walk!"as he was tossed to sidewalk. Caliendo stayed and said, "Turducken" many times. The waitstaff laughed. We'll give Johnson an "A-" solely because he opted for the private dance, and not the champagne room. He is a man of the people.

Three-time NASCAR Champ Jimmie Johnson.

The guy won his third straight Cup title on Sunday in mediocre, don't- rock- the- boat- fashion. Dude finished p15. That's not terribly impressive. Travis Kvapil beat the guy on Sunday. So did Bill Elliott, who is approximately 76. Come. On. Three in a row is pretty cool, but Jimmie, do it with some style. We'll give him a "B" for the weekend.

So, drumroll... The best Johnson weekend award goes to... Jimmy Johnson, and his totally fabricated weekend involving strippers and a guy with a terrible show on TBS. Outstanding.

Weekend recap: Championship hardware dispersal edition

2008-11-17T13:22:00.005-05:00

A triumphant and much needed period (.) can now be placed on 2008 NASCAR season. Exhale. Three titles were handed out in SoFLA, none of them went to "Hot" Carl Edwards, and as per norm, the most interesting racing of the weekend came from the Truck division.

Edwards led the most laps and won Sunday's Ford 400, but he still ended up 69-points adrift of Jimmie Johnson, who finished p15. As anyone who watched a college football game on ABC/ESPN over the weekend knows, this was Johnson's record-tying third straight Cup Series title. Cale Yarborough won the crown from 1976-1978.

It's tough to see where this title will stack up in the greater hierarchy of motor racing achievements. It's not our place to draw such conclusions. The pantheon of motor racing accomplishment is filled with successes. And one day after Johnson's hat trick is too soon to assign this feat a spot in history. Of course, some people disagree. Here's where the experts are stacking Johnson's titles. (Chuckles.)

The Way It Is/ Johnson joins the legends of NASCAR (Gordon Kirby)

Johnson wins third title in a row to match Yarborough (Sporting News Wire Service)

Johnson outsmarts competition to claim third straight Sprint Cup (Lars Anderson, SI.com)

Three down and more to go? Johnson, 48 team, might just be getting started (Ed Hinton, espn.com)

The same sort of deal happened on Saturday during the N'Wide race. In that Edwards won the race, but come up lame in the title. Clint Bowyer finished p5 to take that crown.

Edwards wins race, but Bowyer takes Nationwide Series title

13 years ago, Johnny Benson won a NASCAR title in the Busch Series. On Friday he notched title # 2 in NASCAR's #3 series. The points battle between Benson and Ron Hornday was the stuff of legends. Benson finished one spot ahead of Hornaday in Friday's race, and that gave him the seven point edge he needed to take the crown. Cheers to him and all of Bill Davis Racing.

Watch the final laps:

Benson holds off Hornaday to win Truck Series championship

There were really only two class titles on the line during Sunday's NHRA eliminations from Pomona. Pro Stock Bike and Funny Car is where the drama of sorts took place. When Tony Pedregon took out Robert Hight in round one, the FC title was secured for his older bro, Cruz. This is Cruz's second title, and his first in 16 years.

Eddie Krawiec won the Bike crown. Previously awarded champs were Tony Schumacher (TF) and Jeg Coughlin (PSC). Of course, there was a race to be run also... Event winners:

Larry Dixon (TF), Greg Anderson (PSC), Chris Rivas (PSB), Oh, and Cruz supplemented his championship with a race win. Good for him.

Pedregon adds win to championship; Dixon, Anderson, Rivas also score

Bruton Smith: Down and Out in Charlotte

2008-11-13T11:37:00.005-05:00

Thatsracin is reporting some troubling news about NASCAR track czar Bruton Smith. He may not be a billionaire anymore! It seems that the current economic climate (by climate we mean bed-shitting, crotch-puke) has hit Smith rather hard. Here is the reported breakdown of his breakdown.

In the past year, the value of those shares (Smith's Sonic Automotive dealership chain) has plummeted 87 percent, costing him more than $268 million.

Smith also is chairman and chief executive of Speedway Motorsports, which owns Lowe's Motor Speedway and six other major tracks. His roughly 29 million shares in the Concord-based company have declined in value by more than 64 percent, erasing more than $711 million.

Our addition skills are not that great, but 268+711 seems like a lot of millions.

Side note: SbB has this story linked and used the following picture of Smith.

Or, is that the king of the one-liner, Don Rickles? You decide.

2008-11-12T17:36:00.003-05:00

Remember reading those great stories about Fat-Elvis' shooting up his television in the Jungle Room? The tales all started out pretty much the same. Either, The King, whacked out on pills and cough syrup,... or The King, after a four day glue sniffing binge,... You get the idea.

Well, Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo (Bada bing?) pulled a The King-esque move after watching his boy Felipe Massa's title chances slip away during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

When a television breaks it makes a terrible bang. My daughter in the other room was given an awful fright. Luckily we had another television so I was able to watch the podium ceremony, which I enjoyed.

Glad he enjoyed the podium ceremony. Chill out bro.

Ferrari boss smashed TV after F1 finale

Baseball Prospectus' loves Team Penske

2008-11-12T13:10:00.007-05:00

For those who don't follow the sport, Baseball Prospectus is a sort-of think tank that focuses on the statistical analysis of baseball. They put out an annual book that previews the top prospects in each organization, have an interesting website, and are pretty much the go-to source for baseball junkies and stat nerds. One of BP's big deal writers is a guy named Will Carroll.

In our daily perusing of the interwebs, we stumbled upon a story about BP perhaps being in discussion with ESPN for some type of merger or buyout. Interesting enough. But what really lit our fire was the image accompanying the story. It's Carroll with an attractive lass (chicks dig the stat-guys) at (what appears to be) IMS, with a Penske pit cart in the background!

The IndyCar Series, and their efforts to infiltrate mainstream sports... Phase one, complete.

Bob Saget wannabe foils Phoenix race

2008-11-11T12:10:00.004-05:00

Sunday's Sprint Cup event was not a throwaway race. Interesting things could have taken place (they didn't, but they could have); it was the penultimate round of the title for godsakes! Sure, the prospects of an epic Jimmie Johnson v. Carl Edwards showdown were slim, but you'd think round 35 of 36 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup would pull more network weight than"America's Funnest Home Videos."

Yeah, you'd think.

As many of you witnessed, with 34-to-go on Sunday, most of the country's race coverage was replaced with "AFV."

The race coverage concluded on ESPN2, but still, what the fuck?

What is truly mystifying is why Disney/ABC/ESPN devotes so much time to pre-race festivities, driver intros, praying to God, flyovers, Rusty Wallace sitting behind a desk, etc., yet would even consider ending network coverage early. It makes no sense. NASCAR, in a rare moment of truthiness, doesn't get the programming logic either.

It's almost funny that the premier motor racing series in the country was treated like a bitch by TV higher-ups. NASCAR truly got the IndyCar/CART/Champ Car treatment from TV-execs. Ouch. That hurts.

If this doesn't show the masses where motor racing sits in the greater-American sport's hierarchy, nothing will.

The bigger questions raised... Who knew "America's Funniest Home Videos" was still on TV?

This story brought to you by SbB

2008-11-07T10:11:00.006-05:00

"Hot" Carl Edwards is engaged to this lady. (She's a doctor! Nice going, Carl.)

Showing undying devotion to current sponsor Office Depot, the wedding invites were picked from OD's stationary selection and the stores' design, print and shipping services will take care of the, well, designing, printing and shipping of the cards.

On a scale of 1 to tacky, we'll give this move a 7. Remember what happened to Susan when George skimped on the invitations? Keep that in mind.

Marital Bliss, Now Brought To You By Home Depot (SbB)

Another fucking note from the editor

2008-11-06T17:02:00.007-05:00

It has taken the better part of two weeks, enough can beer to power a bricklayers union meeting, three cheesesteak enemas, a new POTUS, and a number of truly bazaar interactions with the homeless to get somewhat recovered from the Phillies championship.

I'm back, baby. Time for some housecleaning. First order of business: what happens when the racing stops?

It's yet to be seen (or decided) how this fair site will function during the off-season. I'm thinking of a slow digression into a medium-to-hard-core porn fetish dumpster. That'll be dependant on how cold it gets. So, stay tuned!

Also, don't forget to flip over to the remaining Sprint Cup events when they're on the television light tubes. I'd say a requisite flip-from-football every hour or so should keep you abreast of Jimmie Johnson's inevitable third title.

Cheers to Lewis Hamilton & Co. Deserving title. As a victory celebration, enjoy a gallery of Formula One's First Ladies (including LH's lady-friend), and their counterparts from the world of American saloon-car racing. Until next time, keep reaching for the stars, enjoy the new POTUS and, for godsakes, don't shake the hand of a homeless guy. There could be poo in there.

-Ed.

Midnight in the garden of Broad and Walnut

2008-10-30T11:25:00.004-04:00

Motor racing has some inherent advantages over its stick-and-ball counterparts. Fans of this interweb site surely don't need those advantages outlined. We all know what makes racing great and why we choose to spend our time watching autos circulate about. (For the un-indoctrinated, racing is exciting. We're drawn to speed, action, personalities and danger.) Motor racing is a historically rich sport that has pockets of fans that are more passionate and knowledgeable than the biggest sports bar know-it-all this side of the Schwab. Reread the last sentence, as it outlines one of the shortcomings of our fair sport. Pockets. Fucking pockets, dude.

Motor racing fans are outpost dwellers. Recluses. We’re sprinkled around the nation. Outside of Indianapolis and Charlotte fandom becomes hit or miss. (Largely miss.)

The happenings in Philadelphia last night could never be replicated in the aftermath of a motor race, no matter the city.

Baseball is the peoples’ sport. Its range and scope are far reaching. Territoriality reigns supreme. A city is associated with team, and that gives you the right to wish fucking death upon everyone from any other city. Baseball is why I hate Chicago. Baseball is why I refuse to travel to Massachusetts. Motor racing cannot replicate the blind hatred that baseball has provided the masses.

Of course, the opposite of blind hatred is blind love/passion/joy and that happened in Phila last night. I got hugged by a stranger because I was wearing a $12 Pat Burrell t-shirt. Said stranger was bombed and probably thought I was Burrell, but that’s not important. The passion was there. (Side note: I have been wearing the aforementioned t-shirt for the last week. It smells like ass, feet and rank beer. My co-workers tried to stage a Burrell shirt intervention with me. I told them to eat a dick. Then Burrell hit the most important double in recent history and I felt like a goddamned king. I want to be buried in this fucking shirt.) The entire city came out and relished in the achievement of the city’s team. The Phillies won for the town. Sports are all Philadelphia has. The Phillies made millions of eastern-PA’ers not depressed to be living in eastern PA. Only a stick-and ball-sport could do that. Sorry motor racing. I love you, but...

Maybe I’ll try to change things. Beware, at the season opening IndyCar event, I’m going to hug everyone in sight if Graham Rahal wins. I’ll take it to the streets of New Albany. The party that will take place in Central Ohio will be epic. We will own the night. All spearheaded by this guy. Sound like a good plan?

Damn the man, burn the city, Fightins' triumph

2008-10-30T09:57:00.002-04:00

2008-10-28T12:11:00.003-04:00

Junior Johnson wants you to vote for Barack Obama. No, seriously.

Holy Crap!! NASCAR'S Junior Johnson comes out for Obama (Daily Kos)

Monday morning dispatch from "Angryville"

2008-10-27T12:58:00.003-04:00

If you haven't noticed (judging by Sitemeter, you haven't) things have been awfully slow around here for the past few weeks. The motor racing season is winding down, and quite honestly, I can't seem to get motivated to write solely about NASCAR for a month plus. I can't even make myself watch the damn "Chase" races anymore. Everything about NASCAR has made my skin crawl of late. I can't watch the ABC/ESPN pre-race show, the driver introductions are extraneous and painful, the invocation makes me want to vomit on my penis, and the races are too damn long. This should to be the most exciting time of the season, but, alas, it has become the most tedious.

I could be getting fired-up for the conclusion of the F1 season, but, alas, I can't watch the races because Comcast doesn't carry Speed where I live. I could have watched the IndyCar finale (?) in Australia, but, alas, Comcast removed ESPN Classic from my basic digital package when the college football season started.

A major racing distraction has been the Phillies, and their improbable post season run. Much of my time has been spent following the team, pounding beers and my fist to the tune of a possible World Series 'w.' Goddamnit, I love baseball. This town will burn to the bloody ground should the Fightins' pull this thing out. I will be there to see the carnage and bask in the glory. Sorry NASCAR, you've been bumped from my mind.

Things will be back to normal soon enough. I still like the NHRA. I promise.

Let us all have a great race week. Go Phillies. Fuck Tampa. Here's Joe Fucking Blanton going yard:

-Ed.

Weekend recap

2008-10-20T12:45:00.003-04:00

What you missed while not reading the world famous Ridebuyer NASCAR preview.

- Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday and has pretty much wrapped the 2008 drivers' title. LH has a seven point cushion over Felipe Massa (Robert Kubica is p3, eliminated) with only the Brazilian Grand Prix remaining in two weeks. Take it away. man with accent.

Hamilton rules Chinese GP, nearly seals Formula One title

The ALMS put a period on their season at Laguna Seca. Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr scored the overall victory. (The title was wrapped at Road Atlanta.) Franck Montagny and Tony Kanaan scored the second AGR LMP2 win in three races, narrowly besting the de Ferran Motorsports squad. Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin took GT1 honors for Corvette Racing and Dirk Mueller and Dominik Farnbacher won GT2 in a Ferrari F430. More accent man? Hell and yes:

WERNER, LUHR CLAIM MONTEREY OVERALL VICTORY

Jimmie Johnson led 339-laps at Martinsville on Sunday. He now has a 149-point lead with The Chase at its mid point. Game over. ESPN's coverage was slated for, like, 6.5 hours Sunday afternoon. Holy. Shit.

Johnson's mastery of Martinsville puts 48 team within striking distance of title

Johnny Benson won the Martinsville Truck race. That's his fifth win of the year and gives him the points lead. Next stop, Hotlanta.

Fifth win of season vaults Benson past Hornaday for points lead

A great race week to all. Wednesday. Zero-hour. Thank about it.

Surfers Paradise outlaws boobs

2008-10-15T13:03:00.003-04:00

Tales of the balcony scenes around the Gold Coast Indy are pretty legendary (what with the breasts and such). Those times appear to be over. It's Girls Gone Wild no-more, as local authorities are trying to curb the lewd behavior for the October 26th race.

From goldcoast.com.au:

INDY organisers have released a code of conduct for race fans staying in apartments within the track precinct.

The document was drawn up following raunchy scenes on balconies, including nudity, at last year’s race.

The day the music died.

Indy fans must sign up for clean conduct (goldcoast.com.au)

Better know your Runoffs

2008-10-13T13:41:00.004-04:00

The SCCA National Championship Runoffs wrapped up over the weekend. 25 National Champions were crowned at Heartland Park Topeka. (Tow-Peak-Ah...)

Here's all you could every want to know about the "Olympics of motorsport."

RUNOFFS: Sunday Races Recap (speedtv.com)

Club racing, event results (scca.org)

Practice, qualifying and race results (scca.org)

Photo gallery (scca.org)

Weekend recap

2008-10-13T11:33:00.005-04:00

What you missed while considering how easy a 26-yard field goal is to make.

Jeff Burton won his second Cup race of the season at the BoA 500 in Charlotte. Nobody got choked-out and Burton's wife was excited her man won. Kasey Kahne was charging near the end, finishing p2. Kurt Busch was third. Jimmie Johnson dropped to sixth in the final run, yet retains the points lead.

CUP: Burton Claims BofA Win

STANDINGS

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa played bumper-cars in the opening laps of the Japanese GP. Neither could really regain the positions lost during the insuing drive-through penalties. Hamilton finished outside of the points, with Massa tallying a p7 following a scoring decision after the race. Some man named Fernando Alonso won the race. Hamilton holds a five point lead over Massa with two rounds remaining. Ferrari leads the Constructors' Standings by seven points.

Massa, Hamilton tangle but Alonso wins Japanese GP

Japanese Grand Prix results, current points

Sunday's Virginia NHRA Nationals saw Tony Schumacher notch his 14th win of the season. (Yeah, he's going to win the championship.) Other pro winners were Cruz Pedregon (FC) and Dave Connolly (PSC). Paul Page, that's your que (or is that cue? or queue? Christ.)

Schumacher takes Top Fuel; Pedregon, Connolly in title hunt with wins

Cheers to the race week before us. Fuck the Dodgers.

Stolen from the blogosphere

2008-10-10T10:49:00.009-04:00

The good folks at jalopnik have provided us with scantily-clad lady pics! The lady? Bernie Ecclestone's daughter! Horray Friday! And exclamation points!

In the interest of equal time, here's something for the females. It's the Machine.

.333 in the post season, game-winning bomb last against the Dodgers, dreamy eyes....

Thank you for continued readership. Go Phils. Fuck the Dodgers. NASCAR preview will be up before the race starts. Hopefully. Maybe. Hungover.

The Chaser #5: Bank of America 500

2008-10-10T10:19:00.007-04:00

Each week Ridebuyer delves deep into the misunderstood, oft terrifying, world of American saloon-car racing known as NASCAR.

This week: Bank of America 500 (Chase round #5)

TV: ABC 7:00pm EST (Saturday)

Location: Lowe's Motor Speedway (Charlotte, NC)

Distance: 334 laps/500 miles

Past winners: J. Gordon (10/07); K. Kahne (5/08).

*Headlocks, DDTs and why John McCain should shut up*

Everybody likes a good fight. The highlight of an evening highlighted with much drink is always the inevitable fight. The scene usually plays out in a similar way. Guy 'A,' we'll call him Derek, inadvertently bumps into Guy 'B's' girlfriend. (For the sake of story continuity, we'll call Guy 'B' Todd and his GF is certainly named either Katie or Sara. You pick.) Well, Todd took offense to way in which Derek came in contact with Katie or Sara. Derek did not say 'excuse me,' because he needed to meet up with his 'boys,' who were already 'posted up' at the bar, and in the middle of a heated game of Photo Hunt Penthouse on the MegaTouch. Todd asked Derek what his problem was. Derek tells Todd to "relax, bro." A drink gets tossed from someone. Much like the first shot at Lexington and Concord, nobody truly knows were the errant beverage originated. Regardless, the melee was on at that point. Derek and Todd grappled on the floor. Derek's 'boys' were unsuccessful in trying to break things up. Katie or Sara was in tears, the heel had broken on her cute new shoes, and her favorite Forever 21 dress was soaked with Coors Light.

Yes, fights rule.

Sports fights really rule.

Nothing brings excitement into the sports world like a good donnybrook or possibility of donnybrook. Look at the Red Sox-Rays series. The teams hate each other, the pitchers throw at everybody, and it's great.

NASCAR has attempted to clean up its image during the sport's renaissance since the collapse of Indy car racing. You can't have moonshiners and roughnecks represent your sport in this century. That just wouldn't be right. Or so was the thought. Remember when Las Vegas wanted people to think it was a family-friendly destination? That shit didn't work. Nobody wants their family to go to Vegas with them. Vegas is about gambling, hookers, drugs and booze. That is what makes Vegas cool. Same thing with NASCAR. NASCAR is about rednecks, wrecking and fistfights. That's the history of the sport. Well, NASCAR wants to be mid-90's Las Vegas. A family destination for all. Yet, in the end, fun for none.

Bucking the trend of sterility, "Hot" Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick got into a pushing match this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Headlocks were involved. Sweet. It also appears that NASCAR is not planning to fine the drivers. Thank the lord. Note to NASCAR: Let the racers do their things. Fights are good. Embrace your roots.

Oh, there will be some McCains in Charlotte for the race. Great. Way to bring politics into a goddamned motor race. Not only will every other commercial be a political ad, now this? Shouldn't you be the fixing the economy or something.

View Larger Map

With that, we'll conclude our abbreviated preview. Your humble scribe wants to watch the rest of the Red River Shootout and needs to recovery couch-side from last night's triumphant Phillies victory. Brett Myers is a beast.

Here is everything you need to know.

Starting lineup

Points
Tailgating

Next race: TUMS QuikPak 500 ( Martinsville Speedway). Short track? I know not what you speak.

RB interview: Robin Miller, the finale

2008-10-08T11:30:00.005-04:00

The final installment of our interview with motor racing reporter Robin Miller. (Need a refresher? Here's part I.) Enjoy:

Q: We remember you on Wind Tunnel a while back and talking about Brock Yates' book on the original Cannonball Run. Why does that sound like about the coolest thing, ever?

RM: Well, that's because it was. There were only two years what they really had the real Cannonball, '71 and '72. In '71 Gurney won it in a Ferrari driving with Brock. And the next year, a guy won it answering an ad in the New York Times for a guy who wanted his Cadillac driven to California, so they did it at 110mph. You can't make this stuff up. I ran it the second year. I was gonna have Art Pollard go with me, but he found out there was no money and he said, "there's no chance, I'm not going." I had the USAC pace car from the Champ Car division lined-up, they didn't know what I was going to use it for, Jim Campbell Datsun, here in town was going to let me use it, then they found out I was going to be in this race. They had it towed out from in front of the start the night before I left. So I went there with no car. Hooked up with a guy who was a stock car driver from California and we drove a Vega station wagon. I think we finished sixth or seventh, made it in like 38-hours. And it was just this great group of people that met in this parking garage in Manhattan and stamped your ticket and you took off as fast as you could go. You could take the northern route or the southern route or the Midwestern route, there were three ways to go from New York to LA.

It was so sad that the movies they made about it-The Cannonball Run. Lemondrop Express, or whatever it was called- They completely had to go overboard with Hollywood. If they'd just stuck with facts, it was such a cool story. Three guys dressed as priests, that whenever they got stopped the Sheriff would ask, "Father, do you have any idea how fast you were going?" and he'd say, "no my son." Sheriff would say, "You're going 117mph, Father. What's going on?" They'd say they were going to a religious summit and never got a ticket. Their car broke, or they'd probably won the thing. There were just all these wonderful stories within the stories. The three big-chested blondes… Their plan was, every time they got stopped, they'd just undo their top button. Then they wouldn't get tickets. The guy I went with, Wes Dawn, I think we got six tickets, we didn't go to jail, we didn't go to the justice of peace, we didn't have to pay any money. But, when we were done, we used his address every time we got stopped, and he lived in Laguna Beach, they came to his house and arrested him and he had to spend four weekends in jail to take care of those tickets. So, he wasn't real happy about that. Those are the kind of things…

A couple of years ago Brock Yates' asked me, he called me up and said, "Hey Robin, we're thinking about having one more Cannonball. It is going to be everyone that was in the first two original years. We're gonna try to keep it below the radar. What do you think?"I said, "I'm in."So the first thing I did, I went to Eddie Wirth, who was a great motorcycle racer and sprint car racer. His wife is Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward's publicist, and has been their personal assistant for years, and Eddie was Paul's right hand for the past decade, he drove him everywhere, they hung out together. I said to him, "Eddie, what about getting Newman, you and me, and we'll go on the Cannonball?" He said, "God, that'd be great." He said he thought Newman would go for something like that too. So I approached Newman at Long Beach that year and said, "Hey, have you heard of the Cannonball Baker race?" He said he had. So I brought him the book that Brock wrote and told him to read up on it, because I had an idea. So he read a few chapters and the one I wrote. At the next race I saw him, I asked him what he thought. He said it sounded like a crazy thing to do. I told him I thought that you and me and Eddie aught to do it. He said, "No I couldn't do that. No, there's no way I can do that, Joanne would kill me." I said, "hey, you've been testing sprint cars on the dirt, 900 horsepower sprint cars, you're wife is not going to say anything about this. This is tame compared to that." He goes, "Well, she doesn't know about the sprint cars." It was just funny that Paul Newman was like I can't really do that, I've got to get permission from my wife. You're Paul Newman, you can do whatever you want to do. So as the summer went on, he started to weaken a little bit. He started asking about what kind of car we were going to drive… I asked him what kind of car he could promote. So he said that's why I wanted him, so he could promote us a free car. I told him that was one of the reasons. The other reason is, if we get stopped, the cops are going to recognize you and let us go. He said, "I wouldn't bet on that, I'm not very big anymore." He was just so funny because he was always making fun of himself. Then I think Brock's attorneys' told him you can't have another race, because if someone gets hurt, it all comes back to you and it'll be the end of you. So it didn't happen, but I really think Newman was going to do it. If push came to shove.

Q: Your racing career... Did you have three or four PR people and handlers and all that stuff?

RM: Haha, no. Art Pollard was one of my best friends, and he got killed at Indy in '73, but before he got killed he helped me get a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli. And, if anyone should've not been allowed to own a racecar, it would have been me; because I was the biggest moron mechanically that's probably walked the face of the earth. So, I tried to run this Formula Ford for a year or so. But, I'm hanging out with Bill Vukovich and Johnny Parsons and Gary Bettenhausen, eating lunch and dinner with them, and I'm going to races, covering USAC, I've been going to midget and sprint races my whole life. They're like if you're serious about learning to drive a race car get rid of that Formula Ford and go get a midget or a sprint car and learn how to be a race driver. And they were right. So I bought one of Gary's midgets- it was the car Merle made his comeback in after he lost his arm in his first and only Indy car race at Michigan- so I became an unofficial Bettenhausen brother. 'Cause if you buy into the family like that, you're expected to, you know, you got to answer to Gary. The first couple of races we went to we had pretty good runs. The first time I went to Kokomo I had a good race, made the main event.

It's interesting; I look back at some of those lineups. A couple races there the first year I raced USAC midgets… There were a couple races where 13 of 20 guys in the A-main were in that year's Indy 500. So, it was a hell of field of race drivers, because they still had to run midgets and sprint cars to make a living. I had my moments, I think I had some talent, but I was too stupid to ever figure out that I should have been paying someone just to run their car instead of trying to run my own. Everybody from Ron Shuman, to Mark Alderson to Larry Rice, they all became my unofficial mechanics 'cause they were worried I was going to leave the wheel loose or something. I was so stupid mechanically, I couldn't be trusted. So, I learned a lot of hard lessons in the 10 seasons I ran USAC. Because I did everything about half-assed backwards. If you could do it wrong, I usually did it. But, I would never trade the experience. But, I just wish I had stated, well, I didn't start until I was 23. I didn't buy the Formula Ford until I was 22 or 23. So, I was way behind. I never ran a quarter midget or anything. I guess my best day was probably in 1980 at the Hut Hundred. It used to follow the Hoosier Hundred in the USAC schedule. It was 33 midgets, 11 rows of three at Terra Heute. Back in the day, back in the 70's when I was racing, the Hut Hundred used to get 100 entries. So there was 100 guys for 33 spots. There was no hooligan or suitcase race, if you didn't qualify in the top 33 you went home. Well, I was the first alternate one year. I was 34th out of, like, 104. That was like the worst day of my life. You don't get to run, you have to watch. You were 34th. So in 1980, I had a new car that Gary Stanton, who was a great sprint car racer, I had his first midget. I struggled with it all year. Finally, at Terra Heute, we got things going and I qualified fifth. I was in the middle of Parsons and Vogler and Chassey and Sleepy Tripp. I ran third for a long time and had a good race with Parsons and Sleppy. Then the thing blew up. We used to make fun of Kenny Schrader and Poncho Carter and Gary Bettenhausen 'cause they all started way behind me that day. They would kid me and say, "What side do you want us to pass you on?" And I'd say, "If you can keep up with me, you can pass me wherever you want." It was of those days where, like everyone says, the car was so fast it was so much fun to do. And dirt racing, there's nothing like it anyway. And Terra Heute is legendary, there's so many stories about Terra Heute that are fun. To race competitively is all you really wanted to do. I had a Chevy II, I didn't have a Volkswagen. I probably should have been smart and got a Volkswagen and not stuck with the Chevy II. I think I was $140,000 in debt when I finally quit. Because, you know, like I said, I did everything wrong.

You can't appreciate what you can learn racing 30-40 times a year across the country with all the good guys that were in USAC back then. It was a fabulous experience. I think I understand racing from a whole different perspective just because of it. I always got along with guys like Foyt, people like that, pretty easy because, I think, they at least respected the fact that I tried to do it. I worked on Indy 500 pit crews and stuff. I was pretty much immersed in it. I wrote 52 columns a year about USAC and I raced in the midget division. It always cracks me up 'cause I always hear people say that I don't like the Indy 500 or USAC or I don't like open wheel racing anymore. I'm thinking, you know, there's nobody in this country who has written more positive stories about open wheel racing than I have. One of the reasons is 'cause I'm almost 60 years old. The other is because that was my passion. I loved it. I wanted to see USAC always on top, which it should have been. They had all the best drivers. But, they had the best drivers and the worst management. Then CART came along and they had terrible management. The IRL came along and they got terrible management. My whole life has been full of nobody that really knew how to run open wheel racing. And we still don't have anybody.

Q: The people at Versus still haven't given you a ring yet?

RM: I don't think the people at Versus, I'm not sure they'll be doing the hiring. I think there are some people at the Speedway who are trying to assemble a team of who they'd have in the booth. But, that thing obviously needs an overhaul. I would like to see Gary Gerould do the play-by-play; I think he'd do a really good job. Or maybe Derek Daly, he's done it for a long time. Somebody said, "Would you do it?" Yeah I think I'd do it. I'd love to try to do it, if it was with the right circumstances. You couldn't be censored, you couldn't be told to be a PR man or a cheerleader. People don't want to be lied to. They don't want to watch that. I mean, you watch Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace and you gotta have a barf bag. It is the worst television ever. They don't tell you anything, it's all this suck-ass, kiss-ass dialogue, it just makes me cringe. That ESPN Now show everyday is one of the worst things that's ever been on television, it's just hysterical to watch. I think it's an insult to a race fans mentality that they have to put up with this shit. I'd love to see myself and Eddie Cheever in the booth, 'cause we don't really like each other. I think it'd be pretty combative and I think that'd make good television because you're not acting. It's just this kind of adversarial relationship. But, you have to keep focus, you'd talk about the race, but people want to hear the dirt. They want to hear the rumors, who doesn't like who, who's leaving, who's making this kind of money. I mean bless their hearts, Scott Goodyear and Marty Reid are nice guys but they have no chemistry and it's just painful to watch. I'm certainly not a big proponent of NASCAR, but Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip make you feel like they're letting you in our their personal little conversation about what's going on during the race. Just like Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett did back in the 80's. That's why it caught on.

I'm not saying people are going to watch a race or not watch a race because of the announcing team; I don't think that's true. But, you got to do something to upgrade your product in the booth. Remember that Todd Harris guy from ABC a few years ago? You just think where do they come up with these ideas? I thought Tom Sneva did a good job because he was honest and funny, but they sent him packing. The last time IndyCar had any kind of chemistry was Bobby Unser correcting Sam Posey and Paul Page every five minutes. That was hysterical. That was entertainment.

Q: Last question, if you had to watch a movie this weekend, would you pick Days of Thunder or Driven?

RM: Driven because it was so bad it's a comedy. I mean Days of Thunder was pretty lame, but Driven… We renamed Driven, Drivel. I just remember Stallone and all those people when they were making that movie… I mean, bless their heart, CART thought this was going to put them on the map. They thought this is going to bring people in from miles around. Well, it put them on the map alright; they were laughed off the map. I remember when it opened, it was the highest grossing movie of the weekend and everybody thought this is great. Well, it made like $2 million because it was the middle of the summer. And nobody had released a movie for about a month. It was awful; in every possible respect, it was awful. I didn't do anything for CART or open wheel racing. You know what's kinda sad? Paul Newman got Tom Cruise interested in racing. Cruise did some SCCA racing himself, because of Newman. And the Days of Thunder movie was actually supposed to be about the Indy 500, but I don't know, there was a breakdown somewhere and it never happened, which is too bad. It certainly had more potential then what they ended up with.

Robin, certainly appreciate the time.

RM: Hey, you bet...

2008-10-07T12:07:00.003-04:00

Slouching inside your cube. Gazing upon the navy blue cube-wall carpeting. Intense beams of harsh light cascading from above. Will the work day never end?

Speed up your afternoon by sloth. Ignore your boss, don't answer the phone and watch live timing and scoring from the 45th SCCA Runoffs. Waste a few hours here and before you know it, drunk time.

RB interview: Robin Miller

2008-10-06T09:05:00.000-04:00

Members of the sporting media have important information to offer the masses. (Aside from how to score a free media center lunch and Rolodexs full of gentleman's club location information.) Seasoned reporters have the ability to add historical perspective to their subject matter of expertise. Some smart guy once said something like, "to know where you're going, you must know where you've came from." Or something like that. Speed's Robin Miller knows where motor racing has come from and he certainly knows the challenges facing the sport's future.

After an email and a few phone calls (we once caught RM while attempting to fix his faulty garage door opener... That was not a good time for Q&A) we spoke with the motoring pundit on a number of subjects. Much ground was covered. We laughed, cried and were left feeling cautiously pessimistic about the future of motor racing. (Kidding. Sort of.)

The prospects of a 5000-word transcript post seem rather daunting, so we're going to split this up.

Here's part #1 of Ridebuyer's interview with Robin Miller. It's not a straight forward Q&A, but we boldfaced what could best be described as our questions. Enjoy.

-Oh, in case you're not quite with it, here's Miller's bio. It's copy-and-pasted directly from Speedtv.com, so it better be right.

Became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for my hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. Worked as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when I purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen. Competed in USAC midget series from 1975-82. Flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969. Covered motorsports at The Star from 1969-2000, named assistant sports editor in 1984 and associate sports editor in 1989. Worked for ESPN from 2001-2003 on RPM2Night and ESPN.com. Also covered Indy car racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines during the past 35 years.

Now enjoy:

Q: Robin, thanks for taking the time. What we're trying to do here is get a feeling for what you reporter guys, well, do. Since it's the off-season, what takes up your days?

RM: Well I think different people have different… I’m an old school newspaper-guy, there’s not a lot of us left. Most people are internet people I think.

But, there’s such a lull, there’s a six-month lull and so I do some work for Motor Sport, occasionally I write something for Racer, I got this Concourse de’ Elegance, is having a big thing- an annual thing- I write for their magazine, they usually like a 3000-word story on some old- timer, which is what I am. It’s always fun to do something like that. I have a “mailbag” a do once a week for Speed. I usually get 100 to 150 questions during the season and lately I’ve been getting 60-70 since the season is over. So, I go through all of those. There are still a lot of people who want to know what’s going on; what’s going to happen with Paul Tracy? Is Allmendinger coming back? What about Jonathan Bomarito? What about Raphael Matos? I mean, there’s a lot of people that care about it and want to know what’s going 12-months out of the year.

Q: You talked about the "mailbag," kind of imagine you get the same kind of questions each week. What do you hear the most about and what are you tired of getting asked?

RM: The thing that comes out more and more is the people who hate the IRL cars, they hate the sound of the engine, and the fact that they don’t have any horsepower. That’s the number one thing. And the number two thing is that Paul Tracy doesn’t have a ride and people want to know why, and who’s going to give him a ride and how come he can’t get a ride. It’s hard to answer because I don’t know. I don’t know why someone in Canada doesn’t step up and I would hope somebody at Andretti-Green Racing would be smart enough to give him a good ride, because without Paul Tracy at Toronto, you’re not going to have a crowd. I mean he is the Toronto race.

Q: You talk about being an "old school" kind of guy. I take it you're not frequenting any blogs?

RM: No, I don’t. I worked at The Indianapolis Star for 32 years. You know, the internet is great in some respects, but it was kind of neat when it would take awhile to hear about a driver that was maybe running Ascot Park and you wouldn’t know anything about it until you got to see him around Terre Haute or Winchester or Eldora or whatever, I realize I’m going back, but information travels quickly. When Parnelli (Jones) tested the turbine at Phoenix nobody knew about it and that was kind of cool. Now, not only are there no secrets, everybody is an expert and anybody can write anything they want to write. And, you know, I don’t think it’s that healthy as far as what’s factual and what’s not. I think you see more people trying to go out on a limb trying to predict things. I was reading Speed and Kenny Wallace said that his brother Rusty is coming out of retirement and Rusty said “no, I’m not going to do it, that’s not true.” Whether it’s true or not, it’s kind of funny that his own brother reported it, and if it’s not true, that makes it even better. There’s this pressure for everybody to go out and scoop, and you got to get this out first and scoop this and that.

There’s been a lot of talk here in the last few weeks about who the guys are in Indy for that big engine manufactures summit. I’ll give the Speedway credit, they told people to keep their mouths shut and they have. It’s the tightest thing I’ve seen in a long time as far as nothing leaking out. Now some guy at Porsche told some guy in Europe a couple of days ago that Porsche was one of the people at the meeting which is kind of cool. We heard it was Porsche, Audi, possibly Volkswagen. And it’s going to take somebody like that to really get this thing going again. That is really going to go out and spend some money and back some teams and spend some money on marketing and promotion. Hopefully it is Porsche because their first couple attempts at Indycar racing, I think, left them with a bad taste in their mouth.

Q: Do you have any kind of an everyday must-read? Do you pick up The Star every morning, or anything like that?

RM: That (The Star) would be the last thing I would pick up. Sometimes I’ll pick up a paper just out of habit, but you’re not going to learn anything about racing reading The Indianapolis Star. That’s not going to happen. There are always about a week behind. That’s too bad because that should be the paper of record for what’s going on, but times change. I used to buy Autosport every week because I wanted to read Nigel Roebuck’s column. I always enjoyed that. I still like to read Gordon Kirby, he’s got a website. But, if you’re into open wheel racing, there’s hardly anything, aside from Racer. Motor Sport is the best magazine going, but it comes out once a month and it’s published in England and is not the easiest thing to get over here. It’s great because 65% of the magazine deals with the old days and that’s what most of us want to remember because that was the most fun and that’s where we have our best memories.

But, no, there’s nothing that I have to read every day. There are very few people who are compelling and can hold my attention, to be honest. I used to really love reading Ben Blake’s stuff; I don’t know what’s happened to him. He had a nice edge to him about NASCAR. He messed with everyone down there; it was great. Instead of just being a little sheep and a PR man. That’s probably the toughest thing, because it’s hard to get people to write what’s going on because they are worried about their jobs or friendships. It permeates the whole motorsports media. It goes from television and radio to magazines and newspapers.

I think there is always room for a fresh voice and maybe someone will come out of left field and say ‘I think this and that.’ There is a guy named Bill Zahren that I enjoy reading. He calls himself pressdog.com. It’s funny, has a really good wit about him. He puts things in pretty good perspective he doesn’t take himself or the thing too serious, and it’s a really good read. He’s made up some pretty funny stories of the past couple of years. He takes real life situations and makes them pretty funny. He interviews himself sometimes and I think that’s pretty clever.

Q: Your role as a reporter and a person who provides commentary- I guess a columnist is what you would call them- is it easy to differentiate those two roles?

Yes, absolutely. That’s good question because it’s what Tony George-when we were really battling in the mid-90’s, our 10-year war, whatever it was- he could never understand when I was at The Star, how I could cover a race and also write a commentary about it. And I explained to him, when you write a straight news story, you talk to the people who participated, you state the facts and get quotes if they have something worth saying, and it’s a real easy thing to do. Then, when that’s done, you go write a commentary about whether it was good, bad, ugly, indifferent, whatever it was. That’s very simple to do. I think it’s funny, when I worked at ESPN doing RPM2Nite, John Kernan, who was the host, would read all these websites everyday, these chat rooms. To see what people were saying about the RPM2Nite shows. He would get so upset if someone didn’t like what we did one night, or somebody didn’t like what he said or what I said. Or if somebody didn’t think we gave enough time for something. I would just laugh. I used to tell him, I’d say, “John, that’s the same 40-people. Why would you waste your time?”

To me I love people who have passion for racing, and there are some really good questions I get in this “mailbag” I do every week. People have some pretty thoughtful questions. They pay attention and they don’t just come out of the woodwork with insanity. There are a lot of people who really understand it, and get it, and want to know more about it. Those are the fun people to deal with.

The tough thing about open wheel racing is the war between CART and the IRL was so nasty that a lot of people can’t let it go and never will. I get a lot of people saying they used to like me because I stood up for CART. Well, I stood up for CART because they belonged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and that’s what ruined the Indy 500 because, when it was divided, CART was in their heyday. I also ripped CART’s heart out every time I got the chance because they did so many stupid things for 25-years.

People either have convenient memories or don’t understand. There was a time when Roger Penske and I didn’t talk to each other for a year; there was a time when A.J. Foyt and I didn’t talk to each other for a year, because of something that was said or the way something was written. If you do your job you’re going to piss everybody off because that’s what happens. Your job is not to be a PR man-cheerleader. I love good races and I love good stories. But, racing is full of conflict. It’s full of people who are upset, people who are bitching and pissing and moaning because they don’t have the right car or the right engine. They’re trying to steal each others drivers, their sponsors, their wives, that’s what racing is. It’s this great conflict. I think that’s what Paul Newman was so drawn to. He lived in the world of make-believe, that’s how he made his living, but he liked racing because it was the ultimate reality.

-Part #2 will feature Miller's account of the Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, his days wheeling USAC midgets and why ESPN's NASCAR coverage is, well, what it is...

Weekend recap

2008-10-06T00:28:00.005-04:00

What you missed while going through old tax docs to make sure those island accounts you opened are legit.

Tony Stewart finally got his first victory of the season Sunday at Talladega. It was also his first Cup victory at the 'Bama track. Of course, if you ask Regan Smith, he would say Stewart is still 0-fer the year. Smith has penalized for passing Stewart below the "yellow line," or "out of bounds" as NASCAR calls it. Smith crossed the line first, but no matter, Stewart was awarded victory. The big story of the race was the continued sucking of products produced by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Random blowouts were the norm, and Chase drivers Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon both fell victim to shoddy rubber, finishing outside the top-30. A couple of "big ones" happened, so the fans who came to the track instead of watching Alabama almost lose to UK were happy. Paul Menard and David Ragan rounded out the top-3. Note the irony of shitting on Menard during our weekly preview (linked on Deadspin, thanks guys), only to have him post a career best finish. Irony, noted.

CUP: Stewart Tames Talladega

The ALMS boys and girls were at Road Atlanta for Petit LeMans. Class honors went to Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro (Audi, P1); Helio Castroneves (out on bail) and Ryan Briscoe (Porsche, P2); Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows (Corvette, GT1); Jaime Melo and Mika Salo (Ferrari; GT2). Cue the video and man-with-accent to explain:

Audi Scores Another Petit LeMans Victory; Porsche-Corvette- and Ferrari Scored Class Victories

Todd Bodine passed Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday on the last lap of the pick-me-up event at Talladega. Cheers to the bald guy.

Bodine has last laugh, wins trucks race at Talladega

The news of Helio Castroneves' tax issues shocked most, amused some and worried others. Having the highest profile IndyCar Series driver in legal hot-water is probably not good for the league. Come to think of it, it's probably not good for anybody save the federal government. Interested in reading the more about the plight of HCN? Here's what the interweb's are saying about our dancing friend:

Penske, pals blindsided by Castroneves' troubles (Curt Cavin, The Indianapolis Star)

MILLER: Castroneves FAQ (Robin Miller, speedtv.com)

Helio Castroneves Indicted On Tax Evasion; Charges Against More Drivers To Come? (Andrew Stoy, jalopnik.com)

Castroneves' future uncertain after federal tax-evasion charges filed (John Oreovicz, espn.com)

Castroneves pleads not guilty in tax case, released on $10M bail (Associated Press)

Let us all have a great race week. Continued success to the Phils. BEAT LA.

The Chaser #4: Amp Energy 500

2008-10-03T14:29:00.009-04:00

Each week Ridebuyer delves deep into the misunderstood, oft terrifying, world of American saloon-car racing known as NASCAR.

This week: Amp Energy 500 (Chase round #4)
TV: ABC 1:00pm EST (Sunday)
Location: Talladega Superspeedway (Talladega, AL)
Distance: 188 laps/500 miles
Past winners: J. Gordon (4/07); J. Gordon (10/07); Ky. Busch (4/08).

*How to blame the economy; take the sponsor and run*

The overwhelming theme of the past month has been the underwhelming performance of the economy. "The economy" seems like an abstract concept, something less than tangible, that shifts from good to poor in about the time it takes to read this sentence. One day the economy is structurally sound, the next it's shakier than a Jenga mountain on top of Heilo Castroneves' W-2s. This most recent sort-of recession (or is that depression?) seems to have more longevity than other contemporary economic woes. Banks are running out money for christsakes. That's a tell tale sign of we-all-may-be-fucked-dom. We strolled down to our neighborhood PNC to cash our weekly masonry check and stumbled upon this as we opened the doors:

Not. Good.

Motor racing is not immune to feeling the pressures of tight times. Just the opposite, in fact. It takes money to go fast, and Sprint Cup cars are pretty damn quick.

Look at the peculiar case of one Paul Menard. Never heard of him? That's understandable, as the veteran of about 70-Cup starts only has one top-10 finish. Throughout his inauspicious Cup career Menard has raced (with full sponsorship) at Dale Earnhardt Inc. That sponsor his been incredibly supportive of their driver even as returns on their investments (at least as far as solid finishes are concerned) have been small.

Thanks, Dad.

The signage adorning Menard's Chevy is that of, well, Menards, the regional chain of home improvement centers owned by John Menard, aka Paul's Pops. According to a well-scribed article on Nascar.com, John Menard ranks 127th on the 2008 Forbes' Billionaires List with a net worth of $7.3 billion. To gratuitously quote The Big Lebowski, he's not exactly a lightweight. People who follow motor racing know the elder-Menard quite well. He fielded Indycar entries for some time and is old buddies with Indy-Czar Tony George.

Anyway, if John Menard's kid wants to race in NASCAR, then NASCAR he shall race. Just not with DEI anymore.

Little-Menard is swapping teams and taking his regional chain of home improvement center-decals with him. Yates Racing will be Menard's new home next season, leaving DEI in an economics-of-racing quandary of epic proportions. There are exactly seven races left this season. DEI currently has four Cup entries (one each for Regan Smith, Martin Truex Jr., and Menard. Mark Martin and Aric Almirola share the #8 car). As it stands today, DEI will only have one full time sponsor heading into next season. That leaves three cars looking rather plain. DEI has some sales work to do if the team hopes to field four cars next season. The economy couldn't be shittier, and big corporations are not lining up to throw millions at a top-flight (which DEI is) NASCAR team like they were five years ago. So, good luck with that. Our advice to the sponsorship-finders at DEI? Add Alec Baldwin to your team and only hire closers.

That's enough movie clips for one post.

About this race:

*What to know:

'Big one' possible, still cliche: The simplest way to entice viewers and spectators to a NASCAR event is possibility of mass carnage. If this possibility was not present, exactly 16 spectators would show up to a restrictor plate race in Alabama during football season. Of those 16, 12 would be drivers' wives, and four would be related to Darrell Waltrip. As it stands, about 200,000 people will show up. Yes, NASCAR fans love the 'big one' and Talladega provides an excellent opportunity to play bumper cars at speed. The television talking heads will make mention to the 'big one' at every possible moment during the broadcast to keep the masses primed for destruction. Sometimes it comes, other times the race is void of 20+ car pileups. In short, the 'big one' may or may not happen. But it will get talked about, and rooted for in the broadcast booth, stands, and couches of America. Be ready.

Acquired taste: Restrictor plate racing is pack racing, or clump racing. Nobody has enough horsepower to get away from anybody, thus people have to run over each other to pass, and, well, see the point above. This type of racing is truly an acquired taste because things like track position are not important. At all. There are two schools of thought that can be used in running this race. You either want to be out front the entire time (hoping the 'big one' happens behind you), or you ride around in the back all day until about 25 to go when you make your move. It's debatable whether this makes for entertaining racing or a tedious afternoon. We've seen batter racing involving shopping carts and pissed-off Super Fresh patrons. Just our thought though.

Disregard qualifying: If you were to watch online live timing and scoring for Talladega qualifying (because you're not a loser and have sex with girls all the time), you'd notice some funny things. Like weird people you've never heard of are qualifying near the front. Travis Kvapil, really? That's because qualifying is completely meaningless. A good car can go from dead last to first in about 10-laps. We're not even going to post the qualifying results. That's how meaningless they are. It's certainly is not because qualifying is still in progress. Nope, that has nothing to do with. Meaningless!

Who to watch:

Jimmie Johnson: Constancy could win this guy his third straight title. Was he the best at the beginning of the season? Hell and no. Is he the best right now? Debatable. Is he the points leader? Hell and yes. Johnson has 17 top-10 finishes this season and an average finishing spot of 11th. He won this event in 2006 and has been pretty adept at running plate races (two career superspeedway wins, 10 top-fives.) In this iteration of The Chase Johnson has not finished lower than fifth.

Jeff Gordon: Last season, Johnson's teammate swept that Cup events at Talladega. That makes his total career victories at 'Bama track, six. Sure, the guy has not won an event this season, but he was able to gain two Chase spots last week with a p6. It seems like Gordon's momentum is building. 7/1 to win. We'd take that.

"Hot" Carl Edwards: This guy has been historically not "hot" on superspeedways. Zero wins and an average finish of 22nd. So, will he be good at 'Dega on Sunday. Maybe. He has been the hottest driver of late (Biffle disagrees) and if he can escape Alabama with any finish that's not a disaster, he'll be in good shape for the title.

*For those heading to the track:

Pertinent tailgating information is here. Although, there's no reason to post this. If you were even remotely considering tailgating at 'Dega, you've already been in the infield for a month. Tailgating Telladega is like pilgrimage to Mecca, only with more beer and slightly fewer stampedes.

The Ridebuyer cocktail of the race is, of course, the Alabama Slamma. Take it away kinda attractive bartender lady:

Okay, that was the last video.

Points:

1 Jimmie Johnson
2 Carl Edwards
3 Greg Biffle
4 Jeff Burton
5 Kevin Harvick
6 Jeff Gordon
7 Clint Bowyer
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9 Matt Kenseth
10 Denny Hamlin
11 Tony Stewart
12 Kyle Busch

Next race: Bank of America 500 (Lowe's Motor Speedway). Had the financial bailout not happened, this race would have been Generic 500. True story.

Not just another bullshit night in suck city

2008-10-03T09:39:00.004-04:00

Taking a 1/2 day and getting boozed-up before an evening baseball game is one of life's little pleasures. When that game happens to be of the playoff variety, well, the awesomeness factor of the whole endeavour increases exponentially. At the risk of sounding gushy, the atmosphere inside Citizens Bank Park last night was something special. If someone would have told me that Shane Victorino would hit a grand gank off of CC Sabathia to vault the Phils into a 2-0 series lead, I would have called that person retarded. I would've referred to them as "Corkey" for the rest of the evening. For christsakes, this is the same Sabathia who I saw pitch a CGSO (should have been a no-no) in Pittsburgh less than a month ago. Ah, but sweet alas:

Hours after the game's end, I was taking distinct pleasure in listening to the Baseball Tonight crew discuss the sudden implosion of the Cubs. (Fuck the Cubs.) Something across the scroll caught my eye. The words "Castroneves," "tax evasion," and "federal" were rather shocking. I was caught off guard. The AP story on Fox Sports seems to explain things pretty well. We'll keep sweeping the interwebs for updates. Speedtv.com's Marshall Pruett (no relation) is reporting Castroneves will race in tomorrow's Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta.

More information could be given during Petit Le Mans qualifying. It'll be streamed live on speedtv.com starting at 3:25 p.m. ET this afternoon, for those interested in watching at work.

NASCAR is in Talladega, our Chaser preview will be up, as always.

Also, not to give too much away, but next week, we will have a special feature involving a noteworthy racing expert. Let's just say this guy has forgotten more about racing than most of the so-called experts out there. It will be big time.

Enjoy the race weekend.

The best way to piss off your wife? Trail breaking

2008-10-02T10:39:00.004-04:00

Between 1977-1993 Riccardo Patrese competed in 256 Grand Prix. It's a good thing his wife could never ride shotgun with the former-ace during events. Here are the two having a tiff inside a Honda Civic Type R during a hot lap of the Jerez circuit. We're thinking she may want him to slow up a bit.

We don't speak Italian, but the bit of sign language used by Mrs. Patrese near the end is pretty universal.

Riccardo definitely slept on the couch that night.

2008-10-02T09:37:00.002-04:00

A full color spotters guide for this weekend's Petit Le Mans. Great if you ever wanted to know how to tell the two Corvette Racing C6.Rs apart. (Hint: notice the sideview mirror colors.)

Petit Le Mans spotters guide (Speedtv)

2008-09-29T15:43:00.003-04:00

For all the people who are forced to live with Comcast Cable not offering Speedtv in their area (ahem... Center City Philadelphia...ahem), here's a little montage of the F1-at-night action you missed.

Singapore Executive Summary from Axis of Oversteer.com Video on Vimeo.

Weekend recap

2008-09-29T12:07:00.002-04:00

What you missed while watching the slow, yet inevitable, implosion of the New York Metropolitans.

Kansas Speedway played host to the NASCAR contingent of round track racers. On Sunday, "Hot" Carl Edwards' attempted to slide-job Jimmie Johnson final lap/final turn. It worked, for a few hundred yards, until Johnson went under the cushion-hopping Edwards for the win. Greg Biffle rounded out the top-3. The Chase standings mirror those top-3. Cheers to AJ Allmendinger, who tallied a career-best p9, in what was likely his last race with Red Bull Racing.

The Hot Pass: Pieces fall into place for Johnson in KC

Joe Gibbs Racing has continued its dominance of the Nationwide Series, which is good for them, as they now suck in Cup competition. (JGR drivers hold the final three spots in Chase standings.) Denny Hamlin won the Kansas N'Wide race on Saturday. Points leader Clint Bowyer finished second.

Hamlin takes Nationwide race in Kansas

When F1 goes night racing in Singapore, two things happen. #1: High end prostitutes make a killing on oil magnates. And #2: Varsha, Hoobs and Matchett have an interweb-only talk about the goings-on. Enjoy.

F1: Alonso Prevails in Hectic Singaporean Grand Prix

Tony Schumacher got back to his winning ways on Sunday by beating Doug Herbert in the finals at the NHRA Mid-South Nationals. Tim Wilkerson (FC), Mike Edwards (PSC) and Craig Treble (PSB) were the other pro winners.

Schumacher beats four Countdown drivers to pad his points in Top Fuel

ARCA was road racing in Jersey (finalist for the strangest sentence of the day). Justin Allgaier won the rain-shortened event. Scott Speed finished eighth and retains the points lead going into Talladega.

ARCA: Allgaier Takes NJMP Race, While Speed and Stenhouse Continue Title Battle

Let us all make it a point to have an outstanding race week. Go Phillies. Fuck the Brewers.

Remembering PLN

2008-09-27T17:38:00.006-04:00

Around the interwebs with the best memories of a racing legend and American badass.

Newman a lot of things, but for many years, racing came first

In recent years, Newman's relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was antagonistic; when the Speedway changed its catering rules in 1995 to allow only IMS-approved suppliers, Newman flaunted authority (and was later fined) by having his team chefs prepare food for the Newman/Haas crew, which he personally carted into the garage area.

(John Oreovicz -espn.com)

Love for winning fueled Newman's passion on the racetrack

Two-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said Newman even drove a Hendrick Motorsports car."We had a deal when Rick [Hendrick] would put a restrictor-plate on a car and let a few people drive it with half horsepower," Johnson said. "Paul was amazing. He would get out there on stickier tires and run really quick laps."

(Terry Blount-espn.com)

Paul Newman, Racer, Remembered

During the 1970s Newman earned four SCCA national titles. In 1976 he took the D-Production class championship in a Triumph TR-6 once owned by racer Bob Tullius. In 1979 he took the C-Production class in a Bob Sharp Datsun 280ZX, and in 1985 and 1986 he won the GT-1 in a Sharp Nissan 300ZX. In 1979 Newman co-drove a Porsche 935 with team owner Dick Barbour and Rolf Stommelen to second place in the 24 Hours of LeMans. Most recently he was the co-owner of IndyCar team Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR). Drivers for NHLR have included Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, and Sébastien Bourdais

(Mike Spinelli-jalopnik.com)

Racing Enthusiast, Actor, Badass, Paul Newman Dies at 83

Unlike many of the coddled stars in Hollywood today, Paul Newman was a badass long before making it big on the silver screen. He was a regular old military guy who joined the Navy and served in WWII after getting kicked out of Ohio University for "unruly behavior."

(Enrico Campitelli Jr.-deadspin.com)

LEARY: Somebody Up There Likes Him

I had the privilege of photographing him many times over the last three decades and had the honor of presenting him with portfolios of my images and a copy of a Super 8 movie I took of him at Nelson Ledges in 1976, racing his Datsun 510 and Triumph TR6. I kidded him that it was the cheapest movie he ever made…less than twenty bucks including processing…but he made me feel like I had given him a gift of pure gold and wrote me a nice thank you letter.

(Greg Leary-speedtv.com)

Fox Sports has a PLN racing photo gallery up. Here's a sample:

Our favorite PLN memory comes from the SCCA Runoffs. The exact year escapes us, maybe 1999 or 2000, but PLN was there with his ex-Trans Am GT1 mount. He was just a regular racer, doing his thing that week. His thing just happened to be a lot faster than that of most people. RIP.

The Chaser #3: Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman

2008-09-26T11:03:00.007-04:00

Each week Ridebuyer delves deep into the misunderstood, oft terrifying, world of American saloon-car racing known as NASCAR.

This week: Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman (Chase round #3)

TV: ABC 1:00pm EST (Sunday)

Location: Kansas Speedway (Kansas City, KS)

Distance: 267 laps/400 miles

Past winner: G. Biffle (9/07).

*Ode to Kyle Busch's season, upsets and underdogs*

- Kyle Busch led the points for 17 consecutive weeks before the Chase. Since the "playoffs" began, he has not finished inside the top-30 and has effectively ended his chances of becoming champion. He currently sits p12, 210 points adrift of Carl Edwards in p1. His title run is over. A valiant effort. But, as Lou Holtz would say, close only counts in horseshoes. Maybe sexual assault too. Yup, only sexual assault and horseshoes, definitely not NASCAR.

Busch's title was lost not solely by Busch, but was truly a team effort. His dismal "playoff" finishes to date were caused by mechanical failures. There is no indication that Busch played any role in causing those failures. Although, he could have been speaking to the mechanic who was supposed to be tightening the anti-sway bar in New Hampshire, thus distracting him, causing the cross-thread to end all cross-threads. Not likely, but possible. Barring that unlikely scenario, Busch's crew (the engine department not excluded) probably feels pretty damn shitty. Alas, those are the breaks of a cruel and fickle sport. Sorry Kyle and co. Perhaps next season.

When thinking about Busch's overall performance in stock cars this year, it's hard to fathom that not a single championship will be awarded to ridiculous-sunglass laden racer. It's like his season forcibly ended, not allowing its natural progression to play out. Sad really. (Unless you hate Kyle Busch, his team, Joe Gibbs, - those who saw him speak at the RNC should passionately hate him- Toyota, or some combination of all four. Then it's quite funny.)

Kyle Busch's 2008 NASCAR season.

3-1-08

9-21-08

RIP

-The biggest upset in the young college football season took place last Thursday night in Corvallis, OR. It illustrates the (kinda) longstanding rule in college football that no team is safe against a fired-up underdog and point spreads mean nothing. The Oregon State Beavers were 25-point dogs to the USC. 25 fucking points! Any team can beat any team at any time. It's what makes college football great. Motor racing certainly has some parallels to this. See: Joe Nemechek, Kansas Speedway, 2004. The habitual underdog scored a weekend trifecta when he won the Cup pole, the Nationwide race and the Cup race on the intermediate track. He is obviously looking for some luck this weekend at the track where beasted the competition four years ago. Check out Tom Jensen's notebook (speedtv.com) for more information on Front-Row Joe's baller Kansas weekend. It may not have happened this season, but NASCAR underdogs can-and routinely do-best the Hendrick Motorsports and Gibbs Racings of the world.

About this race:

*What to know:

One race/year? Not a problem: Kansas Speedway is part of a minority of tracks on the NASCAR schedule with only one Cup race date. This puts the track in the company of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the bastard step children of NASCAR circuits (that would be the road courses at Watkins Glen and Sonoma), Chicagoland, and Las Vegas. Everywhere else gets two Cup dates and thus have double the chances to cash on the NASCAR money gravy train. Good for them. For the racers, one would think visiting a track only once a year would be a tricky proposition for race car setups. Especially with the added pressure of this being a Chase event. However this a non-issue. All 1.5-mile tracks are the same. Really they are. There are tons of 1.5- mile tracks that Cup teams can draw information from. For a while, it seemed like a new intermediate track popped up every six months across the country. And NASCAR made it a point to put them all on the schedule. Every last one of them. Teams will have no problem setting their cars up for this event.

Jimmie loves Juan: Jimmie Johnson should send a big thing of flowers over to Juan Montoya and the entire Ganassi Racing team as they are the reason the defending champ will start from the pole on Sunday. Montoya ran the fastest lap in qualifying, but was ultimately disqualified for a technical infraction. That promoted Johnson to the top starting spot. The starting grid is a bit of cluster-eff with only one other Chase driver starting in the top-10 (Kenseth, p3). Carl Edwards , Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart will all start outside of the top-30. (Starting grid)

"Hot" Carl from the rear: The point leader and consensus best-looking stockcar driver since Harry Gant will have a difficult task come Sunday. "Hot" Carl will take the green flag in 34th position after a qualifying run which was more than .5 sec. adrift of Johnson's pole speed. Relegated with the habitual backmarkers are Harvick and Stewart as well. Look for them to try

to hookup with Edwards and pick their ways frontward.

View Larger Map

Who to watch:

Greg Biffle: The winner of the previous two Chase events is also the defending race winner at KS. He will start Sunday's event in 18th, and should he win, that would be the third worst starting position for a Kansas winner in the event's brief tenure on circuit. The worst starting spot to win at KS belongs to Stewart, who rolled off p21 before rolling into victory lane in 2006. Biffle has three top-5's at Kansas and an average finishing spot of 11th.

Mark Martin: Martin was only .044 sec. off of the pole speed for this race. In the last four starts he's made this season, his worst finish was 8th in Pocono. He finished forth last week and has an average KS finish of 12.4 with one win (2005). Martin is a good value bet at 15/1 to win or even at 9/2 to place in top-3.

Jeff Gordon: The honor of most wins by a driver at KS belongs to Gordon. He won in 2001 and 2002. He has 40-career wins on intermediate circuits. 40 is a big number. He did not stumble as much as other Chasers in qualifying and will roll off in 13th.

*For those heading to the track:

Pertinent tailgating information is here. The following sentence from the track's website outlines the potential for lameness during the race:

Outside food or drinks, ice, coolers of any type and drink containers are not permitted through the grandstand gates.

Sorry folks, your drunkenness will have to be confined to the parking lots before the race.

The Ridebuyer cocktail of the race is the Singapore Sling. We are

not sure why. Remember to bring you Tom Collins glasses to the race. The umbrellas are an absolute must.

Points:

10. Matt Kenseth

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Kyle Busch

Next race: Amp Energy 500 (Talladega Superspeedway). Final plate track of the season. One last chance to play wreck 'em. Tailgaters already in route.

Put down the back issue of "Racer" and look around

2008-09-26T09:52:00.003-04:00

The sporting world is truly extraordinary. Bear witness to last night's Oregon State v. USC football contest where the seemingly infallible Trojans were over matched by the seemingly under performing Beavers. (There's nothing worse than a Beaver that under performs...Rim shot.) The highly touted USC-defense was torn apart by some kid named Jacquizz who may or may not be a troll. Wild. That shit should not happen. Yet it did, and does. The stick-and-ball world should (hopefully) provide the masses with other gems this weekend. There's a full slate of college and professional football games to choose from and the year's most enthralling weekend of baseball. The final regular season weekend for MLB is the sporting equivalent to the Ewan McGregor classic (?) Big Fish. It's a strange amalgamation of joy, sorrow, confusion and Albert Finney (sometimes). So, on what could be described a slower weekend for motorsports, we implore our loyal readership to take a look around and enjoy what the early fall sporting season has to offer. Christ, it beats speaking to your family.

FYI:

Any of the following scenarios will give Philly the National League East division title:

The Phillies sweep the Nationals.
The Marlins sweep the Mets.
The Phillies take two of three from Washington and the Mets lose once to the Marlins.
The Phillies take one of three from Washington and the Mets lose twice to the Marlins.

(Courtesy of the brilliant staff over at The Fightins)

ESPN loves the import scene. Don't you?

2008-09-25T18:34:00.005-04:00

Last week E-60 was rad enough to outline the racing version of figure skating, drifting. Now ESPN continues the quest to assert their hipness by talking about street racing. Swing and a miss. Strike two.

We're beginning to think Jeremy Schaap has an unhealthy relationship with Tyrese Gibson's character Roman from 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Stolen from the blogosphere

2008-09-25T13:30:00.003-04:00

Perhaps no kick in the junk is quite as fierce and swift as those delivered by ticket-writing law enforcement personnel. Aside from sucking, speeding fines are largely unwarranted when dispensed and do nothing but further the plight of the middle class through monetary penalties that this dismal economy cannot support. It short, speeding tickets are as un-American as Vermont or buffets that are not all-you-can-eat.

The guys at Jalopnik have amassed a list of ten ways to avoid the dreaded speeding ticket, even after you have been pulled over by those damned Texas County Mounties.

Our favorite? #10:

But everybody poops. When the traffic cop suggests you hand over your info, make sure to bounce around with a pained look on your face. When the officer asks you what's going on just mention that you just had some greasy Thai food and you just have to beat the Lard Na home.

That should probably be #2 on the list. /Takes a bow and exits.

Ten Ways To Get Out Of A Speeding Ticket

Aboriginal Stig

2008-09-23T18:25:00.003-04:00

The tease for Top Gear Australia has hit the interweb!

People in the land of Fosters, silly hats and criminal descendants get their TG in few days (premiere September 29). When do we state-siders get our version? We're asking you Adam Carolla.

Side note, we actually considered auditioning for Top Gear Aus. True story. It was during our Jeremy Clarkson phase. Sad story.

Weekend recap

2008-09-22T11:46:00.005-04:00

What you missed while watching the SEC slowly decimate all...

The waning laps of Sunday's Dover Sprint Cup event were about as good as it gets for spectators and the couch bound, not watching football crowd. The Roush Fenway Racing clan of Fords put on a circular clinic, with Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards all getting scrappy. In the end it was Biffle taking his second straight win and solidifying his spot as a title contender. Speaking of the title, guess who's not going to win? Kyle Busch. He finished dead fucking last. Coupling with his 34th place run in New Hampshire, Busch's championship hopes have been dashed faster than those of the Browns.

Monster of a race- Biffle outruns Kenseth, Edwards for Dover win

It's of little consolation to the now Cup-disabled Busch, but he won the Nationwide race on Saturday. Mike Bliss finished second, just in front of Brad Keselowski.

NATIONWIDE: Busch Races To Eighth Win at Dover

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck race was in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Mike Skinner won. We know nothing else about the happenings. Nothing. Take it away Speedtv.

Oh, if you're thinking about becoming a NASCAR driver and getting hopped up on goofballs, don't.

While the final 20-laps at Dover were pretty damn entertaining, the race of the weekend goes to... Drum roll... J.R. Todd v. Tony Schumacher at the Texas Motoroplex. Schumacher who hadn't lost a round in the past seven national events was tardy off the line, giving Todd and his Lucas Oil team the win. The RT? Todd's .068 to Schumacher’s .084. Other pro winners were Tim Wilkerson (FC); Greg Stanfield (PSC); and Chris Rivas (PSB). It was the first career victory for Stanfield and the first time in NHRA history the reigning series champs were a collective 0-4 in final rounds at the same event. How about that?

NHRA: Todd Ends The Sarge’s Streak in Texas

The pride of Columbus, Ohio-Mike Shank Racing- took victory in the season finale for the Grand-Am Series. Raphael Matos joined regular Shank DP drivers Ian James and John Pew to win the SunRichGourmet.com 1000 at Miller Motorsports Park. Exhale. Of course, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas already had the DP championship in the bag for Chip Ganassi Racing. In GT, Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards won the race and the title in their Pontiac GXP.R.

Michael Shank Racing a Winner at Miller

Also getting their Mormon on at Miller was the Atlantic Series. Markus Niemela became the seventh different winner this year in Atlantics. He started from the pole and beat Jonathan Summerton to the line. The title comes down to the season finale at Road Atlanta in two weeks. 10 points separate the top-three drivers. Jonathan Bomarito has an eight-point lead over Summerton, with Niemela two points out of p2.

ATLANTIC: Niemela Scores First Series Victory in Utah

Let us all have a phenomenal race week. On a side note, go Phillies. Fuck the Mets.

The race car, er, card

2008-09-20T23:17:00.006-04:00

Hypothetical situation:

You're at work. You get into an argument with a coworker. It's a fairly heated argument. In a fit of rage, you say "I ought to cut you" to that employee. (We're talking cut, as in slice or shank.) The next day, you're fired. Is this fair recourse for your employer?

If your name happens to be Dean Duckett, and your ex-employer was NASCAR, than no, that shit's not right.

Last week, Duckett filed a complaint with the Buffalo department of the EEOC (clearly bringing in the big guns) citing a hostile work environment and wrongful termination from his tech position at NASCAR.

Duckett told the AP he is considering a lawsuit if NASCAR refuses to offer him his old job back (!?). Reread that last sentence.

Dear Dean,

You're not getting your job back. And if what you say is true, why would you want it back?

Signed-

Reasonable people.

The kicker in this story is that Duckett was named in Mauricia Grant's $250 million racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit against NASCAR. Duckett was accused by Grant of dumping water on a (female) NASCAR official to simulate a wet T-shirt contest.

Outstanding.

Former inspector issues discrimination complaint

The Chaser #2: Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA

2008-09-18T23:21:00.009-04:00

Each week Ridebuyer delves deep into the misunderstood, oft terrifying, world of American saloon-car racing known as NASCAR.

This week: Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA (Chase round #2)
TV: ABC 1:00pm EST (Sunday)
Location: Dover International Speedway (Dover, DE)
Distance: 400 laps/400 miles
Past winners: M. Truex (6/07); C. Edwards (9/07); Ky. Busch (6/08).

*Crappy starts, sporting meltdowns and mistakes *

-It seems like Kyle Busch was the points leader for the entire season. Until now. Now he sits in eighth place and has back against the proverbial title wall. After one Chase race, his entire cushion has been eradicated to the brink of no return. Sure, Busch can still win the championship. It could happen. But he's used up his only Chase mulligan. Should the young Busch (hehe) stumble again, his title hopes will be over faster than Steve Wiebe can jump a plumber past a barrel. This would be a historic collapse. Taking into account Busch's performance in all of the NASCAR series' this season, not winning a single championship would be quite the fold up. Remember, at one time, Busch held the points lead in all three major NASCAR touring series. Sure, he ran truncated schedules outside of Cup, but damn, 18 NASCAR-sanctioned wins this year and not a single title. That would be rather bunk.

That got us thinking about famous bed-shitting moments across the world of sports and where the potential title-less Busch would fit in. Should this fold-up happen, we'd place it in sporting disasters, tier three. Here's how it plays out in our minds.

Tier #1. The bed, thoroughly shat.

2007 Mets: Lost 12 of their last 17 games. Seven game lead on September 12th gone by season's end. No postseason. South Philadelphia has never been the same.

1992 AFC wild-card, Oilers v. Bills: Frank Reich becomes a quarterback. Enough said.

1999 British Open, Van de Velde: VdV needed a double-bogey on 18 for the win. He triple-bogeyed, then lost in a four-hole playoff to Paul Lawrie. Think Roy McAvoy, but without the guidance of Cheech.

Tier #2. Trace amounts of poo on sheets.

2000 Western Conference Finals, game seven: Portland has a 15-point lead over the Lakers with 10 minutes to go in the fourth. The Blazers then saw Shaq and Kobe go crazy in a 15-0 run, which led the Lakers to win the series.

1986 World Series, game six: Bill Buckner, Sox lose in seven. Would be in tier #1, but Buckner is not solely responsible. He had plenty of help losing that game and the series.

Tier #3. Pants shat upon, bed safe and dry.

1996 Masters, Greg Norman: The Shark had a six-stroke lead going into the final round. He shot a six-over 78, tanking to Nick "don't call me Waldo" Faldo.

2008? NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Kyle Busch holds point lead for vast majority of "regular" season, only to finish the first Chase event in 34th, never to recover he finishes the season in 12th place, last of all the Chasers. Maybe.

Some might argue with the above list (go fuck yourself), but there's no question that should Busch not win the Cup title, his season would become a contemporary of the aforementioned disasters. Not the biggest meltdown, but list worthy no less.

About this race:

*What to know:

Where/what the hell is Dover? Dover is a high-banked mile track that is located halfway between Philadelphia and Washington DC. The track surface is concrete (which, for those not up with track construction materials, is not the norm). The track has the nickname the Monster Mile, which will be used extensively during the broadcast. ABC may even show the world-famous Dover monster statue which is terrifying as shit.

Gordon is the boss: Jeff Gordon has four career wins and four poles at Dover. He's pretty much a beast at DIS. He captured the pole for Sunday's race (race lineup) and has been competitive since the first practice session of the weekend. He also has an added incentive to perform at Dover. DuPont, Gordon's longtime sponsor, has their world headquarters just up the road in Wilmington, DE. Tax dodgers.

Avoid the little 'big one': Everyone knows that big restrictor plate tracks produce close racing and the inevitable huge wreck. Dover is not a big track and plates aren't used, but the chance for a multi-car accident is almost as high as it is at Daytona or Talladaga. Why? Because it's small and fast. You just don't have the time to get away from an accident. The field is so close, and going so fast you're on top of the accident before you can move from it. Just ask Kevin Harvick about that. He started in the back for the June race at DIS, got into the little 'big one' early on and finished 38th.

View Larger Map

Who to watch:

Jeff Gordon: 19 top-10 finishes for Gordon at Dover. That is a staggering number. 19. Jesus. He starts from the pole and is clearly the favorite to win. He finished fifth at Dover during the June race and is looking to impress those DuPont bigwigs who are traveling to Dover to see their guy. Sleazy sports betting sites have him 8/1 to win. Gotta say, we'd take that.

Greg Biffle: No one expected this guy to do much in The Chase. He made it in, good for him, he'd probably wind up eighth or ninth in the final standings and should be happy about that. Well, Biffle won last week and vaulted himself into third place, only 30-points outside of the lead. He has not finished outside of the top-10 at DIS since 2005 and finished p3 last time NASCAR was in DE. Momentum is a crazy thing.

Kyle Busch: The defending race winner is in dire need of a good run. Should he falter on Sunday his hopes of a title will likely be gone. He is historically good at DIS with five top-10 finishes. He starts 11th.

*For those heading to the track: Pertinent tailgating information is here. FYI, the real party takes place in the nearby Dover Downs Hotel and Casino. You should really hit it up after the race. We'd recommend renting a suite until at least October 10th, when the Dionne Warwick and Friends concert happens. We don't know who the "friends" are, but imagine they'd be special.

The Ridebuyer cocktail of the race is a case of Dogfish Head. Sure, it's a craft beer, and drinking it at a race will surely get your ass beat, but it's from DE! Tell us if it's worth the black eye.

Points:

1 Carl Edwards
2 Jimmie Johnson
3 Greg Biffle
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5 Jeff Burton
6 Denny Hamlin
7 Tony Stewart
8 Kyle Busch
9 Clint Bowyer
10 Kevin Harvick
11 Jeff Gordon
12 Matt Kenseth

Next race: Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman (Kansas Speedway). This is not to be confused with the Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA. That would be Sunday's race from Dover.

RB on the road

2008-09-17T13:52:00.020-04:00

Our latest Kerouac-ian journey takes us to the newest motor racing facility in the country. New Jersey Motorsports Park is conveniently (if you live in Philadelphia) located in south central Jersey in the bustling metropolis of Millville.

We recommend eating at the Subway attached to CVS in "downtown" Millville. The eatery was manned by two older Indian folks, who, while rather slow in the actual sandwich building process, produced a final product that was bloody delicious and worth the $5 foot long moniker. Jared and Tony Stewart would be proud. Check it out... You know, if you're in the area.

As one could imagine the track itself is very much a work in progress, with vast amounts of open dirt areas, high piles of oil dry and much construction equipment strewn about. The garages at Thunderbolt Raceway were completed and quite nice as was the entire paddock. A few bleachers were erected, one at start-finish and another on the back half of the circuit. These will surely be added to or improved as sight lines on the front stretch are fairly poor and the overall construction of the bleachers were not up to par. We saw a guy come very close to eating shit while climbing to a seat, as one of boards he stepped upon was not secured to anything. We almost lost a good man that day.

Both the Star Mazda and Atlantic-guys put on good shows. Standing starts for both series are worth the price of admission. Stand down in turn one (by the medical center) for race starts, the track narrows slightly and it’s about the best spot for overtaking.

Summation:

Facility will be world class when construction is complete.

The NJMP PA system and operator in serious need of upgrade.

Frankie Muniz (Atlantic driver with PCM) is incredibly short and looks silly with facial hair, but Derrick Walker is a good-looking man.

If the Atlantic series doesn’t exist next season, we will cry.

Both the Chili’s and Subway in Millville are first class operations.

For those interested in seeing Jersey in the almost-autumn (who isn't?), ARCA and Speed World Challenge will be at NJMP at the end of the month. It’s worth the trip. Probably.

2008-09-17T13:52:00.016-04:00

As if it wasn't clearly obvious from the video, NJ state officials have cited "catastrophic mechanical failure" as the cause of the fatal Scott Kalitta wreck in June. (ESPN)

2008-09-17T13:52:00.013-04:00

Richard Childress Racing thinks the economy is just fine, thank you. RCR also has a yacht that magically raises the water level for all lesser boats in the ocean. Yes, that was a voodoo economics joke. (scenedaily.com)

8-Mile racing

2008-09-17T13:52:00.008-04:00

In honor of Penske Racing entering a third RS Spyder for Petit Le Mans (driven by a couple of open wheel guys named Castroneves and Briscoe), we'll let you take a few hot laps around Detroit in the LMP2 challenger. Just don't stop at red lights, or bands of hooligans will swipe the wheels.

Pedigo somewhere else

2008-09-17T13:52:00.004-04:00

What will be the next step for IndyCar's less talented version of Erin Andrews? There is no possible way Brienne Pedigo will make the transition to Versus' coverage next season (right?), so where could the first lady of pit lane coverage land? She could continue with ABC/ESPN is some regard, but what that regard is, is the question.

We're thinking AFL or WNBA. Just throwing it out there.

Your thoughts?

Weekend recap

2008-09-15T11:41:00.003-04:00

What you missed while watching Charlie Weis do his best impersonation of Tom Brady.

Crazy things happen in Formula One racing when rain is involved. Case in point: Sunday's Italian Grand Prix on a soggy Monza circuit. Torro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel won. From the pole. Confused? Bob Varsha can explain the happenings:

Vettel triumphs from pole to become circuit's youngest winner

Chase race #1 went to Greg Biffle. That would be the same Greg Biffle who last won a Cup event in September of 2007. Perennial points leader Kyle Busch is no longer The Chase leader (that lasted) as he finished 34th, 12 laps down. "Hot" Carl Edwards finished p3, putting him atop of the Chase standings. Biffle now sits in Chase p3, with Jimmie Johnson in second. Busch is now in eighth. Joey Lagono, making his first Cup start, finished three laps adrift in 32nd.

Next week: Dover.

Biffle -- yes, the Biff -- wins Chase opener at New Hampshire

Chase Standings

The Craftsman Truck Series was also at NHMS where possible juicer Ron Hornaday won. But, honestly, wouldn't you just rather see the video of the Bodine crew v. David Starr fight? Yes and Yes.

Hornaday earns victory at Loudon to cap tough week

Tony Schumacher may never again lose a race. He's won seven events in a row (still undefeated since the NHRA shortened fuel races to 1000-feet), and Sunday scored his 53rd career victory, moving past NHRA longtime record holder Joe Amato. Not a bad way to start off the Countdown to One. Other pro winners Jack Beckman (FC), Justin Humphreys (PSC) and Steve Johnson (PSB).

NHRA: Schumacher Breaks All-Time Wins Mark

There could be a new "Hot" Carl in the motor racing world, as Carl Skerlong claimed his first career Atlantic Championship victory Sunday at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The Pacific Coast Motorsports driver led every lap and scored the max amount of points available for the weekend. Other notables were Greg Mansell (p7, career best), Frankie Muniz (p10, ties best run of season) and points leader Jonathan Bomarito (p9). Also competing at NJMP was the Star Mazda Series, where Peter Dempsey won his forth race in the last five rounds.

Yes, we were at the race. Thoughts: Hot, dusty, nice facility. Full report, with pictures (!), to come. Big time.

ATLANTIC: Skerlong Becomes Sixth Different Winner

STAR MAZDA: Dempsey Gets Another Win in Jersey

The Chaser #1: Sylvania 300

2008-09-11T18:28:00.010-04:00

Each week Ridebuyer delves deep into the misunderstood, oft terrifying, world of American saloon-car racing known as NASCAR.

This week: Sylvania 300 (Chase round #1)
TV: ABC 1:00pm EST (Sunday)
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH)
Distance: 300 laps/317 miles
Past winners: D. Hamlin (7/07); C. Bowyer (9/07); Ku. Busch (6/08).

*How to handle the make-believe playoffs, why Tom Brady made the Loudon crowd tolerable and why we're not watching Sunday's race*

-The next ten weeks will decide who becomes the NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion for the Lord's calender year 2008. Christened the "playoffs" by decision makers inside of the shadowy fortress know as NASCAR headquarters, the new(ish) system was clearly implemented to compete against stick and ball sports in terms of relevancy. A ten week "playoff" during the autumn months generates buzz (whatever the hell that means) for the sport and keeps it on the media radar during a time when professional and collegiate football gets rolling and baseball becomes entertaining. Or so the theory goes.

Whichever one of the France's came up with this idea is really off base.

Save the die hard base of the sport, there is too much competition for viewers and spectators to jump aboard the racing "playoff" train.

The casual sports fan, hell, even the casual racing fan, is far more likely to watch a Sunday afternoon NFL game than a "Chase" race. Right? We say yes.

A valid argument could be made that stock car racing fans and stick and ball types are two completely exclusive sects of folks who will never, under any circumstance, follow a sport that is not what they currently follow. A guy who watches baseball, takes his scorebook to games and understands what the hell OPS is, is not going to split his time in October to watch a saloon car race from Martinsville.

It's all a matter of competition. NASCAR should not compete with the NFL or (to a lesser extent) MLB. That's a fight that cannot be won. NFL games are the big dicks of TV ratings, and MLB

games, with their mostly tepid ratings, are still a cash cow for game attendance. It is a crowded marketplace and America's racing series is, if not careful, going to fall through the cracks.

Knocking ten races off of the Sprint Cup calender solves this issue. The season is far too long to begin with, straining teams and making people lose track of the sport. Who remembers this season's Daytona 500? It was in fucking February. The is season is still going. That's ridiculous. It has become a full time job to follow the damn series. In case you didn't know: jobs suck.

If the NASCAR brass want to keep the "playoffs," fine. Just have The Chase end this weekend, instead of start. That way we can crown a champ, and be done with it by the time NFL week three rolls around.

But for now, we'll just have to wait and pretend to care until the end of goddamn November. Don't fear, will be with you each race of the way. If this is your first Chase, our only advice is to have a healthy supple of booze on hand for the races and don't, under any circumstances, change the channel. If you stumble across a football game, you may not be able to flip back. The horror.

Note: 40-oz cozy = race necessity.

-Hopefully the Tom Brady injury will shut the droves of smug New Englanders who travel to NASCAR's northernmost race the fuck up. NHMS is the only foray for the Sprint Cup into the great north wilderness and that's almost certainly because of the general douchebagery of the population. Everybody not from New England hates New England and anything to knock those 'r' dropping bastards down a few pegs is awesome. Take that Tom. Any Bostonians thinking of driving up to see the race, you may want to b.y.o. as they don't sell Sam Adams track side.

-We hope Sunday's race sucks, because we're not going to see it. That's because RB is going on a roadtrip. Destination? The brand new New Jersey Motorsports Park. We'll be slumming the Jersey turnpike to catch the Atlantic and Star Mazda events on Sunday. Hopefully these broads will swing by after their weekend in Seaside Heights. Bada. Bing.

About this race:

*What to know:

Line 'em up on points: Rain has washed away the qualifying session for Sunday's race. That means the field is set by owner points. The top-12 is all Chase drivers, so the people who actually matter will start up front. Not, that starting position is all to critical at NHMS, as Kurt Busch won the last event starting in 26th. Starting Grid.

Christ in a stock car makes first start: Joey Logano is making his first career Cup start on Sunday and will roll off the grid in 40th. If you haven't heard of Logano you clearly don't give a shit about stock car racing and the future of the sport. He is touted as the most talented driver to come thorough the ranks in years, if not ever. Mark Martin said he could be a competitive Cup driver when Logano was in karts. In 12 Nationwide Series starts this season, he has nine top-10s and one win. Sunday, he will be driving the Hall of Fame Racing No. 96 Toyota as one of six Cup races this season planned for the teenager. Logano will be a 2009 rookie next season when he takes over Tony Stewart's No. 20 Toyota at JGR. Does the youngster fold under the pressure and return to the life of a normal 18-year old wrought with smoking cigarettes, reading The Catcher in the Rye and constantly masturbating? Probably not.

"Hot" Carl v. Busch, (Chase) round one: The biggest storyline of late has been the arrival of "Hot" Carl Edwards as a legit contender for the championship. Kyle Busch looked to have a lock on the title just six weeks ago, but Edwards and crew have opened things up right in time for the "playoffs." It also helps the interest factor because both guys appear to hate each other. Nothing says NASCAR like a good old fashion rivalry. Yee Haw.

View Larger Map

Who to watch:

The Chasers: Starting The Chase off in a hole is not the way to find success come November. Being behind the eightball after race #1 is an easy way to quell championship aspirations. So, watch the top-12 and see how many (if any) fuck this race up. Refresher. Here's the playoff guys: 1 Kyle Busch 2 Carl Edwards 3 Jimmie Johnson 4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5 Clint Bowyer 6 Denny Hamlin 7 Jeff Burton 8 Tony Stewart 9 Greg Biffle 10 Jeff Gordon 11 Kevin Harvick 12 Matt Kenseth.

The Field: See if anyone can play spoiler come Sunday. Yes, look for the Washington Nationals of NASCAR. Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne could all toss a wrench into the well placed plans of Chase teams. Also, watch the aforementioned Logano, plus Kurt Busch has had success at NHMS in the past.

*For those heading to the track: Pertinent tailgating information is here. The 14 inch or less cooler restrictions will enforced with an iron fist.

The Ridebuyer cocktail of the race the queer craft beer of your choice. You must drink it while looking down on others who are enjoying lesser brews.

Points:

1 Kyle Busch
2 Carl Edwards
3 Jimmie Johnson
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5 Clint Bowyer
6 Denny Hamlin
7 Jeff Burton
8 Tony Stewart
9 Greg Biffle
10 Jeff Gordon
11 Kevin Harvick
12 Matt Kenseth

Next race: Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA (Dover International Speedway). A NASCAR race with an on site casino? God Bless you.

2008-09-11T14:19:00.002-04:00

A.J. Foyt recaps the final points event of the IRL season, runs Franck Perera out of fuel in the process. (USA Today)

NASCAR's doping scandal?

2008-09-11T12:12:00.003-04:00

Remember the day when the Mitchell Report was released? Droves of sporting fans (us included) could not wait to peruse the juicing manifesto to see if their hero's had indulged in taboo ointments and performance enhancing shots in the ass.

Sure, the guys that everyone expected were listed in the report. The Canseco, Bonds and Giambi's of the world were called out. But the best was getting to read the names that made everyone shake their collective heads. (Ahem. Paul Byrd. Ahem.) Guys like Mike Stanton and Paul LoDuca, if truly using, must have been doing something wrong. They must have been injecting the ointments or smoking something that should have been shot-up. Or something. Mike Stanton? Really?

Well, America's favorite saloon car racing series now has an absurd performance enhancing drug allegation story of their own. It revolves around defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck champion Ron Hornaday and shipments of testosterone and human growth hormone. Sweet.

Hornaday says the testosterone was used to treat a hyperactive thyroid.

NASCAR officials are determining if this constitutes a violation of their drug policy.

All Hornaday needs to do is write a book about finding Christ and battling a porn addiction, and he will be Paul Byrd.

Trucks champ Hornaday admits using testosterone

Cindy McCain's favorite movie? The Fast and the Furious III

2008-09-10T12:08:00.004-04:00

In one of the odder campaign revelations of late, E-60 has blown the lid off of Cindy McCain's secret passion. Filipino teenagers? Nope. Weirder.

John McCain's wife has a thing for drifting (the burnout-laden motorsport, not being a derelict).

Take it away Lisa Salters, as we are too horrified and flabbergasted to type.

BFF's?

New N'wide Challenger looks like a Challenger!

2008-09-09T12:06:00.005-04:00

Stolen from the Blogosphere this morning, the guys at Jalopnik posted pictures of the new Dodge Challenger Nationwide machine. The car is built to CoT specs and is set to debut next season. NASCAR has apparently relaxed on some of the body restrictions for the new N'wide machines and the result is a car that actually looks similar to a Dodge Challenger. How could this car possibly lose to a Taurus or Camry?