A piece about real men, driving real race cars. What a concept!

This Robin Miller story is well over a year old, but revisiting it is well worth the time.


http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/32673/

A throw back to a time when racing was less sanitized; full of outlaws, misfits and individuals who made their home on the fringes of acceptable behavior. A far cry from what we watch on television today.

Pedro de la Rosa v. Heikki Kovalainen- exactly the same performance, just one is old.

McLaren is likely kicking around the names of two gentlemen to team with Lewis Hamilton for the forthcoming F1 season. These men will be tasked with filling the shoes (however debacle ridden they might be) of one two-time World Champ by the name of Fernando Alonso. Pedro de la Rosa- McLaren tester and veteran of nine GP’s with the Woking outfit- and Heikki Kovalainen-soon to be sophomore, recently pushed aside at Renault by the aforementioned ex-World Champ and the son of another in Nelson Piquet jr-.

On the surface, the choice appears to be that of youth v. experience, up-and-coming hot shoe v. worn veteran, or perhaps even raising star v. declining journeyman.

Looking beyond the surface, and examining what both men have accomplished while in the sport paints a different picture.

er… to be more accurate, it creates exactly the same picture. You see, the two likely choices for the open race seat at McLaren have nearly identical career F1 statistics.

Both de la Rosa and Kovalainen share the same total number of victories (0), pole positions (0), podium finishes (1), and finishes in the points (11). Weird huh? Factor in the one point differential in total career points (HK has 30 PdlR has 29), and things get weirder than witnessing a triple-kiss while at your local sports bar.

It sounds like a virtual coin toss. De la Rosa is even quite optimistic about his prospects for a race seat promotion.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64367


Ah, but alas dear Pedro… The obvious outlier hurting you is that your less-than stellar figures were amassed whilst competing in 72 GP’s, compared to Kovalainen’s 17.

The kid happens to be a stud, and dear Pedro, you sir are no stud.

McLaren should (and does) want the younger, more promising shoe to team with Lewis Hamilton. HK is their #1 to be a #2.

However, should McLaren fail in securing the young Finn, he will squeeze into the hapless Toyota squad, and PdlR will have his F1 swansong. Just don’t count on it Pedro. HK to McL. Announced by Christmas.

These acronyms have made me cranky.

Two-time world champ lands back at his “safety school”

Fernando Alonso, likely bridging the gap between his times at McLaren until Ferrari beckons, has announced his return to the outfit that yielded his success.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/42014/

So, Alonso leaves a good situation at Renault and goes headlong into a disaster with McLaren. Now, he leaves a disaster and is hoping for what? Well, I think he is hoping Hekki Kovalain isn’t waiting for him in the parking lot with flogging mallet. You see Nelson Piquet Jr. will race alongside the Spaniard next season. That leaves Kovalain rather out of luck, unless he enters the fray with McLaren. Can you say driver trade?

Young Rahal chats about breaking the law

He is young, has a great job, and a whole host of exotics in his garage... Which, he enjoys ringing out on the back roads of suburban Columbus. By all accounts, every 25+ aged man in the world should hate this kid. But, after watching the video (and conducting an impromptu interview with him in the Cleveland GP paddock) I can't help but like the guy.

The bastard.

ESPN exploring "side-by-side" for IRL coverage

Thanks to Deadspin for providing this excerpt from an internal ESPN memo:


Q: Will we see side-by-side commercials in NASCAR? Is it successful in Indy Racing?


A: We are exploring creative formatting for our NASCAR races next year, including commercial free race segments and side-by-side coverage. We are working to balance giving the fans as much live race action as possible with our need to deliver value to our sponsors and advertisers.
While research does not demonstrate that our IndyCar side-by-side coverage has had a material impact on our ratings, we believe it is a great service to our fans to show as much green-flag racing as possible.

No word (yet) on the prospects of bringing Rusty Wallace back into into the IRL booth... Folks like Mutoh and Briscoe may have to suffer the indignity of never being called "cat" by the most gifted broadcaster since Chris Spielman.

The 08 Champ Car schedule has been released... Mark you planners (may want to use pencil).

Important things to note:
*2 trips to Europe (back to back weeks @ Zolder and Jerez in June, then Assen in September).
*No Vegas
*Final race in U.S. slatted for August 10th (final three events in Assen, Gold Coast and Mexico)
*Mont-Tremblant remains on schedule.
*No scheduled event for Asia.
*Gaps of 5 weeks (Road America to Assen) and 6 weeks (Assen to Surfers) between events.
*No TBD dates.


2008 Champ Car World Series*
April 20 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach , Long Beach, Calif.
April 27 Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston at JAGFlo Speedway, Houston, Texas
May 18 Champ Car Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
June 1 Champ Car Belgium, Zolder, Belgium
June 8 Champ Car Spain, Jerez, Spain
June 22 Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
June 29 Champ Car Mont-Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec , Canada
July 6 Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
July 20 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
July 27 Champ Car Portland, Portland, Ore.
August 10 Road America Grand Prix, Elkhart Lake, Wis.
September 14 Champ Car Holland at the TT Circuit, Assen, Holland
October 26 Gold Coast Indy 300, Surfers Paradise, Australia
November 9 Gran Premio Tecate Presentado por Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico* Pending ACCUS/FIA Approval

It's official, Michigan hates retards

Losing to a 1AA school is bad, but luckily there were no handicapped people able to watch from the Big House....That would have been worse.


Linky

http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/sports.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-10-30-0010.html