Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Retrieving my memory

Leave it to me to rush to the library, yesterday, and forget my flash memory stick. I was all set to post my observations on all of the racing that took place over St Patty's Day weekend, from the CTS race to the Busch Race, to the Sebring 12 hours and the Formula One races, the NNCS race and Ricky Carmichael's final Supercross race. Unfortunately, it was written and ready to go, except, it couldn't get posted because I literally lost my memory, even if it was temporary.
So, since all of this has already been discussed in detail by others, this post will be limited to a few summary points.
1. The hard, clean racing between James "Bubba" Stewart and Ricky Carmichael at the Sebring Supercross event was a fitting tribute to the all time leader of the sport. Carmichael will now be trading his racing leathers for a fire suit, racing in Dirt Modifieds next Saturday under the apt tutorage of Mark Martin, who has nothing but good things to say about the young racer's future in NASCAR.
2. Television commentators for the Formula One race, trying to be politically correct while describing rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton's ethnicity, actually made comments that unwittingly came across as racist. Something seems wrong with the statement "the darkest face ever on the podium." Race really shouldn't be a consideration, just say the kid is a brilliant racecar driver, and leave it at that. Hamilton is, by the way, worth every bit of the anticipation and high expectations that preceded his entry into the world's premier racing series. As long as Hamilton's ethnicity seems to be important to some, may I suggest that the term "AfroBrit," or "Afro-British" may be more appropriate, and, perhaps, more politically correct. If only we could live to see the day when the Human Race would grow out of having to make distinctions due to the color of one's skin.
3. Speed TV's coverage of all four classes in the 12 hour sports car endurance race at Sebring, Fla, was excellent, compared to their coverage of the 24 Hours at Daytona, where the GT class was totally ignored in favor of the Daytona Prototypes. We were treated to a very exciting and memorable finish in the GT2 class. To see a Porsche and a Ferrari beating and banging each other through the turns and down the final stretch was classic hard racing that would impress any race fan. The word for it was "Incredible!"
4. Craftsman Truck Series racing is Da Bomb!
5. The main topic of discussion concerning Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race has been The Yellow Flag. As a Tony Stewart fan, I can commiserate with those who feel that Smoke was robbed of victory due to a late race caution for "debris."
It is true that NASCAR seems to be in the habit of throwing an unnecessary caution toward the end of every race to tighten up the field for the finish, but, in this case, the commentators on the PRN radio broadcast of the race were talking about the debris in turn four at least three laps before the caution was actually thrown. They were debating whether enough drivers would report the debris as possible interference or danger for NASCAR to call for the yellow flag. So, with this information, we have to believe that there actually was debris, and that enough drivers reported such to warrent the caution. Just move along, folks, nothing to see here.
6. Finally, many of us race fans will be curious about the debut of the "Car of Tomorrow" at Thunder Valley. That curiousity will soon give way to appreciation for the extraordinary spectacle that has been, and always will be Bristol, no matter what kind of car is being raced there. Bristol is not the kind of track where the aerodynamic differences between the "stock car" and the COT will be noticable.
Bristol is my kind of racing!

3 comments:

RevJim said...

Scott Riggs went into stock car racing from motorcross, and I like to believe he is one of the best drivers who hasn't won a race yet.
I think there are qualities of perception and reflex that are common to all racers, two or four wheel, a natural talent, if you will. It seems that Carmichael is being developed carefully, learning the trade step-by-step. It will be a couple of years before we see him in trucks or Busch, but maybe we'll see how he does in ARCA or Hooters Cup before too long.

Anonymous said...

Good to know I'm not the only one that OD'd on racing this past weekend. I'm still working my way through the 12hr race on the DVR.

Your PRN comment is the first report I've heard that anyone saw any debris at the last caution in the Cup race. I really do want to believe NASCAR when they say it's not on purpose, but they need to go out of their way to prove it to the fans at this point. How hard would it be?

Racefan57 said...

nice blog...i like the short tracks too.