Lewis Hamilton Wins Indianapolis Grand Prix

Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on June 17, 2007.

Lewis Hamilton backed up his pole run with a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His main competition was his teammate, Fernando Alonso. Alonso, a two time Formula One Champion, actually had a noticable bauble on the track that probably cost him the race.

Hamilton, a Formula One rookie, has already had a storybook Formula One career. He has never started a race farther back in the pack than sixth. He has never finished off the podium, and now, he has won twice, with the races running back to back weekends.

The win puts him 10 points ahead of Alonso in the Championship standings. A win is equal to ten points, thus Alonso needs to win a race, and to have Hamilton not finish in the points to tie.

The win adds to the tension on the team, as Alonso was McLaren's #1 driver, with Hamilton the team's #2. In Formula One, while all drivers are going for the win, the #1 driver is the presumed leader of the team and the driver the team thinks has the best chance of winning (and winning the Championship). Hamilton has rapidly turned that logic on its head.

In a USAToday article after last week's win, the reporter prodded Hamilton about a Nascar career. Hamilton didn't rule it out but pointed out that he had many goals to achieve in F-1 first. If Montoya brings Nascar the hispanic community, what would happen if another F-1 driver (possibly a Champion) hopped over to drive stock cars?

Personally, I don't think Hamilton will do it. He's British and has grown up with the ideal of a Formula One Championship as the penultimate goal. At retirement, even if that happens tomorrow, he'll probably go the way of Sir Jackie Stewart - to the broadcasting booth or Michael Schumacher - as an adviser/talent scout for his team.

Random Musings on Racing This Weekend

Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on June 16, 2007.

One of my favorite drivers, JJ Yeley, is on the pole at Michigan.

Things That Make You Go Hmm...

Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on June 12, 2007.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having a press conference tomorrow. Widespread speculation is that he will announce what team he will be driving for next year.

News reports cite anonymous sources that claim Junior is going to Hendrick, and Kyle Busch is being bounced to ... DEI. The press reports that Gibbs denies involvement in the press conference, and Richard Childress is out of the country. Hendrick declines to comment on the story.

There are several things about this story that make me wonder:

1. Didn't Junior just claim last week that things had slowed down due to the death of Bill France Jr? I know that if I were constantly badgered about a story, I'd probably say things were slow too, even if they weren't. But was this deal cut over the casket at the funeral or what?

2. Hasn't Junior had other press conferences for things like, say his Busch team? To my knowledge, he didn't specify what this one was about.

3. Didn't Hendrick just announce there was no room at the inn? Was this secret code to Kyle Busch to sign the damn contract already, or don't let the door hit you on the way out? I'm no Busch fan, but he has won several races, and he is very young. Hendrick stuck with him through a lot. Is this still fall out from Busch leaving the track when his team was frantically working on his car? And which Junior happened to be available to drive?

4. Wouldn't it just be like Richard Childress (or Dale Earnhardt for that matter) to fly in to town at the last minute for the press conference? And didn't Jeff Burton mention that RCR was going to 4 cars last week?

5. Would Junior really want to go to Hendrick, where he will be the third driver on the totum pole? Gordon will always be the top cat, and Jimmie Johnson is a champion as well. Junior brings with him sponsors and fans, but he'll probably never be the #1 driver there. Then again, maybe he doesn't want to be the #1 driver...

6. Would Junior want to go to RCR? That's a big step back into his father's shadow, and not very far out of his step-mother's shadow. Especially with the merged motor program.

7. Why hasn't anyone talked to Ginn about the press conference?

8. Would Junior want to go to Gibbs? Tony is a 2x champion, and Denny Hamlin is the young gun. He'd fit in, if it just wasn't for that sponsorship problem.

9. Does this mean Kurt Busch pimps Miller Lite and Kyle Busch pimps Bud?

10. Would Junior get the Kelloggs sponsorship? Or where would they go? National Guard just came on board at Hendrick... Would Kelloggs go with Kyle?

11. Didn't these same sources tell us that Kurt Busch would be parked for Pocono due to the pit road flare-up?

12. Didn't these same sources COMPLETELY miss the Kurt Busch move to Penske in August 2005?

Sigh... I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to answer these questions...

F-1 Rookie Phenom Motors to Montreal Win

Originally Posted on foxsports on June 10, 2007.

Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One race at Montreal today. Why is this news?

First, Hamilton is off to a fantastic F-1 career - he's finished on the podium in his first six F-1 starts. Second, he is the"second" car in the McLaren stable, behind Fernando Alonso, the two time reigning Formula One champion. "Second" car drivers aren't supposed to lead the points, they are to support the primary driver in the stable.

Hamilton apparently didn't get that memo, as he has run better than Alonso at several races, finishing no worse than third thus far into the season. Hamilton also became the first black (he's British so he can't be African-American, right?) to win in F-1.

News reporters have been calling Hamilton the Tiger Woods of autoracing. I'm not sure this moniker fits, as F-1 is a much bigger deal in Non-American markets than it has ever been in American markets. While Woods is limited to playing a few events overseas, Hamilton yearly races in Bahrain, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and China. My guess is if you ask the average man/woman in the street in Beijing, Madrid, London, Rio, Johannesburg, Dubai, and Sydney who Lewis Hamilton is, they may have an idea, they probably won't know Tiger Woods. In other words, Tiger Woods is the Lewis Hamilton of golf.

If his first six races are any indication of Hamilton's talent, then Schmacher's records may not be as secure as everyone thought.

The Battlin' Brit vs. The Phoenix Firebird? The Rumble at the Speedway

Originally Posted on foxsports.com on June 7, 2007.

Taking a page from the Humpy Wheeler playbook, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage has billed the next IRL race, which happens to be at his track on Saturday, as "The Rumble at the Speedway."

Pitting Dan "The Battlin' Brit" Wheldon against Danica "The Phoenix Firebird" Patrick in their follow up bout, Gossage is attempting to generate ticket sales and media coverage of the event. Prominently displaying Wheldon & Patrick's pictures on the TMS webpage, with a "Tale of the Tape," TMS is betting that racing fans will be watching the two as they head to the track.

And it appears that the two are ignoring the spat, and waiting for the other to make the first move to amend the situation.

USATODAY, quoting AP, reports that Patrick has no intention of apologizing to Wheldon. But Wheldon isn't holding his breath waiting for one either, "She acted a certain way and if she wants to look at the video, I think she'll be feeling pretty silly. ... If she wants to come and apologize, I would be very happy to listen."

But Wheldon feels that Patrick took advantage of the situation "When you tug at a guy in the pit lane, I think that is taking advantage of your gender, because it puts me in an awkward position," Wheldon said. "She was acting like a spoiled brat. I don't respect that. ... I tried to step away. She kept grabbing on me like a dog that wanted to bite my ankles."

Patrick, however, believes Wheldon deliberately cut her off. "We'll see how it unfolds, and we're going to have to give each other respect and the space on the track," Patrick said. "If that happens, then I can't see a reason why it would continue. But if he doesn't, then I'll be mad again."

Meanwhile, we'll see if Gossage's promotion sells more tickets. If so, IRL may want to keep the Wheldon-Patrick dispute going for a few weeks to come.

Information from AP, USATODAY.COM and TexasMotorspeedway.com

A Female First: Jessica Zemken Wins ASCS Feature

Jessica Zemken won her first American Sprint Car Series feature on Saturday at Brockville Ontario Speedway. 

Zemken started from the pole after winning the dash, but didn't take the lead until only 7 laps remained in the 25 lap feature.

Zemken performed a wing dance in victory lane to celebrate her win.  Zemken selects her races carefully, and in the past has attempted to compete at the Knoxville Nationals.

Maybe there'll eventually be a 4th woman in IRL?  Or maybe Nascar needs to take notice?

 

Danica Attempts a Jeff Gordon and Fails Miserably; Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Originally Posted on foxsports.com on June 5, 2007.

Danica Patrick was Miffed.  She fumed.  She stomped up to give Dan Wheldon a piece of her mind.  She raised her voice and her eyebrows, dramatically making her point.  Danica went so far as to push Wheldon to make sure he got it.  Wheldon's reaction?

He ignored her.  Like the leftovers you don't want to eat after you get home, and then fester in your refridgerator.

Danica was upset that Dan and Dario Franchitti hadn't let her pass them on the track.  Wheldon went so far as to bump her car.  She managed to keep it off the wall, and finished the race.  But she was upset.

Unfortunately, she hadn't mastered the Jeff Gordon Bristol shove.  Back to the drawing board, Danica!   You did much better slapping Jacque Lazier.

Meanwhile, at the rain delayed Nascar race, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch had another round of "Oh, yeah, well, take that!" which usually ends with both cars wrecked and ruining a good finish.

However, this version amped up the typical slugfest when Busch bumped into Stewart.  On pit road.  While Jason Lee, a crewmember, was on the right fender. 

Lee had to jump onto the hood to avoid being crushed by Busch's car.   Never fear, it appears Lee gave Busch an earful after it happened, and he wasn't hurt.  

Both sides are claiming the other is at fault. 

The IRL announced neither Danica or Dan would be penalized. 

Nascar parked Busch at the time of the offense, but penalties could be handed down tomorrow.   Busch's problem is that a crew member on pit road nearly got hurt and it was clearly intentional behavior. 

The on-track incident is likely to be considered "just racing" even if you could see the outcome watching the two race without giving.

I think Busch could be up for a signficant penalty.  Maybe even a suspension.

After all, if Junior loses 100 points and his crew chief for 6 races for tinkering with the COT, which didn't almost injure someone, shouldn't intentional behavior which comes within inches of harming a teammember be worth more?