Flag It: A Look at the Language of Racing Flags

Originally posted on Foxsports on September 16, 2007.


One of my favorite things to do during a race is watch the flagman.  Regardless if it is a six lap heat race or a 400 mile race, the flagman is conversing with all the drivers during the whole event.


Knowing what the flags mean helps understand what is going on during the race.  Most race fans know the basics, but are unable to explain what the black flag with white cross means.  Be forewarned, however, that different series have different rules pertaining to the flags they display.


Green Flag:  Shown to start the race.  Will typically be shown when no other flag is appropriate.  Some sanctioning bodies (USAC, WoO, IMCA) will only count laps run under green flag conditions, others (Nascar, IRL, CCWS, F1) will count laps run under other flags.  An Interesting note, Formula One now uses a green light system to start the race, but before that used the National Flag of the country to start the race.




Yellow Flag:  Slow and maintain position as there is a hazard on the track.  Universal.  In Formula One, the location and movement of the flag or flags indicate where the hazard is on the track or off the track.  This flag is also used by Nascar to indicate during a practice session that cars should pit immediately.





Yellow & Red Stripped Flag:  Varies slightly by sancationing body:  In Nascar,  used on road courses only to indicate debris or slippery condition. 
 In F1, it means a "deterioration of adhesion" due to oil or water on the track ahead.   In both IRL and CCWS, means oil or slippery condition.








Red Flag:  Stop immediately.  Usually indicates the track is unsafe or blocked.  In F1, it indicates the cars should immediately go to pit road.









Red with Yellow Cross:  Pits are closed.  Used primarily in the IRL.  Not used in F1 or CCWS.  Nascar may have used in the past, but does not use currently. 









Black Flag:  Shown to individual car.  Means penalty of some sort, and consultation in the pits is required.  Some sanctioning bodies use to indicate mechanical problems as well as driving problems.  If shown for consecutive laps (usually between 2-4) , with driver ignoring the flag, will eventually mean the car is no longer scored.  Formula One uses two other black flags, one which is be half white with diagnoal stripe, which means car has committed unsportsmanlike conduct.  And the other is black with an orange disk, indicating mechanical problems, pull into pits immediately.



Black Flag with White Cross:  Car no longer scored.  Shown after car ignored Black Flag.  Also indicates whatever you did wrong is now more serious as you just disregarded race officials request for a consulation.









Blue with Yellow Stripe:  Faster car approaching.  In Nascar, does not mean you must give way.  In CCWS, you can be penalized for ignoring it on consecutive laps.   In F1, this flag is solid blue.








White Flag:  One lap left in race.













Checkered Flag:  Race is complete.  Car who finishes laps first, wins.












White with Red Stripe or Cross:  In IRL, with Red Cross means ambulance on course.  In CCWS, the Red Stripe means emergency vehicle on course. 


  


Information from Nascar.com, IndyCar.com, FIA.com, champcarworldseries.com, and wikipedia.  Flag artwork from Nascar.com, IndyCar.com, and Champcarworldseries.com

What is your dream racing event to attend?

Originally Posted on Foxsports on September 8, 2007.


After spending most of the week at the Boone Speedway watching the IMCA SuperNationals, I'm pondering what is my dream racing event to attend. 
I've been to the Knoxville Nationals, the Daytona 500, and the All-Star Challenge & Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.  The Brickyard 400 is in the books, I've Rumbled in Fort Wayne, and I plan on going to the Chili Bowl next year.  So what is left?
I think the Monaco Grand Prix is on the short list.  LeMans.  Maybe a race at Leguna Seca.


I really should get to the Indy 500 at the Brickyard, and I'd think that the Little 500 should be on the short list too.  Indiana Sprint week sounds fun, as do the Oval Nationals.


On the Nascar side, I think going to Bristol would be an experience, as would Martinsville.  I'd love to see a road race, probably at Watkins Glen.
So, if time or money were not an issue - what racing event would you go to?

Jacques Villeneuve Trucks on Over to Nascar

Originally posted on Foxsports blogs on August 24, 2007.



Jacques Villeneuve, after a year of shopping a Nascar ride, has finally landed in one.  Sort Of...


Villeneuve, who "retired" last year from Formula One racing, will be driving a Craftsman Truck for Bill Davis Racing during a test session at Chicagoland Speedway on Monday.  If the test session goes well, BDR intends to have him run a few truck races and ARCA races.  The goal is to have Villeneuve ready for the 2008 Cup season.  BDR and Villeneuve stress that the Trucks handle most similarly to the COT.  Thus, the truck series starts logically lead to Cup racing.  Apparently, Villeneuve will skip the Busch series entirely.


As Nascar requires some restrictor plate racing experience prior to the Daytona 500, I expect Villeneuve to run the Talladega ARCA event to gain experience.  Juan Pablo Montoya struck a similar path last year in preparation for his rookie Cup year.


Villeneuve spent the last ten years racing road courses in F-1, driving for teams such as Williams, Sauber, BMW Sauber, BAR, and Renault.  He won the F-1 Championship in 1997, over Michael Schumacher due in part to a collision at Jerez with Schumacher.  The collision was deemed intentional, as Villeneuve had been overtaking Schumacher, and Schumacher was disqualified and lost the season's points. (Like to see Nascar try THAT!).


Villeneuve has had experience on oval tracks, winning the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1995 IndyCar Wold Series.  His last motorsports adventure was driving at LeMans for Peugeot.


Villeneuve's racing resume is at least as impressive as Juan Pablo Montoya's, perhaps more so, as he is a Formula One Champion.  Additionally, Villeneuve still holds the record for most wins in his rookie F-1 season with 4, although Lewis Hamilton is one win away from tying the record. 

Stepney Gate: Or how industrial spying may affect the F-1 Point Battle

Originally posted on foxsports.com on July 12, 2007.

Intrigue, Industrial Sabotage, Team Shake-ups and 780 pages of Ferrari internal racing documents are percolating through the Formula One garage.

Stepney-Gate, so named after now-former chief Ferrari Mechanic Nigel Stephany, has already resulted in one Court case in London, a potential criminal case in the Modena, Italy district attorney's office, and now an unusual meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council set for July 26th.

The scandal, which encompasses Ferrari, McLaren, and Honda camps, began "innocently" enough, when Trudy Coughlan, wife of Mike Coughlan (McLaren's chief designer) , took 780 pages of a Ferrari data to a copying center near McLaren's World headquarters. The odd copying request resulted in a call to Ferrari's lawyers, who immediately set to work to get the material back.

Disks with the 780 pages of date were discovered in the Coughlans' home, and speculation has swirled as to when and how exactly Coughlan got the highly confidential information. The Ferrari data essentially related to how Ferrari designs, races and runs their F-1 program.

Meanwhile, Stepney was having trouble at Ferrari. Stepney's job duties were changed after Ross Brawn's sabbatical, and Stepney eventually requested that his travel duties be cut back. According to Stepney, a 14 year veteran of the Scuderia team, Ferrari reacted as if the request was the highest form of betrayal. His home in Italy was raided, workers at the shop were taken to the police station for questioning, and tracking devices were discovered on his vehicle. Why such extreme measures? Stepney comments that he "know{s} where the bodies have been buried in the last 10 years." And he knows most of the Ferrari technical data.

What is clear is this: Stepney and Coughlan met on April 28 in Spain. And on June 1st, the two met with Honda's team principal, Nick Fry. Stepney told reporters that there was a group of people from the Ferrari team who wanted to jump ship with him to Honda (or another team). Coughlan was apparently looking to leave McLaren as well. Stepney denies providing the papers to Coughlan, pointing out that it is his design and plan that is in the paperwork. If it was in his mind, and he is the creater, why the need to take a hard copy and give it to another?

Stepney implies he is being framed by Ferrari, because as soon as he started to make waves, these events started to happen to him. "Ferrari is unique in Italy, it's a religion. If you go against it, it's like going against the Vatican."

In the British civil case, Ferrari is asking Coughlan to explain a conversation he had with Jonathan Neale, McLaren's racing managing director. The answer could bring McLaren's driver's into the fight, as the World Motor Sports Council is looking into a breach in the International Sporting Code, specifically that between March and July McLaren had "unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Ferrari, including information that could be used to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and/or run a 2007 Ferrari Formula One car."

Ron Dennis, McLaren chief, has started the process to disclose for FIA inspection all the design information related to the 2007 McLaren Formula One car.

In other words, the FIA wants to know if McLaren's design team used the purloined Ferrari guide to help build the "new" McLaren.

If found in violation of the rule, McLaren could face anything from reprimand to disqualification to loss of driver/manufacturer points for the races already run, and in McLaren's case, won.

Information from: Speedtv.com, The independent.co.uk, and Windtunnel with Dave Despain

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.

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.

Iowa Speedway, World Records, Formula One & Loudon

Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on September 19, 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iowa Speedway

Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa opened last weekend.  The $70 million facility was designed by Rusty Wallace.  Wallace was no absentee designer, as he came to Iowa on several occasions to test drive the track - first on gravel, then on each layer of pavement. 

A Hooters Pro Cup race christened the track Friday night, with Woody Howard, Denny Hamlin's "replacement", sneaking away with the win in a three-wide finish.

Nascar was well represented, with two Joe Gibbs affiliated cars running the race, as well as entries fielded by JR Motorsports (Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s company) and Tony Stewart Motorsports.  Johnny Rumley, Jr's driver, finished 6th, while Shelby Howard, Tony's driver sat on the pole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, USAC took over the track, and speed records began to fall.  Bobby Santos III set a new USAC midget record, clocking a lap  at 139.553 mph.  Shortly thereafter, Darren Hagen set a new world record for a sprint car lap at 146.145.

Santos's record broke the mark set by Ryan Newman.  Think it is ironic that Ryan's nine year old record was broken at Rusty's track?

Neither Santos or Hagen could maintain those speeds during the races.  Dave Steele won the midget and Silver Crown races, while Jay Drake took the flag in the sprint car race.

Next up at Iowa Speedway:  ARCA and ASA late models in October.

Formula One

I wonder if non-Formula One fans realize the amazing career Michael Schumacher has had, and what his retirement will mean for motorsports. 

Schumacher is only 38.  And he is in the hunt for his eighth world championship.  He leads all Formula One drivers in virtually every statistic kept - poles, wins (90), & championships.

Will we ever see another driver with his success?  People said no one would match Fangio.  But they did.  They said no one could match Senna's pole record, but Schumacher did this year.  Regardless, Schumacher will go down as one of the greatest drivers of all time.  Even if he doesn't run ovals.

Loudon

Loudon turned into the crashfest that Bristol & Richmond were not.  And now a few people have big holes to dig out of.  Personally, I'd rather have the bad luck early, to have time to fix it, than have the big wreck at Homestead (ie Johnson last year).

Harvick appears to be on a roll.  In my mind, the true test will be the intermediate tracks.  While he hasn't finished lower than 15th since Daytona in July, Harvick had horrible finishes the first time around at Atlanta and Charlotte, and a 23rd place showing at Talladega. 

We'll see if the tire controversy escalates into something or not.  There were reports as early as July that teams were playing with innovations to mess with tire pressure.  However, this appears to be a "gray" area in the Nascar rule book and not a technical violation of the rules.

And I don't think we've seen the last of the Chasers having major trouble.  Remember Jr at Atlanta in 2004?  Stewart at Charlotte last year?  Martin at Talladega last year?  Kenseth overshooting pit lane at Dover in 2004?  Sometimes I think the Chase is a test of which team will choke first.

Racing Recap: Bristol & a Pair of Rookie Winners

Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on August 27, 2006.

Bashing at Bristol, Hounding the Champion in Hungry, and Rookie Sensations at Sonoma and the Turkish Grand Prix.  What a weekend for race fans!

Bristol

Matt Kenseth swept the Bristol weekend, winning both the Busch series race and the Nextel Cup race.  As anticipated, the race shook up the standings - with Mark Martin taking the biggest hit in the points, ending up in 10th from 4th.  Tony Stewart also suffered a loss of positions in the standings, falling from 5th to 8th.  Junior rallied up a position, to 9th.  Kasey Kahne, despite a good run, is still 90 points behind the 10th spot.  If Kahne is shut out of the Chase, there will not be  a Dodge in the race for the Championship.

Kenseth's win, his second in a row, shows that his team is on a roll.  While Johnson is doing well, he isn't burning up the track like Kenseth is right now.  We'll see what happens once the final 10 races get here.

Elliott Sadler's move seems to be panning out - at least as far as qualifying goes.  He didn't have a good time at Bristol, being involved in a couple of crashes.  However, he kept the car in the top 35 of owner points, which means he does not have to qualify on speed next week.

If there is any justice in the world, Jeff Burton will win a race this year.  How many races has he sat on the pole, lead the most laps, and not finished in the top 5?  It looks like both he and Harvick will be in the Chase, but Burton is due to win one.  Soon.

On the Busch side, Kevin Harvick has a 500 point lead over second place.  In other words, he could miss 2 races and still have the lead.

Turkish Grand Prix

Felipe Massa ran away with the race from the pole.  It was his first Formula One win - and probably solidifies his return to the seat next year.  The real race was for second in this one, with Michael Schumacher hounding Fernando Alonzo over the final 10 laps.  At times, Schumacher and Alonzo were running as close as the cars at Bristol.  On a road course.  At over 200 mph.  At stake was more than 2nd place, as Alonzo leads the Championship Points.  Additionally, Renault and Ferrari are in a dead heat for Manufacturer honors.  This Championship race is going to get very interesting...

Sonoma

Marco Andretti won the IRL race at Infineon today, becoming the youngest IRL winner ever.  Andretti won on fuel-mileage strategy, running over 30 laps on his last tank of gas.  Suffice it to say that the rest of the field could barely manage 28 laps before refueling.  Andretti has done what Danica could not - winning in his rookie season.  But then again, he's definitely got the genes to do it.  Both his father, Michael, and grandfather, Mario, were on hand to help him celebrate (and since Marco is a bit too young to drink champagne, he'll need the help).

 

From Senna to Earnhardt: The Development of the HANS device

Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on April 25, 2006.

May 1st marks twelve years since Ayrton Senna was killed during the San Marino Grand Prix at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.   While leading the race, Senna slid off the track causing his right front tire to break off with its suspension.  The tire and suspension hit Senna in the head, causing  his death.  Senna's death followed by one day the death of another Formula One driver, Roland Ratzenberger, at the same track.

Senna was and is regarded as one of (if not the) best Formula One drivers ever.  Last weekend, another great driver, Michael Schumacher, captured his 66th pole - breaking a tie he held for most poles with Senna.  Ironically, the race last weekend was at Imola.

The race following Senna's death was marred by a serious accident involving another Formula One driver.  While this accident did not result in death, the press and public were disenchanted with the dangers of Formula One racing and began demanding new safety measures. In a twist of fate, Senna had been leading the charge for safety the morning of his death during an informal meeting with other drivers. 

February 18th marked five years since Dale Earnhardt was killed during the Daytona 500.  Earnhardt was and is regarded as one of (if not the) best stock car drivers ever.  Earnhardt was on the final lap of the race when he crashed, ultimately dying from the head injuries he sustained.  Earnhardt's death followed the deaths of Kenny Irwin, Adam Petty and Tony Roper.   

Following Earnhardt's death, the public and the drivers were unhappy with driver safety and demanded that something be done to prevent any further racing deaths.

Fast forwarding to today, most race sanctioning bodies mandate the use of a HANS device (Head And Neck Support) for drivers.  The device is to prevent the violent and often fatal head injuries sustained in high speed / high impact crashes.  The HANS device was brought to the forefront in most American's minds after the death of Earnhardt, however, the device was available well before that. 

And perhaps the tragedy is that the device was available to drivers before the death of Earnhardt and even before the death of Senna.

The HANS Device was developed by Dr. Robert Hubbard , a professor at Michigan State and his brother-in-law, Jim Downing, to prevent head injuries from racing accidents.  After testing, the device was marketed in 1991 - a decade before Earnhardt's fatal crash. 

In October of 1996, (after Senna's death), FIA, Mercedes-Benz, and McClaren contacted Hubbard and formed an agreement to adapt the device to Forumla One use. 

Why mandate HANS?  According to "Helping Hans" by Ross Stonefeld in Atlas F1:

Below are average strengths of the head and neck. The force withstood is dependent on location of impact, strike object size, and bone tissue density amongst other factors.

• Frontal bone (forehead): 1,000 to 1,600lbs of force
• Temporal-parietal (sides of head): 700 - 1900lbs of force.
• Rear skull: 1,440
• Facial: 280 - 520
• Neck (under forward movement): 140

In a full human form crash test simulating a 40mph dead stop impact utilising the HANS device, neck loading was kept under 130lbs whilst the unrestrained head endured over 1,000lbs

"As soon as your head - which weighs, with the helmet, 13 or 14 pounds - has a sudden acceleration, it stretches your neck," (Jim) Downing explains. "If it stretches a little too far, you get a neck fracture or a skull fracture at the base of the skull where your head connects to your spine. With HANS on, the head sort of goes forward then back and looks OK. At the same speed with a fully belted dummy, the head smashes into the steering wheel and it's just appalling. The drivers say, 'Wow. That can't be.' In layman terms, keeping your head close to your body is what it's all about with HANS."

Racing will never be an entirely safe sport.  Hopefully the HANS device, or devices similar to it, can cut down on the number of deaths and the severity of the injuries sustained. 

We will never know if Senna or Earnhardt could have been saved by a HANS device.  But we all know drivers who's lives were saved by it - whether we know it or not.

 

Information gathered from Stonefeld, Wikipedia, Formula One, Jayski, and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.

Formula One: Race One

Originally Posted on March 16, 2006 on Foxsports.com

I adore Formula One races.  I haven't watched a lot of them (I'm too lazy to get up in the middle of the night to watch it)  but I try to catch as many of them as I can.  I love road racing in any series, but to think that these cars are going as fast on a road course as other series run on an oval is simply amazing. 

The technology is remarkable, and the strategy can be nerve-wracking.  Last weekend was the first race of the season.  The race took place in Bahrain, and this week the series heads to Malaysia.

Fernando Alonso, last year's champ,  won over Michael Schumacher, a seven time champ.  The drive of the race went to Kimi Raikkonen, who drove from last to third with only one pit stop.  That means he was heavy with fuel and still outran his competitors.

America had its first Formula One driver since 1993 in Scott Speed, who finished 13th.  America's last Formula One driver, Michael Andretti, did not fair well, nor last long.  Hopefully Speed will have success.  Speed will be battling Nico Rosberg as a rookie.  Rosberg had several problems at the beginning of the race, but fought his way back to eighth place to finish in the points.