Speeding Me?

Originally Posted on foxsports.com on July 31, 2007.

Reuters photo

Nelson Piquet, three time Formula One Champ and racing idol to many, has lost his Brazilian driver's license. For of all things, speeding.

Piquet lost the license in June due to his poor driving habits, specifically speeding and parking infractions. Bad driving runs in the family, as his wife, Viviane, also lost her license.

Both Piquet and his wife are attending mandatory driving courses (shown above). The courses last about 30 hours, and the couple will have to take an exam before their licenses are returned.

Piquet isn't the only Formula One driver who has had a problem speeding. Juan Pablo Montoya had a run in with the law while he was racing F1. In 2003, Montoya was pulled over for speeding in France. He was driving 127 mph in a 81 mph zone on the French Riviera. Officers confiscated his license and he was fined $1,157.

Interestingly, when Montoya had his troubles, Cristiano da Matta commented that "I am from Brazil, I never got caught. There are not many police on the road there anyway." Apparently Piquet has found out differently.

One of the more famous F1 speeding tickets happened in 1959, when Stirling Moss was stopped in Britian. The officer, who didn't recognize the driver, asked him,"Who do you think you are? Stirling Moss?" The Judge was not forgiving either, and took Moss's license. Incidently, Moss is selling T-Shirts on his websitethat say "Who do you think you are? Stirling Moss?"

So take heart if you are stopped for speeding, even the best drivers get pulled over. And being Formula One Champion

Dear Rusty: Before the Next Broadcast, Could you please, please get a few things right?

Originally Posted on foxsports.com on July 30, 2007.

Rusty, I'll be the first to tell you I was never a fan of yours. Nothing personal, but I just never jumped on the blue deuce bandwagon.

Sure, you're a former champion, and I respect the effort and skill it took to win that coveted title. I know you won scads of races, and went out on a high note by finishing int the top 10.

I really appreciate your efforts in building the Iowa Speedway, and your advocating for Nascar and IRL races at Newton is unparalleled in the sport. It amazes me that you are there for all the important events, and make many efforts to meet the fans.

That said, before you announce the next Nextel Cup race, could you do two things for me?

First, I know you call every car you ever drove a "hot rod." And it was cute for the first three times you used it during the broadcast. It was not cute the next 83 times you used it to describe a car.

"Hot Rod" is getting tired. And frankly, the rest of the crew is catching this phrase like the "boogity, boogity, boogity" plague. Once Brad Daugherty used it, the charm was gone. Daugherty is better than that, and so are you. Suzy Kolber is clueless about Nascar racing, and I'm sure she'll try to use it during the next broadcast, certain that it is the way the cars are described in the Nascar Rulebook. (Please don't let perpetual pranksters Stewart, Harvick or Marlin talk to her or God knows what will come out of her mouth as the "Nascar gospel.")

I'll hold you personally responsible if Brent Musburger starts using it in his little diatribes.

I'm sure if you sat and thought about it for a few minutes, you could come up with seven or eight cute little phrases to use instead of "race car" or "hot rod." If you can't, you have paid assistants to do these things. I'm sure the girl who brings the coffee every morning would love a new assignment. Heck, Steve may have a few ideas. At least at the rate he's crashing out of races, he has time to think while he sits in the hauler.

The second thing will require a bit more work - think of it as homework. When you first started announcing IRL races, you got a few things wrong. While I follow IRL to some degree, I am not an avid fan. However, even I noticed that you had things excruitatingly wrong. It was as if Roger Penske deliberately told you the wrong information to get a chuckle about it when you announced it at the races. The errors were forgivable - after all, you didn't follow IRL racing that closely, and were relying on others to keep you up to date.

The same cannot be said for the Cup series. You should know this stuff cold. You know most of the drivers personally. You were there for how many decades of racing? And while there are new guys, they aren't complete surprises that mysteriously show up at the track one week without any warning.

The most appalling comment regarded Juan Pablo Montoya. You commented you couldn't believe how a rookie who had never driven at Indy before could finish second.

Rusty, Juan won the Indy 500 in 2000.

And he raced Formula One cars there for several years.

And he also "traded" his F1 car with Jeff Gordon for a stock car. At Indy.

More shocking was that neither of your compatriots knew this information either.

All this despite a pre-race segment on the Ganassi-Montoya connection to Indy.

There is no excuse for these simple mistakes. Do your homework. Since Watkins Glen is coming up on the calendar, I would suggest you learn lots about Montoya - it's likely he'll be a contender at a road course.

Just two little assignments - stop using "hot rod" every other sentence and do your homework before you get to the track. For a former champion like you, this should be a piece of cake.

Hey, with these changes, I may even decided you're a cool guy (the "Dude" thing is wearing thin too).

Harvick, Yates, the Battle for Busch & and Budweiser: Things that Make you go Hmm...

Originally posted on July 29, 2007 on foxsports.com.

1. Why was Kevin Harvick called to the hauler after the Brickyard 400 (Yes, I'm still boycotting the sponsor named race)? Did it have to do with Stewart or with his racing with other drivers? Stewart didn't seem to think anything was wrong with how he or Kevin raced, and he seemed to like the victory tap.

2. Yates merges with Newman-Haas- Lanigan Champ Car team. How did this happen? Could they make the name any longer? And why is Newman-Haas interested in Nascar? Will Sebastian Bourdais make the leap to stock cars? Bourdais has always wanted a good Formula One chance, and has tested with Red Bull, whom I wouldn't call a great team in terms of wins. Does the merger mean that Bourdais wants a shot at Nascar? Could this spawn a whole new line of Talladega Nights jokes if the Frenchman joins up?

3. Is Robin Miller, SpeedTV, correct when he says the Yates-Newman-Haas-Lanigan merger means there is another player in the Budweiser sponsorship wars? Miller cites Newman's prior relationship with Bud when Andretti was driving for Newman-Haas. It looks like Evernham is still a prime candidate for the sponsorship, but the team has not been performing well this year. Bud likes to have their car up front.

4. With all the mergers, are DEI and Yates now out of tickets in the Kyle Busch sweepstakes? DEI/Ginn has more drivers than they need, and Yates may have a few CCWS drivers moving over.

5. Can you imagine Shrub and Smoke on the same team?

6. Congratulations to Toyota for its first Busch series win. That didn't take too long, but the Cup teams need help straight down the line - qualifying to racing. The cars do not have the power that Chevy and Ford or even Dodge have. There persists a rumor that Joe Gibbs Racing may switch to Toyota. But will Chevy let a 2 time champ, and a ROTY leave for Toyota? Wouldn't Ford want a chance to capture this team for itself?

Will Bull@%$# Cost Stewart in Indy Win?

Originally Posted on foxsports.com on July 29, 2007.

Tony Stewart provided additional fireworks after his rubbing and racing with Kevin Harvick at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In his victory speech on ESPN, Stewart commented that his second win at the Brickyard was for the fans who had put up with all the "Bull----" all these years on his behalf.

Hmmm... flashback to 2004 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed winning at Talladega didn't mean "S---" since his Daddy had won there ten times.

"Sh--" cost Junior $10,000 and 25 points. Will it cost Stewart the same?

Flashback to Sonoma - Kyle Petty says "F---" during an in-race report. Penalty: Nothing.

Flashback to Montoya, earlier this year at Phoenix, flips off the camera during practice. Penalty: $10,000 and probation.

The penalty pattern seems to be that there isn't one.

Stewart is already on probation for shooting off his mouth. Or more appropriately, not shooting off his mouth by skipping post race media obligations. And he's likely on team probation due to his comments after a crash at Daytona which lead to a woodshed meeting with teammate Denny Hamlin and Coach Joe Gibbs. Gibbs was not amused at the public comments Stewart made. Any bets as to his reaction to these comments?

Let's see, say something at post race media obligations - penalty. Say nothing, penalty. Can't win for trying on that can you?

Stepney-Gate: Or How to Infuriate Ferrari in One Easy Step

Originally posted on foxsports on July 29, 2007.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council determined McLaren was guilty of possession of unauthorized, confidential Ferrari engineering documents on Thursday. The penalty: NOTHING.

That's right, guilty, but no punishment.

To say Ferrari is a little angry at this turn of events is to put it mildly.

To read Part I, the background on this issue, read here.

On Thursday, despite the finding that McLaren knowingly possessed the documents, the Council found "insufficient evidence" that the information was used to gain competitive advantage.

Huh? Such a baffling result left Ferrari Team Manager Jean Todt as scarlet as the colors fielded by the team. He issued a strongly worded statement that read in part:

"Ferrari...find it incomprehensible that violating the fundamental principle of sporting honesty does not have, as a logical and inevitable consequence, the application of a sanction.

"Thursday's decision legitimises dishonest behaviour in Formula One and sets a very serious precedent.

"The decision of the World Council signifies that possession, knowledge at the very highest level and use of highly confidential information acquired in an illicit manner, and the acquiring of confidential information over the course of several months, represent violations which do not carry any punishment.

"The fact McLaren were in possession of such information was discovered totally by accident and, but for this, the team would continue to have it.

"This is all the more serious as it has occurred in a sport like Formula One in which small details make all the difference. Ferrari feel this is highly prejudicial to the credibility of the sport. We will continue with the legal action under way within the Italian criminal justice system, and in the civil court in England."

One of Ferrari's contentions is that the information was used by McLaren at the Melbourne, Australia race to imply that Ferrari was breaking the rules in its design. In other words, McLaren used the information not to make their cars faster, but to prevent Ferrari from going faster.

The Council did leave one door open for Ferrari to get the blood it so richly desires: the Council "reserve the right to invite McLaren back, where they face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship".

I doubt given the vitriol Ferrari spewed in McLaren's direction, and given that McLaren leads the points with both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, that Ferrari will let this die with the July 26th meeting.

In fact, odds are good that Ferrari is busy trying to dig up more evidence against McLaren, while McLaren is busy burying the bodies.

Information from Speedtv.com, & the Daily Mail

How to Hinder Your Nascar Career

Originally posted July 28, 2007 on foxsports.com.

This year has brought several driver changes already, and with silly season just beginning, it's likely we'll see more drivers booted from their ride.

Here's a quick primer on what to do to slow down your racing career or even cause owners to rethink you driving their car, losing your ride altogether.

1. Sign with an owner new to Nascar. (See Brian Vickers, AJ Allmendinger, Joe Nemechek, Sterling Marlin, Regan Smith.)

2. When the most popular driver announces he wants a new team, tick your owner off, by storming off after a crash, blaming your crew for not fixing the car fast enough. (See Kyle Busch.)

3. Date the owner. (See Erin Crocker.)

4. Announce a new deal, then have a run-in with the law. (See Kurt Busch.)

5. Test positive for controlled substances. (See Shane Hmiel, Tyler Walker, Aaron Fike.)

6. Get hurt, then have a fill-in who wins. (See Sterling Marlin-Jamie McMurray.)

7. With good equipment, don't deliver the goods. (See Ryan Newman, JJ Yeley.)

8. The car's not in the top 35, and you don't have the past champions provisional. (See Michael Waltrip, Ken Schrader.)

9. Sign on with a team new to Nascar, which has a new manufacturer. (See Dale Jarrett.)

10. Don't show enough passion or talent to the owner's liking. (See Mark McFarland, Shane Huffman. AJ Foyt IV)

My Substance Abuse Policy Changes for Motorsports

Originally Posted on July 24, 2007 on foxsports.com

In my last blog, we looked at the Nascar and IRL drug testing policies. In a nutshell, Nascar tests based upon reasonable suspicion, while the IRL randomly tests two drivers every other race weekend. Here are my ideas for drug testing.

1. Unified Testing of All Series and Tracks. First, all series and track promotors agree on drug testing and what punishment is issued upon a positive test. This means that if your next door neighbor racing at the track down the street tests positive, he receives the same punishment as Jimmie Johnson, reigning Nextel Cup Champion or Tony Schumacher, reigning NHRA Champion. Racers would no longer be able to go from track to track or series to series with a positive test. Out at one, out at all.

2. Testing of All Competitors. Racing is a team sport. While drivers are the obvious safety issue, do we really want a mechanic who is high checking the brakes on the car? At a minimum, random drug tests would cover driver, crew chief, and mechanics. There can be an argument made that anyone who has a pit-pass should be tested, but given that most local tracks make most of their purse money off the pit-gate, and there is a large number of random people coming into the pits who have no connection to the teams, this seems burdensome.

3. Standardized Course of Conduct for Testing. Now that all competitors are being tested, how do we do it? All selections are random, but each competitor should be tested at least one time during the year.

Number Tested : Each series/track tests 5% or no less than 2 competitors each week. Any "fractional" competitor is rounded up. For example, there are 43 Nascar teams each week (I'm ignoring the go or go-homers), there are approximately 10 members to the team. 5% of 430 = 21.5, so 22 people are tested each week in the Nascar garage. Series and/or tracks have the option of testing more.

Procedure: Series/tracks that have medical personal on hand can take the sample on site. The kit (whether urine, saliva, blood), would be sent to an independent lab for testing. Local tracks would have the option of having someone collect the sample on site, and then mailed into the lab, or could designate a local clinic to collect a sample within 72 hours of the selection.

Failure to provide sample: If a competitor refuses to provide a sample or fails to provide within the 72 hour period, it is deemed a positive drug test. They are then escorted off the track premises, and not allowed back in until they have complied with treatment or the appeal procedure below.

Option for additional testing: A competitor may pay for and request additional testing for himself/herself.

4. Suspension for positive test. Once a competitor tests positive, their racing privileges are immediately revoked. They are not allowed to be in the pit area of any track, but may purchase a spectator ticket. Series may elect for more stringent rules, if they so desire. Competitors are suspended until they have completed substance abuse treatment to the satisfaction of the sanctioning body the positive test was given to. For example, if Tony Stewart tests positive in a Cup series race, and does not complete the treatment required by Nascar, USAC could not swoop in an say he was eligble to race under their program.

5. Retesting. A Positive Test will automatically be retested at a different lab. Competitors may request the sample be sent for retest at a lab of their choosing. If the retest has a different result than the first test, the competitor shall give another sample within 24 hours of being made aware of the conflicting result. Such second test will include a hair test to determine drug usage. Inconclusive tests will result in the competitor being subject to additional testing at the series/track's pleasure.

6. Appeal Procedure. A Competitor may appeal the suspension to an appeal board set up by the sanctioning bodies, and composed of various members of the racing community.

7. Substance Abuse Treatment. A positive test and retest will lead to the requirement the Competitor complete substance abuse treatment. The treatment shall not be shorter than 180 days. Upon completion, the competitor will be subject to additional random testing, regardless if it is the "offseason" or not. Admission to the pits or back into racing is at the discretion of the sanctioning board after treatment is completed. Any subsequent relapse during the 180 day treatment, resets the clock on the 180 day treatment program. For example, get to day 155 and relapse, then you have to restart the 180 day program again.

8. Subsequent violations. A Competitor who tests positive for drugs on two separate occasions (ie completed treatment successfully once and came back to racing) shall be permanently barred from competition.