If you can help Carl out, please do so; if you have already made a donation, many thanks to you. Laidback Racing made a donation, so if you all can match or better it, please do so. And for you folks who aren’t fond of the Old Windbag, Dave Despain, see if you can better his $11 donation to Carl.
Here’s a real head scratcher. FIA racing credentials are among the hardest to get. You really have to be on top of your game to be able to get them. NA$CAR racing credentials are much easier to get. Even if you come out of another racing series with a so-so or even poor driving record, you can get NA$CAR racing credentials. So why is it that BJ Baldwin, one of the guys who was being considered to drive the second car for Robby Gordon Motorsports and has FIA racing credentials, turned down by NA$CAR? They’ll let a kid with forged paperwork move up from local racing into the lower local levels of NA$CAR racing, but they won’t let a guy with some of the toughest racing credentials to get race in NA$CAR. What’s wrong with this picture?
After tire test #7 at Indy, Jeffy is satisfied. You have to wonder if they’d have had any more tire test if he wasn’t satisfied. This is a major problem. They shouldn’t need 7 tire test to get things right. I’m glad they did them and that hopefully we’ll have an actual race at Indy this year. But then, since Badyear wasn’t let in on developing the tires for the BOW WOW from the outset, you have to expect a few problems here and there, but not like we‘ve seen over the last few years. Of course, since the BOW WOW was originally developed by a car manufacturer who prefers another brand of tire that starts with a “B“, it might also explain why Badyear is having a tough time. Still, I think an honest-to-goodness head-to-head tire competition is needed so that we have a tire on the track that isn’t going to have the problems we’ve seen with Badyear. But then I keep forgetting. Badyear is a customer of His Majesty’s Brand Non-Sense marketing company. Heavens above they should actually have to compete for their job as the official tire provider. My bad. No conflict of interest on His Majesty‘s part. Yeah, right.
Funny how Shrubby use to talk badly about his equipment at Hendrick and yet here’s a guy old enough to be his dad using the same equipment and crew chief and he’s winning races. You know that’s got to be causing some frost bite in his nether regions.
Too bad the Sears Point race isn’t earlier in the year when Focks is broadcasting. It seems they’re using owls to control pesky rodents like mice, rats, and gophers. And Hambone would be right at home with the sheep they use for mowing the grass.
More talk about using crate engines isn’t setting right with me. The best thing I’ve read so far would be to use what’s coming stock off the showroom floors. But in order to do that, it means that His Royal Highness would need to use a fresh, unchewed crayon and change the rules to include the use of fuel injection and the computer controls and gizmos that come with them. This would mean you’d have to have some folks who are technically savvy about computers and electronic fuel injection to do the inspecting. This means having to spend money to get qualified and quality people to do the tech inspection and increased the length of the inspections. Of course, if the engines were submitted to the secret R&D center and accompanied by reps from the various teams/manufacturers and the engines were sealed after inspection during the off-season, then this would cut down on the inspection time at the track. Of course, engines blow and parts go bad, so they’d have to do inspections during the year also, but they wouldn’t have to inspect as many if it was done properly. One brand would get very upset because they wouldn’t be able to steal technology like they have been. Of course, since one make doesn’t have a car with a V-8 in it, they’d be sucking hind teat until they could develop one. Another brand would switch the decals they have on the car on the track to their V-8 model car.
The whole thing with the crate engines as I have said before is who’s going to make them? Does Ford want to run a crate engine made by GM? Does GM want to run a crate engine made by Fiat? I don’t think so. There’s so little car branding left in the car that the manufacturers aren’t going to give up that last little bastion of what’s theirs. And as I have said before, you put crate engines in them and you have become IROC and where is IROC? One of the things being discussed with Clone Car II is going back to the old spoiler we know and love. OK, how much wind tunnel and test time are the teams going to need to establish a base line so they can adjust the car, much less race it? And what about the tires? Has Badyear been involved in developing a tire for Clone Car II, The Sequel, since they weren’t involved with it in the original which has created havoc with the teams and given the fans such shoddy races as Indy last year and boring races at Michigan, Fontana, and the cookie cutter tracks? Have the aero and steering problems that have plagued the original been addressed in The Sequel? I guess we'll see when they finally roll it out.
Anyone noticed how it’s taking longer and longer for the TV ratings to come out? Michigan’s ratings were the best they’ve been so far this year. They were flat compared to last year’s. Considering that the ratings overall this season have been downward in the double digits, you’d think they’d be doing cartwheels and handsprings down the hallways of the Ivory Towers. But that‘s for the Booth Buffoons from Focks to do during their broadcasts. TNT’s average after 2 races is down 11%. Still, that’s a lot better than what Focks was doing. I’m still trying to figure out how some of these supposedly learned card carrying scribes can say that the reason the TV ratings are down is because fans aren’t at the track. That’s like saying the reason the German’s didn’t sink the Titanic is because they sank the Lusitania instead. Two totally different things that have nothing to do with each other. The reasons the grandstands aren’t full has to do with a lot of things. The economy, the broken promises from His Royal Highness about making races more exciting (remember, broken promises require drug testing), the broken promises that the Crusty Old Toilet would improve racing, the lack of brand identity with the cars, the boring races, chasing off the old, die hard fans, poor decisions by His Royal Highness and his Henchmen, etc. etc. etc. The reasons the TV ratings are down are different in most cases. The economy (people can’t afford cable or satellite to watch the races that are broadcast only on cable or satellite), the boring races on TV, the poor race coverage, the constant shilling and promotion of personal agendas, the 12 car coverage, the constant cheerleading and snide innuendos and remarks about teams or drivers, making stories where there aren’t any, the constant commercials even when they’re not at commercial, insulting the race fans intelligence by talking down to them and idiotic things like Goopher, the attitudes of the folks running the broadcasts (like David Hill and his “tough” comment about the fan complaints), plus the idiotic graphics which only allow maybe 25% of the screen to be seen. Oh, and the infinitely “wonderful” decision by the Emperor of All Things NA$CAR to not allow split screen coverage of the races. With the old car, not every race was exciting but not every race was a stinker either. With the “World’s Most Perfect Car” or WIMP Car for short, the races that aren’t stinkers are far and few between. When you turn Bristol into a snooze fest for the fans at the track and at home, you know you’ve done something wrong.
Congrats to my nephew Dylan on graduating high school. Stay in school while you can. Especially with the economy being what it is.
Normally, I like to keep politics off the plate
although I do take some shots at various
politicians from time to time. However, this is
one time when I would like for folks to get a hold
of their Senators in DC and tell them to pass
Senate Bill S.663. This bill helps to provide
recognition, thanks, and benefits to the less
than 10,000 World War II era Merchant Marines
who are still with us. President Roosevelt tried
dropping a hint to Congress back during WW II
to provide the Merchant Marines with the same
benefits that our armed forces personnel
received, the GI Bill, but to no avail. The
Merchant Marines took the same risks as our
Navy personnel, were killed, wounded, and disabled the same as our Navy personnel, but received none of the benefits for taking the same risk. So get on the horn, fire up the telegraph, send out carrier pigeons, use smoke signals, send snail mail, or use e-mail to let your Senators know that they need to pass this bill. And yes, I do have a personal interest in this as my grandfather served in the Merchant Marine during WWII, Korea, and died while delivering ammunition in Vietnam. So please help out the last of this dying breed of military veteran who never got the thanks or recognition for their service. Thanks.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, and John Wayne
Mad Mikie, Curmudgeon at Large
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