Well, I'm finally back. Posting about the latest news in the world of motorsports after a weekend of some crazy racing. I've got stuff from the world of NASCAR, IndyCar, and V8 Supercars. Have yet to view the Formula 1 race. But I have it on my DVR waiting to be watched.
Let's jump right in and get dirty, shall we? NASCAR sure knows how to stir up some good drama. Saturday's NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway showed us all that nothing has changed in NASCAR. Another great race with many invisibris cautions. Seems like that's become the norm for NASCAR as of late. Everyone has their own opinions on the subject matter. Whether they exist or don't exist, whether they are the doing of Brian France, or some other sort of conspiracy. No matter your take on the legitimacy of the final caution, it certainly changed the outcome of the race. Personally, from what I watched, I can't say that Kyle Busch would have caught up to Truex in time. Truex's car was on rails. But, Mark Martin hit the wall, and whether your view is that he did not leave debris on the race track, NASCAR will normally call a caution for a car bouncing off the wall. It just so happened to set up a late race restart. You can't fault NASCAR for that. But that's not the only problem NASCAR encountered. What was up with the two Penske cars there? An illegal rear end housing? Alright, fair deal. That happens. Both cars got to race and finished fairly well in the end. So why is Brad Kez so upset? History tells the tale, any team that shows dominance, essentially gets investigated by NASCAR. You finish too well, you win too much, they're gonna make sure you're not trying to get an edge. Which they should do. However, Brad feels like his team was mistreated. Which doesn't surprise me one bit. There's a lot of speculation as toward why Brad felt the need to say what he said to the media Saturday night, but I'm going to go ahead and add some more. I would be one to believe personally that that the inspectors of NASCAR were giving his team a very difficult time and perhaps even harassing them. As farfetched as it sounds, it's the only explanation I can come up with based upon what Brad said. If that is the case, how professional is that? No one deserves that kind of treatment. And if Brad is pissed enough to speak out about it, it must be at least one scenario.
Now, before I open up more cans of worms, I'm going to just let that settle and move on to the news about IndyCar.
Lots has happened in the world of IndyCar since I last wrote. And there is so much to talk about. But with all the negativity I displayed after the firing of Randy Bernard, honestly, I am completely eating my words. I think Will Power said it best himself last week during an interview on the NBC Sports Network's pre race show. "Anyone of these guys could win". The competition is so high that most of the drivers you would expect to be up there competing for wins are struggling. Look at Bourdais and Franchitti for example. Both are just in a slump. I'm sure it's too early to judge the two, but how crazy is it to think that a person like Sebastien Bourdais, a 4 time consecutive ChampCar champion and former Formula 1 driver, is stuck with Dragon Racing. I'm not saying Dragon is a bad team, but you can just see the level of competition when not even Bourdais can sign with a big team. More big news, AJ Allmendinger. With a very impressive outing at Barber after 6 years of NASCAR, it gives IndyCar the breath of fresh air it needed - if it even needed it at all. With The Captain putting him in at Long Beach, a track he's familiar with, I think he'll be right up there racing for the win. And, if he does that, he could secure sponsorship to go to Sao Paulo. Which would be ideal for him. Personally, the more time he has before Indianapolis, the better. He'll have plenty of time to adjust to the car in the month of May, but the more time he has in the DW12 chassis, the better it will be for him.
More IndyCar positive news, it appears that the tire test at Pocono was a massive success. And what better way to give us oval fans some hope than to know that the drivers can drive it full throttle. The racing at Indy and Fontana was stellar. If we see that kind of action over at Pocono, we could see places like Michigan, Kentucky, and maybe even Chicagoland back on the schedule. Here's the catch, that's only if ticket sales are good. If the on track product can be guaranteed good, more people will come out and watch. That's a known fact. And I think it will be.
Now moving on to a medium not many people over here in the States have access to. That's the V8 Supercars. I've been trying to stay up and watch these races as much as I can. The hype of the Car of the Future, Mercedes and Nissan joining Ford and Holden, the series coming over here to COTA, it seemed like it was a good time to get acquainted with the series. Not only that, but the races are streamed live on V8supercars.com.au. The more and more I watch, the more impressed I am with the on track product. However, from watching the races the series posted on their YouTube page, it appears this 60/60 race setup is kinda iffy for me. And reading fan reaction on Facebook, it seems I'm not the only one. Two sprint races in one night, I have actually missed a race because I thought they were over. Never again will I do that. My other gripe, if even you can call it that, is that the two new manufacturers are struggling. It is still Ford and Holden dominating while Nissan and Mercedes just kinda straggle behind. It's not as bad as the Lotus' were in IndyCar, but it leaves something to be desired. But, I give them a pass because the racing is good, and that's all that matters. I'm sure once I become better acquainted with the series, I will be able to give better analyses of the races. But after Adelaide, Tasmania, and Pukekohe, I must say, I'll be tuning in more, and referring them to many people.
Well, that's all for this one. Hope to update this more.
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