I've heard and read a lot about the last race incident at Mexico City in which Juan Pablo Montoya spun Scott Pruett while attempting a pass for the lead. Justifiably, almost everyone blames Montoya for the incident. I have two thoughts on the incident, one about the incident itself and one on a somewhat more general level.
First, as angry as Pruett was (and probably still is) about the spin, it was obviously not intentional. It was overaggressive, yes but Montoya didn't go into the corner with the intent of spinning Pruett out of the race. His intent was to outbrake Pruett into the corner and take the lead. In my opinion, and I know I'm in the minority here, Pruett deserves some of the blame. He knows (or should know) how aggressive a driver Montoya is; anyone who has watched him in CART or F1 knows it. Pruett, in my mind, left too much room to the inside given the aggressive nature of the driver behind him.
Second, NASCAR now sees what it got when Ganassi hired Montoya. Montoya is an aggressive (at times overagressive - see above) driver. This is not the first time that Montoya has taken a teammate out (at least once I can remember in F1) and it probably won't be the last. Given NASCAR's recent distaste for aggressive driving, they may be starting to view Montoya as a double edged sword. Additionally, he is not politically correct, he is not prone to hiding disappointment or veiling his views. His personality is something that NASCAR needs but may not necessarily want. On the other hand, could NASCAR be setting up exactly the kind of white hat/black hat or good guy/bad guy, "us versus them" rivalry between the stock car traditionalists and international interlopers that could sell tickets? I sincerely hope this is not what they are doing, but it really wouldn't surprise me if they stooped to that level.
Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net
Showing posts with label NASCAR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NASCAR. Show all posts
18 February 2007
The Week In Racing
Both NASCAR and the WRC were active this weekend, so for the most part I'm still waiting for the seasons to begin. The countdown to the Formula 1 season continues; I can't wait for the lights to go out at the Australian GP. With all the changes (see last week's blog post on racing), this season could possibly be one of the most interesting in recent history.
NASCAR
There was some good racing at Daytona this Speedweeks. Congratulations to Kevin Harvick on his Busch and Nextel Cup wins and to Jack Sprague on his Craftsman Truck Series win. The finishes of the Nextel Cup race and the Truck race were terrific, although the Cup race was a bit on the boring side through the middle.
Several drivers were very impressive throughout Speedweeks. First, David Gilliland performed wonderfully through the week; not only did he win the pole for the Daytona 500 but he raced skillfully, showing very well for a rookie. Of the veterans, Tony Stewart, the Busch Brothers (although I was less than impressed with some of Kyle's driving in the 500), Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Burton were on top of their game. Conversely, with the exception of the Duel 150 win for Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon have to be wondering what happened (The 25 team seems to have taken up where it left off).
Despite the humiliation of the fuel controversy, the 55 team put on one heck of a performance. They came back from the brink of disaster by putting a car together just in time and then racing it into the Daytona 500. What they accomplished after having two top team members thrown out of the track and under incredible pressure was perhaps the most impressive performance of the week.
WRC
I haven't been able to catch up on the action in the Rally Norway yet, but I have seen that Mikko Hirvonen won and that Ford came in First, Second, and Third. Quite impressive.
Gronholm leads the points and one has to wonder what has happened to Loeb.
Champ Car/IRL
Unite.
Please.
Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net
NASCAR
There was some good racing at Daytona this Speedweeks. Congratulations to Kevin Harvick on his Busch and Nextel Cup wins and to Jack Sprague on his Craftsman Truck Series win. The finishes of the Nextel Cup race and the Truck race were terrific, although the Cup race was a bit on the boring side through the middle.
Several drivers were very impressive throughout Speedweeks. First, David Gilliland performed wonderfully through the week; not only did he win the pole for the Daytona 500 but he raced skillfully, showing very well for a rookie. Of the veterans, Tony Stewart, the Busch Brothers (although I was less than impressed with some of Kyle's driving in the 500), Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Burton were on top of their game. Conversely, with the exception of the Duel 150 win for Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon have to be wondering what happened (The 25 team seems to have taken up where it left off).
Despite the humiliation of the fuel controversy, the 55 team put on one heck of a performance. They came back from the brink of disaster by putting a car together just in time and then racing it into the Daytona 500. What they accomplished after having two top team members thrown out of the track and under incredible pressure was perhaps the most impressive performance of the week.
WRC
I haven't been able to catch up on the action in the Rally Norway yet, but I have seen that Mikko Hirvonen won and that Ford came in First, Second, and Third. Quite impressive.
Gronholm leads the points and one has to wonder what has happened to Loeb.
Champ Car/IRL
Unite.
Please.
Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net
12 February 2007
The Week in Racing
WRC
Once again, the WRC isn't shown in the United States. Luckily I have found that the WRC puts out podcasts of the races, thus allowing me to follow it. They also advertise an online radio station where you can listen to the action live, but I haven't had the chance to try it yet (but I will!). Anyway, it was wonderful for the monotony of Sebastien Loeb victories to be broken; congratulations to Marcus Gronholm on his victory in Sweden.
NASCAR
Yates Racing took the front row for the Daytona 500 and some are heralding the resurrection of the team. In the words of Lee Corso (where's my pencil?), "Not So Fast." Yates cars have always had a lot of horsepower, so it is not surprising to see them run well in single car, two lap qualifying. Thursday will better show whether or not they are improving when we see how they do on full runs in a large pack of cars. All of that aside, congratulations to David Gilliland for winning the pole, it is still a great accomplishment for a rookie. Congratulations also go to Juan Pablo Montoya on his 4th place in qualifying. He did quite well in the ARCA race at Talladega last year so I'm looking forward to watching him on Thursday and Sunday.
Toyota remains a question mark. They did manage to get two cars in the top 20, which is not bad for a first run. The question remains of how much they have concentrated on the super speedway program this year; perhaps they concentrated more on the rest of the season due to the fact that there are only 4 super speedway races. I'm not going to judge Toyota's performance until after both California and Las Vegas. Personally, I think Michael Waltrip was in a good position to do a lot of testing and development last year, but didn't do it. Instead of running an unsupported Dodge, he should have sat out a year and done nothing but test Toyotas. Perhaps it would have led to better performance not only for his teams, but the other Toyotas as well. Scott Pruett's similar move when Firestone returned to open wheel racing comes to mind as an example.
Formula 1
Only one more month until the F1 season begins. I can't wait for this season to start. With Schumacher retired, Alonso moved to McLaren, Raikkonen moved to Ferrari, and Bridgestone as the common tire, F1's pot has been mightily stirred. This year's championship could well be a wide open affair.
Champ Car/IRL
Unite.
Please.
Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net
Once again, the WRC isn't shown in the United States. Luckily I have found that the WRC puts out podcasts of the races, thus allowing me to follow it. They also advertise an online radio station where you can listen to the action live, but I haven't had the chance to try it yet (but I will!). Anyway, it was wonderful for the monotony of Sebastien Loeb victories to be broken; congratulations to Marcus Gronholm on his victory in Sweden.
NASCAR
Yates Racing took the front row for the Daytona 500 and some are heralding the resurrection of the team. In the words of Lee Corso (where's my pencil?), "Not So Fast." Yates cars have always had a lot of horsepower, so it is not surprising to see them run well in single car, two lap qualifying. Thursday will better show whether or not they are improving when we see how they do on full runs in a large pack of cars. All of that aside, congratulations to David Gilliland for winning the pole, it is still a great accomplishment for a rookie. Congratulations also go to Juan Pablo Montoya on his 4th place in qualifying. He did quite well in the ARCA race at Talladega last year so I'm looking forward to watching him on Thursday and Sunday.
Toyota remains a question mark. They did manage to get two cars in the top 20, which is not bad for a first run. The question remains of how much they have concentrated on the super speedway program this year; perhaps they concentrated more on the rest of the season due to the fact that there are only 4 super speedway races. I'm not going to judge Toyota's performance until after both California and Las Vegas. Personally, I think Michael Waltrip was in a good position to do a lot of testing and development last year, but didn't do it. Instead of running an unsupported Dodge, he should have sat out a year and done nothing but test Toyotas. Perhaps it would have led to better performance not only for his teams, but the other Toyotas as well. Scott Pruett's similar move when Firestone returned to open wheel racing comes to mind as an example.
Formula 1
Only one more month until the F1 season begins. I can't wait for this season to start. With Schumacher retired, Alonso moved to McLaren, Raikkonen moved to Ferrari, and Bridgestone as the common tire, F1's pot has been mightily stirred. This year's championship could well be a wide open affair.
Champ Car/IRL
Unite.
Please.
Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net
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