Monday Musings, 9/26/2011

So here's the plan. Every Monday, I'm going to let you know my thoughts (or musings) on the weekend of racing. Again, no hard-hitting analysis.  Just my observations from my point of view.
Hopefully I'll be posting my blog Monday mornings. But this week's blog was little delayed because my husband and I went to the local casino to try and win a Subaru WRX STI.  Unfortunately, no luck on the car, but my husband did win a couple hundred bucks.
My musings for the week:

• F1: Congrats to Paul DiResta on his sixth place finish at Singapore. Nice finish, especially since he's never run there before. To be honest, I've never really given DiResta much thought. That is, until my husband and I met a father and son from Scotland while we were at the Baltimore Grand Prix. They were guests of Dario Franchitti. They spoke with such pride of the drivers who have come out of their country, including DiResta. And now that I've been paying attention? I would love to see what he could do in a better car. Oh, and if you're wondering whether winning gets old, just ask Sebastian Vettel.
• Sprint Cup: How about that Tony Stewart?!? Seems as though just a couple of weeks ago that would have been him running out of fuel again with a lap to go. The luck seems to be swinging in Smoke's direction. Is it too early in the Chase to get excited? Although Carl Edwards is my driver, I really like Tony too. Anyone who can stop the Jimmie Johnson Express is fine with me.
• Camping World Trucks: Yeah, Kyle Busch dominated the Truck race at New Hampshire, but my MVP for the day? Nine-year-old Christopher Duffley. Duffley, who is both blind and autistic, sang the National Anthem. I've watched a lot of anthems in my day, but this was one of the few times it actually brought tears to my eyes (and my big old husband too). It was inspirational to say the very least.
• NHRA: Kudos to Bob Vandergriff for his first Top Fuel win! And you'll get 'em next time, Alexis DeJoria. We need a little more Tequila Patron in Nitro Funny Car!

So what did you think of this weekend's racing?

Who's Gonna Pay for This Electric Bill?!?

Photo credit: Getty Images

I know they've been racing at night in Singapore for a few years now, but this never ceases to amaze me. I suppose if any racing series was going to pull it off,  it was going to be F1.

And ho hum. Another pole for Vettel. I'm still looking forward to my Open Wheel Breakfast tomorrow morning.

NASCAR v. Mother Nature

www.lifeiscrap.com

NASCAR may need to renegotiate its deal with Mother Nature because she certainly hasn't been playing along these days. Rain has delayed three of the last six Sprint Cup races. And things are looking iffy for New Hampshire this weekend.

Unfortunately, the last two NASCAR races I've been to have been rainouts at Watkins Glen (pure coincidence -- I'm sure it has nothing to do with me). We traveled a couple hundred miles to see the races and had planned to travel home on Monday. So we could stick around to see the race. But for many of the fans, sticking around or coming to the track the next day just wasn't an option.

Here's the frustrating thing. Walking through the pits, we could see stacks and stacks of Goodyear rain tires. Rolex and Nationwide were fully prepared to run in the rain, but it was nothing but blue skies for those races. On Sunday, the rain started just as the National Anthem was ending, but for whatever reason the Sprint Cup cars would not be running in the rain. It's almost like carrying an umbrella with you and it never rains, but it pours when you don't have one.

While at the Glen race, I went to Q&A sessions with Matt Kenseth and Brett Bodine, who now is the Director of Competition for Research and Development for NASCAR (and the pace car driver). I asked them both whether we ever would see a Sprint Cup car running in the rain at Watkins Glen. Neither gave a definitive yes, but neither really gave a definitive no either.

The question of whether Sprint Cup cars should run on rain tires really only applies to the road courses, and there are only two of those on the schedule every year. But maybe rain tires are something that Sprint Cup should really start thinking about for the road races. At the very least, it's two races where NASCAR wouldn't have to worry about a rainout (as much).

Until then, I'll see what I can do about working something out with Mother Nature.

Four Wheels and an Engine

That's me!

I've heard it all before. Indycar and sports car fans who turn their noses up to NASCAR. NASCAR fans who are all about stock cars and turning left. For some drag racing fans, it's all about the quarter mile (or 1,000 feet, as the case may be). And I may have been one or more of these people at one point in my life.

But in the last few years, I've turned a corner (no pun intended). I'm a equal opportunity race fan.  If it's got four wheels and an engine, I follow it.

I suppose I became a race fan like many others -- I grew up around cars. It started when I was brought home from the hospital in a Corvette,  and I've been surrounded by cars ever since. I started with watching the Indy 500 on TV, and as I got older, I found other types of racing.  Thanks to my husband, my new love is drag racing.

Oh, and I've been known to drive on the track myself.

What this blog is not going to be -- a place to find up-to-the-minute racing news or analysis. There are plenty of other websites that do a much better job than I could ever do.

What is blog is going to be -- a place for me to talk about racing. It's my observations and opinions about the racing world. I'm not afraid to tell you who I like and who I don't (But I'm not going to tell you now. I don't want to spoil it for you.)

If you don't see something you're interested in, come back later because you never know what you'll find.

Enjoy, and keep the shiny side up!