Saturday, January 29, 2011
As long as we're making declarations...
1. I will lose to everyone who is actually racing in Mario Kart. (I think I can beat the ones who put the wheel down to go pee for a race.)
2. I will lose lots of fake money on Poker Stars tonight.
3. The Hornets will make up for all of this with an 11th straight win!
2. I will lose lots of fake money on Poker Stars tonight.
3. The Hornets will make up for all of this with an 11th straight win!
Declaration
I would just like to publicly declare that I intend to defeat Paul Dalbey handily during the blogathon Mario Kart tournament later this evening.
Nothing else to see here. Carry on.
Nothing else to see here. Carry on.
BlogaTRON
Why can't we dress up this blog in glowing neon lighting? Or, even better, dress up the Rolex 24 field in glowing neon lighting?
I've been to enough night racing to know that it would kick serious ass. Plus, it might give someone a chance to let fly with that wonderful bit of dialogue from Tron: Legacy: "You're messing with my Zen thing, man."
I also have always wondered - what exactly are the Daytona Prototypes a prototype for?
I'm not even drunk.
I've been to enough night racing to know that it would kick serious ass. Plus, it might give someone a chance to let fly with that wonderful bit of dialogue from Tron: Legacy: "You're messing with my Zen thing, man."
I also have always wondered - what exactly are the Daytona Prototypes a prototype for?
I'm not even drunk.
Let's play "Guess What Mike's Watching"
If you guessed a college basketball game between Stony Brook and Hartford, then you win!
This gym is smaller than the high school gym we mentioned in our podcast when we were talking about Glory Road. And it's only half full. Maybe these are high schools? The feed itself is funny. No graphics, no score. They're using a picture-in-picture with another camera focused (at a quite terrible angle) on the scoreboard. I can't even make it out.
This gym is smaller than the high school gym we mentioned in our podcast when we were talking about Glory Road. And it's only half full. Maybe these are high schools? The feed itself is funny. No graphics, no score. They're using a picture-in-picture with another camera focused (at a quite terrible angle) on the scoreboard. I can't even make it out.
And the Florida Gators kick off Blogathon with...
a double dribble! Going down to Mississippi State to kick things off here.
I don't have a race feed yet. Be prepared for lots of basketball talk from me.
I don't have a race feed yet. Be prepared for lots of basketball talk from me.
We Hereby Declare, Racing Season is Open!!!
Will KV Racing break their own record for most crashes in 2011?
How many people will watch American LeMans Series races live on ESPN3 or on their X-boxes?
Will Charlie Kimball or Graham Rahal be the new star in Chip Ganassi's stable?
Will the new NASCAR Sprint Cup point system produce closer championships like they hope or make it any easier to understand?
Will Bryan Clauson shine in his first shot at Indy-style open wheel cars?
Will Paul Tracy finally get back into a full time ride?
Will anyone ever best Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus in Sprint Cup?
Will anyone actually be able to comprehend all the many different American LeMans classes?
Will we finally have one single team using the name Lotus?
Will there be 3 or more teams using Lotus?
Will this blog be renamed Grab Bag Lotus?
We don't have the answers to those questions, but its time to begin finding out, happy racing season everyone, its finally here!
How many people will watch American LeMans Series races live on ESPN3 or on their X-boxes?
Will Charlie Kimball or Graham Rahal be the new star in Chip Ganassi's stable?
Will the new NASCAR Sprint Cup point system produce closer championships like they hope or make it any easier to understand?
Will Bryan Clauson shine in his first shot at Indy-style open wheel cars?
Will Paul Tracy finally get back into a full time ride?
Will anyone ever best Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus in Sprint Cup?
Will anyone actually be able to comprehend all the many different American LeMans classes?
Will we finally have one single team using the name Lotus?
Will there be 3 or more teams using Lotus?
Will this blog be renamed Grab Bag Lotus?
We don't have the answers to those questions, but its time to begin finding out, happy racing season everyone, its finally here!
Friday, January 28, 2011
The 'Geekiest 24 Hour Preview
Seems that there's some sort of event going on this weekend that has the racing world all a-Twitter. Yes, that's right, it's time for the 3rd Annual Blogathon, this time sponsored by this here site, Grab Bag Sports (the last two years were covered by Allen and Mike when it was still the Furious Wedge). Oh, I do suppose that racing folks might also be talking about the race that just so happens to be going on at the same time as our delightful little sports orgy (sporgy?). Seeing as how I'm one of the racing fellas here, and some folks may be less familiar with what all might be expected in this year's Daytona 24 Hour race, I suppose I'll do a little handicapping of the field.
Daytona Prototype
The Favorites:
Chip Ganassi Racing - The #01 car is being driven by factory BMW driver Joey Hand, IndyCar driver Graham Rahal, and winners of nine of last year's 12 GrandAm races, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. The #02 car is driven by some bundle of non-sports car driving stiffs. Ganassi's solid DP background ought to be enough to make up for most of what the driving crew in the #02 lacks, though. Oh, did I mention that Ganassi has won this race three times in the last five years and lost the other two by a combined 55 seconds?
Action Express Racing - The #5 car has David Donohue, Darren Law, Burt Frisselle and 2004 Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice. 'Nuff said there. The #9 car is the defending champion of the Daytona 24 Hours. More than 'nuff said there.
Sun Trust Racing - Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor return in the #10 this year, and are joined by Ryan Briscoe and team owner (and Ricky's dad) Wayne Taylor. Not returning is last year's sometimes great, sometimes on the fritz Ford engine, now replaced by the Chevrolet V8.
Level 5 Motorsports - The #55 and the #95 are both being driven by Scott Tucker, for all 24 hours. I'm not sure how he's going to do that, but he did that a lot in the ALMS last year as well. What? Oh, I'm being told that he's actually got three other co-drivers in each car. Whatever. They're again also using last year's dominant BMW/Dinan V8, which inexplicably has been picked up by ZERO GrandAm teams for this year. Since they managed a podium finish last year, I'd say they ought to be in the running for that again this year.
Bob Stallings Racing - The #99 car is being driven by Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney and a Jimmie Johnson. I've never heard of this last guy. Fogarty and Gurney should be able to carry him, though something seems to always go wrong for Stallings.
The Mid-Packers:
Michael Shank Racing - The #6 and the #60 always seem to run well for about 16 hours at Daytona. Then, things go wrong. Ford engines expire, anvils fall out of the sky and roadrunners manage to just scoot out of their reach in a cloud of dust. In light of this, I can't give them very favorable odds.
Flying Lizard Racing - In our first GrabBagSports.com podcast, I called this team my "dark horse" pick to win. Then, Joerg Bergmeister went and screwed all that "under the radar" stuff by going and putting the car on the pole. Damn you, Joerg. Well, I still think that this team is less likely to win than all of the teams up in the first tier up there, but don't be surprised if they're still hanging around in the top-5 when the sun comes up.
The Field:
Everybody else is lacking something important to win. The United Autosport car is missing a driver lineup who has raced more than a handful of times in the last five years. The Krohn, Doran and Spirit of Daytona teams are all running oddball chassis which have had limited success at Daytona. The Starworks team is missing any prior results that would lead me to believe that they can beat every other team I've already listed, though apparently they've now added a #2 car in the last few days, and also added EJ Viso to its driver lineup. That addition alone might nullify every single word I've already written.
GrandAm GT:
The Favorites:
The Racers Group - Kevin Buckler is back running roughly 82 Porsches. One of them will probably win, since it looks like the Mazda RX-8s just aren't as quick as they used to be, comparatively speaking. Of all the TRG Porsches, though, I'd put my money on the #67. Yes, I know they're on the pole, so this is not exactly going out on a limb, but there you go. I'm a big wuss.
Turner Motorsports - The BMW M6 was fast last year, and it's thought that the car, now that it's been reskinned as an M3, may have even better aerodynamics and better agility through the infield. I'll say that this car, even though it's the only M3 in the field, will be up near the TRG Porsches on Sunday afternoon.
SpeedSource - The defending champs of the race. I don't think the RX-8 is where it was this time last year, but if all the Porsches hit a common mechanical fault (not likely, but still), the Speedsource Mazdas will probably be the ones there to pick up the pieces.
The Mid-Packers:
Brumos Racing - This team is back in the GT ranks after years in the DP class. In light of that, even though they've got a fast Porsche and a quality driver lineup (including multi-multi-multi time Daytona 24 champion Hurley Haywood), their unfamiliarity with running the slower class might be their undoing.
Banner Racing / Stevenson Motorsports / Autohaus Motorsports - The Camaros, while improved vastly since this time last year, are possibly not quite there for a 24 hour race.
Magnus Racing - They've got a Porsche, and they scored a bundle of top-5s last year. That's about all I got there.
The Field:
The rest of the field is chock full of interesting stories like oddball cars (a BMW M6, a couple of Ferrari F430s, a Mustang) movie stars (Patrick Dempsey) some fantastic drivers (Dandy Randy Pobst, for one, Memo Gidley, for another), but no real winning threats. You're better off to look above for your winner.
All right. We're about 14 hours away from the green flag and even less than that away from the beginning of the Blogathon madness. Time to get some sleep, everybody!
Daytona Prototype
The Favorites:
Chip Ganassi Racing - The #01 car is being driven by factory BMW driver Joey Hand, IndyCar driver Graham Rahal, and winners of nine of last year's 12 GrandAm races, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. The #02 car is driven by some bundle of non-sports car driving stiffs. Ganassi's solid DP background ought to be enough to make up for most of what the driving crew in the #02 lacks, though. Oh, did I mention that Ganassi has won this race three times in the last five years and lost the other two by a combined 55 seconds?
Action Express Racing - The #5 car has David Donohue, Darren Law, Burt Frisselle and 2004 Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice. 'Nuff said there. The #9 car is the defending champion of the Daytona 24 Hours. More than 'nuff said there.
Sun Trust Racing - Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor return in the #10 this year, and are joined by Ryan Briscoe and team owner (and Ricky's dad) Wayne Taylor. Not returning is last year's sometimes great, sometimes on the fritz Ford engine, now replaced by the Chevrolet V8.
Level 5 Motorsports - The #55 and the #95 are both being driven by Scott Tucker, for all 24 hours. I'm not sure how he's going to do that, but he did that a lot in the ALMS last year as well. What? Oh, I'm being told that he's actually got three other co-drivers in each car. Whatever. They're again also using last year's dominant BMW/Dinan V8, which inexplicably has been picked up by ZERO GrandAm teams for this year. Since they managed a podium finish last year, I'd say they ought to be in the running for that again this year.
Bob Stallings Racing - The #99 car is being driven by Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney and a Jimmie Johnson. I've never heard of this last guy. Fogarty and Gurney should be able to carry him, though something seems to always go wrong for Stallings.
The Mid-Packers:
Michael Shank Racing - The #6 and the #60 always seem to run well for about 16 hours at Daytona. Then, things go wrong. Ford engines expire, anvils fall out of the sky and roadrunners manage to just scoot out of their reach in a cloud of dust. In light of this, I can't give them very favorable odds.
Flying Lizard Racing - In our first GrabBagSports.com podcast, I called this team my "dark horse" pick to win. Then, Joerg Bergmeister went and screwed all that "under the radar" stuff by going and putting the car on the pole. Damn you, Joerg. Well, I still think that this team is less likely to win than all of the teams up in the first tier up there, but don't be surprised if they're still hanging around in the top-5 when the sun comes up.
The Field:
Everybody else is lacking something important to win. The United Autosport car is missing a driver lineup who has raced more than a handful of times in the last five years. The Krohn, Doran and Spirit of Daytona teams are all running oddball chassis which have had limited success at Daytona. The Starworks team is missing any prior results that would lead me to believe that they can beat every other team I've already listed, though apparently they've now added a #2 car in the last few days, and also added EJ Viso to its driver lineup. That addition alone might nullify every single word I've already written.
GrandAm GT:
The Favorites:
The Racers Group - Kevin Buckler is back running roughly 82 Porsches. One of them will probably win, since it looks like the Mazda RX-8s just aren't as quick as they used to be, comparatively speaking. Of all the TRG Porsches, though, I'd put my money on the #67. Yes, I know they're on the pole, so this is not exactly going out on a limb, but there you go. I'm a big wuss.
Turner Motorsports - The BMW M6 was fast last year, and it's thought that the car, now that it's been reskinned as an M3, may have even better aerodynamics and better agility through the infield. I'll say that this car, even though it's the only M3 in the field, will be up near the TRG Porsches on Sunday afternoon.
SpeedSource - The defending champs of the race. I don't think the RX-8 is where it was this time last year, but if all the Porsches hit a common mechanical fault (not likely, but still), the Speedsource Mazdas will probably be the ones there to pick up the pieces.
The Mid-Packers:
Brumos Racing - This team is back in the GT ranks after years in the DP class. In light of that, even though they've got a fast Porsche and a quality driver lineup (including multi-multi-multi time Daytona 24 champion Hurley Haywood), their unfamiliarity with running the slower class might be their undoing.
Banner Racing / Stevenson Motorsports / Autohaus Motorsports - The Camaros, while improved vastly since this time last year, are possibly not quite there for a 24 hour race.
Magnus Racing - They've got a Porsche, and they scored a bundle of top-5s last year. That's about all I got there.
The Field:
The rest of the field is chock full of interesting stories like oddball cars (a BMW M6, a couple of Ferrari F430s, a Mustang) movie stars (Patrick Dempsey) some fantastic drivers (Dandy Randy Pobst, for one, Memo Gidley, for another), but no real winning threats. You're better off to look above for your winner.
All right. We're about 14 hours away from the green flag and even less than that away from the beginning of the Blogathon madness. Time to get some sleep, everybody!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Blogathon 2011 - Just days away
That’s right folks, it’s time once again for the Grab Bag Sports annual festival of insanity, a celebratio0n of all things sports and the start of the motor sports season, otherwise known as Blogathon. From the moment SPEED begins pre-race coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona to the moment the race ends; 24-½ straight hours of stories, analysis, humor, chat-sessions the much demanded return of Mario Kart, and more. While each year thus far has been a blast we want to continue evolving this event to bring even more to all of you out there, so we’re stepping it up a notch in 2011.
What is New and What is Returning to Blogathon for 2011?
Fan-Chat Q/A with IndyCar’s Tony Cotman, driver Alex Tagliani and ESPN’s Ryan McGeeFirst, to kick things off at 4pm Saturday, we'll be joined by IndyCar driver of the #77 FAZZT Racing car, Alex Tagliani. Ask Alex about his outlook on 2011, his thoughts on Daytona, the direction of FAZZT or if he prefers "Tag" or "Tags."
Guest Posts from the Realm of Sport
As is Blogathon tradition, we’ll be giving the keys for GBS to some of the many writers out there to get their insights, humor, nonsense, whatever. Will you see Roy Hobbson wax poetic about how awesome motorsports fans are, see haikus about Chip Ganassi’s Daytona Prototype, frankly we have no idea, you’ll just have to see. This year’s guest list includes (but is not limited to) More Front Wing’s Paul Dalbey and Steph Wallcraft, Too Much Racing’s Pat Wotton, Pop Off Valve’s Tony Johns, 16th & Georgetown’s James Black and Australia’s very own Shane Rodgers.
Mario Kart Wii Showdown (with chat room)
Wedge = 2192-8881-7770
Furious = 2665-3459-4828
Then after you do, send us your friend code via twitter, commenting here, or email (we both have to know each other’s codes for it to work). Then we’ll be starting GrandPrix 4-race sessions. Last year we got close to hitting the GP limits. Should that happen again this year, we’ll split into two groups, and then take the top drivers from both and pit them against each other for a finale.
Late Night Poker with Furious and Wedge (free)
While racing goes off the TV and as we await the Australian Open championship match, we’re inviting all to put on your best sunglasses and pull down the brim of your hat and join us at 1a.m. as we take over a freeroll table on PokerStars (free to download and play for anyone) and we’ll be kicking up some late night Texas Hold’em; complete with a chat are for some trashtalk.
“Ask a Blogger?” Fan-chat.
Ever wanted to know what Roy Hobbson’s spatula logo symbolizes, wanted to know is “More Front Wing” means more downforce or if they want to have larger wings on the cars? Ever wondering if there can in fact be too much racing? Here’s your chance to chat up the many guest bloggers from around the realm. It’ll also be a place to commentate on developments of all the current sporting events as SPEED closes out its Daytona coverage for Saturday. Anything sports related goes.
So many posts that Blogger will start to send us hatemail in the form of word verification. It’ll be 24-1/2 hours of fresh content about anything sports related, from interesting insights, to in depth analysis, to short and quick notes on the race… I really hope no one RSS feeds this site into their phone.
First Ever Blogathon Giveaway Contest
The contest is simple. Daytona 24 coverage starts at 3pm Saturday. There is 14 hours of live TV coverage this year.. and all you have to do is guess when in that timeframe Scott Pruett will say hello to his family back home. We know he’ll do it, but will he do it in a pre-race interview, or will he hold it till the race is over…? Just guess a time of day ET (post in the comment section of this article) that you think he’ll do it: 00:00 ET Saturday/Sunday, and the closest to it is our winner. The winner will get the first ever Grab Bag Sports T-shirt, a copy of the new Death to the BCS book, and some other cool swag
More Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At; Here’s is this year’s entire slate of festivities:
All times Eastern, all TV listings U.S.A., live-events only
3:00pm-10:00pm - SPEED – 24 Hours of Daytona
3:00pm - NBC – Figure Skating, US Championships
3:00pm - CBS – PGA Golf: Farmers Insurance Open
3:00pm - ESPNU – NCAA Basketball: Syracuse/Marquette
4:00pm - GrabBagSports – Fan Chat with Alex Tagliani, IndyCar driver
4:00pm - ESPN – NCAA Basketball: Georgia/Kentucky
4:00pm - ESPN2 – Winter X-Games – snowboarding and skiing4:00pm - VERSUS – NCAA Basketball: BYU/New Mexico
4:00pm - ESPN3 – Soccer/Futbol LaLiga
6:00pm - GrabBagSports – Fan Chat with Ryan McGee, ESPN
6:00pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Basketball: OhioSt./Northwestern
7:00pm - ESPN – NCAA Basketball: Kansas/KansasSt.
7:00pm - ESPNU – NCAA Basketball: St. Mary’s/Portland
7:00pm - VERSUS – NHL All Star Game Super Skills Competition
8:00pm - GrabBagSports – “Ask a blogger” fan-chat
8:00pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Basketball: Pitt/Rutgers
8:00pm - WGN – NBA Basketball: Pacers/Bulls
8:00pm - Telemundo – Futbol Mexicano: Tigres vs. Toluca
9:00pm - NBC - Figure Skating, US Championships finals
9:00pm - ESPNU – NCAA Basketball: Missouri/Texas
9:30pm - VERSUS – Professional Bull Riders. Indianapolis
10:00pm - SPEED – NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown
10:20pm - ONLINE-Only – Australia vs. England cricket match
10:30pm - GrabBagSports – Mario Kart Wii Throwdown
12:30am - TENNIS & ESPN3 - Australian Open: Mens Doubles Final
1:00am - GrabBagSports – GBS late-night Poker
8:55am - ESPN3 – 3 different soccer matches from Serie A
9:00am - 4pm - SPEED - 24 Hours of Daytona
10:00am - GrabBagSports - Fan Chat with Tony Cotman, 2012 IndyCar project manager
12:30pm - ESPN – Winter X-Games: snowboarding finals
1:00pm - ABC – NBA Basketball: Heat/Thunder
1:00pm - CBS – NCAA Basketball: Duke/St. Johns
2:00pm - ESPN2 – PBA Bowling
3:30pm - ABC – NBA Basketball: Celtics/Lakers
If you can’t find something you like in that list… you’re simply just on the wrong web-site then.
Post Blogathon Bonus Sports
4:00pm - VERSUS – NHL All-Star Game
7:00pm - FOX – NFL Pro-Bowl
Are we missing something? Let us know. Otherwise, we’ll see you on Saturday!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Grab Bag Sports Podcast: Episode 1
Here it is! The first episode of our new podcast. In this episode Allen, Andy, and Mike discuss the 2011 Blogathon and all the events that will take place this weekend (January 29-30). We also discuss basketball movies, the upcoming Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, ESPN's 30 For 30 series, and Caroline Wozniacki. "Sponsors" include Doritos and Burnin' Key Cars.
Please feel free to comment or e-mail us with any feedback, suggestions, or your opinion on the topics we discussed. We're going to attempt to record an episode each month. Please share this with your friends if you think they would like it! Also, you can bookmark our podcast site here.
Over the next few days we will be posting lots of Blogathon info, including a schedule of events, our Wii info for Mario Kart, and our Poker Stars info.
Links from this episode:
Dwayne C. Nelson's Top 5 underrated basketball movies of all time - link
Caroline Wozniacki Australian Open press conference - link
Mark Sanchez wiping a booger on Mark Brunell - YouTube video
I wouldn't question a professional athlete's injury, but...
I will question the institutions of higher education that awarded degrees to some of these current and former NFL players! Did you read some of these tweets? These guys need to worry a lot less about Jay Cutler's knee and infinitely more about the fact that, even for athletes on twitter, they look pretty dumb.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Fantasy Football: Can we shut up about drafting RBs so high yet?
But I'm here to tell you that I think this terrible trend's decline is near. Just take a look at this year's regular season and postseason for proof.
First, of the top 10 rushing teams in the NFL, six of them (Raiders, Jags, Giants, Texans, Bucs, Vikings) did not make the postseason. Granted, the Vikings were the only team on that list to be out of contention the last couple of weeks and the other five were fairly close. The fact remains, however, that teams like the Bears, Packers, Saints, and Seahawks were in the bottom half of the league and still made the playoffs.
Of the regular season's top 10 rushing teams, only the Jets remain. It will be very interesting to see how that rushing game performs against the Steelers today. In fact, other than a couple of long runs, this entire postseason has been about the passing games and the defenses. Of the four teams playing today, I personally think of a quarterback and/or a coach before associating a running back with the team's success.
Here are a few facts:
- The Bears and Packers finished 22nd and 24th in rushing yards respectively during the season and are now playing for a Super Bowl berth.
- The Falcons ranked 12th in regular season rushing yards per game and, as of today, now rank 12th in the postseason (out of 12).
- The postseason's leading rusher, GB's James Starks (94.5 ypg), was nowhere near NFL.com's Top 15 pre-ranked fantasy running backs. In fact, you can look through their Top 80, which is as far as they ranked. No James Starks. (Of their Top 15, four are in the top fifteen for the postseason: Ray Rice, Rashard Mendenhall, Shonn Greene, Jamaal Charles.)
So will the NFL finally start to change? Will team execs notice the trend and stop placing so much emphasis on rushing during the regular season? As fantasy players, will we finally be able to draft QBs and WRs in the 1st round without having chicken wings thrown at us?
I hope so!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Much Ado About Points - NASCAR's Proposal for Non-Change
UPDATED: The chart in this post has been updated to reflect NASCAR's official announcement (1st will get 47 minimum by way of 43 + 3 bonus + 1 for leading a lap). Oddly enough the actual new system makes even less change than the original rumored one.
A lot is being argued these days about NASCAR’s possible new points system clearly making yet another attempt to manufacture closer championships, and while I’ve seen ideas and theories I haven’t really seen some specific bits of data that many are overlooking when doing comparisons. This came to a head for me when USAToday’s Nate Ryan traded thoughts with me on Twitter about why NASCAR can’t have consistent close championships while IndyCar has gone down to the final race 7 out of the last 10 seasons.
That coupled with the many different writers out there throwing out their opinions on what NASCAR should do just pushed me to take a good hard look at statistics and historical factors amongst many series and their structures.
So like the crazy person I am, I decided to spend the last few days becoming the motorsports version of SETI, swimming through all the point structures, historical finishing data and variations I could get my hands on in an effort to find some kind of rhythm.
The first thing I already knew that I re-affirmed… The American LeMans Series has a crappy website with bad links and no useful information to this research…thank you Wikipedia. Pertaining to point systems however:
It’s All About the Differentials Baby.
A lot of people do notice the disparity from “rewarding leaders enough” in NASCAR vs. other series, but the problem goes much further than that (as you’ll see below). In order to accurately compare all the many point systems out there, you need a common denominator, rather than comparing 185 pts. for first place to 50 points for 1st etc. The common denominator across all series is first place getting the most points.
If you consider 1st place in a race as 100% of a possible goal, and any place below that as a smaller percentage of the total possible goal, then this is how the point differentials break out amongst some main series. (I excluded ALMS because they use 3 different systems depending on race length)
What you will notice first is that NASCAR’s current plan and proposed new plan are basically siblings, with a very slight variation. This means at the heart of it, they are changing nothing. The biggest issue of course is too much rewarding mediocrity. NASCAR’s proposed new system still awards 50% of the points possible for 22nd place. Tell me which you think is worthy of better standing, someone who finishes 22nd twice in two races, or someone who dominates and wins a race, but then succumbs to an engine failure in the 2nd race.
For comparison’s sake, in IndyCar, you must finish 7th or better to receive at least 50% of first place's points, in Formula One you need 4th place for 48% or better. This is clearly the biggest issue for NASCAR; Jimmy Johnson doesn’t run away because he wins the majority of races, he runs away by stacking up points in finishing 6th-22nd place: 2010 (9 times), 2009 (13), 2008 (15), 2007 (11), 2006 (18).
If they gave fewer points for doing sub-par finishing, Jimmie may have still won the championships, but he definitely would not have pulled away with so many mid-level finishes.
The second issue for NASCAR (and also IndyCar/Grand-Am) is that they don’t zero out at any level. NASCAR’s new system would come as close as possible to accomplishing this with 1 point for last, but at the current moment, you could do pace laps, pull straight into the pits, go home and eat a sandwich and fall asleep before the race is over… and you’d still get 20% of the possible points as a guy out there racing to the edge for every lap.
I’d also think this can likely be a cause of the large amount of NASCAR wrecks; because crashing out of a race really doesn’t hurt you all that much in the long run. Grand-Am and IndyCar for all intent and purposes end their point distribution at 13th and 26th place; the remaining breakouts are simply for the Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Daytona with the larger fields. As a result, their systems also award 20% and a whopping 37% in Grand-Am for going home taking a bath and watching the end of the race from the couch.
The problem with not zeroing out points is this; you tell me who had the worst season:
Driver A) 6 starts, 3 top 10 finishes; qualified 2nd for a race, led 15 laps at the Indy 500.
Driver B) 5 starts, finished 14th or better in 4 of them including 18 laps led and a 6th place finish.
Driver C) Qualified at or very near the bottom in all but 1 race of 16, finishing last of all running cars for every race.
It doesn’t take a genius to know both Paul Tracy and Mike Conway had better years than Milka Duno in 2010, yet she finished 74 and 93 points ahead of them simply because she showed up to more races, even though she sucked horribly at all of them.
Zeroing out is the one thing Formula One most definitely gets right; though I’m not advocating IndyCar, NASCAR or Grand-Am need to zero out the points at the halfway point of the field like F1. But doing it at 75% of the field would make a lot of sense. That translates to needing 32nd or better in NASCAR to get points, IndyCar=20th or better, Grand-Am=10th or better. And obviously the 75% can vary per the amount of cars qualified.
Other bits of mediocrity that NASCAR can stop giving points for is simply leading any lap. Leading the most laps is an accomplishment, staying out during a caution to take the lead for a lap, only to later get back on the lead lap due to a “lucky dog” is not something to be rewarded; but that’s been a result of NASCAR trying to allow people to all keep up with Jimmie Johnson. The only problem is Chad Knaus and Jimmie are smart guys, so they make sure to get those points too.
One thing NASCAR has less immediate control of, and possibly the greater reason for IndyCar’s consistency is track diversity.
Hendrick motorsports isn’t just dominating because they have the answer to so many questions, it’s because the Sprint Cup series doesn’t require them to take that many different tests. Most tracks are close enough in characteristics that the team has less setups to nail, and many tracks are run multiple times in the same season furthering the issue. Nail one base setup and you’ve got 60-70% of the tracks. That’s where IndyCar has the goldmine:
Short flat ovals, short banked oval, large banked ovals, flat Indy, bumpy street courses, skinny street courses, airport courses, hilly terrain courses; racing in the rain as well.
There isn’t a setup that will work on any two of those, nor a driver who is the best at them all; and it’s partially why IndyCar’s contenders stay closer.
Since IndyCar brought road/street courses back, no driver has ever been the point’s leader in both road and oval courses. This means, its kept drivers honest and allowed others to catch up to the leader by doing more of their forte… If you added more road courses to Sprint Cup, I guarantee you Juan Montoya would immediately start challenging Johnson.
That coupled with the many different writers out there throwing out their opinions on what NASCAR should do just pushed me to take a good hard look at statistics and historical factors amongst many series and their structures.
So like the crazy person I am, I decided to spend the last few days becoming the motorsports version of SETI, swimming through all the point structures, historical finishing data and variations I could get my hands on in an effort to find some kind of rhythm.
The first thing I already knew that I re-affirmed… The American LeMans Series has a crappy website with bad links and no useful information to this research…thank you Wikipedia. Pertaining to point systems however:
It’s All About the Differentials Baby.
A lot of people do notice the disparity from “rewarding leaders enough” in NASCAR vs. other series, but the problem goes much further than that (as you’ll see below). In order to accurately compare all the many point systems out there, you need a common denominator, rather than comparing 185 pts. for first place to 50 points for 1st etc. The common denominator across all series is first place getting the most points.
If you consider 1st place in a race as 100% of a possible goal, and any place below that as a smaller percentage of the total possible goal, then this is how the point differentials break out amongst some main series. (I excluded ALMS because they use 3 different systems depending on race length)
For comparison’s sake, in IndyCar, you must finish 7th or better to receive at least 50% of first place's points, in Formula One you need 4th place for 48% or better. This is clearly the biggest issue for NASCAR; Jimmy Johnson doesn’t run away because he wins the majority of races, he runs away by stacking up points in finishing 6th-22nd place: 2010 (9 times), 2009 (13), 2008 (15), 2007 (11), 2006 (18).
If they gave fewer points for doing sub-par finishing, Jimmie may have still won the championships, but he definitely would not have pulled away with so many mid-level finishes.
The second issue for NASCAR (and also IndyCar/Grand-Am) is that they don’t zero out at any level. NASCAR’s new system would come as close as possible to accomplishing this with 1 point for last, but at the current moment, you could do pace laps, pull straight into the pits, go home and eat a sandwich and fall asleep before the race is over… and you’d still get 20% of the possible points as a guy out there racing to the edge for every lap.
 |
| Interestingly, this was the first picture that came up when I typed 'nascar' into Google |
The problem with not zeroing out points is this; you tell me who had the worst season:
Driver A) 6 starts, 3 top 10 finishes; qualified 2nd for a race, led 15 laps at the Indy 500.
Driver B) 5 starts, finished 14th or better in 4 of them including 18 laps led and a 6th place finish.
Driver C) Qualified at or very near the bottom in all but 1 race of 16, finishing last of all running cars for every race.
It doesn’t take a genius to know both Paul Tracy and Mike Conway had better years than Milka Duno in 2010, yet she finished 74 and 93 points ahead of them simply because she showed up to more races, even though she sucked horribly at all of them.
Zeroing out is the one thing Formula One most definitely gets right; though I’m not advocating IndyCar, NASCAR or Grand-Am need to zero out the points at the halfway point of the field like F1. But doing it at 75% of the field would make a lot of sense. That translates to needing 32nd or better in NASCAR to get points, IndyCar=20th or better, Grand-Am=10th or better. And obviously the 75% can vary per the amount of cars qualified.
Other bits of mediocrity that NASCAR can stop giving points for is simply leading any lap. Leading the most laps is an accomplishment, staying out during a caution to take the lead for a lap, only to later get back on the lead lap due to a “lucky dog” is not something to be rewarded; but that’s been a result of NASCAR trying to allow people to all keep up with Jimmie Johnson. The only problem is Chad Knaus and Jimmie are smart guys, so they make sure to get those points too.
Hendrick motorsports isn’t just dominating because they have the answer to so many questions, it’s because the Sprint Cup series doesn’t require them to take that many different tests. Most tracks are close enough in characteristics that the team has less setups to nail, and many tracks are run multiple times in the same season furthering the issue. Nail one base setup and you’ve got 60-70% of the tracks. That’s where IndyCar has the goldmine:
Short flat ovals, short banked oval, large banked ovals, flat Indy, bumpy street courses, skinny street courses, airport courses, hilly terrain courses; racing in the rain as well.
There isn’t a setup that will work on any two of those, nor a driver who is the best at them all; and it’s partially why IndyCar’s contenders stay closer.
| IndyCar Season | Most oval pts. | Most road/street pts. |
| 2010 | Dario Franchitti - 268 | Will Power - 412 |
| 2009 | Scott Dixon - 406 | Dario Franchitti - 270 |
| 2008 | Scott Dixon - 482 | Helio Castroneves - 233 |
| 2007 | Dario Franchitti - 463 | Scott Dixon - 217 |
| 2006 | Dan Wheldon - 415 | Scott Dixon - 125 |
| 2005 | Dan Wheldon - 536 | Tony Kanaan - 133 |
Lastly, can everyone stop slapping one series’ point system onto another? Many writers LOVE to do this, but different rewards elicit different actions. If shots within the free-throw area were only worth 1-point in the NBA we’d see a lot less dunks, if they shortened marathons to 16,000 meters runners wouldn't save so much energy, and if NASCAR had Formula One’s point system, they’d stop settling for Top 20 finishes; so let’s stop assuming similar results with different setups.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
30 For 30: The Birth of Big Air
Amazon
8/10
I had Matt Hoffman's PlayStation game and now I finally know who he is! I mean, I knew he rode a bike and all. But I didn't know he built his own crazy ramps to get over 20 feet of air.
I also learned that he's had: 2 comas, 21 broken bones, 23 surgeries, 100+ concussions, and 300+ stitches.
But I'm sorry. It's fun to watch his tricks and all, but I just can't understand someone constantly putting his life in danger, selfishly adding stress to everyone who is a part of his life.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sports Cliches
Dinosaur Boy recently found my old collection of comic strip books. He liked this one from "Get Fuzzy" and thought I should post it:
Friday, January 14, 2011
IndyCar’s Slate of Changes – Point | Counterpoint | Tangent
So at this Tuesday’s State of INDYCAR presentation in Indianapolis, Randy Bernard and company announced a lot of small changes that will be coming to the many series under the INDYCAR parent sanctioning body. Are the changes, good or bad or neutral? Even if we’re not all as versed in the subject, the entire GBS team is giving their thoughts to these 20 items:
1. In an effort to capitalize on spoken name recognition, the Indy Racing League has officially changed its name to INDYCAR.
Allen Wedge: As a fellow Marketing guy, I can totally see where Randy is going with this; we all know how much easier it is recognized by the standard public, I just could have gone for an actual acronym.
The Speedgeek: I…sort of hate it. So, now it’s the INDYCAR IZOD IndyCar Series? Why not call it the “INDYCAR Presents the INDYCAR IZOD IndyCar Series”? And when the new Dallara “IndyCar”(that’s what they’re badging it) comes out in 2012, it could be the “INDYCAR Presents the INDYCAR IZOD IndyCar Series Featuring The New IndyCar”?
Mike Furious: No, this is totally an acronym. If I ever have trouble spelling "INDYCAR," I only need to remember the classic quote from Washington Irving: "Ichabod never danced, yet craved ample ravioli."
2. Starwood hotels has been announced as a sponsor by way of “the official hotels of INDYCAR” under a 3 year deal.
Wedge: A great positive for the series as Starwood represents some heavy hitters: Westin, W, Sheraton, FourPoints, etc. But with them being higher end hotels, one would really hope that it also includes discounts for teams as they travel to 17 different cities.
Speedgeek: This Gold Level Hilton Honors member wishes it were a different chain. Now, I have to balance my loyalty to my favorite racing series and my loyalty to my favorite hotel chain/favorite talentless harlot?
Furious: Is there an official cheeseburger of INDYCAR? I need to know so I can have loyalties as well.
3. The minimum age for Garage access at races has been lowered from 18yrs old to 9yrs old (Except at Texas Motor Speedway).
Wedge: On one hand a great move; get them in while they are young. On the other hand how in the world do they plan on having security enforce the difference between 8 and 9?
Speedgeek: You got that right, Wedge. They’re going to have to start “carding” anybody who looks like they might be younger than 11, just in case.
Furious: No, this is easy. Anyone not holding a beer (or wearing a hat filled with beer containing convenient straws reaching down to the mouth) is obviously 8 or younger. Or... is that NASCAR?
4. INDYCAR is opening an L.A. office In order to try and develop new inroads to movies and documentary type TV shows.
Wedge: On one hand it worries me that the person they chose, Sarah Nettinga, has Herbie: Fully Loaded to her name… on the other hand she also produced Talledega Nights. Push.
Speedgeek: This is worthless unless somebody can convince Sebastien Bourdais to come back to IndyCar and then have him change his name to Jean Girard. That’s the only way this pays off.
Furious: You guys know I'm a horror person myself. So if you tell me I'm getting a Christine sequel based on this new Dallara "IndyCar," my only question is: How long until Stephen King is done with the script?!
5. The Edmonton race, previously cancelled by city legislators, has been re-added to the schedule. A new 3-year agreement has been reached between city, promoter, and series to continue the race.
Wedge: This is awesome for Edmonton, but let’s see the new track map please, we love track maps. What’s it going to be like now since it uses a totally different set of runways?
Speedgeek: I love it. The schedule should be 1/4th airport tracks anyway. Now let’s get on Cleveland and Meigs Field (where there was rumored to be a CART race back in the late-‘90s, if memory serves), and we’ll be talking.
Furious: Any chance of adding that idea I sent in where we would do a "running of the bulls" with IndyCars instead of animals? Randy Bernard is not the best about returning my e-mails.
6. ABC’s slate of broadcast races have been announced: St. Pete, Indy, Milwaukee, New Hampshire and the unannounced finale race which is probably Vegas but for some reason no one wants to admit it’s Vegas, even though at this point it’d be silly to not be Vegas.
Wedge: On the one hand, great move getting the finale on ABC… on the other hand: For the love of all that is holy, can we keep Marty Reid away from Vegas? The last thing we need going into the final laps of a close championship is misidentification between a Penske Black and Red car and the blue and green Hyundai Sonata in the parking lot outside the track.
Speedgeek: I can already hear it. “Vince Welch! Can you tell us how many laps it’s been since Ryan Briscoe pitted…oh! Ryan Briscoe wins the race and the championship!”
Furious: The problem is that they've made the decision, but out of respect for the unwritten rules, no one can talk about it! "What happens in Vegas..."
7. The Mazda Road to Indy official ladder program was announced with dollar figures. Each champion of a lower league will get a very nice financial boost if they choose to move up to the next level. An odd surprise was announcing Conor Daly will do the Indy Lights road courses for the car that Bryan Clausen is already doing oval tracks for.
Wedge: Super positive news here, especially considering they are significant numbers that can actually help carry a driver up to the next level, but not enough that they can be lazy about it. As for the Daly/Clausen car, this seems to me a negative, isn’t the true idea to get those drivers good at both ovals and road courses, now we’ve taken away that chance in 2011.
Speedgeek: All seriousness here, I think this gives Conor and Bryan a chance to run up front in the handful of races that they’ll get, allowing them to build sponsorship to run the whole second half of 2011 or the whole 2012 season. Force Clausen to run at St. Pete, and he’s liable to look Jack Miller-esque out there. It’s just not his bag yet.
Furious: This would be like the American League deciding its pitchers shouldn't have to bat, therefore allowing an extra position player to bat in the pitcher's spot of the line-up. How sad would that be?? Oh wait...
8. The IndyCar series will implement a 105% rule on road/street courses, meaning all drivers must be within 105% of the leader’s lap times; otherwise they can be disqualified.
Wedge: Otherwise known as the Milka Duno rule; or the Marty Roth Rule part B. It’s a great move assuming the race director has the discretion of enforcing it. This way a good driver who has a wreck in early practice while warming up isn’t eliminated from the weekend.
Speedgeek: I’m only a tad concerned about 105% being a little too tight. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple of races last year when Mario Moraes, Mario Romancini and maybe even Danica Patrick flirted with 105%. That could get reeeeeal squishy, under the case that somebody gets held up on their one fast lap or something.
Furious: This only ensures that the first INDYCAR movie will not be based on "The Tortoise and the Hare." And I'm fine with that.
9. The Indy Lights Series is returning to TV and will be tape-delayed to broadcast on Wednesdays following their race weekends at 6pm.
Wedge: I’m very glad they’re on TV and all, but seriously, Versus, you couldn’t make room between your 5,000th airing of Tin Cup, Rocky and Caddyshack and replaying WEC fights for the 72nd time? I hope NBC teaches you that showing sports is much better for a sports channel than showing the same 4 movies repeatedly.
Speedgeek: Agreed. You’re a sports channel, Versus. Act like it. And while you’re in the act of filling program hours, let’s have some half hour shows for Star Mazda and USF2000, while we’re at it. And, yes, I know I’m being demanding. What can I say? I like to watch racing.
Furious: Do they understand I'm going to have walk around at work and at home for like FOUR DAYS going, "NO ONE tell me who won the Indy Lights Race this weekend! I'M WAITING FOR THE VERSUS COVERAGE, OK?!"
10. This year's Indianapolis 500 will do two things to go after new audiences: 1) they will for the first time allow online at-home printing of tickets and, 2) the race will get a Spanish-language radio broadcast.
Wedge: Great move on both parts because both are optional. The people those things cater to can participate while traditionalists can do their thing.
Speedgeek: I like print-at-home tickets for movies, but I can’t imagine having my printer make a display-able heirloom, like all the rest of my 500 tickets are. On the other hand, I love the Spanish radio broadcast thing, and I’m liable to listen to that instead of Paul Page at the race this May. Gooooooooaaaaaaaalllll!!!!
Furious: Can we print cheeseburgers yet? We can send a man to the moon, but we can't print cheeseburgers yet.
11. Indy 500 100th birthday festivities: All 269 living Indianapolis 500 veterans have been invited to take part in an autograph session the day before the race. 70 of the 74 existing winning cars will be on the track. Sports Illustrated will produce a special Indy 500 Centennial issue and the race is being billed as “The Most Important Race in History”
Wedge: The only thing better than that is if they got all those cars to go around the track with veterans driving them. I also really hope that tagline is prefaced about the entire race, not the very spec-car 2011 edition.
Speedgeek: I almost fainted at the thought of scrambling around getting Ted Prappas’s, Didier Theys’s and Tero Palmroth’s autographs. Yes, I’ll also be the one doing cartwheels down the Tower Terrace because I caught a glimpse of Al Unser Jr.’s 1994 Penske-Mercedes 500I.
Furious: Is this going to be one of those things that they have to cancel at the last second and get all of this together again next year all because someone didn't realize that the first year doesn't count as a "birthday"?
12. The IndyCar Series this year will have a new gigantic Driver Introduction stage, so big it will fit a full size car and shoot flames out of the sides and have a giant video screen.
Wedge: It’s probably a good idea to keep the KV Racing cars off the stage as the car would likely roll itself over the shooting flames in an effort to avoid being driven in a race.
Speedgeek: I just think that they guy that designed this should be fired. FIRED! FIRED! Heh heh heh. Um, yeah. That’s cool.
Furious: Yeah, I don't think we use the word "stage" anymore in America unless U2 has performed on it. Is U2 lined up? What about the Goo Goo Dolls at least?
13. IndyCar will start using the combined statistics of USAC, CART, ChampCar and IndyCar sanctioned series.
Wedge: Oh thank you Mr. Bernard; I’m so glad we can stop talking about breaking the amazing records of Sam Hornish Jr. and get back to shooting for Foyt’s records.
Speedgeek: Ralph de Palma, your place in history is secure again. Oh, and Paul Tracy, here’s where you need to win another race to pull ahead of Bourdais once and for all.
Furious: One time, in high school, I raced this guy from Indy in my Pontiac and I won. Am I undefeated in Indy stats? Well, technically I already was, I suppose...
14. The Series has changed the rule stating that: “A person can’t pit once a yellow comes out” to “If a driver has passed the pit-road commit line then they are allowed to pit when the yellow first comes out”
Wedge: Honestly I don’t know why it took them this long? We watched probably 20 different drivers lose races over this dumb original rule in the past 5 years, when they were forced to lose a lap by random circumstance.
Speedgeek: Amen and amen. A long overdue fix.
Furious: Will the pit monitor be checking the drivers for pit passes or what?
15. Pit selection for races (except Indy) will no longer be determined by current point standings, but instead by qualifying order of the previous race of like-type track (oval-to-oval/road-to-road). Also teams will no longer be allowed to average their 2 cars to get a spot for both between them.
Wedge: While this is not the best idea I’ve seen for determining the order, it’s better than giving the point leader an unfair advantage all season like we’ve done for so long now. I also don’t get why oval vs. road matters, in fact that’d help mix things up better.
Speedgeek: Agree. It’s 10 times better than the same guy getting to pit at pit-out for as long as he can squat in the points lead, which then helps him keep that points lead, which then allows him to keep pitting at pit-out, which then…never mind. Good rule change.
Furious: I heard Danica was trying to enforce the "Ladies First" rule here.
16. Restarts will now go to two-wide lines; and the start line will no longer be in the 3rd turn before the start finish line but “somewhere closer.” This is only for oval courses currently but will be evaluated for street courses.
Wedge: Another good progression but not a good final idea. The drivers already fail miserably at lining up for a regular two-wide or even single file start/re-start; the only way this works is if Barnhart starts black flagging drivers for screwing it up on purpose… or say jumping the start of the Indy 500.
Speedgeek: We are all watching you, Brian Barnhart. This rule change succeeds or fails on your shoulders.
Furious: We can put a man on the moon, but we can't fix this start line stuff. Great.
17. For Road/Street course qualifying; each car will only be allowed to select one set of tires for each round. Also the rookie (everyone out of top 10) practice session is returning each weekend.
Wedge: I do like making guys stick with one decision, in the past 2 years they all went with black hard tires until someone the guy who went with soft/red tires put up a good lap time and everyone then just switched to follow suit. Reminds me of how in A1GP qualifying you got 1 power boost but you had to choose which race to use it for in the weekend.
Speedgeek: Agree. Anything we can do like A1GP is a good thing… well except that whole lawsuits from partners, cars getting seized by law enforcement and going bankrupt.
Furious: Remember the time when that guy's tire exploded and it was filled with cork and he said he only did that to entertain the fans for fun during the practice sessions?
18. IndyCar is expecting at least 4 different aero kits to compete for the 2012 IndyCar chassis; they have till May to inform the series of their intent, and all will be announced in October. At least 2 chassis types will be at Indy in May this year.
Wedge: So many of us were excited there could be 2, but 4 is ecstatic level considering we will go from 1 engine 1 chassis to 3 engines 4 chassis options. So many combos we can see attempted, almost frothing at the mouth a little.
Speedgeek: Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrsssssshhhhhhhhhhffffffffllllggghhhhhh….. Oops. Sorry. Just frothing a little.
Furious: Combos are good, especially the pizza-flavored ones. I'm going to get some for Blogathon.
19. Cell phone technology may be integrated for the 2012 cars to help fans follow the series/races better. Think in-car cameras, telemetry and the like all available on your phone while you sit in the stands or on the couch of a race.
Wedge: This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that screams “Technologically advanced” and frankly will put this series well ahead of Formula One (who are just now going to HD) and NASCAR (who just got to unleaded fuel) for fan interaction and consumer seen technology.
Speedgeek: One demographic that’s woefully underserved by all racing series worldwide? Nerds. I just think that IndyCar needs to go the next step and have free race tickets print out automatically for anybody who downloads the latest version of Linux.
Furious: The INDYCAR app! How do you explain to these nerds that the Danica version only follows her when she is RACING?
20. Lastly, the 2012 engine specifications have changed from 2.4 liter maximum to 2.2 liter maximum.
Wedge: This seems to have been done to be more energy efficient and to give more weight to the turbocharging capability, which sounds like good reasoning to me and forward thinking: Let’s still go faster than NASCAR but use even smaller engines.
Speedgeek: Amen. “Hey, NASCAR fans! Your guys do 180 MPH at the Speedway? Yeah, we do 50 extra MPH with just over a third of the engine size! How’s that space-age fuel injection working out for you, anyway?”
Furious: Can I just get a 2.4 liter of Coke? We can put a man on the moon, but we can't get a 2.4 liter of Coke.
1. In an effort to capitalize on spoken name recognition, the Indy Racing League has officially changed its name to INDYCAR.
Allen Wedge: As a fellow Marketing guy, I can totally see where Randy is going with this; we all know how much easier it is recognized by the standard public, I just could have gone for an actual acronym.
The Speedgeek: I…sort of hate it. So, now it’s the INDYCAR IZOD IndyCar Series? Why not call it the “INDYCAR Presents the INDYCAR IZOD IndyCar Series”? And when the new Dallara “IndyCar”(that’s what they’re badging it) comes out in 2012, it could be the “INDYCAR Presents the INDYCAR IZOD IndyCar Series Featuring The New IndyCar”?
Mike Furious: No, this is totally an acronym. If I ever have trouble spelling "INDYCAR," I only need to remember the classic quote from Washington Irving: "Ichabod never danced, yet craved ample ravioli."
2. Starwood hotels has been announced as a sponsor by way of “the official hotels of INDYCAR” under a 3 year deal.
Wedge: A great positive for the series as Starwood represents some heavy hitters: Westin, W, Sheraton, FourPoints, etc. But with them being higher end hotels, one would really hope that it also includes discounts for teams as they travel to 17 different cities.
Speedgeek: This Gold Level Hilton Honors member wishes it were a different chain. Now, I have to balance my loyalty to my favorite racing series and my loyalty to my favorite hotel chain/favorite talentless harlot?
Furious: Is there an official cheeseburger of INDYCAR? I need to know so I can have loyalties as well.
Wedge: On one hand a great move; get them in while they are young. On the other hand how in the world do they plan on having security enforce the difference between 8 and 9?
Speedgeek: You got that right, Wedge. They’re going to have to start “carding” anybody who looks like they might be younger than 11, just in case.
Furious: No, this is easy. Anyone not holding a beer (or wearing a hat filled with beer containing convenient straws reaching down to the mouth) is obviously 8 or younger. Or... is that NASCAR?
4. INDYCAR is opening an L.A. office In order to try and develop new inroads to movies and documentary type TV shows.
Wedge: On one hand it worries me that the person they chose, Sarah Nettinga, has Herbie: Fully Loaded to her name… on the other hand she also produced Talledega Nights. Push.
Speedgeek: This is worthless unless somebody can convince Sebastien Bourdais to come back to IndyCar and then have him change his name to Jean Girard. That’s the only way this pays off.
Furious: You guys know I'm a horror person myself. So if you tell me I'm getting a Christine sequel based on this new Dallara "IndyCar," my only question is: How long until Stephen King is done with the script?!
5. The Edmonton race, previously cancelled by city legislators, has been re-added to the schedule. A new 3-year agreement has been reached between city, promoter, and series to continue the race.
Wedge: This is awesome for Edmonton, but let’s see the new track map please, we love track maps. What’s it going to be like now since it uses a totally different set of runways?
Speedgeek: I love it. The schedule should be 1/4th airport tracks anyway. Now let’s get on Cleveland and Meigs Field (where there was rumored to be a CART race back in the late-‘90s, if memory serves), and we’ll be talking.
Furious: Any chance of adding that idea I sent in where we would do a "running of the bulls" with IndyCars instead of animals? Randy Bernard is not the best about returning my e-mails.
6. ABC’s slate of broadcast races have been announced: St. Pete, Indy, Milwaukee, New Hampshire and the unannounced finale race which is probably Vegas but for some reason no one wants to admit it’s Vegas, even though at this point it’d be silly to not be Vegas.
Wedge: On the one hand, great move getting the finale on ABC… on the other hand: For the love of all that is holy, can we keep Marty Reid away from Vegas? The last thing we need going into the final laps of a close championship is misidentification between a Penske Black and Red car and the blue and green Hyundai Sonata in the parking lot outside the track.
Speedgeek: I can already hear it. “Vince Welch! Can you tell us how many laps it’s been since Ryan Briscoe pitted…oh! Ryan Briscoe wins the race and the championship!”
Furious: The problem is that they've made the decision, but out of respect for the unwritten rules, no one can talk about it! "What happens in Vegas..."
Wedge: Super positive news here, especially considering they are significant numbers that can actually help carry a driver up to the next level, but not enough that they can be lazy about it. As for the Daly/Clausen car, this seems to me a negative, isn’t the true idea to get those drivers good at both ovals and road courses, now we’ve taken away that chance in 2011.
Speedgeek: All seriousness here, I think this gives Conor and Bryan a chance to run up front in the handful of races that they’ll get, allowing them to build sponsorship to run the whole second half of 2011 or the whole 2012 season. Force Clausen to run at St. Pete, and he’s liable to look Jack Miller-esque out there. It’s just not his bag yet.
Furious: This would be like the American League deciding its pitchers shouldn't have to bat, therefore allowing an extra position player to bat in the pitcher's spot of the line-up. How sad would that be?? Oh wait...
8. The IndyCar series will implement a 105% rule on road/street courses, meaning all drivers must be within 105% of the leader’s lap times; otherwise they can be disqualified.
Wedge: Otherwise known as the Milka Duno rule; or the Marty Roth Rule part B. It’s a great move assuming the race director has the discretion of enforcing it. This way a good driver who has a wreck in early practice while warming up isn’t eliminated from the weekend.
Speedgeek: I’m only a tad concerned about 105% being a little too tight. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple of races last year when Mario Moraes, Mario Romancini and maybe even Danica Patrick flirted with 105%. That could get reeeeeal squishy, under the case that somebody gets held up on their one fast lap or something.
Furious: This only ensures that the first INDYCAR movie will not be based on "The Tortoise and the Hare." And I'm fine with that.
9. The Indy Lights Series is returning to TV and will be tape-delayed to broadcast on Wednesdays following their race weekends at 6pm.
Wedge: I’m very glad they’re on TV and all, but seriously, Versus, you couldn’t make room between your 5,000th airing of Tin Cup, Rocky and Caddyshack and replaying WEC fights for the 72nd time? I hope NBC teaches you that showing sports is much better for a sports channel than showing the same 4 movies repeatedly.
Speedgeek: Agreed. You’re a sports channel, Versus. Act like it. And while you’re in the act of filling program hours, let’s have some half hour shows for Star Mazda and USF2000, while we’re at it. And, yes, I know I’m being demanding. What can I say? I like to watch racing.
Furious: Do they understand I'm going to have walk around at work and at home for like FOUR DAYS going, "NO ONE tell me who won the Indy Lights Race this weekend! I'M WAITING FOR THE VERSUS COVERAGE, OK?!"
10. This year's Indianapolis 500 will do two things to go after new audiences: 1) they will for the first time allow online at-home printing of tickets and, 2) the race will get a Spanish-language radio broadcast.
Wedge: Great move on both parts because both are optional. The people those things cater to can participate while traditionalists can do their thing.
Speedgeek: I like print-at-home tickets for movies, but I can’t imagine having my printer make a display-able heirloom, like all the rest of my 500 tickets are. On the other hand, I love the Spanish radio broadcast thing, and I’m liable to listen to that instead of Paul Page at the race this May. Gooooooooaaaaaaaalllll!!!!
Furious: Can we print cheeseburgers yet? We can send a man to the moon, but we can't print cheeseburgers yet.
Wedge: The only thing better than that is if they got all those cars to go around the track with veterans driving them. I also really hope that tagline is prefaced about the entire race, not the very spec-car 2011 edition.
Speedgeek: I almost fainted at the thought of scrambling around getting Ted Prappas’s, Didier Theys’s and Tero Palmroth’s autographs. Yes, I’ll also be the one doing cartwheels down the Tower Terrace because I caught a glimpse of Al Unser Jr.’s 1994 Penske-Mercedes 500I.
Furious: Is this going to be one of those things that they have to cancel at the last second and get all of this together again next year all because someone didn't realize that the first year doesn't count as a "birthday"?
12. The IndyCar Series this year will have a new gigantic Driver Introduction stage, so big it will fit a full size car and shoot flames out of the sides and have a giant video screen.
Wedge: It’s probably a good idea to keep the KV Racing cars off the stage as the car would likely roll itself over the shooting flames in an effort to avoid being driven in a race.
Speedgeek: I just think that they guy that designed this should be fired. FIRED! FIRED! Heh heh heh. Um, yeah. That’s cool.
Furious: Yeah, I don't think we use the word "stage" anymore in America unless U2 has performed on it. Is U2 lined up? What about the Goo Goo Dolls at least?
13. IndyCar will start using the combined statistics of USAC, CART, ChampCar and IndyCar sanctioned series.
Wedge: Oh thank you Mr. Bernard; I’m so glad we can stop talking about breaking the amazing records of Sam Hornish Jr. and get back to shooting for Foyt’s records.
Speedgeek: Ralph de Palma, your place in history is secure again. Oh, and Paul Tracy, here’s where you need to win another race to pull ahead of Bourdais once and for all.
Furious: One time, in high school, I raced this guy from Indy in my Pontiac and I won. Am I undefeated in Indy stats? Well, technically I already was, I suppose...
14. The Series has changed the rule stating that: “A person can’t pit once a yellow comes out” to “If a driver has passed the pit-road commit line then they are allowed to pit when the yellow first comes out”Wedge: Honestly I don’t know why it took them this long? We watched probably 20 different drivers lose races over this dumb original rule in the past 5 years, when they were forced to lose a lap by random circumstance.
Speedgeek: Amen and amen. A long overdue fix.
Furious: Will the pit monitor be checking the drivers for pit passes or what?
15. Pit selection for races (except Indy) will no longer be determined by current point standings, but instead by qualifying order of the previous race of like-type track (oval-to-oval/road-to-road). Also teams will no longer be allowed to average their 2 cars to get a spot for both between them.
Wedge: While this is not the best idea I’ve seen for determining the order, it’s better than giving the point leader an unfair advantage all season like we’ve done for so long now. I also don’t get why oval vs. road matters, in fact that’d help mix things up better.
Speedgeek: Agree. It’s 10 times better than the same guy getting to pit at pit-out for as long as he can squat in the points lead, which then helps him keep that points lead, which then allows him to keep pitting at pit-out, which then…never mind. Good rule change.
Furious: I heard Danica was trying to enforce the "Ladies First" rule here.
16. Restarts will now go to two-wide lines; and the start line will no longer be in the 3rd turn before the start finish line but “somewhere closer.” This is only for oval courses currently but will be evaluated for street courses.Wedge: Another good progression but not a good final idea. The drivers already fail miserably at lining up for a regular two-wide or even single file start/re-start; the only way this works is if Barnhart starts black flagging drivers for screwing it up on purpose… or say jumping the start of the Indy 500.
Speedgeek: We are all watching you, Brian Barnhart. This rule change succeeds or fails on your shoulders.
Furious: We can put a man on the moon, but we can't fix this start line stuff. Great.
17. For Road/Street course qualifying; each car will only be allowed to select one set of tires for each round. Also the rookie (everyone out of top 10) practice session is returning each weekend.
Wedge: I do like making guys stick with one decision, in the past 2 years they all went with black hard tires until someone the guy who went with soft/red tires put up a good lap time and everyone then just switched to follow suit. Reminds me of how in A1GP qualifying you got 1 power boost but you had to choose which race to use it for in the weekend.Speedgeek: Agree. Anything we can do like A1GP is a good thing… well except that whole lawsuits from partners, cars getting seized by law enforcement and going bankrupt.
Furious: Remember the time when that guy's tire exploded and it was filled with cork and he said he only did that to entertain the fans for fun during the practice sessions?
18. IndyCar is expecting at least 4 different aero kits to compete for the 2012 IndyCar chassis; they have till May to inform the series of their intent, and all will be announced in October. At least 2 chassis types will be at Indy in May this year.
Wedge: So many of us were excited there could be 2, but 4 is ecstatic level considering we will go from 1 engine 1 chassis to 3 engines 4 chassis options. So many combos we can see attempted, almost frothing at the mouth a little.
Speedgeek: Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrsssssshhhhhhhhhhffffffffllllggghhhhhh….. Oops. Sorry. Just frothing a little.
Furious: Combos are good, especially the pizza-flavored ones. I'm going to get some for Blogathon.
19. Cell phone technology may be integrated for the 2012 cars to help fans follow the series/races better. Think in-car cameras, telemetry and the like all available on your phone while you sit in the stands or on the couch of a race.
Wedge: This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that screams “Technologically advanced” and frankly will put this series well ahead of Formula One (who are just now going to HD) and NASCAR (who just got to unleaded fuel) for fan interaction and consumer seen technology.
Speedgeek: One demographic that’s woefully underserved by all racing series worldwide? Nerds. I just think that IndyCar needs to go the next step and have free race tickets print out automatically for anybody who downloads the latest version of Linux.
Furious: The INDYCAR app! How do you explain to these nerds that the Danica version only follows her when she is RACING?
Wedge: This seems to have been done to be more energy efficient and to give more weight to the turbocharging capability, which sounds like good reasoning to me and forward thinking: Let’s still go faster than NASCAR but use even smaller engines.
Speedgeek: Amen. “Hey, NASCAR fans! Your guys do 180 MPH at the Speedway? Yeah, we do 50 extra MPH with just over a third of the engine size! How’s that space-age fuel injection working out for you, anyway?”
Furious: Can I just get a 2.4 liter of Coke? We can put a man on the moon, but we can't get a 2.4 liter of Coke.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
30 For 30: Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks
Amazon
10/10
After hearing Reggie Miller on Howard Stern one day in 1995, I bought his book and he immediately became my second favorite player (behind Jordan).
To me, this is the perfect story for this 30 For 30 series. It's something I lived through and would likely try to tell my kids about someday, but wouldn't really be able to put into words myself.
The memory of Reggie scoring those eight points in eleven seconds against the Knicks is one of my favorites from a time when I used to actually plan my days around watching the NBA on television.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
30 For 30: Tim Richmond: To The Limit
Amazon
8/10
Hey, I watched a movie about a racing guy!
Tim Richmond started in Indy Racing and then moved to NASCAR. He had a sweet mullet, partied with famous people, had lots of sex, and drove his Folgers car really fast. Then he got AIDS and died.
Honestly, the best part, to me, was how some of the older racers still can't sit down and say something nice about him just because he wasn't like the typical NASCAR guys.
I actually watched the whole thing!
(You'll probably want to wait until Wedge or Andy watches this and posts a better "review.")
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
30 For 30: Jordan Rides the Bus
Amazon
9/10
We first meet the journalists who covered Michael Jordan's retirement and then his transition to baseball. Of course, many of them had not written nice things at the time.
The movie then focuses on people whose lives were impacted by Jordan's stay in Birmingham: a real estate agent, a bar owner, a bus driver, etc.
I was in high school at this time and was the world's biggest Jordan fan, so I liked this. And while the strike may have killed his baseball career, it was fun to see people admit they had been wrong about his chances of success.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Tweaking NASCAR's Shootout...Just a Little Bit More
Last week, NASCAR announced the new criteria for drivers to make it into the season-opening All-Star-ish race, the Budweiser Shootout. For a race that for many years used to contain only the previous season's pole sitters and any living previous winners of the Shootout (formerly known as the Busch Clash, and as my buddy Rick suggested when the name was changed to the Bud Shootout in 1998, "they could change the name to a different Anheuser-Busch product every year. Next year, it could be the Michelob Melee. Or maybe the Tequiza Tangle." And so it has remained simply "The Tangle" in our race fan shorthand), the new criteria are a fair bit looser:
- Last season's 12 Chase for the Cup drivers.
- Any past Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup champion.
- Any past winners of the Clash/Shootout/Melee/Tangle/King Cobra Carambolage.
- Past winners of any points-paying race at Daytona (i.e. no Twin-125 or -150 winners, sorry, Ricky Rudd!).
- Series Rookies of the Year from the 2000s.
* Any driver who qualifies under the above rules must have participated in any points paying Cup race in the last two years. Too bad for you, Greg Sacks and Ken Bouchard.
By my way of seeing, the new rules were put in place in order to assure that up and coming NASCAR drivers like Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano (and their high-visibility sponsors, Red Bull and Home Deopt, respectively) would be guaranteed to make the race, but it has also ensured that several lower visibility drivers, namely John Andretti, Derrike Cope, Ken Schrader, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin and last year's series RoY, Kevin Conway, are also eligible for the race. Seeing as how Conway managed to qualify for the alleged "All-Star" race with a grand total of three career top-30 finishes (you read that right), I think that NASCAR could have gone even further in making sure that their first race of the season is as inclusive as possible.
With a tip of the hat to Tom Jensen of SpeedTV.com and his, um, interesting suggestions for freshening up the Chase for the Cup (which I could spin into its own 3,000 word critique, but I'll fore go for the time being), here are my top-5 suggestions for freshening up the Bud Shootout:
1) Allow in any driver in the top-10 in points from any NASCAR Touring Series. Some folks might say that this is a great idea in order to see some young talent like Cole Whitt or Bobby Santos, but I think we'd be even better served by being able to see some "less famous talent" from the NASCAR underseries, like Dexter Stacey or Rogelio Lopez.
2) Pick one lap, randomly picked and unannounced beforehand, sometime during SpeedTV's 23 HOURS of Daytona testing coverage, and whoever is leading the biggest draft pack on the track on that random lap gets into the Shootout. You want to make 23 hours of random cars circulating, trying out different setups and drafting with different people seem semi-relevant? No better way than to make it the world's most meaningless lottery! Everybody will be driving toward the front of every pack on every lap of testing! We'll have crashes galore as guys spend every day practicing their blocking techniques! Carl Edwards will probably punch every other Cup driver at least once before the end of Speedweeks! What could go wrong?
3) Allow in the highest ranked driver from the previous season's IndyCar standings who is appearing at Daytona in a stock car. Then, have a clam bake with tainted seafood for all drivers who finished ahead of Danica Patrick, just to be safe.
4) (Courtesy my buddy Rick) Anybody hanging out at the Daytona Beach Hooters at 2:00 on the Thursday before the Shootout is in.
5) Employ somebody who has some experience in giving away rides to select who gets in. This could be her final blockbuster giveaway to trump all her previous giveaways! "You're in the Shootout! You're in the Shootout! You're in the Shootout! You're in the Shootout!" And after all, doesn't everything with her seal of approval on it rake in millions upon untold millions of dollars?
Looking for a ratings surge? Pick any of these five suggestions, and it's a guaranteed 14.0 rating. You're welcome, NASCAR. My bill is in the mail.
- Last season's 12 Chase for the Cup drivers.
- Any past Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup champion.
- Any past winners of the Clash/Shootout/Melee/Tangle/King Cobra Carambolage.
- Past winners of any points-paying race at Daytona (i.e. no Twin-125 or -150 winners, sorry, Ricky Rudd!).
- Series Rookies of the Year from the 2000s.
* Any driver who qualifies under the above rules must have participated in any points paying Cup race in the last two years. Too bad for you, Greg Sacks and Ken Bouchard.
By my way of seeing, the new rules were put in place in order to assure that up and coming NASCAR drivers like Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano (and their high-visibility sponsors, Red Bull and Home Deopt, respectively) would be guaranteed to make the race, but it has also ensured that several lower visibility drivers, namely John Andretti, Derrike Cope, Ken Schrader, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin and last year's series RoY, Kevin Conway, are also eligible for the race. Seeing as how Conway managed to qualify for the alleged "All-Star" race with a grand total of three career top-30 finishes (you read that right), I think that NASCAR could have gone even further in making sure that their first race of the season is as inclusive as possible.
With a tip of the hat to Tom Jensen of SpeedTV.com and his, um, interesting suggestions for freshening up the Chase for the Cup (which I could spin into its own 3,000 word critique, but I'll fore go for the time being), here are my top-5 suggestions for freshening up the Bud Shootout:
1) Allow in any driver in the top-10 in points from any NASCAR Touring Series. Some folks might say that this is a great idea in order to see some young talent like Cole Whitt or Bobby Santos, but I think we'd be even better served by being able to see some "less famous talent" from the NASCAR underseries, like Dexter Stacey or Rogelio Lopez.
2) Pick one lap, randomly picked and unannounced beforehand, sometime during SpeedTV's 23 HOURS of Daytona testing coverage, and whoever is leading the biggest draft pack on the track on that random lap gets into the Shootout. You want to make 23 hours of random cars circulating, trying out different setups and drafting with different people seem semi-relevant? No better way than to make it the world's most meaningless lottery! Everybody will be driving toward the front of every pack on every lap of testing! We'll have crashes galore as guys spend every day practicing their blocking techniques! Carl Edwards will probably punch every other Cup driver at least once before the end of Speedweeks! What could go wrong?
3) Allow in the highest ranked driver from the previous season's IndyCar standings who is appearing at Daytona in a stock car. Then, have a clam bake with tainted seafood for all drivers who finished ahead of Danica Patrick, just to be safe.
4) (Courtesy my buddy Rick) Anybody hanging out at the Daytona Beach Hooters at 2:00 on the Thursday before the Shootout is in.
5) Employ somebody who has some experience in giving away rides to select who gets in. This could be her final blockbuster giveaway to trump all her previous giveaways! "You're in the Shootout! You're in the Shootout! You're in the Shootout! You're in the Shootout!" And after all, doesn't everything with her seal of approval on it rake in millions upon untold millions of dollars?
Looking for a ratings surge? Pick any of these five suggestions, and it's a guaranteed 14.0 rating. You're welcome, NASCAR. My bill is in the mail.
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