I'm in a full-blown NASCAR sulk this weekend. My driver lost his ride for next season. Patrick Carpentier is being replaced by Reed Sorenson. He'll be the third driver in the 10 car in three years.
If you sign an open-wheel specialist with a strength at road racing, and he doesn't immediately win on the ovals of NASCAR.....um...what were you expecting? And if he qualifies well, hangs with the big boys when he's running with them but loses track position in the pits....whose fault is that exactly?
*sigh*
We now return you to your regularly scheduled sulk-free day.
Showing posts with label auto racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label auto racing. Show all posts
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
In Driver News...
Patrick did especially well this past week at the Brickyard, finishing 18th. Hey, a top 20 finish is a great thing! AND that puts him in 36th position overall. One more move up and he doesn't have to qualify for races anymore, he's automatically in.
That of course assumes the races won't go to caution every ten laps for new tires.
In other racing news, I have to say I get less impressed with Danica Patrick's behavior almost every week. Her little spat with Milka Duno would have been funnier had Milka slugged her one, but at least Milka got to throw a towel.
I'm not really sure if Danica gets a pass because she's female or not. Male drivers confront each other all the time. Is she trying too hard to be one of the guys, feeling she can confront anybody who does her wrong? Does she think being female gives her a pass on jumping on the guys because she knows they really can't jump back at her? Because frankly, the more I hear of stuff like this, I think she's behaving like a brat. She has to know everybody's eyes are on her, and that includes all those little girls who look up to her.
She's not the friendliest person, so it appears - she comes off as a bit of a cold fish. Fine. I get that she's had a lot of sexism to deal with. And she's talented, for sure. But I can say that if she had Sarah Fisher's personality, or Sarah had her driving skills/ride, the tables would sure be turned and Sarah would be the most popular driver in the series, along the league of Helio Castroneves. Danica is hurting her own popularity by appearing standoffish.
And she's of course under lots of pressure. I get that too. But she has to learn to behave herself in the public eye with the panache of Lyn St. James or Dale Earnhardt Jr and remember that storming down pit road to snap at somebody just makes her look like a little kid who can't handle the pressure.
That of course assumes the races won't go to caution every ten laps for new tires.
In other racing news, I have to say I get less impressed with Danica Patrick's behavior almost every week. Her little spat with Milka Duno would have been funnier had Milka slugged her one, but at least Milka got to throw a towel.
I'm not really sure if Danica gets a pass because she's female or not. Male drivers confront each other all the time. Is she trying too hard to be one of the guys, feeling she can confront anybody who does her wrong? Does she think being female gives her a pass on jumping on the guys because she knows they really can't jump back at her? Because frankly, the more I hear of stuff like this, I think she's behaving like a brat. She has to know everybody's eyes are on her, and that includes all those little girls who look up to her.
She's not the friendliest person, so it appears - she comes off as a bit of a cold fish. Fine. I get that she's had a lot of sexism to deal with. And she's talented, for sure. But I can say that if she had Sarah Fisher's personality, or Sarah had her driving skills/ride, the tables would sure be turned and Sarah would be the most popular driver in the series, along the league of Helio Castroneves. Danica is hurting her own popularity by appearing standoffish.
And she's of course under lots of pressure. I get that too. But she has to learn to behave herself in the public eye with the panache of Lyn St. James or Dale Earnhardt Jr and remember that storming down pit road to snap at somebody just makes her look like a little kid who can't handle the pressure.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Too Many Drivers, So Few Victories
In my family, car racing is like a religion. If you don't have somebody to worship - I mean, follow - in every league, you might be assigned one. And in my case that could mean Kevin "Crash" Cogan, who once took Mario Andretti out of the Indy 500 in the first lap, meaning my mother didn't want to speak to me for the rest of the race.
But with all the drivers changing leagues, I decided to look over which drivers I've either rooted for the in past (I figure once I pick a driver, I'm sticking with them regardless of league) or am rooting for now - or both. Trust me, it gets a little wonky. And that's if you can keep track of the name of each league. (WHY is NASCAR called 'Sprint Cup' when they run long races????)
NASCAR - Patrick Carpentier, Scott Riggs, Jamie McMurray
Last season I thought, "Gee, I don't have anyone to root for, and I really should. Riggs is closer in age to me, and McMurray's cute. That'll work." Neither one did bupkas last year. Then Carpentier, who was one of my longtime open-wheelers (who disappeared for a while) popped up in NASCAR this season. So he's my #1, and the other guys are backups. This is all because Terry Labonte retired, and there was NO WAY I was rooting for Kyle Busch in the Kellogg car.
CHAMP Car - Katherine Legge
I always try to root for every woman, in any league. I'm all about girl power and shutting up people like Robby Gordon, who bitched about Danica Patrick being lighter and thus having faster times in her car. Um, Robby, you're just pissed cuz she's a better driver than you. Or even Richard Petty, who basically said women don't belong in racing. I want them to eat their words in a crow sandwich. Anyway, since Champ Car used to be CART and such, my drivers have all changed a couple of times, and now this league is like mini Formula 1. And so Katherine's all I've got in this league now!
IRL - Here's where it gets weird - Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick, Scott Sharp, and to a much lesser extent, Milka Duno.
I started pulling for Sarah and Scott first (this is even assuming he's going to run IRL this year because he's not listed on the web page). Then Danica came in and created a huge fuss. So of course I've got to pull for her - because that woman deserves a win, and to shut people up. And then like I said, I pull for all gals. Thus Milka too, but to a much lesser extent.
American LeMans Series
Okay, now that I've done some research, it looks like Sharp is now running in this league, even though he's not on this web page either. So I guess I'm pulling for him here. *shrug* Otherwise, I just don't care.
Misc Road Racing
Scott Pruett is an old open wheel favorite of mine (I think he looks like a nice guy) - and he recently was part of the team that won the Rolex 24 hours at Daytona. He does a lot of road racing, 24 hour endurance stuff, and who knows what else. So whenever he shows up, I root for him. But it's kind of sporadic.
Formula 1
Bores me, so I don't have a driver here.
Um. Yeah. This is the sign of a sick family, isn't it?
But with all the drivers changing leagues, I decided to look over which drivers I've either rooted for the in past (I figure once I pick a driver, I'm sticking with them regardless of league) or am rooting for now - or both. Trust me, it gets a little wonky. And that's if you can keep track of the name of each league. (WHY is NASCAR called 'Sprint Cup' when they run long races????)
NASCAR - Patrick Carpentier, Scott Riggs, Jamie McMurray
Last season I thought, "Gee, I don't have anyone to root for, and I really should. Riggs is closer in age to me, and McMurray's cute. That'll work." Neither one did bupkas last year. Then Carpentier, who was one of my longtime open-wheelers (who disappeared for a while) popped up in NASCAR this season. So he's my #1, and the other guys are backups. This is all because Terry Labonte retired, and there was NO WAY I was rooting for Kyle Busch in the Kellogg car.
CHAMP Car - Katherine Legge
I always try to root for every woman, in any league. I'm all about girl power and shutting up people like Robby Gordon, who bitched about Danica Patrick being lighter and thus having faster times in her car. Um, Robby, you're just pissed cuz she's a better driver than you. Or even Richard Petty, who basically said women don't belong in racing. I want them to eat their words in a crow sandwich. Anyway, since Champ Car used to be CART and such, my drivers have all changed a couple of times, and now this league is like mini Formula 1. And so Katherine's all I've got in this league now!
IRL - Here's where it gets weird - Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick, Scott Sharp, and to a much lesser extent, Milka Duno.
I started pulling for Sarah and Scott first (this is even assuming he's going to run IRL this year because he's not listed on the web page). Then Danica came in and created a huge fuss. So of course I've got to pull for her - because that woman deserves a win, and to shut people up. And then like I said, I pull for all gals. Thus Milka too, but to a much lesser extent.
American LeMans Series
Okay, now that I've done some research, it looks like Sharp is now running in this league, even though he's not on this web page either. So I guess I'm pulling for him here. *shrug* Otherwise, I just don't care.
Misc Road Racing
Scott Pruett is an old open wheel favorite of mine (I think he looks like a nice guy) - and he recently was part of the team that won the Rolex 24 hours at Daytona. He does a lot of road racing, 24 hour endurance stuff, and who knows what else. So whenever he shows up, I root for him. But it's kind of sporadic.
Formula 1
Bores me, so I don't have a driver here.
Um. Yeah. This is the sign of a sick family, isn't it?
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