Gotta luv Robin…

I used to really look forward to Robin’s Chat’s. Fun, off the cuff, tell it like it is, banter. Now they’ve decided that there will be weekly “mail bag” sessions. Bad move in my opinion. Instead of dozens of unedited, fast paced questions/answers, we get 3-5 long winded email questions and answers. meh.

Anyway, one of the long winded questions attacked Robin’s assertion that the DP01 should be adapted and brought over to the unified series, this was his response:

RM: The Dallara is an old car and the Panoz is much younger but the bottom line is that the DP01 looks like a sexy, open-wheel car and the Dallara looks like an old boat plowing through the water with its bow in the air. The IRL engines have always been painfully loud (look at the fans holding their ears) and sound like a stock car engine that’s dropped a cylinder. Again, the turbo Cosworth sings when it goes by and has a distinctive, powerful sound. I’d like to see the rules opened up so you could run whatever you wanted, so I’m with you on the good old days too.

hehe… love him.

Here is the rest of this weeks “mail bag”

like sands through the hour glass…

time is running out for my beloved home race. Ok, technically it ran out a couple of months ago… but today is April 30th. The oft cited deadline for the final decision regarding the resurrection of the Toronto race on the 2009 IndyCar schedule

Mr. McNulty at the Toronto Sun & Mr. Pappone at the Globe & Mail both ran articles yesterday about the negotiations to save the Grand Prix of Toronto. (which will likely be renamed yet again, reacquiring the former Indy moniker that we never could seem to shake even after two ) Both cited a number of unnamed sources “close” to the talks and referred to the almost identical quote from GPAT Prez Charlie Johnstone (obviously the “this is our standard press release answer for now”) Neither had anything official from AGR. (btw Dean, it’s KEVIN Savoree not Dennis)
While the Globe had some very generic non-substance quotes from Toronto Tourism, an Indy Car “spokesperson” and the deputy mayor, the Sun had a quote from Bob Singleton who was on the gravy train during the Molson years (for both T.O. and Vancouver), then headed up the now defunct San Jose GP. (it was axed before mergification) What they fail to disclose however is that he is now vice-president of corporate operations at Downsview Park’s Action Sports Complex. Ya that place, where he wants to build a race track… to host NASCAR… Something that McNulty would love to see happen… So, his (Bob’s) somewhat tainted view of costs/spending should be taken with a grain of salt as he stands to benefit either way. (it is rumoured that the race would move up to the Downsview location for 09)
fwiw… neither of the autosports guys at the Toronto Star touched the subject. (likely realizing that it could actually be more hurtful than helpful at this juncture, and they actually enjoy open wheel racing over the cabs…)

All that aside, there couldn’t possibly be a worse time to be negotiating this race in the court of public opinion, flogging the fact (allegedly) that AGR is looking for handouts. er… more handouts from the government. We just went through a 2 day wildcat transit strike (begging for more government money) which could escalate into something even uglier down the line. GM announced they are cutting 1000 jobs at their Oshawa Plant. (begging for more government money) Gas prices are stupid, and the world is in an Eco-holic stupor of late. Everything is Green, Green, Green. (and we’re not talking about the flag being waved) In fact I was down at the Grand Prix site this weekend, while people trampled over the faded start/finish line on their way into the Eco Living show. (I guess it’s a plus that the cars that would be running use ethanol?)

At any rate… we should hear tomorrow, according to these guys, what the final decision is. Once they secure the race, they best start securing some Canadian drivers besides Marty Roth (who???) for the field, or this is going to be a much steeper climb up the recovery ladder.

hidden gems…

Don’t you just love the internet? No matter what your interests or line of work, in the blink of an eye you can become ensconced in a community of like minded individuals.

When I started this little blog a year ago, it was out of frustration. I had been toiling for a number of years on an internet forum, in front of and behind the scenes. My participation came to a end (and frustration to the boiling point) when I began to rebel against the censorship I was being forced to enforce against my fellow participants, and when I myself became censored and subsequently pushed under the “you’re not a real fan if you speak out against the series” bus.

My blog became my little private personal oasis of unabashed opinion and foul language. ( I do so love the word “fuck”!) A place for me to speak my mind and record my thoughts on the series, the races and the situations that came up throughout the season. For a couple of months I was convinced it was as public as the paper journal on my beside table. Then a few of my former forum conversationalists came out of the shadows. It was like a mini, unmoderated forum.
Eventually through some shout outs and linkage via other open wheel bloggers, my little world started to expand.

With the recent “unification”* of American open wheel, I found myself suddenly thrust into the blogging spotlight, linked to and commented on by IndyCar bloggers!! I took a step back. Did they know I was a Champ Car follower? That I had championed that series while openly disagreeing with and oft times bashing theirs? Would I have to watch what I said from now on?

In a word, no. I was pleasantly surprised to find that as open-minded as I have been over the last couple of months to our new future, learning about IndyCar and accepting the challenges ahead, so too were my new internet brethren open to my point of view from the other side. I remain outspoken and opinionated, both positively and negatively, and am truly enjoying the conversations that have sprouted up within the comment section of my little online oasis. I have also enjoyed reading and conversing on the many funny, intelligent and informative blogs from the “other side” of the fence. Would I have given them any eye or air time a year ago? Probably not. (of course I was but a blip on their radar as well) But as we’ve all come to discover, some of us rather painfully of late, things change. Situations change. People change.

So this is my shout out to some great reads out there in open wheel internet land! Don’t be afraid, my Champ Car refugees, to click on links with the words Indy or IRL in the title. You may find yourself surprised, like I was, that they are just like us. They passionately support the series and drivers they champion. They loudly protest slights and wrong doings against it. And they puff out their chests and brag when the good stuff happens. Many even agree with us on what needs to be changed or improved upon. *gasp*

Many of you have discovered the links on the sidebar on your own and bravely clicked. (I see it in my stats) I hope you have taken it upon yourself to bookmark them in your own browsers and have made them a regular stop during your surfing day.

While everyone on my list is highly recommended, I am going to give a few some extra shout outs…(this is where I inevitably offend someone on the list who didn’t get the spotlight… so… sorry in advance)

Yaumb was my first “linker”. He started the ball rolling on my losing my anonymity here in interweb land. He’s not as prolific as some of us, but with him it’s about quality not quantity.

SpinDoctor is a valuable and rare gem. He posts every Tuesday. I count the days. As a wannabe motorsports writer and PR person, it’s like a priceless “how to” workshop. If you’re in the biz… bookmark this guy!

Is it May Yet & My name is IRL, daily stops for me. May yet is more straightforward in his delivery and you would think he is “all business” until he pulls out the horrifying PT picture or the “son of stache” version of Graham Rahal… thats when you realize his humour is understated. My name has that enjoyable touch of snark that keeps you coming back. Admittedly I rolled my eyes at him a lot the first few reads, but now I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy his POV. (I guess I’ve been fully assimilated!)

Pressdog. What is there to say about this guy other than I sincerely hope to sit beside him for a race in the future. His post race commentary notes are the highlight of my Mondays. Seriously. Humour and satire at it’s best.

ok… I’ll close my gushing suck up fest of a post with this weeks discovery:

Dr Indy. This is part news portal, part blog. There is no commentary option sadly, as I would love to give him many pats on the back. Today he posted an amazing article. (which prompted this “gee ain’t the internet great!” post)

The article was posted with permission by the author, Jason Peters. I won’t repost it here because I wasn’t the one to procure such permission, but I highly HIGHLY recommend you click and read. Stellar insight. Truly.

and with that, my lunch break is over and I must get back to work. If you know of any “must read” blogs out there that I have yet to discover on my own, please make me aware! There’s always room on my link list!

TSN…

YOU SUCK!

Lest I be left thinking that TSN purposely provided the worst television coverage of Champ Car whilst giving preferential treatment to IndyCar, they proved loud and clear that they are equal opportunity jag offs when it comes to American Open Wheel.
Sure… they’ll run the F1 races live, side by side with Speed. (they’ll even repeat them later at a more optimal time for those that don’t wish to get up at the crack of dawn)
They’ll even run the Nascar races live alongside the 13 other stations doing the same…
Those of us interested in following AOW, however, get the following treatment…

I got around to watching the race I had to tape at 12:30am EST (7hrs after it ran)
I wanted to see all of the things I “heard” about while listening to the race live.
Instead this is what I got:

Laps between commercial breaks (which btw aren’t ’side-by-side’ here in Canuckdia)
1-14 caution laps/green laps
61-66 green laps, but head scratchingly confusing as the field is in a completely different order and cars are missing (with no explanation) hey wait?! where did those 40 laps go?
107-122 (danica/Motegi montage coming back from commercial) boring racing, still confused as an additional 40 laps have mysteriously passed.
129-132 green laps with lots of Danica commentary
138-146 (danica/Motegi coming back from commercial) boring racing, still confused, more Danica
150-159 pit stops/caution laps (danica out of car… coverage of her going to commercial)
161- 163 caution laps (danica interview) (“ya know” x 100) (bitch please, that tough talk act is pretty pathetic, and I’m sure Viso doesn’t know or care who you are either)
166-169 caution laps 171-179 green racing
19 to go

In total I got 87 laps of “racing” (About 25 of which were caution laps) and would be completely in the dark as to what happened during the missing 113 laps had I not already listened to the race (while watching the leader cam on line) in the afternoon.

No coverage of Will’s accident, Roth’s pit mishap, Roth’s retirement, Viso/Scheckters accident (only Scheckter’s interview later) Viso’s pit mishap.

Lot’s of coverage and in depth analysis however of the Princess, her win last week, her torpedoing backwards through the field, her worn wheel nubs, etc… etc… etc…

This, my friends, is not going to help the plight of open wheel in Canada or convince fringe fans to jump on board with unification.

Let’s add proper international television coverage to the “how to improve IndyCar” to-do list shall we…
(oh and lest you think I’m be too harsh, I was none too kind about the pathetic CC tv package either)

Road Runner Turbo 300 *live blog*

hmm… well first off, I can’t help but snicker at the irony of the word turbo in the title since I bore witness to the final running of the turbos last weekend…

I am sitting in my livingroom “listening” to the race. Yes kids, this is what I as a mac owning, Canadian open wheel fan have been relegated to. “listening” to races on my computer. Race Control is PC only. The free “leader cam” won’t load for some reason, and TSN in it’s infinite “screw you” to race fans in Canada is airing the race at 12:30am… Nice to see they treat IndyCar as shittily as they treated Champ Car.

- We’ve been informed that the call to start engines is being delayed to 5:20pm (EDT)

- a few minutes ago the #19 of Mario Moraes was wheeled onto the grid. The worked over night, got a couple hrs sleep and were back at the track in the wee hours this morning fitting the car with new brakes, new suspension, new engine, (the engine was cracked), new front wings, new left sidepod and rear wings. Essentially they had to rebuild the entire car. Heck the only thing they did not have to replace was the right side pod. Gotta love Uncle Dale. Anyone who wishes ill will towards him or his team deserves to have his head shoved deeply up his ass.

- on the bright side I’m only having to “hear” princess perma pout gush about her earth shattering, cancer curing, win… (ok… I’ll stop now…)

- should I try a drinking game? take a shot every time they mention her and the motegi win? fuck, I’d be shitfaced before the end of the first lap.

5:18pm (EDT)

I’ve got video kids! woohoo Green 3rd time by. It’s 1 degree celcius warmer here in Toronto than it is in Kansas

5:20pm (EDT)
Bernoldi hit something or someone… (don’t know, I get whatever the director decides we pleebs watching for free deserve to see…) Tire change, nose change, back on track. First yellow out of the way. (wonder if this will be the caution barnburner the Indy lights race was?)

5:24pm (EDT)
pretty much all the “transitioning” drivers have come in for fuel on lap 5. Might as well. Fuel strategy seems the way to win these things… *snicker*
Where’s my beer btw?

5:26pm (EDT)
Green, green, green!
Camara is racy in the middle of the pack.

5:28pm (EDT)
this is fun… the commentary is yelling about a bunch of cars I can’t see. LOL! But at least it’s more scintilating than watching Briscoe drive around by himself for half an hour in St. Pete’s

5:31pm (EDT)
Bruno is making some ground! sweet.

5:33pm (EDT)
22 of 200 laps?? Gawd… this is agonizing…

Lap 23
Will Power tests the safer barrier… he seems fine, car is not. Apparently he’s stuck in the car.
His day is done. ah, there he is, out of the car. Go relax and stay warm Willy. (just don’t have a glass of that AU wine… trust me… it’s swill!)

5:37pm (EDT)
Nice. This is what Canadians have to pin their open wheel hopes and dreams on . Marty Roth, who just tried to commit vehicular manslaughter on pit road, hitting the tire changer with his lawn dart, er… Dallara.

Lap 28
Justin Wilson is in the lead!! What a coup! How many seconds will it take Dixon to smoke his ass on the restart? I’m thinking not many…

5:42pm (EDT)
LOL… apparently I was right. Oh and in case you were wondering, Danididbutwon’tagain is dropping like her usual stone. (but at least I get the pleasure of watching it… LOL)

5:44pm (EDT)
Can someone explain to me why Marty Roth has a ride and Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani are doing housework?

5:45pm (EDT)
Will Power gives his usual “deer in the headlights” post incident interview. (I think he’s autistic)

5:48pm (EDT)
Bernoldi seems to be doing Pit stop clinics. Everytime the camera catches pit lane, he’s driving down it. Pour bastard.

5:50pm (EDT)
Go EJ go! 9th spot at lap 52. (Wilson in 12th)

5:52pm (EDT)
Marty Roth done for the day. (is it just me or does he sound slightly inebriated?)

5:55pm (EDT)
LOL Moraes is a human chicane. Poor bastard.

6:00pm (EDT)
the kids are starting to cycle through their green flag pit stops…
Car has spun on pit lane… Milk and donuts! You go girl! (It’s so nice to see the other racing ladies emulating Danica…)

6:02pm (EDT)
something wrong with RHR’s car… something is wrong with Camara’s car… both still sitting on pitlane. Apparently Bernoldi stopped for coffee and a snack on the last one…

6:07pm (EDT)
So, let me get this straight, Holmatro is the official safety equipment supplier but NONE of our Safety Team personnel were brought over post unification? *shakes head* Seems rather silly to buy the trailers, have the equipment, but not have the guys who were the innovators come along for the ride… *steps down off soap box*

6:10pm (EDT)
I need to develop a drinking game. This is mindnumbingly boring. No really.
OH wait! something exciting! RHR is back on track.
OH Shit! Viso and Schecker connect… Well damn… careful what you wish for huh?
there is spinning (apparently) and damage (apparently)
Have I mentioned the “leader cam” sucks!! At least I can watch the hightlights on Speed news hours before the broadcast here…

6:15pm (EDT)
Pit stops! ooh… Dixon’s was “sizzling” apparently. (kudos to the radio guys for trying to spice this up)
Conquest is not having a good day. Camara has no radio, Bernoldi is now behind the wall, but they’re still attempting to get them back on track. (hey, all track time is essentially practice time right?)
Vitor Meira is done. 80 starts/0 wins… the streak continues

6:18pm (EDT)
cripes they run under yellow for looooooooooong stints…
LOL… Vitor is pizzled. whooda thunk ‘crowding’ on pit lane would be an issue…

6:21pm (EDT)
uh oh… Viso is driving like a “European”. I love how they are commenting on it as if it’s a Champ Car thing. No… Champ Car has the same blocking/one move rules. European road racers however make up their own rules. Anyone who had the misfortune of getting behind Doornbos found that out the hard way last year. (sigh… I miss Doorknobs!)

6:29pm (EDT)
LOL… nice rundown of yellows: Bernoldi, Power, Viso/Scheckter. Hey how the hell else are our guys gonna get any face time right?

6:30pm (EDT)
*mocks surprise* a segment about Princess Perma pout and her Motegi win… *drink!*

6:37pm (EDT)
*wipes drool from chin* I swear I just nodded off…

6:39pm (EDT)
weeeeeeee… pitstops… this should be…
OH damn! EJ Viso is not making friends today. Stopped in the wrong stall. Unfortunately it was Carpenter’s stall, and Carpenter was on his way down pit lane… oops.

oooh… Buddy Rice is beating the snot out of his car. Apparently he’s not happy… damn that was a hard hit.

6:44pm (EDT)
now the field comes back in for their full pit stops. (everything got fubared when Buddy decorated the wall on lap 2) Uh oh… Princess Permapout is done for the day. wah wah wah… (she’ll still be the lead story on everything… don’t kid yourself…)

6:51pm (EDT)
So, Scotty somehow ended up a lap down?… *I’m so confused…*

6:59pm (EDT)
are we there yet????? holy crap!! I could have gone and made my dinner.
19 lap caution??? :bangs head on desk:
oh apparently Scooter isn’t a lap down… he’s just going to be in some serious traffic on the restart.

7:01pm (EDT)
Viso got a penalty. Camara is practicing his pit stops. Wheldon is on his way to finally shaking the monkey off his back. (and breaking the “repeat winner” record here)

7:04pm (EDT)
Buddy has a broken right front suspension. (and unfortunate choices in head gear)
Damn… Scooter is up to third!! with 17laps to go. … will he be the spoiler??

7:10pm (EDT)
Carpenter is coming to pit lane (quick, someone distract Viso!)

7:13pm (EDT)
Well done Wheldon! And how bout those transitioners? Wilson in the top 10. nice.

Carpenter… classy conversation.
“Idiot Viso” and the F-bomb all in one interview.
Did he suddenly forget that he is Ed Carpenter? Not exactly a great track record for skilled moves himself. Dick. It’s not like Viso did it on purpose. And why didn’t his (the inheritors son) crew figure out that the car coming into the pit wasn’t theirs and wave him away???

EJ Viso LOL… “I made a mistake” sweetly understated. hehe… he’s not the first to miss his pit stall and he won’t be the last. (hell, Kurt Busch missed his today in Talladaga, and he’s been doing this for quite a while)

7:25pm (EDT)
What the hell are those trophies? a bar of plexglass? I have more substantial kitchen utensils.

OK… enough of this. Gonna go write this up to make it sound way more interesting than it was.
On to Indy!