The Racing Thread

[Strider]

Damn, that is sad, Walter. ESPN says the DA is investigating. Apparently there has been a major crash and weirdness in today's race, too. I expect a full play-by-play from you, Walter, our resident racing expert.

[Walter]

It's the 24 hours of Watkins Glen right now! The third red flag of the day with 4 laps to go.

First, some background info on this historic track: the walls aren't like oval tracks, which are concrete and have "safer barriers" (aluminum covers for the wall)attached to lessen the force on the driver/car who is crashing into the wall. WG has basically old school guard rails painted blue. They've had these for years. In some places they have stacks of tires in front of the guard rails to help slow the impact, however with heavier 3,400 lb. stock cars they can act as a trampoline effect and send the car straight back into the racing groove. That's what happened earlier today. Ryan Newman was trying to avoid wrecking a car in front of him, who had just almost spun, and then Newman's car was spun by the car behind him. His car flew off the stacks of tires, back into the middle of the track, where he hit the 95 car's back end. That tore the rear end housing out of the 95 car and sent part of it over a retaining fence. Luckily nobody was standing or sitting there. Bottom line is, it's time to find a better system for keeping the cars from doing this as it seems to be an annual occurrence anymore at WG. It's a great racetrack that needs to be worked on and modernized.

Getting ready to restart. If you like road course racing, turn on espn!

Go #4!

[Walter]

Ok, I admit I'm not exactly a NASCAR guy, but this is the big news on ESPN and I do know the big names in the sport. I wonder how this will affect Tony Stewart going forward....

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/11334217/tony-stewart-not-race-hitting-killing-kevin-ward-jr

All I can say is the way this tragic event is being covered by the media is disgusting! Trying to sensationalize this with old clips of Tony Stewart getting fired up and then trying to make a connection to this tragedy with them is beyond bad "journalism". Some are strongly suggesting that Tony Stewart intentionally hit this guy. Rachel Nichols just did a story implying that on CNN. They should all be ashamed of themselves, but then again it's just another day in the fantasy world that is the media! Don Henley had it right over 30 years ago....

[marlam]

F1 season continues this weekend in Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps which is considered as one of the best race tracks in the world. Rosberg on pole, Hamilton second and Vettel third.

[Walter]

That last race was EPIC! Looking forward to tomorrow's race. The battle between Rosberg and Hamilton is getting very intense!

I like how they take those 3 weeks off in the middle of the season. Reset everything for the stretch run.

In NASCAR, tonight is thee Bristol Night Race! Lots of hard racing, beating and banging, and emotions run high! My boy Harvick won the pole with a time of 14.607 seconds - on a half-mile track! Coverage begins at 7:00 (eastern time) on ABC.

Let's go #4!!!!

[marlam]

Hamilton on pole in Monza. Rosberg 2nd, Bottas 3rd. All the cars in the first three rows have Mercedes engines.

[Walter]

Loved how Rosberg was booed on the podium after the last race. Even though it was a "racing incident", it was only the 2nd lap and completely avoidable on Nico's part. Hope Hamilton is able to pull closer in the points today - 7 races to go in the F1 2014 Championship!

My boy Riccardo has won the last two races and three overall this season. Go #3!

[marlam]

Nice race today. Some really good fights on the track. Hamilton recovered well from the bad start and with little help from Rosberg was able to get closer in the points. Looks like the fight for the championship will be very interesting right to the end.

[marlam]

Today was the first race of the new Formula E Championship. The cars are electrically-powered. Didn't watch it but I think it's an interesting concept, although changing cars in the middle of the race (because the batteries run out) sounds bit stupid. There's many former Formula 1 drivers in this class.

Here's the last corner incident between Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld.

[Walter]

^That was a bullsh!t move by the driver in blue! I've never heard about about those cars before. Dominant run by Hamilton last week in Singapore. That was an intense race, between the tight turns and wicked heat. I really like that track, especially with it being run at night. Nico's trouble has turned into a super tight points standing.

Turning to NASCAR....after this week's race at the "Monster Mile" - the four lowest points earners of the 16 drivers in "The Chase" will be eliminated from championship contention. The 16 drivers in it right now are:

Brad Keselowski

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Jimmie Johnson

Jeff Gordon

Kasey Kahne

Matt Kenseth

Denny Hamlin

Kyle Busch

Kurt Busch

Carl Edwards

Greg Biffle

Ryan Newman

Aric Almirola

AJ Allmendinger

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Currently Keselowski and Logano have already advanced to the second round of three races, due to winning the first two races already run in round one. Anyone who wins, advances to the next round automatically.

The rounds are the following:

Round 1 (sixteen drivers)

Chicagoland Speedway (1.5 mile D-shaped oval track)

New Hampshire International Speedway (1 mile flat track)

Dover Speedway (1 mile high banked concrete track)

Round 2 (top twelve drivers):

Kansas Motor Speedway (1.5 mile D-shaped oval)

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5 mile quad-oval track)

Talladega Super Speedway (2.5 mile restrictor plate track)

Round 3 (eight drivers):

Martinsville Speedway (1/2 mile flat short track)

Texas Motor Speedway (1.5 mile quad-shaped oval)

Phoenix International Raceway (1 mile D-shaped track)

Round 4 (final four drivers):

Homestead/Miami Speedway (1.5 mile progressive banking oval track)

Whomever finishes the highest at Homestead, wins the championship.

After every round, the points standings are reset to equal points.

This is the first year for this method of crowning a champion. Should be interesting...

[Walter]

To update the Tony Stewart situation. The grand jury in New York has decided no charges will be brought against Stewart. Now everyone believes there will be a civil suit brought forth by the Ward family. Btw, Kevin Ward Jr.'s toxicology report identified that he had a high enough marijuana level that he could have been impaired that night. Still feel bad for the family and Stewart, but he did nothing wrong and this death was completely avoidable on Kevin Ward Jr.'s part.

[Walter]

Four were eliminated yesterday:

Allmendinger

Almirola

Biffle

Kurt Busch

Those who advanced to round 2 were:

Keselowski

Logano

Gordon

Harvick

Johnson

Kyle Busch

Kenseth

Earnhardt Jr.

Edwards

Hamlin

Newman

Kahne

[marlam]

Results from F1 qualifying in Suzuka, Japan: 1. Rosberg 2. Hamilton 3. Bottas. There's heavy rain in weather forecast for tomorrow so it's going to be vey interesting if they are able to race.

There are many rumours about next years drivers. Vettel will leave Red Bull and will probably go to Ferrari and it's rumoured that Alonso will move to McLaren. Daniil Kvyat is supposed to take Vettel's place in Red Bull.

Edited October 4, 2014 by marlam

[marlam]

Sad ending to todays race in Suzuka. FIA has confirmed that Jules Bianchi has a severe head injury. Let's hope that he will recover.

[Walter]

We watched the Japanese Grand Prix last night. Very strange race and somber ending.

This week is Sochi's first Grand Prix.

Saturday night will be the second race for the "Contender Round" @ Charlotte. Last week Keselowski (#2), Johnson (48), and Dale Jr. (88) all had issues and finished badly, which has put them over 20 points behind 8th place (transfer position). They have 2 races to either make up the deficit or not move on to the next round. Of course with a win at either Charlotte or Talladega, they would advance automatically.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Walter

[Walter]

My boy Harvick (#4) wins Charlotte and moves to the next round, without having to worry about Talladega!

After the race there were fights and "disagreements". I will post some of the videos later.

Haven't watched the F1 race from Russia yet. Just know that Hamilton is on the pole!

[Walter]

Watched "Rush" again last night (the Nikki Lauda/James Hunt story) - what a great movie that is!

Down to the final 8 in NASCAR's "Chase For The Cup". They are:

Joey Logano (#22)

Kevin Harvick (#4)

Brad Keselowski (#2)

Ryan Newman (#31)

Denny Hamlin (#11)

Matt Kenseth (#20)

Carl Edwards (#99)

Jeff Gordon (#24)

Knocked out last round: 6-time champ Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Khane (sorry redrum), Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

This weekends race: the half-mile paperclip @ Martinsville. Sure to be fireworks during and after this race!

[marlam]

Today we have the United States GP in Austin, Texas. The main straight of the track is pretty cool with that steep uphill.

Speaking of the United States, I hope that F1 would have an American driver. It would be good for the sport.

Rosberg was really impressive in the qualifying. I don't care which one of the Mercedes drivers wins the title but hopefully Nico will beat Lewis in this race. The battle would remain really close that way.

[marlam]

Before this weekend Hamilton has a lead of 24 points to Rosberg. It's starting to look like Lewis will take the title this year. On the other hand all it takes is one mistake or technical problem and Nico will be back on the lead. And this year there are double points in the last race...

The qualifying for Brazilian GP starts in about five minutes. Let's hope for an exciting race tomorrow.

[JTM]

I really hope Cheatsburg does not make a comeback to steal the title. The title would be Hamilton's already if NR had not deliberately instigated a yellow flag at Monaco by driving into the run off and the accidental on purpose puncture on LH's car at **** (can't remember).

[marlam]

I agree that Hamilton deserves the title this year but unfortunately Formula 1 isn't always fair.

Really tight qualifying today. Rosberg again on pole, Hamilton second and Massa third in front of his home crowd. Williams might have even beaten Mercedes but neither of their drivers wasn't able to do a clean lap.

[marlam]

17 points between Hamiton and Rosberg before the last race. I really hope that the double points won't affect the outcome of the season.

[jabe]

Congrats to Walter et al, on Harvick winning the big enchilada.

[Walter]

Congrats to Walter et al, on Harvick winning the big enchilada.

thanks jabe! We were in victory lane until Harvick left to go to the media center. What an amazing day and season! I've been waiting for 14 seasons to experience a Cup Championship with him. He is in the Hall of Fame for sure now. He's won everything there is to win in NASCAR. So proud of Kevin, Tony Stewart, and the whole Stewart-Haas organization. Can hardly speak after hooting and hollering all night. Didn't get back to Orlando until about 2 this morning.

Oh yeah, today is another "Bloomin' Monday" at Outback restaurants. They are giving them out for free today. Just mention Kevin Harvick!

[marlam]

Lewis Hamilton is the 2014 Formula 1 world champion! Congratulations to him! Also respect to Nico Rosberg for driving to the end of the race even though his situation was hopeless.