Off the Wall Racing News

NASCAR

Okay… The difference in pit stop times between Gordon’s old crew (now on the 48) and Johnson’s old crew as they pitted at Phoenix (from Yahoo Sports):

Stop #1 (lap 60):
Johnson: 13.6 seconds
Gordon: 13.6 seconds

Stop #2 (lap 102):
Johnson: 13.6 seconds
Gordon: 16.0 seconds

Stop #3 (lap 162):
Johnson: 14.2 seconds
Gordon: 16.8 seconds

Stop #4 (lap 232):
Johnson: 13.6 seconds
Gordon: 15.6 seconds

One push and three better times pretty much confirms the move Chad Knaus made in Texas…
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In light of the highly successful 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase, take a look at this article published late last July:

Auto Racing Insider: NASCAR mulls tweaking Chase format again

George Diaz COMMENTARY
3:34 p.m. EDT, July 27, 2010

Like any good partner, NASCAR keeps trying to made amends in a relationship in which passion is waning. They want to make nice with fans. You know who you are. You are tired of NASCAR going corporate more and more each year, squeezing out the small-town tracks steeped in tradition. You are frustrated with the playoff format that has turned into dudsville, courtesy of four consecutive titles by Jimmie Johnson.

There's hope. We think.

CEO Brian France recently said that NASCAR is considering a significant overhaul to its championship Chase.
"If we have the perfect Chase that we would love to see, it would be just like every commissioner would tell you," he told reporters before Sunday's Brickyard 400. "They'd like to see great playoff events ... action-packed, close games, great story lines. That's what anybody's after. We're no different."

France didn't delve into a lot of details, but he likes the idea of a system that would eliminate drivers from the playoffs. One idea involves eliminating drivers halfway through the Chase, trying to replicate the drama of the fall race at Richmond, which sets the 12-car field for the Chase. Under that scenario, five drivers could be eliminated after the first four races and five more drivers knocked out four or five races later.

"It comes with some version as you go along where certain races in the Chase, you have to win or do very, very well, to in fact move on," France said. "When you peel that back and look at it, it's not that different."

The possible tweaking of the Chase format — much like the Chase format itself — is a reactionary move by NASCAR to continue to manufacture drama. In attempts to think bigger, NASCAR has shrunk with TV ratings that are stagnant and attendance that is sagging.

It's understandable that France and company want to continue to look for ways to spark interest. But it's also fair to suggest they also have a hand in that decline by shifting the dynamics so drastically that many fans walked away.

"I don't really have a problem with the way it's structured," said David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota in the Sprint Cup Series. "Obviously there could be some little tweaks here and there, but I don't think we need to go in and overhaul it, either. It's not perfect. Nothing is…but if NASCAR can continue to make it better and add more excitement I think it will be a win-win."

To his credit, France said he will attend focus groups with fans in a few weeks to gather perspective, as well as gauge reaction from insiders in the garage.

He wants to make it right. A bouquet of flowers simply won't do.

Now, do they or don’t they? _______________________________________________________________
Did you know they were measuring the crowd noise during the driver introductions at Talladega?

According to Jeff Gluck at SB Nation, this is who won and by how much in the noise chase (Gluck’s comments are on the right…):
Driver------------------dB----Type of Noise--Comment/Explanation
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr..---85.9---Cheers--------Was there any doubt?
2. Mark Martin-----------83.1---Cheers--------Love for old-school driver
3. Tony Stewart----------82.7---Cheers--------Popular
4. Jimmie Johnson------81.3---Boos----------Boos louder as fifth title gets closer
5. Kyle Busch-------------81.0---Boos----------Cool Truck win did little to change fans' opinions
6. Jeff Gordon------------80.7---Mix----------Actually heard some audible cheers...at Dega!
7. Juan Pablo Montoya-79.4---Boos---------Pole-sitter
8. Michael Waltrip ------79.2---Cheers-------Fan favorite makes his return
9. Ryan Newman --------79.1---Cheers-------Warm reception at track that hasn't been kind to him
10. Kurt Busch-----------78.8---Boos----------Busch Brother

Is this tunnel vision or what? ______________________________________________________________
The Mr. “Big Name” But Actually Irrelevant Award Recipient… Jeff Gordon!

With only 33 wins since 2000 translating to just three wins per season over the last 11 years, Jeff wins the award hands down. Jeff’s current winless streak? How about 63 races with only one win in the last three seasons…

Conversely, bad boy Kyle Busch has 22 victories in 2010 alone (3 Cup, 12 NWS and 7 CTWS).

Oh, by the way, did you hear Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton made up?
They're just a couple of good 'ol boys afterall...
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KBM Signs Sponsor

Dollar General has stepped up to back Kyle Busch Motorsports on the number 10 CWTS Toyota Tundra for five races next season. Hopefully Kyle will cool it with the kid’s stuff action we’ve seen recently and add more sponsors for his rides…

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IndyCar

Report: Chevrolet linked to IndyCar's Ganassi

Owner Chip Ganassi denied an Internet report that his team will be linked to Chevrolet in the IZOD IndyCar Series. "I literally know nothing about that," Ganassi said November 8th, just days before Chevrolet formally announced they will end a six season hiatus and reform their alliance with Cosworth building IndyCar racing engines once again. According to IndyCar rules, turbocharged engines can be anything up to six cylinders with a maximum displacement of 2.4 liters. Honda has been the sole engine supplier to IndyCar since 2005 when both Chevrolet and Toyota dropped out.

IndyCar is also set to debut a new engine and chassis configuration in 2012. Italian chassis builder Dallara will manufacture the core of the car in a new multi-million dollar 100,000 square foot shop in Indianapolis. Here’s a look at one of the proposed concepts:

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Versus pulls in more viewers...

IndyCar Series officials announced a 16.2 increase in cable-television viewers on Versus. Sounds really good until you realize it comes with an asterisk.
In case you didn’t know, Comcast and DirecTV have been going round and round in recent months over the cost of Versus. That disagreement was finally resolved so Versus had more possible viewers this season.
Despite the promising announcement, IndyCar's overall ratings remain well below what sponsors want to see. Still, this year's improvement is positive news.
The 12 races on Versus averaged 366,000 viewers, with the championship-deciding race at Homestead-Miami Speedway marking an increase of 34 percent over last year's race.

Versus aired the final seven races of the season, averaging 316,000 viewers. That's an 8.2 increase over last year's 292,000 viewers for the final seven races.

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Formula 1

Congratulations to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, 2010 World Champion!

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An estimated 50 million viewers worldwide (over 40 million in Europe) watched television coverage of Formula 1’s season finale race in Abu Dhabi!
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No crying over spilt milk at Ferrari…
A tough call to pit and switch tires from soft to hard matching a decision made earlier on the suddenly faster Red Bull Mark Webber car in Abu Dhabi’s showdown Formula 1 finale left Ferrari’s contender Fernando Alonso stuck six places behind eventual Red Bull Renault race and 2010 World Champion Sebastian Vettle, but Scuderia Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali was not going to be drawn into the blame game. Alonso finished the race in 7th needing only three more positions to win the World Championship, but it just wasn’t to be as he couldn’t get around another Renault driven by Vitaly Petrov for the remainder of the race.

“There is a great sadness at this moment, because to come so close to our goal and to see it slip away for just a few points really hurts," Domenicali said. "We made a wrong decision in terms of strategy for three reasons: We marked a rival with two cars, we were unduly concerned about the wear rate of the soft tires, and we did not take into consideration the difficulty of getting past other cars on the track."

Domenicali went on to thank his team and their fans in 2010…
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FIA gives Australian V8 Supercars international status

The FIA has recognized the Australian V8 Supercars series as an international racing series. This allows the series to expand outside of Australia, and it plans to hold six races outside of the country in 2012, rather than the two such events it has held recently. The 2011 schedule features 12 races in Australia as well as races in Abu Dhabi and New Zealand.

Martin Whitaker, CEO of V8 Supercars had this to say:
“This is tremendous news for the sport, and we thank the FIA for their endorsement and recognition of V8 Supercars as a major international player, particularly in the Asia Pacific region,”

Whitaker placated his fan base as the say time letting them know the series will remain true to its Australian roots regardless of its international status.
“Australia and New Zealand remain our absolute priority in terms of where we race, although the new status means we can move forward with confidence when exploring growth outside of Australasia,” he said.
V8 Supercars is working toward adding races in Singapore, Korea, India, Hong Kong and South Africa.

Hold on tight tez, these guys may be coming to a track near you!

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American Le Mans Series


A Swiss team, Hope PoleVision (HPV) has announced plans to race a hybrid gasoline / electric engine car in the European Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) sports car division in select races next season hoping to catch the eye of a manufacturer for the 2012 season. If successful, the team would then make a run at the championship with a manufacturer’s financial backing. The sports car will be equipped with what is known as a “flybrid” kinetic energy recovery system added to a turbo charged four cylinder engine.

An ambitious undertaking and definitely a look into the future of auto racing.

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A completely different look into the future… Will there be a time when people race these?

Swiss pilot and stunt man Yves Rossy became the first man in the world to fly under a jet-fitted wing. Here he performs a looping maneuver above Bercher, Switzerland, earlier this month. Rossy jumped from a hot-air balloon and performed the loop before landing safely with a parachute.

Rossy declared himself "very happy and satisfied" with Friday's stunt, which comes two years after his first successful flights over the nearby Swiss Alps.
The extreme sports enthusiast has since flown across the English Channel and last year tried to cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco to Spain. That attempt ended in failure when Rossy ditched in the sea due to strong turbulence.
Rossy said he is still hoping to fly through the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but is waiting for permission from U.S. authorities.
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Speaking of extreme sports…

In case you’re not familiar with him, meet Travis Pastrana…

Travis announced November 10th that he’s parting ways with Subaru Rally Team USA, then one day later an even more compelling announcement came from the camp of the 11-time X Games gold medalist: Pastrana will be racing NASCAR in 2011.

If plans come to a timely fruition, he’ll make his 2011 debut in the Nationwide Series with Pastrana-Waltrip Racing, both as a driver and team owner.
Pastrana hopes to compete in seven NASCAR Nationwide races in 2011 and twenty races in 2012.
"I've been following NASCAR closely for years as a fan of the sport with competing in the sport a life-long dream," Pastrana said. "I decided it was time to try and turn that dream into reality and with the help of the Bechtel family [Gary and Blake], Michael Waltrip Racing and Wasserman media group I'm now one step closer!"
Pastrana-Waltrip Racing will run Toyotas out of MWR’s shop in Cornelius, N.C.

Michael Waltrip said of the announcement, "Travis has built an enormous and unique following all over the world. As a race team owner, we are always looking for ways to deliver to our partners and engage our fans better. This is an opportunity to showcase our company and our sport to a new generation of young fans. We're also looking for that next big star. Travis already is one and action sports is full of talented athletes. Having Travis as a part of our program adds another great dimension to our team and NASCAR."

We’re all aware of the problems faced by first time NASCAR drivers regardless of their racing backgrounds. Here’s hoping Travis delivers not only on the track but in the stands as well...
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Apocalypse Now! This is the end…