Off The Wall Racing News

NASCAR

Michael Waltrip Is Set to Race in his 25th 500

Sprint Cup Series driver and team owner Michael Waltrip will compete in the Feb. 20 Daytona 500. Last Thursday Waltrip said, "This will be my 25th Daytona 500 in a row. I think two people have started that many. Richard Petty and Dave Marcis come to mind. Our plan is to race the Budweiser Shootout and 500. I'm looking forward to it."

Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann will also be driving for MWR.

This past weekend the busy 47-year-old team owner traveled to Dubai and competed in a road race with MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman, an international financial genius. The two men formed an alliance in 2007. "I wouldn't call it weird," Waltrip said of the trip. "We are going to Dubai to race a Ferrari. That seems more like a dream."
Waltrip said if Kauffman gets enough seat time, they hope to run the Rolex 24 At Daytona and/or 24 Hours of LeMans in 2012. He called that "a goal."

While this is all going on Waltrip is also preparing to launch his first book: "In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona and the Day that Changed Everything." Waltrip said he co-wrote the book, which goes on sale Feb. 1, to explain his emotions the day he won the 2001 Daytona 500 only to find out his car owner, Dale Earnhardt, had died in a last-lap crash.
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Sure Enough, NASCAR Reduces Daytona’s Restrictor Plate Size

The Sprint Cup cars are going faster thanks in large part to Daytona's new, $20 million racing surface.

Here’s a little history concerning the use of restrictor plates in NASCAR:

61/64 of an inch is the approximate diameter of a quarter.

1 inch (64/64) was the diameter of the holes in the first restrictor plate used for the first time at Daytona during the 1988 500.

30/32 inch (60/64) was the diameter of the holes in the restrictor plate used during Cup testing last month.

29/32 inch (58/64) will be the diameter of the holes in the restrictor plate to be used during Cup races during Speed Weeks.

63/64 inch was the diameter of the holes in the restrictor plate used during the 2010 Daytona 500.

1 1/32 inch (66/64) was the diameter of the holes in the restrictor plate used during the 2010 Coke Zero 400.

With speeds topping out at 197 MPH during the Sprint Cup Series tire testing in December at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR has moved to reduce the horsepower for Speed Weeks.

In a competition bulletin to the Cup race teams last Thursday, NASCAR mandated the reductions in hole size in the restrictor plates used at both the Daytona and Talladega Superspeedways.

The Preseason Thunder test Jan. 20-22 at DIS will display how much the reduction in size affects speeds. It’s expected the smaller holes will drop drafting speeds by 5 to 10 mph.

NASCAR will announce several additional competition changes for the 2011 season during the test here January 21st.
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Big Changes on the Way for Cup Points Determination?

How about 43 points to each race winner, 42 for second and so on right down to 1 for the first start and parker? An unconfirmed report on Yahoo sports says the announcement is coming up in the next few days… Here’s the link to Jenna Fryer’s story:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=AjAt9urWM4zUleLWD_sPbJfov7YF?slug=ap-nascar-pointssystemchanges
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The Grand Slam of NASCAR?

If NASCAR, in all their wisdom, designated four races as its “Grand Slam” which races do you believe should be included? I think EVERYONE would agree on one race, the Daytona 500. After that’s out of the way there remains three slots to fill. How would you look at it?

Seems to me there should be a couple of things considered in this process, history and the type of racing each track features. Actually, there are four types of racing we witness during the course of NASCAR’s season, the long (restrictor) race tracks, the intermediate (cookie-cutter) tracks, and the short tracks along with the road courses. It seems to me that any driver wishing to win a “Grand Slam of NASCAR” should have his mettle tested on each of these types of race tracks. Now there comes the maelstrom… How could you possibly include a road course on NASCAR’s Grand Slam???

Okay, do you agree that the moonshiners of old form NASCAR’s roots? Now picture that late night illegal run through the Carolina hill country… Headlights cut through the darkness while an engine roars along and a driver expertly unravels the little dirt road. The moonshiner races along while leaving a cloud of dust that’s soon sliced through by a revenuer’s headlights as he hurtles through the night hopelessly trying to catch his quarry.

Was that country lane an oval? A Tri or D oval? You know the answer… For all the negative discourse about the road course races in NASCAR, it’s my contention that they actually come the closest to mirroring the roots of this sport and for that reason one such race should be included in a four race Grand Slam of NASCAR. Watkins Glen has been hosting NASCAR events since 1957 when Buck Baker won a 100 mile race and took home $1,000 for the work… So, in my way of looking at it the Glen takes precedence over Sonoma and we’ve got two of the four races…

Do you think the Brickyard 400 should be included? Maybe I’m not with it, but I don’t think it should. NASCAR has only been racing there since 1994 and Indianapolis is already considered the mecca of IndyCar racing. Seeing those NASCAR drivers that win this race on their knees kissing the bricks makes me think of subservience. NASCAR doesn’t have to take a back seat to anyone, and especially IndyCar. Leave the Brickyard 400 off this list.
Charlotte is the recognized home of NASCAR for many reasons and the Charlotte Motor Speedway fits the bill as an intermediate sized track. NASCAR’s annual festivities in early July lend themselves very well to this track and race’s inclusion in a “Grand Slam of NASCAR”.

So we’re down to one more race and once again in my way of looking at it, that final venue should be a short track. Historically speaking, the short tracks have been the backbone of NASCAR. Here’s a list of the possibilities:
Bristol, Dover, Martinsville, New Hampshire, Phoenix and Richmond

If history plays in here too then Martinsville should carry the banner…

Let me know what you think…
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Sounds like NASCAR’s decision to have drivers declare if they’re racing for a Sprint Cup, Nationwide or Camping World Truck title has really stirred up the fans… Thought this was all talked out… How’s the old saying go? You can please some of the people some of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time…
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IndyCar

INDYCAR Announces Changes

Name Change: The sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy will now be known as INDYCAR.

All series names sanctioned by INDYCAR will remain the same as listed below:

• INDYCAR - The sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy.

• IZOD IndyCar Series - The top level of open-wheel racing in North America and the fastest, most versatile racing series in the world.

• Firestone Indy Lights - The developmental series for drivers and teams looking to reach the IZOD IndyCar Series.

• Mazda Road to Indy - The official ladder system that produces a defined road map for drivers looking to reach the pinnacle of open-wheel racing in North America through Cooper Tires presents US F2000 National Championship powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and Firestone Indy Lights.

Competition rules changes:

Double-wide restarts on ovals and the restart area moving closer to the start/finish line were among the 2011 rules alterations.

Other changes include:

• Pit order for the field will be based on the qualifying performance from the previous similar venue instead of based on entrant points standings. An example: The starting order from the St. Petersburg race will determine the pit box location for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

• The pit commit line is moving to avoid drivers being caught in "no-man's land."

• The first session of a race weekend will be 75 minutes, with rookies and cars outside the top 10 on the track for the initial 45 minutes followed by all cars for the duration. As a complementary rule change, an extra set of tires will be made available to those participating in the 45-minute session. At the conclusion of the 75 minutes, the top 10 cars will have to turn in one set and the other cars will have to turn in at least one, if not two if they chose to get the second set (teams will be charged for the second set).

• One set of tires will be allowed for each segment of road and street course qualifying (a maximum of three sets for the first, second and Firestone Fast Six sessions). "It's their choice whether they use reds or blacks in any of the three segments, but whatever set they bolt on and start the segment with that's the only set they can use," Barnhart said.
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IndyCar Is Back in Edmonton!

INDYCAR, the sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights, announced January 12th that it will return to Edmonton, Alberta, after City Council and promoter Octane Motorsports Events, Inc., reached an agreement on providing facility upgrades.

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Formula One

A look at the evolution of Formula One cars over the years…


1957 Maserati 250F-------------------------------1961 Lotus 21---------------------------1967 BRM P83

1970 Lotus 49------------------------------------1978 Lotus 79--------------------------1983 Lotus 92

The most obvious changes in this look across 25 years are in the tires and body style aerodynamics…

Now take a look at the changes made after close to another 30 years:

2010 Red Bull Renault RB6


2011 Lotus-Renault R30…



These latest changes are raising eyebrows. Questions are beginning to be heard concerning how far is enough…
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The following is an article from the F1 Fanatic…

Newey concerned about “overly manufactured” F1
14 January 2011 by Keith Collantine

Adrian Newey, 2011

Red Bull designer Adrian Newey says he expects the new adjustable rear wings introduced this year to increase overtaking.
But he warned they could make passing too easy and creating an “overly manufactured” spectacle.
Speaking at the annual Sid Watkins lecture for the Motorsport Safety Fund at Autosport International Newey said:
It will help, sure. It reduces the drag of the car on the straights so that you’ve got extra straight-line speed.
I think the key thing is going to be adjusting it, juggling it, so that it makes overtaking possible but not too easy. If it makes overtaking too easy, so that you get into the position where you want to be second going into the last lap, it then becomes overly manufactured.
There is that danger and certainly at the moment the boost that’s provided, to me, looks too big.
Personally, I know I’m in a minority in this view, the difficulty of overtaking is vastly over-egged. Because what difficult overtaking does mean is that when someone does overtake it’s really memorable.
We all remember [Nigel] Mansell going around the outside of [Gerhard] Berger in Mexico or Nigel and Ayrton [Senna] having it out along the length of the Barcelona straight.
Those stand out because overtaking isn’t that easy and if it becomes like a NASCAR slipstreamer it’s going to lose something.

Newey also said he is concerned that high straight line speeds could contribute to accidents in 2011.

Increased closing speeds could create greater risk of an accident similar to the one suffered by Mark Webber in Valencia last year.
The very high end-of-straight speeds are probably the most dangerous area. That’s something that worries me slightly this year with the moveable rear wing and KERS.
We could potentially have some very high end-of-straight speeds. It’s not so much the speed itself as when you get that sudden difference between them.
That, of course, was what happened with Mark – Heikki braked earlier than Mark expected and it’s the huge difference in speed that causes the accident.

Newey explained the difficulties of preventing this kind of accident through car design:
There are ways being thought of. The fundamental problem is as long as we have an exposed rear wheel then when a nose hits a rear wheel the rotation is going to lift the car.
You could look at regulating very now front noses but that brings other things. At the moment the great thing about high noses is there’s little danger, if a car T-bones another one. If you T-bone a car with a low nose the car could end up on top of you.
So it’s like all these things. It’s almost like the original debate over safety belts: 99% of the time they’re good for you but occasionally there’s going to be an accident where you’d be better not to have a safety belt. Asked what else could be done to stop cars flying into the air Newey added: “Probably get the drivers to brake a bit earlier!”

Here’s the link to the Fanatic: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/01/14/newey-concerned-about-overly-manufactured-f1/
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And then here comes an article that sounds like sour grapes from Ferrari to me…

F1: Red Bull Not Behaving Like Champions – Montezemolo
Here’s the link… Got a hanky handy?

http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/f1-red-bull-not-behaving-like-champions-luca-di-montezemolo/
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Australian V-8 Supercars

V8: Series, Drivers Helping Australian Flood Victims
Reigning V8 champion James Courtney and Chairman Tony Cochrane will be among guests attending a private fundraiser to support victims of the floods.

V8 Supercars http://www.v8supercars.com.au/

Posted January 13, 2011

V8 Supercars Australia has moved quickly to assist those that have been affected by the floods that have devastated much of Queensland.

V8 Supercars Media Manager Cole Hitchcock said that the organisation is throwing their support behind the Queensland Flood Appeal.

“The flood disaster has affected so many people in the V8 Supercar fraternity- not only local teams but friends, relatives and fans in all regions across Queensland.”

“Many of the devastated regions such as Ipswich, Toowoomba, Brisbane and North Queensland are heartlands for our sport, and our thoughts are with all those who are going through a difficult time.”

V8 Supercars are supporting the Mates In Need Street Party in the Gold Coast’s Main Beach area this Friday night.

In partnership with companies including Harvey Norman, Myer, the street party in Tedder Avenue will raise money for victims of the Queensland floods.

Reigning V8 champion James Courtney and Chairman Tony Cochrane will be among guests attending a private fundraiser to support victims of the floods associated with the thoroughbred horse industry, which coincides with the Gold Coast’s annual Magic Millions event.

Show cars will be on display and V8 Supercar drivers will be in attendance at the street party, which will be open to the general public. V8 Supercars are also donating items to a public raffle that will help raise funds for the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

“Our headquarters are based in Queensland so it is important that we help our local community, however I would urge all our fans across the country to donate to the Queensland flood appeal.” said Hitchcock.

Donations can be made via www.qld.gov.au/floods
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Speaking of Australia… By now you’ve heard about Tony Stewart coming up with a black eye after having a set to with Sydney Speedway’s co-owner Brett Morris… I recall reading last summer about Tony having a problem at a small track here in the U.S. as well. At 39 years of age I think it’s time for Tony to slack back just a little bit…

Heck of a way to start the new year Tony!

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Now, in my humble opinion, one of the finest looking cars ever built…

The 1969 Jaguar XKE…

The one pictured has the right colors (forest green / reddish tan leather upholstery) and everything!
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Finally, a little levity…

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One month and counting!