Auto racing in general

[Luke]

Sorry if this seems a waste of bandwidth but,I just had wisdom tooth extracted and I am trying to take my mind off the pain.

Growing up in Mid-Missouri a lot of my youth was spent at local 1/4 mile dirt tracks. My Grandfather was a volunteer fireman so I was able to get into the pits at an early age. As kids we would build push-carts painted in our favorite drivers paint schemes and race each other down the steepest hills we could find. My love of fast cars continued even after I got my driving license. To blow my own horn though, I never street raced, mostly out of respect for my parents, that plus losing good friends in auto accidents.

I know alot of folks don't consider auto racing a sport, but in todays world drivers must be in excellent physical condition, as do the pit crews. Racing has evolved into a true team effort. And while big corperations invest millions of dollars in race teams I still remember the early days, when the driver was usually the mechanic and after racing on the weekend, would have to go to work Monday-Friday and do it all again.

So after all this rambling I am wondering if I am the only one on this board that follows auto racing? NASCAR in particular.

[Brian Baldwin]

While I don't follow NASCAR, I do like drag racing events and even Sprint car racing. I'm sure you'll find some adherents here though to NASCAR and it wouldn't hurt for you to write up some articles about what's happening in this sport.

Sorry about the wisdom tooth thingy. Hope you feel better soon.

[Ryan Ruck]

Ack... Wisdom teeth getting pulled. That sucks.

I had followed NASCAR casually for a bit a couple years ago. But, I just seemed to fall out of keeping an eye on it.

I also like to watch other auto races whenever I come across them such as rally, drag, and small/dirt track.

I do love fast cars though!

[Luke]

I have a good friend who is into drag racing, his brother-in-law runs Funny Cars. I am hoping to be able to attend NHRA Winternationals sometime. It is hard for me to imagine going from 0 to 300 in 1/4 mile!

I would imagine launching from the deck of an aircraft carrier would be similar rush, but it is still beyond my scope of experience.

[Luke]

Could be my chronic back pain but, it seems to me NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick bears a strong resemblence to a young Jesse Woodson James. I am not sure how to post jpegs, maybe this will suffice.

http://www.islandnet.com/~the-gang/jesse11.jpg

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kh...cup/index.html

I am not really a Harvick fan, Carl Edwards is from Columbia,Missouri about an hour from here. I usually pull for his team, mostly I guess I like to watch cars go fast and turn left!

[Brian Baldwin]

What part of Missouri are you from? I live just south of St. Louis myself. It's rough being a Steelers fan in Ram's country but luckily I'm mean and tough so mostly I'm left alone... Just receive lots of glares. lol

Personally I think people should pull for their home town area teams. So for you to do so shows great sportsmanship. For myself, I was raised in areas where there were no real sports teams and so picked one when I was very young. (long strange story). Been loyal ever since.

My favorite racing arena is Funny Car drag racing and I was a huge fan of John force... Now I'm an ardent supporter of his super hot daughter Ashley who is able to tear up the strip.

[Luke]

I grew up in Marshall, 30 miles north of Sedalia. I still can't root for the Rams. Even after Mr. Bidwell moved the Cardinals to Az I favor them over the Rams. They will always be the Los Angles Rams in Luke land. Myself ,I have always been a Chiefs follower.

I hope John Force heals quickly after this weekends accident. Racing accidents can cause some of the worst sports injuries. This is another reason I watch racing. Many safety innovations have come from racing.

Sometimes it seems that the faster cars go the more safety features are built into them. I don't think my old Explorer could ever make over 100 MPH, and I am positive a crash at that speed would be fatal yet drivers usually walk away from accidents at twice that speed on the track.

[Ryan Ruck]

For myself, I was raised in areas where there were no real sports teams and so picked one when I was very young. (long strange story).

For anyone to be a Steelers fan, it would certainly have to be!

Okay, sorry... Back to auto racing...

[Brian Baldwin]

For anyone to be a Steelers fan, it would certainly have to be!

Okay, sorry... Back to auto racing...

Oh hey Ryan... I forget... Which teams occupy the top and bottom of the AFC North division?

In other news....

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...zrYOHg1G1Ixfug

Force Recovers From Surgery After Wreck By JEFF CARLTON – 16 hours ago DALLAS (AP) — John Force was able to stand and shuffle his feet Monday, and saying he's "lucky to have my legs" a day after a wreck at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex hospitalized the drag-racing star. Force has a compound fracture of his left ankle, a lacerated right knee, a dislocated left wrist and abrasions on two fingers on his right hand. He had screws inserted into his ankle and temporary pins placed in his wrist, said David Densmore, a spokesman for John Force Racing. Force's prognosis is "very good" after six hours of surgery Sunday following the most severe accident he's experienced in more than three decades of racing, Densmore said. "I just feel so helpless and vulnerable," Force said in comments released by Densmore. "I have had some burns, but I have gotten out of every crash and never had a scratch. I have never had a broken bone, so this is all new to me." With the help of physical therapists, Force was able to stand Monday with his weight on his right leg and move both his feet, although doing so was painful. "I gnawed off some fingers and toes when they had me trying to stand," he said. Densmore said Force will miss the rest of the NHRA season, which has three scheduled dates remaining in Richmond, Va., Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif. Force is fourth in the Funny Car standings. Force, a 14-time champion, wrecked Sunday while racing Funny Car rival Kenny Bernstein. A video of the accident shows Bernstein's car drifting toward Force's lane and striking a foam timing block, which shot into the back of Force's car. Force swerved across Bernstein's lane into the retaining wall. Bernstein then rammed into Force's car, breaking the chassis in two. The NHRA is investigating the accident, NHRA spokesman Anthony Vestal said. Several laboratories will examine parts of the tires and broken chassis. "The car pulled in half and I have never seen that ever," Force said. Force said he remembers how the crash began and how it ended, with emergency crews pulling him out of the broken remains of his car. But he recalls nothing in between. Force also absolved Bernstein of any fault in the crash. "He is a good friend and a great competitor and he did nothing wrong," Force said. "In fact, he did a great driving job." Force, 58, was airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where he underwent surgery. He was alert and conscious following the accident and a CT scan came back negative for internal injuries, team spokesman Elon Werner said. Daughter Ashley Force, also a Funny Car driver, pulled out of the semifinals. John Force, who won his race with Bernstein, could have met her in the finals for the first time had both won, Densmore said. "I am sure that he will be somewhat depressed when he realizes his circumstances," Densmore said. "He had just driven his way into contention for another championship." Force's wife, Laurie; Ashley; and son-in-law Robert Hight — also a Funny Car driver — were with him at the hospital. Force's other three daughters were in California, Densmore said. Force and his four daughters are the subjects of a reality TV show on A&E called "Driving Force." Three of his daughters are drivers and one is an executive in John Force Racing. Force has had at least one other serious accident in his career, Densmore said. An accident in Memphis, Tenn., in 1992 left Force with second-degree burns on his face and hands.

[MTStringer]

Personsally, I'm afraid we've witnessed the passing of another legend. While he will recover, at 58 it's hard to imagine him coming back to full time racing after this, hope I'm wrong since I still haven't recovered from the loss of my favorite NASCAR driver, "Awesome Bill" Elliott, the sports first million dollar bill. While basketball remains my favorite game, I've just about lost any feeling for the professional version of the game. Once upon a time, the Celtics were IT in my world (of course, Bill Russell had no grey showing then and nobody really gave a thought to what those big stogies were doing to Reds lungs), now I can only watch the NBA with the volume on zero( how in the name of God did we survive so long w/o hip-hop? and why can't we continue doing so?). Being a Hoosier born and bred, the other acceptable sport would definitely be auto racing, and I caught that bug around junior high(auto shop, of course). Never have done the Indy, lost interest about the time the names became unpronouncable-for-hicks-and-rubes-like-me. In the early 70s I established a pattern of attending the NHRA Nationals in Indy every Labor Day, biggest freakin' party I ever saw, to this day, and that includes Derby! Only jet cars were hitting over 300 then, and top fuel and funnies were well over 230 and races were decided in the thousands of on et, bikes hittin 200, in other words, it was just unbelievable. Unfortunately, things like jobs and obligations reared their ugly heads and I quit going, never to return, although every year I get my hopes up. Bottom line, what I've been trying to get around to, I've got my own kids now, phrases like "impressionable youth" and "hero worship" have hit home, and in my opinion NASCAR has the type of folk I don't mind my kids following. No major scandals, no mention of corked bats, steroids, dogfighting, gambling, crooked refs, yadda yadda, you get the point. I can't wait til A Rod passes Bonds, just thinking about it drives me nuts!

[Brian Baldwin]

The problem with most sports is they don't look to the future. The NFL being the exemption to this rule and the example on how to manage a league. I say this because the NFL has set revolutionary standards for safety, fairness, and complete competitivness. Any Given Sunday. We hear that because it means all the teams are viable due to profit sharing, salary caps per team, and the use of technology to enhance the rulings. This means that the worst team in the NFL this year may win the Super Bowl down the road.

Personally I think Racing on many fronts is taking a que from this and have set safety standards yearly that make for a much more productive and challenging sport. The one thing I'd change is I'd make for more centralized teams. I know the dynamics are different but if you could set up shorter races around home team tracks you'd draw larger big dollar crowds. Just a random idea I've been thinking about and may be useless.

[Luke]

I have had to apologize more than once in my life, sometimes it is hard to do. This article is another reason I like Carl Edwards.

By DAVID POOLE - The Charlotte Observer


Carl Edwards apologized Tuesday for his confrontation with teammate Matt Kenseth after Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, but he also said there's a lack of "team spirit" among drivers at Roush Fenway Racing.
"Hendrick Motorsports and those people that we compete against do a better job of having team spirit than we've done lately," Edwards said. "I'm just as guilty of that as anyone. As a team, we need to do a better job working together."
Edwards said he was wrong for "showing my anger and putting on an aggressive display" toward Kenseth, which was videotaped and shown on Speed.
Kenseth was about to be interviewed when Edwards came up and nudged him out of range of the microphone. They exchanged words. After Edwards climbed over the wall heading out of the track, he turned and feigned a punch at Kenseth.
"It was not a one-day deal," Edwards said of frustration between him and Kenseth, "It wasn't just Sunday's on-track incident where I bumped into Matt and he bumped into me harder and I got madder all day.
"... Matt Kenseth and I have not spoken -- I don't think Matt's voluntarily said two sentences to me in the last six months, you know. ... We just don't talk a lot. We don't know one another well enough. And it's my opinion that that's what's precipitated this stuff is that lack of communication."
Edwards said none of his teammates had called to congratulate him after any of his three Nextel Cup victories this year.
"When I win, people call and congratulate and people are happy for me, it's just the wrong people," Edwards said. "I've got (Hendrick driver) Jimmie Johnson calling me every time I win to say good job. And my teammates aren't the ones doing that. And I'm just as guilty. I haven't been as happy for their successes as I could be."
Roush Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith said that team's philosophy is to allow its drivers to work through issues with each other. But, he said, there is room for improvement.
"We don't think that the drivers have been as courteous and friendly to one another about their various successes as they might be," Smith said.
Edwards said he will try to do what he can to improve on that.
"We had a lot of success in 2005, and I didn't always race everyone the way they wanted to be raced," he said. "I literally was driving for a job. If I didn't work that hard, I'd still be living at my mom's house. I think it kind of started there, and since then, we just haven't done a good job, all of us, of communicating how we want to be treated on the race track and it turns into all of these grudges and instances where nobody really knows how everyone feels about one another."

[Luke]

NASCAR is the only sport that I am aware of where this could happpen.

Lepage offers apology after accident during Saturday's race

DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Sunday, Apr. 27, 2008


After looking at replays of a multicar crash in Saturday's Nationwide Series race, driver Kevin Lepage issued a letter of apology on Sunday.
"I caused 'The Big One,' " Lepage said. "I realize I need to apologize to NASCAR, the car owners, my fellow competitors and most importantly the fans. I made a huge driver error by blending onto the race track in the wrong area.
"This caused a multi-car accident and changed the outcome of the race for many teams. I'm so thankful that no one was hurt considering the number of cars involved. In over 25 years of racing this was the biggest mistake I've ever made behind the wheel of a stock car and I promise that it will not happen again.
"It is such a terrible feeling knowing that NASCAR, the car owners, fellow competitors and NASCAR fans think this was a 'bonehead' move and I certainly don't want anyone thinking of me in these terms. Speaking yesterday before reviewing the tapes of the accident made me look like a heel and there is not a single person to blame for this huge mistake except myself."

[Brian Baldwin]

Well Luke.. I think this speaks more for the Man than for the sport. The sport like all sports are about entertainment and money. But these days we seem to see a general lack of character in the participants. The NFL is full of criminals, Nascar full of rednecks, MBA full of druggies... At least this is what gets reported 9 out of 10 times. We know that the majority of atheletes are stand up guys putting their talents to use. Still most wouldn't easily own up to a mistake of this nature and magnitude. This guy deserves many accolades for his statements and humble approach. If everyone in every sport were of this mind then we'd have no lack of role models to hold up to our youth.