Dec 03 2008
The New York Times Reports Scott Speed will race with Red Bull in the Nascar series full time next year. The team will change the Toyota to No. 82 from No. 84 to accommodate Speed, who has been training for Nascar since his release from Red Bull’s Formula One team in the summer of 2007. Jimmy Elledge will be his crew chief.
Nov 19 2008
RallyScott over at RallyBuzz has a great post about WRC superstar Sebastien Loeb testing in an F1 car.
I can’t even imagine the difficulty making a transition to that type of car. For those that don’t know World Rally cars supped up versions of compact street car. They are then driven on closed roads that are made up of dirt, gravel, tarmac or all combined. Car travel down these stages one at a time to see who can set the best time.
F1 cars are like complicated space ships with wheels. They race on smooth tarmac but they race wheel to wheel with other spaceships at the same time.
Loeb is used to driving a car at it’s limit and in time I think he will be able to adapt drive the an F1 car at it limit. He is going to have to reach deep and quickly learn to drive wheel to wheel in his space ship F1 car. Some drivers can drive a great lap on a track by them selves, but it takes a great driver to pt down a great lap thru traffic.
Nov 12 2008
Have you ever thought about getting your car on a race track? Do you think it is impossible or just too expensive? Well you’re sadly mistaken. It is quite easy and for a little as $50.The National Auto Sort Association or NASA holds High Performance Driving Events or HPDEs all around the country. Though they may be had to find in the winter, they are normally easy to find in the summer. Head on over to nasaproracing.com and look for your region’s event calendar for a date and time near you. HPDEs are normally and all day affair and run you up to $300, but if you don’t have the time or the money you can sign up for a Hyperdrive.
A hyperdrive is normally $50 and gets you a classroom session and 20 mins on track with an instructor. On the track you can go as fast as you or your car can handle safely. I will warn you that your first 20 mins on the track will only feel like 5 mins. You will want more time and HPDEs will get you an hour on the track.
Here is a Video of one wet lap from this weekend HPDE.
Nov 05 2008
Lewis Hamilton has a flare for the dramatic and it is intoxicating. Hamilton won the F1 world championship by just one point. If that wasn’t close enough, he only managed to get that one point because of a miraculous pass of Toyota’s Timo Glock in the last seconds of the race. In a coincidence, Hamilton lost last year’s world championship by just one point.
Lewis Hamilton is now the highest paid person in sports across the world. He will bring in a total of 160 million dollars this year. Tiger woods come in second with about 120 million. Hamilton states that he would race for free and the money is just a bonus on top of doing the hobby that he loves. Hopefully his boss doesn’t find out. Only time will tell if there is ever a contract fight for him. Will he stay with his mentor team at McLaren.
Oct 28 2008
The athletes themselves along with their fans claim that car racers are the fittest and healthiest on earth. How can this be when the only thing they do is grip the stick and steering wheel?
In a race, the driver must stay composed and focused. There should be a continuous contact with technical team while in control of the race car driving around the track. On top of that, the driver has with him dozen of competitors that with unwise decision, he can collide and lost life with. And who on earth can manage decision-making in split of seconds on a speed of 300 kilometers per hour? Only guys at the peak of their physical and mental stability can do that.
Car racers spend a lot of time in the gym. They know better when it comes to taking care of themselves; physical health including the heart, neck, and diet, and the mental health.
Normal heart rate of a human being is 60 beats per minute, rising to more than 100 depending on the activity he is doing. A car racer’s heartbeat could reach more than 150 per minute during a race, the same of that of runners on field. Mental stress causes the difference. Car racing requires extreme concentration, pumping tremendous amount of adrenalin, same way the physical stress causes the high heartbeat rate.
To be able to deal with such extremities, drivers should indulge to intense cardiovascular workout for up to few hours a day. Doing so helps in weight maintenance as well.
Car racing is one of the sports that greatly demands neck strength. The neck has to support a head with helmet heavier than regular, combined with G-Force during a race: a total of more than 20 kilograms, making it the most important muscle in a driver.
Large elastic bands are used to simulate the demands of high G-Force during training. Drivers also incorporate resistance work into their exercise regime – rowing and weight lifting. But since Formula One cockpits are very small, no racer is allowed to weigh like a lifter.
Like track and field athletes, F1 drivers should carefully regulate their carbohydrate and protein intake. Pasta and bread are what they eat, for carbohydrates.
Before the race and throughout, drivers absorb huge amounts of water. This prevents driver to dehydrate. Heat in F1 cockpit is enough to make someone sweat off few pounds of body weight during course of a race.
Physical health stability alone is not enough for car racers. Mental health as well is very important, too. Teams usually have sports psychologists to make sure that a driver is capable of mind control during a race. They make the driver review track maps, visualize a route and a lap, so that he would feel familiarized as though he has driven the course already.
Breathing technique is a plus factor. Drivers do need to stay calm at crucial moments. He needs not to be distracted by the people around him: medical team, technical staff, and screaming fans and members of the press.
May 30 2008
Many race fans know of the big races on TV, some even know of the smaller dirt track or circle track races that can be found in their state, but there is some great racing that you may never know goes on. I am headed to one of these races this weekend.
What is going on?
This weekend is NASA Northeast’s (Part of NASA Pro Racing ) racing and driver school event at Pocono Raceway
The Track
Pocono, The same place used by NASCAR, but they will only be using part of the oval. Many NSACAR fans don’t realize it but by using the center of the raceway Pocono can become 3 race tracks. This weekend they will combine part of oval with a section from the infield to make a form an outstanding road race course.
Who is racing and when?
During Saturday and Sunday Practice starts slightly before 11am. By the time you’re ready to bite in to the burger at noon; it is qualifying time. Around 1:30 is when the action is really going to happen and it is going to be a lot of action.
Each day there are 2 races, but within each race there are up to 14 smaller races going on.
One race will have classes SU, GTS5, GTS4, GTS3, HC1, ST1, ST2, American Iron, PTA, PTB, and FCC
The other race will have 944 Cup, HC2, HC3, HC4, HC5, GTS2, GTS1, Spec Miata, Spec Miata 2, Spec E30, PTC, PTD, PTE classes
How to see a race for free?
Most people do not know about these races unless they are participating in them or are related to the people participating in them. NASA is not really looking for spectators for these races so they don’t charge to see them. Many of the tracks are not expecting that many spectators and do not feel that is worth the cost of hiring someone to sell and collect tickets so entrance is normally free. Even better is that you can easily go in to the pits and talk to these guys, maybe you can even sign up for the next driving school.
May 21 2008
Many times people think that customer service is required when it comes to ordering parts or getting work done on the cars. Customer service is just as important when it comes to track facilities and sanctioning bodies
In a recent example, there was a rule in fraction by several competitors; while all competitors agreed that the they had made the error, none of the track officials offered admittance that they could have improved communications. To add to it, the track officials were rude overall. This left several racers unhappy, not about rule infractions, but how they were treated. Many agreed that they might not return to that tack.
Sanctioning bodies also need be mindful of who their customers are. One of the reasons I feel that NASA has gained such popularity is that the SCCA was ignoring its customer service. It was being run like an exclusive club. New members had a hard time fitting in and the group was not very welcoming. I am glad to say that things are changing now.
Track owners and sanctioning bodies need to keep in mind who the customer is because with out the customer the business will die.
May 20 2008
*Bonus site — http://www.YOUTUBE.com - You want some great in car shots of the next race your going to, your thinking about driving in a new class, do a search on YouTube and you can find out what the view looks like from behind the wheel. Check out the close racing action, Search for “Spece30”
May 19 2008
The best racing action on TV, Grad-am racing
I took the weekend off form writing. I normally write extra during the week so I have something to post on the weekends, but this was a busy week and just got busier.
Grand-Am action on Speed with the RumBum.com 250
Sunday was a busy day for me as my “Honey Do list” was quite large and I was remodeling the bath room. I was just gonna leave the race on in the back ground as I worked on my pile ruble the used to be the bathroom. Some where between the a leaking pipe turning my basement in to a swimming pool and almost amputating my finger with a hammer I decide to call it quits and watch the show/race and a Show it was.
I love F1, but it can get boring as Ferrari drives away for the win every time, but not in Grand-Am. Wow, that is some action. These guys were banging fenders, punting cars, bursting in to flames, and lead changes all day long.
More race reports to come…..
May 16 2008
Grand-am racing returns to Laguna Seca this weekend with the Rumbum.com 250.
After practice, the man to beat right now is # 99 team of Fogarty / Gurney. They posted a best lap of 1:20.876 with a top speed of 99.619mph. That put them ½ second ahead of the 2nd position #60 Negri / Patterson car. The 1.2 second is huge when you see that only ½ second separates the next 10 cars.
In the GT class the #7 team of Collins / Edwards leads the pack in their Pontiac GXP.R, followed by the #70 of Ham / Tremblay driving a Mazda RX-8. I look forward to qualifying tomorrow and the race on Sunday.
