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.

We had the F1 Monaco Grand Prix
The Indy 500
Grand-Am in Lime Rock, CT
NASCAR 600 in NC

My Tivo was able to get most of the F1 race but since it went over its allotted time, it didn’t catch the end.  I have no Idea what happened to Indy and Grand-Am.

I apologize for my lack of posts, but I have been catching up myself.

As you can tell by my lack of posts, I have been on a blogging holiday as I have been traveling and not able to keep up with all that is going on.  Add to that, I am planning a  wedding, remodeling a bathroom, redesigning a website and business,  trying to force myself to become a social connector and working a full time job, blogging is only in my free time.  Ohh Yeah, some where in there I am building a new race car.

The World Rally Championship (WRC) heads to Greece next weekend (May 30^th) for the Acropolis rally. The WRC has been dominated in recent years by Citroen and Ford, but Subaru is out to change that and make it a 3 person race again. Their hopes lie in the new Subaru Impreza.

Fans of the Subaru Impreza WRX know that the latest model only comes in hatchback, this maybe because WRC has been ruled by the hatches of Ford and Citroen and in 2008 those cars still dominate. Subaru’s goal is to change that this weekend when they finally roll out the new WRC Impreza, a move many feel Subaru should have done much earlier in the season.

The Greek Acropolis rally will serve has the race proving ground for the new Subaru Impreza and a tough grueling test it will be.

But hopefully your pilot wont be romping around the woods naked like Pinnacle Airlines Inc

They do have a lot planned  check it out here http://www.cnrma.navy.mil/fleetweek/

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.

1. Fast Machines - http://www.fastmachines.com/ - Great racing blog coving all type of motorsports

1. Trackpedia - http://www.trackpedia.com – You need info on that next track your heading too, You need to go to Trackpedia.

1. Speedtv - http://www.trackpedia.com – their website is better than their tv channel, offering more coverage of different forms of racing.

1. Formula 1 - http://www.formula1.com/ - they have all the up to date info with what is going on with F1, videos and even a countdown to the next race.

1. Online Driving Event Registration. https://www.motorsportreg.com/ Manage your track, autocross & social events online. Use MotorsportReg.com to accept electronic registration & credit cards. It’s time to have more fun.

*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”

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…..

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 2^nd 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.

We all have different tastes when it comes to the right car, but what do you look for in a car? I will tell you what I look for.

1. Small:  I like smaller cars. It has to fit into a compact parking space
   
   
2. Reliable:  The car has to have bullet proof reliability
   
   
3. Handling: The car has to drive like a go-Kart
   
   
4. Acceleration: The car must be able to get out if it’s own way, but it doesn’t have to have killer 0-60 times.
   
   
5. Looks:  The car should look reasonable well to me. (Though this contradicts what I currently drive)
   
   
6. Fun to drive:  Whatever I drive it has to be fun,  I love driving and I have to love what I drive. 

Tell me what you look for in a car?