FastMachines.com Radio Episode #13
September 30, 2008
George Katinger is back with Chris and Josh this week to review F1’s first night race ever in Singapore. We’ll also go over NASCAR and watch Chris get all “Fan Boy” over his upcoming trip to the ALM’s Petit LeMans. Show notes below the fold…
Let us know what you think by commenting on this posting, or shoot Chris and I an email by sending to radio@fastmachines.com.
Click below to listen to us right now in your browser…
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The FastMachines.com Radio Podcast is brought to you by:
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The finish said it all! WOW!!
September 29, 2008
Carl Edwards left it all on the track… and came up short. I’m sure Edwards fans would have loved to see a victory back-flip, but what I saw was even better. Jimmie Johnson had everybody covered late in the race. He should have driven to an easy eight car length victory. But Edwards finally found a line that worked, with two laps to go. He cut Johnson’s lead in half on that lap. Edwards ran the white flag lap the same way, and was coming up on Johnson’s rear bumper as they approached the checkered flag. Johnson simply moved up and blocked Edwards from taking him on the outside. Read more
Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From Kansas
September 29, 2008
Well, since I’ve already covered some of the high spots of Sunday’s Camping World RV 400 here (what a stupid name for a race, by the way), let’s go ahead and jump right to the G, B, and the U from the home of Dorothy, the Jayhawks, and George Brett.
The Good:
Not every Willie Nelson song, Quentin Tarantino movie, or NASCAR races is good. But most are good and some are great. Sunday’s 400 was a good race with a great finish that actually happened because of the skill of the drivers and not because of a forced green-white-checker finish inspiring action. Over the last 10 laps race fans got the drama of one driver (Carl Edwards) relentlessly pursuing the leader (Jimmie Johsnon), catching him on the final lap, and then having the victory taken from him by his own aggressiveness. That was good, good stuff and Carl and Jimmie both added a great deal to their racing portfolio with that race and finish. Until further notice, these two are the top guys in the sport and not just because that’s what the points say, it’s because they’re just better than everyone else.
Also good, (and surprising to me) was NASCAR’s decision not to go yellow late in the race when someone (I disremember who) got into the wall and lost some of his car. Since the debris went off the track officials decided not to yellow flag the race, something I wish that they would do more often, as sometimes cautions are a bit too mysterious for my taste. I thought that was a good call, although an argument can be made that it’s just another example of NASCAR’s inconsistencies when it comes to such matters.
I’ve been very critical of Jeff Gordon here lately (and I’m not alone), but there was nothing wrong with Gordon’s fourth place finish Sunday. If reports are to be believed Gordon was sick as a dog during that race and wasn’t sure he could finish. Not only did he race, he competed strong all afternoon. Couple racing sick with reports that Gordon was very active with the crew during the week, and it’s not hard to figure that Gordon may be getting a little sick of something else and that’s criticism. If he runs like he did Sunday there will be nothing to critique.
The Bad:
Are there any Earnhardt fans out there besides me who are also sick of watching him come out of the gate smoking, looking like his car has a little something for everybody, and then having to watch the SOS as his team fails to make the corrections that his car needs to keep him at the front of the pack and he struggles to just stay near the top 10? Either Dale’s doing a sub-par job of letting his crew chief know how his car is performing, or Tony Eury, Jr is the Phillip Fulmer of NASCAR and just doesn’t know how to make winning adjustments. But I’m sure the 88 team will continue to work like heck (inside joke for any UT fans who may be reading and sharing in my pain) and will continue to wear out the middle of the pack in the weeks left to come.
Bad, bad luck for Martin Truex, Jr. After leading the race and running good all afternoon, Truex had the toilet bowl hung around his neck when his transmission went out and he ended up at the bottom of the Kansas ledger. A good finish would have been a great confidence builder for Martin and for DEI, but instead, it was just another entry in the DEI history of malfunctioning parts.
The Ugly:
Speaking of malfunctioning parts, is anyone else out there having trouble remembering when it looked like the only thing that was going to stop Kyle Busch from winning the championship would have been an alien abduction. Either that or other drivers and crew chiefs are taking Kyle’s engines pre-race and using them for pinatas. Kyle has gone from Superman to the Phantom Stranger in the space of three weeks. He’s virtually eliminated from consideration for the top prize. It’s not all Kyle’s fault (if any of it is), but if it’s just bad luck, then Kyle has worse luck than a seventeen-year-old me trying to find a date to the prom. I have to wonder how long it will be before Kyle’s frustration becomes apparent on the track. And I pose this question. If Kyle doesn’t have anything to race for and finds himself racing a Carl Edwards that does what will happen? Anyone that thinks that Kyle has forgotten Bristol needs to have their head examined, but it would be a shame if he decides that the only way that he can affect the Chase is by eliminating someone who can win it. Not saying that’s going to happen, but it wouldn’t really surprise me.
Also, I had to turn the volume down because the sound of Joey Logano’s knees knocking was getting on my nerves. The kid’s going to be a hell of a racer but he took some lumps on Sunday with his 39th place finish. In the long run, it’ll be good for him to take some lumps these last few races, and get those nerves out of the way while it doesn’t mean anything. When he steps into the big car next year, he’ll have to be ready to go and the learning curve will be very, very short. But, on the bright side, he still finished higher than Smoke.
That’s it folks. Any cards, cares, or criticisms of the crazy guy can be sent to wwwthreestrikesandout@yahoo.com.
Singapore GP: Alonso Ups His Value
September 28, 2008
Fernando Alonso and his ING Renault F1 team took an unexpected victory at the first night F1 race in history, followed by equally unexpected Nico Rosberg in second and Lewis Hamilton in third. Read more
How ’bout that Tim Wilkerson?
September 28, 2008
Just as he did last week at the Texas Motorplex, Tim Wilkerson put his head down and rammed his way to Funny Car victory at the NHRA Mid-South Nationals, dispatching all three Force cars to do it.
Tony Schumacher continues his march to another Top Fuel championship with a win over Doug Herbert, Mike Edwards took his second win this year (over a tire-smoking Jason Line) and Craig Treble scored his first Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season since joining Don Schumacher Racing.
Today’s race left Schumacher, Wilkerson, Coughlin and Matt Smith in the Countdown points lead.
For a full rundown, see the NHRA.com Sunday recap.
Jimmie Johnson Wins At Kansas, Carl Edwards Wins My Respect
September 28, 2008
First off, let me apologize for no race recap last week. I could give some kind of weak excuse, but I’m just going to come clean with the truth. The truth is that when I saw that Michael Waltrip had finished the race in the top ten, my head exploded and I’ve spent the entire week trying to collect all the pieces so that I could recover enough to cover a little race today in Kansas. So if I’m a little more erratic than usual I probably messed up some electrodes or something, so just bear with me, but on the whole I’m feeling much better.
Just not as good as Jimmie Johnson is feeling right now.
Johnson was the man again on Sunday as he survived a spectacular last lap move by Carl Edwards to win his fifth race of the season and to take his spot at the top of the points standings.
I’ve been critical at times this season about the lack of interest of some of the races this season. I don’t think that I’m alone in my opinion that there have been some duds this season, but anyone who has watched NASCAR or any kind of racing knows that’s just the breaks some times. One of the drawbacks of being a racing fan is that if the race sucks you can’t just change the channel and watch a better race/game like you can if you’re a Raiders, Knicks, or Yankees fan (I’m one of the three, I’ll leave you to guess which). So, when you get a race that’s not that good, you watch it like a good fan, you try to enjoy it, and you wait until the next week for another race.
Kansas was the kind of race that makes being a fan fun. There was three and four-wide racing. The top drivers in the points were all over the top ten. There was tension between crews (that shot of the crewman kicking Tony Stewart’s door was priceless). But as it is with most races, it was a great finish that made the race.
But this post isn’t really about the race. (I’ll have a race recap soon, I promise.) This post is about the guy that came in second. This post is about Carl Edwards.
I’ve complained about drivers being afraid to lose more than they want to win on several occasions, and with the importance placed on getting points it’s understandable that drivers would want to avoid bad finishes. But, there’s just something about watching someone that wants to win at all costs, and boy, Carl Edwards laid everything out there when he tried to take the lead from Jimmie Johnson during the final lap. Edwards pushed and pushed and pushed, and when it didn’t look like he could catch Johnson he pushed some more and managed to slingshot himself past Johnson for a brief moment before he slid up the track where he was passed by Johnson. Edwards finished second, he didn’t settle for it.
Edwards could have easily (and almost did) hit the wall and in the process have been passed by everything on four wheels. He didn’t care, he went for the win, and I for one loved every bit of it.
This was Jimmie Johnson’s race to win and he did, but Carl Edwards did what he’s done all year and that’s win more and more of my respect (something I’m sure that he worries about nightly). He’s a hell of a driver, and that was a hell of a move to try. I started this season a Carl hater. Well, not a hater, I just didn’t think that a guy that did back-flips off of his car could be taken seriously.
I was wrong and I’ve been converted.
Is the Chase over for Busch?
September 26, 2008
Kyle Busch had a horrible start in the Chase for the Cup, but is it over? I don’t think he has a realisic shot at victory. The only way for Kyle to get back into the Chase is for all current top ten drivers to have two dnf’s each, out of the final eight races. I doubt that will happen. These teams are too good to let damage Read more
FastMachines.com Radio Episode #12
September 25, 2008
Short show this week - but we now have theme music!!! Chris and Josh cover the NASCAR race in Dover. Josh gaffaw’s as Rowdy is pretty much out of contention. Chris is getting amped for Petit, much sports car talk. F1 at night in Singapore coming up…major threat of rain!!! Fun fun…show notes below the fold…
Let us know what you think by commenting on this posting, or shoot Chris and I an email by sending to radio@fastmachines.com.
Click below to listen to us right now in your browser…
Click here to download the MP3 of this week’s podcast and load it on your iPod or whatever you listen to your tunes on.
The FastMachines.com Radio Podcast is brought to you by:
Michelin - Race to Learn, Race to Win
Read more
Speed in, Allmendinger out at Red Bull Racing…maybe
September 24, 2008
It was announced all over the internets this week that the writing that we all saw on the wall as of late was true. A.J. Allmendinger is out at Team Red Bull Racing possibly as early as the Cup race at Talladega, and the very likely replacement for him next year is Scott Speed. Mike Skinner, who is the current “mentor” for both Speed and Allmendinger, could be tapped to finish out the season in the # 84 Red Bull Toyota.
Team Red Bull has seemingly come a very very long way in the two years of its existence in the NSCS. With Brian Vickers at the helm, coming surprisingly close to joining the elite “superstars” in the Chase this year, and Allmendinger finally qualifying and competing mid-pack consistently at the end of the year, this team has much improved itself from a year ago. The former seems to have figured out his new team and the new car, and the latter seems to have finally figured out how to finally be competitive in a stock car. Both were ready, in this fan’s opinion, to seriously vie for Chase berths next year. Up until a week or so ago, I would have argued vehemently with anyone who said that Speed should be in the #84 next year. In fact, I made the prediction that Red Bull would most likely throw another car in the mix part time for the ‘09 season with Speed behind the wheel to get his feet wet. How wrong I was.
I am going to go on record here and say that 2009 will be a failure for Scott Speed and the Red Bull 84, for the exact same reasons that it took AJ so long to adjust to the Cup Series. This ain’t ARCA or the NCTS, it’s the elite series for Stock Cars in America. It takes time to figure these things out, it’s a trial by fire every week, and that is only if you can actually qualify for the race. Speed can thank Allmendinger for putting his car in the top 35 in points for the first 5 races, so he’ll make it on someone else’s merit, but after that, the goves are off.
To be a champion, you have to beat champions
September 21, 2008
(Post title courtesy Funny Car’s Tim Wilkerson)
As I write this in the press room, I can hear the wild cheers of the post-race ceremony crowd that spilled out of the Texas Motorplex grandstands and onto the drag strip after the Fall Nationals wrapped.
Hey, why get into the dust-choked mob of departing traffic when you can hang around awhile longer and cheer some overjoyed Wally-winners, including a guy who just knocked off a team on a record-setting winning streak?
Top Fuel’s JR Todd, the 2006 Rookie of the Year, came back against a tough season (he’s not in the Countdown to the Championship ) and took out Tony Schumacher with a 3.912 ET at 309.84 mph.