“'The Amazing Race 15' Recap: Monkey Karma Can Be Frustrating - Buddytv.com” plus 4 more

'The Amazing Race 15' Recap: Monkey Karma Can Be Frustrating - Buddytv.com
Roadshow: Excuses drivers give traffic cops - Inside Bay Area
Richmond: Antron Brown final report - Motorsport.com
SC: Series division final Sunday rain summary - Motorsport.com
Tickets for Indy race at Barber go on sale Monday - Everything Alabama Blog

'The Amazing Race 15' Recap: Monkey Karma Can Be Frustrating - Buddytv.com

Posted: 11 Oct 2009 07:09 PM PDT

Last week on The Amazing Race, the teams continue racing in Ho Chi Minh City, and a poignant Marcy and Ron were eliminated after a bad end to their detour. And then there are broken giraffe statues, ripped-up VCRs, oh, and Lance and Keri arguing. You very well know where I stand on this one.

I thought I was late for the show, but what do you know, it's still 60 Minutes! Brain injuries suffered by football players! Now, I haven't played football, but watching that bit scared me. I was literally touching the back of my head.

Forty minutes later, the race finally begins. So much for trying to get here on time. Anyway, we return to the Reunification Palace--historical landmark and, for our purposes, third pit stop. Everybody's headed to Phnom Penh, Cambodia--or, in the words of Zev and Justin, "Sean Penn, Cambodia"--and the first flight won't fly until 12:25pm the following day. Well, all but the last two teams on the pit stop: Zev and Justin, and Lance and Keri, had to book the next flight, which was two hours later. They did some begging and they found themselves taking the earlier flight, so it's pretty much a bottleneck.

Their first stop is the Foreign Correspondents' Club, where they have to look for their "editor" and ask for their "next assignment". Well, their next clue. Surprisingly, it's Zev and Justin who get their first, and they get a pretty cryptic clue: a black-and-white photo of a woman who apparently has a hotel suite named after her. It's a snap of Jackie Kennedy on her only official visit to the country, and a big version of that photo hangs at the Hotel Le Royal, where their next clue is.

Funny not everybody knows who the woman in the photo is. "It's probably somebody of Cambodian descent," Mika said. Canaan even said it's Queen Elizabeth, not realizing that Cambodia was under the French once. But I digress.

It's a detour. Those who chose "cover" will have to sell four motorcycle helmets to a family of four. (It was that specific.) Lance and Keri were the only ones to choose that task, and it took them a while to make a sale. Didn't help that they were running behind most of the pack.

And then there's "wrap". Those who chose it will have to go to the Russian Market, where they'll find a stall that sells silk scarves, and find someone who wears one that matches the one they have. If selling helmets to strangers sounds hard, then you're wrong--trying to find something amidst a really crowded maze of corridors inside a market is sure harder. And it's much darker there, too. It takes a while for everybody else to find their scarves--really, a long while. Zev and Justin finish that task first, followed by Sam and Dan, and they both head to Wat Toul Tom Pong, where this leg's Roadblock is.

At the Roadblock, one has to act like a monkey, because apparently, Cambodians revere the animal so much that the royal family hires actors to imitate it. Three manouvers get you a clue. Sam and Dan finish it first, partly because Zev was so frustrated by Justin's fussing that he got tired and had a "mini panic attack".

From there, it's on to the pit stop: Wat Phnom, which is this pretty big Buddhist temple. For some odd reason, Zev and Justin get to the mat first again, followed by Sam and Dan. But you know what the promos suggest: Zev's passport is missing! They only realize it after they have checked in--they probably got too excited, they contend--and after telling Phil, and going through their backpacks, they had no choice but to return to where they came from. They're pretty lucky to have kept their taxi driver's business card. They've made good friends with that guy, talking to them about karma and stuff, and even having him help out during the Detour. "He's got to pull through for us one more time," Justin said.

But the search for that passport took longer than they hoped, and at this point, it's very obvious what happens next. With the passport fiasco, Sam and Dan are elevated to first place. Flight and Big arrive second. Brian and Ericka arrive third, after another lucky break at the Detour reversed confusion at the Hotel Le Royal. Gary and Matt arrive fourth. Meghan and Cheyne arrive fifth. Lance and Keri arrive sixth, with their monkey masks in tow. Mika and Canaan arrive seventh. Maria and Tiffany arrive eighth, after another Phil fake-out.

Even suckier? Zev never found his passport. They return to the pit stop stumped and frustrated, but still profess how much they appreciate each other's company. I, obviously, am similarly frustrated at their elimination. But we've been at it for 15 seasons and those teams should know better. I suggest if you're joining the show, sew your passport to your arms.

Next week, the teams fly to Dubai, where they have to deal with the scorching heat and the freezing snow--in a man-made resort, of course.

- Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)

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Roadshow: Excuses drivers give traffic cops - Inside Bay Area

Posted: 11 Oct 2009 06:33 PM PDT

Q: I enjoyed the columns about excuses drivers give traffic cops. My co-worker and I were having a stressed-out, horrible day at work and after reading it and laughing as we read it, suddenly the day wasn't so bad anymore. I don't usually send the column out to my husband and friends, but I was e-mailing those away. Kudos! "... Can you do an "excuses column" a couple times a month? The past ones were great. "... I'd love to see a few more of these columns. I just couldn't stop laughing about "I'm too pretty to get a ticket."

Kathy Lam, Mike Richter, Mark Warren and more

A: Off we go again, with our first stop in traffic court.

Q: I worked 33 years with Santa Clara County Municipal/Superior Courts and loved working at traffic court. There were times when stories were so incredible that even the commissioner lost it and started laughing along with the rest of us in the courtroom.

Debra Faraone Hodges

A: Make us laugh today.

Q: One exchange was something like:

Defendant: "And there I was, Your Honor, just sitting at the stoplight, and the woman in front of me threw her car into reverse and backed into me. REALLY. I didn't hit HER."

Commissioner: "But, why would she do something like that and render her own car with several thousand dollars' damages?"

Defendant: "Just dumb, I

guess."

Commissioner: "I can't believe that you believe that I'll believe something like that!"

To which another defendant from the audience replied: "Me, either!" — sending the entire courtroom into hysterics.

Debra Faraone Hodges

A: And sending Mr. Roadshow into hysterics as well.

Q: I saw a license plate frame on a Palo Alto motorcycle officer's bike: "I Know, I Know. It Was Yellow." Nice to see a sense of humor.

Keith Ferrell

Palo Alto

A: Nice indeed.

Q: I was speeding on Highway 99, just keeping a pack of extreme speeders in sight as they, I thought, cleared the way. A highway patrolman pulled me over, patiently listened to my protest that those six other speeders were going much faster than I, and why was I being ticketed and not them. He replied: Do you fish? I said yes. When you go fishing, do you catch all the fish? I said no. Do you catch the biggest fish in the lake? I said no. I understood and appreciated the story and the lesson.

Paul Davis

Campbell

A: And "...

Q: Years ago, when my son was a newly licensed driver, he was stopped for speeding in Los Altos. My son asked the officer if he knew Bob Matthews (me). "Yeah, I went to high school with him," the officer replied. "He's my dad," replied my son. "He's not driving the car," the officer said, handing the ticket to my son.

Bob Matthews

Mountain View

A: Now to a couple of tales from the Internet.

Q: Did you hear about the 83-year-old woman who talked herself out of a speeding ticket by telling the officer that she had to get there before she forgot where she was going?

Karen Poret

Santa Cruz

A: No, but it made me laugh.

Q: Dan Lewis (not his real name), a highway patrolman in Texas, stopped a businessman for speeding. The businessman immediately began telling officer Lewis about all the important people he knew. "I know the mayor "... I had lunch with the governor "..." etc. After a minute of listening to this talk, the officer asked the speeding businessman: "Do you know Dan Lewis?"

"Dan Lewis, Dan Lewis. I don't believe I know anyone by that name," he said.

"Dan Lewis is the only one who can save you now," the officer said.

Mark Jabusch

A: And "...

Q: This story involves my wife (the love of my life) before she even knew I existed. While living in Arizona, she and her family (mom, dad and three brothers) were traveling on a summer vacation with her dad at the wheel. My wife, Audrey, and her three younger brothers (ages 8 to 15) were all in the back seat squabbling: "Are we there yet? Move over and give me more room," etc. As you can image, her dad was going over the speed limit and was duly pulled over by a highway patrolman. Her dad wound down the window so that he could talk to the officer. As he did so, the brothers starting shouting to their father: "Dad, I'll hold him while you guys get some rope and tie him up. "... Dad, run now before he takes your license. "... Hey, Officer, is that a real gun? Can I hold it?" The officer felt so sorry for Audrey's father, he simply told him to move on and stay within the speed limit — if possible!

Tony Armstrong

A: Now on to a final tale from a cop.

Q: One of my great ones was the guy racing home in Almaden Valley because his turtle just died. The turtle was over 100 years old. We could write a book.

Officer Joe Wicker (retired)

A: Yes, we could.

Have a tale to tell about being pulled over by a traffic cop? Share it with Gary Richards at mrroadshow@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5335.

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Richmond: Antron Brown final report - Motorsport.com

Posted: 11 Oct 2009 05:07 PM PDT

BROWN RACES MATCO TOOLS CAR TO RUNNER-UP FINISH SUNDAY AT RICHMOND

PETERSBURG, Va. (Oct. 11, 2009) - Antron Brown scored a get-healthy weekend as the 23-time NHRA winner powered his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to a runner-up finish Sunday at Virginia Motorsports Park. Brown remains fourth in the NHRA Countdown to 1 standings.

A day after setting the NHRA national speed record at 319.60 mph, after qualifying fifth at 3.797-seconds, Brown bested No. 12 qualifier Chris "the Greek" Karamesines, six-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher, and 31-time winner Doug Kalitta before smoking the tires in the final round against Bernstein. The Matco Tools team now trails Schumacher by 81 points with two races remaining on the 2009 NHRA schedule.

Squaring off against the 80-year-old drag racing icon for the first time, Brown got the jump at the start in the Matco-backed rail to score the wire-to-wire win. Brown's Brian Corradi/Mark Oswald-tuned Matco Tools/Toyota car cruised to a run of 3.827 seconds at 316.01 mph to score the win in the right lane at Virginia Motorsports Park. Karamesines' white dragster posted a solid run of 3.994 at 297.61 in a losing effort. It was Brown's 301st career round win and 80th in Top Fuel.

Facing off against the point's leader for the seventh time this season, Brown scored his third holeshot win of 2009. The 16-time Pro Stock Motorcycle winner used a reaction time of .072 of-a-second and a pass of 3.833 at 313.88 to score the narrow win over Top Fuel racing's winningest driver. The U.S. Army/Matco Tools rail posted a quicker, but losing lap of 3.827 at 317.64. Brown is now 5-2 against Schumacher this season. It was Brown's 45th round win this year.

Racing in the semifinals for the first time in the Countdown to 1, Brown advanced to his ninth final round of the season by carding the wire-to-wire win over Kalitta. The Matco Tools flagship driver used a starting line advantage and a lap of 3.846 at 318.47 to hold off Kalitta's pass of 3.886 at 310.70. Brown is now 3-1 against Kalitta this season.

Competing in his 47th career final round, Brown was defeated by the Budweiser car when the Matco Tools/SpongeTech car smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle. Bernstein sped to a lap of 3.844 at 307.09 to win his first race in more than two years. Racing in his ninth final round of the season, Brown's bright blue car turned in a lap of 9.009 at 75.99. The Matco Tools team now has a mark of 46-17 in 22 races.

"This was a good rebound weekend for our MAR Matco Tools team," Brown said. "We qualified well and our car ran great all weekend. We got the speed record again at 319.60 and we gained two rounds on Tony (Schumacher). That final round was a bummer, but it's just one of those deals. That happens in racing. It's all good though. We're back in the race and we're going to race hard at (Las) Vegas and Pomona and try and win this thing."

The next NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event is the ninth annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Brown qualified second at the spring Las Vegas race at 3.878-seconds and raced to a semifinal finish.

-credit: mar

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SC: Series division final Sunday rain summary - Motorsport.com

Posted: 11 Oct 2009 03:27 PM PDT

SUMMIT SERIES FINALS ELIMINATIONS RAINED OUT AT TEXAS MOTORPLEX

ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 11, 2009) -- Rain has washed out eliminations for the day at the NHRA South Central Division Summit Racing Series Finals at Texas Motorplex. Racing will pick up again Monday morning at 9.

Each of the five categories got through first round of eliminations and racers in Super Pro, Pro and No-E Quick ran two rounds of eliminations before the rain started.

Competitors from NHRA member tracks across the division are on hand running for team and individual honors and a share of the purse worth nearly $30,000.

The winners in No-E Quick, No-E Street, Motorcycle/Snowmobile and either Super Pro or Pro will advance to run for a national championship against the winners from NHRA's other six divisions at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., in November. (There will be a run-off between the winners in Super Pro and Pro to determine who will go to Pomona.) The national champions in each of the four classes will get a winner-take-all $5,000 payday.

-credit: nhra

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Tickets for Indy race at Barber go on sale Monday - Everything Alabama Blog

Posted: 11 Oct 2009 08:39 AM PDT

By Doug Demmons - The Birmingham News

October 11, 2009, 10:44AM

Tickets for the 2010 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama go on sale Monday as Barber Motorsports Park gears up for what is likely to be its biggest crowd ever.

The April 9-11 race weekend will include the third race of the IndyCar season and the Firestone Indy Lights Series on Sunday and the Rolex Grand Am Series race on Saturday.

The Porsche 250 Grand Am race -- previously held in July and marked by complaints from drivers about brutally hot conditions -- is being moved to pair with the Indy race and solve the heat problem.

Barber is also shifting its AMA Honda Superbike race from May to September. Barber will host the AMA's season finale on Sept. 24-26 and will also host the AMA post-season awards banquet on Sept. 27 at the track's motorsports museum.

Gene Hallman, president of track promoter Zoom Motorsports, said the intent is to keep the AMA race as a season-ending event that could end up deciding the series' championships and to keep the awards banquet at the museum devoted to motorcycles.

"It's a very appropriate place for the AMA to have their awards ceremony," Hallman said.

Barber also announced that the park near Interstate 20 and U.S. 78 will host the BMW Car Club of America Oktoberfest event in October 2010. The event draws members from BMW club chapters around the country for non-speed competitive races, technical sessions and other activities.

Hallman said it should be "every bit as big" as the Mustang show that drew thousands to Barber this year.

"That's going to have a huge economic impact for the community," he said.

But the marquee event at Barber next year will be the Indy race, which will feature its marquee attraction, Danica Patrick. Patrick has reportedly already signed a new contract to remain full time with her Andretti-Green Indy team and is said to be close to a deal to run a limited number of NASCAR Nationwide races.

Hallman said the track will add temporary grandstands along the backstretch to accommodate the expected crowd. Seating capacity will be about 3,000 to 5,000, he said, and will be on a first-come basis.

To buy tickets, go to the Barber website or call 327-RACE.

A three-day pass for the race weekend will be $70 in advance and $85 at the gate. Single-day tickets are also available at $15 for Friday, $40 for Saturday and $50 for Sunday.

Children 12 and under will be admitted free. Paddock access will be $30 each day or $60 for all three days.

Some higher-end ticket packages for the weekend will only be offered on a limited basis.

Onsite parking and camping spaces also will be limited.

Onsite parking will cost $50 but the track is arranging for free off-site parking at the Birmingham Race Course and other sites with free shuttle service to the track.

Hallman said the short stretch of Rex Lake Road from the Barber entrance to Highway 78 has been approved by the state to be widened to four lanes to improve traffic flow.

The race is expected to draw half its crowd from Alabama and half from outside the state. Zoom is planning an aggressive marketing campaign that will include making use of social media sites like Twitter.

"We will be tweeting aggressively," Hallman said.

The Grand Am race will not include the KONI Series next year as it has in previous years. The KONI Series features a wide variety of cars from Mustangs to Porsches, BMWs, Minis and Volkswagens.

"I don't know that we have enough room on the chedule and on the paddock" for the KONI Series, Hallman said. "We would definitely consider bringing them separately."

Also not on the 2010 schedule for Barber is the Mustang Challenge Series, a racing league run by Ford that raced at Barber this year as part of the Mustang 40th anniversary show.

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