plus 4, NASCAR wrapping up a rough season - Florida Today |
- NASCAR wrapping up a rough season - Florida Today
- Schumacher to return? - Sportal.com.au
- Erik Buell Sez "I'm Going Racing!" - About - News & Issues
- Macau GP: Event qualifying report - Motorsport.com
- Michael Schumacher will drive for Brawn, predicts Eddie Jordan - The Guardian
| NASCAR wrapping up a rough season - Florida Today Posted: 20 Nov 2009 10:15 PM PST And judging from the reading and listening I do on a regular basis, an overall drop in interest among long-time fans. It's not like NASCAR doesn't care. Its ranks are full of smart, hard-working, dedicated people who do their best every week to put on the best show possible with what they have at hand. The problem lies in that the sport has sold its soul to the twin devils of commercialism and corporate correctness. It always wanted to be just like the king of North American sports, the NFL, and it succeeded. Now, much like the NFL, it's afraid of its own shadows and its own athletes, constricting them into ever-tightening vises of decorousness on and off the track. They've succeeded in depriving the sport of the dash and splash and color that gave it the wings to rise from a regional pastime to a national phenomenon. Many also lay the blame at the feet of what they consider an over-sensitivity to safety, which spawned the unmanageable new race car. I don't want to hear it. That car has saved lives, is saving lives and will continue to save lives. And that's what it's all about. Sure, it's hard to drive and the teams can't cheat on it like they did with its predecessors. Too bad. Get over it and make it work. You're the best in the business. Show it. Here's where the problem lies. Any successes at the hands of the drivers and the teams that improve the racing will bring more fans and more marketing, more commercialism, more correctness and a loss of all the bright-colored crayons in the box. The better things get, the more people -- and more personality-sapping money -- will want in. But then again, things surely can't continue on the course they are now. Or maybe they can. The worse it gets, the more people will lose interest and perhaps some day things will be compelling and colorful and fun once again. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Schumacher to return? - Sportal.com.au Posted: 20 Nov 2009 09:10 PM PST Former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan believes Michael Schumacher will replace Jenson Button at the newly-named Mercedes team for next season. World champion Button joined Lewis Hamilton at McLaren earlier this week after the Brawn team with which he won the drivers' title was renamed Mercedes. Speculation has mounted that seven-time champion Schumacher, who could not replace the injured Felipe Massa on a short-term deal at Ferrari last season because of a back injury picked up racing motorcycles, could be drafted into the team run by former Benetton and Ferrari colleague Ross Brawn. Jordan, who ran an F1 team under his own name, said: "I believe the Brawn team will have Michael Schumacher in it next year." "And my reasons for believing that is that at Abu Dhabi, the grand prix, the last race Dr (Dieter) Zetsche - (chairman of the Daimler board) - Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher were deep in conversation and I believe it was to do with possibly joining the team as driver for the 2010 championship," Jordan told Radio Five Live. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Erik Buell Sez "I'm Going Racing!" - About - News & Issues Posted: 20 Nov 2009 05:36 PM PST 
You may recall this two month-old image, immortalizing Buell rider Danny Eslick's clinching of the AMA Daytona Sportbike championship on an 1125R. Based on today's official statement from Harley-Davidson, Erik Buell appears to be hoping to create more triumphant moments by leaving the company to establish Erik Buell Racing, an "independent motorcycle race shop."
Offering race-only parts, competition-ready 1125R bikes, and technical support, Buell says "I'm looking forward to helping Buell racers keep their bikes flying," and that "We've got some exciting race development projects in the works and it will mean a lot to me personally to see Buell racers competing for wins and championships in the 2010 season and beyond." His new venture's website can be found at www.erikbuellracing.com. As happy as I am for Erik Buell's racing endeavors, it would have been interesting to see how far he could take his street-legal motorcycle engineering and manufacturing. On the other hand, if Buells end up winning on Sunday, maybe there's a way they can sell on Monday... after all, anything is possible now that Erik Buell is now freed from his corporate responsibilities, right? Related:
Photo © Buell; click to enlarge This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Macau GP: Event qualifying report - Motorsport.com Posted: 20 Nov 2009 05:00 PM PST Easton on Pole as he Looks for Repeat Motorcycle Grand Prix Victory Stuart Easton, the 26-year-old Scottish racer, will start on pole position for tomorrow's 43rd running of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix after qualifying fastest in the two timed sessions for the Far East Classic. Easton, on the Hydrex IGT Honda 1000, did not improve on his Thursday's fastest lap, but today none of his rivals were able to get near his best lap. Easton finished over four fifths of a second faster than Conor Cummins (PBM Kawasaki WSBK Team), the 23-year-old racer from the Isle of Man. Cummins qualified fastest for last year's race before breaking down with electrical problems soon after half distance, but he went faster this time to snatch second place on the starting grid. Michael Rutter, the 36-year-old Leicestershire rider who is looking for his record-breaking seventh win in the event, was third fastest on the Team of Paris-AXA Racing Kawasaki 1000, but his machine finally broke down on his final lap of qualifying after suffering a misfire for most of the session. Another British rider, Ian Hutchinson (PBM Kawasaki WSBK Team), the 30-year- old Yorkshireman, was fourth fastest to complete the front row of the grid for the 15-lap race, improving on his best lap of the opening session to go within two fifths of a second of Rutter's time. Veteran Michael Barnes, on another PBM Kawasaki, was fifth fastest, two fifths of a second behind Hutchinson, after finally getting what he described as his first good nights' sleep since leaving his Florida home. German Rico Penzkofer (BMW Macau Racing Team 1000), was sixth fastest, just over a tenth of a second slower than Barnes. It was very close in the Supersport 600 Class with the fastest three riders all covered by less than a quarter of a second. Frenchman Amaury Baratin (Team of Paris-AXA Racing Triumph 675) was fastest but only by four hundredths of a second from Joao Fernandes (Yamaha) from Macau. Cheung Wai On, the 28-year-old racer from Hong Kong, was third fastest on his new Kawasaki just a fifth of a second slower. -credit: macu This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Michael Schumacher will drive for Brawn, predicts Eddie Jordan - The Guardian Posted: 20 Nov 2009 05:07 PM PST |
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