Jul 13

Written by: The Commish
7/13/2010 7:51 PM 

Scott Speed should lose his ride.  I have nothing against the Red Bull dude, in fact I find him funny and quirky and charming and goofy and extremely talented.  But he's not a NASCAR driver, he's an open wheel guy.  He needs to bite the bullet and, with or without Red Bull's help, start racing in the IndyCar series and forget about stock cars.  It doesn't matter if his team hasn't given him the chance to show his true talents, or he's still learning the cars and the tracks or he hasn't found the right hair and fingernail and toenail polish colors.  Scott Speed belongs in an IndyCar.  It would be no loss to NASCAR and, as a former F1 pilot who possesses personality, attitude and real skills Speed could be a real boon to the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Lola introduced their latest scale model of their 2012 spec IndyCar chassis and there's a lot to like.  It looks as good as the latest Swift and all the engineering and performance goals appear right on the money -- especially the feature that would allow one chassis to compete in both the Indy Lights and IndyCar series --  but it's still an evolution, not a revolution.  The Delta Wing would be a revolution.  Tomorrow we'll learn about the new chassis specs and Miller keeps telling us we're going to be pleasantly surprised.  I certainly hope that's true.

Richard Petty Motorsports.  What a sad state of affairs -- on the outside, at least.  It seems the King sold his name and likeness and public persona to a wealthy, successful wheeler dealer from Wisconsin who already owned the Montreal Canadiaens NHL hockey team and the Liverpool soccer team when he decided to buy Ray Evernham out and make an offer to Petty.  This was a business transaction; a NASCAR investment by George Gillett that has, so far, shown a line flatter than a four day old Diet Coke in terms of growth or ROI.  Yet the disappointment among fans, the media and sponsors has been anything but flat. Periods of acrimony at HQ and the shop and between drivers, far below expectations race results and Kasey Kahne's bailing, now followed by Elliott Sadler's announcement that he won't be coming back, have cast a definite pall over RPM.  Budweiser will be gone, A.J. Allmendinger will be considering his options soon and that leaves Richard Petty Motorsports with Paul Menard and a hundred question marks. 

God-fearing Richard needs a miracle if he wants to salvage his legacy.  

Question:  Is there some contractural agreement that's keeping RPM from removing that now nonsensical three-point E -- for Evernham -- at the top right of their car numbers?  I was never a fan of that little mark on the numbers -- I got it, I just didn't like it -- and for 2011 RPM should just make them go away. 

Graham Rahal is back with Newman Haas for the last six races of the season with Quick Trim writing the check.   This should be a bigger story than it is, with one more 'Merican, the son of a CART champion and Indy 500 winner, being added to the IndyCar lineup, joining Ryan Hunter Reay, Marco Andretti, Danica and sometimes Sarah.  IndyCar has lots of good driver stories, including the Aussie angle, the British Invasion, those crazy Brazilians and Danica VS. Simona VS. Milka-the-moving-chicane.    But IndyCar gets no ink, mainly because it's still bearing the scars of being an underpowered, ugly-car spec series.  You can tell me that doesn't matter until you're blue in the face, I don't and won't believe it. In order to become relevant again IndyCar needs variety.  Quickly.

How sad that another racer just lost his life at the end of a dragstrip.  Not much doubt about what happened; the parachutes simply separated from the car and the rear brakes alone couldn't slow him down enough to avoid massive trauma when he hit the catch fence.  So what's the answer?  Is it a requirement for rear brakes so effective and big they could reduce vehicle speed to 40 or 60 or 80 mph before going past a standard, required minimum distance?  Should borderline tracks be forced to add more grade in the shutdown areas?  Should they replace the catch fences with huge, cargo net structures filled with water balloons?  Should all classes have to run just 1000 ft. instead of the standard 1320?

I don't have a clue as to an answer, but I'm certain this is going to have to be addressed ASAP.  Two deaths in one season, and the season isn't over yet, because the cars were unable to slow down in the space available for whatever reason, is inexcusable.

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