Boring, Impressive, and Surprising

by Tammy

The last week in racing was a little bit of everything.

In Formula 1, not content with wrapping up the championship with 3 (or was it 4?) races still to run, Vettel ground the rest of the field into so much dust under his tires, winning the USGP, making it his 12th win of the season and his 8th in a row.

Impressive? Absolutely. Boring? No doubt. As I've said before, I've got massive respect ... but I also had better things to do than watch the race. Again.

In NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson won his sixth championship in smooth style, finishing the final race of the year in 9th place, for a 20-some point margin in the championship. It was a nail-biter down to the end, though, given that he needed to finish 23rd or better to win, and given Matt Kenseth (2nd place) doing all he could. The commentators reported Jimmie having said he wanted 8 championships (the record of 7 is held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt) ... and no one who's watched him over the last decade would be surprised to see him achieve that.

Surprising? Nope. Impressive? Definitely. Boring? Depends on your point of view.

And in IndyCar, the news that took plenty by surprise, and dismayed many, many fans, was of Dario Franchitti's retirement from racing. The bottom line is that he got one-too-many concussions, and he hasn't been recovering as quickly as hoped from the last one. The medical opinion seems to be that any more such bell-ringers and he risks brain damage (Is this sounding familiar, Simon?), and he made the wise choice to stop. (It does make me wonder how many racecar drivers have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the brain disease that the world of football is just beginning to recognize.)

Surprising? For sure. But rational and understandable.

Lastly, in the media, former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb dredged up the years' old question of whether drivers are athletes. Jimmie wouldn't be drawn into the controversy, but Jeff Gordon had a great response (image).

Surprising? Yes. Boring? Completely. Aren't we past this by now? And seriously, even the notoriously unfit Tony Stewart could take most defensive linemen, am I right?

Best two Twitter hashtags of the week: #peoplewhoaremoreathleticthandonovan and #ThankYouDario.

Racing Dominance

by Tammy

Was it boring when Michael Schumacher was winning? Because I have to tell you, I'm finding Formula 1 so boring these days I can't even be bothered to DVR the races—I used to always DVR them and watch if the reports were of a good race, but "the exciting battle for 5th" doesn't count.

Partly, I assume, it's a matter of whether I like the driver or not. Take Jimmie Johnson. I tend to like him, so I'm glad to see him winning ... then again, it was less liking than awe and respect when he was steamrolling the competition to five consecutive championships. The last one and this year have been different, more clutch performances. Down to the wire.

But I just can't get excited about Vettel. Is it that he's cold, aloof, reserved? Is it that he's kind of a brat? I figure he's outgrown that by now, but I'm still not warming to him.

I think my problem is the combination of open-wheel cars, fragile cars, no refueling strategy, and then the dominance of one specific driver that means I just don't engage. If I'd been a lifelong viewer perhaps—then again, a friend of mine who's a lifelong viewer isn't watching the end of this season anyway.

I caught a tweet today where someone blamed Jimmie's dominance for NASCAR's viewer woes. But I don't think it's entirely on his shoulders. After all, he's not dominating this season, and someone else won last year. Plus, plenty of other racing series (hello, IndyCar) have seen declining viewership and attendance numbers, so I'd be more inclined to blame the economy and strange broadcast channels (who else misses SPEED?).

But I want to know what you think? Is it boring when a driver or team dominates a particular series? Or just when it's a driver you don't like?

And do you think Jimmie will take it this year?

Win, Fail, and WTF?

by Tammy

Let's evaluate the racing weekend, shall we?

Formula 1: By all accounts, the U.S. Formula 1 race made a good showing this weekend. Consider: drivers seemed to like the track, fans packed the stands, and (gasp!) there was even a thrilling, on-track pass for the race win. (So the traffic in and out of the Circuit of the Americas was a drag ... we didn't experience that watching on television.) The results of this race even set up the last F1 race of the season as the championship decider. Bottom line: not just another boring F1 go-round. And in a good timezone for us to watch!
Score for F1 in the U.S. again? WIN

NASCAR: Jimmie was leading, Brad was mid-pack. One ahead in the Chase standings, then the other, then a tie. One hundred laps to go, and Jimmie stops for gas, guaranteeing he can get to the end with only one more stop. Brad doesn't stop, no one's sure he can save enough fuel to do a one-stop. Sixty-two laps to the end, Brad runs out of fuel, makes it to the pits, rejoins in 24th place (too low to secure the title). Fifty laps to go: horrors, Jimmie's crew misses a lug nut, he has to return to the pits, and he rejoins a lap down, 29th place. He seems out of it, but anything can happen in 49 laps, 48 laps....

And then something broke in the back of Jimmie's car, and they went to the garage. Day done. Season done.  Not the way anyone wanted to see them end. But as long as Brad can get his car around to the checkers (which he does), he's the champion. Everyone's happy for Roger Penske who wins (unbelievably) only his first NASCAR championship. Jimmie is classy in defeat in the media center, Brad is classy in the championship circle. Even Jeff "Mr. Retaliation" Gordon, who wins the race, is classy in the winner's circle.
Score for Penske: WIN
Score for Keselowski as Champ: WIN
Score for how Jimmie lost: FAIL

Hats: Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske reportedly swapped hats in the championship winner's circle when Hendrick (losing car owner) went to congratulate Penske (this apparently has history for the two men). And then there were the podium hats in Austin (seen on Hamilton, the race winner, to the right). Clever? Perhaps. But ... let's just say, once seen, can't ever be unseen.
Score for Hendrick/Penske hat swap: WIN
Score for one-of-a-kind Pirelli cowboy hats: WTF?

What do you all think? Do you agree? Do you want one of those cowboy hats?

Big Weekend Ahead

TAMMY: Two huge events in the racing world this weekend. Not only does Formula One returns to the United States, but also, NASCAR will crown a new champion. The question is, which one is bigger?

I'm voting the NASCAR champion, because of who it could possibly be. It's come down to Jimmie Johnston trying for a sixth championship ... though after a blown tire and a wall-slap last weekend, he doesn't have much choice of beating the frontrunner. That is, if Brad Keselowski can pull together a decent finish.

What I think is earth-shaking about Keselowski possibly winning the championship is that he represents the next generation of NASCAR. He's 28, and an avid Twitterer (@keselowski). He has been a brash, crazy rookie and newbie in the sport, but he's shown real maturity, especially this year. And talent, of course. But he's also captured everyone's imagination by tweeting from the car during red flags. Like the one last weekend (at right). And of course, the infamous red flag back at the Daytona 500, when Juan Pablo Montoya turned a jet dryer into a fireball.

So what will be more significant this weekend, NASCAR or the return of the lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous-racers show? NASCAR, because we'll either have a champion who's won six times in the past seven years, or we'll have a first-timer who reaches out to NASCAR fans in a way no other driver has.

But don't get me wrong, I'll be watching both.... What's your vote, Simon?

SIMON: Personally, I'll be watching F1. Don't think it'll be the bigger event, but it'll be the 1st time F1 will race on a proper race track since Watkins Glen. Since '81, F1 has arsed about on makeshift circuits (and parking lots if you consider the Vegas Grand Prix). Even Indy Speedway GP was a half-hearted attempt at a real track when they modified the infield. I hope Austin pulls this off because like I mentioned a few months ago, that F1 needs to race in countries where there's a racing culture and the US has it. I hope F1 remains in the US, so I'm rooting for it. I still question the need for a new track when the US has some established circuits that would make for a great F1 race.

TAMMY: Well, I agree that F1 could have run any number of great tracks that already existed in the U.S., but would that really have fed Bernie's ego the same way? But that's another post....

What about the rest of you, what will you be watching this weekend?

The Jimmie Juggernaut

by Tammy

Maybe we should start calling Jimmie Johnson (and crew chief Chad Knaus) "the Closer." Sure, he cruised to the title in his first couple years of championships. But the last year certainly was a fight, and in more than one, he (and crew) demonstrated an uncanny ability to finish the year strong, pulling out a number of victories and strong finishes in the Chase.

And this year. No one's been talking about Jimmie. Not as much as they've been talking about Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin. But who's on top with three races to go this season? Who dominated at Martinsville this weekend, winning from pole?

Yep, this guy.

Can he be stopped? Who do you like to take the title in NASCAR this year?

Simon's pick (back to our fantasy picks) of Jeff Gordon (6th) is doing better than my pick of Carl Edwards (not in the Chase), and Rick Helms' choice of Greg Biffle (9th). But Rick Hunt outpicked us all by pegging Jimmie from the start.

It's not too late. I'm changing my vote to Jimmie.

P.S. Did you know he wrote (with help) and published a memoir/coffee-table book? Hmm, writing, racing ... maybe he wants to join a feisty little blog....

Are Racecar Drivers Athletes?

It's a question that pops up now and then, mostly, as in this case, posed by the uninformed. With disdain.

Last week, during the ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Awards, a football player for the Seattle Seahawks, Golden Tate, unleashed a firestorm in Twitter, which quickly made its way to the media. The spark? In response to five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson’s nomination for Male Athlete of the Year, Tate tweeted “Jimmy johnson up for best athlete???? Um nooo .. Driving a car does not show athleticism.” (There's Jimmie with the ESPY he did win for best driver.)

Now, part of the problem with this situation is the source. Golden Tate (no disrespect to his ability on the playing field) is, perhaps, easy to make fun of, having recently broken into a donut shop because of an overwhelming need for maple bars. Really. Not to mention the bad grammar, spelling, and punctuation of his tweets (hey, I’m a writer, these things matter to me).

And in our current age, it’s really easy for anyone with a computer to toss out an opinion—often vituperative—whether in an article, blog, tweet, or comment. So the twitterverse quickly responded to Tate—and it wasn’t just NASCAR fans responding, but fans of all kinds of racing, amateur and pro drivers, and reporters who cover the sport. Plus, of course, those who agreed with him.

In the end, Tate backtracked, saying “I'm not saying NASCAR isn't hard I'm just saying u don't have to be athletic to do that...” and following it up later in a radio interview, saying, “I did read up and educate myself, and I will say this: They are incredible people to do that. After reading up on it I do have respect and I do want to apologize to NASCAR nation.”

Here’s my take. I think of drivers and golfers the same way. Does being professional driver/golfer require being an Olympic-level decathlete? No. Will you be better at it if you’re fit and strong and have a lot of endurance? Absolutely, yes. I have seen plenty of drivers with pot-bellies or who look like they’d have trouble running a couple miles. But the drivers I know, both pro and amateur (and I’ve met quite a few), are some of the fittest people I’ve ever seen. They run marathons and triathlons in their spare time. (Oh, and do you see that photo of Tony Kanaan, IndyCar driver? Tell me he’s not an athlete.)

Do they have the dexterity and athleticism of a top-level basketball player (the comparison Tate was making)? Perhaps not. But for two, three, or four hours at a time, their heartrates are raised, they’re withstanding high g-forces, they’re sitting in a 100-degree sauna, and they’re maintaining the kind of focus required of a fighter pilot—where the slightest lapse of attention can have dramatic consequences. All while they’re going up to 200 miles per hour, just inches away from dozens of other cars.

You can call it athleticism or not. But I certainly do.