Racing's Princess Goes to NASCAR ... Discuss

TAMMY: Well, the news has been confirmed. Racing's reigning princess is headed out to play with the big boys and the big money. Danica is going to NASCAR. On one hand, you could say NASCAR is already about as overhyped as you can get, so how can she add more? But I think she and NASCAR are made for each other. And could it be any more perfect that she'll be driving for Dale Earnhardt, Junior? I don't think so. It'll be more interesting to see her running with Tony Stewart's team for a handful of Sprint Cup races ... that will undoubtedly be less about hype and more about pure racing. Now, I make that sound like I think Danica's in it for the fame and money. I don't, really, but I do think she's capitalizing on it while she's got the opportunity (can I blame her? probably not). But Tony Stewart (Mr. I Hate the Media Game, himself) taking her on? That's kind of impressive. Simon, what do you think about her switch? And what do you think will be the impact on the series she leaves behind?

SIMON: For me, I’m quite happy to see her switch to NASCAR, because I really like the IRL and I think the media machine that surrounds her has gotten in the way of the championship. I don’t say that in a mean way. I think you hit the nail on the head when you say that she's capitalized on her situation and all credit to her. I don’t think any of us would do any different with the media attention if the tables were reversed. However, it did seem like that the TV coverage would focus on her and then the race, which was getting a little annoying. It’ll be interesting to see if she gets the media minutes in NASCAR, which has a lot of characters and legacy figures in its ranks already (something the IRL doesn’t possess—sorry guys). But this is all the gloss and shine. The real question is how well will she adapt to the racing. I can’t think of too many Indycar drivers who’ve adapted well to NASCAR. Dario Franchitti tried his hand a couple of seasons ago and sadly, didn’t do well. NASCAR races seem to possess a different rhythm from IRL races, so it’ll be down to how well she’ll adapt. I think she has left her mark on the IRL. She’ll be remembered as a real competitor. If she does well in NASCAR, she’ll do the same. If she doesn’t do well in NASCAR, she’ll be forgotten in a second. I hate to see anyone not do well, so I hope she gives NASCAR a run for their money as I enjoy the next IRL race.

TAMMY: Tony Stewart? He went from IndyCar to NASCAR, and he's done pretty well for himself, with two championships. And he's the one running her in the Sprint Cup series.... Should be interesting! What do the rest of you think?

DID NOT FINISH is out!

Tomorrow is a big day for me as my new book, DID NOT FINISH, is officially released. Go me!

Like Tammy's book, it's the first book in a new mystery series set in the world of motorsport. The jacket blurb goes a little like this:

The first book in the Aidy Westlake mystery series set in the high-octane world of motor racing - When Derek Deacon threatens to kill Alex Fanning, his championship rival, rookie driver Aidy Westlake doesn’t put much stock in it – it’s typical of the intense competitiveness and aggression in their world. But when Fanning dies after making contact with Deacon’s car during a race, a conspiracy ensues: the TV coverage is edited and the police wind up the investigation without interviewing witnesses. Compelled to prove Deacon is the murderer, Aidy pushes for the truth and is drawn into a world of fraud, organized crime and murder.

Murder has never happened so fast.

During the month of September, I'll be sharing some of the background and history that is featured in the book (until you're sick of hearing about it). I'm very proud of the book and I hope people will check it out. I'm so looking forward to hearing what people think of it.

Racing Fiction

by Tammy

I've traveled to a couple races recently to talk about and sell my new racing mystery novel, and along the way, I've had a great time talking to race fans who are also readers about other racing fiction. For the most part, those readers have been educating me about fiction from the 1960s and 1970s that I'd never heard of. So I thought it was time for a review of racing fiction and authors from all eras ... and I hope you'll tell me what I'm missing!

Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain (2009). Quite simply a beautiful novel, with the added benefit of accurate and compelling descriptions of racing.

Sharyn McCrumb, Once Around the Track (2007) and St. Dale (2006). St. Dale is one of my favorite novels about racing. It's a fascinating examination of the impact Dale Earnhardt had on on the racing world, most especially on fans.

Burt Levy, The Last Open Road (1994) and four others in the series. The story of a young man's progression from mechanic to racer in the 1950s.

Alistair MacLean, The Way to Dusty Death (1973). A bit "racecar driver as superhero," but an entertaining racing mystery anyway. (I think I remember someone telling me there was a "howling" inaccuracy in this book, but I missed it, if so. Does anyone know what it is?)

Douglas Rutherford, Clear the Fast Lane (1971), and others. A down-on-his-luck racer does some off-track speeding for this mystery.

William Campbell Gault, The Checkered Flag (1964) and others (young adult). A YA novel of young men building a business and career in regional dirt track racing.

Bob Judd, Spin, Burn, The Race (1992-4; other titles in the UK). I haven't read these yet, but they're on order.

That's what I know of. What other authors and novels am I missing?

Smart Cars

SIMON: I like technology. I love hot and cold running wifi. But I like technology to enhance what I do and not replace me. Case in point, technology in cars. I like technology to improve a car’s performance. I want computers to work out the optimum suspension design, best aerodynamics, perfect engineer configuration, but I don’t want computers running the car while I’m driving it. So many of the supercars and the not quite so super ones are driven by onboard computers. And that’s just not cricket.

The thing that brought this up was something I saw on Top Gear a few years ago. I believe they either had a Noble or a prototype from Prodrive (forgive my forgetfulness). The car flew around the test track. Then they turned off the computer control and the car handled like bucket of crap. I lost all interest in the car because the car was nothing without its computer. It wasn’t a leap forward. It was a leap back because the software was plastering over some major cracks. And that seems wrong to me.

My road car is only a few years old, but somewhat of a technological dinosaur. There's no traction control, no computers monitoring the engineer and the suspension. I even turned down the ABS option. And I like that. The car performs as well as the two of us can manage. I’m not a luddite. I just think having a computer that covers the faults is cheating. I want a great car. I don’t want great software. So what do you think, Tam-Tam?

TAMMY: Well, now, I'm going to disagree with you for the most part. I leased an Audi A4 for a couple years, and before that I drove a Volvo 960. The Volvo was top of the line for its era (1996), with tons of bells and whistles. I loved that car, and it kept me safe while I commuted a stupid long way on Los Angeles freeways. As for the Audi A4 ... that thing was amazing, especially its CVT: continuously variable transmission. Talk about a party trick! I'd get on the freeway with passengers and say, "check it out, it doesn't shift!" So I have to admit to really, really appreciating car technology. And if I'm commuting, driving a long distance, or driving in any hazardous conditions, I'll take it all, thank you very much.

That said, I'll admit to being a little bit of a hypocrite. Because I drive a 1989 BMW 325i (an e30; exactly like the one pictured! In fact, that's me on the way to work! OK, not really.). Stick shift. It's got some technology, to be sure, but it's pretty connected to the road, and I'm certainly doing all the shifting. But then, I "commute" a total of 3.2 miles every day. And I do love that car!

My husband and I are very much about purpose-specific cars. I still rent bigger, plusher cars if I'm making a long drive up the state for a family visit, for instance. If I'm going to an open track day, I'd probably take my manual-transmission Miata (did I mention we own a lot of cars?). But I digress, and I won't let you make me choose one or the other. I like technology sometimes, in its place.

SIMON: By the by, that's a picture of Matt Neal in his BMW M3 and it looks like it was taken at Brands Hatch on the GP loop.

"I like technology sometimes, in its place." I think we park our cars in the same garage on that point. I must admit that if I lived in a wetter part of the country, then I would have ABS on my car. That said, I must admit that I concentrate more on my driving because I don't have it. :-)

That's us...what about you, our Roadies. How much tech do you like in your cars?

Jim Clark

From Simon


Last week, I was doing some research and I found a new BBC documentary on my racing hero, Jim Clark. It was to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death. If Jimmy is an unknown quantity to you, please enjoy this video and see why he will always be the greatest driver ever to take to a track.

Notes From Road America

By Tammy

I'm writing and posting this from Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, home of one of the greatest road courses in North America: Road America. I got myself here for two reasons. One, to attend the American Le Mans Series four-hour race and promote DEAD MAN'S SWITCH to a likely audience of readers—that being race fans. Two, to do research for the next book in the Kate Reilly Racing Mystery series, which will begin at Road America and end at Road Atlanta with the classic endurance race Petit Le Mans.

I also stayed an extra day after the race was over to look in on the Corvette World Tribute at the track on Sunday. This was the first event of its kind and happened in part to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Louis Chevrolet's birth this year. All in all, it was a busy weekend, full of Corvettes! (Here's a closeup of one of the factory racecars.)





My husband and I came up with a new truth this weekend: the business of racing happens on race weekends. Which means I can make lots of plans, but many meetings, contacts, and new ideas or approaches will come up as I meet or run into people at the race, and my plans will always change. Take watching the race, for instance. I thought we might sit in stands somewhere, or catch up with some friends in the Series who get less busy once the race begins. But we ran into the ALMS race director who said, "yeah, sure, come over anytime," and so about an hour into the race, we cautiously opened the door to the nerve center of race officials: Race Control.

And we never left. We were so fascinated with the business of running the race, not to mention astonished at the scores of inputs coming into the race director and his team of stewards and staff, that we stayed there, tucked into a corner watching the bank of monitors showing every turn on the course. This generosity on the race director's part (thanks, Beaux!) is just the latest example of the kindness of people in the motorsports world in giving me access to write about their business and a sport accurately.

I was glad that I could start to give back in a small way, by donating a hardcover edition of DEAD MAN'S SWITCH to an auction to benefit the Austin Hatcher Foundation, which aims to fight pediatric cancer, and which the ALMS supports at every opportunity. A very generous donor won the book with a $75 bid (and even donated beyond that amount—thanks, Anne!) for the book signed by both me and driver Patrick Long, who was calling the auction. I was thrilled to be able to contribute.

So it's been a busy weekend, but a great one. I can't wait to fix up my draft of book two, making the racing scenes at Road America more accurate and compelling and making the in-town social scenes (set at Siebken's Inn and Tavern, naturally) more real. And who knows, maybe I also need to add some intrigue in Race Control to the mix....

I'll leave you with a shot of Elkhart Lake from my bench as I write this. Cheers from the road!

Who Would You Like A Driving Lesson From?

TAMMY: Simon originally thought up this question, and it's an interesting one, because it makes me think both about skill and personality. I mean, Fernando Alonso and Kyle Busch are unquestionably phenomenal drivers, but I wouldn't want to spend any time with them. My real answer? Either ALMS GT Champion Patrick Long (about whom I've gone on at length in the past) or racing pioneer Lyn St. James. Of current drivers who most of you have probably heard of? Tony Stewart. I just love that Smoke will race someone in anything, up to and including a footrace.

SIMON: From a realistic point of view, I’d like to have one-on-one driving lesson from 3-time Grand Prix Champion, Jackie Stewart. I still have a book of his he wrote twenty-five years ago on driving. It’s not outside the realms of possibility as Sir Jackie still gives driving lessons. He's somewhat of the Driver Whisperer (coming to CBS this Fall). He still coaches a lot of professional drivers on technique. See this video clip he did for Top Gear a couple of years ago.



But if fantasy could play any part in this, I’d love to be coached by my all time racing hero, Jim Clark. It would be an honor and a joy to have gotten to sit alongside him to see how he tackled a track then have the chance to have him put me through my paces. If you're going to have driving lesson, you should have it from the best teacher possible.

If anyone can make either of these things happen, please let me know. :-)

TAMMY: What about the rest of you? Who do you want to learn from?