The Hoosier Hundred is Worth Saving/ Eldora Opener/ Iowa Speedway Update/ Open Wheeler Crew Chief All-Time Best/ FOX Deep Doo Doo Part 2
The Hoosier Hundred is Worth Saving
I didn’t grow up in Indiana and I haven’t been around dirt Silver Crown cars that long, but I do know that there is something magical about the Hoosier Hundred. Back in the day, drivers would run the Hoosier Hundred and then turn around and run the Indianapolis 500.
The barns in turn one and two take you back to those days. Cars thundering down on the large mile oval is something that just cannot be found in other sports. Unfortunately, years have passed and the insurance company says safety improvements need to be made. I am not an Indiana citizen so it would be unfair of me to interfere in their politics but the Hoosier Hundred needs a second look. Folks that remember those days are aging. Soon they will be gone and those of us who are lucky enough to be alive need to make a decision. How important is our past to our future? Are the citizens of Indiana willing to pay more taxes or fees to update the facility or are they willing to let a part of history fall into the record books.
It will take an investment. Fans will have to politely convince the fair folks that they stand behind the HH. The fair folks will have to convince the state of Indiana that they think it is worthwhile cause. Fans will have to politely convince their politicians this is the right thing to do. The promoters and sponsors have already laid it on the line, year after year. Most of all, the fans must be at the next Hoosier Hundred, whenever it is held, there to prove that the promoters, sponsors, politicians, fair folks and the tax payers of Indiana are right. The Hoosier Hundred is worth saving.
Eldora Opener
It must be spring. The USAC National Sprint Series thunders into Eldora this weekend. Josh Wise and his new teammate Levi Jones will be two of the favorites this weekend. Jones teamed with Scott Benic in 2005 to win USAC’s National Sprint Division while Wise took the National Midget Division title driving for Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises. Another favorite this weekend will be Jerry Coons Jr. who is competing for the 2006 championship, driving for Hoffman Auto Racing. With the Busch Series taking the weekend off, Coons will be joined by Tracy Hines. Hot laps Saturday at Eldora are scheduled to begin at 6pm EST, with racing at 7:30pm. If you go, grab some wings for me.
Iowa Speedway Construction Update
Construction crews at Iowa Speedway are hard at work preparing the Newton track for opening this fall. According to a news release, the most visible progress is on the VIP Building as the steel beams are beginning to come up out of ground and seats are getting installed for the suites.
Iowa Speedway has moved 1.1 million cubic yards of dirt to date out of a total of 1.2 million yards that the entire project calls for. The mild weather has allowed dirt crews to re-enter the site and continue the final grading of parking lots, roads and other areas of the facility to prepare for final base and paving. Crews are expected to begin installation of the footings for the grandstands shortly and the perimeter roadwork is getting ready to commence.
Crew Chief of Open Wheeler Named All Time Best
Ray Evernham has been selected as NASCAR’s top all-time crew chief in a vote by a national motorsports media contingent. Evernham won three NASCAR Cup Series championships in the 1990s as crew chief for Jeff Gordon. In other Evernham news, Evernham Motorsports has made changes to their No. 98 Truck Series team. According to a news release, the team will adopt the leadership approach featuring a team director, car director and engineer used by Evernham's Cup teams beginning with this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. The goal of the moves is to put driver Erin Crocker and the No. 98 team in the position to compete for top-10 finishes every week.
IRL Notes
TrackSide Online reporter Patrick Stephan is bloging this weekend from St. Pete. See his blogs at http://www.indycar.com/blogs
A.J. Foyt was honored by the city of St. Petersburg Wednesday as the First Annual Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Legend of Racing Award.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing filed two entries for past winners Buddy Lazier and Al Unser Jr. for the Indy 500.
IRL Sked
Saturday, April 1
1:45 - 3:15 IndyCar Series Qualifying (Qual order determined - straight up or inverted - by fastest driver from Friday practice)
3:30 - Pro Series Race #1 (40 laps)
Sunday, April 2
11:30 - Pro Series Race #2 40 laps (Line-up determined by finishing order of Race #1 with Top 6 inverted)
3:45 - Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Live on ESPN
FOX Deep Doo Doo Part 2
The (insert word) has hit the fan for FOX. That word uttered last weekend on FOX’s broadcast from Bristol could likely hit FOX stations in the wallet. The Family Policy Network has filed a complaint with the FCC, which will get the ball moving towards the fine. According to FCC rules, the violation is your local over the air broadcasting stations problem, not FOX’s. Local stations are responsible for all content whether the station produces the content or not. The FCC usually fines stations owned by the network. Two problems out FOX stations in this predicament. First, chief Kevin "Bono" Manion who uttered those words shouldn’t have had a potty mouth. But since my mouth has been washed out a time or two, I can’t really totally blame him. Second, FOX just screwed up. The network should have had a delay. On top of that, maybe they need to take a second look at taping two-way conversations between drivers and teams. You could pick out the best moments and play them back with the assurance of what was going to be aired. Team to car transmissions are basically a private transmission. Most everyone understands if they are listening to the communication, they may hear more than they bargained for. The standard is different for over the air broadcasters. The FCC requires that the content broadcasted during certain hours be suitable for all viewers. I think we should expect a clean show from our broadcasters. I think FOX has that responsibility to its viewers.
No Pets In Wal-Mart
I was in an area Super Wal-Mart Thursday and heard this announcement, “Attention shoppers, it is Wal-Mart policy that no pets are allowed into the store.” Really? No pets in Wal-Mart, I couldn’t believe that someone would be goofy enough to bring their animal into WM. Apparently people try to sneak them last the greeters all of the time in their purses and other bags. I asked one of the greeters about it and she said, “Yea, one guy tried to bring in a snake the other day.” Is it obvious I live in Tennessee?
Weekend Coverage
This weekend, we plan to have coverage of the Open Wheelers in Cup, Truck and IRL plus Wind Tunnel throughout the weekend so please check back often.
For images related to these stories, please visit our sister website, http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of R.E. Technologies and Iowa Speedway.
I didn’t grow up in Indiana and I haven’t been around dirt Silver Crown cars that long, but I do know that there is something magical about the Hoosier Hundred. Back in the day, drivers would run the Hoosier Hundred and then turn around and run the Indianapolis 500.
The barns in turn one and two take you back to those days. Cars thundering down on the large mile oval is something that just cannot be found in other sports. Unfortunately, years have passed and the insurance company says safety improvements need to be made. I am not an Indiana citizen so it would be unfair of me to interfere in their politics but the Hoosier Hundred needs a second look. Folks that remember those days are aging. Soon they will be gone and those of us who are lucky enough to be alive need to make a decision. How important is our past to our future? Are the citizens of Indiana willing to pay more taxes or fees to update the facility or are they willing to let a part of history fall into the record books.
It will take an investment. Fans will have to politely convince the fair folks that they stand behind the HH. The fair folks will have to convince the state of Indiana that they think it is worthwhile cause. Fans will have to politely convince their politicians this is the right thing to do. The promoters and sponsors have already laid it on the line, year after year. Most of all, the fans must be at the next Hoosier Hundred, whenever it is held, there to prove that the promoters, sponsors, politicians, fair folks and the tax payers of Indiana are right. The Hoosier Hundred is worth saving.
Eldora Opener
It must be spring. The USAC National Sprint Series thunders into Eldora this weekend. Josh Wise and his new teammate Levi Jones will be two of the favorites this weekend. Jones teamed with Scott Benic in 2005 to win USAC’s National Sprint Division while Wise took the National Midget Division title driving for Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises. Another favorite this weekend will be Jerry Coons Jr. who is competing for the 2006 championship, driving for Hoffman Auto Racing. With the Busch Series taking the weekend off, Coons will be joined by Tracy Hines. Hot laps Saturday at Eldora are scheduled to begin at 6pm EST, with racing at 7:30pm. If you go, grab some wings for me.
Iowa Speedway Construction Update
Construction crews at Iowa Speedway are hard at work preparing the Newton track for opening this fall. According to a news release, the most visible progress is on the VIP Building as the steel beams are beginning to come up out of ground and seats are getting installed for the suites.
Iowa Speedway has moved 1.1 million cubic yards of dirt to date out of a total of 1.2 million yards that the entire project calls for. The mild weather has allowed dirt crews to re-enter the site and continue the final grading of parking lots, roads and other areas of the facility to prepare for final base and paving. Crews are expected to begin installation of the footings for the grandstands shortly and the perimeter roadwork is getting ready to commence.
Crew Chief of Open Wheeler Named All Time Best
Ray Evernham has been selected as NASCAR’s top all-time crew chief in a vote by a national motorsports media contingent. Evernham won three NASCAR Cup Series championships in the 1990s as crew chief for Jeff Gordon. In other Evernham news, Evernham Motorsports has made changes to their No. 98 Truck Series team. According to a news release, the team will adopt the leadership approach featuring a team director, car director and engineer used by Evernham's Cup teams beginning with this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. The goal of the moves is to put driver Erin Crocker and the No. 98 team in the position to compete for top-10 finishes every week.
IRL Notes
TrackSide Online reporter Patrick Stephan is bloging this weekend from St. Pete. See his blogs at http://www.indycar.com/blogs
A.J. Foyt was honored by the city of St. Petersburg Wednesday as the First Annual Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Legend of Racing Award.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing filed two entries for past winners Buddy Lazier and Al Unser Jr. for the Indy 500.
IRL Sked
Saturday, April 1
1:45 - 3:15 IndyCar Series Qualifying (Qual order determined - straight up or inverted - by fastest driver from Friday practice)
3:30 - Pro Series Race #1 (40 laps)
Sunday, April 2
11:30 - Pro Series Race #2 40 laps (Line-up determined by finishing order of Race #1 with Top 6 inverted)
3:45 - Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Live on ESPN
FOX Deep Doo Doo Part 2
The (insert word) has hit the fan for FOX. That word uttered last weekend on FOX’s broadcast from Bristol could likely hit FOX stations in the wallet. The Family Policy Network has filed a complaint with the FCC, which will get the ball moving towards the fine. According to FCC rules, the violation is your local over the air broadcasting stations problem, not FOX’s. Local stations are responsible for all content whether the station produces the content or not. The FCC usually fines stations owned by the network. Two problems out FOX stations in this predicament. First, chief Kevin "Bono" Manion who uttered those words shouldn’t have had a potty mouth. But since my mouth has been washed out a time or two, I can’t really totally blame him. Second, FOX just screwed up. The network should have had a delay. On top of that, maybe they need to take a second look at taping two-way conversations between drivers and teams. You could pick out the best moments and play them back with the assurance of what was going to be aired. Team to car transmissions are basically a private transmission. Most everyone understands if they are listening to the communication, they may hear more than they bargained for. The standard is different for over the air broadcasters. The FCC requires that the content broadcasted during certain hours be suitable for all viewers. I think we should expect a clean show from our broadcasters. I think FOX has that responsibility to its viewers.
No Pets In Wal-Mart
I was in an area Super Wal-Mart Thursday and heard this announcement, “Attention shoppers, it is Wal-Mart policy that no pets are allowed into the store.” Really? No pets in Wal-Mart, I couldn’t believe that someone would be goofy enough to bring their animal into WM. Apparently people try to sneak them last the greeters all of the time in their purses and other bags. I asked one of the greeters about it and she said, “Yea, one guy tried to bring in a snake the other day.” Is it obvious I live in Tennessee?
Weekend Coverage
This weekend, we plan to have coverage of the Open Wheelers in Cup, Truck and IRL plus Wind Tunnel throughout the weekend so please check back often.
For images related to these stories, please visit our sister website, http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of R.E. Technologies and Iowa Speedway.
posted by Blake Johnson at 1:42 PM
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