Unser Sr. Brothers and the Law/ Silver Crown Schedule Comes to Life/ Change in the Wind at ABC/ESPN/ Nicole Manske Gets Catty/ Sarah Fisher on Danica
Unser Sr. Brothers and the Law
It appears that two of the most loved Open Wheelers had a little misunderstanding with Sheriff’s deputies in New Mexico Wednesday. According to reports from television stations KRQE and KOBV, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department was involved with a chase and shootout of a carjacking suspect. The situation then turned into a standoff with gunfire near or on Unser Boulevard. Both Al Unser Sr. and Bobby Unser Sr. were arrested in separate incidents while allegedly attempting to cross a roadblock to enter some property they owned. The roadblock was setup to keep civilians from entering the perimeter around the crime scene area. KRQE reports that Al Unser Sr. told an officer, “Don't you know who I am? I'm Al Unser.” According to the television stations, Bobby Unser Sr. showed up later and was arrested. Sheriff Darren White released a statement backing his deputies' action.
”It's not uncommon for officers to be riddled with insults from people we arrest,” he said. “It's deplorable when it comes from someone who is considered a respected member of our community.”
In a 12-minuite interview with television station KOBV, Bobby Unser Sr. alleged that the officers were “covering up for each other.” Bobby Unser Sr. continues saying if he knew what was going on and was in danger, he would have never attempted to cross the roadblock. The interview is quite interesting. You can watch the interview by clicking on the following link and clicking on the words video in this story. http://www.kobtv.com/snapshotskob/html/27226.html
Silver Crown Schedule Comes to Life
We now know at least two dates on the 2007 USAC Silver Crown schedule. O’Reilly Raceway Park announced that the USAC Silver Crown Series will run the J.D. ByRider 100 on Thursday July 26th during their annual Kroger Speedfest. Phoenix International Raceway announced in July that the Silver Crown Series would run the Thursday before PIR’s November 2007 Cup date.
The IRL IndyCar Series and Milwaukee Mile announced today that the ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt Indy 225 IndyCar Series will run in 2007 there on June 3rd. Milwaukee Mile President and CEO Andy Randall said in a teleconference today that the track has not approached USAC yet about a date for the USAC National Midget Series as well as the USAC Silver Crown Series in 2007 because the folks at the Milwaukee Mile are still trying to decide if the IRL weekend will be a two or three day show. Personally, I believe it will happen. The folks at the Milwaukee Mile have seemed pretty happy with USAC over the past few years. It probably will be just a matter of the actual date that they will run the event like the CEO said.
TV Schedule Update
Earlier this week we reported the TV schedule for this weekend. We failed to add the USAC Silver Crown Series from the Milwaukee Mile. That race including the controversial ending is slated to air on the Outdoor Channel Saturday at 5pm eastern.
Change in the Wind at ABC/ESPN
It appears that change is in the wind over at ABC/ESPN. In a teleconference discussing the 2007 IRL date for Milwaukee, IRL Vice President of League Development, John Lewis said that there will be changes in the way that Disney properties, ABC and ESPN work together. Lewis said that beginning on September 2nd, all sports airing on ABC will be produced by ESPN. ABC/ESPN televises all of the IRL’s races on their three networks ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
In other ABC/ESPN related news, we have previously reported that the network’s NASCAR broadcast team for 2007 will include Dr. Jerry Punch and Rusty Wallace. NASCAR Scene is reporting that the networks will use the same announcers for both the Busch Series broadcasts and the NEXTEL Cup Series Broadcasts. ESPN2 will televise all but six Busch Races in 2007. Those six will be on ABC. ABC and ESPN will share the Cup broadcasts for the final ten races of the 2007 season.
Nicole Manske Gets Catty
New addition to SPEED News er The Speed Report (like a name change is going to make me watch it more) Nicole Manske has been given a spot to write commentary at SPEEDTV.com. In here first two colums she has gone after
Courtesy of Sports Illustrated
Danica Patrick http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/30635/ and then Sarah Fisher http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/30635/. While we are all intitled to our opinions and my opinions in this blog have yet to win any awards, it is her right to say and write anything thing she wants. I think it looks a little too catty for her first two colums to deal with the only two female racers in the IRL.
Image courtesy of pagent.com
It may not be a good idea for her to throw stones at the other girls in the pits considering she allegedly dated Dan Wheldon http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050805/COLUMNISTS04/50805025 while reporting on Weldon for a television station in Indianapolis. One viewer of this blog even wonders “how long til the Speed TV website takes away Nicole Manske’s computer?” Maybe Ms. Manske needs to go a little easier and stop attacking female drivers until she has developed a respected journalistic reputation at SPEED.
But then again a good old catfight like the one that almost happened in Texas is good for ratings.
Sarah Fisher on Kentucky and Danica
Sarah Fisher arrived early to get ready for this weekend’s race at Kentucky. The former USAC driver tested at the 1.5 mile oval this afternoon in preparation for the IndyCar Series race there Sunday. Fisher took the pole there in 2002.
“Kentucky has amazing memories for me, not only the track record, the pole, the podium, but the people. It's a personal goal of mine to at least run in the top-10. I want to be there at the end and racing as hard as I did before, and that in itself will achieve results.”
The race this weekend will be her first IndyCar Series start since May 2004. Her best finish at Kentucky was third 3rd in 2000. She still holds the track record there at 221.390 mph. Her 49th career start will be a little different as she will be compaired to Danica Patrick by virtually everyone.
“I'm here to race against everyone,”said Fisher. “I'm here to do the best that I can and ultimately get back to the level of IndyCars that put me up front. Every driver out there has the same goal and drive that I have and that is to win. Danica and I are two individuals out there competing in a man's world, whether it is in stock cars or IndyCars. I don't look at her any differently then all the other drivers. We are different people who want to achieve the same result. Danica has done a whole lot for the sport of IndyCar racing and I have to respect that as a fellow competitor. I’m not going to say anything about racing against her. I want to go race against Tony Kannan and Scott Dixon, the ones that I had great races against in the past. It’s not just one car I’m after.”
Complete Racing Coverage this Weekend
We will have complete coverage of the IRL Kentucky race as well as the Cup and Busch races at Watkins Glen, Truck Series at Nashville and if my clicker works fast enough, the Champ Car race. We will of course have a summery of the Knoxville Nationals so please check this website for updates throughout the weekend.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of NASCAR Images, Sports Illustrated, www.pagent.com, FOX, SPEED, and R.E. Technologies.
It appears that two of the most loved Open Wheelers had a little misunderstanding with Sheriff’s deputies in New Mexico Wednesday. According to reports from television stations KRQE and KOBV, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department was involved with a chase and shootout of a carjacking suspect. The situation then turned into a standoff with gunfire near or on Unser Boulevard. Both Al Unser Sr. and Bobby Unser Sr. were arrested in separate incidents while allegedly attempting to cross a roadblock to enter some property they owned. The roadblock was setup to keep civilians from entering the perimeter around the crime scene area. KRQE reports that Al Unser Sr. told an officer, “Don't you know who I am? I'm Al Unser.” According to the television stations, Bobby Unser Sr. showed up later and was arrested. Sheriff Darren White released a statement backing his deputies' action.
”It's not uncommon for officers to be riddled with insults from people we arrest,” he said. “It's deplorable when it comes from someone who is considered a respected member of our community.”
In a 12-minuite interview with television station KOBV, Bobby Unser Sr. alleged that the officers were “covering up for each other.” Bobby Unser Sr. continues saying if he knew what was going on and was in danger, he would have never attempted to cross the roadblock. The interview is quite interesting. You can watch the interview by clicking on the following link and clicking on the words video in this story. http://www.kobtv.com/snapshotskob/html/27226.html
Silver Crown Schedule Comes to Life
We now know at least two dates on the 2007 USAC Silver Crown schedule. O’Reilly Raceway Park announced that the USAC Silver Crown Series will run the J.D. ByRider 100 on Thursday July 26th during their annual Kroger Speedfest. Phoenix International Raceway announced in July that the Silver Crown Series would run the Thursday before PIR’s November 2007 Cup date.
The IRL IndyCar Series and Milwaukee Mile announced today that the ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt Indy 225 IndyCar Series will run in 2007 there on June 3rd. Milwaukee Mile President and CEO Andy Randall said in a teleconference today that the track has not approached USAC yet about a date for the USAC National Midget Series as well as the USAC Silver Crown Series in 2007 because the folks at the Milwaukee Mile are still trying to decide if the IRL weekend will be a two or three day show. Personally, I believe it will happen. The folks at the Milwaukee Mile have seemed pretty happy with USAC over the past few years. It probably will be just a matter of the actual date that they will run the event like the CEO said.
TV Schedule Update
Earlier this week we reported the TV schedule for this weekend. We failed to add the USAC Silver Crown Series from the Milwaukee Mile. That race including the controversial ending is slated to air on the Outdoor Channel Saturday at 5pm eastern.
Change in the Wind at ABC/ESPN
It appears that change is in the wind over at ABC/ESPN. In a teleconference discussing the 2007 IRL date for Milwaukee, IRL Vice President of League Development, John Lewis said that there will be changes in the way that Disney properties, ABC and ESPN work together. Lewis said that beginning on September 2nd, all sports airing on ABC will be produced by ESPN. ABC/ESPN televises all of the IRL’s races on their three networks ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
In other ABC/ESPN related news, we have previously reported that the network’s NASCAR broadcast team for 2007 will include Dr. Jerry Punch and Rusty Wallace. NASCAR Scene is reporting that the networks will use the same announcers for both the Busch Series broadcasts and the NEXTEL Cup Series Broadcasts. ESPN2 will televise all but six Busch Races in 2007. Those six will be on ABC. ABC and ESPN will share the Cup broadcasts for the final ten races of the 2007 season.
Nicole Manske Gets Catty
New addition to SPEED News er The Speed Report (like a name change is going to make me watch it more) Nicole Manske has been given a spot to write commentary at SPEEDTV.com. In here first two colums she has gone after
Courtesy of Sports Illustrated
Danica Patrick http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/30635/ and then Sarah Fisher http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/30635/. While we are all intitled to our opinions and my opinions in this blog have yet to win any awards, it is her right to say and write anything thing she wants. I think it looks a little too catty for her first two colums to deal with the only two female racers in the IRL.
Image courtesy of pagent.com
It may not be a good idea for her to throw stones at the other girls in the pits considering she allegedly dated Dan Wheldon http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050805/COLUMNISTS04/50805025 while reporting on Weldon for a television station in Indianapolis. One viewer of this blog even wonders “how long til the Speed TV website takes away Nicole Manske’s computer?” Maybe Ms. Manske needs to go a little easier and stop attacking female drivers until she has developed a respected journalistic reputation at SPEED.
But then again a good old catfight like the one that almost happened in Texas is good for ratings.
Sarah Fisher on Kentucky and Danica
Sarah Fisher arrived early to get ready for this weekend’s race at Kentucky. The former USAC driver tested at the 1.5 mile oval this afternoon in preparation for the IndyCar Series race there Sunday. Fisher took the pole there in 2002.
“Kentucky has amazing memories for me, not only the track record, the pole, the podium, but the people. It's a personal goal of mine to at least run in the top-10. I want to be there at the end and racing as hard as I did before, and that in itself will achieve results.”
The race this weekend will be her first IndyCar Series start since May 2004. Her best finish at Kentucky was third 3rd in 2000. She still holds the track record there at 221.390 mph. Her 49th career start will be a little different as she will be compaired to Danica Patrick by virtually everyone.
“I'm here to race against everyone,”said Fisher. “I'm here to do the best that I can and ultimately get back to the level of IndyCars that put me up front. Every driver out there has the same goal and drive that I have and that is to win. Danica and I are two individuals out there competing in a man's world, whether it is in stock cars or IndyCars. I don't look at her any differently then all the other drivers. We are different people who want to achieve the same result. Danica has done a whole lot for the sport of IndyCar racing and I have to respect that as a fellow competitor. I’m not going to say anything about racing against her. I want to go race against Tony Kannan and Scott Dixon, the ones that I had great races against in the past. It’s not just one car I’m after.”
Complete Racing Coverage this Weekend
We will have complete coverage of the IRL Kentucky race as well as the Cup and Busch races at Watkins Glen, Truck Series at Nashville and if my clicker works fast enough, the Champ Car race. We will of course have a summery of the Knoxville Nationals so please check this website for updates throughout the weekend.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of NASCAR Images, Sports Illustrated, www.pagent.com, FOX, SPEED, and R.E. Technologies.
posted by Blake Johnson at 4:26 PM
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