So, the NASCAR season is over until next year and you’re wondering what to do without any racing?
Uh…no.
You see, if you take a step back and remember that there’s more to the world than the patch of land, whose name escapes me, between Mexico and Canada, you’d realise that there’s still plenty going on in motorsport for the next few months (though not enough to keep jbroomy awake considering his last post *laugh*).
The A1GP season has had two rounds already and are in Malaysia this weekend after a five week layoff. I think we’ve got four rounds of that before Daytona starts…so get behind your country. Even if you don’t like open-wheelers, you should at least feel a little bit of pride seeing your nations colours on the car.
World Rally Championship…one round to go in that; in Wales. The title is between Sebastian Loeb (Citroen) and Marcus Gronholm (Ford) with Seb in control. Last time out in Ireland, Marcus crashed out while Seb won so the points went from Marcus four in front to Seb six in front…Marcus has to win and hope that his rival finishes no better than sixth to win it so Seb seemingly just has to finish this thing to win yet another championship.
And lastly, the V8 Supercars. They’ve got one round to go (Phillip Island in Victoria) and the title is anything but over like I suggested last time I posted about it. Garth Tander went into Tasmania holding a handy 20 point lead over Craig Lowndes (with Jamie Whincup and Rick Kelly a bit further behind). To put that into perspective, the three-race format of Tassie means that you get 24 points for winning a race…so 20 is a nice lead to hold I think you’d agree.
Things looked really good for Tander as he swept to pole position and took out race one over Whincup while Lowndes could only manage fifth. It was races two and three where things got interesting. See, the V8’s have a compulsory pitstop rule where every car (unless you’ve retired from the race early on) has to come in and change (at least) two tyres…most elect to do rears but sometimes teams change just one side of the car like they do in NASCAR. Whincup got the jump on Tander in race two off the start line but during the stops, Tander managed to get back ahead.
However, both were down the order as several cars decided to do a long first stint before coming in for their stop. So, it was around lap 20 of 50 that Tander, Whincup and the rest found themselves towards the back end of the top ten…then Tander went off. Amazingly he didn’t get beached in the gravel trap but lost a whole bunch of track position as he rally-crossed his way back to the black stuff. He then proceeded to carve his way through the field and wound up in seventh…a sterling job but Whincup won the race so the points gap was back to around 20…just with Jamie in second instead of Craig.
Just a slip in concentration for a second saw Garth outbrake himself, costing him vital championship points.
Race three saw Tander start where he left off, jumping up to fifth at the end of lap one and up to third once the pitstops were over. That was as good as it got for Garth though as he tried to dive up the inside of Steven Richards at the hairpin following a safety car period. That move proved costly as he was too far back and all he achieved was a nice whack from Steve as he turned into the corner…which broke Garth’s suspension forcing him out of the race.
While that was going on, Whincup was just doing what he does best; driving out front. Jamie seems to be one of those guys that loves to lead races instead of having to storm through the field…at least, that’s just my opinion anyway. Regardless, Jamie took the win, both the race and the overall round, and leapt into the top of the points to boot...a great weekend for the Vodafone driver and a great weekend for Ford as they swept the podium again.
As things stand, these are the points of those still in the hunt for the championship;
We’ll see how things go next weekend in Victoria…the Fords seem to have found some pace in the sprint rounds now and last year saw Mark Winterbottom take his first career victory…driving a Ford. It’s another three race weekend so there’s a maximum of 72 points up for grabs for a driver…something that both Rick and Craig would love desperately to manage. Jamie’s in the box seat, but with Tander so close, it could very well come down to pitstops…and both the Vodafone and Toll HSV teams are among the fastest in the pitlane.
I’d love to see Jamie win, purely for the fact that he’s been, arguably, the most improved driver this season. Yes, Garth has been leading the title the majority of the year, but he’s also been more prone to bad luck…something he can’t afford this time (nor can the others though).
Jamie using all of the track…and then some!
And I also know that Jamie will probably be the favourite for many of you too…why?
Well that’s simple; he drives the #88 so you can get some practice in for cheering it.
Thanks for the racing calander. I love speed and they have alot of those races on. Yes the Nascar off season is not a racing off season. We like watching some new and interesting things to learn about. Noah my son makes it fun to learn even more. He looks things up on the computer just to see if I know about them. Now I got new racing to teach him.. Oh I also noticed alot of ford following in Australia with the super V8..were is my Chevy guys..lol..
the V8 has a classic last race, The way it should be. I am hoping to catch it myself, it just depends who is covering it. Mostly its Euro Sports channel over here.
You're right...sometimes we need someone with a different perspective on things to remind us of racing outside of NASCAR. The NASCAR offseason is a perfect time to check out some of the other motorsports going on across the globe.
Thanks for sharing with us...and I'm sure a few new fans to cheer for the #88, Jamie Whincup.
noah; oh don't worry, there's a lot of Holden (GM) fans here too. It's just that they (I don't really care about either,just as long as the racing is good) tend to whinge more whenever things don't quite go their way, lol
Forensic; if you get the races live I'm going to scream....we get a delayed races 1 and 3 both shown at 1am or something stupid *rolls eyes*
328; I have no idea what you're talking about since all the words with a ' actually show a ' from where I'm sitting
Gerrel; yep, and that's why I love this time of year....no Americanisation :P
Lori; we like the underdogs too so I think most people will be rooting for Rick and Craig, lol
If you all noticed, NASCAR took a 14% drop in TV ratings along with alot of empty seats at the cup events. Nascar was a great sport from the 70's through the 90's. now it's a sad political battle and getting more boring by the year. Euro and off road??? Sad,,very sad. If you want to see racing support the drivers and teams that are depply involved with racing outside of NASCAR (Smoke Rocks!!, so does Eldora!) Want good racing? Try attending a Hooter Pro Cup, ASA Lucas Oil, UMP, Late Model Outlaw or any regional or national touring late model series. Brian France ought to attend a few as well. 'Young Grass Hopper' might learn something. Late Models are still running out west and in the south.
photo; no idea if speed covers them or not....check out v8supercar.com.au as they have video highlights usually.
sjryba; I'll gladly attend any of those events if you fly me over there...but since you won't I'll stick to non-American since NASCAR is all I get on TV.
Last edited by Tezgm99 on November 27th at 11:47 PM.
I usually go to local races and some of the regional races when I am up to it. I have to admit I do see more exciting races at that level. These guys race for the love of it and it definitely is not for the mere prize money offered but it is better than when I raced.
Speed does cover quite a bit of other types of racing from Europe and Australia some times so I will keep an eye on those races.
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian who was living in New Zealand before moving to Canada. He's also a Civil Engineer who is hoping to spend his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant or Contractor when he finds a job. His heart is torn between his two loves; F1 and NASCAR.
Due to his high interest in those, his blogs will likely focus on them with the occasional foray into sports that don't get much (if any) mention on this website. All blogs and/or comments will more than likely have his usual dollop of sarcasm and general Aussie spin on them.
Amazingly, he also managed to score 2 MiB nominations on consecutive days (August 5 & 6, 2007) after announcing he had been keeping track of them...he's considering hiding under his bed as a result.
