Well maybe the unpredictability of Talladega will be enough to slow Forensic2 down, whose score in the last 2 trifecti (a combined 8) would still be low enough to take any week so far this year and almost all of last year.  A job well done Forensic, I don’t know if we should chalk it up to experience or if you have been extremely lucky.  If this keeps up we are going to have to introduce some sort of NASCAR style rule to equalize the field.

This week I wanted to share a few more pictures with you and as well as the Trifecta maybe answer a little trivia question.

 These pictures were taken quite a few years ago, when my brother and I went on our first major adventure to the south, to Talladega.  I was still young and a young NASCAR fan but the things we did see on this trip shaped the fan I have become. We stopped in Charlotte to see the shops.  At Hendrick motorsports we were able to walk right in to the race car shops and boy did our jaws drop when we went through the door of that non- descript, grey box, building.  This is what we saw.

This is actually three pictures from a point of view standing in the corner, sweeping 90 across the shop floor,  I have been to Hendrick more recently and boy has it changed, making this memory even sweeter.  We were invited in, to look closer at the car that my brother (the number 50 shirt) is standing beside and the car behind that one was the car they had raced at Martinsville with 3 days before. The back end sheet metal was all torn away and it was already being rebuilt.  It was pretty cool.

 

This one I have tried to post before is of our set up in the camping field.  We drove 20 hours in a chevette through the mountains.  We were young. The trip killed that car.

 

And this is the trivia question.  It was taken at Talladega, and is of a driver we followed up here in the northeast, racing on dirt for many years before this.  Do you know who it is? And what significance does Talladega hold for him?

 And on with the Trifecta…it’s easy this week

 First up, on Sunday at 8:00 am ET the Formula 1 cars launch in Spain at Catalunya. 

 Second the Sprint Cup parking lot races for restrictor plate supremacy at Talladega, starting at 1:00 pm ET

 And the final race is the last we will hear the IRL cars as they go into hibernation until the Indianapolis 500 in the biggest weekend of the year for the Trifecta.   They are in Kansas and the race is scheduled to go at 5 pm ET.

 

Picks are due at 7:30 on Sunday morning and all the same penalties apply.  Good luck to all (although Forensic doesn’t need it, apparently) and thanks for your participation.

First looking back at the Something Different Trifecta we find Forensic2 whipped the rest of us by scoring a minuscule 4. Picking the winners of the Little 500 and the Phoenix cup race, his only blemish (and a very slight one at that) was second in the Jack Ingram Cup race. The bike race added some fun, but was not researched well enough by the team here at Trifecta head quarters and thus was the cause of more than a bit of confusion. First of all a few people picked female teams only, competing in the women’s little 500, which was not what I originally intended, but I have included their scores from that women’s event. Also the list I linked to was not very up to date and 3 teams that were chosen from it did not even compete in the race, so my apologies go out to Hanahan, Dwindy1 and YeeMum who I had to score a 34 for that event. Here are the results from last weekend

Forensic2-----------4
Photogr-------------16
JayJayDean--------18
williamwilman----19
Gerrel----------------24(I accepted your original pick which finished 12th instead of 16th in the men’s event)
HotfootLori---------24(ironically you and Gerrel tied, and both were the ones’ to pick from the female group)
Dave_in_Indy-------47
Hanahan-------------49
jon_464---------------60
Dwindy1--------------65
YeeMum--------------87(not exactly setting any records, but I love the pick of sentimental favourites like landon. It’ll make for a cool read if he posts after he upset wins one of these things, eh.)

Now on to this weeks action, or shall I say non-action. This week neither Sprint Cup nor Formula 1 is running, so we are going to have to go to far reaching places to fill in the Trifecta.

The first race on the card is the IRL race from Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. It goes at 12:00 AM ET Saturday morning (that’s Friday night for all you crazy partiers). This is when your picks are due.

The second event is the 3 race championship series stop in Hamilton NZ for the V8 Supercars. You are picking a driver to come away with the most points for the weekend, not just 1 race. Our sponsor Tezgm99 tells me this is how it works downunder and you can check out his blog for more information about the race. The first race takes off early Saturday morning at…um…er pretty early in the morning ET and there will be 2 more races early Sunday morning. I’m not sure of the exact time difference, but I’m hoping Tez can help us out. Also check out this site if you’re unfamiliar with drivers in that series.

The final race is the Nationwide road course race from Mexico City, Mexico. All drivers are eligible to be picked for this one which goes off at 1:30 pm ET Sunday.

Same rules apply for double picks. I thought about trying to include one these final CART races, but I can’t get any information from their website so they lose out. Good luck to everyone

First off an official congratulations goes out to HotfootLori, who fought her way through traffic to claim the “American Open Wheel Becomes One Trifecta” last week. Her weekend started out mid-pack, after the truck race, but steadily she moved up and in dramatic fashion, correctly picked the winner of the cup race to leave all rivals in her dust.  Well done Lori. 

This week the Trifecta will touch the 3 major automobile racing series’ and all races will take place on Sunday.

First Formula 1 visits the small desert island country of Bahrain.  This is the first F1 race this year that will roll off at a respectable time for us living in the eastern time zone, 7:00 AM.  In road course racing, as in golf, it is well known that the sand trap is not the place to be.  This weekend the sand proves to be all around the track, which aside from being a hazard off the course, can cause problems on the racing surface as the wind can blow sand on it, making it exceedingly slick. Add in the removal of traction control and this race could have fewer finishers than the Australian Grand Prix.

Second, scheduled to go off at 1:30pm ET is the Sprint cup race from Texas.
 

Last but not least is the street course race for the IRL being held in Saint Petersburg Florida. It starts at 2:30pm ET. Maybe a street course will give an advantage to some of the old CART drivers.  It appears to me that the course has undergone some reconstruction, and will encompass a little of the small air port there.  Does anyone know when this construction was done?  Last year already?  Google Earth pictures show it still under construction.
 

As you can see really like Google Earth.  It’s like going on vacation when you are on your computer.  Very cool stuff.  You can even make out the graders and construction equipment in Florida.  You can even see the old start finish line on the road.  Very cool indeed.

All the same rules apply for this week, but if we get more than 15 people playing I will waive the penalties for double picks in both open wheel events.

After enduring years of bitter breakup this weekend marks the reuniting race of the major open wheel series’ in North America. The 2 sides will pick up the pieces and begin the long ascent of the Everest before them. Although much has been answered in the short few weeks since the merger was announced, a lot of questions remain about how open wheel racing will be re-accepted into the fendered culture that has prevailed for the last 10 years. Many have attributed NASCAR’s success in these recent years at least in part to the lack of a formidable foe. Do you think that NASCAR has built up enough of a stock pile of recognizable drivers, tracks and high profile series’ to keep the IRL down at the foot of the mountain? Time will tell but as I am already learning as a parent, solidarity is a must in being able to compete against an admirable foe (or child).

The first race in the Trifecta this week is the Craftsman Truck Series Race from Martinsville Speedway. It will start at 3:00 pm ET Saturday

The second race will be the IRL race from Homestead Miami Speedway set to go off at 8:00pm ET Saturday night. Should be good, under the lights

The final race will be the Sprint Cup race from Martinsville Speedway to start at 1:30 ET Sunday afternoon. All the same rules apply

Just a side note I wanted to start an informal pool on when Fernando Alonso will move into the Ferrari seat. There has been much speculation that Alonso will be with Ferrari next year, and with the way Massa has stumbled out of the gate and Alonso’s discontent with his Renault; many experts believe it will happen sooner. All you need to do is select the race you think this will directly precede. Once a race is selected it comes off the board. Here are the remaining events

Bahrain-April 6
Spain-April 27
Turkey-May 11-williamwilman
Monaco-May 25-HotfootLori
Canada-June 8
France-June 22-YeeMum
Britain-July 6-jon_464
Germany-July 20-Gerrel
Hungary-August 3-klvalus
Europe-August 24-moseby
Belgium-September 7
Italy-September 14-Dwindy1
Singapore-September 28-JayJayDean
Japan-October 12
China-October 19
Brazil-November 2
End of the season- Tezgm99

Okay folks and fans, first I must apologize for not being able to put on a Trifecta the last 2 weeks. Things at work have picked up and I find myself with a lot less free time than earlier in the summer. That is good, it pays the bills, but it is hard on the free time to pull this together. But this week there is some good races so I am making time to marquee 3. The Busch race is already underway and I would be watching it except my darling wife has taken over the remote, so it is not on the card.

First, we have is the Saturday night shootout at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Nextel Cup boys. Starting at 7:30 ET, and this is also when your picks are due.

Second is the Formula 1 race from Hungary at 8:00 am ET.

Third and last on the card is the IRL race from Infineon Raceway in California. That race starts at 3:30 ET.

Also that last time we played no one correctly picked Kurt Busch to win, no dominate, the race in Pocono, so the bonus points for picking the winner of the cup race has moved to -10. The same rule for double picking stands at 5 points for 1, 10 for 2, and 15 if all 3 of your picks have been previously taken.

Sorry as well for the late post, but good luck to every one.