Brake Hard

Crazy Christmas Carnival of Savings

2011-11-10T12:16:00.001-06:00

The Daedalian Waxworks is slashing prices. Resin slot car bodies for $20 shipped to the US and Canada. That is a savings of $10 per body!

Shop Now!

The internet does video too?

2011-10-27T22:52:00.002-05:00

Look. I'm on the You Tube.

2012 Indy Car Testing

2011-09-28T15:36:00.000-05:00

I don't know what to think of the looks of these cars. Right now it is a love-hate thing. But the best part is that there are going to be different aero-kits and different engines. We will still have one chassis but Indy is no longer going to be a spec series. This is a good thing.

Racer Slideshow.

The Racer Article

I read the comments and think that some people will never be happy.

The Yarisdrome is Completed

2011-09-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

Who hasn't been in this situation?

"No, Love. I'll just stay out here in the parking lot. Take your time shopping. I'm sure which ever dress & shoes you pick out will be fine."

Whoo. The coast is clear.

A quick run to the back. Open the hatch. A pretty normal looking hatch back with stuff...

Remove the carpet...

Oh ya! 9 volts of slotting glory!

The Porsche Cayman

2011-08-06T09:38:00.002-05:00

This is a one piece 1:32 Porsche Cayman body. The resin was formed with a 2 piece mold.

$25 (US) for the body plus $5 shipping and handling to the US.
I will ship worldwide but S&H will be adjusted accordingly.
I will combine shipping for multiple items.

Paypal funds to daedalian.waxworks@gmail.com

of Le Mans 2011, Twitter & Speed TV

2011-06-08T12:59:00.003-05:00

This might prove helpful.

https://twitter.com/#!/24hoursoflemans

Spotters Guide:
http://www.spotterguides.com/le-mans-2011-guide
http://photos.speedtv.com/gallery/Le_Mans_2011_Spotters_Guide/

Speed TV Resources:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/le-mans-resource-guide/

Big week at Speed TV.
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/le-mans-coverage-highlights-diverse-lineup-on-speed-in-june/

of Indy & What You'd Love To See

2011-05-27T15:30:00.001-05:00

Everyone and their monkey's uncle tries to pick the winner. Meh! That is a 1:33 chance. Who cares? This is what I'd like to see happen in this Indy 500.

1 - I'd love to see Paul Tracy kick everyone's ass and retire from racing. Oh & it would be sweet if he could win the race, too.
2 - Tags and the Sam Schmidt team win! This could be the start of a new dynasty in racing - or not.
3 - I like Dario. Having him win would be nice and who doesn't want to see his lovely wife in her hat running up the pit lane crying for joy? Who?
4 - Danica. OMG. Is she the new Michael-I-need-more-cheese-with-my-whine-Andretti? Goodness gracious. If she could retire the car in the first 5 laps, I'd be happy.
5 - Pippa. Wow. What doesn't she have? Let's see: a sister married to the Prince, a bum that has its own twitter page (several in fact), a fan club, AND A RACE CAR in the Indy 500?!?!!? Go Pippa!
6 - Nice weather, no controversy, and no one maimed.

of SLOP Race #1 at Galleria Palms

2011-05-18T14:30:00.001-05:00

The first Super Little Open Proxy (SLOP) event was held this past week. We are still waiting on one car this is missing in the mail to finalize the results before we move on.

Bibbster took our cars for a spin around Galleria Palms. YouTube videos here show the cars qualifying.

The tenative results are as follows.

Race #1
Galleria Palms
30 Laps: 15 each way (690' total)

Entrant's SCI Name & Time Elapsed in Seconds
pukplyr 159.817
boopiejones 173.401
HarVWallbanger 173.869
ckouba 181.778
Hkyfanatic 183.001
LouE 183.018
borninthe50s 186.747
Danni O'Laisip 189.722
DrDiff 193.467
oldslotracer 197.111
bibbster 225.892
flying_trasgu TBD

Thanks Bibs!

HarVWallbanger generously shipped the Betta car bodies with his entry so each host will be able to pick a door prize. I can't wait to get my hands on one. The last time I had a clear bodies they were Parma's Lambo and GTP Jag. I am hoping to be converted to liking this style of car body.

Novaslot Blog

2011-04-27T16:05:00.001-05:00

What a neat idea and the modeling skills on display are top notch.

novaslot.blogspot.com

This is Cuda67's blog and he is from Italy and around the slotting boards.

I am going to be following this.

of The Audi R18 & Sebring Testing

2011-04-01T15:11:00.002-05:00

Ooh she is mean looking. I have nothing more to say.

ALMS: Sebring

2011-03-19T21:47:00.001-05:00

That was fun. I loved the TV/web package. Congratulations to Oreca Matmut for the P1 win. Rahal & BMW you should be proud. Nice clean race.

Sebring gave me the excuse to run hundreds of laps with my slot cars from light into dark. Great fun.

UPDATE: I was disappointed in the ABC Sports TV recap. At 90 minutes it just didn't deliver on offering the stories behind a 12 hour race and the actual race coverage was too choppy. If I hadn't watched several hours on Saturday I would have been completely lost. The live web coverage was done very well though.

Two In The Grass Racing Launched

2011-03-10T13:47:00.000-06:00

A bunch of racing fans that used to hang out online have decided to kick off another site just for them. With 10 authors we are bound to have some fun. Feel free to join in the fun and post your replies.

Two In The Grass Racing

Racing Calendar Added

2011-03-09T14:51:00.001-06:00

What more do I need to say? Hopefully by tomorrow at this time tomorrow Flogs.com will be updating this site.

XLV

2011-02-06T22:36:00.002-06:00

Oh YES!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/games/20110206009/photos/rss.xml

Thank You Pack!

Paint Conversion Chart

2011-01-13T09:46:00.003-06:00

Now that I can churn out as many Corvette bodies as I want, I have been doing much more painting and decal work.

I just found this cool little tool to find just the right color of nearly any brand of model paint.

paint4models.com

Scroll way down to find the links. The online converter app is a touch buggy: it brings back duplicates and doesn't always refresh. But for the price, free, it is pretty neat. This looks like it could be a huge help in finding the approximate RGB colors for decal borders and such. I will be using it for my next re-paint and decal.

There is also a link to PDF. Looks like the same data. The downside to the PDF is the 224 odd pages.

If I could only find an on-line application that converts the smell of lacquer spray in the house into let's say - cookies, I'd be all set.

The Corvette C7 Stingray Concept

2010-12-26T13:08:00.011-06:00

This is a one piece 1:32 Corvette C7 body. The front and rear windows are molded with the rest of the unpainted body. The resin was formed with a 2 piece mold.

$25 (US) for the body plus $5 shipping and handling to the US.
I will ship worldwide but S&H will be adjusted accordingly.
I will combine shipping for multiple items.

Paypal funds to daedalian.waxworks@gmail.com

Thank you.

Daedalian Waxworks

Power tools? Stand back!

2010-11-15T15:59:00.004-06:00

I've been playing with this idea since I first found out that people could really make their own slot car tracks. Who knew that you could take a piece of wood, cut a groove and add power? Watch my misadventures at SCI.

Actually, it's not going that bad.

Slots Of Fun Still Growing

2010-11-09T21:09:00.002-06:00

Slots Of Fun has gone international. Not really. It is still just some silliness run in my basement. I repainted three of my older guest cars with various national colors. These are SCX Digital Ferrari 550 GTs. I was looking to do something realistic yet specific to my track. I came up with the Slots Of Fun International Challenge At Ravensring - ICAR - ooh I like that. I used the F550s since these guest cars were starting to show their age and a slick coat of paint never hurts.

I wrote more about these repaints and posted pictures at SCI and SCX World Wide.

It's Official - IndyCar Returns to The Mile

2010-09-10T13:20:00.004-05:00

This is great news! Lower ticket prices. Just that little bit later in June for warm weather! The race is scheduled for June 18-19.

JSONLINE STORY

INDYCAR

One thing jumped out at me though. I could have rented The Mile for $20,000? That is all it took?

of IndyCar & The MKE Mile

2010-09-09T09:21:00.000-05:00

Indy is back - at The Mile! YES. There is an announcement scheduled for tomorrow. IndyCar is returning to the Milwaukee Mile in June of 2011. The race will not be the traditional weekend following Memorial Day, but I'll take it. The rumored late June date will probably be better weather-wise. I remember standing in freezing rain and sleet for an IndyCar race one June. Summer usually starts in Wisconsin the next week.

of Pine, Plastic, & Far Flung Places

2010-09-02T12:12:00.004-05:00

This summer's travels took us west to Bear's Lodge and east of Wooster.

One week after our trip west to South Dakota and Wyoming we made a spur of the moment decision to head to Mid-Ohio for the ALMS race.

I should have known that the intersection of US HWY 30 and I-69 might not have been the best place to stop for sleep at 1:30am with my 3 boys. I was getting tired & I promised myself that I'd stop at the next truck stop or McDonald's for a nice well lit parking lot to sleep in for an hour or so before we drove on. When I got to the first Fort Wayne exit and it featured a truck stop and a McDonald's I gave thanks to St Christopher and pulled off the road. I'm not sure what I saw what transacting in the McD's parking lot across from the TWO gentlemans clubs, but I was positive that it would not look good to have a story in the news about me, Brandy's, & a car load of kids. It turns out that Good Chris would have to carry me a bit farther down the road. He did. We slept for a few hours in a clean Ohio rest area.

Partially rested we spent the day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course watching IndyCar qualifying and the ALMS race. Fabulous track! It is a beautiful facility. I took something like 2400 pictures, turned a bright hue of red, and we had a BLAST. I would definitely return.

Our 8th annual pinewood derby and summer picnic was held. There were 12 kids entries, 6 adults, 4 entires for Formula Unlimited, and 1 flame juggler. Brats, sunshine, little pine race cars, I don't think it could have been a better day. Oh but it could get better. The after-party included pizza, a Hannah Montana dance off, & Slots of Fun.

Speaking of slot cars, I finished my Speed Racer Mach 5 as an SCXd car. It has probably been 6 years since my boys gave me that snap together model as a gift. After a combination of procrastination and planning she has finally taken to the track.
SCI
SCX WorldWide

What a great summer.

Indy Predictions

2010-05-29T21:03:00.003-05:00

OK - The 2002 Indy 500 winner did not make the race so now I'll have to come up with something else.

The winner - Will Power. You can't bet against Penske at Indy and Will Power is the driver to beat this season.

I am cheering for Dario Franchitti. He has been racing hard all season and is due for a win. GO Dario GO.

Surprise feel good story - Sarah Fisher. If she finishes ahead of Danica there will be no surprise. But look for Sarah Fisher Racing to get he car into the - top 10? No. Top 5. Wouldn't it be great she broke through and won?

If you are an Arrested Development fan you will be rooting for Ana Beatriz. Steve Holt!

Indy Is Back!

2010-05-25T15:30:00.000-05:00

Indy Qualifying
Wow. Seriously. Wow. The new format works.

Part of me misses the whole Month-Of-May build up, the tradition. But most of that was gone years ago. There are still some that miss the front engine roadsteers. We need to move on. When I first heard that the top 24 would be locked in on Pole Day and that the top 9 would then have another Race For The Pole. I thought, "NO!!!!!" But I settled down and thought for about 5 minutes and realized SOMETHING needed to change and heck if IndyCar found sponsor for this format all the better.

There was still all the drama of Pole Day. There were teams posting times. Waiting in line only to decide to keep their time and get back in line. There were teams that crashed during practice. There were teams that had a car safely in the race that decided to withdraw their time and try again. Sometimes that worked - Helio Castroneves. Sometimes it was a ticket to Sunday's Bump Day - Paul Tracy.

The Top 9 Race To The Pole was dramatic with Chip Gannasi declaring on live TV that Penske's stall tactics were "Bull shit and you know it!" Once a car is in the top 9 the team can continuously re-try for a better time without the worry of giving up the already scored fast time. This allowed Penske's pole sitting Castroneves to run absurdly slow warmup laps before his retry. This was eating up time for the other pole wanna-bes. The only rule preventing this was a mushy directive that if they were short on time and the next in line was already on the pole the pole sitter would not be allowed to retry. Huh? What is "short on time"? Why should the pole sitter be denied an attempt at a better time?

There was an obvious hole in the rules and Penske drove a truck through that hole. Don't tell me that Chip wouldn't have done the same with his drivers. In the end Penske's move didn't matter. How do we patch the hole for 2011? The pole sitter must be allowed to defend the pole by being allowed to run faster and faster just like everyone else. I would allow the current Race To The Pole rules for the first part but then for the last 30 minutes (or 15 minutes - I'm flexible) a team would have to withdraw that car's time to re-qualify. Withdrawing would mean that the car is now in 9th position, not out of the race, until a new time is posted and the car is positioned accordingly.

Bump Day provided us with some real excitement. There was a very real chance that Tony Kannan was not going to make the race. Did those crashes get in his head? Was there something wrong with the car? KV Racing's Paul Tracy was in the race - again - but continued to fall closer and closer to the bubble. Time was running out but the KV Racing took a chance and decided to withdraw PT's car. He sat in line as time for his Indy return ticked away.

There is still a lot of room to improve in IndyCar. But, Indy is back!

of Penelope Pitstop, a DBR9, & SCXd pix

2010-04-19T12:55:00.005-05:00

Son #1's first SCXd car was the green #28 Aston Martin DBR9. He drove it a bit hard and soon the 'lips' and driver's side A post needed repairs. I had a repaint project in mind, so I bought a second hand #28 and traded bodies with him and set to work.

At first the boys were not happy anytime that I suggested pink. So naturally, the car had to be repainted pink. Penelope Pitstop's Compact Pussycat seemed to be the perfect concept. At first I considered making an open top version of the DBR9. But I would have needed to fit the A posts anyway. I decided to keep the roof. The car is obviously not a line for line copy of the Compact Pussycat. It was never intended to be. This car is my vision of what a real race car would look like if Boomerang/Cartoon Network sponsored a car as the Compact Pussycat.

First the car was painted white, masked, painted pink, masked again, then painted yellow.

The drivers A post needed rebuilding and painting after it became obvious that the glass would not fit. The lips needed to be redone when the grill was reinserted. I decided to Krazy Glue the grill in place to support the rebuilt lips.

I gave the Compact Pussycat to my resident Pit Babe. She can't wait to hit the track. A big crowd is coming for Mother's Day. The boys are coming around to appriciating pink - in the right context of course.

For more pictures please visit Slot Car Illustrated or SCX Worldwide.

of Wood & Scratch Builds

2010-04-02T14:16:00.002-05:00

This guy is working magic with wooden custom built slot cars.

Zagato @ SCI

His blog the scratchbuildguild

How does he make balsa look so real?

of SEAT Leons & Fun

2010-03-26T12:03:00.006-05:00

SCX sent the SEAT Leon WTCC Safety Car to me as a prize to an online contest. I have used it during races but it ends up getting in the way and pushed off the track in the heat of competition so it sat for months. This isn't a problem with the product just a lack of experience at my track. I had run it as a normal car and loved its different feel so much that I needed to get a Leon in race livery. Now that I have two Leons, I've been using it more as a Safety Car while running hot laps. If you don't mind driving you'll find these cars great fun.

The Safety Car has a simple silver/grey paint scheme. I could not help myself and added the logo of my circuit. The headlights, brake lights and roof lights all flash when the car is in safety mode. The interior and bottom of the car are detailed quite well. Switching from Safety to Normal mode is as easy as programming the car to a given hand controller. One time it programs as a normal car the next time Safety mode.

You'll know it is in Safety mode when you place it back on the track it does a recon lap or two. SCX says it is measuring the track so it knows where the pit entrance is but I'm positive that it is finding the lane changers so it can run me off the track. In Safety mode the car slowly plods along the circuit randomly changing lanes and avoiding the pit lane. I have a dual use track (road and oval) so the Safety Car sometimes gets confused and drives through the pit lane. This is usually after it drove the longer road course and having taken the oval on its recon lap. In Safety mode it is programmed to car 6 even on a 3 car system. It would have been nice if it was car 7. It does not need to refuel giving it an advantage on the leader board during a race.

In Normal mode it is as quick as any other Leon. Don't be mistaken. This is not going to be your quickest and most nimble car. I did like it enough though that I needed the #23 Monroe. Despite having a slightly different chassis these two Leons drive pretty much the same. They have the top speed of any other SCX car with an RX-42b under the hood but their short wheelbase and height makes them less agile, quirky, and well - slow. These cars are about a half second slower than other SCX cars on my oval (2.87s) and close to a full second slower (5.00s) on the road course. On the R1 hairpin (a 180° SCXd inner) the car sometimes decides to just lay down. It's not the driver! I know I've taken the corner faster but then the next time she just - tip - lays down. Odd.

The #23 is a brilliant blue and yellow with superb detailing and clean tampo markings. It looks like it wants to race. I really like the lines of this car. The rear wing on both cars is easily removed if you choose to do that before a race. My only complaint about the detailing is that fragile roof antenna on the #23. It is the same frail plastic found on the DBR-9. If you put it on the track consider it gone. There must be a better, more flexible material. When I converted the #23 to digital I needed to change the rim style. The picture shows it mid-conversion. Right now she has 4 matching, white rims from the version 1 conversion kit.

The SEAT Leons are great looking cars right out of the box. The Safety Car is easy to use and when putting in laps on the basement track it provides a fun obstacle forcing you to change lanes. I have found it fun to leave it in Safety mode while I race against it using the Monroe liveried #23. The #23 will race the road course while the Safety Car takes the oval short cut. I swear, IT KNOWS. Darn thing beats me half the time, and while in a race with 3 others there is a good chance the Safety car will win because it never pits. Despite not being super fast, or able to scream through the corners, I find these cars fun to drive. These are not squeeze and go rockets. They demand to be driven.

I will be buying one or two more Leons as equal racing partners. If you can still find a SEAT Leon Safety Car grab one. SCX no longer offers it as part of the 2010 catalog. It would be nice it SCX would sell the Safety Car chip so we could make other ghost cars.

I'm back!

2010-03-19T12:03:00.001-05:00

I'm getting back on the web log horse and this weekend is as good a time as any with Sebring in the news. I'm spending the expectedly snowy spring Saturday working on my slot car track (the Ravensring), a few slot car repaints, and watching the 12 Hour race.

The race season started a few weeks ago with the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Fun race but the DPs are not LMPs. I'm going to make an effort this season to get back into IndyCar now that Tony has been removed from office and 2011 is around the corner but they somehow snuck the season opener in past me last weekend.

My comments on ALMS Sebring to follow darn it looks like it will be difficult to beat the Pugs.

of Doyle, the State Fair Board, & Decay

2009-11-21T10:37:00.002-06:00

The Milwaukee Mile is dead, probably for good. This Governor is succeeding in destroying this once great state. This week the lastest deal to find a promoter for the Milwaukee Mile failed when the Governor's State Fair Board quietly changed the already agreed upon contract. The Guiffre Brothers with Menard and other Wisconsin business were our only hope. Trust between the State and WI businesses have been left in ruins.

The Mile will sit now, it's new stands rusting, without races for the foreseeable future. Doyle's DOT also announced this week that the nearby I94 I894 (Zoo) Interchange, which by the way is already diverting truck traffic off the bridges, needs to be rebuilt by May 30, 2010. This emergency bridge rebuild is not the planned 2011 or 2013 redesign. That work will have to come later at more cost. Doyle and his cronies are leaving Wisconsin is decay because they do not understand the importance of cars, roads, and those silly races that glorify a time gone by. The history of this once great track has been destroyed.

of F1, Renault, & Taking One For The Team

2009-09-04T12:47:00.001-05:00

I have no idea what is happening in F1 with Renault and Piquet. Sounds like he was told to take one for the team in Singapore last year, now he's fired, and taking Renault down with him. With that kind of ghost in the closet you think they'd have hung onto Piquet just a few months longer. Instead they decided to embarrass him with a midseason firing.

My take. F1 and many forms of motorsport are indeed team sports. In team sports people come off the bench and commit fouls to stop the clock, pitch at the batter, and yes drive into the wall. It looks like this is what happened.

Regarding Bernie's comments about this pushing Renault out of the series. Why should the FIA care? Renault is gone soon anyway. Comments like this do not help the FIA's appearance. They are often accused of looking a blind eye at rules when it involves their favorite teams. If the FIA is going to do nothing they should do and say just that - nothing. If the FIA doesn't like that kind of behavior they should deal with it harshly when it happens, not 2/3 through the next season.

Saved The Mile - Lost The Race

2009-08-03T14:24:00.003-05:00

There is not much else to say. The State Fair Board reacted too slowly. They picked a "top promoter" but the agreement is dependent securing NASCAR and IRL races for 2010. Today the IRL dropped the Milwaukee Mile from the 2010 schedule.

Now what? This plan never had a chance and Doyle the Weasel's cronies knew it.

The Mile

2009-07-21T11:52:00.001-05:00

Your calls and emails are working...
from 12 WISN
Milwaukee 2009/07/21
Wisconsin State Fair Park is looking for someone to run the Milwaukee Mile.

The board of directors decided to end its contract with Wisconsin Motorsports, which was running the track.

Park officials said the promoter faced insurmountable financial challenges.

The board said it's looking for a new promoter to secure IRL and NASCAR races for next year.

SaveTheMile.com

2009-07-15T12:27:00.003-05:00

Keep up the fight!

http://savethemile.com/contact-lawmakers.html

What more can be said?

Save The Milwaukee Mile

2009-07-10T14:31:00.004-05:00

I could write about a lot of things this week. The ALMS is denying all rumors about Grand Am DP buyouts or mergers. The ALMS is closer to the ACO than ever. The ALMS admits that the 2009 Le Mans break was too long. OK. That's all great - really. I could say more but do not have time. The FIA and FOTA are still fighting and plans continue to move forward for a new FOTA series. This is just getting silly. FOTA - go for it. Bernie and Max have shown their time has passed them by. But there is something that has been keeping me up at night all week and now the news broke - The Milwaukee Mile has been driven into the ground by a promotions hack and it needs your help.

Some background - The Milwaukee Mile is a $150 to $180 million, newly renovated asset owned by the State of WI, overseen by the WI State Fair Board, and it's promotional rights are leased out. The current promoter is Wisconsin Motorsports' Claude Napier. The Giuffre Brothers successfully ran the track from 1983 until 1991. The Mile is 106 years old. It's North America's oldest continuously run race track and has always had a major sanctioned race.

Stories (1, 2, 3) have been out there for a few weeks now. On July 2, Mark Belling discussed the situation in depth on his radio show. The Milwaukee Mile can't pay the bills it owes to the IRL and NASCAR. We are talking about nearly $4 million for the 2009 races. Claude "The Hack" Napier, head of Wisconsin Motorsports can't seem to make money with a NASCAR weekend. As of July 8 the remainder of 2009's races have been canceled. In 2010 the track could be closed.

The Giuffre Brothers have offered - pleaded with the State Fair Board to allow them to come out of retirement and take over the running of The Milwaukee Mile. The Giuffre's have reported that they have backing from John Menard. Mr Menard runs a small lumber yard hardware store business and has a small interest in motorsports. The offer seems like a no-brainer for Governor Doyle and Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Mile needs your help. The following people or organizations can make a difference but they need to know that Wisconsin's racing heritage and The Mile are worth saving. Please contact them now.

WI State Fair Board 640 South 84th Street West Allis, WI 53214 1.800.884.FAIR	Jim Doyle WI Governor Madison Office P.O. Box 7863 Madison, WI 53707 608-266-1212
Senator Herb Kohl Washington Office 330 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-5653 Fax: (202) 224-9787	Senator Russ Feingold Washington, DC 506 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4904 (202) 224-5323 TDD (202) 224-1280 Fax (202) 224-2725
Scott Walker Milwaukee County Executive 901 N. 9th Street Courthouse, Room 306 Milwaukee, WI 53233-1458 Phone: 414-278-4211 Fax: 414-223-1375 countyexec@milwcnty.com	Dan Devine West Allis Mayor 7525 W. Greenfield Ave West Allis, WI 53214 (414) 302-8200

of ALMS & Indianapolis

2009-07-02T08:44:00.001-05:00

In the past two months the Hulman-George family ousted Tony from 1st being CEO of IMS and then IRL. Mom allowed Tony to stay on the various boards but like all good children he is to be seen and not heard.

Things are changing on Georgetown Road and they might be looking for a sports car race. Now, the American Le Mans Series web site is running a poll. "Would you like to see the Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?" Well, Duh! YES! Please head over to the ALMS and vote yes.

I know it would be too much to ask the ACO to allow a 24° of Indianapolis but a 12° enduro there would be spectacular.

of The IRL, IMS, & Tony George

2009-07-01T15:18:00.002-05:00

NOW the war is over. After being voted out by the Hulman-George board of directors Tony George is no longer the CEO of IMS or his IRL. He was allowed to remain a board member.

Anyone who knows me will remember that I pledged to not attend an IRL race until Tony George apologized for destroying American Open Wheel Racing. With ChampCar gone, I had given up on ever seeing a live IndyCar race again. But now it was announced that Indianapolis Motor Speedway is free of Tony George - mostly. I will take this opportunity to accept, if not Tony's apology, then IMS' admitting to the huge mistake. The Speedway will still need to make me want to come back but there is hope.

This story has been brewing for months: here and here. In May, Tony George was voted out of power CEO of IMS by his mother and sisters. His foolhardy plans for forming the IRL cost the family too much money. Numbers have been reported that come in between $600 to $700 million in 13 years. Mom said, "enough Tony".

Yesterday it was reported that Tony George was stripped of his precious Imitiation Racing League. After last month's firing, Mom allowed Tony to save face and resign as CEO of the IRL and to stay on the various family boards. But, don't make any mistake - Tony is grounded and can't come out to play. He might be allowed to to play on Sundays with his Vision Racing Team - if he saves his allowance & behaves.

This is good news for IndyCar racing. The Hulman-George family could have hired a monkey to do a better job than Tony did. OK. I'll try to be fair. In the nearly 20 years that Tony has been in charge he has done a few good things. He started the Brickyard 400. He brought F1 back to the US and built the road course at IMS. I don't think he can be blamed for losing the USGP. MotoGP now races at Indy. These are good things that bring The Speedway closer to that original plan of Mr Fisher's over 100 years ago. But, Tony's temper tantrum resulted in a 13 year fight over Indy Cars eclipsing all of the progress.

Once it was announced that Tony George no longer controlled the purse strings or the series, the ugly truth was once again openly discussed. Kevin Kalkhoven of KV Racing and former ChampCar owner, "Clearly, we have a problem right now with boring races and old technology so we need new cars and engines as soon as possible." Sure. Now you speak up. Thanks for nothing Kalkhoven. The fans of American Open Wheel Racing knew this last year!

Tony's resignation & dismissal came, at the very least, 18 months too late. ChampCar could have been saved! Heck, the IRL could have been saved. ChampCar and the IRL could have merged on better terms. The Hulman-George family reports that they remain committed to the IndyCar Series as they do all of their companies. But something is up. If Mari's daughters are tired of paying for Tony's folly then why would they remove him only to keep paying for it? I don't believe they will. The former CFO of ChampCar, Gene Cottingham, is currently doing a top to bottom examination of the Hulman-George properties. I'm sure he is to report back on what is worth salvaging. Tony's IRL is eating money even after the 'merger' and the Hulman-George family is tired of paying. Someone needs to step forward and drive IndyCar into its second century.

My hope is that there are more team owners and manufacturers that feel the same way that Kalkhoven feels. Maybe they will step up to save IndyCar. I still have hope for the Indy 500 to return to true greatness by 2011.

ALMS Going to France?

2009-06-26T10:53:00.003-05:00

There are rumors flying everywhere since Robin Miller repeated a rumor he heard from "a team principle" that Grand Am and inturn the France Family is looking to eat up the American Le Mans Series.

It would be nice to see sports car racing come together. ALMS car counts are down. LMP1&2 are sorely lacking. Eight cars across the two prototype class causes me to question if I want to buy tickets for this season's Road America race. GT1 has been on life support for the previous 2 seasons and died this year at Long Beach. The ALMS in Utah brought up GT3ish cars from the Challenge series to fill the grid.

Still, Le Mans style racing is the best thing going. The GT2 grid is growing. The fan experience is second to none. Where else can any fan with a general admission ticket walk the pre-race grid among the drivers and their cars? There is hope of Audi coming back with the R15 in 2009 and 2010. Porsche's prototype plans remain to be seen, and we have heard rumors of a Ferrari LMP1. It is true that this is a down year for the ALMS, but the ACO is successfully running the LMS in Europe and kicking off a new Asian Le Mans Series. When FOTA threatened to walk away from F1, we saw F1 team leaders and manufacturers talking to the ACO about running sports cars under ACO rules. Something must be attractive about this form of sports car racing. I had high hopes for 2010.

If a merger is to happen in sports car racing I'd like to see Daytona adopt the ACO's rules rather than ALMS going away. If the ALMS is eaten up by the NASCAR machine this isn't a merger or a coming together at all. It is both sides digging in.

If the France Family gobbles up the American Le Mans Series it is a sad day for the fans. It was fun while it lasted.

I'll be watching this closely.

Mosley: Peace In Our Time

2009-06-24T09:07:00.003-05:00

Mosley Announces Peace...

2010 Grid Confirmed...

FOTA stops new series...

FOTA reportedly gets what they demanded. FOTA teams must call off the breakaway series and commit to F1 until 2012. The FIA agreed to accept FOTA's demands and there has been agreement to get back to 1990s spending levels. Details of how that will be done are not yet available. It was these details that caused the rhubarb in the first place, so this will be interesting to see. Despite Max's announced plans to run again for FIA/WMSC president in order to "save" F1; it turns out that the saving move might be his agreement to go quietly into the night at the end of this term.

My take:
Mosley gets to announce that he preserved the peace while the team owners rise in power. The new president, who ever that is, will be beholden to FOTA. The current and future team owners have made it clear that they will race high tech cars against other members of this exclusive club, by their rules, no matter what the series is called.

Whether under the banner of FOTA or not, F1's top teams have threatened this before - as they should - they will do this again. FOTA is stronger. 2012 is not too far away to start laying the groundwork for a series laying in wait.

It looks like 2010's grid with 26 cars is a throwback to early 1990s CART: high car count, several manufactures, a mix of chassis and engine combinations. This could be good.

I had hoped that this threatend split would lead to a true merger of the world's open wheel formulae. With the promise of reduced costs with in two years, is there a chance? Hey. I can dream.

The New Open Wheel Split

2009-06-19T08:20:00.003-05:00

FOTA is announcing that it is setting up a new Formula 1 alternative. They have threatened this before, but the threats were years out and the FIA had given concessions. This time it just might happen.

WOW! Tony George needs to call FOTA now and come up with a common formula. 2011 with two series under one formula would be too unbelievable.
FOTA teams to launch breakaway series

It will never happen. (The Indy/FOTA formula - that is.)

GTO Woes

2009-06-18T13:51:00.003-05:00

The Muse seems to have struck some at Slot Car Illustrated as they lament the poor performing 1:32 GTO.

SCI Thread: I do not love thee...

Below is my submission there and my first attempt at an emailed web log post.

grand rouge horse lumbers
taunting shouts, "get off the road"
- once was three time champ