Auto Racing

[O Really]

They've way over-reported that guy Ciccareili. He's a third-rate driver who's never won anything in the third-tier league. And until he opened his yap about this, few outside his family had ever heard of him, nor know if he didn't show up for a race.

[Vrede too]

They've way over-reported that guy Ciccareili. He's a third-rate driver who's never won anything in the third-tier league. And until he opened his yap about this, few outside his family had ever heard of him, nor know if he didn't show up for a race.

One of his fellow travelers:

NASCAR investigation underway after noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage stall at Talladega

[O Really]

They've way over-reported that guy Ciccareili. He's a third-rate driver who's never won anything in the third-tier league. And until he opened his yap about this, few outside his family had ever heard of him, nor know if he didn't show up for a race.

One of his fellow travelers:

NASCAR investigation underway after noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage stall at Talladega

Why am I not spewing-coffee shocked?

[billy.pilgrim]

They've way over-reported that guy Ciccareili. He's a third-rate driver who's never won anything in the third-tier league. And until he opened his yap about this, few outside his family had ever heard of him, nor know if he didn't show up for a race.

One of his fellow travelers:

NASCAR investigation underway after noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage stall at Talladega

Why am I not spewing-coffee shocked?

I'm not understanding the need for an investigation. Look at the tape, put the asshole's picture all over the tv and wait for the call.

Garages with million dollar cars ready for a big competition in 2020 without multiple cameras showing every movement of the noose guy in and around his garage doesn't seem plausible.

[O Really]

Yeah, the garage area is locked down, lit, and undoubtedly camera-ed up. Seems the same precautions used to keep teams from tinkering with their own or another team's cars would prove useful in finding the nooser.

[Vrede too]

NASCAR race begins after show of support for Bubba Wallace

TALLADEGA, Ala. — In an extraordinary act of solidarity with NASCAR’s only Black driver, dozens of drivers pushed the car belonging to Bubba Wallace to the front of the field before Monday’s race as FBI agents nearby tried to find out who left a noose in his garage stall over the weekend....

The 26-year-old Wallace was surrounded by all 39 other drivers in the moments before the race and they were joined by their crews in a march down pit road as they pushed his No. 43 to the front of the line. Wallace climbed out of his car and wept.

It was a stirring move to support Wallace at a track in the heart of the South where flags have flown for decades and were seen outside the superspeedway all weekend long by fans opposed to NASCAR’s ban.

Standing alongside Wallace for the national anthem was Richard Petty, the 82-year-old Hall of Fame driver known as “The King.” Wallace drives for Petty, who issued a scathing rebuke after the noose was found that called for the “sick person” to be expelled from NASCAR forever – a move NASCAR President Steve Phelps insisted would happen should they be caught....

Workers painted “#IStandWithBubbaWallace” on the infield grass before the race and Confederate flags were nowhere to be seen inside the sprawling facility that can hold 80,000-plus and usually sees dozens of TVs lined up across its infield.

In the stands, fan Luke Johnson said he is against the flag ban, saying: “All the NASCAR tracks need to keep on flying them.” As for the noose left for Wallace, he said: “I thought it was funny myself.”

Another fan, Robert Chaisson, said he didn’t have a strong opinion on the ban. He certainly did on what happened to Wallace.

“That was messed up. I hope they charge that guy with a hate crime,” Chaisson, who lives in Alabaster, Alabama, said. “It doesn’t matter what your opinion is, it’s when you cross that line, then your opinion no longer matters. That’s trying to inflict harm on someone else.”

[O Really]

In the stands, fan Luke Johnson said he is against the flag ban, saying: “All the NASCAR tracks need to keep on flying them.” As for the noose left for Wallace, he said: “I thought it was funny myself.”

”

I'd almost have more respect for a guy who just said, "fuck yeah - hang 'em all" than one who thought it was funny.

[Vrede too]

Investigators: No federal charges after noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage stall was there in fall of 2019

... Garage stall assignments are typically done via points standings after the previous race event....

Opps, just a mistake, nothing evil or contrived, and still great to see the solidarity from NASCAR and the other drivers.

[billy.pilgrim]

Investigators: No federal charges after noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage stall was there in fall of 2019

... Garage stall assignments are typically done via points standings after the previous race event....

Opps, just a mistake, nothing evil or contrived, and still great to see the solidarity from NASCAR and the other drivers.

I'm still not sure why it took the FBI to look at the photo.

[O Really]

I'm still not sure why it took the FBI to look at the photo.

Theoretically, it could have been considered a hate crime, a federal offence. And there may not be any state/local law in Talladega that prohibits putting a noose in a Black guy's garage. But probably, nascar just didn't want to leave any avenue for anyone to say they tried to cover or ignore the issue, particularly right now.

[Vrede too]

Theoretically, it could have been considered a hate crime, a federal offence. And there may not be any state/local law in Talladega that prohibits putting a noose in a Black guy's garage. But probably, nascar just didn't want to leave any avenue for anyone to say they tried to cover or ignore the issue, particularly right now.

Might not have mattered given that it was all an innocent mistake, but it was probably very wise of NASCAR and the local cops to quickly get it out of their hands.


PAC supporting Donald Trump's re-election bid sponsoring Corey LaJoie for 9 NASCAR Cup Series races

No surprise that the PAC is sleazy.

Certain loser. Most of the Vegas action is on whether the car will even finish the race , just like with PINO.

Corey LaJoie
132 career races (all series), 6 top tens, 0 wins
2019 finished 29th
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corey_LaJoie

[1 CAT FAN]

A garage door pull.

Some lousy actor in Chicago awhile back was found to be a fraud, attempting to further his career by drawing attention to himself.

[Vrede too]

PAC supporting Donald Trump's re-election bid sponsoring Corey LaJoie for 9 NASCAR Cup Series races

No surprise that the PAC is sleazy.

Certain loser. Most of the Vegas action is on whether the car will even finish the race , just like with PINO.

Corey LaJoie
132 career races (all series), 6 top tens, 0 wins
2019 finished 29th
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corey_LaJoie

NASCAR's Corey LaJoie
'Trump 2020' Car Wrecked
... Just 16 Laps Into Brickyard 400

... LaJoie was caught up in the middle of the mess ... and his "Trump 2020" car didn't survive -- suffering too much damage in the wreck to keep racing....

It's a metaphor for the PINO presidency*.

It's a big disappointment for LaJoie's Go Fas Racing team ... just days before the big event -- team owner Archie St. Hilaire had said he was excited as hell to see the ride compete.

"As a Trump 2020 supporter, this team will do everything possible to secure victory on and off the track electing President Donald Trump to a second term," St. Hilaire said. "Let us bring this country back and Keep America Great!"

... As for Sunday's race ... Kevin Harvick won the whole thing, while Bubba Wallace -- who had famously raced in a "Black Lives Matter" car earlier this season -- finished 9th.

Another top ten.

[Ulysses]

I remember enjoying watching stock car racing back in the '60s. To the disdain of the rest of my family.

About 20 years later I got my first motorcycle, and got interested in bike racing. I wound up working turns for bike races, and later started reporting on them on-dial up sites before the internet was created.

I don't recall any race bikes with confederate regalia, nor with black/blue/whatever slogans. The competition was fierce, especially in the Superbike and FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme), or Formula 1 Grand Prix Bike races. The exception was the Harley Sportster class, which was comparatively so slow as to be boring to watch. But I'm sure it was a challenge for the riders of those ill-handling beasts. They did make a nice mellow sound.

[O Really]

So I may be the last auto enthusiast guy to ever hear about the sport of "drifting", but I accidentally ran across it today and it's def cool to watch.
Sorta like a sports car gymkhana except the cars are faster, the sliding is intentional, it's judged instead of timed, and...WTF it's nothing like a sports car gymkhana.

Here's the basics -

[Ulysses]

So I may be the last auto enthusiast guy to ever hear about the sport of "drifting", but I accidentally ran across it today and it's def cool to watch.
Sorta like a sports car gymkhana except the cars are faster, the sliding is intentional, it's judged instead of timed, and...WTF it's nothing like a sports car gymkhana.

Here's the basics -

Motorcyclists have been drift racing since 1923.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_speedway

However it's mostly on dirt, or flat tracks.

And of course we've all seen the strange little cage cars drifting around flat dirt tracks.

Bikes get even more lethal than they naturally are when they start sliding around on a paved track. AFAIK the bike racers try to avoid burning rubber on a paved track, except in a stationary display after winning a race. Drifting a bike on pavement must be extremely tricky, since the rider can have a hard time telling when the spinning drive wheel might catch and catapult him into a wall or the pavement, the stands, or other riders. This is not to say that paved track bike racers ("road racers") don't leave rubber on the road, they do, but that is more from sliding sideways due to g-forces than a deliberate attempt to drift in a cloud of tire smoke. AFAIK.

Not sure about the four wheel variety, although I found a source that points to automotive drift racing as starting in Japan in the 1970's. Apparently it come to the states in the 1990's-early 2000's.

YMMV

[O Really]

Yeah, drifting in the corners, particularly with those World of Outlaws "cage cars" isn't new. But this is a different sport entirely where the object is to have a perfect drift. Not something I thought I'd be interested in long term, but fun to watch for one afternoon.

[Ulysses]

Yeah, drifting in the corners, particularly with those World of Outlaws "cage cars" isn't new. But this is a different sport entirely where the object is to have a perfect drift. Not something I thought I'd be interested in long term, but fun to watch for one afternoon.

Well, on the surface it does seem kind of silly, and wasteful of tire rubber. OTOH, some references say the cars can get around the track faster with drifting. I wonder if it depends on the type of car, though.

They are probably doing it at Sears Point. I used to work turns there for the bike races. Also at Laguna Seca. Not sure I'd want to work turns for a car race, though. Those things can go anywhere. Bikes are more predictable, especially when they are slidiing on their side ;-).

[O Really]

First "big one" of the year - fun and games at Daytona.

[Ulysses]

Car racing is way cool.