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weekend round up – 16 May 2011 #NASCAR #DTM #Indy #NHRA

Posted on May 17, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

#NASCAR – Who else but Mark Martin could stay out on old tyres and hold off for around 35 laps of the Monster Mile all bar one of those who had stopped for two or four new ones? That was skill and experience at its best and a joy to watch. Another good run for the Digger to third and also a good top 5 for Brian Vickers as his comeback rolls on.

#DTM – Mike Rockenfeller wins Zandvoort for Audi as Bruno Spengler misses the pit call. I miss the GP from the Dutch Dunes. Not one of the great tracks maybe, but it was part of the F1 calendar that I grew up with.

#Indy – rain stopped play in Indiana as the 500 run up begins in earnest. Who will make up the field come Memorial Day? All the tension, excitement, relief and heartbreak coming up.

#NHRA – I don’t normally comment on events from the quarter mile, but whenever I am in the US I do like to watch the drama unfold. Drag racing has a format that fits well with TV and I am always impressed by the action. Watching the crews tear down and rebuild an engine after a run is pretty amazing as is the spectacle of the cars running after darkness falls. OK, in the top classes the race is over in less time that separates first and last on an F1 grid, but getting one of those beasts off the line and down the track takes some skill, and the terminal speeds leave F1 standing. Respect!

Filed under: Circuits, Drivers, F1, Indycar, NASCAR, Tin Tops | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

AJ Foyt to drive the 2011 Indy 500 Pace Car

Posted on May 6, 2011 by truckertoggle

So the Trumpster has pulled out of driving the pace car to focus on his Presidential campaign. Well, I suppose parking it in the wall might have damaged more than just the paintwork.

Seriously, the pace car job is not for amateurs, so this scribe is very pleased to see that 4 time 500 winner AJ Foyt will be handling the job. AJ, winner in 1961, ’64’ 67 and ’77, will drive the pace car on the 50th anniversary of his first win. My only thought is that it seems slightly ironic that a man so associated with the Blue Oval should be driving a Bow Tie pace car, but AJ was always pretty versatile and I have no doubt that he’ll work it out.

This blog celebrates two of AJ’s Indy500 wins in other posts if you’d like to check them out.

Filed under: Drivers, Indycar | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Parnelli Jones, Silent Sam and the 1967 Indy 500

Posted on May 4, 2011 by truckertoggle

In 1967 Indy 500 legend Andy Granatelli made another off the wall attempt on the race with his STP Paxton turbine car. It came within 7.5 miles of the win before a small proprietary part failed and the car rolled to a stop.

AJ Foyt picked up the win, his third in the 500, having avoided last corner carnage amongst the lapped cars.

See exerpts of the race plus interviews with Foyt, Jones, Gurney and Andretti here: Parnelli Jones, Silent Sam and the 1967 Indy 500

The 2011 Indy 500 wil be with us at the end of this month. Sadly all of the innovation that Andy Granatelli and his team brought to the race are long gone, but it’s still the 500, one of the world’s greatest races.

Filed under: Indycar, Retro Moments | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Indy 500 2011 – Not too long to wait now

Posted on April 23, 2011 by truckertoggle

There was a time when the fun would have started next weekend and we would have spend the month of May at the speedway settling in, tuning, testing and readying the cars. These days things have been comressed on necessity, but somehow the approach of May still means one thing to me; The Indy 500!

I still recall the thrill of seeing the 1961 race film (in about 1966/67), the first Indy race footage I had seen. One day, maybe, I’ll get to see the speedway for real and maybe even the race. Who knows, but I’ll be following the news from Indiana over the coming weeks. The current incarnation of Indy cars are not what they used to be, but they’re what’ll be racing and all the drama, disappointment or glory will still be the same. Who’s in, who’s out, who will last the distance, who will drink the milk? All will be revealed next month.

100 years of Indy. Here’s to the next 100 years.

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The Indy Photo Archive Project

Posted on April 16, 2011 by thatconsultantbloke

In their centenary year the folks at Indy are to be congratulated on their project to digitise their photo archive to ensure its longivity.

Read more about it here:

Indy photo archive

and take a look through some of what they have to offer.

Filed under: Circuits, Indycar, Retro Moments | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

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