Infineon Raceway has to be a blast to drive. This was just my second trip to the road course. My first trip there was and is still very memorable. Last year we were involved in a late race crash that injured dad's hand.
I was more nervous going into this race than I was going to Daytona this year. At most tracks I feel comfortable but since the crash last year I was dreading Infineon.
The track is really amazing with all of the elevation changes and the drastic speed changes. It looks really tough to drive. I have driven at The Glen but Infineon appears to be a harder race track.
We all had to sweat it out on Friday. Qualifying day makes all of us nervous because we know there is a chance of having to take the lonely trip home if we don't qualify. Things worked out this week as all 3 MWR teams made the race. I know it doesn't fix everything but it felt good.
Before the race started I was a nervous wreck. No pun intended. I couldn't eat lunch and I went to the spotter's stand about two hours early. I wanted to make sure that I had a spot up there that I was comfortable with.
Just like when I used to drive, the nervousness went away when the green flag flew. I knew it was time to do my job to the best of my ability.
The road races always come down to fuel mileage or some type of pit strategy. We were able to finish 26th by making it to the end by not running out of fuel. Others were not so fortunate. It is not the finish the any of us were looking for but it was better than leaving on Friday.
I like Juan Pablo so I was happy to see him get his first win. He is a winner and I predict that this win will give Juan and his team the confidence to win on an oval later in the year. When we go to some tracks for the second time he will contend for some wins.
Well, as we move on to Loudon, I have to say that I was glad to get out of Sonoma without a crashed car this year. Now I can look forward to this race next year.
The Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure is heading into its summer stretch. Call 888-GO-RACE-1 or log on to www.RacingAdventure.com for the most up to date schedule of events.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Watching Nextel Prelude
I usually go to the movies about once a week but this week was a little bit different. For starters, the Nextel Cup event was forced to run on Monday because of rain on Sunday. So, I decided instead of going to a movie I would order The Prelude to the Dream. All I heard about last week was that this was going to be an great show. You have all of the ingredients: great track (famous Eldora Speedway), great drivers (26 Nextel Cup drivers), great fans (some joining in at Eldora and others watching on HBO Pay Per View), and great cause (Victory Junction Gang Camp).
It didn't take long for the excitement to start. Newman and Bill Elliot got together in the first heat race. Elliot came across the line on his roof. Once they turned him over he got out of the car stood on the roof and waved to the crowd. The second and third heats had plenty of action with cars on the bottom, middle, and top. You had such an impressive mix of Nextel drivers, open wheel drivers, and drag racers. These guys are all great, now they are in the same element to compete for charity and for plenty of bragging rights.
The main event has just started. There was a couple of quick yellow flags for some minor accidents. I don't have much experience on dirt but it will be interesting to see if the track changes. Looks like they can move around and find a groove their car likes. Jeff Gordon is showing just how awesome he is. I don't know how long it has been since Gordon has driven on dirt but he is putting on a great show with Carl Edwards. There are literally cars everywhere: bottom, middle, and top. Lap 18 there was a crash with Busch, Labonte, Kahne, and Stewart. From this point there is a lot of action going on. This needs to happen every year. Edwards, Busch, and Gordon great race!
These guys are talented. I would like to see more of this type of racing, maybe even a series. I would order this 3 or 4 times per year. Maybe like some of the other drivers said, let's make this the IROC Series. Stewart will push it and all of the sponsors and drivers should push this thing to keep happening and don't forget it was all for charity. Congratulations to everyone involved.
It didn't take long for the excitement to start. Newman and Bill Elliot got together in the first heat race. Elliot came across the line on his roof. Once they turned him over he got out of the car stood on the roof and waved to the crowd. The second and third heats had plenty of action with cars on the bottom, middle, and top. You had such an impressive mix of Nextel drivers, open wheel drivers, and drag racers. These guys are all great, now they are in the same element to compete for charity and for plenty of bragging rights.
The main event has just started. There was a couple of quick yellow flags for some minor accidents. I don't have much experience on dirt but it will be interesting to see if the track changes. Looks like they can move around and find a groove their car likes. Jeff Gordon is showing just how awesome he is. I don't know how long it has been since Gordon has driven on dirt but he is putting on a great show with Carl Edwards. There are literally cars everywhere: bottom, middle, and top. Lap 18 there was a crash with Busch, Labonte, Kahne, and Stewart. From this point there is a lot of action going on. This needs to happen every year. Edwards, Busch, and Gordon great race!
These guys are talented. I would like to see more of this type of racing, maybe even a series. I would order this 3 or 4 times per year. Maybe like some of the other drivers said, let's make this the IROC Series. Stewart will push it and all of the sponsors and drivers should push this thing to keep happening and don't forget it was all for charity. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Racing Has Different Look With COT
I don't know if the racing was that exceptional or great yesterday at Dover. Most of the time it depends on who you are pulling for and how they do as to whether you think it was good racing. Yesterday, I was only on the roof for half of the race due to the 44 not finishing the race. From my vantage point, the racing was not that great, but it was different.
As I watched the first half of the race I noticed something that I didn't see with the "old" car: the racing had a "short track" look or a "late model" race car look. That may be a little confusing but what I mean is by the way the drivers had to set up a pass. The passing had to be done so you didn't lose momentum. Even moreso than the old cars. After about 10 laps into a run DJ would start passing cars. As he was making these passes I noticed that he really had to start setting that pass up a lap before. He would follow the car into the corner as close as he could get and then as that car would push up he would run up the track in the center of the corner and make the exit of the corner more of a straight line. By doing this he could get in the gas quicker and not have too much steering in the car off of the corner. He would basically have more momentum on the exit of the corner and even if he couldn't complete the pass by the exit he would be in position entering the next corner. He was making this work and moving up before having his problems.
The reason that I noticed this is because it reminded me of the way it looks when I go watch the late model stock cars at Hickory or Tri-County Speedway. There was just a different look to the cars and the way they appeared to drive. With the old car you could drive into the corner harder and the COT you have to really manage your entry. I have never even driven one so I don't really know and I am going totally off of what I watched on Monday. I liked the way the cars looked and it does look like they might be harder to drive than the old cars.
I know NASCAR and the teams are going to come up with new ideas for the COT and it will evolve. Something else that caught my attention was the way one car could run away from the car behind him but stall out on the next car in front of him. Once dad would catch a car he really had to change his line to make a pass. That might be a good thing. You will automatically know the car is going to react different and you, the driver, must adjust to make the passes. You would probably get a different answer from all of them about that point. The best thing I noticed was that when you ran right on the tail of another car, it didn't seem to make the front car loose or make the car in the back any tighter. That is hard to tell from where I stand but my driver never said anything about getting too tight as he ran up behind cars.
There are still a lot of opinions out there on the COT, but as you know, it is here to stay. So, as the adjustments and changes are made we will all come back to the basics and just pull for our teams or our drivers and it will not matter what the next version of Nextel Cup cars looks like. This is a huge sport and it will go through many more changes as it continues to find new ways to grow.
In closing, I want to express my sympathy to the France family. All of us in this industry owe something back to Mr. Bill France, Jr. because he and his family have provided so many of us with an avenue to have jobs and careers that we enjoy. He will be missed but his legacy will live on with each race.
The Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure is running a Father's Day Special. Buy one "Drive" and get one 10% off or Buy one "Drive" and get $50 off of a "Qualifier" or ride. Call a sales agent today at 888-GO-RACE-1 to buy dad the best gift he will ever receive. This is a limited time offer. www.RacingAdventure.com
As I watched the first half of the race I noticed something that I didn't see with the "old" car: the racing had a "short track" look or a "late model" race car look. That may be a little confusing but what I mean is by the way the drivers had to set up a pass. The passing had to be done so you didn't lose momentum. Even moreso than the old cars. After about 10 laps into a run DJ would start passing cars. As he was making these passes I noticed that he really had to start setting that pass up a lap before. He would follow the car into the corner as close as he could get and then as that car would push up he would run up the track in the center of the corner and make the exit of the corner more of a straight line. By doing this he could get in the gas quicker and not have too much steering in the car off of the corner. He would basically have more momentum on the exit of the corner and even if he couldn't complete the pass by the exit he would be in position entering the next corner. He was making this work and moving up before having his problems.
The reason that I noticed this is because it reminded me of the way it looks when I go watch the late model stock cars at Hickory or Tri-County Speedway. There was just a different look to the cars and the way they appeared to drive. With the old car you could drive into the corner harder and the COT you have to really manage your entry. I have never even driven one so I don't really know and I am going totally off of what I watched on Monday. I liked the way the cars looked and it does look like they might be harder to drive than the old cars.
I know NASCAR and the teams are going to come up with new ideas for the COT and it will evolve. Something else that caught my attention was the way one car could run away from the car behind him but stall out on the next car in front of him. Once dad would catch a car he really had to change his line to make a pass. That might be a good thing. You will automatically know the car is going to react different and you, the driver, must adjust to make the passes. You would probably get a different answer from all of them about that point. The best thing I noticed was that when you ran right on the tail of another car, it didn't seem to make the front car loose or make the car in the back any tighter. That is hard to tell from where I stand but my driver never said anything about getting too tight as he ran up behind cars.
There are still a lot of opinions out there on the COT, but as you know, it is here to stay. So, as the adjustments and changes are made we will all come back to the basics and just pull for our teams or our drivers and it will not matter what the next version of Nextel Cup cars looks like. This is a huge sport and it will go through many more changes as it continues to find new ways to grow.
In closing, I want to express my sympathy to the France family. All of us in this industry owe something back to Mr. Bill France, Jr. because he and his family have provided so many of us with an avenue to have jobs and careers that we enjoy. He will be missed but his legacy will live on with each race.
The Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure is running a Father's Day Special. Buy one "Drive" and get one 10% off or Buy one "Drive" and get $50 off of a "Qualifier" or ride. Call a sales agent today at 888-GO-RACE-1 to buy dad the best gift he will ever receive. This is a limited time offer. www.RacingAdventure.com
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