Race Weekend Central

Happiness Is… Busch (Beer, That Is), Tires, and the Championship

Pirelli tyres, tires, in the studio (credit: Pirelli)

(Credit: Pirelli)

One of the things that continues to perplex in the wonderful world of NASCAR isn’t the consistent use of lame debris cautions, the myriad of car configurations for this season or that there aren’t more road courses on the schedule.   For a change, the wonderment is pointed in another direction. With Joey Logano’s win …

Read more

Slipstream Saturday: Formula 1 Returns to Action

Nico Rosberg during practice for the Formula One Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on August 21, 2015 in Spa, Belgium. (Credit: Getty Images)

(Credit: Getty Images)

And we’re back.   Formula 1 returns from its self-imposed summer shutdown to emerge in Belgium. This respite in the calendar encourages everyone to take a moment and get away from the pressure cooker world of the sport. During this time the team factories are shut down and everyone scatters. Lewis Hamilton provided the headlines …

Read more

Happiness Is… A Green Light, Overload & Pocono

2015 Charlotte I CUP David Ragan crew guy CIA

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Well, that sucks.   With Rob Kauffman’s decision to take his ball and go play with the cooler kids on the playground, what once was a decent NASCAR Sprint Cup organization is left in shambles. But as Michael Waltrip Racing becomes another team left in the haze of exhaust and burnt rubber as the sport …

Read more

Happiness Is… TV, Ohio & Bills

2015 Pocono II CUP Jeff Gordon pack racing CIA

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

The nightmare season continues.   With another lackluster finish at Watkins Glen, Jeff Gordon continues his magical mystery tour, with the mystery being how far back in the field he’ll finish each race. Even the race before, at Pocono, Gordon and co. appeared lost, hanging out midpack for much of the event before their fuel-mileage …

Read more

Happiness Is… Kyle Busch, Lewis Hamilton, Safety & The Glen

2015 Pocono II CUP Kyle Busch Kurt Busch racing CIA

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

As usual, everything is wrong with the sport of NASCAR. The best race of this past weekend happened at Iowa on Saturday night at a time when no one was watching. The truck race got besieged by the Cuppers, with Kyle Busch stealing another win from the little guys. And the headline of the weekend, …

Read more

Open-Wheel Wednesday: Sage Karam’s Spin Brings Drama

2015 IndyCar Sage Karam head shot with helmet

Photo Credit: IndyCar

One might not have expected the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio to be a race filled with drama. In fact, after the grid had been set by qualifying, it would not have been outlandish to think that the finishing order would not be all that much different. Consider that the sum total for caution flags …

Read more

IndyCar Breakdown: 2015 Hondy Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

graham rahal_mid-ohio_john cote_2015

Photo Credit: John Cote

In a Nutshell: At a track where cautions have been scant over the past few years, the yellow flags proved to be the element that changed strategy and shook up the field. Graham Rahal, who had started in 13th, benefitted from a timely caution as he made his way to pit road, ultimately coming out with …

Read more

Happiness Is… 483 Points, Ohio & Hungaroring

Kyle Busch celebrates his win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

The feeling after the Brickyard 400 seems to be a hangover without the fun of having drank. It’s like there’s something that should have happened but didn’t and now there’s just the empty blankness of moving on and continuing in some sort of rut. Nothing to take away from Kyle Busch’s win; that dude is …

Read more

Slipstream Saturday: Remembering Jules Bianchi & Continuing the Show

jules bianchi-funeral-2015-afp

Photo Credit: AFP

This week, funeral services were held for Jules Bianchi. The promising driver suffered an accident at Suzuka last year, losing control in the wet and hitting a crane that had moved on track to recover a car that had slid off in the same area a few laps prior. The circumstances are, for the purposes of …

Read more

Happiness Is… Acting, Thanking & Remembering

2015 Kentucky CUP Jeff Gordon car CIA

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

This week, NASCAR provides fans with an interesting and peculiar division. It’s almost as if the governing body is playing a game of Yes and No with the schedule. It’s a tantalizing mixture, one that offers nods to the past and the present while also bringing about a beguiling look toward the future. All of that …

Read more

Happiness Is… Saving a Sport

2015 Kentucky CUP Carl Edwards car CIA

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

The sport is saved. Yay, the new NASCAR rules package that got tested at Kentucky is the panacea that all had hoped for; now, everything is hunky dory. It was the general reaction that emanated from the world, both during and after the Kentucky race. In a way, that works. The racing on track appeared …

Read more

IndyCar Recap: 2015 ABC Supply Co. Inc. Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee

bourdais_milwaukee_chris owens

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

In a Nutshell: For much of the race on the flat 1-mile track, two-time race-winner Josef Newgarden looked to be running away to victory. Though Ryan Briscoe posed a serious challenge, a terrible pit stop pushed him back in the field and Newgarden maintained the lead. Then, the yellow flags changed things. Two yellow flags …

Read more