Running 2023 Motorsports thread

Good lord, what a cluster that restart was.

(Total side note: I bet a parlay with Alonso beating Stroll, Lando beating Piastri and Hulk beating Magnussen. I thought I was screwed when Alonso got knocked out by Sainz… but then Stroll straight lined a turn and Alonso passed him.)

 

Well, it was almost worth enduring the FIA's Charlie Foxtrot BS to hear Max Verstappen make a joke during the postrace interview.

It's almost like the FIA is taking notes from NASCAR on how to further foul up a race and how to make relatively simple ideas ridiculously complicated.

 

Wild crash for John Force at Pomona.

 

Saturday was the 30th anniversary of the plane crash/death of reigning Winston Cup champion Alan Kulwicki.
As a Davey Allison fan, I could have chewed nails when he got taken out in Atlanta at the end of the '92 season, costing him the championship and handing it to the Underbird.
When Kulwicki was killed, I had a buddy who was big Kulwicki fan, and I told him I was glad Kulwicki won the title because Davey would have other chances.
Little did I know ....

 

Hard to believe Davey would have just turned 62. In an alternative NASCAR universe, Dale retires after 2001 or 2002 and Davey, Gordon and Adam Petty battle it out for all the titles Jimmy Johnson ends up winning.

 

My F1 love petered out about a decade ago, but as I was trying to get some late-night work done, I watched the Aussie GP in its entirety. Plus, my man Alonso seems to be having a bit of an Indian summer.

When did F1 go to red flag restarts, and moreover, when did they go to standing restarts?

If you like chaos (guilty), they’re great, but it seems to me it’s something cool you’d try on a video game, but in practice, it’s kind of a clusterfuck.

Can’t imagine F1 teams love having their bazillion dollar investments exposed in such a way.

It was funny, though, and it proved that F1 drivers are just as impulsive as their NASCAR counterparts are when it comes to a green flag sprint to the finish.

 

If Tim Richmond and Davey Allison both live, neither Earnhardt nor Gordon have the number of championships they do. They have multiple championships, just not as many.
I am certain of it.

 

They went to standing starts after a red flag a few years ago but it hardly ever happens. Last night was an outlier -- red flags because of a crash are still pretty rare. Also, if they red flag the race because of rain they eventually do a rolling restart.

My expectations for Alonso at Aston Martin were pretty low but it's been amazing so far. They nailed the new car and he seems rejuvenated.

 

I thought Richmond had sworn off Indycars?

A few things I always wonder about.

1. How good would Junior have been if his dad was around to play the father/cheerleader role he needed? It’s quite understandable why, but the kid was a headcase for much of his career.
2. Kyle Petty clearly mailed it in after Adam died. Understandably. How does he perform into his 40s without the grief and having his son around?
3. Was Adam that good? I always got the sense he was the next Petty, but probably would’ve had an unremarkable career if his name was Adam Smith.

 

Junior recently discussed that on his podcast. He said he and his dad never really discussed racing in terms of Dale giving him coaching tips about his driving.

 

Not so much coaching, but Junior badly needed Senior to alternately kick his ass and revel in his son’s successes. There was no one in his life who could remotely come close to doing that.