Running 2023 Motorsports thread

It still amazes me that these guys would hop over the wall as cars flew down pit road with no speed limit, especially at tracks like Martinsville and Nashville and Wilkesboro. To me that makes the Flying Aces way more remarkable than the Rainbow Warriors.

 

Before more of the current regulations were put in place, it was a wonder it didn't happen more often.

For all the risk drivers take by buckling themselves in their machines, at least those machines usually protect them.

 

From a racing standpoint, Belle Isle was judged to lack sufficient passing opportunities and because it's on an island, there were issues with limited capacity and transportation bottlenecks. From a community standpoint, Belle Isle has been a full-fledged state park since the city's bankruptcy, and the most-traveled state park in Michigan. A lot of NIMBYs and community activists raised a big stink that the race makes large portions of the park inaccessible for upwards of two months at a rare time of year when folks might want to be outside in Michigan. In theory a downtown track would put more people in a position to get there (and frequent nearby businesses). I didn't watch today. Looking at the track map, it seemed utterly uninspiring.

 

I thought it was better than Nashville. The layout made for some chaotic racing at times which was welcome after yet another F1 snoozefest.

I miss Cleveland too, as I recall there was an airport layout during CART's brief run in Edmonton.

 

As quickly as I got into F1 thanks to Drive To Survive, I've pretty much already abandoned it. Kind of boring when Verstappen is simply unbeatable.

 

I know the series is riding a rocket now but when does the "all sizzle, little steak" with the actual product burst that bubble.

 

I've heard good stuff about Dirt, which is running on FS1.

 

I quit watching after the Masi debacle in Abu Dhabi. I know my loss of eyes on their races won't matter but that was disgusting to me. Probably not much different from "debris on the track" from NASCAR days to line up the field for someone. Still rankled me, though.

I see the headlines and read a story on occasion on BBC or ESPN. Verstappen is obviously incredibly good. Mercedes took a psychological hit IMO with the loss in Dhabi, along with whatever they've had going on while trying to develop-understand the new car. Last year appeared to be a wash for them. This year it looks like Red Bull is overpowering everyone — shades of Hamilton from 3-4 years ago, when everyone was bitching about him winning all the time.

It does make me wonder, though, just how Red Bull is that much far ahead of an entire league, and how it got there. They're that good? Mercedes is that far behind on this new setup - essentially, 18 months behind and still clawing to get to the top? Strange. But, again, it reminds me of when Mercedes was in the same spot and everyone else was carping about them winning, doing nefarious things, yadda yadda.

 

Same...once my team, Alfa, went black both figuratively and literally, and the overall competition and drama dissolved, my interest did too.

 

When Hamilton was winning a lot there were also weeks when the Red Bulls and Ferraris would be very competitive, there seems to be little of that now. Will Max lead the most laps this season that will never be shown on TV?

 

There's only one way on and off Belle Isle, which created logistical nightmares getting people on and off the island. I work in downtown Detroit, and getting people in and out is way, way easier. While working on Friday, I could hear the race cars going by during the practice rounds - it was echoing off the skyscrapers, which was pretty cool. The track was, well, uninspiring, as stated above, and I thought the dual-lane pits were a bad idea, but I'm also no expert.

 

Man, I thought he was Flava Flav, not Flavor.