All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

Spot on, two years in a row of absolutely disastrous "racing", nothing more than a few green flag laps amidst endless cautions. I don't expect them to be tearing down Broadway but the whole circuit just looks bleak.

 

It doesn't earn the nickname "Crashville" for nothing. I know the race organizers want to utilize the bridge and the stadium parking lot, but the one-block loop around the south?/west? side of the track is so Mickey Mouse. If you look the track, it's a giant soup ladle. Right now, the north?/east? side of the course is basically a series of 90-degree left turns. There's no way to pass unless somebody shoves somebody else off line.

Hell, just make a U-turn at 1st Avenue South (sort of like the hairpin at Long Beach) and save us the pain of watching a 30 mph IndyCar parade through the tire barriers. That'd be a bonzai passing zone, for sure. And the little kink at the exit of pit lane only creates more issues than it solves.

There's just got to be a better use of the stadium parking lots, Russell Street, Titans Way, Victory Avenue and South 2nd Street to create a chicane or esses to promote clean passing. Plus, going around the stadium would be more TV friendly than whatever recycling plant is on the other side of the bridge.

 

Totally agree that there has to be a better way to use the stadium than they are now. Would be like F1 taking the cars off the strip to the part of town where the Maxim or Showboat used to be. (I haven't been to Vegas in years, maybe those areas are full of high end casinos but they weren't when I was staying there.)

 

The long-term plan according to this April article is to build a new Titans stadium where the parking lot is now, and fill in with office buildings. I have no idea how they'd keep a race (or find enough parking) if that construction gets started.

Tennessee Titans reveal conceptual design for new stadium (usatoday.com)

What would be incredibly awesome would be to find a way for the cars to enter and exit the stadium in some way. From this image, I'm seeing two openings at one end of the stadium that could be utilized IF they connect in some way.



If NASCAR can pay to pave the L.A. Coliseum for a race, Nashville could dig up its grass for a weekend.

And yeah, it's NISSAN stadium. Honda and Chevy might not like that idea, but f--- 'em.

 

Bring back the Cleveland airport race!

 

The Showboat was on The Strip, on the NE corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Flamingo Road. It became Barbary Coast, then Bill's Gamblin' Hall and now is the Cromwell. Flamingo is next door. Maxim was behind it. It is long gone. Bally's (formerly MGM) is across the street on SE corner of LV Blvd. and Flamingo.
I've stayed at most of those hotels on the east side of the Strip. Never the west side. No particular reason, just how it turned out.

 

I stayed at the Maxim when my brother and I went to Holyfield-Douglas. I seem to recall the Showboat being way off the Strip although I guess I am thinking of another joint.

 

You know, I think you're right. Showboat had the bowling alley and it was way off the Strip, toward Boulder City. The Barbary Coast was on LV Blvd and Flamingo, but it looked like a riverboat so I always confused it with the Showboat. My bad.

My dad and I liked to go to the Strip Fight of the Week, usually on a Wednesday with club fighters. It was at the Showboat. We drove down there one afternoon to get tickets in advance, but the ticket window was closed at lunchtime. So we waited in the casino and I won $2,000 playing blackjack, starting with $2 bets.
Dad got VIP status at Maxim because he would get credit. He always paid it off before we even left. Once, we got invited to a "Summer Stag Party." We went without knowing exactly what it was. We checked in and I looked at the brochure they gave us. Everything was free except gambling and gift shop. The stag party was a bunch of aging dude, there was lots of T&A, drinks and a great dinner. All free. We loved the Maxim, and we could even go across the street to the MGM and watch Jai Alai.

 

McLaren officially splits with Ricciardo.

 

Would be cool if he ended up with Haas.

 

Maybe Richard Childress can hire him to replace Tyler Reddick in the Cup car.