The 2024 running motorsports thread

From the sounds of it, Bloomquist wasn't a licensed pilot flying a small vintage plane he owned around his family farm and crashed. I hate that he's dead, but it sounds like it was preventable if rules had been followed.

 

So the 2025 Clash is going to be at historic Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Feb. 2.

Anybody remember how cold it used to get at Rockingham two weeks AFTER the Daytona 500? Bundle up. It'll be like a B1G football game, if it doesn't get snowed out.

Instead of Busch, the primary sponsor will be HotHands.

 

Good race at Gateway for the IndyCars, although the drivers' meeting at Penske on Monday morning ought to be a ton of fun.

First, Will Power cut down on David Malukas while racing for a top-five finish and sent him to the wall. And afterward, went up and yelled at the kid for his own lack of situational awareness. He knew Malukis was in the racing groove and still pinched him down to the apron. Power's never made a racing mistake in his life -- just ask him.

Then, on the ensuing restart, leader and eventual winner Josef Newgarden brake-checked the field, sending Alexander Rossi up and over Power's car. Not only could you hear and see him do it, but everybody in the field pretty much said as much. Runner up Scott McLaughlin was diplomatic but his body language showed otherwise, especially since Newgarden then jumped the final restart.

Stefan Wilson on Twitter called it a dirty restart. I would concur wholeheartedly. The green light was on and Newgarden had already cleared the restart zone. He pulled a dirt track sprint car start and wadded up three good cars. Can't imagine he'll have many friends in the garage next week.

Stunningly, the series owned by Roger Penske will probably determine both as being "racing incidents." But there's a reason why a lot of fans dislike the number of pricks he's hired over the years.

 

I might actually consider going to that if the tickets aren't insane (which they probably will be). It's a fun but dumb idea. I have been to Bowman-Gray for racing and college football. The race will be awful for Cup cars. Attendance will seat less than some high school football games. It's and interesting idea, though.

 

More on Bloomquist:
Plane was a 1938 model.
Plane's registration was canceled in 2012.
Plane was kept at the family farm where he crashed.
Bloomquist was not a licensed pilot.

 

Ever wonder how far a Cup car can slide on its roof? Corey Lajoie helps us find out.

 

Backstretch has to be nearly 3/4ths of a mile. I need to find a real time replay because he was sliding along for at least 15 seconds, I'm guessing.

And better that than hitting grass and doing about 20 barrel rolls.

Getting peppered with dirt and rocks while hanging upside down >> multiple G-forces.

 

They needed someone running in front of it with brooms yelling "Hard!"

 

Looks like it was about 10 or 12 seconds before he finally hits the grass and flips again.

 

At 160 mph, he was probably traveling about 235 feet per second and scrubbing off maybe 10 mph each second. At 12 seconds, that's roughly 2,820 feet -- or about a half-mile upside down.

 

Will Power continues to show his ass. That Malukas move, while not necessarily dirty, was his fault. Malukas said Power jumped on his ass about it after the race too. He goes from super consistent (and lucky at Iowa to catch a yellow right) to being his own worst enemy from one race to the next. Surprised Penske keeps him around. He normally doesn't like that kind of turbulence.

Power has more justification for being pissed about Newgarden. Apparently, Newgarden never did brake-check anyone, per the telemetry, but it's always been considered bad form in open-wheel racing to lead the line slowly. It's asking for trouble with the accordion effect. Many think the 1982 Indy 500 debacle at the start was because Rick Mears led the field too slowly.

The proof is in the pudding. In the court of his own peers, Newgarden was considered guilty. Data or not, that matters a lot.

Also, IndyCar continues to have USAC levels of idiocy. It does appear somewhat clear that the green light indicator Newgarden was already past, but most of the field was not past, did kick on ever-so-slightly ahead of Newgarden accelerating, which would be on IndyCar, not Newgarden, as by their own moronic rules, the green doesn't fly until the leader hits the gas. That would explain why the middle of the field charged when they did.

It's not that hard. Leave the start to the discretion of a human being. Perhaps located in a raised area? Perhaps on a raised stand above the start-finish line with a big-ass green flag in his hand?

And, yeah, while I'm not really buying a conspiracy on this particular issue, it is bullshit that Penske has potential influence over race control.

 

That's two fairly decent races for Goodyear. I'm guessing their VP of racing will get fired tomorrow for disobeying company rules.