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Woody's Corner
By: Racing Woody
By: Racing Woody
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Is racing today as good as it once was?
For years I have been hearing that today’s racing doesn’t stand up to racing
of old. It does seem like the same driver are always winning, (that’s been
going on for years). Richard Petty and David Pearson won a combined 305
race wins in 24 years.
After watching the 1970 Grand National race from Nashville I saw racing that
would cause uproars with today’s Nascar fans. Bobby Isaac won the race by
two laps over Bobby Allison. The average lap speed for Isaac was 105 mph. 36
cars started and the race and 9 cars were on the track at the finish of the
race. How many race fans would sit through a race and watch one guy race
around eight other all day? Attendance was at capacity of a 20,000. The sold
out crowd showed up five hours prior to the race to set in the 97 degree
temperature with high humidity.
The drivers of this period were a totally different type of driver. They worked
on their own cars and raced two to three times more races a year than the 36
we have on today’s schedule. This race was run the day after another race and
most drivers ran with little to no sleep between the two events.
Today’s racing has the best coverage I have ever seen. We have D.W. and we
also have a cartoon varmint, which everyone seems to complain about. The
announcers of the 70’s didn’t have the same charisma and tenacity as today’s,
and we have multiple camera’s to catch all the action. The 1970 Nashville race
covered only the driver in the lead unless a caution came out. They had very
few camera’s and did not have review capability. If a caution did come out
they could not go back to it and show you.
The races from the past are great to watch and is the backbone to today’s
race but I personally have to disagree about the races being better in the
past. Today’s standard of racing has better; coverage, drivers and cars. I will
continue to watch the old races but today’s races are so much better.
For years I have been hearing that today’s racing doesn’t stand up to racing
of old. It does seem like the same driver are always winning, (that’s been
going on for years). Richard Petty and David Pearson won a combined 305
race wins in 24 years.
After watching the 1970 Grand National race from Nashville I saw racing that
would cause uproars with today’s Nascar fans. Bobby Isaac won the race by
two laps over Bobby Allison. The average lap speed for Isaac was 105 mph. 36
cars started and the race and 9 cars were on the track at the finish of the
race. How many race fans would sit through a race and watch one guy race
around eight other all day? Attendance was at capacity of a 20,000. The sold
out crowd showed up five hours prior to the race to set in the 97 degree
temperature with high humidity.
The drivers of this period were a totally different type of driver. They worked
on their own cars and raced two to three times more races a year than the 36
we have on today’s schedule. This race was run the day after another race and
most drivers ran with little to no sleep between the two events.
Today’s racing has the best coverage I have ever seen. We have D.W. and we
also have a cartoon varmint, which everyone seems to complain about. The
announcers of the 70’s didn’t have the same charisma and tenacity as today’s,
and we have multiple camera’s to catch all the action. The 1970 Nashville race
covered only the driver in the lead unless a caution came out. They had very
few camera’s and did not have review capability. If a caution did come out
they could not go back to it and show you.
The races from the past are great to watch and is the backbone to today’s
race but I personally have to disagree about the races being better in the
past. Today’s standard of racing has better; coverage, drivers and cars. I will
continue to watch the old races but today’s races are so much better.
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Buying your way into a race.
It has been going on for many years. I first remember Michael Waltrip doing it
many years ago, since then it seems like an epidemic. Drivers buying their way
into a race after not qualifying for it. Robby Gordon has done it many times. I
understand that sponsors demand to be into big races and there will be times
when a driver just don't have it that week to get into the race.Qualifying is for
the fastest cars that shows up not the fastest driver's.
It has happened again for the biggest race of the year in Indy car. Everyone
thought that the bumping finished on Sunday at IRP, but it didn't. With just
seconds to go during the 2011 Bump Day, Marco Andretti bumped his
teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay out of the race. On the way home from the track
we discussed what the race would of been like if certain drivers would have not
made it. At one point during the day it looked like Danica Patrick wasn't going
to be in and then Marco got bumped. We all agreed that it was exciting the way
it ended with a big name driver did not qualify. I soon learned that the
bumping wasn't over. On Monday behind closed doors Ryan Hunter-Reay
bumped Bruno Junqueira out of his #41 A,J, Foyt ride. This is not the first time
that Bruno has been removed after qualifying in for the race.
Is this fair? Bruno is in a one race deal and Ryan is running the full season, but
still is it fair?
It has been going on for many years. I first remember Michael Waltrip doing it
many years ago, since then it seems like an epidemic. Drivers buying their way
into a race after not qualifying for it. Robby Gordon has done it many times. I
understand that sponsors demand to be into big races and there will be times
when a driver just don't have it that week to get into the race.Qualifying is for
the fastest cars that shows up not the fastest driver's.
It has happened again for the biggest race of the year in Indy car. Everyone
thought that the bumping finished on Sunday at IRP, but it didn't. With just
seconds to go during the 2011 Bump Day, Marco Andretti bumped his
teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay out of the race. On the way home from the track
we discussed what the race would of been like if certain drivers would have not
made it. At one point during the day it looked like Danica Patrick wasn't going
to be in and then Marco got bumped. We all agreed that it was exciting the way
it ended with a big name driver did not qualify. I soon learned that the
bumping wasn't over. On Monday behind closed doors Ryan Hunter-Reay
bumped Bruno Junqueira out of his #41 A,J, Foyt ride. This is not the first time
that Bruno has been removed after qualifying in for the race.
Is this fair? Bruno is in a one race deal and Ryan is running the full season, but
still is it fair?
Who is to blame on the death of Dan Wheldon?
*Promoter? For offering a 5 million dollar bonus to any non IRL regular to win
the race. This brought many teams new drivers that didn't have the experience
behind the wheel of these machines.
*Rookies? These drivers were placed in a dream position to drive in the Indy
league. They didn't have the knowledge or skill needed for a track such as Las
Vegas. They are looking for a ride and this was their chance to prove something.
*Speed? During practice, speeds hit 224.7 mph. Is that to fast. During the crash
they had four cars go airborne. Nascar slowed their cars down because of going
airborne, does Irl have to also?
*Irl? Should they have stopped the race seeing the way that the drivers were
driving. From lap one we all could see that this was going to be a dangerous
race.
*Amount of cars on the track? There were more cars on the track than
ever before, more than the Indy 500. For a track that fast it was to many cars.
*Dan Wheldon? Dan is a champion and not a rookie. He knows that you can't
win a race in the first 50 laps. He advanced 10 places in those first 12 laps and
charging through the field when the accident happened. Dan like many of the
drivers should of realized that the racing was getting dangerous and backed off
a bit and let it settle down before making the charge.
A lot has changed over the years of Indy car and safety has been one of them.
Twenty years ago death was all around racing. They have built the cars safer
and the tracks safer but nothing is totally safe. Changes have to be made
constantly as safety measures change. New drivers may have an air of security
when they race because of the safety that is built into the cars. Not one factor
contributed to the death of Dan Wheldon, and all of these and many more
factors didn't kill Dan. It was the wrong time and the wrong place. What the
death of Dan Wheldon did was open the eyes of the racing community to the
dangers that are out there every time a driver gets into the car. Today we
mourn the death of a racing champion...Dan you will be missed.
*Promoter? For offering a 5 million dollar bonus to any non IRL regular to win
the race. This brought many teams new drivers that didn't have the experience
behind the wheel of these machines.
*Rookies? These drivers were placed in a dream position to drive in the Indy
league. They didn't have the knowledge or skill needed for a track such as Las
Vegas. They are looking for a ride and this was their chance to prove something.
*Speed? During practice, speeds hit 224.7 mph. Is that to fast. During the crash
they had four cars go airborne. Nascar slowed their cars down because of going
airborne, does Irl have to also?
*Irl? Should they have stopped the race seeing the way that the drivers were
driving. From lap one we all could see that this was going to be a dangerous
race.
*Amount of cars on the track? There were more cars on the track than
ever before, more than the Indy 500. For a track that fast it was to many cars.
*Dan Wheldon? Dan is a champion and not a rookie. He knows that you can't
win a race in the first 50 laps. He advanced 10 places in those first 12 laps and
charging through the field when the accident happened. Dan like many of the
drivers should of realized that the racing was getting dangerous and backed off
a bit and let it settle down before making the charge.
A lot has changed over the years of Indy car and safety has been one of them.
Twenty years ago death was all around racing. They have built the cars safer
and the tracks safer but nothing is totally safe. Changes have to be made
constantly as safety measures change. New drivers may have an air of security
when they race because of the safety that is built into the cars. Not one factor
contributed to the death of Dan Wheldon, and all of these and many more
factors didn't kill Dan. It was the wrong time and the wrong place. What the
death of Dan Wheldon did was open the eyes of the racing community to the
dangers that are out there every time a driver gets into the car. Today we
mourn the death of a racing champion...Dan you will be missed.
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