DataGrange Motorsport

Just Rainin' and Pourin' ...

The racing world released a collective ‘ugh’ after watching Junior lose his P1 spot for the 500 yesterday.

Earnhardt, while running in draft line during practice, gets turned from behind and promptly tears up Car Number 2 at SpeedWeeks. More importantly, Junior must drop to the rear of the field in both the Twins and the D500 due to having to resort to a backup machine.

None of it really matters given the nature and style of restrictor plate racing, but as if the 88 didn’t have a tall enough mountain to climb in 2011 …

Earnhardt Wrecks 500 Car, Loses Pole Position

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona 500 pole winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Martin Truex, Jr. were forced to unload backup cars after an accident in the opening moments of Wednesday’s first practice for the Gatorade Duel qualifying races.

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The Show Must Go On? ...

With the social unrest taking place in Egypt now spilling over into other Arab fiefdoms, particularly Bahrain, the Formula 1 Circus wisely placed the season opening Grand Prix event scheduled for the kingdom in provisional status.

The fans would miss out on a fabulous race event, but let’s face it … the F1 crowd may just flip out upon cancellation of Bahrain. Think of the spoiled travel and party plans … how could the princes let those foolish subjects just ruin everything?

Formula 1 Closely Watching Social Turmoil in Bahrain

Formula One bosses and race organisers kept a close eye on the civil unrest in Bahrain on Tuesday with less than a month to go before the season-opening grand prix there.

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The McLaren Brand Still Represents Class and Sensibility ...

McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh stood tall in the pulpit recently and took Formula 1 to task for its feckless disregard of sensibility when the same comes down to expenses.

Unlike many in the F1 Carnival who utterly revel in its grotesque expenditures and lavish living, Whitmarsh at least recognizes that global sentiments can and will turn on a dime if the Series’ followers step back for just a moment and take stock in the endeavor. Limited access, snobbish attitudes towards the fanbase, and self indulgent taciturn drivers will only take the Series so far … especially as fuel prices soar and middle class prosperity plummets.

Whitmarsh stands as the voice of reason, but do the rest care? Of course not. F1 is the last bastion of The Profligate, where teams soaks tens of millions from sponsors and use the same not to improve the spectacle but instead gorge themselves on  wide-beam watercraft.

What to do? Stick with the exotic engineering but ditch the go-kart farms … yes, pursue drivers with personality. Permit closer access to the cars. Pretend that you have a fanbase larger than the celebrity class. Transform F1 from its current superparty image to one that stands as a true showcase of automotive engineering … in other words, get rid of the schmaltz!

Whitmarsh Insists That Formula 1 Needs New Image

F1 must change its perception from that of ‘a gas-guzzling, money-guzzling sport’ to one that is far more society-relevant in the modern day-and-age and ‘leading the way’ in terms of environmentally-friendly technology, Martin Whitmarsh has stressed.

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Bo Knows Daytona ...

We here at DGM have dutifully followed NASCAR since the ‘Jaws’ Era (D. Waltrip), so we lend ourselves a bit of license in our harsh criticism of the Series in its latest get-up …

Where do we begin? Robotic drivers … cookie cutter cars … excruciatingly long races … schmaltzy network coverage … bustout retail pricing … the list goes on. Let’s face it, a Saturday NNS interview with no-drive but curvy Danica Patrick now offers more spice than the Sunday versions sputtered forth by Double J, T-Stew, or Big Busch.

We all know that NA-ZZZ-CAR needs one bolt of lightning to enliven its product … a competitive racing season posted by the 88. We all may not be hardcore fans of DEJ, but many of us followed his father’s career with enormous interest. DEJ, like it or not, is the spiritual connection between the stock car faithful and that nefarious black 3 car we watched with wide eyes, shallow breaths, and thumping hearts for two decades. We AND the Series are still reeling from the stunning tragedy of February 2001, and the new crop of comers just don’t carry enough spark to resuscitate the race weekend.

The diehards fully realize that the 88 standing on the 2011 D500 pole doesn’t mean anything … yet a top 3 on Sunday PLUS another set of top fives at Phoenix and Vegas in the coming weeks will mean virtually EVERYTHING to the Series.

In short, NA-ZZZ-CAR’s short term fortunes turn upon the 88. He’s not the best driver, he doesn’t carry his father’s charm, but the Series desperately depends on his genetic link to the black 3 car in order to rise again to its dizzying late-nineties heights. We wish him good fortune. BTW, we pick Kevin Harvick to actually win the D500.

Junior Snares P1 for the 2011 Daytona 500

The pressure’s off Dale Earnhardt Jr. – until next Sunday, that is.

In Sunday’s qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt edged Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for the top starting spot in next Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500.

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Heidfeld Pops Out of the Cake at D3 Jerez ...

Clearly seeking to take advantage of Robert Kubica’s misfortune, Nick Heidfeld shows the quick hands and feather foot at D3 Jerez and tops the charts, startling many who believed his F1 career in deep dusk. Good show, Nickie …

Heidfeld Impresses at D3 Jerez

The 33-year-old, who was Kubica’s team mate at BMW Sauber for the best part of four years, ended the day with the fastest time and a best lap of one minute 20.361 seconds in the new R31 car.

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Busch Picks Up the Loose Chips on Saturday Night ...

NASCAR sweeps back into our lives with a Saturday Night Special that, for the moment, leaves the series with a faint pulse …

The best part of the race: Exciting finish, 200+ mph speeds (not seen since the seventies), only 75 laps to suffer through.

The worst part of the race: The first segment, and all the hype and hoopla for a prefab (made for TV) event.

The first segment did not fail to disappoint as many of us, after noting the importance of the two car draft at DMS in 2011, simply went back to sleep in the lounger. Why run this silly race as a split session?  The race should only last as long as a tank of gas, and the race distance should penalize the carburetor hogs. Now that’s a true shootout … (hey DataGrange, we can’t charge big buku for only 45-50 laps?)

The second segment generally offers the excitement, yet unfortunately, teams end up tearing up their equipment during the same. 2011 offered no exception to the rule and many owners spent the late hours writing checks for new metal. The ‘Black Hat’ of the night clearly goes to Cousin Carl Edwards, whose aggressive driving scrubbed three drivers and himself by shunt from the contest.

With seven laps to go, a four-car breakaway holds court (Newman-Hamlin-Ku. Busch-McMurray) over global motorsport, yet the quad opts to run tight in the draft tunnel until one to go. No one challenges Newman along the back and into the final bend, yet as the four cars dove into the tri-oval for the last time, Hamlin turns left and angles for a downhill run to the tape. Newman wisely does not give ground, thus forcing Hamlin down below the Forbidden Yellow Line, yet their fencing allows Kurt Busch (sporting new 22 Pennzoil livery) to turn right, slide up the banking, and slingshot past Newman. Hamlin beats all to the line, yet NASCAR swiftly lays the DQ on the 11 and Kurt Busch earns the first notch in anger for the pending 2011 campaign.

Kurt Busch Wins Crash Marred Shootout

Budweiser Shootout winner Kurt Busch got it right — Daytona is a whole new game.

With a push from 2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, Busch won Saturday night’s season-opening exhibition race when Denny Hamlin drew a black flag for passing below the yellow out-of-bounds line as the cars approached the finish.

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Nothing Can Ruin a Year Like a Doowee ...

Oops … up and  charging NNS talent Michael Annett gets popped for a deuce down in the Tar Heel State. Bad News. Postscript? Now the lawyers line their pockets and the racing media feed on his misfortune like jackals …

Michael … I enjoy my on tap IPA just like everyone else (probably more), but .32? That’s just a bit too ‘lit up’ to get behind the wheel.

RWR and NASCAR Investigate DUI Charge against NNS driver Michael Annett

Michael Annett, a Nationwide Series driver for Rusty Wallace Racing, is facing charges including driving while intoxicated after being involved in a traffic accident early Sunday morning in Mooresville, N.C.

“Rusty Wallace Racing is aware of a traffic incident over the weekend involving Michael Annett, driver of our team’s No. 62 car,” Wallace said in a statement released Monday. “We have been in contact with both the authorities and NASCAR and are finishing our internal investigation into the facts.”

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Life and Career Take a Sudden Turn ...

We simply cannot believe how the worm turned on this story …

Robert Kubica’s injuries in his ill-fated rally crash of late left him with injuries so serious that his arm now requires complex reconstruction.

Race officials kept us in the dark regarding the dire circumstances of his shunt … one that nearly cost him his life.

We’re devastated over Kubica’s situation. Above all, we wish him a speedy and successful recovery. But there’s no doubt that his F1 future now stands in jeopardy … he faces a long rehabilitation and the circus simply will not wait on him.

Ugh.

Kubica Injuries More Serious Than Original Report

Formula One driver Robert Kubica will be out for at least two months after his horror crash in a rally, with Renault team boss Eric Boullier saying doctors’ predictions that he could take a year to recover are overly cautious.

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Here's Dumb ... Where's Dumber (Renault)?

Are you fracking kidding me? …

32 days away from the F1 tee-off at Bahrain and Lotus-Renault actually permits RK to risk life and limb in a rally event?

32 days away?

Are you fracking kidding me?

I realize that this a hindsight situation … but 32 days away?

Let’s face it … all the progress Renault made during both 2010 and 2011 testing (Kubica took the honors on D3) simply vaporize as the driver surely will need the first six races to rehabilitate from his limb fractures … if he can even drive at all.

Are you fracking kidding me?

Kubica Suffers Injuries In Rally Shunt

Polish Formula One driver Robert Kubica suffered multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand in a high-speed crash on Sunday while competing in a rally in Italy, his Renault team have confirmed.

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Renault Snatches a Feather on Day 3 ...

Renault’s middling-to-fair final day performance at the Valencia test exactly did not promise for spectacle racing in 2011, yet many of us still hold out hope that a four-team battle for the WC emerges this season.

Renault and Kubica Snare Honors on Final Day at Valencia Test

Robert Kubica posted the quickest time on the final day of the pre-season F1 test in Valencia, despite a far from perfect day of running for the new Renault R31.

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