Well it was an interesting weekend of racing, if not wholly unpredictable. I do have to admit that right now the Pacers are kind of getting my attention, but now that they are off for at least a week I can get back to racing.


NASCAR

Another Talladega and another strong run for DEI. Junior comes home second and probably would have won had there not been a yeller with just 5 laps to go. Jeff Gordon got the win which proved about as welcome as a turd in a punchbowl. All in all the racing was fierce. There were 58 lead changes, which is a lot for a place known for such happenings. And of course there was the “Big One”.

This races “Big One” honorary starter was none other than Mr. Happy himself, Tony Stewart. In what was just one of those things at a restrictor plate race, Tony pushed Kurtis around and he spun in front of an oncoming pack. 11 cars were involved in all.

I’m not sure Junior would have won without the caution, but I am pretty sure that Jeff Gordon would not. The fans responded by peppering the track with cans, wrappers etc. As I said, typical goings on at Talladega.


F1

Race 4 is in the books. The winner again is Michael Schumacher. Schummi outdueled Juan to the first chicane, or outpushed him according to Juan. Montoya was quoted after the race as saying he would be surprised if Michael would get away with it once the FIA officials reviewed it. Good luck JP. Tell you what, wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up first.

The bumping between Schummi and JP (soon after joined by Ralfie boy) allowed pole sitter Jensen Button to scream away from the pack. However, by the time the first pit stops rolled around Schummi had gathered Button in and made the pass by virtue of a super fast pit stop.

What was odd was that Button put much more fuel into his car at the first pit, but pitted after the same number of laps as Schumacher on his second stop. For his effort he finished a career high, for both him and BAR, second. These guys are for real.

JP soldiered home third but was clearly not happy. In the only other real note of interest in the race Kimi Raikkonen got his first point of the season when Takuma Sato’s Honda blew up in spectacular fashion while riding in 8th position. Raikkonen started at the back of the pack after posting no qualifying time. The team had to switch gearboxes and skipped Q’s.

It was a tough day for Jordan as both drivers failed to finish with mechanical problems. Christiano suffered through one of his worst days since coming to F1. He was penalized for a pit infraction and then spun into a gravel trap and was unable to continue.

The Renaults were 4th and 5th and Fernando Alonso put on a great charge trying to overtake JP, but couldn’t quite make it.

In what could be the final running of the Grand Prix of San Marino, the tifosi certainly turned out in droves. The stands and infields were seas of red. Quite irritating to say the least.

In other F1 news, FIA president Max Mosely floated some new rules for the upcoming seasons. The current rules are in place until the end of next season, but the radical ideas suggested by Mosely are sure to generate a lot of talk.

For starters he has proposed a switch to a 2.4 liter, 4 valve per, V-8 engine which would have to last for 2 race weekends, bans on variable geopmetry for intake and exhaust systems, electronic controls issued by the FIA, no direct injection and a limit on the stiffness of materials used in the cars.

Manual gearboxes and clutches, no electronic differentials, powersteering and no more carbon fiber brake disc systems. He also advocates a drop of at least 50kg in car weights and narrower front tyres. He has also said he would like to see but one tyre manufacturer.

Mosley also would like to see the cars remanded to parc ferme for the entire race weekend, drastic reductions in private testing and only two sets of tyres for qualifying and the race to be replaced only in case of a puncture.

He also wants to see points in each race go to only the top four finishers for the constructors championship to encourage the selling or leasing of equipment to teams. Of course the major part is that only a majority would be needed to make changes. Since the F1 teams rarely agree on anything expect there to be much less radical changes when the smoke clears.


IRL

“Mike” (Felipe Giaffone) was named to replace Robbie Buhl in the Dreyer and Reinbold Purex #24 car. Buhl who stepped down Friday (see story on mark_m.com.tripod.com) hopefully will be able to better concentrate on making his team successful.

The IRL has an open practice this week at Indy.