2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bull!!

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Next year's F1 calendar, racing from 3/25 to 11/29. It will be weird thinking about F1 during hockey season.

[solovsfett]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I didn't catch any of the Formula E race but I'm surprised at the quality of the field, it's much better than I had anticipated. Oriol Servia, Piquet Jr., B. Senna, Heidfeld etc

Speaking of Heidfeld he's **** lucky he didn't get seriously injured when mini-prost made one of the dumbest moves I've ever seen in open wheel - http://www.racer.com/f1/formula-e/it...last-lap-crash

you see him checking his mirrors and then just veers left to take out Heidfeld...

oh wait,...his pops did the same thing to Ayrton Senna in Japan...must run in the family then

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I didn't catch any of the Formula E race but I'm surprised at the quality of the field, it's much better than I had anticipated. Oriol Servia, Piquet Jr., B. Senna, Heidfeld etc

Speaking of Heidfeld he's **** lucky he didn't get seriously injured when mini-prost made one of the dumbest moves I've ever seen in open wheel - http://www.racer.com/f1/formula-e/it...last-lap-crash

you see him checking his mirrors and then just veers left to take out Heidfeld...

oh wait,...his pops did the same thing to Ayrton Senna in Japan...must run in the family then

At least pops was a lot more subtle about it...

mini-Prost is nowhere near his father's talent. He's usually the slowest driver on whatever endurance team he races for. If it wasn't for his name, he wouldn't get half the rides he lands. And, he certainly wouldn't get that FE ride without his father giving it to him.

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I've been meaning to comment on the Formula E race.

I though it was decent for a first ever race of its kind. Considering the suspect quality of some of the drivers and a brand new car, the racing was good.

A few things need to happen to make it better. First they need to learn the strengths of the cars and adapt the racing circuit to them. In other words, get rid of long straights! The cars look painfully slow. I'm assuming the cars should have tons of torque and acceleration. Take advantage of that.

Second, something has to be done (long term) for the pit stops. Changing cars is ok for short term but long term it's just dumb.

Lastly, while I can take almost any sound from a race car these have a too high pitched whine. I'm ok with the whine it just needs to be lower pitched. It almost gave me a headache listening to it.

[state of hockey]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Stewart will not be charged with Ward's death. Also, toxicology reports show that Ward was high as a kite. The family isn't pleased, obviously.

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Stewart will not be charged with Ward's death. Also, toxicology reports show that Ward was high as a kite. The family isn't pleased, obviously.

What saddest now is that even though professional investigators and a grand jury of local citizens find there isn't enough evidence to charge Stewart with any crime, Ward's family will still be tying up the judicial system for years (and some attorney will be making a lot of money) with a civil suit. Much of the sympathy I may have had went out the window after finding out there was enough pot in his system to cause impairment. In fact it almost makes me feel worse for Stewart.

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Stewart will not be charged with Ward's death. Also, toxicology reports show that Ward was high as a kite. The family isn't pleased, obviously.

I was expecting Stewart not to be charged, but I was not expecting to read Ward himself was impaired. I agree that lot's of sympathy for the Ward family goes out the window and sympathy for Stewart comes in the window.

[JF_Gophers]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I view Ward's impairment as separate from the actual act that caused him to be hit and killed. Drivers impaired or not are known for going on the track when upset.

While Stewart won't be charged I don't think he is a completely faultless party in the events.

So I feel bad for both sides, for different reasons.

[state of hockey]

I view Ward's impairment as separate from the actual act that caused him to be hit and killed. Drivers impaired or not are known for going on the track when upset.

While Stewart won't be charged I don't think he is a completely faultless party in the events.

So I feel bad for both sides, for different reasons.

Agreed. His actions are the opposite of anyone I see high. I'd be so paranoid that I wouldn't be racing in the first place

As for Stewart, I see it as being not guilty, not innocent.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I'm sorry, but you flat out DO NOT race under ANY impairment (pot, alcohol, other substances).... You wanna talk about putting the safety of others in "bad" hands...

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Agreed. His actions are the opposite of anyone I see high. I'd be so paranoid that I wouldn't be racing in the first place

As for Stewart, I see it as being not guilty, not innocent.

I think it is safe to say that two different people may act or react differently under the influence of the same drug. You might get paranoid. Kevin Ward might get brave and cocky. He sure looked brave and cocky to me. As for Stewart being "not guilty, not innocent" where in the statements of the officials in New York or the the actions of the grand jury do you see this ambiguity? According to the prosecutor, "the videos did not demonstrate any aberrational driving by Tony Stewart until the point of impact with Kevin Ward, at which point his vehicle veered to the right up the track as a result of the collision. Prior to that, his course was pretty straight." Couple that with the fact that the car immediately in front of Stewart's had to take evasive action (and was likely blocking Stewart's clear view of Ward as well) and I don't see how anything, other than what you might personally believe Stewart was thinking, could lead anyone to an ambiguous conclusion on Stewart's innocence. Thank God the standards for conviction of a crime are a little more stringent than what one person may be thinking.

[state of hockey]

I think it is safe to say that two different people may act or react differently under the influence of the same drug. You might get paranoid. Kevin Ward might get brave and cocky. He sure looked brave and cocky to me. As for Stewart being "not guilty, not innocent" where in the statements of the officials in New York or the the actions of the grand jury do you see this ambiguity? According to the prosecutor, "the videos did not demonstrate any aberrational driving by Tony Stewart until the point of impact with Kevin Ward, at which point his vehicle veered to the right up the track as a result of the collision. Prior to that, his course was pretty straight." Couple that with the fact that the car immediately in front of Stewart's had to take evasive action (and was likely blocking Stewart's clear view of Ward as well) and I don't see how anything, other than what you might personally believe Stewart was thinking, could lead anyone to an ambiguous conclusion on Stewart's innocence. Thank God the standards for conviction of a crime are a little more stringent than what one person may be thinking.

I don't think Stewart is the devil, calm down.

[JF_Gophers]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

As far as drivers walking on the track, i think this news snippet from the Tony Stewart saga sums up the fact that it was happening with some regularity (whatever that may mean).

"NASCAR had recently given drivers carte blanche on getting out of the cars and pointing fingers or even throwing helmets at other drivers during an emotional reaction to an on-track incident. Tony Stewart threw a helmet at Matt Kenseth's car at Bristol in 2012 and was not even fined.

In fact, such actions have been celebrated in advertising for the sport. Tracks even have set up booths in fan areas and at various NASCAR events where fans can toss helmets."

eta: my post from phone on this accidentally got deleted, so its a re-post sort of.

[solovsfett]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

http://www.grandprix247.com/2014/09/...s-a-done-deal/

...If this rumor is true I suspect the motivating factor is Honda and their past history in F1.

Ferrari is just lost with out Ross Braun and it appears as though they're going to have two new drivers in the next two years.

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I doubt it but, Alonso might go to McLaren however some of those things in the article don't add up for me. First the whole brushing the Denis/Alonso relationship under the rug. By all accounts those two hated each other the first time around but now I am to believe they are chummy. Second, the more $ from McLaren. Seriously, I am to believe that Ferrari is going to be outbid for a driver of Alonso's ability? Come on, now. The only way that could possibly be true is if Ferrari already has Vettel (puke!) signed up. Even then I am not sure.

I want to be clear, I am commenting on the article not solovsfett's post.