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Open Wheel Racing 2021, anyone there to watch?

Kepler said:
Is this a Pope thing?
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Google it. It’s a fascinating crime story.

Better yet, Google IMSA drug crimes if you want the entire story with all the players.

There’s a reason IMSA was jokingly referred to as the International Marijuana Smugglers Association in the 80s.
 
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Russell Jaslow said:
Google it. It’s a fascinating crime story.

Better yet, Google IMSA drug crimes if you want the entire story with all the players.

There’s a reason IMSA was jokingly referred to as the International Marijuana Smugglers Association in the 80s.
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Randy Lanier and the Whittington’s are a hilarious story.
 
For Kepler, the Whittington brothers won the 1979 24 hours of Le Mans and also bought and owned Road Atlanta for a very specific reason.
 
Jimjamesak said:
For Kepler, the Whittington brothers won the 1979 24 hours of Le Mans and also bought and owned Road Atlanta for a very specific reason.
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So they bought a race team to own a track that had a straightaway that they landed their drugs on?

I'm not even mad. That's the American imagination I am proud of.
 
Kepler said:
So they bought a race team to own a track that had a straightaway that they landed their drugs on?

I'm not even mad. That's the American imagination I am proud of.
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I’m not saying it’s a bad thing either, it’s a hilarious story.

The real funny part is just how blatantly obvious they were going about things and somehow lasted as long as they did.
 
Jimjamesak said:
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing either, it’s a hilarious story.

The real funny part is just how blatantly obvious they were going about things and somehow lasted as long as they did.
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I was going to mention this the other week when this subject (crime in racing) came up, but I got busy.

I write book reviews for one of the racing websites I run -- autoracinghistory.com.

The most recent review was on Driven to Crime: True Stories of Wrongdoing in Motor Racing by Crispian Besley. http://www.deepthrottle.com/History/Reviews/driven_crime_book_review.shtml

I also heard the author talk, and he admits he could easily write a second edition, and just might do that. In my review alone, I mention a bunch he missed. The book already has a lot (over 90 perpetrators and nearly 500 pages)! Though I had one issue with the book (which I mention in the review), overall, it was hoot. And there were many stories I did not know about, and I thought I knew a lot. And yes, there is a chapter on Jos Verstappen. As well as Colin Chapman (no sh*t), Max Mosley, Jean-Marie Balestre, even Juan Manual Fangio (kidnapped in Cuba), and of course the tragic Mickey Thompson murder, as well as all the IMSA characters, and not just the drug runners (there's even a serial killer driver). Oh, and let's not forget the Great Train Robbery. And so many more, mostly white collar crimes to help fund their racing efforts.

I did an earlier review on Randy Lanier's autobiography, Survival of the Fastest. A fascinating tale. http://www.deepthrottle.com/History/Reviews/survival_fastest_book_review.shtml
 
Russell Jaslow said:
I was going to mention this the other week when this subject (crime in racing) came up, but I got busy.

I write book reviews for one of the racing websites I run -- autoracinghistory.com.

The most recent review was on Driven to Crime: True Stories of Wrongdoing in Motor Racing by Crispian Besley. http://www.deepthrottle.com/History/Reviews/driven_crime_book_review.shtml

I also heard the author talk, and he admits he could easily write a second edition, and just might do that. In my review alone, I mention a bunch he missed. The book already has a lot (over 90 perpetrators and nearly 500 pages)! Though I had one issue with the book (which I mention in the review), overall, it was hoot. And there were many stories I did not know about, and I thought I knew a lot. And yes, there is a chapter on Jos Verstappen. As well as Colin Chapman (no sh*t), Max Mosley, Jean-Marie Balestre, even Juan Manual Fangio (kidnapped in Cuba), and of course the tragic Mickey Thompson murder, as well as all the IMSA characters, and not just the drug runners (there's even a serial killer driver). Oh, and let's not forget the Great Train Robbery. And so many more, mostly white collar crimes to help fund their racing efforts.

I did an earlier review on Randy Lanier's autobiography, Survival of the Fastest. A fascinating tale. http://www.deepthrottle.com/History/Reviews/survival_fastest_book_review.shtml
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Does it talk about some of the NASCAR guys like Junior Johnson who were moonshine runners?
 
Jimjamesak said:
Does it talk about some of the NASCAR guys like Junior Johnson who were moonshine runners?
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No. I point that out as some of the cases he missed. The author is British, and though he included a lot of American cases, including other NASCAR crimes, and did fantastic research, some I didn’t know about, there was no doubt he knew more about European cases.
 
MichVandal said:
It’s not as if nascar is ashamed of that…. They point that heritage out at any opportunity.
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Sure, but it still could have been in the book.

Even IMSA now doesn't hide from the drug smugglers days. They had no problem prominently putting it in the IMSA 1969-1989: The Inside Story of How John Bishop Built the World's Greatest Sports Car Racing Series book written by Mitch Bishop and Mark Raffauf, making it as official of an IMSA book as it can be.

Here's another fun one. When Watkins Glen went bankrupt and was bought by Corning and ISC (NASCAR), they wanted to wipe out everything to do with the Bog. They paved it over, changed the drainage, and never mentioned it at all. Then, not too long ago, it suddenly became a marketing opportunity. There is now "The Bog" hospitality area near where the original bog was. They now sell T-shirts and other swag and memorabilia waxing on the bog nostalgia. Some of the images on these souvenirs even show the infamous bus situation.
 
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Russell Jaslow said:
Here's another fun one. When Watkins Glen went bankrupt and was bought by Corning and ISC (NASCAR), they wanted to wipe out everything to do with the Bog. They paved it over, changed the drainage, and never mentioned it at all. Then, not too long ago, it suddently became a marketing opportunity. There is now "The Bog" hospitality area near where the original bog was. They now sell T-shirts and other swag and memorabilia waxing on the bog nostalgia. Some of the images on these souvenirs even show the infamous bus situation.
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Speaking of Watkins, are you planning on attending the Hilliard Vintage weekend? Great event.
 
I liked the new qualifying format, though probably need to give it a few more tries to see if the variation was due to the format, the track, or the upgrades the teams brough. I think they said they're only doing it twice this year, though. oo bad Lewis couldn't hold onto P1 through the first turn. The race was essentially over after five seconds.

That Mercedes was a rocket in the final 15 laps or so as the fuel came down. Probably two more laps and Lewis gets a podium. Funny that the McLaren seemed to like a full tank more. But they seem to excel under much different parameters than the other teams.
 
Spartanforlife4 said:
I liked the new qualifying format
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I still don't get it. 11 sets of tires ("tyres" always makes me giggle, yes, I am 8) instead of 13, for carbon neutrality (lol, okay). And the order of the tires is dictated in the Qualis? Doesn't this just limit strategy to fewer options?

My F1 smooth brain didn't absorb why this was interesting or more exciting. Please help Bobo learn.
 
Kepler said:
I still don't get it. 11 sets of tires ("tyres" always makes me giggle, yes, I am 8) instead of 13, for carbon neutrality (lol, okay). And the order of the tires is dictated in the Qualis? Doesn't this just limit strategy to fewer options?

My F1 smooth brain didn't absorb why this was interesting or more exciting. Please help Bobo learn.
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To quote one of my least favorite internet phrases: “it’s not that deep.”

I just like the uniformity and that it seemed to produce some different results. I didn’t even know it was supposed to be due to “environmental” reasons. Like I said, it could have easily been the track or upgrades that caused it more than the format, so we’ll have to see for the next time they roll it out.
 
One thing it does mix up is the car to car variability in compounds. Like Alfa was relatively really fast on the harder tyres, so they made q3.

Other than that, I’m not sure.
 
Kepler said:
I still don't get it. 11 sets of tires ("tyres" always makes me giggle, yes, I am 8) instead of 13, for carbon neutrality (lol, okay). And the order of the tires is dictated in the Qualis? Doesn't this just limit strategy to fewer options?
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Yes. But the real problem is teams aren't going out on Friday in order to save their allotments. Sure, it rained this time on Friday, but word was, the teams were going to limit their running anyway. Thus, less cars on track for the fans.

BTW, it was supposed to be first tried out at Imola. So, it was supposed to be done three times this year. They decided not to sub in another race to replace the Imola experiment.
 
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