BBB’s Takes: Memorial Day Weekend Racing

Flickr Tags: nascar,indy racing,monaco,formula one,sebastien vettel,dan wheldon,kevin harvick,indianapolis 500,indy 500,grand prix of monaco,coca cola 600,charlotte,lowe's,jimmie johnson,chad knaus,dale earnhardt jr.,j.r. hildebrand,danica patrick,dario franchitti,kasey kahne,national guard,army,memorial day,usa,red bull,chevy,ford,dodge,honda,dallara

The main difference between this and a review is the fact that this will mostly be a reflection upon analogies and personal tribulations from a certain event, as compared to a full-on scription of what happened during that said event.

Therefore, May 29th, 2011 will be remembered as the day where the most unexpected trials in auto racing occurred. For non-racing fans, this may not be the best blog to read. To the rest of you who have even a slight interest, prepare to read on.

As I woke up at 9AM, the Grand Prix of Monaco (or Cote D’Azur for you Gran Turismo fans) was going on. When I first tuned in, Sebastian Vettel had a commanding lead, and was most likely going to have as commanding a win to match.

However, that man from Red Bull had really old tires and planned to finish the race on them. This allowed  the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso AND the McLaren Mercedes of Jenson Button to catch up. In a series where ten second margin of victories are standard operating procedure, a three car duel for the win and the glory is just not something you see everyday. In layman’s terms, it was going to be something special.

With ten laps remaining, the three cars were neck and neck. That’s when the race took a devastating turn. A massive accident involving Jaime Alguersuari and Vitaly Petrov caused the red flag to be displayed. While it turned out Petrov’s prognosis was good, strategy came to call.

Caused the red flag, but at least no one who too terribly hurt. To the best of my knowledge.

Under F1 red flag rules, you can actually, ahem, CHANGE TIRES! Do that in NASCAR, you’re screwed! So Vettel changed the tires, and when the green flag displayed, he ran…he ran so far away. And he strived, to get away… and win Monaco! A little anti-climatic, but even the ho-hum ending had means to it, something most F1 races DON’T have!

About two hours later, the Indy 500 took the green. I was out doing errands, so I joined in at around 70 laps in.

For the most part, the 500 was kinda uneventful. I felt bad for Sam Schmidt, whose two cars of Alex Tagliani and Townsend Bell were taken out due to crashes. I was going to add in a tasteless joke about Sam’s paralysis, but I’ve got something better. You’ll see.

Fuel strategy was the name of the game. Guys like Dario Franchitti, Danica Patrick. this Baguette kid, Graham Rahal, Dan Wheldon, they all tried (or knew they would fail and pit anyway) to make it to the end.

However, the last man standing seemingly looked to be J.R Hildebrand, a rookie! He had a commanding lead on the final lap. All he had to do was coast, and the milk with the Borg Warner trophy would be his.

Four and a half second lead? That won’t win this 500!

Upon entrance of turn four, J.R. saw a much slower car in the racing groove. Avoiding him, J.R. went one lane higher, and it resulted in the biggest crash of the day. Off turn four, and to the line with dragging sheetmetal, J.R. slowly but surely lost the race to Dan Wheldon, a former champion who to the shock of everyone is only racing part-time (not of his choosing).

The car that J.R. was trying to avoid was the Novo Nordisk car driven by a legitimate diabetic named Charlie Kimball. Insert your Twinkie-based joke here!

So after a couple of hours of outrage, here comes 600 miles at Charlotte. The Coca Cola 600 was coming onto the airwaves, and Carl Edwards was seemingly the favorite . After tearing up the car during a post-race celebration from the All-Star event the week before, it didn’t faze Edwards one bit.

For the longest time, Matt Kenseth was driving his Jeremiah Weed mobile around that place with a pretty wheel. At one point, had a NINE SECOND LEAD. That is also not normal standard operating procedure.

With a flurry of cautions, the final 60 laps shaped up to be tension-filled on the fuel. Fuel conservation went across the board, and apparently, some peoples’ luck ran out before others.

Kenseth had to pit, Jeff Gordon had to pit, amongst others.

A caution with five to go for Jimmie Johnson’s blown motor, complete with f-bomb from Chad Knaus on the radio, shook up the race completely. Many cars that didn’t pit before…. didn’t pit now with the exception of leader Greg Biffle. Poor Biffle went from two laps down and faulty cooling to losing the race on fuel strategy.

Anywhos, last restart. Kasey Kahne was leading, but went dry on the restart, triggering a mini-pileup behind him, Surprisingly, no caution, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the lead. Would be break the losing streak?

ONE MORE LAP!

Dale Jr. was running away, running away, and then… it went dry. Turn four, he lost it all, and Kevin Harvick passed him to the line and won for the third time this year. That’s also the third time Kevin won with taking the lead with less than ten laps to go.

Dale Jr. experiences more heartbreak, and Harvick’s ‘closer’ legend is becoming stronger.

Another irony: Dale Jr’s car was sponsored by the National Guard, the same sponsor who slapped their logos on the J.R Hildebrand car that lost it on the final lap and final turn of the Indy 500.

Add in Ryan Newman’s crash, whose car was sponsored by the Army, and suddenly the Armed Forces got a horrible treatment on a weekend where they were mourning the lost, but celebrating their accomplishments at the same time.

By this time, it’s 11:30 on the east coast in the night, and I must sleep. Whew!