Local racers were once again in the spotlight last weekend.
Longtime Carson City racer Jerry Allec Jr. ran his first race at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Calif. Allec, a part-timer in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour series, finished ninth in the 100-lap feature.
Running on a tight budget with only one new set of tires, Allec went a lap down late in the race, pitting to change a flat. He hopes to run another SRL Southwest Tour event at Irwindale in October.
Meanwhile, at the other end of California, Gardnerville Outlaw Kart driver Tanner Thorson was having an incredible night at Cycleland Speedway in Oroville.
Thorson won a pair of main events, both the 250cc and the Intermediate Open divisions. He runs second in points in the 250cc division, just 13 points out of the lead, and fourth in the Intermediate Open division. Carson City racer Mason Millard won the 250cc trophy dash, but an incident three laps from the end of the main dropped him from seventh to 12.
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NASCAR's Sprint Cup division is back in action tomorrow after a weekend off, running the 16th annual Brickyard 400 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In an effort to avoid another tire debacle like the one last year, Goodyear has conducted numerous tire tests at the Speedway, and all indications point to tires not being an issue this year.
I have been listening to commentary on the NASCAR channel and I was particularly amused by a comment made by Chocolate Myers (the late Dale Earnhardt's famous fuel man), responding to someone who said that the track was not made for 3,400-pound stock cars. Myers said that the track wasn't made for the kind of cars that run in the Indy 500 either.
Harking back to the first Brickyard 400 in 1994, for a race fan was one of those magical events where you remember where you were and what you were doing when it happened. For me, I was working on the car committee for Hot August Nights, and kept taking breaks and sneaking over to the Harrah's Sports Book to catch parts of the race.
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The ESPN broadcast crew takes over the Sprint Cup reins this weekend, replacing the TNT gang that has, in my opinion, done an excellent job during their six-week stint. I have mentioned in the past that I think ESPN, as well as FOX, is guilty of overkill in the broadcast department, with three commentators in the booth, the "host" crew, the tech expert, and pit reporters. Well, ESPN will have a new look next weekend at Michigan. They are doing away with the traditional play-by-play announcer, a position usually filled at ESPN by the very capable Dr. Jerry Punch.
Instead, they will use what they are calling their "backseat drivers" team of past NASCAR champions (either drivers or crew chiefs) to call the race. Ray Evernham, Andy Petree, and Rusty Wallace will be in the booth, and according to Rich Feinberg, ESPN vice president of motorsports, it will enable viewers to " have the experience of sitting around watching a race with these champions from their couch at home, and without the traditional approach to sportscasting. Our goal is to give viewers a different presentation, one filled with discussion, observations and stories from some of the most respected champions NASCAR has crowned, and their unique unfiltered perspective on an event."
I applaud ESPN for trying new things, but I'm going to withhold judgment until I see how it actually works.
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To absolutely no Formula 1 fan's surprise, Sebastien Bourdais is without a ride at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Bourdais, a four-time Champ Car champion, has struggled since his F1 debut last year. A 19-year-old Spanish driver, Jaime Alguersuari, who will be the youngest F1 driver on record, will replace him. The previous holder of that title was Sebastian Vettel, who replaced injured BMW driver Robert Kubica at Indianapolis a couple of years ago. If Alguersuari does half as well as Vettel has, he'll be a star.