There has been a lot of anger and outrage over the horrible traffic experienced by so many over the course of the Kentucky weekend. Horror stories of fans sitting on the interstate for hours and than getting turned away are prevalent. And nobody understands the frustration over the traffic better than the crew guys who worked in the garage and on pit road all weekend. In and among the throngs of cars filled with eager race fans trying to make their way into and out of Sparta were the rental cars and vans of the race teams. For many crew guys, the 45 minute drive from the track to CVG Airport turned into a several hour ordeal.
Anybody who’s ever been to a Cup race knows that traffic is just a part of the game. Some combat it by camping at the race track all weekend, and others wait the traffic out by continuing their tailgate after the race. But the crews don’t have those options. At the end of any race it’s a mad dash to get equipment and race cars packed up and get to the airport as quick as possible. Everybody wants to get home and middle seats on the airplane suck.
On Saturday night at Kentucky, the crews were given special egress passes. This happens at a few tracks on the circuit, and the passes are supposed to help the teams get out of the infield and onto the streets quicker. But the egress passes created more traffic than they alleviated. Two police cars checking passes in the infield turned four lanes of traffic into one trying to get through the tunnels. Just one example of the madness that everyone at the track dealt with.
It’s a shame that the only thing the inaugural Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway will be remembered for is the horrible traffic. And it’s also a shame that as of this post being written, the speedway has yet to release anything resembling an apology for the situation. They are already neck deep in a PR nightmare, why can’t they just admit they screwed up and apologize?
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None of the three things I mentioned in the headline are connected, I just decided to write a hodgepodge post with a few different thoughts and observations. Feel free to comment on one or all (or not at all).
Fuel Injection The new fuel injected engines were on display for the first time on Thursday at Kentucky Speedway. The Cup teams were allowed to bring extra cars to an open test session in order to gather data on the new EFI systems. There is no shortage of information about fuel injection, and it sounds like the testing was pretty uneventful. Outside of the manufacturers using the new systems to develop technology, and the obvious marketing benefits, don’t expect much to change. The cars shouldn’t drive much different than they do with a carburetor, so the racing action should remain unchanged. Still no word on what this means for the superspeedways and restricting horsepower.
Jimmie Johnson Still think JJ is too vanilla or too corporate? Over the last five years, as he was running away with championships, one of the biggest criticisms of Johnson was that he didn’t have enough personality. He isn’t controversial like Kyle Busch or beloved like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Instead, he’s always polite and friendly in interviews, gets his Lowe’s mentions in, and has a hot wife and new baby. But this boring image might be starting to change a little bit. And it’s all thanks to Twitter. This season, Johnson has become quite active on his @JimmieJohnson account. He’s done everything from tweeting photos of himself in blond wigs to taking on fans who criticize him. There have also been tweets about golf and adult beverages, and he’s always good for a giveaway… or 10. He’s been able to show that he actually does have a personality and likes to have a good time. It’s just unfortunate that it’s taken this long for the public to see it. If you are active on Twitter, and don’t follow JJ, I’d suggest checking him out.
The Brickyard We got the official announcement this week that neither the Truck nor Nationwide Series will return to Lucas Oil Raceway Park (formally ORP and IRP) for the 2012 season and beyond. The NNS cars will become part of the Brickyard 400 weekend and a replacement event for the trucks is TBA. Journo wrote last week about how this move would be a mistake, and our fears have been realized. It’s a shame because racing at LORP was always great, and the stands were always full. Now, we are stuck with yet another companion event. Cup races at the Brickyard are usually not great, and Nationwide races will be even worse. If this were Twitter, NASCAR and the track people would get a big fat #fail.
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I know it’s a little early to start talking about the potential changes to the 2011 schedule, but why not? With California in our rear-view mirror and Atlanta now right in front of us, this season’s schedule presents us with two potential casualties for next year.
The ongoing saga of Kentucky Speedway looks to finally be coming to a close. After years of litigation and rulings in NASCAR’s favor, the former owners of the race track just had the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit turn down their request to reconsider the case. With that, the United States Supreme Court remains their last option for appeal. The court receives nearly 10,000 petitions to hear cases every year and selects generally fewer than 100 of those cases. That staggering number means this last ditch effort is a long shot.
Even still the group of former owners is fragmented (one side wanting to continue, the other not wanting to continue), so the process could continue. If that happens Kentucky Speedway will likely have to wait one more season, as NASCAR has held to not giving a race to the track so long as they are tied up in the court system.
Should this thing come to a close though, Bruton Smith and the rest of the folks at Speedway Motorsports are going to have a tough decision to make: which track loses its date?
From the get go it’s fair to assume Bristol, Las Vegas, Infineon, Charlotte and Texas probably won’t lost their dates. Smith has said in the past New Hampshire wouldn’t lose a date, but who knows. The other viable and perhaps most likely candidate is Atlanta. There was a lot of talk about this last year and I think it remains on top of the heap.
Not too far away from Kentucky is Kansas Speedway owned by the International Speedway Corporation. The track along with Penn Gaming is planning on building a hotel and casino on-site. Last week they gained approval for the project (and a gaming license) from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission. Now that the project is moving forward, ISC has to make the same decision SMI does: who loses that second date?
In January ISC’s Chief Operating Officer Roger VanDerSnick told USA Today the financial fortunes of Auto Club Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Michigan International Speedway would all be evaluated as they try to decided where Kansas’s second date would come from. In other words, they’re the most vulnerable. Martinsville, Richmond, Talladega and Daytona all also have two dates.
The specter of Martinsville losing it’s second date has been on the minds of everyone since Darlington lost its venerable Southern 500. I suspect though with NASCAR’s attempt to recapture the past, this move would not be their brightest. I picture fan revolt, the likes NASCAR has never seen.
So with that who should lose its date? Phoenix still does pretty well and certainly provides compelling racing. Michigan, though the racing isn’t always the greatest, does a great job packing the stands – that was quite evident last year. That leaves us with California, which has lackluster racing, ratings and attendance.
Despite Gillian Zucker’s best efforts at propagating the great things about her track, it just isn’t resonating. Check out NASCAR.com writer Joe Menzer’s take on California and Zucker’s “optimistic” attendance figures.
We still have time for time for things to change and NASCAR is a ways from creating the 2011 schedule, but changes could very well be upon us. With that said what do you think? Should Kentucky and Kansas get dates? Where should they come from?