Rolex 24 Pictures

I was working on an article last night regarding open cockpit versus closed cockpit racecars (I know everyone out there can't wait to hear my opinions on the subject).  As I was working on that post, I was going through the pictures I took at this year's Rolex 24, and I stumbled upon this pictures that I took and wanted to share.

In term's of the race's overall story, there's nothing particularly special about this shot.  It's just a picture of a prototype challenge car going around NASCAR turns 1 and 2, but I loved how you could look into the car and see the driver at work.  Sometime racecar pictures really are all you need.

Ruh Roh Shaggy…

I hope you weren’t looking forward to the Indy Car season opener in Brazil, because Thursday (1/29/14), Indy Car announced (announcement here) that the March 8 season opener in Brazil is cancelled. 

Fox Sports has a story (here) that discusses the race’s financial woes in more detail.  Long story short, Terracap, the government owned company that owns the track (which is still under construction) went to Indy Car and said “sorry folks, park’s closed.  The moose outside should have told you.”  Okay, maybe they didn’t use those exact words, but you get the idea.  According to a story on RACER’s website (IndyCar: Series Working on Contingency Plan After Brazil Cancellation), Indy Car is looking for a replacement venue, which (for reason’s I don’t fully understand) has the Circuit of the Americas fans screaming for a race in Austin.  My feelings about COTA are a topic for a different day though.

As an Indy Car fan, hearing that the season opener has been cancelled is disappointing.  More concerning is that Indy Car has a relatively short March to August schedule, and only planned on running 17 races before Brazil got canceled.  By comparison, Formula 1 runs from March to November and has 20 races.  NASCAR runs from February to November and has 36 races.  Tudor United Sports Cars only has 12 races, but runs from January to October. 

Before I completely wander off like an Alzheimer’s patient in the snow, let me explain where I’m going with this.  I love Indy Car racing, but some days I feel like all the Indy Car fans out there could watch the races in my living room.  With room to spare.  For my two cents, one of the reasons more people don’t watch Indy Car is because there simply isn’t that much Indy Car to watch.  They start their season later than the other guys, and end it before the other guys.  I’m no marketing expert, but I think if Indy Car wants people to watch their races, they’re going to need to have races, which is the exact opposite of what’s happening in Brazil.

The Racing Nerd

Well what do we have here?  Looks like you took a wrong turn off the information super highway and found your way to The Racing Nerd.  What the heck is The Racing Nerd?  Only the internet’s premier source for uninformed motor racing commentary and out of focus automotive photography.

In all seriousness, I’m a long time auto racing fan.  How long is long time you ask?  Remember the Cadillac Northstar Le Mans prototype racer, the one that wasn’t very fast?  I’ve been seriously watching car racing for about that long, or since about the year 2000 for those of you who don’t mark the passage of time in the introduction of various racing chassis.  In addition to watching with fascination as luxury car manufacturers try and build prototype sports cars, I also enjoy Indy Car, NASCAR, sports cars, Formula 1, V8 Super Cars, DTM, BTCC, and just about anything else that races with four wheels and an engine.  Except drag racing.  No matter how much I’ve tried, I cannot force myself to like drag racing.  Sorry NHRA.

So, if you also love the sights and sounds of racing, stick around for a while.  I’ve got some stuff coming up that I think you’re going to like.