NASCAR Tickets - Jimmy Watts' Big Mistake

Jimmy Watts might just be the most famous NASCAR crew member of the year, but that doesn't necessarily mean good things for the crew team of Marcos Ambrose and his No. 47 stock car. Watts made national headlines last week after he chased a runaway tire onto the racetrack at the Atlanta Motor Speedway during the Kobalt Tools 500, shocking everyone with NASCAR tickets and violating one of the league's biggest rules while also causing NASCAR to throw out the third caution flag on lap 67 of the race. This huge error in judgment was undoubtedly an instant reaction (and a regrettable one, at that) by Watts, and this gasman will be forced to live with the consequences of his knee-jerk reaction for the rest of this racing season.

When Jimmy Watts went onto the racetrack at Atlanta, he violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 9-15-U (crew members cannot for any reason go onto the racetrack while cars or racing or running under the yellow or red flag, unless a NASCAR official directs the action) of NASCAR code, triggering a four-race suspension and a nine-month probationary period while also penalizing his crew chief, Frank Kerr. Kerr, the chief of Ambrose's No. 47 Toyota, also got slapped with a hefty fine and was placed on NASCAR probation until December 31 for violating Sections 12-1 and 9-4-A (crew chief assumes responsibility for his team members' actions).

Watts works as a fireman while he's not in the pit for Marcos Ambrose's team, and his automatic reaction to chase after the tire could be a result of his instinctive job and intense firefighting training. The gasman did offer an apology to NASCAR after the race, saying, "Everything happened so fast on pit road that I just didn't realize how far I had to go out until I grabbed the tire. I put myself in jeopardy and I know how hard NASCAR works to make the pit crew members safe on pit road. I stand by their decision and will serve my four-race suspension."

The caution flag that resulted from Watts stepping foot onto the racetrack at the Atlanta Motor Speedway may have had an effect on the race's outcome, as NASCAR officials would have waited for the green flag stops to cycle out before calling a caution had Watts not chased after the tire, keeping all the cars on pit sequence. Instead, however, the caution flag went up, and some of the Sprint Cup drivers are not pleased with the results. Matt Kenseth recently made a seething comment about the incident, saying, "Maybe he's new. Maybe he hasn't seen us drive, but we tend to wreck a lot. I wouldn't want to be out in the middle of the grass."

What's done is done, however, and Watts will have to come back from his four-race suspension at the end of April and prove that his talents outweigh his one big mistake. In the meantime, the racing will continue, and tickets to NASCAR races are always available online.

This article is sponsored by StubHub.com. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling NASCAR tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.

Article Source: NASCAR Tickets - Jimmy Watts' Big Mistake

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/250667/nascar-tickets-jimmy-watts-big-mistake

Kevin Harvick Brad Keselowski Ruby Tuesday Dodge Carl Edwards

Nascar Safety Accessories And Restrictions

Nascar was always criticized for the lack of safety ordinances in its races. But since 2001 after a series of accidents killed many peak drivers, including the ill-fated last-lap wreck of Dale Earnhardt, Nascar had to disengage and modify its position on this. It has now begun to bring in safety devices and accessories.

The Seat
The Seat has evolved over the last few years. The seat in a racing car is designed to contract and distribute the impact over a greater part of the body in case of a wreck. The rib cage is one area where the force of a crash can get centered. Another area is the shoulder. This will contract the impact and it will not get centered on one particular area, which can often be fatal.

Harnesses
Now Nascar has updated its norms, and the HANS device is now mandatory. Earlier, the Hutchens device was all that was required. But since the accidents, the norms have converted.

The Seat Belt
A very fundamental accessory when it comes to the safety of the driver. In Nascar, the six-point seat belt is utilized. In this system, two straps come over the drivers shoulder and two come over the waistline. One strap even comes up between the legs of the driver.

The Restrictor Plate
This is a very important accessory that reduces power on the racing circuits. This is placed in between the carburetor and the intake manifold. It confines air flow and subsequently power as well. Since this add-on was made mandatory in high-speed racing circuits like Daytona, the speeds have reduced considerably.

Today, in order to see high speeds, the spectator has to go to certain race courses where the restrictor plate is not required. In such race courses, high speeds like 230mph have also been achieved. But the restrictor plate has become a mandatory part in most race circuits by Nascar.

Barriers
The new S.A.F.E.R (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers have been put in across most Nascar race courses. This will absorb a lot of zip from the car in case of a crash. This is much better than a concrete wall, which does not absorb any energy at all. There are some other types of softer walls and barriers as well. Cello-foam barriers are also very popular. The PEDS system, which involves the use of small cylinders inside bigger ones, is also a popular form of barrier.

Compression barriers were also used in earlier times. This involved the use of soft materials like tires over the walls and then covering it up with a soft surface. This guaranteed that the walls came back to their original shape as soon as the impact was over.

This author is a HUGE fan of NASCAR licensed merchandise

Article Source: Nascar Safety Accessories And Restrictions

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/111195/nascar-safety-accessories-and-restrictions

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Nick Heidfeld - classic F1 2011

Renault's Nick Heidfeld is the latest driver to choose his five favourite all-time grands prix for our new-look classic Formula 1 series.

For those unfamiliar with the format, BBC Sport has asked all the F1 drivers to select their five favourite races and we are serialising their choices before every race this season to whet your appetites for the action to come. Highlights will be shown on this website and the red button on BBC television in the UK.

So far, we have had world champion Sebastian Vettel, F1 legend Michael Schumacher, Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi, Williams veteran Rubens Barrichello and, for his home grand prix in Spain last weekend, double champion Fernando Alonso.

Ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, we have the man who is standing in this season for Robert Kubica, who was injured in a rally crash in February and who will be watching the race from his apartment in the principality.

Heidfeld, a 34-year-old German, is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid and his selection is an interesting mix of races from his career and before his time in F1.

In chronological order, they are as follows:

The 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, which Heidfeld says he has chosen as it was the first F1 race he attended. Most people, though, remember it as one of the defining moments in the career of Ayrton Senna, who dominated the weekend in his McLaren until crashing out of the lead with a handful of laps remaining, handing victory to his team-mate Alain Prost.

Heidfeld's second pick is the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, which Heidfeld calls a "classic F1 moment", and which is proving popular among the current drivers - both Alonso and Buemi also chose this race.

It was also a key event in the careers of Senna and Prost. As many will recall, Senna drove into the back of his arch-rival, who was now at Ferrari, at the first corner at 160mph.

Senna's actions were in revenge for pole position, which he had won, being moved to the 'wrong' side of the track - which he felt was part of a conspiracy against him by then-FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre against him.

Next is the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix. This was Heidfeld's first appearance on an F1 podium, and came at the end of a thrilling grand prix famous for two stunning overtaking manoeuvres on Ferrari's Michael Schumacher by Juan Pablo Montoya, who should have won the race in his Williams, and McLaren's David Coulthard, who did.

It was an incident-packed race throughout and one in which Heidfeld's sure touch in changing conditions - a feature of his career - was in evidence.

The 2001 US Grand Prix was won brilliantly by Mika Hakkinen, who was to retire following the next race, the season finale in Japan, after winning a tactical battle with team-mate Coulthard and the Ferraris of Schumacher and Barrichello.

It was a fascinating race, typical of F1's refuelling era, but that is not why Heidfeld has chosen it. The event has special memories for him because he finished sixth, scoring points for Sauber, despite the lack of first, second and seventh gears. This race was broadcast during the era when ITV had the rights to F1 in the UK, and unfortunately technical problems mean we cannot broadcast highlights for you.

Finally, Heidfeld has chosen Brazil 2008, not because of anything special he did (he finished 10th for BMW Sauber), but because of its famous finish that saw McLaren's Lewis Hamilton regaining the fifth place he needed to win the title from Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who won the race, on the last corner of the last lap.

As always, we pick one race to highlight to help whet your appetites for the action at the forthcoming grand prix.

Heidfeld has made five excellent choices, but as Monaco is the next race, we have plumped for that event in 1988.

It is worth a bit of back story. Senna was on pole by an astonishing 1.4 seconds from Prost - and was later famously to talk about having what felt like an out-of-body experience while he went faster and faster around the principality.

The Brazilian's utter domination continued in the race, helped by Prost being beaten away from the start by the slower Ferrari of Gerhard Berger.

The Frenchman finally got past on lap 54, by which time Senna had a 46-second lead and was totally in control. But this was only the third race of the 1988 season, for which the Brazilian had joined McLaren, where his main aim was to establish himself as better than Prost, then regarded as the finest driver in the world.

The result was a battle of wills, for pride, between the two finest drivers of their generation - and two of the greatest ever. And in Monaco, this was to lead to Senna's downfall.

Free of Berger, Prost started trading fastest laps with Senna. McLaren boss Ron Dennis, concerned that the team might lose a one-two, assured Senna his lead was safe and he backed off.

But when Prost then gained six seconds in one lap on his team-mate, Senna responded by setting two fastest laps - and then crashed at Portier after losing concentration.

Shell-shocked, and in tears, he returned to his nearby apartment, refusing to speak to his team or answer calls. It was the first of many twists in a drama that was to grip sporting fans the world over for the next five years.

The full 'Grand Prix' programme broadcast that evening on the BBC is embedded below, with links below it to shorter highlights and long and short highlights of Mark Webber's dominant win for Red Bull in Monaco in 2010.

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CLICK HERE FOR SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 MONACO GRAND PRIX
CLICK HERE FOR EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 MONACO GRAND PRIX

A selection of classic races will be shown on the BBC red button on satellite and cable digital television in the UK from 1500 BST on Wednesday 25 May until 1030 BST on Friday 27 May. The races selected are extended highlights of Monaco 1988, short highlights of Brazill 2001 and Brazil 2008 and extended highlights of Monaco 2010.

Unfortunately, because of a lack of bandwidth caused by our coverage of the French Open tennis, we are unable to broadcast these highlights on Freeview.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/nick_heidfeld_-_classic_f1_201.html

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Fernando Alonso - classic F1 2011

It is the turn of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to pick his five favourite all-time grands prix in the latest edition of our classic Formula 1 series.

We have asked all the drivers to do the same, and are broadcasting their choices - and highlights of the relevant races - ahead of each grand prix this season to whet your appetites for the action to come. Highlights will be shown on this website and on the red button in the UK.

Alonso follows in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Sebastien Buemi and Rubens Barrichello so far this season.

We have chosen Spain's double world champion this time because it is his home race this weekend, and among his choices is a grand prix from the Circuit de Catalunya that has hosted the event since 1991.

That choice is the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix, which Alonso won to become the first Spaniard to win his home race. Of his 26 career victories, and 162 grands prix, the 29-year-old says this one "may be for me still the most emotional race".

Alonso has picked only two races from his own career, the other being his remarkable victory in last year's maiden Korean Grand Prix.

Those who remember his manic cackle over the radio on the slow-down lap - part disbelief, part sheer joy, part cartoon villain - will not be surprised that he has chosen that race. You may, though, be as surprised as I was that he did not choose his superb victory in the Italian Grand Prix last year, in his first season at Ferrari, which he likened to his Spanish victory.

For Alonso, Korea last year marked the climax of a quite brilliant fightback in the world championship battle.

Leaving the British Grand Prix, the 10th of 19 races last year, Alonso was 47 points off the championship lead. His victory in Korea, seven races later, put him at the top of the standings. Of course, he went on to lose the championship by just four points to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after a catastrophic strategic error by Ferrari in the final race in Abu Dhabi.

In Korea, Alonso was engaged in an intense race-long battle for the lead with Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton which was finally decided in the Ferrari driver's favour when Vettel suffered an engine failure in the closing stages.

But that was not the only reason Alonso remembers the race so fondly - in fact, he did not even mention that he won it.

He said: "I will always remember the first race in Korea because the conditions were so extreme in terms of light.

"It was completely dark and it was so wet. It was one hour delayed because of the wet. We could not follow the safety car because of the spray.

"There were so many things in one race that it remains quite shocking what we did in Korea."

Alonso's other three choices are ones that have already proved popular among the other drivers.

He has chosen the two notorious Japanese Grands Prix of 1989 and 1990, in both of which Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost collided to decide the destiny of the world title. These were also chosen by Buemi.

And finally there is Belgium 2000, featuring Mika Hakkinen's famous pass of Schumacher, as the two went either side of the backmarker Ricardo Zonta. This race was also chosen by Schumacher.

Alonso says: "One of my favourite races was Senna-Prost fight in Suzuka when in Turn One they finished both in the gravel (1990), and the year before, when one of them (Prost) finished stopped in the chicane.

"I also like, and have seen many times on TV, the race at Spa with Mika and Michael, when they overtook Ricardo Zonta at the end of the straight. That was a super race - from both of them."

An interesting footnote about that weekend in Belgium in 2000 is that it was also crucial in Alonso's career.

He was racing in Formula 3000, the forerunner of today's GP2 feeder series, driving for the Astromega team, who were not one of the better outfits.

In terms of bald statistics, it was not a great season. At Spa, though, on one of the world's great driver circuits, Alonso was in a league of his own, taking pole position, a dominant victory and fastest lap.

His performance impressed many of those watching the race in the F1 paddock, among them a certain Flavio Briatore, who pretty much immediately signed Alonso up for his driver management business.

The next year, Alonso was driving for Minardi in F1, the year after that he was test driver for Briatore's Renault team, in 2003 he was promoted to a race drive and the rest is history.

In Hungary that year, Alonso's became the sport's youngest ever race winner and two years later its youngest world champion, and a year after that the youngest double champion.

Now, back to classic F1.

In these blogs, we pick one of the driver's choices to highlight. Logically, this time it would be Spain 2006, this being not only Alonso's favourite race but also the one that is most directly related to the forthcoming event.

The victory hinged on a blistering opening stint from Alonso - he was making a first stop much earlier than Schumacher's Ferrari and for a while there some tension about whether he was doing a three-stop strategy to Schumacher's two, and whether he would pull out enough of a gap to make it work.

As it turned out, Alonso did only two stops, with a long middle stint, and while it was a powerful and impressive drive, the race was pretty uneventful. So we have decided instead to showcase last year's Korean Grand Prix, which was completely the opposite.

So, long highlights of that race are embedded below. A link to the short highlights is underneath, along with long and short highlights of Mark Webber impressive victory for Red Bull in last year's Spanish Grand Prix. Highlights of the other races Alonso picked are linked out of the relevant point in this blog.

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 KOREAN GRAND PRIX
CLICK HERE TO WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
CLICK HERE TO WATCH EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

On digital satellite and cable television on the BBC red button in the UK, we will be showing short highlights from Japan 1989, Belgium 2000 and Spain 2006 as well as extended highlights of Korea 2010 and Spain 2010 from 1500 BST on Wednesday 18 May until 1200 BST Sunday 22 May.

On Freeview we will be showing short highlights from Japan 1989, Belgium 2000 and Spain 2006 as well as extended highlights of Korea 2010 from 1040 BST until 1250 BST on Friday 20 May.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/fernando_alonso_picks_his_five.html

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No more excuses, say Ferrari

At the Circuit de Catalunya

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali surveys the Formula 1 paddock through mirrored windows from a scrupulously tidy white office on the first floor of the team's pristine motorhome.

What he could see on Friday morning at the Spanish Grand Prix was a world still coming to terms with the news that Ferrari have extended their commitment to Fernando Alonso, rated by many in F1 as the finest racing driver in the world, until the end of 2016.

As Alonso munched his breakfast outside his boss's office, the satisfaction Domenicali took from this development was plain. Yet the genial 46-year-old Italian remains a man with bigger problems to solve.

After the crushing disappointment of handing the 2010 drivers' title to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after a strategy error left Alonso stranded down the field in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari were expecting to bounce back strongly this season.

Fernando Alonso at the cockpit of his Ferrari

Ferrari have not yet laid down a serious challenge to Red Bull this season

So the reality that their car is lagging a long way behind Red Bull on pace has been something of a shock, and it has triggered a period of introspection and self-analysis at Maranello.

While Vettel has stormed to three wins and a second place in the first four races of the season, Ferrari and Alonso had to wait until the Turkish Grand Prix two weeks ago to score their first podium finish.

The sport's most iconic team has been open about the fact that the problem has a dual cause.

As their president Luca di Montezemolo has said: "We were a little bit too conservative with the new (car) project but also unfortunately we faced something we have never seen before - that the wind tunnel results have not been confirmed by the track. This is not an easy problem (to solve)."

In a rare exclusive interview here, Domenicali projected a tough edge that some in the paddock have at times accused of him of lacking - especially in comparison with his ruthless predecessor, Jean Todt, now president of the governing body the FIA.

"No doubt I was expecting a better car because from the winter testing the feeling was not too bad," Domenicali says. "We have discussed that we have this problem with the correlation from the wind tunnel.

"But as I said to my people, I do not want to speak about this again. The situation is as it is. For the last grand prix it seems not too bad in the race but we definitely need to improve in qualifying otherwise the race is always difficult.

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"That's where we stand now. My engineers (must) just understand that the others are pushing very hard and we need to improve. Full stop."

The wind tunnel problem is one thing - it has arisen from Ferrari's switch from using a 50% scale model of their car to simulate aerodynamic performance to a 60% model, and it is the sort of thing that can happen.

More worrying is the creeping conservatism in the design office. Domenicali admits that the roots of it lay in the team's domination of the early part of the last decade with Michael Schumacher, when a process of gradual iteration of a proven concept delivered five consecutive world titles.

That all changed with the introduction of new regulations in 2009, when Ferrari had their least competitive season for years. They recovered impressively to fight for the title with Alonso last year, but that championship bid was aided by Red Bull's faltering progress - it is not as if Ferrari had the fastest car.

"First of all," Domenicali says, "with all respect you can see I was pushing my team since Turkey 2010 to be more aggressive in terms of design, in terms of approach to the car.
"It's a matter of mentality, ideas and organisation. And I really push with my people to go towards that route that is not really there at the moment.

"That doesn't mean if you are conservative you can't win, because if you remember last year, unfortunately the result was not in our favour, but if Abu Dhabi had been different, the season would have been not great but fantastic.

"So we don't need to throw away all the things that relate to a different methodology, or a more normal approach to the design of the car.

"It is a matter of balance, but for sure I am pushing my people to look ahead in a different way. The new elements of the regulation now are quite clear, and I want to see a step in that direction very soon - different ideas, different concepts."

The Ferrari designers, then, face a period of mounting pressure. Not only is the boss on their back, but the knowledge that Alonso has committed the rest of his career to Ferrari creates a heavy burden that is rooted in its obvious benefits.

Alonso is, as Domenicali says, a "reference", one of very few drivers a team knows they can count on to deliver every last bit of a car's potential, on every lap, of every race of the season.

He has a tireless pursuit of perfection and he drives his employers hard. His view is simple - give me the car and I will win the championship for you.

For their part, the designers know that with Alonso there is no hiding place. Any shortfall in performance cannot be laid at the door of the driver. It can only be that the car is not quick enough.

That, says Domenicali, is the whole point. "That's what I need," he says. "I don't want to hear from my engineers that they have a problem with the wind tunnel. If you have something to improve you have to do it. The time of excuses is finished. I don't want to look for excuses - this is not our style, and it's not mine."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/ferrari_conscious_of_need_to_c.html

Eddie Johnson Leslie Johnson Bruce Johnstone Alan Jones