New season providing memories to savour

I'm sitting on the plane that is bringing me home from the opening trio of races, and I'm reminiscing.

I'm not daydreaming about the first time we heard the engines roar for 2011 in Albert Park, Sebastian Vettel's dominant start to the season, Vitaly Petrov flying or Lewis Hamilton's slow, steady reeling-in of Vettel this weekend.

Nope, I've gone a little further back: I'm re-living 1995. Trawling through the plane's CD library I've stumbled upon the breakthrough album Different Class by Pulp. It reminds me of my mum's pistachio green VW Polo, studying for my A-levels, David Coulthard's first Formula 1 win and me, at 17, thinking the world started and stopped at the Norfolk county border!

However, one thing slightly tainting the fun of air-drumming to Common People is that I've just realised Vettel would have been seven years old at that time. Ouch!

OK, I'm going to park memories of my oversized The Sweater Shop jumper - which was a must-have item for a lanky lad in Norwich in the mid-90s - and cast my mind back to the more recent memory of two races that have set the benchmark for the 2011 season.

Lewis Hamilton celebrates victory at the Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton celebrates victory at the Chinese Grand Prix. Photo: Getty Images

To be totally honest, I think that, while we all enjoyed the opening round in Australia, it disguised just how frenetic this year is likely to be. I was chatting to some guys in the paddock on Sunday who were speculating that if that race was run again tomorrow, Pirelli would bring the even more marginal Supersoft tyre to Australia.

I think that is an indication of the success of having these new tyres. As DC said at the end of the commentary on Sunday: "Thank you Pirelli".

While I agree with that sentiment, I think we should be thanking F1. I've been sharing this flight with the likes of Ross Brawn of Mercedes, Williams designer Sam Michael and Paul Di Resta, who has been mightily impressive for Force India. Those three guys, and the rest of the designers, technicians, drivers and team principles up and down the pit lane, want cars that are fast in every circumstance.

The drivers ask for consistency and reliability, while the manufacturers want something that is so quick it helps shift their road cars. However, they have agreed to totally compromise their work for the sake of you guys sitting at home.

To improve the show. Vettel didn't want a car that simply "dropped off a cliff" as its tyres were worn at the end of Sunday's race. The strategists aren't keen on the pit wall resembling Air Traffic Control as they desperately try to outwit their opponents and make themselves look clever, and team bosses don't want to have to defend strategic mistakes after every race.

Look back to 12 months ago in Bahrain. Hardly an overtake, and most cars stopping once. This year the sport is totally unrecognisable, and it makes for compelling TV.

I don't envy the boys having to call such frenetic racing in the commentary box but I think they're doing well. Particularly DC, whose experience, knowledge, eagle-eyes and quick wit have surprised even me.

As for Martin Brundle, he's welcome to have his grid walk back! Logistically, it was impossible for him to do it in China so I bravely took on the challenge. But I have enough to think about doing 60 minutes of live TV pre-race, with stories developing around me, and I really didn't like having to doorstep the drivers. It felt a bit like walking into your office and shoving a microphone under your nose as you sit at your desk.

Martin has done more than 200 of them whereas Sunday was, believe it or not, the first time I've been on the grid pre-race. I'm just happy to have survived interviewing a seven-time world champion despite DC totally abandoning me!

After I'd finished that, it was time for the racing. Almost 60 stops in Malaysia, a further 55 in China. And amongst it all a chance to look like a real hero. McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh told me on the pit wall after the race that his team had actually got their strategy wrong and wanted to do only two stops.

Yet, while Vettel demonstrated that, even with his skills it was impossible to make such a tactic work, Hamilton and Mark Webber made a stop more and it paid dividends. In fact, the success of the tyres has totally overshadowed the introduction of DRS (Drag Reduction System) and re-introduction of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System).

It is clear the FIA is still fiddling with the DRS rear wing to encourage overtaking. I don't find it artificial as it still takes skill to make a move stick. What I think we need to avoid is drivers overtaking in only one place, following their rival and not making a move until they can use their DRS advantage. We may also see two zones in Turkey.

You couldn't accuse Lewis of lacking ambition when overtaking though, could you? I was watching the race unfold in the McLaren hospitality area and while everyone was leaping around, hands on heads, almost unable to believe what was happening, the messages coming in thick and fast on Twitter were almost identical.

A good example of the power of Twitter was someone tweeting me a photo of Fernando Alonso's DRS operating outside the prescribed zone. I told the producer what I'd seen and the guys in VT called up the same clip and played it to the nation while Martin and David commented on it.

Anyway, the Pulp album has now rolled around to Monday Morning so I'm going to return to the 90s and leave you guys to a lovely shortened working week. We've stacks of stuff planned for a few weeks' time when we get to Turkey.

Thanks for setting your alarms in your droves the past month - it's good to know that plenty of you were watching as we marched around the pit lane and paddock. Below are my five favourite moments of the season so far - here's hoping for plenty more until 27 November!

1. Lewis's interview in the garage after his first win of the season. He was as open, honest and relaxed as I've ever seen him. I was blown away by the clarity of thought that he described as he closed in on Sebastian.

2. Petrov''s podium. What a car Renault have produced this year, and how cool was Vitaly in Australia? The first ever Russian podium in F1 and a great reward for the team's faith in him.

3. Eddie Jordan totally forgetting his question to Jenson Button on the F1 Forum in Malaysia. Thankfully DC stepped in as JB and I were both corpsing at that moment. Classic EJ and I missed him in China.

4. The RB7. Adrian Newey is an enigmatic individual who seems to have a God-given ability to design the most incredible racing cars - Williams, McLaren, Red Bull. They must all be so grateful they could afford him.

5. The racing. Paul Di Resta beating his classy team-mate Adrian Sutil, Felipe Massa beating Fernando Alonso, Vettel's dominance, Webber's doggedness, Team Lotus mixing it with the midfield and Kamui Kobayashi's racing instinct. Bodes well for the next seven months, eh?

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2011/04/new_season_providing_memories.html

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NASCAR Tickets - Danica Patrick Jumping Ships to NASCAR?

A year ago, Danica Patrick was in Japan, recording the first victory by a woman in an Indy Racing League event. This weekend, she will be outside of Los Angeles, driving in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Her contract with Andretti Green is about to expire and many American's are often scratching their heads, wondering where the beautiful woman will be in a year from now? Many will recall Patrick turned the esteemed Indianapolis 500 upside down in 2005, by leading the race for 19 laps and finishing in fourth place. It was the first time a woman had accomplished such a feat and to do so at the age of 23 was remarkable. Get NASCAR tickets and see Patrick burning rubber on the tracks.

Since then, she has been one of the most recognizable faces for the I.R.L. But many are wondering if she will remain in the open-wheel world of I.R.L. or will the young lady change her scenery and move on to NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series? Moving to NASCAR certainly sounds interesting, especially since a woman has never won a cup race. No woman has ever completed a full season. Humpy Wheeler, the chairman of the Wheeler Company consulting firm and former president of Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina believes Patrick would have a huge impact on the sport. The Chairman added that since sixty percent of the NASCAR crowd is male and once they find out a pretty woman owns the track, she will be a ticket-selling machine.

Can you picture Patrick zooming alongside NASCAR superstars Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.? That alone would increase the sport's popularity by a wide margin. That combined with the fact that she is well known and well liked would certainly provide the sport with a deep level of marketing impact. If Danica decides to pursues NASCAR there is no question that it will be one of the biggest stories of the year, producing a ton of media coverage, which will generate consumer and fan engagement as well as corporate attention. However, appeal does not guarantee success. Juan Pablo, Sam Hornish, and Dario Franchitti were top drivers in the I.R.L. who struggled once they made the move to NASCAR.

There are plenty of fans who believe Danica would be best served taking the best I.R.L. deal. Eddie Gossage, the president of Texas Motor Speedway, which hosts NASCAR and I.R.L. events expressed concern over Patrick moving to NASCAR. He added that he would love to hand her the winner's trophy at an I.R.L. race. Gossage believes she is arguably one of the two or three best-known female athletes in the world. So what does Danica want? She has reported to the media that business considerations would play a part in where she drives in 2010. The driver also ruled out Formula One as an unlikely option for her since she doesn't want to travel the world. The one main concern about going to NASCAR that worries her is that the Sprint Cup schedule is a grueling 36 races while the I.R.L.'s is only 18.

This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells NASCAR tickets, as well as many other kinds of sports tickets, concert tickets, special events tickets and theater tickets.

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NASCAR Drivers Training- The Physical and Mental Stresses

So maybe you are fascinated with NASCAR and would like to choose this as a career. How does one go about participating in race driver training so as to become a driver? There are drivers training schools but all are very expensive and there is no guarantee that you will become a real NASCAR driver. So what kind of training makes a professional driver?

Well, just as in other professional sports, the competition to be a driver is very tough. But more than that, the majority of people dont get there because of a lack of driver training. It usually is because of who they know, who their family is, and where they started. These drivers start when they are very young and run the go cart circuits. Their fathers were probably race car drivers. They probably ran into a promoter or sponsor somewhere along the way that gives them their big break.

NASCAR driver training includes the physical portion and also stresses mental conditioning. Although to the fans it looks easy, a drivers brain has to work very fast to be alert to other cars around him while trying to take the lead and maintain it.

The best training has been learned in the early years by most of these drivers when they were just children. Growing up around tracks and being able to drive the cars at young ages allowed the driver training to become somewhat instinctive. This is very important because later on during professional competition, the carbon monoxide levels can get very high inside of the drivers compartment. Carbon monoxide can cause confusion. The way to overcome confusion is to depend on instinct. Training accentuates the instinct.

The physical conditioning of the driver is the subject for an article all its own but you can think about it as somewhat like an astronaut preparing for his or her first launch. The G forces are very significant for a race car driver and driver training includes getting conditioned to them. Astronauts experience significantly more G forces but the NASCAR driver should include conditioning for them nonetheless.

The training also includes the drivers education from a young age. You might ask what non-driving education has to do with NASCAR driver training. Well, a driver is going to be promoting the products of some very large and prominent companies. That means that along the way he or she will have to give an endorsement of the products. If these guys get in front of the camera and cannot use proper grammar it would not look too good.

Another reason why education is important in NASCAR is because the driver wont be able to drive forever. Once a driver gets into middle age, it becomes tougher. So he will need to be able to branch out into other aspects of the racing business. He will probably still be running the team but will have to think more of the business aspect of things. This is where business and marketing education would be most beneficial.

Many of the retired drivers such as Richard Petty operate driving schools as well as serious driver improvement programs when they are offering NASCAR driving experiences for those wondering what its like to be as a NASCAR driver.

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Article Source: NASCAR Drivers Training- The Physical and Mental Stresses

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NASCAR Online TV Live: RaceView Advantages And Disadvantages

The most excellent innovation with NASCAR online TV live is the NASCAR RaceView. It is not only a program that allows you to have control over your racing experience but it also lets you watch the race in a 3D multi angle perspective making you see most of the action of live racing from three virtual camera views. With this, you can now witness what it is like at the front end of your favorite driver's car from a different point of view and see all the other cars chasing fast from behind using the draft view. Aerial views also give you the chance to see all the cars in front of your driver's car.

Using this program to watch NASCAR online TV live, you can then choose what car you would like your eyes to be hooked into. Moreover, you will also receive tons of updated information about the race. Some of the important fine points include track pit statistics, crash updates and all of the driver's positions in the rankings, which are continually changing based on real time. To top it all, you can also eavesdrop or listen to how the different drivers of each team communicate with one another and how your favorite driver does his own talk as well. All of these are very exclusive features that make you informed at all times. Truly, with this program you will practically get all of the complete action using the convenience of your own personal computer. Raceview may be playing a major role in the evolution of NASCAR telecasts.

NASCAR online TV live seems to eliminate all drawbacks in ordinary racing telecasts. The most common of which is the camera attention that some drivers are receiving is way too much compared to what other drivers get. If your favorite driver is one of the top brass in the racing industry, then he will surely be highlighted in all of the racing broadcasts, no matter whom or what organization is covering the event. Yes, it is true.

Unless your driver can manage to race up to the top of the game then he will continue to plunge deeper into becoming a "nobody" in the racing scene. This is what usually happens to the dozens of the other lower ranked drivers eating the dirt behind the top five.

The solution to this problem is the RaceView tool or program. Now, there is a brand new definition to NASCAR online TV live. Its three dimensional type of viewing gives you some accuracy with what the actual race really looks like. However, is this program purely remarkable or what? RaceView does have its own list of pitfalls. Like the popular NASCAR 1990s video game, the video seen when you use the program does have the same look as the computer game. Some of the car's behavior may even seem very unlikely and the overall images of the cars seem to become a little hazy at times. The worst that could possibly happen is watching the race like the cars are moving backwards.

Yes, this is no exaggeration because there had been many reports from the program's customers regarding these visual flaws. Maybe it was even more annoying seeing your favorite race get transformed from its original picture quality into something comical. Lastly, the loading time of the program usually takes several minutes to start, thus for the impatient viewers, this is really going to be a pain on the back.

The easiest way to NASCAR Online TV Live is to use the TVChannels2PC Internet TV Software. For a small one-time investment you can watch over 3000 channels with movies, full episodes, music, live sports, news weather and more. Why pay more for Satellite and Cable? Go to www.TVChannels2PC.com

Article Source: NASCAR Online TV Live: RaceView Advantages And Disadvantages

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What Does Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bring To Nascar Besides Racing?

There is no question that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the top racers in Nascar. He has built up a reputable image through fine racing and countless wins. However, racing is not the only thing this incredible person brings to the sport.

As many are well aware of, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a third generation driver in a family that has been connected to the sport of stock car racing for years. He has a flare of charisma, originality, and character that have propelled him to become one of the most popular figures in sports today. Five times Nascar fans have selected him as the winner of the most popular driver award. Thousands of fans line up at every track at his merchandise trailer just to get something with his name on it. It is hard to see where he has time to meet with so many of his fans but he does. That is what makes him so popular.

His appeal certainly branches outside of just Nascar fans though. He has appeared many times on Harris Interactive’s annual polling for America’s Top 10 favorite athletes. This has put him in the company of such athletes as Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, and Tiger Woods. In 2002, Dale was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors.

Outside of racing, he has become a role model for young ones with his business savvy as well. He has pursued the role of team owner and businessman while ascending in this too. In 2002 JR Motor sports consisted of just six employees and a street-stocked camaro was the only race car. Today, the company encompasses over 100 employees and a plethora of different vehicles that compete in the Nascar Racing Nationwide series.

If that were not enough, he has appeared on over 150 magazine covers and has been featured in high profiled publications such as Rolling Stones, GQ, Men’s Journal, Sports Illustrated and People Magazine. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also made guest appearances on 60 minutes, the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Larry King Live and many more talk shows. He has also appeared in numerous commercials for his sponsors.

But that was just not enough for this Nascar racing star either. He has played cameo roles in Talladega Nights and Cars, and was the subject of an episode of MTV’s Diary. To further add to his resume, in 2001 he became a best-selling author with Driver 8. This is a documentation of his rookie season in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has done tremendous things for the sport of Nascar. Through his countless victories and ambitious personality, he has become a true role model for people all over the world. He has shown that there is life outside of sports with cameos and his documentary book and has given kids a reason to strive for their goals. There really is no question why he is one of America’s Top 10 favorite athletes.

Come read more Nascar related articles at http://nascarracing4you.com. You can check out the Nascar schedule, standings, and results. Also, there is a wide selection of Nascar merchandise and memorabilia at the Nascar Store.

Article Source: What Does Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bring To Nascar Besides Racing?

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/235193/what-does-dale-earnhardt-jr-bring-to-nascar-besides-racing

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Nascar And The Critique It Faces

Nascar has faced a lot of criticism for a lot of things over the last few decades. We can attribute the criticism to the popularity of Nascar. Apart from the environmental impact of Nascar which has led to criticism, there are other technical reasons as well. One of the reasons is the oval shape of most Nascar racing circuits. Driving enthusiasts have severely criticized the difficulty of these race courses when compared to the extremely difficult twisting and turning race courses of Formula 1. They say that it involves going round and round for 500 miles and nothing else.

Some courses of the Formula 1 put up to 5 or 6 G's of stress on the body of the driver. This is totally absent in Nascar. But Nascar has denied these allegations and countered by saying that there are certain race series in which road courses are included. But again it is for a very small percentage of the race. Nascar has also brought to light the fact that even the Indy racing league uses mostly oval tracks.

The Grueling Season
The grueling racing season of Nascar is also a reason for its criticism. While a Formula 1 race has 22 cars in its beginning, a Nascar Nextel cup race has 43. Add the 36 point races for the entire series, and the session becomes extremely hectic. The drivers are left with just a few hours to practice. Some of the drivers have even quit the sport because of their inability to cope with such stress.

Drivers who have been reasonably successful in road racing circuits have been unable to duplicate that success record in Nascar. The prime reason is the difference in the entire structure of the two.

The Cars
The technology behind the cars is another reason that Nascarhas faced so much criticism. The cars are mostly fitted with accessories from the 1950s. The carburetors, cast iron engine blocks and most primarily the use of leaded fuel have triggered huge criticism against Nascar. The reluctance of Nascar to add safety devices has also aggravated the criticism against them. The use of this equipment places more emphasis on getting an undue advantage rather than focusing on the skill of the driver.

The Business
The last thing that has received flak from critics is the Nascar business structure. The majority of revenue generated by the entire Nascar racing goes towards the France family, as they control most of Nascar . Many say that the drivers do not have a voice in Nascar and it is like a dictatorship. The penalties and fines that Nascar levied on its drivers for using foul language in the media have also been a reason for criticism against it.

This author is a HUGE fan of NASCAR licensed merchandise

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Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/111183/nascar-and-the-critique-it-faces

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