Thursday, July 17, 2008

Speed Roundup

A fixture gets a ride.
Tracy gets IRL ride for Edmonton

Unrealized potential moves on. That seems to happen a lot at Penske South.
Another big 2008 silly season rumor came a little closer to coming true
today when
Ryan Newman announced that he will leave Penske Racing at the end of 2008. This makes him officially available to join Tony Stewart at his new Stewart Haas Racing team for 2009. Newman's departure also lends a bit more credence to the rumor that Casey Mears will be joining Penske Racing for 2009.

A NASCAR official dies too young. NASCAR technical director Peterson dies at 58
Al Unser is back in the headlines again. For the wrong reason again.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Sr. contends sheriff’s deputies
violated his civil rights and harmed him physically when they arrested him in
2006 during a fracas at a roadblock.

You so seldom see the word "fracas" anymore. Say it four times really fast. Go ahead. I'll wait.

"Manufacturers pull back support from NASCAR" That was a headline in the late 50's, the 60's and the 70's. NASCAR has been on a roll for nearly twenty years but there have been a number of high-profile companies that jumped off the bandwagon in the last 18 months. GM is next.
Troubled General Motors has notified two racetracks that run NASCAR
events that their current contracts will not be renewed as part of an overall
$10 billion cost-cutting program.


That seems to be just the first step in what could be a huge drop
in support by GM, Ford and Chrysler for tracks and teams in NASCAR’s top three
professional divisions, the NHRA and other racing series in the face of the
weakest U.S. auto sales in a decade.


Finally in Speed News, we see vigilante justice at its finest.

11-year-old Landon Wilburn is on patrol in the Stone Lakes subdivision
in Louisville. Landon told The Courier-Journal he used to shout at speeders to
slow down — then had a better idea.

Dressed in a reflective vest,
wearing a bicycle helmet and armed with a Hot Wheels brand radar gun, he points
and records the speed of passing traffic.


The boy also carries a flashlight with a built-in siren.

Subdivision resident George Ayers said he has seen drivers lock up
their brakes when they saw Landon clocking them.


Way to go, Kid.

1 comment:

Display Name said...

You never know where an early interest in traffic patterns will lead you.