Nice story.... Zanardi drives an F1 car

Alex Zanardi is an inspiration to anyone who has dealt with hardship.
There is an AP story in today's Toronto Star, about his recent outing in a Sauber F1 car.

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PAUL LOGOTHETIS // ASSOCIATED PRESS
"VALENCIA, Spain—Alex Zanardi nestled himself into the car, fiddled with the buckles on his helmet until they were just right, then accelerated past a crowd of onlookers and on to the track. After driving four laps in a modified BMW-Sauber C24-B, the Italian pulled into pit lane just like any other Formula One driver.
But Zanardi is no regular professional race car driver: he has no legs.
"To put a guy with no legs, a handicapped athlete, into an F1 car, it's a good thing," Zanardi said yesterday after becoming the first double amputee to test drive a Formula One car.
"This is why I'm so proud to be the one who is doing this, because for me I don't look at it from this point of view, but inevitably there will be a lot of people who will say, `Sometimes I play in life, but look at that guy — he's driving an F1 car.'"

... continued at the link above

Tim Miller bemoans the lack of information regarding the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series

Veteran motorsports journalist Tim Miller has a piece in today's Hamilton Spectator.

"The newly formed NASCAR-Canadian Tire Series has been a source of frustration and puzzlement since it was announced.
With the Christmas season fast approaching, a race schedule has yet to be announced, leaving the former CASCAR series teams scrambling for sponsorship.
The running of a stock-car team at this level is not cheap and most competitors must rely on sponsorship.
But the teams going into the boardrooms of prospective backers cannot even provide details of where and when the races will be held in 2007.
This must be especially frustrating for the series teams. They have not had a title sponsor for the past several years and they thought, with two such well-known names as NASCAR and CTC, they'd have an easier time getting sponsorship."

... more at the link above.

Jimmie Johnson.... no respect.

There's a story on the AP wire today, saying that new Nextel Cup champ Jimmie Johnson hardly rates among the series' most popular drivers.

"HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) - There's an Internet video of a family in its kitchen watching October's last-lap wreck at Talladega. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson crash on the final lap, the family flies into an expletive-laden rage against Johnson.
Widely viewed throughout NASCAR, it took Earnhardt and Denny Hamlin to make Johnson aware of the clip.
"That was one of the funniest videos I've ever seen," Hamlin told him, choking back laughter. "Even the toddler was ripping you."
Johnson is NASCAR's nicest guy and its newest champion, but he's far from a fan favourite.
With 23 career victories and his first Nextel Cup championship, Johnson's still working on winning over fans: He ranked a distant 10th last season in final voting for NASCAR's most popular driver.
Routinely booed during pre-race introductions, he's had more than one Victory Lane celebration spoiled by debris raining down from the grandstands. Although that didn't happen Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he hardly was embraced. His haters didn't even bother sticking around, making the final trophy presentation somewhat muted...."

... more at the link above.

And... here is a link to the video on YouTube. Apparently, it's not so funny when it's an Earnhardt being spun... Warning... very foul language.

(UPDATE: The video was removed by the user. I don't blame him.)

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Outlaws at Ohsweken now OFFICIAL

The Ohsweken Speedway will officially be hosting a World of Outlaws sprint car event on Thursday July 26th, 2007. This combined with the recent announcement that Steve Kinser and Danny Lasoski are returning to WoO is big news for dirt track racing fans in Southern Ontario! Attached is the official release:


Nine More Events Added To World of Outlaws 2007 Schedule

Concord, NC — Nov. 20, 2006 — By Chris Dolack, VP Public Relations
The World of Outlaws on Monday announced nine more events for 2007, including the series' first visit to Ohsweken Speedway.

The first new event to the schedule will be during the season-opening DIRTcar Nationals Feb. 10 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., giving the World of Outlaws three consecutive nights of racing from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11.

The World of Outlaws also will return to 1/3-mile Attica Raceway Park on April 20 in Attica, Ohio. Then, on May 31, the World of Outlaws will return for the first time since 1995 to 5/8-mile West Virginia Motor Speedway in Parkersburg, W.Va.

In another return to the World of Outlaws schedule is the star- studded Michael Ross Foundation's event on June 20 at half-mile Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Mo. The event honors the memory of Michael Ross, who at five-years-old passed away in 1990 from a rare genetic disease.

On July 26, the World of Outlaws will invade Ohsweken Speedway in Ohsweken, Ontario, for the first time in series history. A 3/8-mile oval, Ohsweken Speedway is one of Canada’s top sprint car tracks and the home of the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals.

The World of Outlaws also will compete on four nights at edge-of-your- seat exciting 1/3-mile Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. The specific dates are still to be determined.

"We know it's important for our teams to have the opportunity to race as often as possible," said World of Outlaws Series Director Carlton Reimers. "We also want to bring the fast-paced, fan-thrilling World of Outlaws style of racing to as many dirt tracks around North America as we can for the fans, too. With these new events on our 2007 schedule, we're bringing the World of Outlaws to areas that haven't had a chance to see us race in a while so we're certainly looking forward to that."

The World of Outlaws launches the 2007 season on Feb. 9 at Volusia Speedway Park. The series expects to have around 85 events when its final schedule is released during the mid-December Performance Racing Industry trade show in Orlando.

Villeneuve set to finance his own NASCAR team

From Sportsnet.ca

"Former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve and his manager look to get in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series by purchasing their own team. The former BAR-Honda driver and his manager, Craig Pollack plan on spending a portion of the $100 million US which Villeneuve earned during his five years at BAR-Honda on the team, writes the Toronto Sun. Villeneuve was originally in lengthy negotiations with Roush Racing, but negotiations failed."

... more at the link above.

PETEY: Full time in a Roush Truck in '07

From SceneDaily.com

.... "As for the trucks, Smith said the plan is to go with Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell and development driver Peter Shepherd for the three Roush teams."

(h/t Joel Robinson)

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