Full Throttle

(GMM) Ferrari were right to snub a F1 pact to limit in-season testing to 30 days, the FIA’s Max Mosley said.

The Briton, after a quiet meeting with the world champion marque in London last Friday, admitted that Ferrari’s own proposal to limit actual in-season mileage would be better.

Mosley called the Group of Nine’s plan ‘flawed’ because, to fully exploit a day’s running, teams would take more people - and more cars - to a test.

”And that becomes very expensive,’‘ he commented.

Max said: “It’s a pity (Ferrari’s rivals) didn’t turn up (at the meeting) to hear the other side. I think Ferrari (are) absolutely right.”

Ken Willis writing in Daytona News Journal’s Speed Magazine has jumped the gun and listed his choices for the first inductees in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, assuming it ever gets built of course. (see preceding entry)

But who goes in first? Before things eventually get watered down and we start letting in the . . . um, no offense, but . . . Red Byrons, Buddy Bakers and Ernie Irvans, who are the absolute Rushmorian giants who should make up that first class of Hall of Famers?

Since Cooperstown’s first class had eight, let’s accept the precedent and try to pick eight. And tell Jeff Gordon, unlike the World Golf Hall of Fame, this one will make you wait until retirement. Now, let the arguments begin . . .

RICHARD PETTY
I never said some of these wouldn’t be very easy.

DAVID PEARSON
See above. But since I always feel the need to remind you late arrivals, the Silver Fox isn’t just the second-winningest driver ever, but won three championships in just four full-time attempts. And, by the way, is simply the most talented stock-car racer ever.

DALE EARNHARDT
Trust me, the hard picks are coming, but this guy, along with the two above, should already have the sculptors busy.

BIG BILL FRANCE
Old-timers will tell you, as a racer, he made one helluva promoter. This is no Abner Doubleday myth — this guy horse-collared an entire cross-section of rag-tag racers and promoters and formed an actual sport. We have the pictures, cigar butts and Jim Beam empties to prove it.

JUNIOR JOHNSON
OK, now it’s getting tougher. But I go with Junior because he epitomized what it was all about in the early days — moonshining legend slips into his Sunday-go-to-meetin’ Dickies, goes to town and becomes a racin’ god. After it’s over, he steps to the other side of pit wall and fields six championship teams as an owner. And if there’s a ham-sandwich Hall of Fame somewhere, he gets in that one too.

LEE PETTY
If only he were alive and could personally turn down the invitation to the induction ceremony . . . Nope, Lee wouldn’t get in on his charm and warmth, but should make the cut based on his three championships, 54 victories in just 429 starts and the long-running Petty Enterprises dynasty he built (ask your dad, he remembers).

CALE YARBOROUGH
At least four drivers could conceivably get into my final two spots, and Cale gets the first nod. Had 83 wins, three consecutive championships in the 1970s and once tried to move the Daytona airport over to Turn 4.

HERB THOMAS
Between 1951-54, he was champ twice and runner-up twice. He won 48 times in just 230 career starts (kinda like the Sandy Koufax of stock-car racing), and while his career survived many long trips with car builder Smokey Yunick, it was short-circuited by a 1956 crash that likely kept him from more titles.

LOOKING IN
How do you leave out Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison? Beats me, but knowing that those two are out in the waiting room trying to act nice to one another, well, I couldn’t resist.

Those two would certainly be part of my second class of inductees, followed shortly by guys like Buck Baker, Tim Flock, Joe Weatherly, Fireball Roberts, Fred Lorenzen, Ned Jarrett, Bobby Isaac, the other Bill France, Raymond Parks, Red Vogt and, to make sure the induction ceremony includes a loud pre-game show, Humpy Wheeler.

Looking at Willis’ list of those “looking in” how do you exclude any from the first Hall class?

How do you leave out Smoky Yunick? If for no other reason Smoky deserves a place due to his “creative use” of the NASCAR rule book. His infamous black and gold number 13 Chevelle at first glance looked “stock,” but when sitting beside it’s showroom cousin revealed it to be 7/8^ths size replica. When NASCAR mandated a maximum fuel tank size, Smokey noticed there was no rule about the length of the fuel line. He ran a fuel line back and forth the length of the car four times allowing his drivers to carry an extra five gallons of gas. The man was a genius, an evil genius to the NASCAR Tech inspectors, but a genius none the less.

Shouldn’t Carl Kiekhafer be given the nod? Competing for only two years, Kiekhafer presaged todays team concept by forty years. His immaculately dressed crew members (all white no less) and “Fabulous Hudson Hornets” devastated the competition and provided the model todays multi-car teams are based on.

It will be an interesting list if and when it’s needed and I don’t envy whoever decides the initial inductees.

NASCAR ’s status as a major player for the sporting public’s hard earned cash is well established and has been for nearly a decade. From the days of three week old airings of select NASCAR events on ABC’s Wide World of Sports (who’s old enough to recall Chris Economaki and Glen “Fireball” Roberts?), to live primetime broadcasts on over the air and cable networks has taken thirty plus years.

As the sport has grown the France family has continued to find ways to place the NASCAR logo in the publics eye and compete with the “stick & ball” sports. As a result racing “under the lights” and the Championship Chase were born. One thing missing in the competition has been a national hall of fame. In recent months various groups have proposed locations for the new hall. Atlanta, Kansas City, Daytona Beach, Fla. and Charlotte N.C. have all placed their helmets in the ring.

Charlotte may be the most logical location considering most of the major NASCAR teams operate within the region. But as the Charlotte Business Journal reported Friday money is a problem and the racing “industry is unlikely to play a financial role in a project.”

“Cheerleading is our role, not (being) investors,” says Geoff Smith, president at Roush Racing Inc. “Charlotte makes all the sense in the world. We support the bid, but it’s not on the radar screen as far as day-to-day business.”

Doug Stafford, a former Charlotte Convention & Visitors Bureau executive who now is an executive vice president at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, says industry investment is more likely to come in the form of supporting exhibits, providing memorabilia and historical information, and encouraging corporate sponsors within racing to support the hall of fame.

Other than awarding the bid to the successful location NASCAR honchos have no plans to add any financing to the project. Even legand Richard Petty has been left in the dark. As chairman of industry trade group the N.C. Motorsports Association (NCMA) Petty is at a loss to explain how his organization will assist in any plans for the hall.

“I don’t know if that’s up to (the NCMA) or not, but we would definitely back something like that up,” Petty says. “The hall of fame would be a natural because that’s just a plus for the state and that’s what we’re doing all the rest of this stuff for — to see how much money comes through here.”

Humpy Wheeler, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc has expressed confidence that the local community will foot the bill. In addition Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory admits there has been no serious public discussion of a funding plan. It all sounds like a financial game of “spin the bottle” with everyone shifting position as the bottle slows near them. At the same time NASCAR sits and watches.

“We think there ought to be a single and legitimate hall of fame and that’s why we went with the (request for bids) to a number of cities around the country,” says Brian France, NASCAR chairman. “There’s a lot of interest and we’re just going to see where the best location ends up being.”

That translates into non-NASCAR speak as “who coughs up the most private and taxpayer cash.

Defending USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown Series champion Dave Steele of Tampa, Fla. ran his “Copper World Classic” victory streak to four Sunday, winning the 100-mile “FastSigns 100″ at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.

Steele led all 100 laps for the second straight year, pushing his total in the event to 267 straight laps on the point. He was challenged by runner-up Tracy Hines in the final quarter of the event but led Hines to the checkered flag for the third straight year. Trailing the lead duo were Tyler Walker, J.J. Yeley and Brian Tyler.

“I’ve got to give credit to my team,” said Steele, who won the event by .224 seconds. “Those guys know what setup to use on the car, and it stayed consistent throughout the race.”

Steele, who started on the outside of the front row, darted to the front and was unmatched throughout the event, which featured eight cautions for 42 laps, including three yellows in the final 10 laps. The stoppages in competition made Steele uneasy at times, however. His best runs came during long periods of green.

“I think on short runs, he was better,” Steele said, “so it would have been better for us if we had longer green-flag periods. I hated to see those cautions, especially the last one, but we were able to hold on to win.”

Russ Gamester won the 15-lap qualifying race on Saturday. Bobby East ended Steele’s three-race polesitter streak at the one-mile track, lapping the track at 139.147 mph.

The series will continue action in the “Hoosier Hundred” May 27 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Source: PIR

USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES STANDINGS

1.-Dave Steele-63
2.-Tracy Hines-57
3.-J.J. Yeleyt-51
4.-Brian Tyler-48
5.-Wayne Reutimann, Jr.-45
6.-Jimmy Kite-42
7.-Ron Gregory-39
8.-Dave Darland-36
9.–Eric Gordon-33
10.-Danny Ebberts-31

Burney Lamar of W. Sacramento, Calif. scored his fourth career win and first for new car owner Kevin Harvick. Lamar led 58 laps en route to a .320 second victory over Ken Schrader in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series portion of the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway Sunday afternoon.

Three-time PIR winner Eddy McKean finished in the third position for his ninth top three finish in the last 10 PIR races. Eric Holmes, and 2003 series champion Jim Pettit II rounded out the top five finishers in the 75-lap event.

Source: Fox sports
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Phoenix native J.J. Yeley led just one lap in the FASTSIGNS 25 USAC National/Western Midget Car Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, and it just happened to be the one that mattered most - the last one!

Yeley, who now spends most of his time driving in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the defending champion of this race. Yeley outran Jay Drake and Bobby East in a close battle for the checkered flag.

“I knew I could make the move, even though there was a transition of the banking coming through there,” said Yeley who will make limited USAC starts in 2005. “I’ve been in races where I’ve won and lost at the line, and I feel for Bobby. We just had the better luck today. I came here as a kid and watched how it was done.”

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. J.J. Yeley, 2. Jay Drake, 3. Bobby East, 4. Dave Steele, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Aaron Fike, 7. Tom Hessert III, 8. Josh Wise, 9. Ron Gregory, 10. Dallen McKenney, 11. Steve Paden, 12. Robby Flock, 13. Aaron Pierce, 14. Todd Beach, 15. Richey Jacobs, 16. Teddy Beach, 17. Michael Lewis, 18. Stuart Birkinbine, 19. Doug Cross, 20. Brad Kuhn, 21. Cole Carter, 22. Ryan Durst, 23. Travis Miniea, 24. David Thompson, 25. Thomas Meseraull, 26. Bobby Grewohl, 27. Bobby Santos III. 28. Tony Hunt, 29. Stephen Graves, 30. Davey Ray, 31. Danny Ebberts, 32. Mario Marietta. 12:32.06

**Marietta flipped on lap 11 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-15 Lewis, Laps 16-24 East, Lap 25 Yeley.

NEW NATIONAL MIDGET CAR STANDINGS: 1-Yeley-63; 2-Drake-58; 3-East-59; 4-Hines-52; 5-Steele-51; 6-Fike-45; 7-Hessert-42; 8-Wise-39; 9-Gregory-36; 10-Paden-31.

NEW WESTERN MIDGET CAR STANDINGS: 1-Yeley-63; 2-Drake-58; 3-East-59; 4-Hines-52; 5-Steele-51; 6-Fike-45; 7-Hessert-42; 8-Wise-39; 9-Gregory-36; 10-McKenney-33.

Source: Fox Sports

With only two present I wonder:

The rift in Formula One between Ferrari and the other nine teams was on display as the reigning world champion was the only team represented at a rules meeting on Friday. Ferrari boss Jean Todt, technical director Ross Brawn and FIA president Max Mosley held a two-hour discussion despite the fact that no other teams showed up.

Mosley said afterwards that the time spent was still valuable and added that another meeting had been scheduled for April 15 in Paris.

“We gleaned a great deal of useful information, probably more than if we’d had the others here,” Mosley told BBC Sport.

“I think there is an element of sulking at the moment, but it’s a question of whether they are still sulking after Bahrain.”

The meeting went ahead despite the fact that the nine other teams, who have reacted angrily to Ferrari’s refusal to restrict testing, requested that the meeting be postponed until after the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 3.

They didn’t have enough in attendence for a good game of canasta!

Source: Sportal Au.

Defending USAC National Midget Car Champion Bobby East and track record holder Dave Steele headline the list of preliminary entries for this weekend

Eddie Jordan, a Dublin bank clerk who achieved his dream of owning his own Formula 1 team, has finally had to close his account by selling out to a Canadian steel tycoon. Jordan, who discovered seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher, has always struggled to match the corporate spending power of the big teams.

He broke into Formula 1 in 1991 and gave Schumacher his first race before starting to take on the might of Ferrari, Williams and McLaren. In 1998 he took the first of four Grand Prix victories with Damon Hill. A year later, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was in sight of becoming an unlikely world champion.

But he was unable to sustain the challenge and Giancarlo Fischer’s victory in a rainswept Brazilian Grand Prix in 2003 was Jordan’s last stroke of luck. Not enough money. In the end there was not enough sponsors’ money to compete with the richest Formula 1 teams whose expensive engines were supplied exclusively by the major car makers.

Jordan, who finished ninth out of the 10 Formula 1 teams in 2004, were facing collapse when Ford, who supplied the team’s Cosworth engines, announced in September they were withdrawing from the sport. They were only able to keep going into 2005 by Toyota’s offer to provide engines.

“I have devoted 35 years of my life to motor racing and have had some really fantastic times,” Jordan said. “The last 14 years when I have been lucky enough to be involved in Formula 1 have been a highlight. Winning our first grand prix in 1998, which broke the grip that the top teams of the time had on the sport, is for me a personal triumph.”

He was determined to find a buyer who would keep the Jordan team intact and that man is Alex Shnaider, a 36-year-old Russian-born Canadian based in Toronto who grew up in Israel and has huge financial interests in Russian steel and manufacturing.

Last October Shnaider’s Midland group said they would join the Grand Prix grid in 2006 with a car built by Italian manufacturer Dallara. But by taking over Jordan, Shnaider does not have to pay the $48-million entry bond to enter Formula 1 as a new team. It also guarantees a share of television income and improved pay-outs promised by commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone.

The team will compete in the 2005 Grand Prix season as Jordan Grand Prix and the cars will be known as Jordan Toyota EJ15s.

“I spoke to a number of interested parties in recent months and these are absolutely the right people.” - Eddie Jordan

“I spoke to a number of interested parties in recent months and these are absolutely the right people,” Jordan said of the Midland deal. “They are totally committed and as we look to the future, we will see this team return to the competitiveness we have proved we are capable of. The sport and the required resources have changed and this deal provides the team with the security and strength it needs. “Im glad that for the time being we keep the Jordan name and I am also delighted to confirm that I will remain involved with the team and will be working with Jordan in a variety of commercial and sponsorship capacities as we move forward.”

Shnaider said Jordan gave him a season to get to know the Formula 1 world.

“I am very pleased with this development as it will give us a season of learning, and after the takeover has been completed, the chance to be competitive faster at the pinnacle of motorsport,” Shnaider said in a statement. “Our plan to build up a team from scratch has only been altered insignificantly as the establishment of the Midland F1 team will continue according to schedule.”

Source: iafrica.com.

Following on from the news that Honda and Toyota had agreed to join the GPWC, the group released a document setting out their vision for a new championship. Here’s what they had to say.

Governing Principles for Grand Prix Motor Racing post-2007

Principal Objectives

To establish a framework for Grand Prix Motor Racing which:

• Retains Grand Prix Motor Racing