Full Throttle

The well documented feud between ISC/NASCAR and the owners of Kentucky Speedway has been in the courts since the first court filing by Kentucky Speedway in 2005.

The latest episode in legal wrangling by over paid shysters will be the day after the season final at Homestead.

U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman will hear a variety of motions in the case, including a motion for summary judgment filed by NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. That motion, which asks the judge to rule in favor of NASCAR and ISC before the case goes to trial, already has been filed under seal.

If it were me I’d send the whole gaggle of shysters before Judge Extreme Akim, but that’s just me.

Anyway, Kentucky Speedway has released it’s 10 event 2008 schedule, and surprise surprise, there’s another butting of heads between the speedway and ISC. I know… you’re as shocked as I am.

The NCTS Built Ford Tough 225 is scheduled to run on July 12 but what has traditionally been a night race has been moved to an earlier start time because the Sprint Cup Series will be racing that same evening under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway.

You know, Chicagoland, where lights are being installed as this keyboard is being pounded so that event can beat the mid-western summer heat and humidity.

The same type of weather, or worse dependent on the mood of Momma Nature, that is more than likely to occur during the proposed 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. start for the NCTS event.

Steve O’Donnell, who is NASCAR’s vice president of Racing Operations and oversees scheduling for NASCAR’s top three series, was unavailable for comment.

Steve is no doubt pounding the phone lines (NEXTEL phone lines of course) trying to remedy this problem and explains why he’s unavailable. (*wink wink, nod nod*)

If you’re a full glass type there is a good side to all this. The ice, beer (a saw buck for 16oz’s are you frickin’ NUTS!) and stupid hat venders will make a killing as fans swelter under the sun.

As an added bonus all the roadside Stuckey’s will reap financial benefits as the same venders make the 250 mile trek south from Chicagoland to Kentucky trying to unload their ice, beer and stupid hats.

On the half glass empty side of the ledger, and all things considered like frivolous lawsuits against PCNA, paybacks are a BIAAATCH!!!

But you didn’t hear me say that.

Unusual question, but it does have a simple answer, if you buy into the fact the World Motor Sport Council ever has a simple answer for anything beyond the time of sunrise in Paris.

Answer: When the WMSC meet in Paris and decide there will be a total freeze on engine development for a period of 10 years starting in 2008. A change can be made after five years but only with the unanimous agreement of all stakeholders and following a further two-year notice period.

Obviously I’ve taken a bit of literary license, the exotic metals of an F1 engine would never become a fossil, or rust I suspect but you get the idea. In effect the WMSC is creating an F1 engine time capsule and we’ve seen how poorly that works.

Their decision raises this question; How in the sam hill will teams develop Mad Max’s dream of an F1 “ecco-machine?” Supposedly F1 will run on fermented goats milk or some kinda something related to Bio-fuel. At least that’s what Max thinks and keeping in mind linking the words “Max” and “thinks” is in most instances an oxymoron.

Max has said his ultimate goal is to drag F1 kickin’ & screamin’ “from the technology of the 20th century to that of the 21st century, to move away from F1 being labeled as a dinosaur.” (aren’t dinosaurs fossils also?)

The way I read this is a team can start the 2008 campaign with a certain engine configuration, but by rule they can’t change a damn thing until at least 2015, and only then if the WMSC is notified prior to the start of the 2013 season. AND with total agreement by the stakeholders. (fat chance getting that gaggle on the same page!)

Have I got that correct? It all seems to work against producing anything resembling “ecco-friendly” if such severe restrictions are placed on engine development.

I’m so confused, which places me in the same boat as the WMSC I suspect. And I don’t even want to consider the thought of being in the same boat with Mad Max, at least not without a muzzle. Or a gun.

(NOTE to Mad Max: If you really want to commit to being green why don’t you take some of those ill-gotten FIA millions you’ve collected over the years and put them where your mouth is. Take Leilani Munter’s lead and at least attempt to make a difference.)

The NASCAR appeals committee has reviewed the $10,000 fine levied against the crew chief for Kyle Busch following the Busch race in Kansas.

In a sure sign committee members were dipping into too much of Junior Johnson’s sauce while having their brains turned to mush by repeated viewings of crap movies they overturned the fine imposed on crew chief Michael Bumgarner.

“We appreciate the commission giving us the opportunity to present the facts and send a clear message about our performance at Kansas,” Rick Hendrick said. “The team prepared a race-winning car that met every rule in the book. It’s important that our fans, our sponsors and our competitors know that’s the case.”

See… NASCAR can get it right on occasion, even if it does takes two times to accomplish the fete.

Ok Ron Dennis it’s getting personal now, and I’m not going to take it any longer!

After a tumultuous F1 season and a final event that saw McLaren snatch defeat from the jaws of near certain victory McLaren boss (read: asshat) has lashed out at the media.

But not The Media. The New Media, specifically bloggers, presumably.