Full Throttle

I’d like to say I saw this coming, I would be lying if I did, but I’m hardly surprised with the decidedly “Asian Tilt” the FIA has taken in recent years.

The 2009 Race of Champions will be held at Beijing, immediately after Formula 1’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, organizers announced today.

The event, which was held in Wembley Stadium in London, England, in the last couple of years, will be the first international sporting event to be held in the Bird’s Nest stadium since the Olympic Games last summer.

Additionally, the event will be held for the first time in the middle of the week, rather than on a weekend, and just two days after the F1 season comes to a close at Abu Dhabi.

The two day event is scheduled for Nov. 3rd and 4th.

The Sprint Cup schedule has them at Talladega Nov 1st and Texas Nov. 8th. Granted with modern travel it’s possible for a couple of NASCAR finest to participate but the odds are slim they would except an invitation that very well could impact they chances in the Chase.

Unless the RoC invites a driver already out of the Chase picture or someone far down the list NASCAR’s last Harrah will be Carl Edward’s defeat of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher at last years event.

It also place’s the IRL’s Tony George in the Catbird Seat as that series ends on Oct 10th and all his drivers would be available to accept an invite.

Which raises an interesting question. Would the FIA, and more specifically RoC officials, have the balls (no pun intended) to invite The Danica?