What's wrong with Autoweek?

Haven't they ever heard the term spoiler alert?

My race viewing weekend ended for all intents and purposes when I opened my email Friday and read Graham Rahal Snaps Six-Year Dry Spell with IndyCar Pole at Indianapolis posted by Autoweek Racing Daily. Racer.com’s subject line instead read simply Indy GP qualifying; MSR IndyCar changes for 2024, no hint as to the qualifying results.

Motor Trend was clickbait before there was an internet and Road & Track was snooty Anglophiles (pardon the redundancy) but Car and Driver was the preferred rag among members of the Counterculture who dug cars, like me. I even wrote a term paper in college called Car and Driver: The Relevant Car Magazine. I swear I’m not kidding.

As a friend's mother used to say, "Don't send anyone up to clean the attic who can read." That's how I get when I start digging for a specific file in my mishigas: other tidbits emerge. For instance, a photo of me heading to my senior prom – in a tux color-coordinated to my brand new hot rod. And again, a few short months later, looking every bit the part of a hippie at Mass Art, right down to the John Lennon granny glasses. Little did anyone suspect the evil Republican that lurked within.

I’m always charmed when I see a print copy of AW in a shop that nobody’s bothered to throw out but this breach of internet etiquette shall not stand!

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Did I hear that the NASCAR/IndyCar weekend on the IMS road course has run its, umm, course? Too bad. The last time I saw both series at the same track in successive months was the early ‘90s, at what was then called New Hampshire International Speedway. Here’s the 1994 Slick 50 200 CART race on ESPN which I attended with others, featuring a scene TV missed but happened right at my feet (1:00:14):

Last week I mentioned that the first professional car race I attended with friends, along with my brother and father, was the 1969 Trans-Am at Bryar Motorsport Park, but I’d only been back to the New Hampshire venue a couple of times since then, usually with the BMWCCA at driving schools, as we called HPDEs back then. My instructor was Roundel creator Yale Rachlin with whom I was privileged to enjoy hot laps in his legendary 2002 tii.

That is, until Bob Bahre bought the property and did his Field of Dreams thing. With no lucrative professional racing dates nailed down Bahre built The Magic Mile on spec with his own money. From Wikipedia:

Its construction was extremely unusual for a race track, in that it was designed and constructed without consulting engineers, and using just one surveyor (whose primary job was to plant stakes) to help.

Apart from local NASCAR events, CART Indy car debuted nationally-televised racing at NHIS and my buddies and I were there opening day in 1992. When NASCAR Cup arrived in 1993 I was flabbergasted at how slow and plodding the taxicabs seemed trackside compared to the CART rocketships! 

I’m inclined to ignore old farts who lament the state of racing today compared to some imagined golden age of the past but viewing the ’94 NHIS video start-to-finish has me reconsidering my stance. Watch the ESPN broadcast if you don’t believe me – particularly the in-car video – for four-abreast action on the paperclip-shaped oval with its long straights and tight corners (later reconfigured with steeper, progressive banking after two NASCAR deaths). Absolutely stunning! As is the presence of three past F1 World Champions (one of them the REIGNING champion the previous year) and one future champ, dicing madly through pitiably (relatively speaking) slow backmarkers. With multiple chassis builders and 900 hp engine manufacturers!

Entry list and results:

As to the broadcast itself, I was treated to one of Paul Page’s “overly gladiatorial intros” but I’d forgotten about Derek Daly’s bloodthirsty tone as he reported on crashes, including a rollover in this case. Gritty, to say the least.

Anyway, just some musings for an off weekend. When do we get to see Max win again? It’s been too long!

Oh, and I just learned we’ve got Starlink coming! If it works as promised it’ll be worth every penny of the $150 monthly fee!

This Week’s Music

Note particularly cut #8, John Doe & Kathleen Edwards – “We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning.” Ah, never mind, the whole concert is terrific!