Andretti F1 snub

Earlier today it was reported that the FOM (Formula One Management, F1 teams basically) declined, rejected, refused the entry application of the Andretti Formula Racing LLC to join the Formula One grid. Their statement included nonsense to the effect that they didn’t believe the entry would be competitive. That almost made me laugh out loud when you consider over half the grid of 20 cars in each F1 race has not a prayer to win. No, this is all about money, greed, and snobbery. I hope Michael Andretti and his group (to include General Motors) turn their sights on the WEC (World Endurance Championship) and go win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright. I hope they expand their highly successful portfolio of racing series involvement and go NASCAR racing. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the Andretti name win the Daytona 500 again, like Mario did in 1967. F1 damaged their credibility with this decision. Had it not been for the highly popular Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’, with its manufactured drama, their popularity would be considerably diminished. Because, in reality, the actual races are usually snoozers. 

IMSA Rolex 24 botched finish

The sports car season got underway last weekend in Daytona with the ‘twice-around-the-clock’ endurance classic, the Rolex 24. IMSA’s ‘Super Bowl’ kicked off the year in grand style. 59 cars took the green on Saturday (1/27), representing four classes (GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD). It was an action-packed race that saw the Porsche Penske Motorsports (#7) Porsche 963 take the checkered flag, with drivers Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell, and Josef Newgarden. One small detail about the finish…they didn’t go 24 hours. Unfortunately, human error stepped in, and the checkered flag was waved one lap too early. The winning time was 23:58:24. Race fans on social media went berserk. Some even wanted a do-over if you can imagine that. IMSA later came out with a statement admitting the error. Thankfully the rulebook has a clause that covers such things, and the results are final. These types of mishaps have happened before, and this probably won’t be the last. But could it be time for race series to consider alternative safeguards to be put in place to eliminate such errors. This was the first race of the year, imagine if this was a battle for the championship in the last race of the year.

Netflix NASCAR show

The new Netflix series ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ debuted last night (1/30). The show features star drivers: Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, and Tyler Reddick in their quest for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Championship. It includes amazing racing footage, along with fascinating behind-the scenes storylines. I’ve watched one episode so far and it’s amazing. I highly recommend it!

TJ