Ryan Briscoe Wins GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

By Keri Luiz 
Assistant Editor

(NOTE: this is a 'reprint' of the IndyCar story that I wrote for the sports section of the Benicia Herald. The story ran in the Benicia Herald August 28, 2012. Most of the motorsports stories run in the Sports section of the paper, and do not get posted on the Herald's web site.)

Ryan Briscoe in Victory Lane after winning the GoPro
Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Photo by Keri Luiz.

Ryan Briscoe, driver of the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, won the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma race Sunday at the raceway at Sonoma. Briscoe’s teammate – Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – had dominated the first half of the race and placed second.

Briscoe’s previous high Sonoma finishes were second in 2008 and 2009, and third in 2011. This was also the first win for Briscoe since Texas in 2010. “It’s great to get the win,” he said in the post-race press conference. “You get into a slump, you know, you think, ‘Man, am I ever going to win again?’ So this is definitely lifting, a confidence builder.”

Briscoe started the race from the second position while Power had started from the pole. Power had looked to dominate the race again, and perhaps win for a third time in a row, when he started on the pole and led most of the first 65 laps.

At lap three, Takuma Sato, driver of the  No. 15 Panasonic Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, had to pull off the course with a mechanical issue. His car remained parked behind the K-Wall of the esses of turn 8.

The race had run caution-free for 64 laps, and it was looking like the Izod IndyCar Series was going to have an unprecedented three races in a row of solid green-flag laps.  But at lap 64, a wreck between Josef Newgarden – driver of the No. 67 Angie’s List  Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda – and Sebastien Bourdais – driver of the  No. 7 TrueCar Dragon Racing Cheverolet – put Newgarden into the tire wall between turns 8 and 9. This caused the first full-course caution of the day. Newgarden injured his left index finger during the accident and will be re-evaluated when he returns to Indianapolis.

WTCC champ visits Sacramento

By Keri Luiz

Assistant Editor

(NOTE: this is a 'reprint' of the WTCC story I wrote which ran in the sports section of the Benicia Herald July 17, 2012). Running it here since most of the motorsports stories are in the Sports section, and do not get posted on the Herald's web site. 

Three time WTCC Champion Yvan Muller and the Chevy Cruze on the steps of the California State Capitol. Photo by Keri Luiz.

Yvan Muller looks ahead to September debut

The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is bringing its intense, paint-swapping, fender-banging style to the raceway in Sonoma in September — the first time the event will take place on American soil.

Three-time and current WTCC champion Yvan Muller joined track president and General Manager Steve Page Monday in on the steps outside the state Capitol in Sacramento, and Muller's car — a Chevy Cruze — was on hand for fans to view.

"We're always looking for new forms of quality racing that we can bring out to Sonoma," Page said. "We have such an incredible, loyal fan base that supports everything else we do … NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, which is coming up soon.

"We look globally to see what other kinds of events that would be appropriate for our track, and would be entertaining for our fans."

Page observed that the WTCC's "no kid gloves approach" to racing is likely something Sonoma's fans will enjoy. "There does not appear to be any aversion to contact," he said. "For those of you that are familiar with our NASCAR event, it was a very familiar look and feel.

"We think our fans are going to respond to it. We are excited to host this series. We think it's going to be great for the track, it's going to be wonderful for our fans."

Clint Bowyer Wins at Sonoma

NOTE: this is a 'reprint' of the preview story I wrote for the sports section of the Benicia Herald June 26, 2012, with the extended edits. Re-publishing it here since most of the NASCAR stories are in the Sports section, and do not get posted on the Herald's web site.


By Keri Luiz and Donna Beth Weilenman
Herald Staff

Photo by Donna Beth Weilenman

A late-race, multiple-car crash in the Toyota-Save Mart 350 meant Clint Bowyer’s short lead over past winners Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch had vanished. Bowyer would later say he was feeling pressure from the two aggressive drivers in Sunday’s race at the raceway in Sonoma.

But Bowyer would defend his top spot long enough to take the checkered flag, his first win on the road course.

“You know, the two guys behind me were champions of this sport, and that’s big, to be able to hold them guys off,” Bowyer said after the race.

It wasn’t the only racing Bowyer did Sunday. Stuck in traffic for two hours on California Highway 37 — clogged as thousands of fans headed toward the track — Bowyer had to abandon his ride and sprint on foot to make it in time for the pre-race driver’s meeting. If he hadn’t made it to the meeting in time, he would have been penalized, and would have had to start the race at the back of the field.

Sonoma adds WTCC to list of events

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

(NOTE: this is a 'reprint' of the WTCC story I wrote for the sports section of the Benicia Herald July 5, 2012). Running it here since most of the motorsports stories are in the Sports section, and do not get posted on the Herald's web site. 

At a news conference at Sonoma on June 24, WTCC representatives laid out a plan to bring the racing event to the U.S. for the first time. Left to right are Steve Page, president and general manager of Sonoma; driver James Nash of the United Kingdom; driver Gabriele Tarquini, Italy; driver Tiago Monteiro, Portugal; and Fabio Ravaioli, FIA WTCC media delegate. Photo by Keri Luiz

The FIA World Touring Car Championship will make its first-ever United States appearance at the raceway in Sonoma this September.

"We always have our eye out for new events that we can bring in that really fit the profile that we think our fans will respond to," said Steve Page, president and general manager of the raceway, formerly known as Infineon. "Looking internationally, the FIA World Touring Car Championship is one we've always had our eye on."

The WTCC, one of four World Championships under the umbrella of the Fédèration International de l'Automobile, features touring car racing with manufacturers BMW, Chevrolet, SEAT and Ford. It announced in February it has signed a three-year agreement with Sonoma through 2014.

Daytona 500 repost from the Benicia Herald

NOTE: I am the Assistant Editor for a little paper called the Benicia Herald, out in Benicia, California. My partner in crime and star reporter (and fellow NASCAR nut), Donna Beth, was at Daytona, but missed the email saying it was ok for her to stay an extra day. That meant she was in the air when the race was going on. I covered the race, listened to the post-race press conference, etc. and wrote a lot of this. She added her perspective from being at the track and tied it all together. Our awesome editor put the finishing touches on it. Enjoy!

P.S. This story ran in the Sports page on February 29th, which doesn't get posted on the web site. Our other story was in the main section of the newspaper and did get posted. It can be found here.

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Gordon, Montoya provide sparks in rain-delayed Daytona 500
By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor
and Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Matt Kenseth grabbed the Daytona 500's checkered flag Monday night for the second time in his career and gave his owner, Roush Racing, its 300th NASCAR win in 25 years.

But his victory may be overshadowed by other events surrounding the 54th running of the premier NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

The season-opener's start, scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, was delayed about 30 hours — unprecedented in the race's history — by a series of rain storms that refused to quit long enough for the track to be dried by the speedway's 10 jet dryers.

And 40 laps from the finish Monday night, the race and track were threatened by fire when, under caution, Juan Pablo Montoya's No. 42 Target Chevrolet slammed into one of those dryers.

Montoya's crash ignited 200 gallons of jet fuel into an enormous fireball, damaging the track that had been resurfaced for the 2011 season.

"The biggest concern was the condition of the asphalt underneath the flame, underneath the truck," said Mike Helton, NASCAR president. "We were comfortable with the fact that the driver of the race car and the driver of the jet dryer were in pretty good shape." Removing the damaged jet dryer gouged the track's surface, Helton said, "but it's not uncommon to have gouges on a race surface."

The repair required a variety of materials to prevent a second ignition, including Tide detergent, which was used to cleanse the track of the jet fuel. The job took a couple of hours to complete — the same amount of time it took to fill a pothole that developed during the 2010 running of the race.

A good way to remember Dan Wheldon

Such a bright light on this world. Extinguished all too soon.

A twofold blow to the world of motorsports

Oct. 16, 2011

Today the Motorsports world as a whole suffered a devastating blow when IndyCar's Dan Wheldon lost his life in a wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That blow was compounded by the plane crash that took the life of Champion Off Road racer Rick Huseman and his brother Jeff.

I don't need to go into detail either tragedy here, there are plenty of legitimate news sources where the details are written out.

I will be the first to admit, I am not a huge IndyCar fan. I enjoy watching it, but I don't follow it with the same intensity as I do with NASCAR. However, I know enough to recognize the names of key drivers, and I remember Wheldon's Indy 500 win this year.

I would periodically watch the Lucas Off Road Series (when I could find it on TV) so I knew who Rick Huseman was too. Kinda hard to miss the Monster Energy Toyota that would tear up the dirt tracks.

A wreck like today in IndyCar, when it takes the life of a driver, affects ALL of motorsports. The vehicles and players may be different, but there's still that common bond between the drivers and team members, that love for the sport. The same can be said of the fans.

Huseman's death, while not on the track with millions of witnesses live and via television, is no less tragic. 

That sense of loss affects us all.

Watching the coverage of today's race, the wreck, the red flag interviews before Wheldon was airlifted to the hospital, listening to the broadcasters and the reporters… I don't envy them their jobs when they have to cover the downside of racing, and have to keep it together emotionally while on the air. 

I am also thinking back to Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Jimmie Johnson hit the wall in Turn 2, in a way very reminiscent to the crash that took Dale Earnhardt's life in 2001. Thanks to the innovations of the safer barrier, and the HANS device, Johnson is walking around with just a bit of soreness instead of it being more serious. Still, Johnson's crash was scary to watch.

The safety protocols in place for the cars, drivers and tracks have saved a lot of lives and prevented a lot of horrible injuries.  In a way that makes a lot of us, as fans, maybe even as drivers, a little more complacent, or maybe even blasé regarding the wrecks that do happen. Until a wreck like today that took Wheldon's life

Maybe the fans of open wheel and drag racing are more aware of the devastation that can happen when a wreck occurs than those of us that follow stock car racing. Especially post-2001's tragedy. Most especially with the advent of the COT. It may look like a brick, but they've built in a lot of safety. The open wheels, the dragsters, they're a lot faster and a lot more vulnerable.

With all those safety protocols in place, we forget how dangerous all of the motorsports really can be.

For my fellow NASCAR fans, next time a driver you dislike crashes into a wall, don't cheer for it, don't gloat. Be grateful that driver is alive for you to continue to dislike, that he/she is not seriously injured. Say a prayer to whatever deity you pray to that all of these drivers stay safe as they do the sport they love, and we love to watch.

With Talladega next in the queue, I pray for the safety of them all.

Godspeed, Dan Wheldon and Rick Huseman.


Blogs/posts worth reading:
 
The Dark Side Of Motorsports And The Racing Brotherhood

 A NASCAR Fan Remembers Dan Wheldon

Dan Wheldon 1978-2011

New Year, Clean Slate

2 weeks down of the 2011 NASCAR racing season.

I give every driver a clean slate at the start of the season. That means, anybody that ticked me off last year gets a ‘do over’ for the start of this year.

Unlike a lot of fans, I try not to let dislike for a driver carry over to each year. Maybe it is because I have a few drivers I have gone from not being able to say their name without spitting it out to marginally cheering for them on occasion.

Have at it, boys. I hope I don’t see you on my “list” by the end of the season.

Where Love of a Sport and Artistic Expression Become One

There has been a lot of media coverage surrounding my favorite driver, Clint Bowyer, over the past month or so. First we start off with the “will he make it into the Chase?” storyline. Then upon making it into the Chase, Clint wins the race in New Hampshire.

That spawned this image, which I posted on my Facebook page:

Unfortunately, as anybody who follows NASCAR knows, the sanctioning body had issues with Clint’s car, and on the following Wednesday, they hit Clint, his Crew Chief Shane Wilson, and RCR with some hefty fines, points reductions, and in Shane’s case, a 6 race suspension.

I disagree with the judgement, and I disagree with anything that casts a pall on the integrity of this team & organization. Wednesday was a fairly sleepless night for me. When I woke up Thursday morning, before I even had a chance to make coffee, I had to create this:

I utilized a ribbon vector graphic created by Niki K and pulled from a free image site, removed the gradients, and changed the colors. The 33 is the trademark of RCR for the car that Clint drives (so I take no credit for those pieces at all).

But what does it mean?

I had to do some research on the meanings of the various ribbons. Many colors have multiple meanings. This one is a color scheme that I hadn’t seen previously, so I made up the meaning. An all white ribbon means Innocence. Black & White stand for Justice. Black alone stands for mourning. I added the grey there because in some cases there needs to be some grey area. Tried to get the yellow & red as close to what they use on the car (and Cheerios box?) as possible.

I posted this image on my Facebook page, the Clint Bowyer fan forum, and my Twitter accounts @PhoenyxArts & @CheckrdPhoenyx. I pretty much gave the “have at it” on this image, and its gone pretty viral. Can’t really say that about anything else I’ve created. What has been amazing to see is how many people have embraced it as their profile pic, avatar, etc. on places like Facebook & Twitter. People I don’t even “know”, and to me this is an amazing thing.

One member of the forum contacted me to ask if she could use this image to make stickers to pass out at the fan club party. Fantastic!

I conspired with another member of the forum in creating a poster that she would have printed out and signed by many fans then presented to Clint at the fan club party on September 30. The poster graphic:

Printed at 2x3 feet. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the party this year, but by all accounts, Clint loved it.

The poster with some of the signatures on it (Photo credit: Kristen Boschen-Stock):

Lynda (the woman who had it printed) and her husband holding the poster (Photo credit: Kristen Boschen-Stock):

It was positively FILLED with signatures (Photo credit: Debbie Mott Bozeman):

Lynda presenting the poster to Clint (Photo credit: Kristen Boschen-Stock):

I had one more last minute inspiration of putting together necklaces for my friends on the forum to wear at the fan club party & race at Kansas too:

It was a perfect opportunity to experiment with shrink plastic as a valid medium in jewelry making. Yes, shrink plastic. As in Shrinky Dinks. The very stuff I used to play with as a kid, only its all grown up too. Still have some kinks to work out with it, but what a lot of fun to work with again! Used Sharpie markers & colored pencils to render them, then a simple wire wrapped link with a red czech fire polished bead & a yellow swarovski crystal for the bail.

It is amazing what can become a Muse, isn’t it?

Fanmanship

I was revisiting some of the posts I had written on my Rowdy.com blog, and this one stood out. Granted this was written in October of 2007, but it still holds true. Slightly edited for some rewording I want to do, but the message is still the same...


There was a post on a driver forum that I frequent that got me to thinking today about 'fanmanship'. You know, sportsmanship, only for fans instead of the players.

The post was a link to an ebay auction for one of those decals... naughty boy done up in said driver's colors urinating on the number 24. Ok, maybe its a guy thing and it ties in with marking territory (gotta give my friend Shelly props for that anaology), but for some reason I found this decal very offensive. Not just because I actually like Jeff Gordon even if he isn't my favorite driver. I'd still be offended if it were a driver I didn’t care for. 

WWhy did this offend me so much? I think it has much to do with the same reason I was infuriated when those idiot Dale Jr. fans were chucking beer cans at Jeff Gordon at Talladega back in 2007. It all boils down to bad fanmanship. 

Its ok to be vehement in your support for your driver (or your baseball team, or your football team), but is it really ok to be so insultingly vitriolic against a driver (or team) you don't like (hate)? Does hating a driver make it ok to have such crude and hateful references agains them? Personally I don't think so. Sure, we're all going to have drivers we really can't stand... but is it necessary to have a naughty boy in your driver's colors pissing on the number of the driver you hate? Or chuck beers, or write scatalogical references to them on certain fan forums, or write false references to their sexuality? Those beer chucking fans are like the fans of a certain football team here in the bay area... and they both scare the hell out of me.

I think of the guys who are my favorite drivers, I think of what I know of their personalities... would behaving in this way towards other drivers really be a way to support them, or would it embarrass the hell out of them? Personally, if I were a championship quality Cup driver and saw my fans posting/behaving in that way... I'd be embarrassed! 

Another thing to ask oneself would be "how would I feel about my favorite driver if he were to act in the manner that some of his fans do? Would I still be a fan of his, or would I be so put off by the behaviour that I'd look for another driver to support?" I sure as hell wouldn't be a Clint Bowyer or Matt Kenseth fan if they behaved that way. Overall these guys tend to conduct themselves as true sportsmen. Sure they may get fired up from time to time, or make mistakes... they're human and adrenaline makes humans do strange things. 

So maybe there needs to be an 'unwritten standard of fandom ethics' that some people need to think about. Support your driver passionately, dislike other drivers just as passionately... but don't be vulgar about it. Don't live up to the 'stereotype' of the NASCAR fan. These guys are out there driving their hearts out, even the ones we think shouldn't be behind the wheel... they deserve at least a little respect in how you dislike them.

I'm interested to "hear" the opinions of others on this subject.

Thinking about the Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski Incident

It has been a week since the Atlanta race, and the now infamous “Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski” incident. There has been numerous articles on the subject from pros and fans alike. So now after thinking on it (and the help of a little Jack Daniel’s), I am giving my opinion and views on the matter.

1. There is no denying it, Brad Keselowski is an unapologetic little punk. I used to like Brad. Really. Even after flipping Carl Edwards at Talladega last year, I was still ok with him. But as the season progressed, I began to notice a side to Brad K that I do not like. There is driving competitively (which will involve putting the fender to somebody), and there is driving like an Ass. Way I see it, Brad drives like an Ass.

Sorry, Brad, there is a fine line between not letting yourself get pushed around by the veterans to establish that you are serious about driving with the big boys, and driving like a punk. You crossed that line last year. You need to learn to respect the other drivers on the track. That doesn't mean let yourself be a pushover, but you need to learn respect. I hope you do. I’d like to start liking you again. Right now, I can’t.

2. Carl Edwards has had anger issues in the past. We have seen it. I spent most of 2008 hating Carl because of the Matt Kenseth incident in 2007, and the Kevin Harvick incident in 2008. Since I believe in giving all drivers a “clean slate” at the beginning of the season, I was able to put all that in the past and actually cheer for him in 2009.

Was he justified in deliberately going out to spin Brad K in the race last weekend? I can’t answer that. However, I did cheer for Denny Hamlin for spinning him out last year.

I have mixed feelings in that incident. Part of me is livid pissed because thanks to that stunt, Clint Bowyer got screwed out of a great chance for a  top 10 finish after struggling with a Beast of a car all day. The following Green White Checkered attempt caused a wreck involving Jamie McMurray and collecting Clint along the way. Thanks to Clint’s 23rd place finish, he went from possibly gaining a lead in the points to dropping 3 positions to 5th.

There is also the argument that Carl exhibited really poor judgment in trying to take Brad K out at 190mph, which helped the car take flight. That he took it too far. Did he? I don’t have that answer. However, whether I like a driver or dislike him, I do not like seeing anybody getting airborne like that.

Did NASCAR do the right thing in only giving Carl probation for 3 races? Considering that essentially makes him a moving target for the next 3 races, 2 of which are short track, I would have to say yes. It would be incredibly hypocritical of the sanctioning bodies to give the drivers the green light to “have at it” only to hand down a severe penalty for this incident. Totally not taking into consideration that the car flipped. That is a separate situation that I am hoping will at least be partially fixed by the introduction of the spoiler over the wing.

Brad really needs to learn respect for the other 42 drivers out on the track. His current attitude has gained him no friends out there, and what he will need to see is having ‘friends’ out on the track can ultimately help with his success out there. Sometimes that is a hard lesson to learn.

Oh No! Not another NASCAR Blog!

Another NASCAR Blog? Really?  

Yes, and why not?

While I am still a fairly “new” fan to the world of NASCAR, got serious about following it mid 2006, I have a very deep love and enthusiasm for the sport. I haven’t agreed with or liked everything I have seen, but there is always hope that things will improve. 

With what we have seen in the beginning of the 2010 season, it looks as if things may be looking up.

Favorite Drivers.
I like a lot of drivers, and I have a “Top 5” list of drivers I like. My #1 favorite is Clint Bowyer, with Matt Kenseth following a close 2nd. Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick round out my top 5. Others that are “up there” in my list of favorites are Mark Martin, Max Papis, Tony Stewart and Joey Logano. 

Least Favorite/Drivers I Dislike.
It is a new season, therefore all drivers start out with a Clean Slate. I decided last year that I don’t need to waste my time with hating a particular driver just because of something he may have done 3 years ago. So, EVERYBODY gets a clean slate. 

The 2010 Season
This looks to be an interesting year. RCR is showing signs of life, which is continuing from the end of the 2009 season. Last year was painful to say the least. Going from having all the RCR guys in the Chase in 2007 and 2008  with Clint finishing 3rd in 2007 and 5th in 2008, to none of them making the Chase last year. Painful to watch. I have a lot of hope riding with the #33, #31 and the #29. Oh, and the #3 in the Truck series, of course. 


The Obligatory Danica Commentary
One thing I have learned to view with a lot of distaste over the past few years is the media hype and sensationalism that will center around one driver. I rapidly became tired of Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007, bored with Joey “Sliced Bread” Logano in 2008 and 2009… do NOT get me started on the hype around Dale Jr. every time we turn around. 


Now we have Danica. Well, there has been some hype in the “will she, won’t she join NASCAR” over the past few years. But now that she is actually in some races in the NASCAR world? The media won’t shut up about her! 


Don’t get me wrong, I would like to see her succeed. If anything, it will help open the door of possibility to more women in the sport if she does. I was impressed by her driving in the ARCA race. That was one hell of a save when she was spun. Now that she has the ride for the Nationwide race this Saturday (which I still feel for Kelly Bires on that one. Ouch!) let’s see how well she handles the car and racing with some of the big boys. 


So For Now…
The intention is to update this blog at least 1-2 times a week. What reality dictates will remain to be seen.