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The Fast Line - John Dagys - Motorsports Journalist
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Which Americans are F1-Bound?
USF1 officially broke cover Tuesday, and while Team Principal Ken Anderson and Sporting Director Peter Windsor didn't give too many details on Formula One's first American team in decades, both provided some interesting insight into the team's potential driver selections.
Names like IndyCar star Danica Patrick and Scott Speed, the last American to grace the F1 grid, were mentioned by Windsor as driver possibilities, but admitted that he nor Anderson have yet to formally negotiate with anyone. Windsor said, though, that the goal is to place Americans in both seats when the team debuts in 2010.
While there may be interest, Patrick has gone on the record in saying that she doesn't enjoy international travel – a staple of F1. Speed appears to be happy in NASCAR, embarking on his rookie season in the Sprint Cup Series. However, Windsor wasn't shy to mention that he'd be interested in talking to some of Speed's colleagues currently in NASCAR, with Kyle Busch's name thrown out during the conference.
But in all honestly, will USF1 be able to attract an American star with a household name? There's always Marco Andretti or Graham Rahal, but will either want to gamble their solid IndyCar careers to make a leap into the unknown, with a start-up team?
Don't count out lesser-known names such as Team USA scholarship winners Connor Daly and Josef Newgarden, or A1GP winner Jonathan Summerton, as potentials, although perhaps only being considered to be test drivers at first.
A F1 veteran may be needed to help get the team off the ground, and that would be someone without an American passport, unless Scott Speed has a change of mind. But will Anderson and Windsor elect to go that route?
The bottom line is that there's now two highly sought-after seats on the market right now, in a time where many young Americans are looking for a place to race. USF1 could be all that's needed to put some juice back in F1 for American fans.
Names like IndyCar star Danica Patrick and Scott Speed, the last American to grace the F1 grid, were mentioned by Windsor as driver possibilities, but admitted that he nor Anderson have yet to formally negotiate with anyone. Windsor said, though, that the goal is to place Americans in both seats when the team debuts in 2010.
While there may be interest, Patrick has gone on the record in saying that she doesn't enjoy international travel – a staple of F1. Speed appears to be happy in NASCAR, embarking on his rookie season in the Sprint Cup Series. However, Windsor wasn't shy to mention that he'd be interested in talking to some of Speed's colleagues currently in NASCAR, with Kyle Busch's name thrown out during the conference.
But in all honestly, will USF1 be able to attract an American star with a household name? There's always Marco Andretti or Graham Rahal, but will either want to gamble their solid IndyCar careers to make a leap into the unknown, with a start-up team?
Don't count out lesser-known names such as Team USA scholarship winners Connor Daly and Josef Newgarden, or A1GP winner Jonathan Summerton, as potentials, although perhaps only being considered to be test drivers at first.
A F1 veteran may be needed to help get the team off the ground, and that would be someone without an American passport, unless Scott Speed has a change of mind. But will Anderson and Windsor elect to go that route?
The bottom line is that there's now two highly sought-after seats on the market right now, in a time where many young Americans are looking for a place to race. USF1 could be all that's needed to put some juice back in F1 for American fans.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Is it all about the money?
As IndyCar Series teams try to scrap together enough money to go racing in 2009, one squad will be in good shape heading into the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in April. Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has acquired the driving services (and financial backing) of Milka Duno.
The Venezuelan female racer rose to fame last year not for her success on the track, but instead from a highly publicized shoving match with Danica Patrick that was caught on camera – becoming a YouTube sensation (below).
Now, Duno, who scored a best finish of 14th last year, moves to one of the most fabled teams in open-wheel racing, bringing an alleged $6 million in in sponsorship with her. SPEEDtv.com's Robin Miller broke the news last week and sheds some light into the situation.
It's truly a sign of the times when open-wheel stars such as Justin Wilson, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay are left without rides, but a driver a substantial amount of funding can walk in and secure a drive. Duno lacks experience in IndyCars, and many argue she sometimes poses to be a danger on track, especially on high-speed ovals.
Of course this isn't the first time where a driver's money has put he or she in a top ride, but perhaps teams are so cash-scrapped, they'll do anything to survive. It will be interesting to see how this impacts IndyCar racing, and the whole sport in general.
The Venezuelan female racer rose to fame last year not for her success on the track, but instead from a highly publicized shoving match with Danica Patrick that was caught on camera – becoming a YouTube sensation (below).
Now, Duno, who scored a best finish of 14th last year, moves to one of the most fabled teams in open-wheel racing, bringing an alleged $6 million in in sponsorship with her. SPEEDtv.com's Robin Miller broke the news last week and sheds some light into the situation.
It's truly a sign of the times when open-wheel stars such as Justin Wilson, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay are left without rides, but a driver a substantial amount of funding can walk in and secure a drive. Duno lacks experience in IndyCars, and many argue she sometimes poses to be a danger on track, especially on high-speed ovals.
Of course this isn't the first time where a driver's money has put he or she in a top ride, but perhaps teams are so cash-scrapped, they'll do anything to survive. It will be interesting to see how this impacts IndyCar racing, and the whole sport in general.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
David vs. Goliath
The economic downturn has impacted all facets of our daily life, and sporting entertainment hasn't been immune from it either. NASCAR has been one of the heavily impacted sports, thanks to its reliance on multi-million dollar sponsorship and manufacturer support from America's struggling "big three" automakers.
(photo by Eric Gilbert, Motorsport.com)
Sunday's Sprint Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 will feature a full field of 43 cars; there's no concern of filling the grid as many had originally visioned. In fact, 13 teams will be headed home following Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying races. So how could this be?
Small teams on shoestring budgets are going for all or nothing, hoping that they'll be on the grid for the most prestigious race of the year. Drivers like former championship-winning crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine or 57-year-old ARCA veteran Norm Benning are rolling the dice with no sponsorship, let alone manufacturer support.
Then there are others like Joe Nemecheck, who revived his own former Nationwide Series team after being left without a Cup ride for 2009. The veteran racer who has contested nearly 500 Cup races in his career is giving it his all to make it on his own – sponsorship or not. One major incentive is the prize money, as even the last place finisher in the Daytona 500 will receive $250,000.
Motorsport.com's Joe Jennings talked to Nemecheck this week at Daytona International Speedway and has put together a great piece on the challenges of an independent in the sport today.
The question on everyone's mind, though, is will teams like Nemecheck's make it through a season? Many have pledged to run the full 36-race tour, but it's near impossible to accomplish without any backing. Will the fields be full come June or July? And will this great disparity in NASCAR amongst teams be good or bad for the sport?
Time will tell, but one thing is for sure: there are plenty of fighters out there who will not let go of their dreams.
(photo by Eric Gilbert, Motorsport.com)
Sunday's Sprint Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 will feature a full field of 43 cars; there's no concern of filling the grid as many had originally visioned. In fact, 13 teams will be headed home following Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying races. So how could this be?
Small teams on shoestring budgets are going for all or nothing, hoping that they'll be on the grid for the most prestigious race of the year. Drivers like former championship-winning crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine or 57-year-old ARCA veteran Norm Benning are rolling the dice with no sponsorship, let alone manufacturer support.
Then there are others like Joe Nemecheck, who revived his own former Nationwide Series team after being left without a Cup ride for 2009. The veteran racer who has contested nearly 500 Cup races in his career is giving it his all to make it on his own – sponsorship or not. One major incentive is the prize money, as even the last place finisher in the Daytona 500 will receive $250,000.
Motorsport.com's Joe Jennings talked to Nemecheck this week at Daytona International Speedway and has put together a great piece on the challenges of an independent in the sport today.
The question on everyone's mind, though, is will teams like Nemecheck's make it through a season? Many have pledged to run the full 36-race tour, but it's near impossible to accomplish without any backing. Will the fields be full come June or July? And will this great disparity in NASCAR amongst teams be good or bad for the sport?
Time will tell, but one thing is for sure: there are plenty of fighters out there who will not let go of their dreams.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Multimedia Reporting
In this ever-changing world of journalism, media makers haven been taking "out of the box" approaches in delivering content to readers. The New York Times has been one of the leaders in this new technique, and it's "Blowing Off Steam" feature does just that.
Blowing Off Steam - New York Times Feature
Using a combination of audio narrative, music, photos and text, this package hooks readers in a new way. I probably wouldn’t have read a plain print story about corporate bonding through after-work activities, but I did watch these four segments because of the multimedia aspect.
Producing something like this would not be very difficult. All you would need is a microphone, camera and a decent editing software program. Our group could easily do something like this, but not all topics would work as nicely as this package from the New York Times.
Blowing Off Steam - New York Times Feature
Using a combination of audio narrative, music, photos and text, this package hooks readers in a new way. I probably wouldn’t have read a plain print story about corporate bonding through after-work activities, but I did watch these four segments because of the multimedia aspect.
Producing something like this would not be very difficult. All you would need is a microphone, camera and a decent editing software program. Our group could easily do something like this, but not all topics would work as nicely as this package from the New York Times.
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