Mike Shaw

INDYCAR – How Did We Get Here? Pt. 3 The Indy Effect

January 27, 2014January 27, 2014 Mike Shaw

(Note: Part one here. Part two here.) After years of instability, the championship had finally become recognized and repeatable. Historical mistakes were made, but the sport is well on its way to greatness and The Indianapolis Motor Speedway finally takes the helm of championship racing for the first time. Board track racing was at its height in the early 1920’s. Millions of trees were felled to accommodate the hundreds of miles of the highly banked wooden autodromes that popped up all around the nation. These facilities led to a decline…

Goodbye to an Angel of IndyCar–Mark Thompson (@IndyRam500)

January 25, 2014January 25, 2014 Mike Shaw

Mark, we all miss you already. There will always be an empty place in our hearts’ without you. I’m so glad you were a part of my life for such a short time. I just wished I could have said goodbye properly.

RALLY – BREAKING NEWS – Rally America to be Televised on NBC Sports

January 25, 2014 Mike Shaw

I can’t believe I’m actually writing this! It has been announced via the below image from Sno*Drift that NBC Sports will be carrying coverage of the entire Rally America National Championship series! As our very own Doug Patterson posted in a reply to Andrew Comrie-Picard a couple of weeks ago “With as many outlets as are available now, surely someone would be willing to pick up a 30-min or hour highlight show for the Rally America events, right?” Apparently Doug was spot on, but this is one better. It…

Pocono Pulpit – IndyCar Board Is Too Happy To Be #1 In One State

January 24, 2014January 23, 2014 Mike Shaw

Well, It has been already far too long since the final IndyCar race of the 2013 season. Let alone, how long it has been since I have written about the series. So now I sit here in the Poconos, we missed yet another major snow storm–but the extreme cold has yet to miss us this off season. It is just two above zero Fahrenheit as I write this first installment of 2014. The temperature outside is not the only thing getting ice cold. National marketing is bit on the polar…

INDYCAR – How Did We Get Here? Pt. 2 When Did It Go Sideways?

January 20, 2014January 20, 2014 Mike Shaw

(Note: Part one can be found here) Welcome back to the weird and wonderful world that is AAA and INDYCAR history. Racing through the 20’s was political, but more or less straight forward in its execution. The late 20’s bring a whole different problem. Instead of making history, AAA was finally interested in documenting its history correctly and accurately. You can decide how successful they eventually were. In 1926/1927, AAA Assistant Secretary Arthur Means, for reasons unknown, created false season tables for 1909-1915 and 1917-1919 and reworked the 1920 season …

Rally America – Exciting New Developments

January 18, 2014January 19, 2014 Mike Shaw

Yes, it is not all doom and gloom. Last week I posted an article that was admittedly a bit vague, with concern for Rally America’s national championships. Two of the 2013 champions, plus Ken Block and a few other regular national entrants stated that they are unable to continue in the 2014 national championship season. There were quite a few comments here on the site as well as on Facebook and Twitter and I must say I really appreciate hearing from all of you as passionate about the sport as…

INDYCAR – How Did We Get Here? Pt. 1 When Did We Start?

January 13, 2014 Mike Shaw

The prospect of American open-wheel racing is a fractured endeavor at best, and has been for nearly the entirety of its history. How long is that history, and how do we differentiate between the massive gaps in execution, ideology and technology that has graced the dusty roads of North America for over 100 years? We can at least agree that what we watch now can trace its history back a very long time. But how long depends on who you ask. The first race in the US was held in…

Rally America – Serious Problems Ahead

January 11, 2014January 11, 2014 Mike Shaw

Remember last season where every major class came down to the final event to decide the championship? Two of those titles came down to the final day, and one wasn’t sealed until the final stage. It was simply epic. There were some great battles between Ken Block and David Higgins all season long. David Sterckx overcame his mechanical issues from the previous year to take the championship in Super Production and Mason Moyle had his best season yet finishing second in the class. In 2wd Brendan Reeves showed us American’s…

Rally – WRC’s Manufacturing Winner is M-Sport

January 8, 2014January 9, 2014 Mike Shaw

Wait, does that title infer what I think it does? Didn’t Volkswagen win the FIA WRC manufacturers title in a dominant fashion last season? Yes, Volkswagen did win the manufacturer’s title as far as the FIA is concerned, but please note that I said “manufacturing” not “manufacturer” title. First let me be clear, I’m not a Ford fanboy or a Malcolm Wilson fanboy or anything like that. Regardless I think I can make a good case as to why M-Sport is the current rally manufacturing winner even if they don’t…

INDYCAR – One Final Dance with 2013

January 6, 2014January 6, 2014 Mike Shaw

Eric Hall here, you may remember me from such word-hack outlets as anotherindycarblog and Podium Magazine. After the tragic passing of Mr. Kevin Neely, I have been tapped to continue his fantastic work here at OpenPaddock.net. There is no way I, nor anyone, will be able to fill Mr. Neely’s shoes, but I do promise to keep spreading the love of IndyCar to the best of my ability. 2013 was another historic year for IndyCar, with the highest of highs and nearly the lowest of lows experienced at different times…