When I woke up this morning and headed to my car, there was a thin layer of frost on the good ol’ PT Cruiser. This is Alabama! It’s supposed to be close to spring. There shouldn’t be frost anywhere. Oh well, just crank up the heater and head to the track. Making the right turn off Rex Lake Road onto the drive leading to the track was a bit surreal. There was a very thin haze blanketing the ground as frost clung to the blades of grass on the side of…
Read MoreIndyCar-Media Day….Fun in 1000 Words Or Less
I’m feeling quite inadequate today. I’m sitting here in the media room at Barber Motorsports Park amongst the cream of the crop of IndyCar media. (By the way, Brian….Are you happy I capitalized the C in IndyCar?) As I sit here at my station looking across to see Curt Cavin typing away, Kevin Lee and Jon Beekhus going over notes for NBC and Amy Konrath pulling everything together, I am reminded that I should probably have a yellow stripe on my laptop in here. Behind me is Jenna Fryer from…
Read MoreEpisode 178.1 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast: SCCA Edition
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadOur SCCA Reporter, Jeremy Salenius, is headed down to Georgia to compete in the first SCCA Solo Match Tour event of the year. He gives us an overview of what the unique Match Tour format is and how it’s different from a regular Solo event. Be sure to also check out Jeremy’s article, 2013 SCCA Solo Season is Almost Here. Jeremy will be reporting on all things SCCA Solo for us in addition to competing at both the local and national levels. Over the…
Read MoreIndy Lights – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Signs Sage Karam for 2013
As if the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports stable wasn’t already stacked with talent, the juggernaut team in Firestone Indy Lights announced the signing of a third supremely talented driver, Sage Karam. To be honest, I and many others just took it as a given that Sage would be with Zach Veach at the Andretti Autosport team, the team he’s been with ever since joining the Mazda Road to Indy in the USF2000 Championship back in 2010. As we saw Andretti sign Zach and Munoz, I thought perhaps they would expand to…
Read MoreFormula 1 – Another Beautiful Letdown?
Mercedes-Benz AMG is riding the wave of momentum into Australia for the Formula 1 opener. After topping the time sheets over the final two days of testing last week, expectations for the team are beginning to change. Mercedes were originally set to just survive the 2013 season with Lewis Hamilton making the switch over from McLaren. The interesting thing about it is the top teams now believe Mercedes could be the favorite as we are just a week out from Australia. The question is will 2013 be beautiful letdown sequel…
Read MoreEpisode 178 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadA little delayed this week, but Episode 178 of the OpenPaddock.net Podcast is now available for your aural pleasure. Dr. Patterson and Mr. Whitesell cover the sobriety spectrum as Doug is stuck recording the show late night at the shop drinking potentially decaffeinated black tea while Mike enjoys a growler full of a fine local IPA. Mr. Neely is recovering from the plague and Mr. Shaw wonders why the hell he ever joined this sorry band of misfit motorsports fans! On this week’s show,…
Read MoreFormula 1 – Preseason Driver Power Rankings
After showing you how I feel the teams stack up for the start of 2013, I now give you all 22 drivers in the preseason driver power rankings. Please note that during the season we will only give the top 10 ranked drivers as it is frankly a pain the ass to do this for 22 drivers. Especially when we will forget half of them exist in about two weeks’ time! I will give a full update during the three week summer break and will have a full roundup at…
Read MoreRally – VW Ready for Mexico Altitude
The World Rally Championship visits Mexico this weekend with many teams taking part in recce today. Mexico proves a tricky challenge not only for the drivers, but the engineers as well. For those who are new to the WRC, Rally Mexico pushes the teams to altitudes they do not experience anywhere else on the schedule. This has a major impact on the engine and how it performs. The official WRC page put up a great story here that detail how Volkswagen prepared for the tricky altitude conditions. “On the one…
Read MoreFormula 1 – Honda Rumor Shows V6 Promise
The big gossip over the last day or so is a BBC story linking Honda with McLaren for 2014 or 2015 at the latest. Honda whom used to run a team in the series (now the Mercedes AMG team) is strongly rumored to be making a comeback in the engine department as F1 moves to the turbo V6 for 2014. The Japanese manufacturer has made no official statement regarding their F1 plans, but the McLaren rumor isn’t going away. I think even the rumor shows there is a lot of…
Read MoreSports Car – Home field advantage for CJ Wilson Racing
CJ Wilson Racing completed a memorable weekend of Grand Am racing at Circuit of the Americas by taking it’s maiden victory in the ultra competitive ST class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on Saturday afternoon. Stevan McAleer and Marc Miller took the checkered flag after an intense battle in the final minutes of the two and a half hour race. After a late full course yellow tightened the 36 car field, the race to the flag became a frenetic twenty five minute sprint race. Both CJ Wilson cars…
Read More