[geeks] Re: Suzuki Samurai

[Sandwich Maker]

"From: Charles Shannon Hendrix <shannon at widomaker.com>
"
"On Tue, Oct 21, 2003 at 12:38:01PM -0700, Lionel Peterson wrote:
"> --- Mike F <lists at mikef.dyndns.org> wrote:
"> > <flamesuit> It's the crashes :) </flamesuit>
"> 
"> I would love to make a red splatter with Dale Ernhardt's # on it (what
"> was it 3, 8, ?) and put it on the back of my car...

3.  that does have a certain attraction...

"> I saw a bit of the Dale Ernhardt "memorial" TV special, it was,
"> unsettling... You would think he did more than drive a very fast car in
"> a near-constant left turn...
"
"Dale Earndhart was reckless for many years, and ran many better drivers
"off the road when he couldn't win fairly, and finally paid the ultimate
"price for it.  He died by overdriving his car and bullying other drivers
"to try and win points.  It finally caught up to him.

he didn't get the nickname 'ironhead' for nothing...

i remember, the first year jeff gordon was on the circuit, they were
racing at one of the 'narrow' tracks where there was only one 'line'
through the corners.  dale was passing a lot of folks by pulling
alongside them and daring them to corner two-wide with him, which
would mean a certain crash.

well, he got up alongside jeff, and jeff took the dare.  dale backed
off, and he was never quite as 'competitive' again.

"That, and refusing to wear anything but a near-useless helmet.

visibility is a major deal, in close racing.  the hans they wear now
limits it severely.  i agree dale made a poor tradeoff.

"> It is a shame he died, but he was neither the first nor will he be the
"> last to die at NASCAR...

it was also his choice and priviledge - he was doing what he wanted to
do, and he was not ignorant of the risks.

"The accidents are a big draw.  They should do two things:
"
"* eliminate restictor plates, forcing drivers to exersize control

but there are -more- crashes on restrictor-plate tracks!  the loss of
hp bunches the field up into a giant 40-car freight train where one
little bobble can take out half the field.  and they don't talk about
-if- it will happen, they talk about -when-.

and don't tell me it takes no control to drive 180 mph with cars less
than six feet [sometimes a lot less] all around you.

"* remove half the ovals and replace them with road courses

you mean like sears point and watkins glen?  they race there.

i'd like to see more too, like mid-ohio, road america...  even sebring
or cincinnati would be interesting.

"Besides, real moonshiners drove on twisty, hilly, dangerous roads, not
"in circles!  :-)

on an oval, you race the competition first, track second.  on a road
course, you race the track first, competition second.

yeah, driving in circles -looks- easy and dull.  but...  nigel mansell
was used to being able to 'hustle' his f1 cars around the road courses
to get fast qualifying laps.  he came to indycars and discovered -
quite dramatically - you can't 'hustle' on ovals.  you're already
balancing on the knife-edge of control, and in nascar even the
presence of another car near you can make you lose it.  that's why
they say catching a competitor is one thing, passing him is another.

nascar cars have about 800 hp.  they can spin the rear wheels in top
gear, on a clean dry track, at 120 mph.  yes, it looks easy to go fast
on an oval.  it isn't.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought