An Aspiring Writer

The Best Job on Earth... Hands Down! Can't wait for next months fashion update..

I agree!
(I must say, this week's weakly was kind of a pendulum swing of emotions, I was excited to see my face on there, but then got thrown against the wall after reading the alms piece. Wtf)

More Ink for Mrs. Bee! You Go Girl. What's your beef on the merger? I'm not a follower, but the article seems to represent the merger in a "neutral" light. What am I missing?

my primary beef with the merger is that I have fears that what now seems like a classy auto sport will turn into the same mentality of the redneck roundabout.

And as nerdy as this sounds, I have a fear that the origin and roots of the Le Mans will be lost. As we all know, (or should) Endurance racing has much different strategies and excitement than a typical race. I worry that it will be over commercialized and glossy. Tacky even.

Not bloody likely. Prototype and sportscar road racing has never ventured onto ovals in any significant way (other than to use them to surround an infield course, like at Daytona). I don't see that changing. If it does, sportscar racing will splinter (yet again) and go back to the road courses. This isn't the first time there's been a shake up like this and it's not likely to be the last.

As for the LeMans connection, that was always artificial, even with ALMS. LeMans has always steadfastly stood alone as much as the FIA and ACO could get away with. The French just don't like that others are always so much better at auto racing, so they try to control as much as they can with their One Big Race©. ALMS was fabricated to provide a feeder series into LeMans by matching their (expected) construction rules, but it was instigated here in the US (and maybe in Germany, where Audi wanted a series to dominate, not just a single race), not in France.

Sorry to play the 'Old Phart' card here, but you're just not old enough to remember.

Whew, I'm glad there are old farts out there to save my young butt. I agree with you, and really I have the tendancy to make thing incredibly complex and more involved than absolutely necessary.

Upon reading the article, I was kind of heart broken, worried about the sport changing so much that I'd have to start watching something like Mens Table Tennis Finals or Horse Racing or something.

And, I guess if it DOES change in a direction that is unfavorable, there is always the good old fashion picket line. I could start a one girl protest, sandwich board and all.

in the words of the late great Hunter S Thompson "...and man, I LOVE a good controversy"

Horse racing is actually a pretty cool sport, can't imagine getting any closer to the edge than riding on the back of a thoroughbred race horse steaming down the home stretch... I never had a close encounter with a Thoroughbred, but I did have the pleasure to be around several Standard Bred race horses. Awsome power, different kind of speed, but every bit as competitive as their Blue Grass Brothers. Translation, racing is racing, whether you're on the gas, or on the brakes, the trick is to point for daylight. Give the merger a chance, maybe it will work out better than you think.

My family is in horse racing actually, and I think its pretty interesting, especially when they end up in the glue factory (alright, that doesn't REALLY happen).

I think as long as the thrill and passion is there you can make a competition out of anything, even yourself.

I dabbled in racing - - on foot that is - - for a little while. After numerous failed attempts and injuries, I decided my fate was to go fast on wheels, as opposed to over priced running shoes. It was during a rather lengthy training run that I had an epiphany, a vision of being crippled and being sent to a glue factory. No more running for me.

As far as the merger goes, I'll give it a chance and curb my ability to over react to anything that acts as resistance (I'm like electricity sometimes).

Now...if we could only get better commentators...Jeremy Shaw is a bit much...

Interesting, my wife's family raced every track from Dover to Yonkers back in the '70s. She was a stable brat & knew every top ranked driver on the circuit. Their top Pacer paid a lot of bills & kept the family on the go for several years.

This one?

Thanks krieger, I needed a good hearty belly laugh today!

It's fantastic to be able to laugh at other peoples ridiculousness

Never laugh at a car on a drag strip until after you're raced and beaten it. Something may look ridiculous, but it can still kick the butt of your car and the driver.

Alright, alright, I agree.

Is there actual proof that that thing actually does anything besides be a super tacky lawn ornament?
I I could always park the tard in front of a trailer with tractors on it, make it look like it was going to tow it somewhere, but it doesn't mean it actually happened.

It doesn't matter. Having been a frequent visitor to the drag strip I've seen all sorts of cars kick butt. Sleeper cars are common - they're sleepers for a reason. A project car will many times kick the butt of an expensive sports car in a straight line on the drag strip. I've seen many expensive sports car owners depressed when a cheap camero or Buick has kicked their butts. I've had my 911 on the drag strip (a couple of times) and been beaten by many cars you wouldn't predict, does it make my $90K german monster any less of a monster? No. 1) it wasn't designed for that and 2) the aggressiveness of the driver also plays a large part and I don't thrash my cars.

I would also argue that straight line performance (American mentality) is absolutely meaningless on a track or around a curvy road - real world performance!. There's a reason that Mustangs, Corvettes, Camero's, etc are popular and that's because they're cheap and designed to kick butt in a straight line. Put them anywhere else and they get their asses handed to them.

The lesson here is not to be a car snob - performance matters more than appearance.

If we are being car snobs, then I hate to inform you its camaro, not camero

Even if we aren't being car snobs, just cynical everyday jerks, can we at least agree that pacer needs some flames?

and here I thought it was Camaro... however, lest trivialities sidetrack the festivities of the really earth-shattering topic of the second... sure, flames, yes - but, so hard to do with spray paint. Actually, though, if anyone's going to do anything with one of those, turning it into a dragster at least is doing something fun with what was otherwise a rather oddball automotive conception originally. Dragster Pacer with flames FTW.

I would expect better from you, that was a little petty.

I have little patience car car snobbery. A true car enthusiast (which you claim to be) likes them in all shapes and size, as long as they can perform. I actually think that a drag way Pacer is a pretty cool idea. An AMC Gremlin would be even more cool.

We have a monthly cars and coffee event here in the Triangle. A few months ago a Buick not too unlike the one pictured below showed up. It was matte primer grey and looked a little beaten up. People were mocking it for parking near the Porsche group. A friend of mine pointed out that it was a highly tuned Buick Grand National, had close to 1000 hp sitting under the hood and could kick the butt of many of the high end cars sitting in the lot that day. It was the ultimate Sleeper

Looks can be deceiving. Much as I remember someone quoting, "It's only a One", people were saying "it's only a Buick." Car snobbery comes in many forms and one has to be careful for one's words not to come back and bite them. It's a little amusing considering one of your first posts on this forum involved the discussion around "It's only a One". Cynicism and hypocrisy can sometimes look very similar. I did get a chuckle out of that thought.