Historic F1 Victory For Lewis Hamilton

On a race day that featured an horrific accident and four full coarse cautions, Lewis Hamilton made F1 history as he scored not only his first win but the first F1 win for a black driver. Regardless of race, this 22 year old rookie has been nothing short of phenomenal. Sure he is in a very good race car, but the two time defending champion Fernando Alonso is in the same car, and Hamilton has proved to be his equal if not better so far this year. In six races he has been on the podium every time and now has captured his first win with many more sure to follow. He had no real threat in a race that saw a record number of safety car periods which in F1 is almost unheard of, as he sailed to victory in The Canadian Grand Prix.

On a more somber note, Robert Kubica survived one of the worst crashes in recent F1 memory as his BMW went head on into a concrete barrier after getting airborne from contact with Trulli's Toyota. At fist glance, I assumed he had sustained terrible injuries and possibly fatal ones, but to my surprise and relief he escaped relatively unhurt. My only wonder is how will such a terrible crash effect him in the future. Will he be able to put it behind him and maintain the good work he has done for team BMW Sauber?

This race was also full of events that rarely occur in an F1 race. Phillipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were both disqualified for running the red light at the end of pit road. Are they color blind? I think that red is the universal color that means "STOP". And what about Alonso going off in turn one four different times. Is he feeling the pressure from his new teammate? Then he get's passed straight up by Sato in the Super Aguri Honda! To say the least it was a Grand Prix that was short of boring and long on things to talk about. But congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his maiden victory. Is he the next big gun in F1? What do you think? See you at Indy.

Indy Car In Texas

It has been some time since Sam Hornish has dominated a race, but last night in Texas it was vintage Hornish and vintage Penske. Other than the race starting a little too late for us folks on the east coast, it was pretty entertaining. I especially liked when Tomas Scheckter threw his gloves at Marco Andretti after the too touched wheels that sent Scheckter to the garage. Good thing they are friends, I'd hate to see what enemies might do to each other.

It is amazing to me how these drivers race wheel to wheel in these open wheel rocket ships at speeds over 215 MPH. Safer barrier or not it just shows you the courage these drivers have racing at such high speeds. Sam Hornish is probably the best at this type of racing. Even though he was never really challenged in this race, he has shown in the past the ability to race on the edge of danger and put his car in the winners circle. This is why he is the best at this form of racing. So congrats to Sam on another dominating win and to the Andretti Green team for finishing 2-3-4 behind him.

Why Is Danica So Mad All The Time?

Why is Danica Patrick alaways mad at someone or something? This time she has a issue with Dan Wheldon for an on the track get togeather that basically ended her race on the Milwaukee Mile. To me it seemed to be a racing incident but I guess she thought Wheldon was being a jerk about a previous altercation and wanted payback. What I think it is is an attempt to raise some attention to the fledgling condition of open wheel racing in the US. When a driver that hasn't won a race is the biggest draw than there is something wrong in paradise.

I found it rather amusing to hear Danica sqeaking away sounding all kinds of pissed off and then hearing Dan Wheldon fight back in with that tiny English accent. Maybe they should throw a few punches at each other and then we would really have something to talk about. Oh by the way, Tony Kannan won the race, boring as it may have been. Nice payback for the disappointment at Indy last week.

Truex Breaks Through At Dover!

Well it seems DEI is not dead in the water yet as Martin Truex Jr earns his first Nascar Nextel Cup victory in dominating fashion. It was only a matter of time before Truex won his first race as he showed today what he can do in a race car when given equipment that can run up front. I'm especially proud that Martin hails from my home state of New Jersey as I can't remember in recent past that a driver from NJ has won a Cup race. Again Chevrolet wins another race and another COT race to boot. Will the other manufacturers catch up?

With the win Truex has put himself ahead of his popular teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr in the race to the chase and a chance at the biggest prize in US Motor Racing. And speaking of Earnhardt, where will he wind up next year? I don't know if we will know anytime soon because when you are dealing with the biggest name in the sport it will take a long time to work out a deal with all concerned parties. The only thing I would bet on is that he'll be in a Chevy and sponsored by The King Of Beers. But congrats to Martin Truex Jr for his first win of which there will surely be many more to follow.

Indy 500 A Rainy Mess!!

Can you really feel good about wining a race shortened by rain, knowing you had the sixth or seventh best car in the field? I guess that's how it goes sometimes at The Brickyard and you can't stop mother nature from doing her thing, but winning this way leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I guess in the end no one will remember that Dario Franchetti won a rain shortened race, only that he was the 2007 winner of the event. But you have to feel bad for Tony Kannan, who was the class of the field, as his pit stategy and the final downpour ended any chance of him winning the race.

As I watched bits and pieces of the race it only served to remind me that the open wheel racing venue in this country is really hurting. When will people who run the IRL and Champ Car Series put aside their differences and form a single league that will combine the best drivers and the best teams. This would lead to stronger lower level development series that would nurture the best talent in years to come. We can only hope that this will happen soon as the attendance at most races (other than Indy) is very low and competition from all the Nascar venues is pretty stiff. Listen up Tony George, bring back open wheel dominance as it was in the late 80's and early 90's.