Planet-IRL

Finally!

After a 6 year winless streak my boys at Brumos Porsche finally made it to victory lane today. I don’t know about you but I was licking my fingers and touching my right foot* for the last two hours of what will go down as one of the best Rolex 24s in history. Seeing David Donohue make that amazing pass on Juan Pablo Montoya down the front stretch was a magical moment. After 23 hours of preparation Donohues Porsche Riley started to pull away from the underpowered Lexus. But by far the best moment was seeing David crawl out of his machine and join my boy Buddy Rice and teammates Darren Law and Antonio Garcia on the stage in the Gatorade Victory Lane.

Besides this emotional and historical victory the race as a whole was great. Penske dominating the first half and then breaking their halfshaft, the engine problems experienced by Ford and Porshes domination of the GT class will make this a race to remember. Congratulations to both the Brumos Porsche team and TRG for their wins at this years 24 Hours of Daytona.

*In case you think I am some sort of crazy person, this routine is one of those things drivers do for good luck.

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Top 10 of the last 10 : Drivers

Welcome to the first installment of “Top 10 of the last 10″ a series where I will nominate the top 10 best tracks, drivers, teams, ECT. Today I am talking about the best drivers. This list is not just based on statistics and finishes but how entertaining the driver is.

1. Michael Schumacher – Love him or hate him Michael Schumacher is statistically the best driver that Formula One has ever seen. He holds many records including most drivers’ championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions points scored and most races won in a single season. Besides that he is also one of the most prolific drivers of all time. He was involved in crashes in the final races of both 1994 and 97′ that changed the outcome of that years championship. As well as the team orders controversy stemming from the 2002 Australian Grand Prix in which Schumi’s Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello was forced by the team to pull over in the final lap of the race to allow Michael to pass for the win. Team orders were subsequently banned in F1.
2. Danica Patrick – Danicker, Princess, Madame Blocks o’ Lot, who else has set the racing world on fire like Danica did in the May of 2005. Being the only American to win the Formula Ford festival then doing quite well in the Atlantics paved the way for Mrs. Hospenthals entrance to Indycar. And despite her frequent tantrums, collisions, and towel fights there is no denying that she has brought more fans to the Irl than most drivers in Nascar.
3. Tony Stewart – Tony, track owner, driver, team owner but most of all a very entertaining person. He brings you back to the days before drivers were a bunch of buttoned up snobs who could care less about their fans. His driving style reminds most of the Immortal Anthony Joseph Foyt himself. Not to mentions all of these incidents.
   
4. Paul Tracy – Although I can’t stand him PT is still one of the most entertaining drivers ever. His “chrome horn” driving style has been criticized by many people but it is that driving that has made his career last for more than 20 years.
5. Fernando Alonso – No other man has the audacity to stand up to the ego that is Ron Dennis. His driving style can always make a race interesting. Some people call him a whiner (along with #10 on this list) but if it needs to be whined about WHINE ABOUT IT!!He reminds me of another age of drivers when they didn’t care about PR or sponsors; they raced.
6. Kimi Raikonnen – On track and off Kimi has shown that he is not to be toyed with but it seemed losing out on the “Public Speaker of the Year” award to Tony George made him lose focus this year. But I suspect he will return to the front of the grid this year.
7. Juan Pablo Montoya – His fiery driving carries over into his off track life, everything from trying to tackle Kevin Harvick to telling a camera guy to…, and marching out of press conferences. Oh yea, he also won “500″ along the way.
8. Lewis Hamilton – Although I am not the biggest Hamilton fan in the world there is no denying his talent, particularly in the rain. His worst finish in the F1 driver championship: 2nd one point behind champion Kimi Raikonnen in 2007. His main problem is not his problem at all, Ron Dennis might want to be careful because if Lewis should stop to suddenly his nose might well end up somewhere where it shouldn’t be.
9. Sam Hornish – He was one of the final Irl stalwarts to jump ship after his move to Nascar in 2008. His smooth precise driving style brought back memories of his hero and coach Rick Mears. After two championships and a “500″ under his belt he vacated his seat to pursue a career driving taxis’ around in circles.
10. Sebastien Bourdais -The “King of Champ Car” was immersed in the world of American Open Wheel racing in 2003. Some saw him as a geeky, whiny brat. But this ended when he became the first rookie since Mansell to claim pole in their first start. He went on to be the champion in all but one of Champ Car’s 5 seasons.

Honorable mentions – Robby Gordon, Al Unser Jr., and just missing out on the top 10 was Sam Hornish Sr.
In my next installment of :Top 10″ I will list the top 10 tracks of the last ten years-We appreciate all of your feedback here at Planet-Irl, so if you would like to leave a comment simply click the button below that says comment. Thanks-

UOWWB Response

This week UOWWB asks

“If Ryan Hunter-Reay or Justin Wilson were offered a full-time seat at the newly rumored Pacific Coast Motorsports/Rubicon racing team, should they take the ride or hold out and hope for a ride with Rahal, N/H/L, or Penske?”

TAKE IT!!!! Its simple, if a team offers you a ride in this economy you have to take it. Both Rahal and Newman Haas are horrendously under-sponsored. You cannot wait for a ride with teams that are hanging bait in front of other drivers and leaving you jobless. Even if Pacific Coast isn’t exactly a world class organization you should still take the ride. This also gives me an oppurtunity to wonder aloud “Where did N/H/L McDonalds sponsorship go?” I mean they are one of 2 American Companies (the other being the Wally Mally AKA. Walmart) that posted any substantial profit this year and they just drop their sponsorship! I think McDonalds and WalMart would make great sponsors.

Well now just visit UOWWB for the rest of the responses, and be sure to check out Planet-Irl throughout this week for my new series “Top 10 of the last 10″ documenting the best races, tracks, drivers, teams, ECT. of the last ten years.

-We appreciate all of your feedback here at Planet-Irl, so if you would like to leave a comment simply click the button below that says comment. Thanks-