Danica Patrick's 2009 IndyCar Season

I was waiting for the IRL season to end before posting this in the interest of not placing a hex on the rest of her season.

The 2009 IRL season saw great improvement from Danica Patrick over her previous season. Granted, she did not win a race this season but her performance over the whole of the season was vastly improved over her past performances. She finished the season in fifth place in the championship behind only the two Ganassi and two Penske drivers, essentially putting her first in class. This was quite an accomplishment given that Andretti Green Racing (or whatever they are calling themselves now) had far from a stellar or even average season.

Danica Patrick was consistently the best performer on a subpar performing AGR and consistently the best performing non-Ganassi or Penske driver. It would have been expected that Tony Kanaan would have been that driver but instead it was Patrick. What led to her taking that position? In my opinion two things: an improved attitude and better teamwork.

1. In past seasons, Patrick's attitude and temper were stumbling blocks. She lost her temper quickly and it prevented her from performing at her best. She did not handle adversity well and it showed. This season, she seemed to be an almost different person. It would have been hard to blame her for losing her temper with her team's overall performance but she handled with grace in public (I have no idea what she said behind closed doors). She had several incidents in the pits and on the track that she handled more professionally and coolly than she did in previous seasons. I have no doubt that the way she handled the negatives this year led to her improved performance.
2. It was obvious this year that Patrick was better able to work with her team and engineer to keep the car's setup not only stable throughout the races but to improve it throughout the races. She started out races with good handling and was able to maintain and improve the handling throughout the course of the race. She kept her frustrations in check and took what the race offered rather than overdoing things and ruining the day's performance.

Personally, I would love to see what the improved Danica Patrick could do in a Ganassi or Penske car.

Anyway, congratulations to Danica Patrick on an improved season in 2009 and good luck towards continued improvement in 2010.

Mac McCormick III

Blackberry Problems

I am awaiting the arrival of a replacement Blackberry Tour in the next couple of days. The left-right action on my Tour's trackball has always been a bit problematic but over the weekend it practically quit working left-right at all. Monday morning I went to the Verizon store and before I could a sentence halfway out of my mouth, the Verizon rep knew what my problem was. Unfortunately they didn't have any replacements in stock, so they are FedEx-ing me a new one.

It seems that the problem is defective trackballs in the early examples of the Tour. RIM apparently is aware of the problem and it was fixed in later examples.

Mac McCormick III

NASCAR Hall of Fame

This evening, the first five inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be announced. Prior to the announcement, here are the five that I voted for in the open voting on the internet earlier this year:

1. Bill France Sr. Love him or hate him, there is no doubt that without Bill France Sr. that there would be no NASCAR as we know it. There are a lot of arguments that he cheated others out of their stake in NASCAR but he is the one who brought the founders together. It can also be argued that his style was dictatorial but NASCAR is the sanctioning body that has survived and prospered; you just cannot say that about other sanctioning bodies such as AAA, USAC, and CART.
2. Bill France Jr. Once again, there is no doubt that without Bill France Jr. there would be no NASCAR as we know it. Most of the same arguments from the father apply to the son. Bill France Jr. grew the sport from what he inherited from his father as a regional sport to gargantuan national sport that now garners international attention.
3. Raymond Parks The creator of the first superteam before NASCAR was even started, Raymond Parks planted the seed of what Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush operate today. Raymond Parks supported Bill France Sr. with loans before NASCAR was started and in NASCAR's early days. It would not be a stretch to say that there may have been no NASCAR without Atlanta's Raymond Parks.
4. Richard Petty There are only two seven time champions in NASCAR. Along with Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty has to be among the first five. Richard Petty also has the record of 200 wins, perhaps untouchable for the forseeable future.
5. Dale Earnhardt The same argument: The only two seven time champions must be in the first five selected to the Hall of Fame. Besides Earnhardt's success on the track, it must also be mentioned that Earnhardt's death on the track, more than any other's pushed NASCAR from simply paying lip service to safety to being more serious about safety (although in my opinion, they still have a VERY long way to go).

Mac McCormick III

Remembering Stevie Ray Vaughn

A few good ones from the Stevie Ray Vaughn Tribute Concert. I was feeling the urge to look up the tribute concert tonight for some reason. I remember watching this on TV as an Austin City Limits special (if I recall correctly).

Hendrick cars pass inspection

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4537242&campaign=rss&source=RPMHeadlines

"NASCAR found that the bodies of the cars raced at Dover barely met specifications. The crew chiefs were warned not to bring the Chevrolets back to the track.
The close call led to grumbling by rivals that the Hendrick teams had been given a break by NASCAR and should have been penalized. Darby insisted the cars were legal, by a hair."


If the cars were legal, why can't they bring them back? This smacks of NASCAR's ban of Ray Evernham's Godzilla car at Charlotte in the 90's.

Mac McCormick III

Quotation of the Day - 05 October 2009

"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble."

-Plautus, Playwright


Today has been a day of troubles that has tried my patience. I need to take this to heart for the coming few days.

Quotation of the Day - 04 October 2009

"I don't like religion much, and I am glad that in the Bible the word is not to be found."

-Martin Buber, Theologian and Philosopher

Suzuka F1 Practice

Last night I stayed up late and watched the live practice session from Suzuka for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Out of the 90 minute session, there may have been cars on the track for 20 minutes, out of that the bulk of the cars were out for less than 10 minutes; maybe 7 at the most. There was heavy rain and a lot of standing water on the track that made conditions too dangerous for most of the session. Fernando Alonso ended up seventh for the session but I believe that his performance was the best of the session. He set his fast time before the bulk of the cars went out, thus doing it in worse conditions. Once the other cars came out, there wasn't as much water on the racing line making for better grip. I believe even more that Alonso has been carrying Renault the last two years. His performances have been far better than what the car is.

Mac McCormick III