Full Throttle

The number one reason you can tell NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series has been on hiatus for the last week: (Subtitled; “It’s Been Far Too Long Since the Edward’s L’Affaire Oil Tank.”)

1. Jack in the Hat is blowing his stack! (Courtesy Dave Moody) “ESPN the Magazine has an interesting and potentially explosive quote from Roush Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush as part of its 10th Anniversary issue, which is on newsstands this week.”

“We had a proprietary Roush Fenway part go missing from one of my race teams, and we recovered it from a Toyota team. I’m not going to say which team it is, but we are considering legal action, or getting NASCAR involved.”

Hmm… if I were to guess, while donning my Foil Hat, I’d say the proprietary part in question might be that super-duper, extra special, made-with-Kryptonite oil tank fastening device the #99 was caught with. But that’s pure speculation.

Dave via his Sirius Radio connections contacted Roush-Fenway and “hopes” to have a statement from them later today. I’m reminded of the old saying “hope in one hand and shit in the other, and see which one fills up faster.”

As long as the Foil Hat is in place I may as well ask a lingering question: Jack why go to ESPN the Magazine with such an explosive charge before blabbing to the Toyota team and NASCAR?

Why do I have the feeling Jack is building a very smokey fire with no flames underneath it?

My second number one reason of the day is; What’s the number one reason you can tell the Formula One season is well and truly under way?

1. Because it only took two events for more questions and controversy to arise over F1’s qualifying procedures.

After McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were penalized in Malaysia for being rolling chicanes during the last qual session new calls for changes have surfaced with BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen, being the loudest.

For years Formula 1 qualifying was a one-hour session with all the cars running simultaneously and the fastest driver taking pole position. In 2002 the FIA made qualifying a two two-hour single-lap shootout, where each driver ran a single timed lap alone. (eventually reduced to one hour)

2004 started with two back-to-back single lap Saturday qualifying sessions. The format was modified slightly after broadcasters and Formula One “insiders” complained that it was too long and too boring. That resulted in more calls for in season changes, they were drawn up, and promptly scraped less than a month later.

In 2006 F1 came up with the most complicated system so far. I call it the Mr. Bean Solution where you take a simple problem and place as many roadblocks between the simple problem and the simple solution as possible.

To prove my point, the change in 2006 had a fatal flaw, the first 10 minutes or so of the last session were spent with cars doing nothing but turn laps to burn off fuel, before the real competition began in the few last minutes.

That was “fixed” in 2008 when the last session was changed to 10 minutes and that has brought on new calls, again, for change.

Cha… cha… cha… changes!

A no so wonderful thing, but what the hell, they are a sure sign the F1 season is underway.

UPDATE: McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh has also called for qualy changes (see page 4) to be made.