May 24, 2009
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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Welcome to the busiest day in motorsports. Today is a day of nirvana for the race fan that doesn’t care what is on the track, so long as it is fast.
If you are reading this bright and early Sunday morning, then Formula 1 is currently racing in the streets of Monaco. If you are reading this just before 1 p.m. eastern, then the Indianapolis 500 is about to get under way. After 5 p.m.? -- Well, NASCAR is about to go racing 600 miles at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
This is a day of racing for everyone. The curving roads of Monaco allow folks who don’t like the “turn left, go fast” mentality of the oval racers to get a good dose of tight turns and challenging passes. For those who love history, today marks the 93rd running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” And this evening marks the golden anniversary of the longest race in NASCAR, the Coca-Cola 600.
Sadly, one of the things that really added to the adventure of this day can no longer be done. “Doing the Double” is now impossibility with the 500 start time being moved back to 1 p.m. from noon eastern in 2005 so that the folks on the west coast don’t have to set their alarm clocks in order to see the start of the race.
It used to be great fun to watch as Tony Stewart or Robby Gordon would strap into an Indy car and take to the track for 500 miles, and then hop in a helicopter, to get to a plane, to get in another helicopter to make it to Lowe's for the start of the 600. 1100 miles on two tracks in one day. Stewart ran it in 1999, his rookie year in NASCAR, and again in 2001, with finishing positions of 6th and 3rd respectively in 2001.
Gordon did the double five times, including the last one attempted in 2004, which ended with Gordon having to leave the race early to make it to Lowe's due to a rain delay at Indianapolis, and his replacement driver suffering a blown engine not long afterwards.
John Andretti, the first driver to make the double duty attempt 12 years ago, will be starting the Indy 500 today...and he will be doing it with a strong tie to NASCAR. Andretti will be taking the green flag in row ten (28th), driving a red and blue #43 car, partially owned by Richard Petty. The King will actually be doing the double, although it won’t be behind the wheel. He will begin his day cheering on Andretti, and then catch a plane, where he will arrive to cheer on the drivers of Richard Petty Motorsports.
Can you just imagine the options we would have if we DID have the chance for drivers to pull the double? We have past Indy winners Sam Hornish and Juan Pablo Montoya now enjoying careers in NASCAR. Scott Speed has won in Formula 1, and would probably enjoy the challenge of racing both kinds of cars in one day. Gordon would probably welcome the chance to get back behind the wheel of both cars in one day, and you have Indy drivers such as Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti who have driven in NASCAR in the past.
Oh, and it would give Danica Patrick a chance to actually dip her toes in the NASCAR waters instead of just talking about it.
With that many drivers, you could probably charter a plane just to ferry them back and forth instead of having a small fleet of planes and helicopters on the stand by. Robby used to offer a travel package to his fans that wanted to go to both races…and the tickets sold out each time they were offered.
I can tell you as a fan, I’d love to see it happen again, especially if all of the drivers mentioned were to take part in it. And if they offered the media a chance to go along and cover the double as well, I’d be more than happy to sign up for that job.
Since the 600 already goes on late into the night, it is probably unlikely that NASCAR would be able to move the start of the race an hour later, which means it would be up to the Indy Racing League to move the 500 back to its original noon start time. Yes, it would mean that west coast fans would have to resort to getting up an hour earlier on a Sunday morning, but they did it for 40 years before the time change.
Even if we can’t have the double, today is a day for race fans to kick back and enjoy. There is something for everyone, and a day full of high speed for those who just enjoy the sport of racing.
On a side note…I don’t know how many of you have heard about the torrential rains that have fallen across the state of Florida this past week. In some places, more than two feet of water have led to flooding and evacuations. On Thursday, photo’s surfaced of flooding inside of Daytona International Speedway, with water lapping up against the super stretch wall, and the turn 1 tunnel flooded and impassable.
Andrew Booth, Manager of Media Relations for International Speedway Corporation, told me Saturday that all is not as bad as it seems. “The pictures you are seeing really don't portray the scene correctly” he said when asked about the pictures. “We have received a significant amount of rainfall - more than 20 inches. But we have had no significant damage from any of the rains and there is no standing water on the track surface. There has been some ponding of water in the Turn 1 tunnel and some areas around the lake, (but) we are pumping the water out. It's not a sight you usually see, but we'll be good to go in July.”
He says the more pressing issue is the situation those living around the track are facing. “We're fine at (Daytona International Speedway) but we are more concerned about our area residents who have been really affected by this rainfall and have water actually in their homes. All we have is water in our tunnel.”
Finally, this is Memorial Day weekend. It is a day to remember the men and women who have fought for our freedom, many of whom giving the ultimate sacrifice. If, as you are out and about running errands today or tomorrow, happen to come across a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine, either retired or still on active duty, take a moment to shake their hand, or at the very least, to say thank you.
God Bless our military men and women, and God Bless the USA.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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