***Happy 75th Birthday, Mario Andretti!***

Happy 75th Birthday to Mario Andretti!

Forever fast; forever young!

Actor Hugh Grant talks racing on "Live With Kelly & Michael"

Some fans of historic/vintage motor racing may know that actors are, just like people in any other profession, drawn to the sport.  Though perhaps not as well known around the racing scene as a McQueen, a Newman, or even a Dempsey, British actor Hugh Grant, 54, is one of the internationally known thespians of late to take his chances behind the wheel of a race car.

Wednesday morning, February 11, 2015, Grant was in New York to promote the U.S. release of his film, The Rewrite.  Grant has starred in such movies as Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994); Notting Hill (1999); and Bridget Jones's Diary (2001). 

On Wednesday, he appeared on the morning talk show, Live With Kelly & Michael, to talk about The Rewrite.  Before they got to that, though, Michael Strahan asked him about his hobby -- racing cars.

Strahan wanted to know how much racing Grant has done, how many races, and has he been successful.

"I had a lot of training," replied Grant.  "And then I finally plucked up my car and did my first little series of races in Sweden last year.  I came in last, second last, and miles, miles last."

Kelly Ripa commented that it was perhaps good that he was not so competitive in the races, since he has children, and he needs to stay safe for them and not crash.

"You would think that," Grant said, "but I still manage to crash quite badly."  He continued with his dead-pan humorous description, "It’s an extraordinary sport.  It’s basically half an hour of middle-aged men trying to kill each other."

 

Stahan asked how fast they go.

 

"Pretty fast, down the straight," Grant said. "About 170 miles an hour or something."  The show's hosts and the audience were impressed with the speed.
 

 He continued, describing a bit more what the experience feels like to him.
 

"And you’re so miserable while you’re doing it," he said.  "You’re strapped in; everything hurts.  Sweat is pouring off of you.  You’re thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?  He’s trying to kill me.’  And then you get out at the end and feel kind of manly.  It’s very strange."

 

A funny way to describe racing -- but how true is it, and how many male racers do you know who admit to the discomfort in the car, as well as to their "manly" feelings afterwards?  Ha!  Maybe it takes a "charming" comedic actor, known for his roles in romantic comedies, to give spectators the real scoop about racing?  (or maybe he hasn't raced enough yet to find out the other pleasures of the sport?!).

Feel free to add your thoughts in the Comment section below!

 

Here is a link on YouTube to the interview.

Have fun on the track, Hugh -- maybe we'll see you around!

[Also fun to hear that Grant's movie The Rewrite is set at my college alma mater -- even in the English Dept. of -- Binghamton University!  Hope I can find a way to see the movie sometime!].

 

 

Destiny Racing USA, 2015 Schedule

Bulletin Board post:

Destiny Racing USA sends their schedule for 2015.  Posting it below for interested racers or especially for people on a budget who might be thinking about getting into historic/vintage racing for the first time, or who just want to try it with a low commitment, just to see what it's all about.

Tom Fitzgerald is the owner of his family business, Destiny Racing USA.  Tom is a friendly mechanic, owner/racer, and instructor from the Watkins Glen area.  He has cars for rent and track-side support at some of the most well-known tracks in the USA (see schedule below) where you can race them. (Note: if you are new to the sport, you will likely need racing lessons and certain other qualifications in order to join the competition events on the track). 

If you are a novice, my guess is that Tom will make you feel comfortable, not pressured.  If you have raced before, if you are an owner/racer, etc. but your cars are elsewhere and you don't want to take on the expense of hauling them to an event, he has some cars available to choose from that you might rent and race instead. 

Tom's company has headquarters in the Watkins Glen region (Geneva, NY) as well as at Sebring in Florida, so his racing season goes year-round.  See the schedules below for his contact information and events his company could help you participate in this racing season.  Enjoy!

FIA announces 2015 Formula One race schedule

[Photo:  FIA.com].

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) met on Wednesday, December 3 ahead of the Prize-Giving Ceremony coming up on Friday in Doha, Qatar. Several decisions were made in the council meeting.

Among the announcements coming out of the meeting was the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship schedule!

The eagerly awaited new race schedule for 2015 was confirmed by the FIA as follows:

• March 15 -- Grand Prix of Australia

·         March 29 -- Grand Prix of Malaysia

·         April 12 -- Grand Prix of China

·         April 19 -- Grand Prix of Bahrain

·         May 3 -- Grand Prix of Korea (TBC) [still tentative, as of 12/3/14].

·         May 24 -- Grand Prix of Monaco

·         June 7 -- Grand Prix of Canada

·         June 21 -- Grand Prix of Austria

·         July 5 -- Grand Prix of Great Britain

·         July 19 -- Grand Prix of Germany

·         July 26 -- Grand Prix of Hungary

·         August 23 -- Grand Prix of Belgium

·         September 6 -- Grand Prix of Italy

·         September 20 -- Grand Prix of Singapore

·         September 27 -- Grand Prix of Japan

·         October 11 -- Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)

·         October 25 -- Grand Prix of USA (Austin)

·         November 1 -- Grand Prix of Mexico

·         November 15 -- Grand Prix of Brazil

·         November 29 -- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi

 

For more information about the meeting and decisions announced from it, see my Examiner F1 article here.

Formula One.com has a convenient, clear, and printable schedule HERE.  [Note:  As of 12/3/14, the printable schedule on Formula1.com does NOT include the Korea race].

 

Formula 1: COTA is Thatta Way -- Sunrise in Austin, Texas

[Photo credit:  Connie Ann Kirk].

Lots of sunrise pictures posted by Formula One teams and photographers this week.  That's because that's exactly what you see on your way to the track early in the morning!

This is my view just out my hotel room window, taken yesterday!

The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) racetrack is straight down the road in that direction. 

Good morning, race fans, from sunny Texas!

Formula 1: 2014 U.S. Grand Prix TV Schedule

[Photo Credit:  Connie Ann Kirk]

So, the Formula 1 road show is in town in the United States over Halloween weekend.  If Austin likes to "keep it weird," that might be a good recipe for doing so!  For those not venturing into the weirdness but staying home to feed trick-or-treaters maybe instead, here's the TV schedule for the 2014 Formula One United States Grand Prix.

TV schedule for the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix:

Friday, October 31 (Halloween):

*3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Practice -- NBCSN -- LIVE
4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.: "F1 Extra" -- NBCSN
10:30 p.m. - 12 midnight: Practice -- NBCSN -- Rebroadcast

Saturday, November 1:

*1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Qualifying -- NBC -- LIVE

Sunday, November 2:

2:30 - 3 p.m.: Pre-Race -- NBC
*3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: United States Grand Prix RACE -- NBC -- LIVE
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Post-Race -- NBC

Enjoy!

Historics: Watkins Glen Racing Library talk to feature USRRC series, Nov. 8

[Photo:  Mark Donohue scrambles from his burning Lola T70 as Mak Kronn squeezes by in his McKee Mk6 during the Watkins Glen round of the United States Road Racing Championship on June 26, 1966. Donohue was not badly injured, but his Lola was a total loss. (photo by David Baker from the International Motor Racing Research Center’s Argetsinger Collection)].

The International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, N.Y. / U.S.A. sends this press release today [provided in full below]:

"The USRRC lasted just six seasons, but its impact on racing was enormous, and now the series' history is reported in detail for the first time in USRRC: A record of the United States Road Racing Championship 1963-1968 by Mike Martin.

Martin of Seattle, Wash., will speak about the series and its crucial role in the development of professional road racing in America at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen on Nov. 8. The Center Conversations talk is free and open to all.

The USRRC was the Sports Car Club of America’s first series for professional race drivers.

'Without the USRRC, there could not have been a Can-Am, the better known and fully international series for the same type of car,' said award-winning motorsports author Michael Argetsinger. 'The Group 7 category, remembered today as Can-Am, pitted American engineering with the best from Europe and produced some of the most exciting race cars ever built. None of it would have evolved without the USRRC.

'The series, featuring unlimited displacement, two-seat sports cars, brought raw horsepower and speed that captured the imagination of fans, drivers and entrants alike. Scarabs, Porsche RS-61s and King Cobras dominated early years to be supplanted by iconic Chaparrals, Lola T70s and McLarens before the USRRC gave way to the Can-Am which would carry the tradition of unlimited race cars into the mid-’70s,' said Argetsinger, who is a member of the Center’s Governing Council.

John Bishop, SCCA executive director at the time, and his director of professional racing Jim Kaser were the key figures in the series’ creation.

Bishop was instrumental in the founding of the Racing Research Center.

A review in Veloce Today describes Martin’s recently published undertaking as “an enthusiastic book which documents that exciting, noisy, time, in a way reflecting the social changes that were taking place in the nation, while proving that American know-how and muscle would finally prevail, at least on the race track.”

Offering a foreword by 1965 USRRC champion George Follmer, the book has more than 400 photographs, including some by Racing Research Center historian Bill Green.

Though he didn’t see a race until an event at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., when he was 16, Martin was a race fan long before that. Collecting information about racing and writing about racing came naturally. Still a teenager, Martin wrote his first 'book' about racing – a 176-page history of the 1.5 liter Formula One years.

'I didn't think to try to get it published,' Martin says. 'However, years later I discovered The Formula One Record Book by the Formula One Register guys and realized there must be a market for this sort of thing. A seed was planted.'

Over the years Martin had his eye on a history of Formula Two racing, while helping other authors with their research. He switched gears in the 1990s to USRRC and dedicated 20 years to the project.

When not enjoying the world of racing or researching or writing about racing, Martin has had careers in banking, inventory control and electronics manufacturing.

Martin’s talk is part of the ongoing Center Conversations series.

The final talk of 2014 will be on Dec. 13 on the Carrera Panamericana. Tom Overbaugh and Paul Wendt will speak about the revival of the famous Mexican race that today takes both experienced racers and novices 2,000 miles across that nation in a week.

The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials.

For more information about the Center’s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call (607) 535-9044."

All of the Conversation series talks are free and open to the public.  They are always informative and held in a casual atmosphere with friendly people!