The party has ended and the Germans are the last to leave. The World Cup isn't the only thing that has come to an end this weekend. We will touch on that in a bit as IndyCar ran under the lights in Iowa, MotoGP had a frantic, rush hour traffic start, World Superbike was Stateside, IMSA was Province-side but we start with NASCAR and a final hurrah.
Good Bye Turner
Today's NASCAR race from Loudon, won by Brad Keselowski, ended a 32-year run for the national stock car series on Turner Sports. A lot of people bust on NASCAR coverage and some of it is understandable but it's sad to see a relationship like this end. For me, though it wasn't long ago, I think back to a booth that featured Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach. Bestwick was and still is arguably in the top five best motorsports lead commentators in the United States. Parsons was a classic. His insight and excitement boosted any broadcast. It's hard to believe he has been gone for seven years. I'm sure he is in the booth at that Great Racetrack in the Sky. Then there is Dallenbach. He is still up to his old tricks, lightening the mood but calling it like it is.
Bestwick got to call the Indianapolis 500 for the first time this year and with NASCAR leaving ESPN, it appears he will stay on with ESPN until his contract expires which could mean many more Indianapolis 500s in his future. Dallenbach is already under contract with NBC covering IndyCar, although he might be squeezed out with the success of the Leigh Diffey, Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell trio. Maybe he will land a spot in the NBC Nationwide Series booth. Adam Alexander did a great job as lead commentator. He'll still be at Fox Sports 1. Lindsay Czarniak got a shot doing NASCAR coverage with TNT and used it to springboard her into a position to be one of the top SportsCenter anchors and now she hosts the pre-race coverage for the Indianapolis 500.
TNT might not have been the best but it did provide us with their "wide-open coverage" of the July Daytona race which saw less commercials and more action and something no other network has tried to replicate. All things must pass and NASCAR and Turner will go their separate ways. Congratulations on 32 years and here is to a bright future for both.
Improving Paddock Access
I was thinking about this last week after attending the Pocono 500. During the race, I believe there was no way to get from the grandstand side to the paddock just to meander around. The one positive attending a road or street courses is you get walk around from corner to corner and no oval has been able to provide that same kind of experience. Pocono has a tunnel that goes under the track and it is reasonable to understand why they close it an hour before the green flag and during the race. It is a safety concern and God forbid something goes wrong. But what about a walkover bridge? Cars can get airborne but I am sure you could make it high enough to avoid any horror movie scene.
I think improving paddock access during the race, along with working on the lack of on track action for IndyCar oval events is essential. Apparently the cheapest ticket to Saturday night's Iowa IndyCar race was $60 and all you got was IndyCar. No Indy Lights, no Pro Mazda, no U.S. F2000 or USAC. I know the Truck Series ran at Iowa on Friday night but there were plenty of hours wasted on Saturday. Bring in Indy Lights and/or Pro Mazda and have them run a one-day show. Sure Indy Lights has 8 cars but it would be better than nothing. People need more bang for their buck these days and $60 to get in to see IndyCar-only is steep. Hell general admission for the Indianapolis 500 is only $40, so where does Iowa get off? The Iowa price should be cut in half or support series should be added to justify the price of the tickets.
IndyCar Schedule Idea Part II
Remember when I was throwing ideas at the wall for the 2015 IndyCar schedule?
Originally I suggested pushing both Pocono and Iowa back a week in hopes of improving Pocono attendance. On second thought, keep Iowa where it is and move Pocono to the week after Iowa on the traditional July off weekend for NASCAR. While the odds maybe slim, it would improve whatever chance there is of the likes of Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski or someone else jumping behind the wheel of an IndyCar and using it as extra practice for any potential Indianapolis 500-Coca Cola 600 double the following year. It's just an idea and I am sure Pocono could see if they could talk a driver or two into trying it. The one flaw with the idea is it would shrink the gap from the IndyCar race and second Cup race to two weeks. Unless that second Cup races can be pushed back or knocked off the schedule, the move makes no sense for IndyCar or the track.
Márquez Goes 9-for-9
After almost three quarters of the field came in on the warm-up lap to switch to the dry weather bikes and had to start at the end of the pit lane like rush hour traffic at a stop light in Bangkok, Marc Márquez came from behind to win the German Grand Prix and make it nine consecutive victories in 2014. German Stefan Bradl benefited from staying on his wet weather bike at the start but ultimately fell like a rock and finished out of the points. Márquez faced an early challenge from his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa but pulled away toward the end of the race. The Yamaha teammates of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finish third and fourth.
Márquez has had won every which way in 2014. He has gone out and dominated, fallen back and had to work his way to the front, gotten into back-and-forth battles as a race draws near and now has started from the pit lane but found at way to the top of the podium and we still have the whole second half of the MotoGP season to see if Márquez can continue this success. Next round is at Indianapolis on August 10.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marc Márquez and Brad Keselowski but did you know...
Marco Melandri and Tom Sykes split the World Superbike weekend at Laguna Seca.
Dominique Aegerter and Jack Miller won in Moto2 and Moto3 respectively at the Sachsenring.
In IMSA, the #42 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan of Gustavo Yacamán and Olivier Pla won overall at Mosport. Jan Magnussen and Antonio García won in GTLM, their fourth consecutive GTLM victory. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating won in GTD, giving the Viper GT3-R it's first victory and making it five different winners in six GTD races so far this season.
Maxime Martin won his first career DTM race at Moscow.
Kazuki Nakajima won the Super Formula race at Fuji and in doing so took the championship lead.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar heads to Toronto, the final doubleheader and street course of the season.
Indy Lights, U.S. F2000 and Pirelli World Challenge join IndyCar at Toronto.
Formula One is at the Hockenheimring for the German Grand Prix.
European Le Mans Series is at Red Bull Ring.
Asian Le Mans Series kicks off it's season at the Inje Speedium.
Super GT is at Sportsland SUGO.
The Cup series is off but the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Chicagoland.
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