We are one month into 2020 and we are starting to get into the swing of things. Cars have been on track at Daytona, cars are on track at Bathurst, motorcycles play in the dirt every weekend, announcements are being made, cars are being built and tests are right around the corner.
With all of that comes some news and it has been your typical offseason type of fodder, a whole lot of talk about the future.
Once again, this is just for fun. In case you are new, this is my gut reaction to headlines without reading the article. Of course, the gripes I have may be answered in the article.
We have eight stories this month and we will start with IndyCar-related news.
Yamamoto rules out representing Honda in "dangerous" IndyCar
What if the offer was $6 million a year?
The one thing we hear when it comes to IndyCar is it is not worth the risk insinuating the risk is worth it but the benefits do not outweigh the consequences.
If it was $6 million a year, which would be a good chunk of change even in Formula One, is that enough?
I respect Yamamoto if he decides he doesn't want to run IndyCar. He has a good life in Japan and a family and if he is coming over to make the same amount of money but take on more risks than it is understandable if he says no.
I still believe Yamamoto would be a competitive driver in IndyCar because 12 of 17 races are on road and street courses and, if we are being honest, the number of races that are really a cause of concern in terms of fatality or serious injury is two, Indianapolis and Texas. Iowa, Gateway and Richmond are quick and you can get hurt or worse in any race but the massive accidents that we know will alter a life when we see them happen at the bigger and/or high-banked tracks and right now all we have are Indianapolis and Texas.
Down the line I hope we get to see Yamamoto in IndyCar and if he changes his mind than great but if he doesn't than more power to him.
McLaren boss Brown owns up to "stupid" Indy mistakes
And it only took eight months for Zak Brown to do so.
In all seriousness, Brown has never put the blame on anyone, other than McLaren really suggesting Carlin was at fault when everything blew up but that wasn't that vocal. It would have been the easy thing to do for Brown to throw Bob Fernley, who was leading McLaren's IndyCar effort, under the bus and it would have been easy to throw whoever was in the paint shop under the bus and maybe even throw Fernando Alonso under the bus but Brown has never done that.
Brown knows failure comes from the top and he sees how major oversights on his part lead to the team failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. I think he also knows all eyes are on him for this season, especially at Indianapolis. Brown runs McLaren but he has to answer to a board and any more failures or serious slip ups could lead to Brown's removal and the end of McLaren's IndyCar aspirations This is Brown's baby but it will be tossed with the bathwater if necessary.
Brown and McLaren is a nice transition into Formula One news...
Todt: Complaints about growing F1 calendar are wrong
You mean the complaints about road crews working year round, flying around the globe, working ungodly hours across every timezone and not having time to see their loved ones? Those complaints are wrong?
There comes a point where Formula One has to realize there is a limit to the schedule and Formula One is at that limit. There are 22 races and the stated desire from Liberty Media is 25 races and you may be saying, "What is another three races?"
That is a fallacy my friends because it is not another three races. It has been "what has been another race?" for a decade now. It was first going from 17 to 18 then 18 to 19, 19 to 20 and we have been flirting with 20 and 21 for years and now it is 22 and people are saying what is another three races? It is like chocolate cake, what is another slice? But what is another slice after three slices, a full pizza pie, two dozen chicken wings, a sharable size bag of M&Ms, ten Twinkies and 64oz of Coca-Cola?
About a decade ago, when teams pushed back on the budget caps there was a threat of a breakaway Grand Prix World Championship series and I think the teams are doing too well to breakaway from Formula One at this time but there could be a revolt if the teams cannot keep people employed. I don't think we are going to see a breakaway 18-round championship because Formula One demands too much but there will be a breaking point and what with Jean Todt do then?
F1 risks being slower than F2 in 2021 - Racing Point
Does Formula One risk being slower than Formula Two in 2021 or does Racing Point risk being slower than Formula Two in 2021?
Those are two different things.
I kid but it shouldn't matter. For starters, if Formula One takes down force off the cars the FIA is going to adjust Formula Two so it is not blasting out laps a second and a half faster than the pole speed for the grand prix that weekend. This isn't NASCAR where ARCA was running faster than the Cup cars at some tracks in 2019. Everything will be adjusted.
Also, it shouldn't really matter. We love speed but an average lap at 115 MPH is still bloody quick even if it was 119 MPH the year before. We saw with IndyCar at Austin last year that while running much slower than Formula One the race was lively and the relaxed track limits might have had something to do with that but there was plenty of passing and action.
Going back to fallacy again, speed is a fallacy. The cars could be quick but if it is processional then what are we getting? The cars have to be able to race one another, get close to one another and jockey with one another. Let's not be too concerned with the speeds if the racing is exceptional. There is a limit. We don't want the speeds cut down to Formula Ford speeds but if it is still in the ballpark it is no big deal.
Pay TV not just about money, says Formula 1
It is a lot about money.
I understand that Pay TV can give Formula One more airtime and that is important to the series. You want a channel that can broadcast practice and qualifying as well as the race and in some scenarios Pay TV gives you the most exposure but there is a balance of exposure and cost. You can get more airtime but if fans are priced out than the amount of exposure you get is going to be lower.
The problem is Formula One needs to make money. The teams need to make money. The drivers want to make money and television is where the salaries come from. It is tricky but there will come a point where Formula One has to look and decide what is the best deal because getting paid $10 million a year but having a quarter of the largest possible audience eventually will bite the series.
Jumping to NASCAR...
Bobby Labonte lives up to family name with NASCAR Hall of Fame induction
Other than having a brother Terry I do not know what Bobby Labonte had to live up to.
Let's be clear, the Labonte family is not some family that has been around since the beginning of NASCAR. This is not a family that has had four generations of champions that have won a combined 500 Cup races and 22 championships.
It is two brothers, both of which won the Cup championship, in Terry's case twice, and Justin, who won one Grand National Series race because Mike Wallace ran out of fuel on the final lap.
Getting into the hall of fame wasn't something Bobby Labonte had to do. The hall of fame has been around for 15 minutes. Bobby Labonte ran majority of his career without a hall of fame existing. It doesn't mean all that much. Bobby Labonte's career and legacy was just fine without being in the hall of fame and let's not start any garbage saying otherwise.
Will Dale Earnhardt, Jr. be on the next NASCAR Hall of Fame ballot?
Yes, of course, he will be on the ballot but I think there is an argument on why Earnhardt, Jr. could not be on the ballot, why he could not be a first ballot inductee and why he could not be unanimous.
Why he could not be on the ballot:
Last year, Carl Edwards, who has two more Cup victories and came much closer to winning a Cup championship than Earnhardt, Jr., wasn't included on the ballot in his first year of eligibility.
Edwards and Earnhardt, Jr. are about equals. Edwards has 28 Cup victories to Earnhardt, Jr.'s 26. Edwards was in the top five of the championship on six occasions to Earnhardt, Jr.'s four. Earnhardt, Jr. won two Grand National Series championships to Edwards' one but Edwards won 38 races in that series to Earnhardt, Jr.'s 24 victories.
If Edwards could not get on the ballot with better numbers than Earnhardt, Jr. why should Earnhardt, Jr. get on the ballot in his first year? The one argument will be popularity and Earnhardt, Jr. won two Daytona 500s.
Why he could not be a first ballot inductee:
It is all the above and voters deciding this is the year a lot of role players get in.
There are a lot of contributors not in the hall of fame from John Holman and Ralph Moody to Ray Fox to Harry Hyde and those are just names on the ballot last year. Smokey Yunick is sitting on the top of everyone's tongue.
I got to admit it is hard to balance drivers, crew chiefs, mechanics and owners all being on the same ballot. How do you compare and then decide one is worthy more than another when they are all contributing in completely different ways? It is one of the major flaws to the NASCAR Hall of Fame selection process.
When looking at the drivers on last year's ballot that did not get in, Earnhardt, Jr. jumps ahead of all of them. Sam Ard was great in the early Busch Series but next. Earnhardt, Jr. was greater than Neil Bonnett, Red Farmer, Harry Gant, Herschel McGriff, Marvin Panch, Jim Paschal and Ricky Rudd. Mike Stefanik is the one guy who you can argue did more but he did it on a regional level in modified and the Busch North Series, once again showing a flaw in balloting when you have someone who made it to the top on the same ballot with a guy that only diehards have heard of.
Down the line we need to have a larger conversation about the problem NASCAR will soon have with the hall of fame but that can wait for another day.
Why he could not be unanimous:
I will admit that I do not know if any driver has been elected unanimously but Earnhardt, Jr. didn't win a Cup championship. If he is unanimous while his father Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon and David Pearson were not that is utterly stupid. I bet Earnhardt, Jr. himself would agree with that.
I think Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will get in first ballot because those he was never a Cup champion. It is going to be too hard for him not to get votes.
We will end in Australia...
Motorsport Australia to name drug and alcohol offenders
This is a serious topic and I want to touch on it because I think it is important.
Every other sport has a drug policy and we know when it is violated. We find out when a competitor is suspended in baseball, basketball, hockey, football, soccer, golf, tennis and so on. Motorsports should be the same way. We should know.
My fear is, after watching motorsports for my entire life, this is going to be more to shame a driver than used as something to help a driver. When a driver fails a drug test it is very likely that driver is going to be vilified and almost outcasted.
Nobody is perfect and not every failed drug test is because someone has a serious problem. Motorsports is dangerous and no one should be competing while impaired and it is important that all series have a strong drug testing policy but we can all do better in terms of how we view a failed test.
If someone made a mistake or thought what he or she were taking was fine we need to be understanding and if they serve their suspension and pass the tests after that than we should let it go. If someone does have a problem wit addiction we should be there to make sure they have help.
A person doesn't get the help he or she needs if you completely abandon that person. Motorsports series need to be there and we need to be supportive. It is a difficult road. Some people can rehabilitate and are on the straight-and-arrow for there others. Others get clean and then get bumped off the wagon and we have to start all over. It is tough but we need to be there for people if they need help.
Support is one area motorsports has to improve on and we are one month into the 2020s. I hope at the end of the decade we are in a much better place.
That is a much more somber note to end on than other times we do this but I think it is good to end with something to shoot for. We can work on that in February. It is a Leap Year. We get 29 days this time around!
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