Happy Hour: Prepping for the greatest day in racing
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Oh baby, it’s the best racing day of the year.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s also one of the best weekends of the year. And there’s nothing like spending one of the first warm weekends of the year outside doing fun things. So why don’t you just take your TV outside and watch the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 from the patio? Multi-tasking!
1,268 miles of racing may be daunting at times when it’s 3 p.m. and you realize you’ve got another race to watch, but naps exist for a reason. Couple the racing with NBA and NHL playoff action, baseball in full swing (in KC we have the Royals hosting the Cardinals, a matchup of the two best teams in baseball) and it’s a fantastic sports weekend. Dare we make the proclamation that it could be better than May 2? Because we’re doing it.
You’ll notice this over the weekend, but the driver names across the windshields this weekend in the Sprint Cup Series have been replaced with the name of fallen military members. It’s a nice gesture, but we’re going to be (not at all) greedy and ask for something tangible. We’d endorse the movement if there was a corresponding (and large) donation made to each person’s family or charity of choice in honor of the person on the windshield. It’d be a fantastic way to show that NASCAR is doing more than paying lip service to our military members and could help bring real impact to those who are back home from service.
(How cool would it be if the winner of Sunday night’s race donated his race-winnings check in honor of the soldier on his car?)
According to NASCAR, many of the families of those honored will be in attendance and it’s a cool experience for them. However, there are thousands upon thousands of veterans in this country who are in need of assistance. While Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have passed away, we humbly suggest it should also be a time to reflect upon how we can make a sustainable and real impact for the veterans that need it most. There’s no better way to support the troops than to help improve the services they need.
Let’s get to it. And after you’re done with Happy Hour, we highly recommend this ESPN report about the finances of the Armed Forces Foundation, the charity run by Kurt Busch’s ex-girlfriend.
PJ is doing this to troll me.
Monaco will be the most entertaining broadcast, Indianapolis will be the most exciting race and Charlotte could feature a lot of times with the leader checked out from the field. And, stunningly, the race at Charlotte may turn on a late-race restart.
While Indianapolis has the biggest chance of being the most exciting race, we’re also going to be on pins and needles throughout given the five crashes that have happened during practice.
We’ve got our fingers crossed that it will be a safe race and there will be no crazy crashes like we’ve seen. Accidents are a part of racing, but a pattern of cars flying through the air shouldn’t be.
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I am beating a dead horse, but NASCAR needs to shake up the All Star race. It is no secret that the exhibition race has been a dud for a while now – despite all of the annual hype. Every race of the season should not be expected to be a thriller, but the All Star race should be, and the only way to do that with the current rules package is to not race on a 1.5 mile oval configuration. The event does not even have to leave Charlotte. The track website says the facility has a road course configuration. Why not use that for the 2016 All Star race? Or one of the facility’s short tracks?
p.s. The truck race at CMS had one of its best finishes in a while, but that is the only good thing I have to say about the race.- John
For a sport that seems hell-bent on entertainment in its points races, the lack of monster change with the All-Star race can seem a bit puzzling.
But yes, it’s time to start from scratch. If no one cares about anything but the winner in the All-Star Race, attempt to guarantee that the winner will do something memorable. Something. Anything. Was Saturday night’s race terrible? No. But It wasn’t memorable. And how many times have you been promised greatness from the All-Star Race?
The Truck Series finish was fantastic, but it was unfortunately set up by a caution flag with less than two laps to go. And involved a truck that failed inspection at the end of the race.
Why would you even consider Busbee? Psshhh….
The picks to win this weekend are Lewis Hamilton in Monaco, Helio Castroneves in Indianapolis and Kevin Harvick in Charlotte. How boring, eh?
Here’s how we’re looking at our pick to win the 500. Castroneves is not only the most recognizable IndyCar driver among non-racing fans thanks to Dancing With the Stars, a win makes the 100th Indianapolis 500 even more compelling in 2016.
Castroneves ties the record for most 500 wins (4) if he wins on Sunday. Not only will he be a big hit on the media circuit after the race, there’s automatically a monstrous talking point heading into 2016. And we have to think casual fans would be drawn to the 100th Indianapolis 500 with a guy going for five wins, right? Racing is better with a healthy IndyCar Series, and a Castroneves win could be a shot in the arm.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
