Racing Lines Archive

11-06-2002

On Spa, Dale Jr., and Why Rubbing Ain't Racing
Just to prove that F1 isn't about racing any more, Spa in Belgium has gone from the calendar. Yep, that leaves just Suzuka as a proper driver's circuit with long, fast, flowing corners. The great drivers have always shone at Spa (just as they have at Monaco), so it is little surprise that Schumacher M has dominated at Spa while Schumacher R (and one Edmund Irvine) both think the track is overrated. From my perspective—I last raced there this September in a Maserati 300S—it's the best track I have raced on, its nearest competitors being the old Nurburgring and Elkhart Lake. Everyone thinks that Spa's Eau Rouge is the ballsiest corner on the planet, but Pouhan (a long sweeping, downhill double-apex left hander) and the nearly flat-out left-hand sweep at Blanchimont are at least as exhilarating. Ironically, the changes made at the circuit for this year's GP in the name of safety made Eau Rouge less daunting because you could fly over the new low curbs into massive blacktop runoff areas. The previous year, the curbs would have launched you into the gravel trap. Perhaps it's a good thing F1 is deserting Spa—the rest of us won't have to put up with safety measures aimed at one small section of the racing world.

Dinner with Jack Roush, for the first time. Amid an evening of lively motor racing discussion, Roush ventured that if you thought Kurt Busch was good, just wait until Kyle goes from trucks to Cup cars. This is scary. The elder Busch, of course, is part of a new breed of drivers, led by Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, and Jamie McMurray who are rattling the establishment. (Jimmie Spencer should be worried about these young kids, because they are way faster than he is.) Roush revealed that he rated Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon (which is hardly news) but didn't think that much of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. This is news, as there are people who seem to think he is the second coming, despite the fact that Junior has a problem with focus. I've always thought it interesting that Junior can't be bothered to learn how to road race, whereas his father worked really hard on that aspect of his game. Roush also thought that Christian Fittipaldi might struggle when he goes Busch racing next year, mainly because he has come from a series (CART) where the cars are terrific to a series where the cars (stock cars) just don't work that well.

P Lerner is absolutely right: why the hell is Johnny Benson's crew chief bitching him out because he won't put someone in the wall to win? It might have been OK for Dale Earnhardt Sr to dish out the occasional love tap, but once he had left the scene, it might have been good if that kind of driving had been outlawed. Last year, I was incensed when Bill Elliott tapped Ron Fellows into the wall at Sears Point and the boneheads on TV thought that was OK. Earth to ground control: on the exit or in the middle of a corner, the guy who is ahead has the line. Any contact from the car behind is wrong and dumb and the driver should be penalized if it was deliberate.