#Kansas Speedway

[coimbrabertone]

Formula One Was Good Actually?

Yes.

I can't believe it either, but I did actually enjoy the F1 race this weekend.

Okay, so, just going to get the elephant out of the room now - the fact that Lando Norris won instead of Max Verstappen is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, but it's not just because of that - and now that I've said that, I'm going to talk about why I enjoyed F1 yesterday at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix.

Full disclosure, I didn't watch the sprint and it doesn't sound like I missed much.

In the race, however, something interesting happened...Max didn't break the field right away. He pulled a bit of a gap on Leclerc, yes, but Piastri in third was quick, and he managed to overtake Leclerc for second pretty early on, even started gaining.

Once Max pit, it was Piastri in the lead by a pretty comfortable margin, then Sainz, then Norris. I tuned into the race around this point since NASCAR at Kansas - also a banger of a race, I might get into that later actually - was in a rain delay. Piastri and Sainz made their pitstops, Lando was actually going quick - IIRC he had the fastest lap at this point - but still, it looked to me like Max had a clear path to the lead for the umpteenth time.

Kevin Magnussen, attempting to overtake hometown driver Logan Sargeant, hit the Williams and sent him into the barrier gearbox first. Logan was out on the spot, Kevin continued, and the safety car came out.

Now, maybe Bernd Maylander was just used to slotting in ahead of Max Verstappen - and can you blame him after these last three years? - but the safety car picked up Max in second, while Lando was free to run to the delta. Everyone knew he was going to make a free pitstop at this point, but with the rest of the field stuck behind the safety car, the question became...is Lando going to put a hole lap on the field?

Well, fortunately or unfortunately, race control waved the field by the safety car before any shenanigans could occur, so when Lando made his stop and came out on fresh hards, he caught the safety car with the rest of the field directly behind.

This is where things got fun.

On the restart, full disclosure, I thought Lando blew it and let Max Verstappen get too close...only for the Red Bull to fail to get the pass done on the start-finish straight. Lando kept the lead...and pulled away for the rest of the race.

Meanwhile, Verstappen spent the first part of the post-SC portion of the race breaking out of Leclerc's DRS range, while behind, Piastri and Sainz where showing that DRS wasn't a free pass this time out. And that's really what I liked about this race - the fact that, lap after lap, Sainz would get DRS on Piastri and would try and pass going into turn eleven...and it wouldn't be enough.

Unfortunately, Sainz eventually just decided to barge his way through and sent Piastri into the pits for a new front wing and fresh tyres, but the idea was there. DRS was an overtaking assist, but it wasn't a free overtake - and that's how I believe it should be.

That being said, as Piastri showed once he was on fresh tyres, a faster car could get by, so he charged through the likes of Albon and Ricciardo, taking fastest lap and eventually finishing thirteenth after having come out of the pits nineteenth. Sainz would get a five second penalty post race.

We had a new winner in Lando Norris, the winner started from fifth on the grid, it was a Grand Prix in the United States at a pleasant afternoon timeslot for me, and for the first time, it felt like it lived up to the hype of Miami.

Now there was also another thing, and it's so divisive that I'm not even sure if I should talk about it in this blog, but it's that Donald Trump was in attendance. He was a guest of Muhammad Ben Sulayem and Liberty Media, they took him through the McLaren garage, he posed with Zak Brown outside the garages, and he took a photo with Ben Sulayem and Lando Norris post-race. Not only that, but David Croft, in his race winning call went "On a weekend where McLaren has welcomed an ex-President into their garage, it's Norris who trumps Verstappen!"

So...in the eyes of some people, Norris' first win is forever going to be associated with a divisive ex-President who is one: subject to various legal proceedings in a number of states, and two: is running for office yet again. I hate that for Norris.

I'm not getting into the politics, I'm not making a judgment either way, please don't use this as a place to rant about your particular political views, I'm just saying it sucks that, a day after this guy's first win, I'm still seeing people talk about a guy who was a guest in the paddock rather than the guy who actually won the race.

It must suck for your first win to be at the center of people's political and moral arguments one way or another. I wish it wasn't a topic of conversation coming out of this race.

So yeah, I got to watch an F1 race I enjoyed for the first time in awhile, I even watched some of the post-race content, and by the time that was wrapping up, it was time for NASCAR.

I really like 1.5 mile triovals and Kansas is one of the best ones. We had moments of three, four, and even five wide in that race, and at the end of it all, we got the closest winning margin in NASCAR history. 0.001 seconds for Kyle Larson in the #5 HendrickCars Chevrolet over Chris Buescher in the #17 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang. I was rooting for Buescher, I desperately wanted Ford to get their first win of the season, but seeing that, I just had to throw my hands up and say it was a good race.

So, while there wasn't any MotoGP or Indycar this weekend, F1 and NASCAR managed to give me a pretty good Sunday of racing. I'm pleasantly surprised and I'm glad I can say that.

I hope McLaren can keep the forward momentum going and actually challenge Red Bull somewhat consistently, and I hope Ford can snap their winless streak in NASCAR sometime soon.

[ethanpageallego]

Ethan at Kansas Speedway promoting NXT on The CW! 😄👈

[go-fast-turn-left]

What. A. Finish.

[kindalikevelvet]

"It's good to be lucky sometimes." what a drive from the defending champ. probably had a win in our sights for the first time in a minute so a shame to see the tire issue come about but we got the caution we needed and almost pulled that one off. Let's go get another one at 'Dega!!

[constanze-1782]

The watermelon smash is so silly. But he picked up a piece and ate it 🤢🤮

[blairnikolefox]

AVAILABLE NOW in

Kansas City, Missouri

[bipolarism2047]

[formula1racingnews]

For possibly the first time ever, F1 tops NASCAR in TV Ratings Link: https://racingnews.co/2024/05/07/for-possibly-the-first-time-ever-f1-tops-nascar-in-tv-ratings/

[sortanonymous]

UN! FREAKING! BELIEVABLE! AGAIN!

0.001 seconds! Closest Cup Series finish ever! (Second-closest NASCAR finish in general behind the 2018 Xfinity Daytona opener at 0.0004!)

I'm not a Larson fan, but man is that the kind of clutch drive that reminds you the kind of driver you're watching. Whenever he ends up in the Hall of Fame, that final half-lap is one of the first clips they're showing.

"Have you ever?" The motto of NASCAR at its finest.

[deemmzee]

Legends Outlet Mall and Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas

[rileysmvpszn]

KYLE LARSON OMG

YUNG MONEY 💰

[hotelbooking]

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[penaltyboxboxbox]

Ryan Blaney stands in the garage during practice at Kansas Speedway, 2013

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

BOOTLEGS 2023

The year is winding down, so it's time to look back at the last 12 month's crop of live tapes. Crowd noise, tape hiss, distortion, murk ... and plenty of magic, people! As I do this year after year, I ask myself: "Why do I do this year after year?" I guess it's a habit I can't break. But I do love something about these cloudy recordings — the immediacy, the imperfections, the possibilities. Each bootleg, no matter how lo-fi, contains a glimmer of hope, a potential for beauty and transcendence. The fact that not all of them (few of them, in fact!) really deliver on that promise is part of the deal. The search continues!

Anyhoo, here's a sampling of the Doom & Gloom goods from 2023 to get you caught up ... thank you to the tapers, the archivists, the fans, the innocents.

Sonic Youth - #SonicSummer (Live 1981-2011)

Mazzy Star - The Mint, Los Angeles, California, July 15, 1993

Television - Max’s Kansas City, New York City, August 28, 1974

The Flying Burrito Brothers - Altamont Speedway, Tracy, California, December 6, 1969

Damon & Naomi - Best Video Film & Cultural Center, Hamden, Connecticut, May 12, 2023

Sandy Denny + John Martyn - Sundown Theatre, London, England, October 26, 1972

John Fahey - Carnegie Hall, New York City, Sept. 21, 1973

Neil Young with Booker T. & The MG’s - Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, September 11, 1993

Prairiewolf - Paradise Found Records, Boulder, Colorado, July 1, 2023

The Band - Wollman Skating Rink, Central Park, New York City, June 30, 1971

PJ Harvey - McCabe’s Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, September 25, 1993

Van Morrison - Harvard Square Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 14, 1974

The Velvet Underground - The Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland, June 1, 1993 (Soundcheck)

Loose Fur - The Double Door, Chicago, Illinois, May 14, 2000

Stephen Malkmus - Mr. T’s Bowl, Highland Park, California, August 13, 1998

Yo La Tengo - The Grotto, New Haven, Connecticut, October 23, 1987

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Town Hall, New York City, October 9, 1976

The Cramps - Toad’s Place, New Haven, Connecticut, February 20, 1992

The Dream Syndicate - Crystal Ballroom, Somerville, Massachusetts, September 18, 2022

Gram Parsons - Max’s Kansas City, New York City, March 9, 1973

Tom Verlaine - The Roxy, West Hollywood, California, October 17, 1981

Lou Reed & The Tots - Humpin’ Hannah’s, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 20, 1973

Elizabeth Cotten - Euphoria Tavern, Portland, Oregon, February 19, 1975

Sonny Rollins and his Jazz Ensemble - East River Park Amphitheatre, New York City, August 7, 1962

[constanze-1782]

I'm focused on Elliot and Logano