Weekend preview; a John Force update, F-1, NASCAR, and WoO
By: Drew Hierwarter
It looks like we have another exciting weekend of racing on tap as most of the major championships are getting down to the wire. But first, an update; NHRA funny car driver John Force has been released from the Dallas hospital where he underwent surgery to repair a broken ankle and dislocated wrist injured in a crash during the second round of eliminations last Sunday at the Texas Motorplex. He has returned to Southern California for further recovery and physical therapy. Although any chance of him getting back in the cockpit of his funny car for next week’s event in Richmond, VA, has been ruled out, John is determined to race in the last two events of the NHRA season in Las Vegas and Pomona, CA.
“I need to get back out there to help Robert (son-in-law and teammate Robert Hight),” Force said. “He’s got a shot at this championship. I did, too, right up until the tire let go.”
All four of the crew chiefs for John Force Racing have been going over video of the crash in an attempt to find out what went wrong with the car. Since the death of driver Eric Medlin, earlier this year, the team has made some major changes in the cockpit area and Force himself credits this work as resulting in his injuries not being more severe than they were.
“The crew chiefs are looking for what happened,” Force said. “Was it a tire issue? Was it a chassis issue? What happened, first, and then, why did it happen? We have to know those answers before we make any decisions. But, bottom line, the things we’ve done, safety-wise, since Eric’s accident are working. My neck and head were fine. Bernstein’s neck and head were fine. Eric saved some lives out there and now we need to move ahead to address other issues.”
The Formula 1 World Championship returns to action this weekend in Japan. This race will be a new challenge for the drivers and engineers because, for the first time in thirty years, they will use the redesigned Fuji Speedway. The track features the longest straightaway in Formula 1 at 1.5 kilometers and has some newly added slower corners to increase the difficulty in setting up the cars.
First year driver Lewis Hamilton currently leads the World Driver’s standings by two points over McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen is 13 points behind the McClaren pair, followed by his teammate Felipe Massa, 20 points lagging and virtually out of the championship hunt. As usual Speed TV will be carrying qualifying and the race live but because of the time difference you may want to set your DVR. Qualifying is set for Saturday morning at 1 a.m. Eastern time, with the race taking the green flag Saturday night at midnight Eastern!
This weekend NASCAR rolls onto the plains of Kansas for the for the “Lifelock 400″ Nextel Cup race on Sunday, and the “Yellow Transportation 300″ for the Busch Grand National cars on Saturday. Currently Jeff Gordon holds a slim two-point lead over two-time Series champ Tony Stewart. But with the Nextel Cup “Chase for the Championship” being as close as it is, it’s anybody’s race.
And finally, for some of the best short track action you will find anywhere, the World of Outlaws sprint car series has a two-night show slated for Friday and Saturday night at the fabled old Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania.