Musings and observations on a
round trip to Danville, VA and VIR.
Well, add another to the growing
list of "must" road tracks to visit annually; VIR - Virginia International
Raceway, some sharp copy writer connected the fact that V - I - R are the
first three letters of Virginia - while a 1500 mi. round trip is worth
the effort of getting there. The 'long course' is a 3.27 mile combination
of technical driving - future turns being dependant upon properly executing
previous turns - pedal to the metal straights, blind hills and corners.
Whether or not the North or South course is worth the drive is open to
debate. This is all to be enjoyed in a country club type setting with ample
paddock space, though one negative is the gravel and grass parking areas.
Parking on the paved 'aisles' ends the problem of hot tires picking up
stones. Twelve NER cars and 16 drivers had a great weekend save for a few
of us who left early with dead engines.
Driving through PA I passed
an "Attractions" sign, similar to those on our Rte. 495 that list golf
courses, apple orchards, amusement parks etc. at an upcoming exit. Well,
this one in PA listed a "Medical Center" and it had me scratching my head.
Does this mean that while on a Sunday afternoon drive to Grandma's house
you stop in and tour the morgue or maybe plan your day for that needed
quadruple by-pass? Better yet, on that long drive to and from VIR maybe
we could have stopped at the medical center for dinner and a prostatechtomy
or lobotomy, there is some craziness to our track affliction.
While in Danville on a four
lane divided road I saw a camper in front of me wander from the right to
left lane and force a car in the left lane to actively avoid the camper.
When the camper corrected itself and the car continued passing, the driver
of the car merely wagged his finger out the window at the camper driver.
Not a "Boston Bird" finger but an innocuous wag as if to say "better keep
your eye on the road".
Every time I leave the northeast
it takes some time to acclimate to a slower and more patient driving mode.
Had the above episode happened in the Boston area I would have expected
the car to sharply cut-off the camper, throw a giant bird, and maybe additional
road rage retributions. I always tell myself that I'm going to try and
be a more patient driver when I return home, I've always been a courteous
driver but patience has never been a strong suit. Unfortunately it usually
doesn't take more than a few hours for my impatience to get the upper hand
once on home roads.
What aggravates you on the
highway? Drivers who either/or always drive in the left lane (even when
not passing) or do not maintain a consistent speed drive me up a wall.
These situations are exacerbated when pulling a trailer and particularly
when it's an open trailer with a prized viewing object on it. Cars race
up at 90 mph to get a view and then maintain a speed identical with yours
so you can't get out to pass the previous car that finally pulled over
after sitting on your flank for the prior 10 miles. I guess one of the
prices to pay for the kind of cars we trailer around the country.
I must have passed a dozen
white tail deer "sleeping" on the side of the road; you understand my euphemism
here. Rarely is one of the deer out in the middle of the highway. What
I can't figure out is how they all manage to get to the break down lane
or even entirely off the road? Do they get hit in the middle of the highway
and drag themselves to the edge to then die; it would seem to be too high
a percentage for that to be the case? Do the State Troopers stop traffic
and drag them over? I can't believe their union would tolerate that. Let
me know if you have the answer.
More than one state has signs
that read "Trucks - Buses - Trailers - Left Lane - Prohibited" broken into
five lines where I've hyphenated. Wouldn't it read more easily and clearly
to say "No - Trucks - Buses - Trailers - Left Lane" or "Trucks - Buses
- Trailers - Prohibited - Left Lane"?
Enjoy your summer driving,
buckle up, and be safe.
I've always wondered how much
sponsors paid to advertise on NASCAR racecars. Robert Lipsyte and The New
York Times finally addressed my curiosity. Did you know that those bumper
sticker size logos on the Front Quarter Panels (in front of and behind
the front wheels) where there may be more than 20 per side can cost $370,000
each, per season? A B-pillar sticker seems cheap at $75,000-$200,000.
Dean Noble, VP for Business
for Joe Gibbs Racing explained his belief that race fans are loyal to the
sponsors of cars because they realize how critical the money is to the
racing team. "Each team is on its own; there's no NFL revenue-sharing."
Winning teams and cars such
as Joe Gibbs can pretty much write there own ticket and for the right money
and sponsorship will "package" deals to include drivers appearing at sales
conventions and Joe might even "tour your plant and play joke-a-stroke
golf with your top executives and clients". When you pay from $7-$12 million
for the hood and rear quarter panel your checkbook carries a little weight.
This is known as the 'primary sponsor package', Interstate Batteries in
Gibbs case.
The lower rear quarter panel
runs from $.25-$1.0 million while the trunk and 'TV panel' below the trunk
will set you back $.35-$1.5 million. Noble pointed out that they're not
really interested in cutting race by race deals but go for the season.
At the same time "our other sponsors would want to look you over, too".
Naturally you can be picky when you campaign winning cars, 'also run' cars
being a different story.
NASCAR sponsorship is not
totally recession proof. While some sponsors may back off during slow downs,
others will increase their exposure aimed at the young male TV audience.
The winners will always get their sponsors, it's the bottom of the pack
who lose sponsors, have to cut back on testing and/or new equipment, fall
further back and become less attractive to sponsors. Geoff Smith, President
of Roush Racing said, "Performance is a cruel separator".
Murphy's Laws
-
Leakproof Seals - Will
-
Self Starters - Will Not
-
If You're Feeling Good, Don't
Worry, You'll Get Over It
-
All Warranties Expire Upon Payment
of Invoice
-
A Short Cut is the Longest Distance
Between Two Points
-
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
is the Headlamp of an Oncoming Train.
-
The Race is Not Always to the
Swift Nor the Battle to the Strong. But That's the Way to Bet.
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