Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Moon's Gravity ripples over Iowa, Heats Up Lime Rock while Waves Churn Away in Florence



The Apollo 12 crew (from left) Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean show off their Corvettes’ paint scheme, designed, in part, by Bean. (Ralph Morse / The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images; Image source: airspacemag.com)
Since isn't good 'Ol Mother Nature somewhat intertwined with thou Moon, along with thoust Oceans? Like thou Mighty Pacific that rumbles nearby My Bungalow By-the-Sea...

And to think a Decade ago, some Hipster' by the name Edwin "buzz" Aldrin, Jr. was singing his rendition of I'm just a Rocket Man! With Buzz being ably assisted by Snoop Dog-dog's & Co. Showcased in this Behind the Scenes excerpt...





Yesiree Bob, since Bob's your Uncle After all, El Correctomundo? I'm sure for All of us whom sat thru Thee entirety of NBC Sports Network's (NBCSN) 8hrs 'O Riveting Motorsports TV Coverage... Botta-Boom, Cymbol Crash please!

As I hadn't planned originally upon watching; Err listening to either thou Riveting IndyCar Pre-race Preamble, or the IMSA Sports Car Nightcap following the Iowa Corn 400 but!

Inexplicably I found myself warming Thy Telescreen up round Twenty-to-Four PM Pacific and was surprised to hear 'Ol Walldinger'; Err A.J. allmendinger in the Booth with PT' and Leigh Diffey. Which made sense since (Townsend) T-Bell' was busy racing his GTD Lexus racecar at Lime Rock Park.

Thus I was momentarily Cornfuzed' over what that tap-tap-tapping noise was whilst 'Ol r', Thee Curmudgeon 'O Indy Cars, aka Robin Miller was, as he was busy interviewing some Driver. Before guessing it must be Hail from the Mega Weather Cell passing thru Iowa Speedway as Diffey chimed in they were in a Holding pattern due to the massive Lightning Storm the track was experiencing!

Before they astutely switched us at 4:05PM (Pacific) to the Pre-recorded IMSA Weathertech SportsCar race, which featured Rick Allen, Calvin Fish and Professor B', aka Jon Beekhuis in the Commentary Booth, with another of my favourites, Brian Till making up half of the Pitlane Reporters tandem.

Appropriately, since July 20th marked the 50th Anniversary of Uhm? Some History being made A Universe Away... The Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo GT Daytona (GTD) Class racecar which normally sports the No. 44, was running a very eye catching Saturn V Rocket livery adorning the #11 instead, in Honour of Apollo 11's Historic Moon landing 50 years ago.


As Buzz Aldrin, now 89 is the Elder Statesman of the four surviving Astronauts to Walk upon The Moon...

Alas, as many IndyCar Drivers were doing in Iowa, somewheres' near the middle of the race, I found Thyself watching the Insides of my eyelids due to the soothing tomes of racing engines shrieking by on thou Telie'; CRIKEYS!

Whilst the Tintop Boyz' toiled in 97 Degrees (Fahrenheit) ambient with a Heat Index of 110deg-F; SHEISA! I was Uber pleased that Ryan Briscoe, along with Co-Driver "Westie," nee Richard Westbrook brought Thar CGR #67 Ford GT home P1, after Westbrook made the pass for the lead with six minutes remaining!

Since every time I think of Briscoe, I immediately recall my lone meeting with him at Mother Speedway Wayback in 2013, when he was so amiable to Mwah, graciously chatted One-on-One for nearly 10mins, making me feel extremely important! All while he was trying to observe his team, the very same Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) outfit he still drives for outcome in that year's Indy 500 Pitstop Challenge.

As the win was Ford's first of the season, and snapped the Porsche's win-streak of five consecutive W's..


Then there was nearly two hours more of Track Clean-up, as apparently the "Weepers" in Turn 4 weren't co-operating, before the engines roared and the Green Flag waved around 8:52PM, (Pacific) nearly 11PM local time - after six Pace-laps to ensure All the Drivers knew the track's condition.

As it seemed like Mother Nature was trying to Hit IndyCar on the Head, after the universal sentiments of the Drivers saying it wasn't a true Night Race, being originally slated to begin at 6:40PM Central Time, which had many concerned over how Horrific the setting Sunlight was going to be, literally causing the Drivers to be Blind in one of the corners!


As Hopefully IndyCar and the Iowa Speedway will get thou Memo and make next year's race a true Night Race, i.e.; underneath the lights, perhaps beginning at sunset instead of 11PM Central...

But the race was definitely worth waiting up for, as even Colton Herta got-in on the Jokes by saying yes, He was Old enough to Stay Up for the Night race prior to action commencing; Yuk-Yuk-Yuk! Which included a half hour Red Flag period for a passing shower.

Since although Josef Newgarden thoroughly Dominated the race. Putting a Stranglehold upon it by leading some 240-plus laps! Nonetheless, Thar was non-stop action, as Tyre Deg' (Degradation) certainly did its job. Along with Scott Dixon coming from nowhere to finish runner-up and Thee Mayor 'O Hinchtown', aka James Hinchcliffe notching his first podium of the season in third.

Along with the impressive showing by FAST EDDIE's', aka Ed Carpenter Racing Team, before the Boss (Ed Carpenter) Smacked thou Wall! Although Spencer Pigot recorded his first Top-5 finish of the year.

Not to mention the Thrill Show Pupster' Santino Ferruci put on with his High-line is the Right-line High-wire Act! Along with nipping at "Dad's" Heels during the Pre-race when Robin Miller was interviewing Sealmeister B', aka Sebastain Bourdais about making his 200th Career IndyCar Start.

Meanwhile, sometime between the last seven minutes airing, towards 11:30PM Pacific when they finally went Off Air, pretty sure I heard Leigh Diffey saying he'd be busy doing some Track & Field work and that Kevin Lee would substitute for him at Mid Ohio next week; WTF!

Now, I have nothing personal against Kevin Lee, other than I absolutely cannot handle the sounds of his Oh No, Mr. Bill!
Fingernails on Chalkboard Shrieking Faked Exuberance when leading a TV Broadcast!

Not to mention that NBC sports is wasting the talents of Jon Beekhuis, who's Far Superior to Kevin! Which simply makes me scratch my Head over NBC's preference towards the presumably younger Messer lee, albeit I do quite like the Pitlane Newby' Dillon Welch...

Which Thankfully I'll be missing the Broadcast and therefore won't have to try finding how to pull-up the IMS Radio Network's Broadcast instead via Zed Internetz'. Since contrary to popular belief. Thar are those of us who enjoy listening to Indy Cars on the Radio! Especially if you're Blind, Kapishe Y'all?