Electronics & Computers Deals here!Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California is usually busy around this time of year, and this last weekend was no exception. While much of the attention was on the Indy Car Grand Prix race held on Sunday with commercials pimping such Indy Car stars as Danica Patrick (duh) and Helio Castroneves, the Formula Drift company had an event of its own at Infineon the night before featuring Round 6 of the Locked and Loaded series.
Formula D's "Locked and Loaded" was held on Saturday August 22 at Infineon Raceway, and based on the video here it looked like a lot of fun under the California sun in Sonoma. Most of the footage in this particular web video is from the practice runs earlier in the day prior to the actual drift competition (which was eventually won by Stephan Verdier), and from most video I've seen available online, the practice clips look even better than the footage from the race later that night. I know part of it is that I'm a sucker for the scenery and landscape in Sonoma, and in the light it's beauty is magnified even with squealing race car tires and smoking asphalt in the forefront. And this isn't just "seen one, seen em all" drifting - these guys are professionals. A couple highlights include the collision (or near collision) of two drifting vehicles as they take a turn around the 4:25 mark, and at the end of the video one drifter pushes his competition out to the grass in order to avoid getting hit.
Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher aren't the only female drivers attracting attention to the IndyCar circuit. There just happens to be another beautiful lady rockin' the car racing world, and her name is Milka Duno.
Milka Duno's rise to prominence in the racing world (besides being a woman) was far from typical. Duno was born in Caracas and her past endeavors have included modeling and Master's Degrees in Naval Architecture and Marine Biology. Around the mid-1990s Milka turned her attention to car racing, and she hasn't looked back since. She moved to the United States in 1999 to pursue a full time career in racing, and now she stands as a potentially hot contender in more ways than one.
For today's web video I could have taken the easy way out and shown the fight Milka had with IndyCar rival Danica Patrick at a Mid-Ohio race practice, but I decided to take the high road and I dug up a rare video of Duno's first televised race for Club Copa in Venezuela circa 1996. Milka's pushing a fire-engine red Porsche 911 (#18 on the track), and she wins the race in style - sporting a dress at the very end of the video. While this footage is historic and noteworthy, the car enthusiast in me also enjoyed checking out the other cars on the track. Enjoy.
You know, it seems that there's still a widely held notion that cars and racing are a purely man's domain even in these "enlightened" times. But nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion. Women have made great strides in not only the racing world, but have also taken on other car-related areas such as mechanics and customs that are usually dominated by us dudes, and I think that's a cause to celebrate. So ladies and gentlemen, start your engines for this week's video blog tribute to women drivers and women in the car racing world.
The catalyst of this week's video blog concept came courtesy of a chance meeting with the June 7, 2009 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle at a coffee shop. The front page of the sports section had an article debating the potential reality of IndyCar phenomenon Danica Patrick jumping to the big time NASCAR circuit when her contract with Andretti-Green Racing expires at the conclusion of the current season. Racing fans and critics alike have been making a fuss about Patrick since basically the beginning of her racing career, and her off-track exploits such as doing racy swimsuit pictorials and commercials have certainly added fuel to the fire. However, Patrick's having a damn good IndyCar season this year, finishing in the top 5 four times and placing 3rd in the all-important Indianapolis 500.
This video comes from her most recent IndyCar outing at the Texas Indy 550 from June 7, 2009. This particular stretch of video highlights Danica jockeying for position against Dan Wheldon for the number 5 position. Ultimately, Ms. Patrick would end up finishing 6th in the Texas Race. One reason I like this video is we get not just the "around the track" view, but also we get to cruise along with Danica from the camera positioned on top of her vehicle. Whether Danica Patrick is NASCAR bound or not, she's certain to continue attracting attention wherever she goes.
So far this week, I've featured video of the 93rd Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and the third place finisher Danica Patrick. Some of you may be wondering "where's some video of Dan Wheldon?" who finished second at this year's Indy 500 race. Well, this here is video that not only features Wheldon in action, but also includes the other top two finishers from this year's Indianapolis 500.
This video comes from a 2007 Indycar race in Milwaukee. The first half of the video shows Dan Wheldon running Patrick off into the pit lane, and a confrontation ensues where Patrick is obviously a little ticked off at Wheldon. Then at the 1:50 mark, we see Helio Castroneves approaching a finish line when his rear wing gives and sends Castroneves into a spin. It is interesting that I could find one video from the past that features the top three finishers from this year's Indy 500.
While Sarah Fisher was out and about spreading the word last week about the 93rd Indianapolis 500, another Indy woman has also been attracting a lot of attention--Danica Patrick. While Danica is driving tons of Internet traffic from swimsuit shoots and steamy TV commercials, she has also become a savvy self-marketer and top contender in Indy racing. In fact, at this last weekend's Indianapolis 500, Danica finished third, her best showing at the Indy 500 to date.
If she hadn't before, Danica put the racing world on notice and made history when she won her first Indy race at Twin Ring Motegi in the Indy Japan 300 on April 20, 2008. In this video, Danica manages to avoid a fuel stop (unlike her closest competitors here) and soon finds herself getting the checkered flag. There are a lot of critics and fans suggesting that Danica should capitalize on her star power and move up to the "big time" in NASCAR. Whether she will do such...we'll just have to wait and see.
This Memorial Day weekend, as usual, was the yearly host to one of the most historic American professional car race traditions: the Indianapolis 500. Well, this Memorial Day weekend was the host of the 93rd edition of the Indy 500, and what a race it was.
By the time the final lap, it becomes obvious that Helio Castroneves is going to finish first, and what a sweet victory it is for him.
This victory marks his third win at the Indianapolis 500, and this time around it was a clean sweep of every prize at the historic annual race. Finishing second was Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick came in third, but this Indy 500 was all about Castroneves and how just weeks ago we was facing charges of tax evasion and even facing jail time. Luckily for him, the charges were dropped and Castroneves finishes a hectic cluster of weeks with arguably the most satisfying victory of his career. Congratulations!
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