Hometown Hazard?

DATE: APRIL 18, 2009

There's always been something about the Joliet track, or the "Chicagoland Speedway" as promotional morons like to call it, that I've never been able to do right in TM Master Cup cars.

Don't get me wrong, I can tell you all the little tricks Mike Ross and I did to the TM Lights car when we about lapped the entire field here. But then I'd have to kill you. :P

I tested an ARLA car here when they had that Car of Tomorrow crap going on and I was told by someone (I really wish I could remember his name) that what I'd ran there would make me a threat to win. That's ARLA, though, half the trick in ARLA is to stay in front of the crashes when they happen. There's a couple great guys in ARLA, Scott Hamilton, Kurt Walker, Chris Johannes, to name a few, but there's the idiots in ARLA that just create nothing but carnage.

The funny part is that while those guys have come into the Master Cup series, they've brought the lunacy of ARLA with them. I'm not saying they can't drive, because they most certainly can, but what I'm saying is that we have about 10-20 drivers on the grid that don't deserve to be driving riding mowers. They just tear so much shit up it's not even funny. Not just in Quincy either (let's be honest, if you expect to get through a Quincy race undamaged then you're an idiot), but everywhere we go the same people wreck wreck wreck wreck. Some of them have some pretty fast cars, too, and that's really worrying.

Before I forget, I set the third slowest time in first practice, but I set all my practice laps by myself and didn't take any drafting laps. We're about four tenths off of first. I should also add that I was going over 206 MPH around there, flat out.

That's really worrying to me, because I'm not the most durable person out there, and there's some guys I'm not sure can take a heavy hit that we're bound to take. These aren't the superdurable Superspeedway cars, these are the Indianapolis cars. While it's a good idea, they're not as safe as the Superspeedway cars. The officials really fucked up somewhere, we should not be going this fast in cars that probably aren't going to be able to hold up. Something tells me they're regretting it too.

The TM Lights cars are running practice so it's a bit hard to focus. Carlos Donzelo is currently fastest, and he's tied with Jacques Bouveir (I think I spelled it right), and then Rosie is third and Matt Taylor is fourth. Speaking of Carlos, he'll be making his debut this week, and hes already faster than Craig Jonser and Eric Jackson. Then again, being faster than Eric Jackson isn't that hard when you realize Phillip Rodgers is the crew cheif. Wonder if that's why Eric is struggling this season?

Also, I have to be honest, but I really really feel like a robot writing this. Hopefully I'll be able to fix that problem in the future.

Bye for now!
- A.R.