I went to the ARLA Race in Germany!

So I went to the ARLA race in Leipzig after being in France for a few days (wonderful place by the way), and this post is going to be right off the heels (kind of ironic that I say that, since I just got a hold of a new pair yesterday) of that. Also my, like, first ARLA-only post.

First of all, who the hell uses hay bails for walls?! Are they high?! A fuel leak equals a massive fire when it meets a hay bail almost instantly and I'm surprised it didn't happen. A huge oversight by the officials that could have been a complete disaster a la Le Mans 1955. I mean, hay bails and flammable objects. Great idea to use for a wall, right? Right. Fantastic idea. That's the only reason I can see for people boycotting it and not once did that come up

Screw those turns, that just required more common sense and control of the car, which Marcos Leonard showed everyone how to do. He was the most fun to watch and I think the crowd liked to watch him go. Shame he got wrecked by some moron.

It was going to be interesting because some people just admitted they couldn't handle the turns and pulled out before the weekend started. I almost considered dusting off my old CM chassis I still have, bringing that sonofagun here and putting it on the grid, but those engines are so gutless and slow that they're not fun to drive.

Come raceday it looked like Scott Hamilton was the guy to beat. He was awesome all over the track, and I thought he was going to run away with the race. Even when he got taken out he was still the hero of the day in my eye. He led the opening part of the race and if it wasn't for Liz Hebert wrecking him he would have won the race.

Keep in mind I was watching from the pitlane, so I had access to the TV monitors to watch the OEN guys call the race.

Everyone underestimated Scott until then and even after that they overlook him. The broadcasters were pretty much oggling over the 34 car, but that's like one of the best cars in the field anyway. I really like what Leonid has done for racing in general, but those two cars aren't that good, and Scott made them look awesome. Definitely the most underrated driver in ARLA, by far. He blew some of their supposed 'stars' out of the water but got taken out because of a moronic backmarker.

I hope for his sake that more than just FLASH Racing saw that performance. It seemed like such crap that they'd sort of write him off, but he should have won the race. If Liz Hebert tried that crap in the Master Cup series she'd get suspended at least one race, and that kind of driving deserves no less.

I think Kevin Colley had better kiss his ride goodbye as well -- the team owners seem to like Taylor Brillon much better than they like him. The sad part about that is if it was the reverse I think Brillon would get off with nothing. I know a few other situations like that in the Master Cup series as well, and it's a shame.

I'm not saying I agree with Kevin Colley's move, but Taylor Brillon is not that much better than Colley is, if she is actually better than him (I think that team is just buffing Brillon's ride, really), and if you ask me she is much favored by the team owners. Rumor is Colley's getting turfed out of that team next season and personally I think his career is toast unless National Racing... excuse me... Team Saar USA, picks him up as a reserve driver. We all know how reserve drivers careers go...

It was really nice to see James West win the race, though. I have to admit that -- it's not quite as big a losing streak as Lance Andrews (not even close) but it was nice to see one of the little teams win. The only problem I have was that, well, it came on the back of another small team's misfortune, in the #74 car.

Bye for now!
- A.R.