In fact, they did this just to honor the Royal House of Orange with what was then a new breed of bright orange carrot.

Can I ask a question? Well of course I can…

What is the big fascination of going real fast and making constant left hand turns?

Those of you “in the know” may recognize that I am talking about Nasty Car (NASCAR for those who are fans) and the big oval spectacle that’s called a car race.

Where is the thrill in all of that?

Maybe it’s the fact that as fans, you’re all waiting for the inevitable bit of trading paint and blue tire smoke with cars and pieces of cars flying all over the place? You might be mesmerized by the counter clockwise rotation of your daddy’s Chevy doing State of Louisiana freeway speeds? Or it could be the fact that the celebrity wives are doing the cat-fight/hair pulling thing in the stands while their husbands work very hard at making some other vehicle a smoking pile of crushed metal, torn fiberglass and road-rash?

Sorry, but you can color this type of racing as dumb.

How many roads and/or highways do you know are steep banked lefties? The roads you and I drive on have turns. Some of those roads are straight. Listen, I challenge anyone to get in their car, drive out of their drive-way and make left handers for the rest of the day and try and get anywhere. Why should auto racing be different than real life?

Don’t get me wrong. When there’s an accident on the highway, the voyeur aspect takes over in quite a few people proving that car crashes are some source of fascination. But a race on a high speed oval?

Listen… you can give me a car race on a street or road course in a “purpose built” race car any day.

Now that’s racing that makes sense.

For example, take the Formula 1 style of racing venues. These cars have open (exposed) wheels and are designed for road racing and do not, in any way, shape or form resemble Grandma’s Rambler. In Formula 1 races, the drivers have to move left and right, accelerate hard and brake even harder. The drivers are constantly negotiating turns. Passing becomes an art form, not some type of “bumper tag”. The drivers are eclectic, charismatic, elegant and proud of their countries. Nasty Car drivers? Well, let’s just say they are doing well by not grabbing their crotches during an interview.

To some of you out there, the Daytona 500 marked the beginning of America’s race season. I am mortified to think that the rest of the world watches all this and wonders how the hell we, as a nation, made it to the moon. What is even more perplexing is the fact that NASCAR is talking about racing “off-continent”. There goes the neighborhood. Heck, pretty soon, the Japanese auto makers will want to get into the act… uh… crapola… too late!

Just this week, the U. S. version of open wheel road racing died a tragic death. The IRL (Indy Racing League), perennial oval race yahoo’s and purveyors of the Indianapolis 500 BLHT (big left hand turn), has acquired the American version of the road racing venue called Champ Car. What will become of all this? No one knows. But, if car racing is becoming a bunch of guys making big sweeping left hand turns, flipping “the bird” and driving a look-alike “mommy taxi” just for the sake of making money, then I’m out.

It won’t take much for someone to dangle the AMA Superbike carrot…

No matter what color that carrot is…

Until next week…