Morning Lap: Racing News Links
Welcome to another Morning Lap here on BeyondtheFlag.com! The Morning Lap is our daily news links feature where we gather the best and latest news links from around the world of motorsports and compile into one post for your reading pleasure. To navigate through the news links just use your left or right arrow keys to scroll through or click next or previous.
March 23, 2013; Fontana, CA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano (22) speaks with a crew member during practice for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Young hothead Joey Logano remains unfazed
When did Joey Logano, whose career got off to a dubious start after Randy LaJoie christened him “Sliced Bread,’’ (as in, “the greatest thing since . . .’’), suddenly become a lightning rod of controversy in NASCAR?
Logano, the 22-year-old Sprint Cup driver from Middletown, Conn., certainly painted himself in a none-too-flattering light in last week’s Auto Club 400 at Fontana, Calif., where he was involved in a last-lap wipeout of former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin as the drivers raced side by side for a victory that wound up going to Kyle Busch.
NASCAR has plenty left for Hall
A couple of weeks ago, after naming my five picks for NASCAR’s next Hall of Fame induction, I got feedback from readers suggesting other names from NASCAR’s rich past.
Nobody disagreed with my “Famous Five” — Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Curtis Turner, Fred Lorenzen and Bobby Isaac — but readers brought up some other significant contributors to NASCAR lore.
“Can u believe they still haven’t put in Raymond Parks?!!” Doug Gandy emailed. “It’s a cryin damn shame.”
No, I can’t, I replied. But they don’t let me vote. The omission of Parks is precisely what Gandy called it: A cryin’ damn shame.
(ESPN)
Will Power’s column: A fast start, but…
Luck – It all balances out in the end, doesn’t it? I mean, you can drive yourself crazy talking about missed opportunities, whether they’re your fault, another driver’s fault, the way yellows fall…whatever it is. There’s always something that causes bad things to happen. And then you have to think about the good things in your career: I’m lucky not to have been more seriously hurt in the couple of big accidents I got caught up in over the past few years, I’m lucky to drive for Team Penske and I’m lucky to make a living out of being a racecar driver.
(Racer)
Did You Really Think Formula One was Coming to Connectitcut?
As April Fool’s pranks play out in homes and workplaces across the country, they are also popping up in press releases. My favorite so far came from Lime Rock Park, a small, picturesque racing track in Lime Rock, Conn.
The headline reads: Ecclestone Greenlights 2017 F1 Race at Lime Rock.
Any Formula One 1 racing fan who has been to the Lime Rock circuit is already laughing uncontrollably and possibly writhing on the floor. For everyone else the joke probably falls flat.
McLaren happy with Perez’s start
Martin Whitmarsh says he is pleased with the start Sergio Perez has made to his McLaren career.
While McLaren has started the season with a poor car, Perez has been solid if unspectacular as he scored his first points with ninth place in Malaysia following an 11th-place finish in Australia.
Jenson Button has outqualified and outraced his team-mate on both occasions so far – though he had to retire in Malaysia after a pit stop error – but Whitmarsh said the early signs have been good from Perez given the situation the team has placed him in.
(ESPN F1)