April 3rd, 2012
On John Dagys
John Dagys has been the topic of an almsfanforum thread of late. Some of it runs along the lines of “lucky guy.” Luck? Murphy’s furry backside! Young as he his, John Dagys worked his tail off to get the gig the forum numpties (that rather descriptive word coined by an anonymous “industry observer” who the Bear claims as a friend) dream of. Anyway, John was haunting media rooms writing – on his own nickel – for an independent website (The-Paddock.net, in which he was a partner and the chief editor) while still a journalism student at Columbia College, Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Action Express, Al Soleroli, Alex Job, Bill Rand, Clay Malooley, Don Panoz, Federal Trade Commission, Ferrari, Greg Loles, Greg Rand, Intersport, Jim France, John Dagys, John Dillinger, Level 5, Luca Moro, Matt Tarleton, Reality Slap, Reg Tarleton, Scott Atherton, Scott Tucker, Tony Rand
Posted in Paddock Poop | 32 Comments »
January 28th, 2012
Murphy was just killin’ time here waiting for the Rolex start, doin’ nuttin’ much, and realized he’s been doin’ nuttin’ much for like a long time. Of course, wit da Braselburgers doin nuttin much lately, he’s gotten a little bored with the whole scene.
He’s been thinkin, how much can you rip the gang that can’t shoot straight before it’s just same ol’ same ol’? Which it has been for a long time. When The Bear launched this thing – way back in 2005 – he was documenting exciting and fun stuff. That started fading about three years later, and the whole damn thing’s turned pretty dark. Which Murphy doesn’t really like. At all. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Action Express Racing, Alex Job Racing, ALMS, Chip Ganassi Racing, Flying Lizard Motorsports, Gabriel Cadringher, Grand Am, Ken Breslauer, Peter Baron, Peugeot, Risi Competizione, Roku, Rolex 24 at Daytona, Sebring, Seth Neiman, Spirit of Daytona, Sun Trust Racing, TRG, Turner Motorsport, WEC, World's Greatest Race Car Driver
Posted in Paddock Poop | 44 Comments »
December 19th, 2011
Audi Advances
Audi was running at Sebring this week. According to the best minds that analyze such things (Mulsanne Mike, for instance), the 2012 R18 really quite a different car than last year’s R18. Hopefully, the changes will improve the outward vision. A pal of a friend of the Bear drove the R18 a couple of months ago, and reported an “absolute blind spot out of the right hand side.” “It explains the McNish crash at Le Mans,” he said.
In other news from the Bear’s Chief European Correspondent, Romain Dumas is headed back to Porsche soon, there’s a big tug of war over Timo Bernhard, and Oliver Pla was quick at a secret Peugeot test.
Insiders in Europe believe ALMS will have Audi, Mercedes, and perhaps others not fully homologated by the ACO in some form of local GT class – but it’s unclear when that gets done. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Andy Lally, Audi, Austin, Bahrain, Baltimore, Bernie Ecclestone, Conquest, Corvette, Ferrari, Ganassi, Guissepe Risi, Intersport, Jaime Melo, Jan Magnussen, Kevin Buckler, Larbre Racing, Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta, Red McCombs, Risi Competizione, Scott Maxwell, Tommy Milner, Virginia International Raceway
Posted in Paddock Poop | 65 Comments »
October 13th, 2011
Schedule Follies
Just minutes before it was announced, Murphy was told the two TBA’s were Detroit and Texas. Subsequently, other candidates have made the routine rounds of the rumor mill. Boss Scott confirmed the Detroit TBA in a rather odd and self-serving press release after Grand Am confirmed it would have that June 2 Detroit Race. Now it seems likely nothing will fill that ALMS April/May TBA. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Abruzzi, ACO, Andy Lally, Baltimore, Billy Joe "Red" McCombs, BMW, Circuit of the Americas, Crocodile McFly, Detroit, ECO Racing, ESPN International, FIA, General Motors, Gold Coast, Grand Am, Ian Dawson, Jean-Claude Plassart, Kevin Buckler, Laguna Seca, Lotus Evora, Maranello, Mazda, Montreal, Motors TV, Norwegian Blue, Oklahoma City, Pirelli World Challenge, Pratt & Miller, Rogers Sports Net, Salt lake City, Scott Atherton, Sears Point, Sebring, St Petersburg, Taurus, Thunderbolt, V8 Supercar
Posted in Paddock Poop | 188 Comments »
September 29th, 2011
McDreamy’s Plans
Murphy wrote in May’s Paddock Poop 190 that McDreamy would go LMP2 racing with Mazda, probably in the newly announced World Endurance Championship. A month later, Speedtv.com told you pretty much the same thing in an “exclusive.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ACO, ALMS, Autohaus, BMW, Chip Ganassi, Chris Dyson, Clay Malooley, Corvette, Daytona, Ferrari, Grand Am, Greg Pickett, Ian Dawson, Jaguar, Jon Field, Jordon Taylor, Mazda, McDreamy, Paul Edwards, Peugeot, Risi Competizione, Robertson Racing, Robin Liddell, Scott Tucker, Sebring, Stevenson, World Endurance Championship
Posted in Paddock Poop | 44 Comments »