Plus Biffle wins NASCAR’S Loudon 300

By David Mirsky

Sebastian Vettel

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/15/08 — Red Bull’s Toro Rosso racing team finally won their first Formula 1 Grand Prix at F1′s premiere track in Monza, Italy. And, if that “first” wasn’t enough, it was also German driver, Sebastian Vettel’s first Formula 1 win of his career. Wait, there’s more…another milestone…Vettel, at just 21, is the youngest driver to win a Formula 1 race, knocking former two time World Champion, Fernando Alonso off that honor by several months. Not only did Vettel win the coveted Monza race, he beat second place, Heikki Kovalainen in his McLaren Mercedes by nearly 12 seconds, and Poland’s BMW driver, Robert Kubica who finished 3^rd. Monza, normally known as the fastest track in F1 racing was anything but this weekend. Just like last week’s race in Belgium, rain played a big part in today’s race, slowing the cars down considerably, and increasing the amount of spin outs and crashes.

The ubiquitous Red Bull logo finally had its day in the sun even with overcast skies. It’s multi million dollar investments, owning two complete Formula 1 teams has paid off. Spending nearly 3-4 times the money than Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes could manage a best 2^nd place, with the Ferraris finishing 6^th and 9^th. I mention this only because Vettel’s Red Bull team uses Ferrari engines in their cars. They have always been unofficially considered Ferrari’s “B” team, but not this day. The B team beat the A team.

Current point’s leader, Lewis Hamilton had one of his worse races of his young career, starting 15^th on the grid, and finishing in 7^th place. The Ferrari guys, Massa and Raikkonen finished in 6^th and 9^th places respectively. It appears this day favored the little guys, and of course the younger ones too. Sebastian Vettel drove a great race, and there should be a lot more wins for the young German. 7 time World Champion, Michael Schumacher has always been impressed by Vettel, citing his work ethics preparing for races.

September 28^th is the next Grand Prix when there will be yet another first in the sport when Singapore hosts the very first Grand Prix run under the lights. As if it wasn’t hard enough to race these cars in the daylight, a night race should be worth watching. Personally, I’m a purist, and like my racing as God intended to be run, in broad daylight. If you’re wondering why the brain trust at Formula 1 opted for a night race, it came down to the greed principal. Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 boss, will make more money if he can get the race to air live on European TV, instead of the wee morning hours. So why don’t they run night races in Europe so race fans in North America can watch F1 races at a decent hour, instead of 5:00am? I guess we’re still considered the “colonies”. And, there’s still one more little bit of Formula 1 business. The FIA governing body is supposed to meet in Europe before the end of the month to consider McLaren’s and Lewis Hamilton’s appeal to the 25 second penalty the stewards imposed on Hamilton for illegally passing Kimi Raikkonen during the Belgium race last week. That penalty cost him the win by sending him down to 3^rd place, and giving Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Hamilton’s rival the win, and points. I’m still fuzzy on that penalty….another first I suppose.

NASCAR’S show was run in Loudon, New Hampshire for the Sylvania 300. And, like our European race fans, rain was a threat this weekend as well. But the race went on as scheduled, even with that threat, there was a special guest, giving the “gentleman, start your engines” charge. Presidential hopeful, Senator McCain gave the order as his wife, and the CEO of Sylvania stood next to him.

Being a relatively short 300 mile race, it was a constant battle for the lead on this small oval. There was a lot of fender bashing…a fast bumper car race. Kyle Busch led the race, taking pole position which didn’t last long. Lap 35 saw Busch head to the pits with suspension problems, which on lap 83 caused Kyle to retire. Lap 89 got heated when Dale Jr. passed race leader, Jimmie Johnson, and held that position for a while until Johnson recaptured the lead. Chase drivers were running up front for most of the race, making things more exciting. With the race winding down, and 12 laps left to go, popular Sprint Cup driver, Greg Biffle, took the lead away from Johnson, and held the charging champion off to take his first win in about a year. Jimmie Johnson held on for 2^nd place, with Carl Edwards picking up 3^rd. Kyle Busch leads the Chase series by 30 points over Edwards

Wanting to have a first of their own, NASCAR was not to be out done by Formula 1. 18-year-old Joey Logano made his Sprint Cup debut, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. From what we’ve heard, this young phenom, with his boyish good looks and charming manners, is the real deal. Since Joe Gibbs is just as real, it appears we’ll be hearing a lot from the Logano team very soon. Logano finished today’s race in 32^nd place, under the Home Depot sponsored car.

The next Sprint Cup race will come from the Dover International Speedway for the Camping World RV 400.