On tap this week:
- Making waves in the lower ranks
- Kurt Busch's strange suspension
- Pressure is on Patrick
- NASCAR to rethink moonlighting?
- Quote of the Week: Gordon on his last Daytona 500
- Rzadzinski gets chance at Le Mans
Although it's great to have dreams, Exclusive Autosport boss Michael Duncalfe has a simple message for young drivers under his wing: Keep your feet firmly on the ground.
As someone who knows first hand about not making a living as a racer, Duncalfe counsels the drivers in his stable to make decisions based on the reality of the sport and not the fantasy of being the next superstar.
"When a driver says 'the only thing I want is Formula One,' we try to get them to expand their horizons a little bit," said the 33-year-old from Saskatoon.
"I think the goal should be to be the best driver they possibly can be and achieve a career at the end, which is a paid driver. If you achieve that goal, then you've succeeded in an industry that's extremely difficult and very competitive."
Duncalfe also has the on track success to back up his philosophy. Last year, his charges took championships in the Toyo Tires F1600 championship in Ontario (Tristan DeGrand), the F1600 Formula Tour Masters in Quebec (Jayson Clunie), and the F2000 Canada Championship (Thomas McGregor). In addition, Jeffrey Kingsley took home the Toyo Tires rookie crown.
Although the operation started as a driver coaching operation after he left racing in 2007, Duncalfe took his own advice two years ago and expanded into team ownership only because it made sense.
"At the time in Canada, there wasn't a team that offered what we needed for our clients — there were teams that existed but they weren't running at the level that the American teams were," he said.
Last year, the team side of the operation made its first steps into the U.S., because like many racers Duncalfe wants to find success south of the border as a team owner. The goal for 2015 is to focus on the U.S. market and concentrate on taking the F1600 title there.
"Moving up to other levels is definitely an ambition for us, but we want to make sure we are the absolute best at this level first," he said.
"Ideally, we would love to create a ladder within our program so our drivers can continually move up — if that's realistic and possible, we will absolutely do that."
Random thoughts
While NASCAR probably should have suspended the anger challenged Kurt Busch long ago, it's ironic that the series finally made the right move for the wrong reasons. The NASCAR veteran was suspended indefinitely after a Delaware judge issued a restraining order to keep him away from his former girlfriend who has accused him of assault. The problem is that Busch has not been charged with any crime in the case, let alone convicted.
On the other hand, Busch's career is filled with anger management issues, including profanity-filled tirades, threats of physical violence against reporters and dangerous driving in the garage area and pitlane. Unfortunately, NASCAR usually reacted to his previous antics with fines and probation when a suspension may have sent a much needed signal. It's a sad commentary of NASCAR's discipline system that this serial hand grenade has been suspended for something he's only accused of doing, while several transgressions caught on tape went virtually unpunished.
By the numbers
There's no doubt that Danica Patrick hasn't torn up the track in her first two full seasons of Sprint Cup racing. Including the Daytona 500 on Sunday, she has no wins, just four top-5 finishes, one pole and 20 laps led in since becoming a full time Cup driver in 2013.
With Go Daddy in the final year of its contract and rumoured to be on the way out, it may be doubly critical for Patrick to put up some better numbers in 2015 than the average finish of 24th and 28th overall in points last year. While few doubt her marketing power will not attract a new sponsor, it's time for Patrick to prove she's there because of her racing.
Technically speaking
There's no rule that keeps Sprint Cup drivers like Kyle Busch out of the second-tier Xfinity Series; in fact, NASCAR and its teams actively encourages its stars to race in the lower rungs to help give them added exposure. While it's easy to argue the unfairness of Cup drivers racing in a development series, perhaps Busch's hospital stay after a crash in Saturday's Xfinity race will serve as a wake up call for NASCAR and its top teams. You'd think seeing someone like Busch miss the Daytona 500 due to an accident in a race he should have been watching should make teams — and sponsors — cut back on this moonlighting.
Quote of the week
"I enjoyed every moment of it. I enjoyed the pre-race and the race all the way up to that wreck."
— NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, who will retire at the end of 2015, on his last career start in the Daytona 500 where he led the most laps, but finished 33rd after getting caught in a multi-car wreck on the final lap.
The last word
Canadian Stefan Rzadzinski has been chosen as one of 24 drivers vying for a seat in the Le Mans Prototype 2 Class with Team Sard-Morand in the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans. The 22-year-old from Edmonton will be featured in a 12-part online documentary which pits drivers in mental and physical challenges designed to whittle the field to one who gets the coveted seat in the world famous races.
"This should be a really cool way to gain insight into what goes on behind the scenes and a way to really showcase the personalities of drivers from around the world," Rzadzinski said.
"Hopefully, I can do Canada proud and get our country's support in this."
Rzadzinski will need some national backing because fans will be asked to vote and comment on the happenings, and have a say in the final selection. The first episode airs on raceto24.com on Mar. 26.
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Jeff Pappone