The Iceman Comes to NASCAR

This guy must be exceptionally bored!  Although I have enjoyed watching him in WRC last year and this, I think he realizes how "out of the water" he is with top-tier WRC drivers and feels he can make more of an impact in circuit racing.  It will be interesting and I look forward to watching Carl Edwards take him out at Talladega at 200+ mph!

Ouch...

Well, Ken Block's Rally Portugal got off to a rocky start to say the least.  Too bad as this was a rally he had done before and I was hoping he would have at least a top 10 finish.  Oh well, I just hope he doesn't get frustrated.

Arghhhhh...

Snapped the clutch cable on the Fizzy heading home for lunch today, from downtown, in road construction.  Only 3 miles but all midtown traffic so needless to say I had to be creative in getting the bike home which included flat out running a couple of red lights.  Oh well, made it home safe and the cable is only $50 if I can find a place to order it.  Sucks as the weather is perfect and I'm getting tired of putting gas in Ta Tonka!

Spring is Here II!

It's getting there!  Hope to get the fence in the backyard completed in the next week and then I can finally build my horseshoe pits!  HicklQue 2011, here we come!

Spring is Here!

I cam always tell spring is here as the crawfish are in season.  Put together a little crawfish boil for my buds Saturday night and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Some good food, better fellowship and then UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones.  What a great night and only could have been better with a zip through the twisties prior to us eating.  Oh well, that's coming soon enough and if the weather stays nice, I see us getting to Arkansas before the middle of April.  Next on the yard party agenda, HicklQue!

 

2011 WRC Rally de Portugal

Finally it's here, the first "real" test between Ford and the Citroen!  The first rally, Rally Sweden, is a specialist rally with the Scandinavians typically taking victory.  Rally Mexico is atypical for the elevation the rally runs at, some of the stages at altitudes higher than any stage run in Europe.  This really saps horsepower and makes it tough to compare the cars head to head.  Rally de Portugal is typical European gravel rally fare and is where we will be able to see if one car has an advantage over another.

See link here for the official WRC YouTube channel where you can get a fix on some older rallies.  From 2004 onward, the rally reviews are quite complete but prior to that, the day-end reviews are a mess with nothing being in order.  In any case, it's a good place to get some background on the current players and I highly recommend 2005, 2006 and 2007!

Ken Block Mancrush

Perhaps you are wondering "who in the hell is this Ken Block guy and what's up with Chuck's mancrush on him?" Well, there's not an altogether straight answer to this question but it starts with my newfound passion for the World Rally Championship. I have always been aware of rally racing peripherally, and am familiar with the general history of the evolution of cars prior to Group B to the present, but didn’t start following WRC full time until about halfway through the 2009 season when I was able to get access to footage through the internet. Long story short, I was hooked from the first stage I watched and just can't get enough!

Ken Block comes into the picture because he is the first American to drive in the WRC and score points since 1988 and although Ken understands he will probably never win a rally, much less the championship, that still hasn’t dampened his passion for the sport. I could bore you with the details of Ken’s background but the short version is that he is 42 years old, the founder of DC shoes and discovered a passion for rallying in his mid-30s. Ken raced in the American Rally Championship for about 5 years then made the switch to WRC fulltime in 2010. I believe he has a 3-year contract with Monster Energy drink and look to see him make rapid improvements through the rest of this year and into the next. Ken has a great attitude and is just what the WRC needed for a personality. Following Ken gives me the emotional investment that makes following any sport that much more fun and I look forward to him winning a stage outright before the end of the year!

As for the WRC itself, this is a great time to be getting into it as it is on the upswing. Since the worldwide economic downturn of 2007, the championship has degraded to only 2 manufacturer’s with only Ford and Citroën fielding factory vehicles. BMW is bringing the Mini Countryman into the series mid-season and Saab, Toyota and VW are making noises of rejoining the championship. Along with that, a Russian billionaire has purchased North One Sports, which provides coverage of the WRC, and has promised much improved coverage of the championship.

All in all, this is a fantastic time to be getting involved with the WRC and I’d be more than happy to provide you guys with the videos so you can follow along as well. There have been only 2 rallies thus far and I will reupload Sweden and Mexico to my FTP so you guys can have access to them to catch up. Rally Portugal is this coming weekend and I will upload those files as I get access to them. In any case, if you want a more in-depth history on the championship, I have 35G worth of WRC year-end reviews going back to the early 80s so just give me a shout.

Honorary Hoonigan

No words needed.  Whole video is worth a look!  Thanks to Phil for forwarding this on.

It's That Time!

Not to bring anyone down but with riding season coming up, the following clip kind of brings it all into perspective.  What a close call! Thanks to Ryan for forwarding this on to me.

Congrats!

Phil surprised me last night saying he was headed to Memphis this morning to pick up a new bike, a BMW F800S. SWEET!  Can't wait to see it and get Phil back to Arkansas for some fun in the twistys.