The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Drive for Five is complete. Is that a legendary accomplishment or the next sign of the impending Apocalypse?

Jimmie Johnson put himself in the same room as NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt — both seven-time Cup champions — by winning his fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup on Sunday by finishing second to Carl Edwards in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson rallied from a 15-point deficit to pass Denny Hamlin for another championship. Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus endured a tumultuous Chase, during which Johnson’s crew was benched, to continue their reign over the sport.

Say it five times fast: This guy is a legend.

And the great debate begins: Is Johnson’s dominance good for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and help it gain more attention as it attempts to rebound in 2011 from a season of decreased attendance and TV ratings? Or will it hurt, as fans are getting sick and tired of seeing Johnson and Knaus hoisting the big silver trophy every year at Homestead?

SBNation’s Jeff Gluck, an avid Tweeter, posted this interesting smorgasbord of Twitter reaction from fans after the race Sunday. Many fans complained about Johnson’s victory. And those fans are wrong.

What Johnson is doing here, folks, is beyond special because it’s almost beyond comprehension. NASCAR rule makers toil long and hard to build equality into the sport. The COT has homogenized the machinery. The point system rewards consistency more than winning. The Chase system was created to prevent a runaway champion late in the season, erasing any early-season dominance. Four of the 10 Chase races are on 1.5-mile ovals, with no road courses and only one short track.

This is racing’s version of the salary cap and free agency, two components that have killed dynasties in the NFL, NBA and NHL. Yet Johnson, Knaus and Hendrick Motorsports continue to just deliver under pressure, year after year. Think about it: The last time Jimmie Johnson failed to win the Sprint Cup, only Alaskans had ever heard of Sarah Palin. Justin Bieber was a kid dreaming of stardom in his bedroom in Canada. Joey Logano was 15 years old.

Why is this criticized? Why is this seen as boring? I agree with Peter DeLorenzo at Autoextremist: It’s not like Johnson and Knaus are crushing the competition due to superior equipment, an argument that could be made about the Ferrari that Michael Schumacher drove to five consecutive Formula One World Championships last decade.

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Sorry for the late-evening version of Splash And Go, but I had to wait for the first practice results from Motegi. They’re in, and Will Power is on top of the time chart. His closest pursuer in the points, Dario Franchitti, was sixth.

It’s a strong statement of intent by Power, but it’s not like the guy has looked shabby at recent oval races at Chicagoland and Kentucky. Still, John Oreovicz of ESPN.com makes a really good point about Will: He’s never raced on the asphalt egg at Twin Ring Motegi.

Still, I think it’s only a matter of time until he earns his first oval victory in the IZOD IndyCar Series for Team Penske. Dario just hopes that time is next year.

I was stunned when I first saw the time sheet and noticed Takuma Sato was at the bottom, even beneath Milka Duno. Say it ain’t so at your home motor dojo, Taku-san. But then I read where Taku crashed after an oil line failure splurted oil on the tires, causing Sato to spin.

Good thing Taku is OK. It’s pretty safe to say that normal order will be restored, with Milka in the caboose. But you have to feel for Sato in front of his home crowd. And do you think KV Racing Technology has gold card credit status with Dallara for chassis repair yet this season?

While practice is underway at Motegi, it’s not too late to check out this humorous preview of the race at Pop Off Valve.

She's still an elite race driver, ladies and gents

Tony Johns of Pop Off Valve also takes on the white elephant in the room with the IZOD IndyCar Series, the future racing intent of 5-2, 100-pound Danica Patrick. Tony thinks IndyCar doesn’t need Danica anymore.

Sorry, Tony, but I beg to differ. Danica is the most popular driver in the series, has attracted countless fans of both genders to IndyCar and is a magnet for attention, good and bad. No one can force her to stay in the series if she wants to run NASCAR full time after her contract expires with Andretti Autosport, but to say the series doesn’t need her? That’s a big step off a very narrow ledge.

Johns brings up Danica’s relative lack of success — one victory in nearly six full seasons of IZOD IndyCar Series racing — and says her results don’t match her hype. Well, the stats don’t match the buzz for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR Sprint Cup, either, but he remains the most popular driver in that series by about six ZIP codes.

Sports is a personality-driven entertainment business now. People follow personalities more than results. But results are still a factor, and Danica gets it done at the biggest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500. Five top-eight finishes in six career starts at the Brickyard. ‘Nuff said. She’s a plus for the series. Period.

On a final IndyCar note, it’s really heartening to see that Mike Conway is almost ready to climb back into the cockpit. This boggles my mind considering the ferocity of Mike’s wreck at Indy, but he’s trying to beat the clock to return to his Dreyer & Reinbold seat for the season finale Oct. 2 at Homestead. Dude’s a racer – what else can you say?

Hey, did you know the Chase starts this Sunday? THE CHASE! THE CHASE! I’m starting to sound like Herve Villechaize calling for the plane on “Fantasy Island.”

The always excellent Dustin Long analyzes what each of the 12 Chase drivers needs to do to hoist the big silver mug at Homestead. Mike Mulhern also takes a really interesting look at how a strong, candid relationship between drivers and crew chiefs, especially when the driver is a bubbling young volcano like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, is vital during the Chase.

Mike Hembree at SPEEDtv.com wrote an interesting piece stating that sleepy, small Loudon is an odd place to conduct the first race of NASCAR’s postseason.

New England is a stronger racing bastion than one might think, and Nor’easter fans go especially nuts for the superb NASCAR Modified Tour, the most exciting division in NASCAR, in my opinion. But New England also is a pro stick-and-ball haven, with the Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox Nation inhaling most of the available media oxygen.

Still, that’s not stopping track president Jerry Gappens from beating the drum. Jerry is an Indiana native, so racing is in his veins. He also worked for the legendary promoter Humpy Wheeler at Charlotte Motor Speedway, so the guy clearly knows how to sell and connect with fans.

The new Grand Prix of Aragon is underway in MotoGP, and the Motorland Aragon is one trippy racetrack, as this photo feature at motomatters.com shows. There are so many blind entrances to corners that I think Ray Charles and Jose Feliciano designed the circuit.

Dani Pedrosa was quickest overall as MotoGP returned to two Friday practice sessions. Pedrosa has been en fuego since Indianapolis and was rewarded with a new two-year deal with Honda. It will be very interesting to see how the notoriously fickle Pedrosa and his attack-dog manager, Alberto Puig, get along with Australian hard-ass and sometimes chronic complainer Casey Stoner next season in the Repsol Honda garage. Expect little love lost between the two.

James Toseland: Don't hate me because I'm beautiful, baby

Speaking of unloved men in motorcycle racing, it seems like James Toseland has alienated another teammate. American Colin Edwards couldn’t stand Toseland after Toseland orchestrated a swap of his crew chief with Edwards’ before the start of the 2009 MotoGP season. The Texas Tornado got the last laugh, as he clicked better with his new crew chief, Guy Coulon, and kicked Toseland’s ass so thoroughly that the Brit lost his ride and dropped back to World Superbike.

Well, it appears that Toseland’s WSBK teammate, fellow Brit Cal Crutchlow, also doesn’t have Toseland on his Christmas card list this year, either. Crutchlow was asked if he sought Toseland’s advice on MotoGP in advance of jumping to MotoGP in 2011 with Toseland’s old team, Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Crutchlow dropped a hammer on Toseland with his answer!

I sure hope Edwards remains at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 next season. The verbal volleys coming from that garage will look like Volkswagen Beetle-sized shells being fired from the USS Missouri.

In a very classy move Thursday, Moto2 points leader Toni Elias suggested in the pre-event press conference at Aragon that the Michel Metraux Trophy, presented to the best privateer rider of the season in the Moto2 class, should be presented to Shoya Tomizawa, who was killed in a Moto2 racing crash Sept. 5 at Misano.

The trophy is awarded based on a vote of the Moto2 riders, and they unanimously agreed to posthumously award the Metraux Trophy to Tomi.  A very proper gesture from a solid, tight community of racers.

Formula One is off this weekend, but the news and rumors never stop in the “pinnacle of motorsport,” as Nigel Mansell used to call it.

Joe Saward writes that it makes little sense for Renault to dance with Kimi Raikkonen despite reports that the Kimster and the French team are courting for 2011. Joe also throws cold water on the rumors that Lotus will switch to Toyota engines, instead writing that the shadow of the once-colossus fronted by Colin Chapman and Jim Clark will switch to Renault engines in 2011.

Sorry, but if a Cosworth DFV isn’t in the back, it’s not a real Lotus regardless of the paint job or team name.

Finally, Michael Schumacher is excited about the first night race of his career at Singapore on Sept. 26. Be careful what you wish for, Weltmeister: The spotlights of Singapore only will more brightly illuminate both the decline of your career and a possibly ham-fisted, lethal attempt by you to stuff a faster driver into the numerous concrete barriers of the street circuit.

Sometimes it’s possible to take two completely incongruent things or people and create a fun concoction. Peanut butter and crispy bacon sandwiches. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss singing a duet. Red Bull and vodka. Add NASCAR and rally to that list.

Say what?

Really. Ford has made the combination of NASCAR and World Rally quite tasty in a video series that is part of an ad campaign to promote its Fiesta model. The very cool video below combines a race between A.J. Allmendinger in a Sprint Cup stock car, Rally America star and YouTube legend Ken Block in a Ford Fiesta rally car and Richard Petty tapping his cowboy boots while looking on with glee. Yes, it’s surreal. And yes, it works. Hell, just watch it:

That was cool, wasn’t it? But enough with the fun and games. The Chase is about to start! The Chase is about to start! THE CHASE IS ABOUT TO START!

The NASCAR hype meter is spiking already as 12 drivers start the Chase for the Sprint Cup this Sunday at New Hampshire. SBNation’s Jeff Gluck takes a final look back at the race last Saturday night at Richmond and offers some interesting analysis and opinion, including a small swipe at America’s princess of speed, Danica.

As the Chase gets underway, column inches devoted to ways to “fix” the Chase are running neck and neck with those offering predictions of this year’s Cup winner. NASCAR.com gets into the action with a Dan Aykroyd-Jane Curtin-style “Point-Counterpoint” segment about changing the Chase.

Jenna Fryer of the AP also chimes in about possible Chase changes, with astute comments from one of the wise, old sages of the NASCAR garage, Tony Stewart.

But if you’re looking for a good, hype-free and opinion-free read about the Chase, look no further than this piece by Mike Mulhern about the new and improved Jack Roush. The Cat in the Hat lost another one of his nine lives when he crashed his plane earlier this year, losing the sight in an eye but hanging on to his life.

It’s about Roush’s third or fourth brush with death, and he realizes now that he may be living on borrowed time. He knows life is good, especially with Roush drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle in the Chase, and he wants to spend more time appreciating the meaningful people and things in his life. A nice piece.

Another nice piece was penned by longtime motorcycle racer and journalist Dennis Noyes at SpeedTV.com about the recent tragic deaths of USGPRU rider Peter Lenz at Indianapolis and Moto2 rider Shoya Tomizawa at Misano. Dennis has been around the sport of motorcycle road racing for a long time and has seen and done nearly everything in it. He also is a former racer and the father of American Moto2 rookie Kenny Noyes, so he understands the mentality of racers and racing families better than most, explaining it in this poignant, moving column.

The IZOD IndyCar Series community is en route to Japan for the penultimate race of the season, with the title race between leader Will Power and challenger Dario Franchitti still on full boil. Power leads Franchitti by 17 points with just the Japan and Homestead races remaining. Those are both on ovals, a Franchitti strong suit and a Power weakness. Will has zero career oval victories.

But Power’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe thinks his fellow Aussie is up for the challenge of clinging to the lead over the last two races. Plus Will’s sense of humor probably will help him to stay loose.

Franchitti certainly isn’t gripping over the pressure of the title fight. The jet-setting Scot spent last weekend hanging out at the F1 race at Monza, watching the progress of his cousin Paul DiResta, who is a test driver for the Force India F1 team.

Dario wasn’t job-hunting in the F1 paddock in Italy, as he made it very clear that he’s happy to be in the IZOD IndyCar Series. But he might have had a shot at a job at Sauber if he knocked on that team’s door. Everyone’s favorite F1 retread, Nick Heidfeld, has replaced Pete Rose, er, fellow retread Pedro de la Rosa, at Sauber. Quick Nick is in for Charlie Hustle.

It’s nice to see that NASCAR isn’t the only series that recycles has-been’s at a regular rate. I guess Not-So-Quick Nick is the F1 version of Casey Mears or Elliott Sadler.

K-I-M-I C-O-M-E B-A-C-K

Just yesterday I highlighted two crashes by former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen — one in a rally car last weekend in Japan and one in a drunken stupor from a yacht a few years ago. I also said I would like to see Kimi back in an F1 car, where I still think he’s an immense talent, and my Ouija board must be working.

Autosport.com is reporting that Raikkonen has approached Renault for a seat on its F1 team next season, presumably replacing rookie Vitaly Petrov. Of course, Renault is playing it cool, insisting it will keep Petrov if he can improve his form over the final five races of the season.

Yeah, right. And I’m going to win a Pulitzer for this blog. Renault will keep a nobody rookie over a swashbuckling former World Champion? Only if finances are an issue, as Kimi will command and deserve a much larger pay packet than a petroruble-filled Russian ride buyer.

Moto2 mayhem at Barcelona

There’s no doubt that MotoGP is the premier class of motorcycle racing on the planet. Exotic, 800cc prototype motorcycles that reach 215 mph. All of the biggest names of the sport: Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa, Hayden, Spies, Edwards and more. It’s where the biggest money is spent and where most of the world’s motorcycle racing eyeballs are focused.

But if you’re coming to the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29 (and we sure hope you are!), you’ll miss out on some of the most frantic, exciting, nail-biting action of the weekend if you don’t watch the new Moto2 class.

Moto2 replaced the 250cc class this season. Riders compete on bikes with 600cc Honda engines and Dunlop tires, with the emphasis placed on lower costs and rider skill.

The new formula has worked brilliantly. Grids of 40 bikes or more compete in Moto2 at nearly every race. Arguably the most exciting moment of any MotoGP event weekend is watching 42 bikes pile-drive into Turn 1 on the first lap of the Moto2 race. Think of the tightest sprint car start you can imagine on a short track, and Moto2 tops it. Bikes sometimes spread five- and six-wide to get the edge into the first corner.

Moto2 bikes going six-wide into Turn 1 at Jerez

Moto2 starts are not for the faint of heart, even by the “get me a straitjacket” standards of the lunatic fringe that competes in Grand Prix motorcycle racing for a living. And there’s a good chance that at least one rider isn’t going to make it out of Turn 1 upright, adding to the breathtaking nature of the class.

Plus the racing has been fantastic. The focus on technical equality has let rider talent take center stage.

The class has a great mix of MotoGP veterans like points leader Toni Elias, Alex De Angelis, Anthony West, Gabor Talmacsi and Yuki Takahashi battling with rising young stars like Andrea Iannone, Thomas Luthi, Julian Simon, Mike Di Meglio and American Kenny Noyes. There’s a ton of passing, dicing and slicing on bikes that sound much more throaty, look more muscular and are a heck of a lot closer to their MotoGP cousins than the more spindly 250s.

Still need more convincing? Check out this video of Moto2 action. All of that insanity occurred at ONE race, in Barcelona. So expect more of the same frenzied action at Indy from Moto2.

Please make a point to check out the Moto2 class next weekend at IMS. You won’t regret it for one second!

MotoGP is filled with colorful characters. After all, anyone who climbs aboard a motorcycle and reaches 215 mph with no roll cage or seat belt probably has a screw or two loose, wouldn’t you agree?

But there’s also plenty of charisma in the paddock every weekend among people who don’t race. Earl Hayden is a perfect example.

Earl Hayden in the OWB

Earl is the scion of the racing Haydens from Owensboro, Ky., America’s current First Family of motorcycle racing. Oldest son Tommy is just nine points out of the lead of the AMA American Superbike standings this season, middle son Nicky is the 2006 MotoGP World Champion who is aiming for his third consecutive Red Bull Indianapolis GP podium on Aug. 29 at IMS, and youngest son Roger Lee is racing in the Superbike World Championship and will be a wild-card rider for Team Honda/Moriwaki in MotoGP in the RBIGP.

Like all of the Haydens, Earl is good people. He’s also real people, with a great sense of humor, as proven by the video linked below that Nicky Hayden sent to our friends at www.superbikeplanet.com. Seems that Earl had a small incident lately with his home scooter, which gave his sons a good opportunity to rib him endlessly in this very funny video. Heck, his sons call their father “Squirrel.” That’s funny in itself!

Check out Earl’s latest scooter adventure at the link below, and then get your tickets for the RBIGP at www.imstix.com!

Video: http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Aug/100808-69.htm

Colin Edwards at Barcelona

Colin Edwards, a Houston native nicknamed “The Texas Tornado,” will offer candid insight about his performance, competitors and life in the exciting world of MotoGP motorcycle racing before every event in 2010 in “Tornado Warning.” It’s the third consecutive season in which Edwards will offer this exclusive insight for www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Two-time World Superbike champion Edwards, 36, is in his eighth year of MotoGP competition, riding this season for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Edwards and the rest of the MotoGP riders will continue the season Sunday, July 18 at the Grand Prix of Germany (8 a.m. ET, July 18, SPEED).

The colorful Edwards will compete in the third annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29 at IMS along with fellow American MotoGP stars Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, and MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

Barcelona seems like another weekend in which you rode your butt off, but the results didn’t show how well you rode. Correct?

Barcelona is one of the weekends where … Golly, I went out there and we played around with the bike, tried to get it right, tried to get it right. I think I finished sixth there last year. So we’ve got the same bike, basically, with a slower engine. We’ve been struggling to get this thing set up and feeling heavy. So we thought, “Well, let’s have one bike similar to Assen and one bike like we had last year. Last year was the best result we had in Barcelona, so let’s run it. And we did, and I pretty much matched everything I did last year but went faster by like a tenth, two-tenths each session. Everything felt the same. Same tires, same bike, same leathers, same everything, same rider, just a year old. So everything was basically the same as last year. Only problem was, that wasn’t good enough. All the guys running out there up front were better. Just going faster. We did a (1:) 43.1 last year in qualifying. I did 43.0 this year. I came in and I had one tire left, but I was: “I can’t go any faster. I know I can’t. I hit everything I wanted to hit. I can’t go any faster.” And I didn’t. Not trying to defeat myself, but at the same time, Ben, I think had 43.0, the same time as I did, and he was right behind me. And then he went out and put a blinder in, and was, I don’t know, 2 ½-tenths or three-tenths quicker. And that put him fifth instead of 11^th or 10^th, anyways. I came in, I was all pissed off. I threw my helmet, smashed it. I haven’t done that in years, man. I think ’99 was the last time I threw a helmet. Getting older and wiser. But hell, sometimes you’ve got to let some tension out. I was like: “Man, sorry, guys. That was immature of me.” And Herve was like: “No. I like to see that, your aggression. Pissed off.” The short story: It wasn’t working that good. It was working exactly the same as it did last year, just not good enough. So we made a decision Saturday night to kind of let’s keep one bike what we know and let’s pretty much kind of go what Valentino had last year. It’s completely different front geometry than what I was running at the time. Move the front wheel back a little bit, get a little more weight on the front. A little bit stiffer in the rear spring. A pretty big change, considering. Went out in the warm-up and we pulled the tire off one bike and put it on that one, and I was two-, maybe three-tenths quicker consistently. I only got four laps on each bike. But each lap, I was faster on the new setup, on Valentino’s setup from last year. So we thought, “Let’s run that.” Not having any time on it, not knowing what’s going to happen, we only did four laps on it. It felt great. We started the race, everything was going pretty good. And once everything got hot and heated up, and as soon as I caught up to Ben, then it just started plowing. The front just started rolling over. Instead of turning, it was just going straight. I was just sitting on my knee, I thought, “Well, I can do this for another lap and a half and throw it in the gravel.” But at the end of the day, I’m in frickin’ ninth and 10^th, anyways. I’m risking for what? That’s kind of my problem right now. I know that’s my problem. The issue I’m having is that I don’t mind putting my nuts on the chopping block if I’ve got a podium, a top five or we got a good showing. But when you’ve got to do that to finish ninth, I’m out. To me, that’s just bullsh*t.

Yeah, especially when you’ve been doing it this long.

I’ve been doing it this long. And you know, part of thing is, too, I’m not trying to bag on anybody, but De Puniet, I know what level he is. I know what kind of rider he is. A couple of guys, not saying anything bad about Bautista or Capirossi, either, but they’ve been struggling all year. But when you can those guys are just up there and going and De Puniet is qualifying on the front row, this is just a big joke. It’s just a joke.

How do you keep your spirits up? How do you show up at Sachsenring, which I know isn’t one of your favorite tracks at all, and think it’s going to be better?

I’m trying to figure that one out right now. (Laughter). I’m trying to figure out that dilemma right now. I’ve had some long conversations with Mr. Ben Spies. He’s riding incredible. He is riding really good. He’s riding awesome. But at the same time, he has to. In conversations we’ve had, he’s like, “I never … ” He was so pissed off. I think he was more pissed off on the weekend than I was, honestly, because he knew that he rode his ass off. Every lap was a qualifying lap, and he’s still 21 seconds behind the lead. That doesn’t settle well when you’re putting that much effort in. And that’s really the problem he was pissed off about. But anyways, I don’t know what we do. We just keep on moving. Hopefully Yamaha will bring something for us.

It seemed like you could lose two-tenths last year and not drop six or seven spots. What has made the grid so tight this year?

Honda, really. Honda has just been doling out new sh*t to everybody. Swingarms and chassis, everybody’s got good engines. That’s really quite not like Honda whatsoever the last few years, but obviously I think they’ve probably been taking note of what Yamaha has been doing over the last few years. The satellite bike seems like they’ve probably been the best satellite bike. The Yamaha. And Honda, probably they put a little more effort this year in supplying all these guys with some good stuff.

Speaking of Honda, it probably wasn’t news to you when Casey Stoner signed with them for 2011. What are your thoughts on that move, possibly as a third factory bike?

Well, I think the writing was on the wall when Livio Suppo went over there. I know Livio always has liked Casey. I don’t know if that’s the sole reason for him going over there. But it will be interesting. I’m really excited about next year, honestly. We still got the rest of this year to go, but looking like Valentino’s going to Ducati and Casey over to Honda. There’s been a little bit of a shakeup going on. It’s what the sport needs.

Hell, yeah. You look at everybody going nuts over LeBron James going to Miami, and I put on our Facebook page this morning that you’ve got the top four riders in MotoGP as free agents this year.

Absolutely. I think it will be cool. I don’t know if I’ll be involved with it. But it’s definitely going to be a good year for the shakeup.

Has this tough run of form this year caused you to think about next year differently than maybe you would have two months ago?

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. It seemed like there I thought we were just having a bad run of races, and it would all turn around and everything was going to be cool. I know. You can ask my teammate. He knows, as well. I’m riding, he’s riding, we’re riding the best we’ve ever ridden. I’m riding the best I’ve ever ridden in my life. I feel so good, so confident on the bike. But God, I’m taking so much more risks than I normally. I’m not a risk kind of … I’m a calculated guy, you know? I get the bike set up. I get it going good. I ride it to the limit to where I know I’m going to put in the best result I can, and if that’s second, third, fifth, 10^th, whatever it is, 99 percent of the time I’m happy with it because I know I’ve rode my ass off. Problem is now, yeah, the results aren’t showing how hard you’re riding, and that’s really the deal.

Speaking of risk, Valentino is coming back at Sachsenring. That’s 40-something days after he snapped his leg in half. Don’t you think that’s kind of a risk? Why would you do that?

Well, I know why. Let’s just pretend, hypothetically. OK, I’m going to put it to you this way: Let’s pretend, hypothetically, that hypothetically in his contract there might be a clause that if you miss a race or two or three in a row, then your salary might hypothetically get cut in half or a quarter. You know what I’m saying?

Hypothetically, of course.

Hypothetically, of course. So I’m assuming, hypothetically, that he probably has a clause in his contract that if he misses more than X amount of races in a row, then his pay might be chopped up. Something like that. I’m assuming, hypothetically. (Laughter). And honestly, I don’t know what’s he’s making, but let’s just pretend he’s making $9 million. You know, half a million dollars a race, you start chopping that up, and that’s a bunch of money that’s going out the window.

Did you see the last-lap accident in the Moto2 race between Morales and Kenny Noyes at Barcelona?

Oh, crap, yeah, I saw it. Geez, I was sitting there watching it live. Woof. This is experience, too, and I’m not saying anything bad about him, anyone or whatever, as well, but he’s (Morales) not going to make that pass. It’s impossible. The finish line is right there; you’re on a 600. You’re just not going to make the pass. But the guy’s got a do-or-die spirit, and he was convinced that he was going to make the pass. But it didn’t work out.

Wild-card rider, too. He’s trying to put on a good show in front of the home fans.

Yeah, absolutely. He took a lot of risks, and it didn’t work out. But I’m glad the guy’s OK. It looked gnarly at the time.