The Friday Setup (Brazil)

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When people request a Slayer song they never say “Hey, why don’t you play some Slayer?”.  Fuck no.  Instead, it’s always “PLAY SOME SLAAAYYYAAARR!”  Yes, ALWAYS.  No exceptions.  No alternatives.  Because it’s motherfucking SLAYER.

Today we mourn the passing of a heavy metal legend.  Of course he goes out in a METAL kind of way.  A flesh-eating disease allegedly caused by a spider bite?  It doesn’t get much more metal than that, unless you’re Mayhem; they own the top two positions of the heavy metal death podium.  Because Norwegian Black Metal.  Also it’s another reason the Jihad against any and all spiders isn’t big enough.  It must never end until EVERY SPIDER IS DESTROYED WITH FIRE.  Of course the result would lead to a mosquito overpopulation, and the inevitable death of another guitarist by West Nile contracted by a mosquito bite.  The eventual Mosquito Jihad won’t be easy.  Bastards fly.

Our spirits must be lifted with something brilliant during this dark time, and who better than BRAZIL.  They never fail.    “Brazil” is Portuguese for “Amazing shit”, which they don’t deny.  Not one race run there has been “dull” (I’m not even sure they have a word for that).  A cloud of blinding dust at the start line?  CHECK.  Surprise downpours?  CHECK.  Surprise HAIL DOWNPOURS?  CHECK.  Parking cars on Marco Andretti’s head?  CHECK.  Parking wet cars on top AND bottom of a very wet Simona de Silvestro?  CHECKCHECKCHECKCHECK.

Do your best, Brazil.  Nah, just do your USUAL, Brazil.  Wait, I don’t think that word exists to them, either.

Brazil, just be Brazil.

Which probably means a blizzard of skydiving Brazilian models on military maneuvers followed by a MOAB exploding off the coastline, causing a temporary flood on lap 41…?

(TV schedule, Predictions, Pre-race Snack of the Week and Metal Tune to Rock Your Sh*t after the jump)

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Somebody did, Pippa

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Persistence pays off.  What’s actually amazing is not at all that she got an Indy 500 ride, but Dale Coyne Racing actually had a new driver announcement that wasn’t on the night before the first practice.

This is indeed a brave new IndyCar world.

Oh, and in unrelated news…the next IndyCar race is on Cinco de Mayo. Pardon me while I buy ALL THE BOOZE.

Looks like I won’t be needing this anymore… [throws away liver]

Haiku Tuesday: What better time than now

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The picture says it all.  Victories like this BEG for a Haiku Tuesday.  Today, though, I worked a 12-hour shift.  FUCK.  So this will be brief.  However nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will stand in the way of THIS.  Someone from Japan won and I have to just sit there and NOT do a Haiku Tuesday because of fucking WORK?  FUCK THAT.  Foyt hasn’t just sat there and let every other known human disease consume him AND his racing team into oblivion.  That’s FAILURE.  That’s DEATH.  And both of those are for pussies.

Today he sits in a hospital for the 15,724,098th time for yet another surgery, yet his team conquered Long Beach last weekend and ended a decade-long losing streak.  Sato ended a career-long losing streak.  Penske/Ganassi have BEGUN a losing streak.  These things happened because the people above (minus Roger and Chip) DIDN’T just stand there, in the IndyCar tradition of old, and let bullshit consume everything like I consume alcohol on a Thursday…or Chip at an All-You-Can-Eat.  No, they stared at IndyCar Fate and said FUCK YO SHIT.  This has been happening a lot lately.  Americans can’t win championships?  FUCK YO SHIT.  Canadians can’t win races anymore?  FUCK YO SHIT.  Owner/drivers, neither?  FUCK YO SHIT.  Penske/Ganassi has to win nearly all the races?  FUCK YO SHIT.  A series needs a CEO?  FUCK YO SHIT.

Working 12 hours has to prevent a Haiku Tuesday post?  FUCK YO SHIT TIMES TEN.

(Haikus after the jump)

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4chan has hacked IndyCar. It’s the only explanation

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THE FUCK?  Three races in and the IndyCar I once knew no longer exists.  Just look at these stats:

– Penske/Ganassi is 0 for 3, also shutout from the podium in the last race.
- Teams finishing on the podium at Long Beach: Foyt/Rahal/Coyne
- Highest finishing Chevy team in the last street race? PANTHER RACING
- This year AJ Foyt Racing has more wins thus far than Penske/Ganassi combined
- 3 races, 2 first time winners

The points standings on IndyCar’s website is also something from fiction: Simona is tied with Power and ahead of Franchitti, Takuma Sato is in 2nd, Marco is in 4th, and Viso is also ahead of Franchitti.

Yep, 4chan’d.

Passwords have been changed and secrets exposed.  It’s no longer Roger and Chip’s private country club anymore.

The Friday Setup (Long Beach)

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Every Friday before a race weekend I post snarky, humor-filled (though really humorless) previews of upcoming races and brief reviews of the previous race.  I also usually throw in some inaccurate predictions, semi-related music videos and pictures/videos of snacks to consider for your race-day gorging.

Not this week.

Let’s just enjoy the event this weekend.  We watch racing (and all sports) in the first place to forget about life for an afternoon and enjoy the exhibitions of regular men and women doing what we think is impossible to us.

 

Haiku Tuesday: No more napping on a tradition

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The last Haiku Tuesday was after a freaking NASCAR race.  A NASCAR RACE.  I cannot leave it at that, so it returns to its rightful IndyCar ownership.  Of course I planned on writing one post-St. Pete, but why bother writing about a race I missed due to a power-outage?  Half-assed efforts are the minimum, and that would be no greater than quarter-ass.

Also today does indeed mark my 31st birthday, meaning I’m now officially a “thirty-something”.  You mean, I’m a proper adult now?  LEGIT?  OH GOD NO.  BUT, BUT I WANNA GET DRUNK AT 6AM AND SLEEP TIL 5PM STILL.  DO I HAVE TO NOW EAT EARLY BIRD SPECIALS AND NOTHING ELSE?  WITH PRUNES?  THIS CANNOT BE.

Although I didn’t get a good finish from Simona for my birthday (KV Racing, FIX YO CONSISTENTCY) I did get much Penske/Ganassi schadenfreude, among other things.  Penske’s stranglehold on Barber was broken, Dario’s numerical point total is officially “LULZ”, Dixie is bridesmaid dress-shopping and there was an IndyCar driver napping in-race (whom wasn’t named Marty Roth).  And dammit, winter is finally over in the Hoosier realm.

Enough bullshit, let the long awaited Haikus commence…except once again RacingPress is still quite broken, due to WordPress’ irrational hatred for Tony’s site.  So again I post my RP stuff here on TGK.

Since when did WordPress get purchased by NASCAR…

(Haikus after the jump…)

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The Friday Setup (Alabama)

With RacingPress.com temporarily broken (thanks, WordPress) my pre-race feature for that site “The Friday Setup” will make its TGK debut this week.  It will return to RP during Long Beach Grand Prix week, unless WordPress still hates Tony…

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Like many of you I was enjoying the St. Pete race quite thoroughly.  Simona ran well (and was trending worldwide…suck it, troll).  Ganassi had more reasons to bitch.  Ashley Judd took Dario’s lucky horseshoe during the divorce, probably. Then…

ZAP.

No TV. No internet. Power outage?!? GAAAAAHHHHH!!!  All I had was a Droid running out of juice, my Dodge’s radio, Mike King’s voice and a frozen garage.  Yep, HORRIFYING.  I basically missed it all…JR’s DERPINATON of Will Power, El Mayor de Hinchtown giving GoDaddy something that wasn’t a “provisional”, Hinchcliffe also giving Canada it’s greatest achievement since “Strange Brew”, and various forms of merriment at the end.  Missing all of that pissed me off. Greatly.

Although not NEARLY as pissed off as the time the sister of my brother’s girlfriend back in the day borrowed my recordings of MST3000 and lost/deleted/destroyed them.  I don’t remember which, but seriously…DON’T MESS WITH A MAN’S MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 RECORDINGS.  Damn bitch.  She did have a tremendous rack, though.  Good lord.   I did get some (indirect) justice: my brother missed the 2002 Daytona 500 and didn’t see main man Wuuuuurd Burton win because the GF’s family were a bunch of hippies who didn’t “believe” in racing, but watch Discovery Channel oceanic stuff instead.  I got to watch Elmer Fudd incarnate mumble through his victory lane speech and my brother didn’t.  GUYS, if the girlfriend is not into racing you’ll miss everything that matters and one day end up taking your sons Xannon and Leith to Glee Club and NOT taking your sons AJ and Pancho to Road America.

Anyways, Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama is this weekend.  A GEORGOUS FACILLITY with a museum filled with vintage cars and bikes, sculptures and various works of art all around the grounds, and….and….OH GOD NO KILL THEM KILL THEM WITH ALL THE FIRE NOW!!!  Seriously, a spider fetish?  GOD WHY?

Will Will Power (see what I did there) comeback from JR’s drvng n txtng acidnt LOL?  Will Simona (knowing this coming week is my birthday, HOORAY GETTING OLDER) give me a present in the form of a podium (AND brand new swag)?  Will bookies look foolish for giving Simona 60/1 odds?  Will Dario finish closer to P1 rather than PWTF?  Will the power and cable go out AGAIN and destroy my will to live?

(TV schedule, Predictions, Epic Meal Time video and Metal Tune to Rock Your Sh*t after the jump)

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