Three races offer you a fuel-efficient weekend

With Memorial Day weekend approaching, many of us are gearing up for an extended three-day weekend. Well, maybe not so many now as the cost for a gallon of gas ventures into Happy Meal territory. No worries, as the holiday that honors the sacrifice of our fighting men and women of the United States military is also a festival of motorsports that features marquee races from three major racing series world wide. For the real speed junkie, if this weekend doesn’t get you your fix, nothing will. No need to crack open your kid’s college fund to fuel up that Expedition, as there is plenty of entertainment to be had right at home with some of the greatest events in racing, broadcast live from around the globe.

Formula 1 may not be the most popular form of auto racing in the United States, but to the rest of Earth, this is NASCAR, MLB, NBA, and the NFL rolled into one. I actually enjoy watching these races and the ritual that follows. Waking up early on a Sunday morning to shuffle out into the living room, only to collapse on the couch and fire up 57” of Hitachi goodness, to listen to three guys call a race from Europe, who are actually sitting in North Carolina, watching it on TV with me. The races typically aren’t that long, lasting little more than 90 minutes. The pre-race show is only about half an hour at most, and is devoid of hokey segments cobbled together in an effort to sell more commercials. What a novel concept; the race IS the story! 

This weekend the F1 series is in Monte Carlo for the Grand Prix of Monaco. The most picturesque track on the circuit and the premier race in international competition (along with the 24 Hours of LeMans), Monaco kicks off this weekend’s action at 7:30am EST, airing on SPEED. The first Grand Prix of Monaco was held in 1929, and endured through 1937 prior to the outbreak of World War II. Ran on a 2.075 mile temporary course through the streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine, the sight of the field slithering it’s way through the Grand Hotel Hairpin and shrieking echo the cars emit as they rocket through the tunnel along Monaco Harbor and the marina is worth rolling out of the rack a few hours early to see, and get the day started off right. What has come to be known as the “The Jewel of The Formula 1 Crown”, Monaco provides some of the best sights and sounds in all of auto racing. The late Ayrton Senna won here a record six times, while defending race champion Fernando Alonzo recorded McLaren’s 150th victory and 14th Monaco win here in 2007.

Back on the other side of the pond, at 12:00 p.m. EST on ABC, the most storied racetrack in the world sets to host the 92nd running of the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500. This is a pivotal year for the event, as the recent re-unification between the two open wheel sanctioning bodies — Indy Car Series and Champ Car World Series — moves to set the tone for bringing open wheel racing back to prominence in the United States. Since the split first occurred way back in 1996, the Indy 500 had become a weak sister of sorts to the Brickyard 400 NASCAR event at the 2.5-mile oval, paling in comparison to its former heyday. Indianapolis was THE place to be for the better part of the 20th century, but since the split the level of competition was not what it had been in years past. It was not a big name driver or a legend from the past that helped to refuel interest in greatest automobile race in the world, but rather a 100lb girl who stood the racing world on its ear in 2005 with her improbable run that resulted in a 4th place finish, and nearly a win. While it would be almost three years later until she scored her first win, Danica Patrick did more in one month to regain the focus of attention back to Indianapolis, than any other driver had in the past decade.

Last year, Dario Franchitti won the rain-shortened affair, while teammate Marco Andretti went for a wild ride on the backstretch, flipping over and skittering about on his top before landing back upright on his wheels. The front row for this year’s race was already decided a couple of weeks ago, with Target Chip Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon on the front row, along with Marlboro Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe. While the Indianapolis 500 still has a way to go until it regains the form it once had over decade ago, it is a move in the right direction with the reunification of the two major open wheel racing divisions in North America.

The racing weekend’s action concludes late in the evening with the running of NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. Coverage of this event begins at 5:00 p.m. on FOX. It has been the longest race of the season for the Sprint Cup Series since the first race here in 1960 by Joe Lee Johnson, concluding a two-week stay at the 1.5-mile speedway that is situated smack dab in the epicenter of the sport. While the track has been the subject of much criticism since an experiment in 2005 called “levigating” went awry coupled with a rash of tire failures that followed after a complete repaving of the racing surface, it remains one of the premier races in NASCAR’s elite division. The Coca-Cola 600 is notable as well as it is a race that loves a first time winner. In recent years Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and defending champion Casey Mears all earned their first wins at this event that tests the stamina of both man and machine. Lest you think this is just some endurance race, it has provided its share of dramatic finishes in recent years. In 2005, after 399 laps of racing (many of which were ran under caution), it came down to a last lap duel between Jimmie Johnson and leader Bobby Labonte. Johnson powered by on the outside of Labonte through the final turn, to win the race by a scant .027 seconds, concluding 600 miles of racing with one of the closest finishes that year.

Kyle Busch comes into the race with a 79-point lead over Jeff Burton, while hometown hero Dale Earnhardt, Jr. resides in third just 134 points behind. Busch has seemed to embrace his new found role as the most reviled driver in NASCAR, following an incident at Richmond three weeks ago that saw him inadvertently punting Dale Earnhardt Junior from the lead with less than two laps to go. Junior on the other hand has yet to win a points paying event with his new Hendrick Motorsports team this season, and what better place to do it at than the track that is just a few miles from his hometown of Kannapolis.

While fuel prices may stymie your traveling plans, there is perhaps some sick sort of satisfaction you can get from watching cars that get about 5 miles per gallon racing from dawn until nightfall. While the NBA and NHL are in the midst of their respective playoff series, these three races are every bit as crucial to a driver’s career as a championship is to a player in either of those other endeavors. If you’re staying home this weekend, fret not; the greatest racing from around the globe is being beamed right into your home, at less than $4.00 per gallon.

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