Latest Reports: Wheldon in SSM #77 for Las Vegas as well?

Credit: Jim Haines/IndyCar.com

Three days have passed since it was officially announced that Dan Wheldon would be taking over Alex Tagliani's #77 Bowers & Wilkins Dallara, but more recent developments have come to light. While the original announcement stated clearly that Dan would only be running the Kentucky Indy 300 in Tagliani's car, multiple sources have been quoted as saying that what was once a 1-race replacement has now become a 2-off deal for Wheldon. 

Since Dan Wheldon will be taking the helm of the #77 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara for the rest of the season, Las Vegas has essentially become a "ride-swap" scenario for Dan and Alex. According to a twitter post made IndyStar reporter Curt Cavin, Tagliani will now be behind the wheel of the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport ride for Las Vegas. These facts remain to be officially, definitively confirmed by either organization via release, so until then this can only be taken as very strong rumor.

 If this scenario comes to fruition, it's easy to say that Tagliani is getting the short end of the stick. He's a two-time polesitter this season, he's 11th in the points with a shot at possibly breaking into the top 10 in points, and with two events left in the season, he's being asked to step out of a car that he personally (with the financial assistance of Andre Azzi and Jim Freudenberg) purchase and has been working to develop for 3 years now. That car was at one point a backmarker Roth Racing ride, and in the space of three years, Tagliani has turned that organization completely around, from laughable at best in its previous form into a serious contender. As Graham Rahal pointed out, that car has sat on the pole at both of the racetracks 1.5 miles and longer in length this season, and has been fast almost everywhere else. Tagliani is having a career season in that car and won't get the chance to close it out with a bang. Personally I feel for Alex, to have his efforts rewarded with being replaced. I do understand it though, and regardless of how I feel for Tagliani, racing is a business, and Sam Schmidt would almost be stupid NOT to take advatage of this loophole.

 

Credit: Jim Haines/IndyCar.com

This is hugely advantageous to Dan for a couple of reasons. First of all, let's consider the track record of the #77 on high speed-low downforce ovals this season. Although we are in the middle of a season that exhibits only four such ovals (Indy, Texas, Kentucky, Las Vegas), Tagliani's track record with the car has been something to brag about: two poles in two attempts, 20 laps out front at Indianapolis, and solid top-5 with a lap led in the first Firestone Twin 275 at Texas. The car Dan's going to be stepping into is going to be fast, and coupled with his past recent history at Kentucky (top-3 start with Panther in 2010, podium finish, 93 laps led), it is very reasonable to suggest that Wheldon is going to have a good run on Sunday afternoon. 

Another large advantage for Wheldon swapping to the #77 for Las Vegas as well is the pit strategy involved. As pointed out by TrackForum poster Unser>Andretti, pit stall location is dictated by the qualifying position of the previous oval race. Since Wheldon's original #98 entry for Las Vegas is not being raced in Kentucky, the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport car will be relegated to a pit stall in the "danger zone" on pit road, right at the very end of 35+ cars on pit road. While some might be decrying Sam Schmidt for taking advantage of this loophole, I think it's genius. What this means for Dan (should he actually be in the #77 for both events) is that he, in effect, controls his own destiny for pit stall position in Vegas. With the track record of the #77 and Schmidt's team this season, Wheldon will very likely be qualifying near the sharp end of the field in Kentucky, which translates to a desirable pitstall for Vegas, ultimately meaning one less disadvantage in a race that will be full of challenges for Wheldon as it stands. 

I would like to close by saying that I have been a staunch supporter of Alex Tagliani since he was in Champ Car, and the Sam Schmidt/FAZZT organization since it arose from the ashes of Roth Racing in the late summer/fall of 2009. I absolutely loved seeing him qualify his now-signature #77 car on the outside pole at Brazil right out of the box, as well as solidly qualifying in the top five at Indianapolis for the 94th Indianapolis 500. I felt his emotion when he was helplessly caught out by poor team strategy on bump day in 2009. Tagliani is a supremely skilled racecar driver, and I think he's still got a lot of race left in him before he utters that 6-letter word that many great drivers before him have uttered before. All of this aside though, Dan Wheldon has an extremely solid chance at going into Las Vegas and making himself, his team, and a fan very, very rich. This is the largest purse of the season outside of Indianapolis, and Dan Wheldon is the only driver that can step up to claim it. Looking at the facts, I think it's extremely plausible that Dan could do it big in Vegas, and even if he doesn't, he's going to make the race very very exciting for the fans. 

Hopefully I can make these things shorter as time goes on, thanks for reading!

- K

2012 Dallara IndyCar Chassis takes to IMS oval for first time

Credit: Jim Haines, IndyCar.com

After several months of anticipation, the 2012 Dallara chassis debuted its speedway aero package and made its first circuits around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval yesterday as part of a 3-day test session.

Aesthetically, the back end of the car is ENORMOUS. As some internet personalities have put it, it's "Kardashian" enormous. The new rear wing is a lot lower than the previous Dallara chassis' and a lot smaller as well, which seems to indicate that there may be a pretty fair amount of downforce built into the chassis. The endplates are a lot smaller than in years past, which I find interesting. The past few years the teams have had a box to work with as far as customizing their endplate shapes goes, so hopefully we'll continue to see those little aerodynamic fine-tuning tweaks as development of next year's rules package continues.

 
As for the front end of the car, I'm a little skeptical about it. After reviewing several images, I can't visually detect any means of adjusting the front downforce (other than a small screw-looking tab in the center of the nose, but it was very inconclusive), but then again it's a new car and I'm sure that it'll be pointed out sooner or later. Furthermore, I feel that the front wing is a little too short in length (a la 1998 Reynard speedway front wings) and is totally dwarfed by the size of the enormous wing endplates being used in testing. I like the front end though because as far as the shape of the nose cone goes, while I wish Dallara had retained some harder bodylines in their design (this car has a lot of curves), I have to admit that it truly looks like a proper racecar. Overall, the car looks good, and I'm looking forward to seeing 33 of them hit the track next May.

Powered by a detuned 2.2-liter turbocharged Honda V6 powerplant, test driver Dan Wheldon logged enough laps to get a baseline for the next two days of testing, but was audibly nowhere near the limit in terms of lap speeds. As the IZOD IndyCar series has mandated that Honda detune its engine to negate a testing advantage, the car is underpowered as it stands. Wheldon was reported to be clocking laps roughly in the 180-mph bracket before calling it a day. Wheldon reported the car to be very reactive, challenging the driver to go for a little bit more each outing. The team was dealing with some minor stability issues but overall has had a very positive test.

Credit: TrackForum Poster ZUL8TR

Day 2 of testing continued this morning, and the team was reported to have picked speeds up an estimated 20 miles an hour over yesterday. Trackforum poster skcoop80 reported that Dan was clocking laps around 44.7 seconds, or roughly 201.4 mph. In addition, Trackforum poster ZUL8TR has graciously permitted AcrossTheBricks to display his footage recorded from the track today (above) showing the new car at speed in the South End of the racetrack. Based on the sound of it alone, this car is going to be putting a lot of smiles on peoples' faces come next season. Speaking as someone who's never heard a turbocharged Indy car, I'm really looking forward to hearing it.

UPDATE: New lap time reports from observers at the IMS place Wheldon in the 205-207 range at the conclusion of testing today.

Looking forward to Day 3 of testing before the Kentucky weekend begins!

-K

IZOD IndyCar Series Breaking Development: Tagliani out, Wheldon in for Kentucky

Credit: Indycar.com/B. Kelley

In anticipation of Dan Wheldon's attempt to net a 2.5-million-dollar bonus for himself and a lucky fan in the GoDaddy IndyCar Challenge in Las Vegas in 3 weeks' time, Alex Tagliani will be vacating the seat of the #77 Bowers & Wilkins at Magnolia Dallara for the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway to make way for Wheldon. The courtesy move, enacted by team owner Sam Schmidt and backed by team-player Tagliani, is intended to allow Wheldon to get a warmup race in the books prior to going for the jackpot prize in Las Vegas.

Sam Schmidt, Owner, No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins Honda/Dallara
“I am incredibly excited to have Dan Wheldon driving the No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins at Magnolia car at Kentucky. Clearly, this is an amazing opportunity for our team and sponsors. We are putting as much energy and resources into winning the Go Daddy INDYCAR Challenge as we did for the Indy 500 with the intent of making one lucky fan an instant millionaire and capping off a great rookie season for SSM. I also appreciate Tag’s support of this program. Being a race car driver myself, it would be extremely difficult to step out of a car I helped develop, but Alex is a true professional and team player in our pursuit to win this prize.”

Wheldon brings with him a wealth of experience to the table when it comes to the 1.5 mile speedways. Of his 16 career victories, 15 have come on ovals, and 11 have come on ovals of 1.5 miles in length or longer. Combining both the talent in the cockpit and the talent on the Sam Schmidt staff, this blogger wouldn't be shocked to see Dan sneak into the top 5 if not steal the win in Kentucky. To further bolster his confidence, Wheldon is going to be coming fresh off a 3-day test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 2012 car. Tomorrow, Dan begins his driving stint that will see him driving and IndyCar on an oval for 6 successive days. Will he be worn out? Maybe, but nobody will be able to argue that Dan won't be on his best game heading into this two-race stretch. Personally, I truly feel that the test program Dan has with the 2012 car is going to make him a better driver, but I also think that going back to the 2003 Dallara after doing a ton of driving with the 2012 Dallara is going to throw off his vibe in some fashion. I think he'll manage though, like I said, this is going to ultimately improve his caliber of racecraft.

In terms of the team's performance, I don't think that that strong run Dan had at Kentucky with Panther last season was strictly Panther's doing.. I guarantee you that Dan went in there and hollered and pointed out what they were doing respective to his experience with Ganassi and what they could improve upon. With the Schmidt organization, Tagliani, Wheldon, and Townsend Bell collaborated with their respective teams and engineering staff to put their 3 Schmidt-associated cars in the top 6 on Pole Day at Indy. Tagliani has been fast on all the speedways this season, so with the combined season-long input from Tagliani in addition to what Dan brings to the table in terms of experience, I have a strong suspicion (barring bonehead moves on other drivers' parts) we'll see Wheldon keeping the #77 Bowers & Wilkins Dallara looking sharp at or near the front of the field all weekend long. The main focus for Dan obviously is to ensure that there are no gremlins in the works, but as a secondary focus, I think he'll be taking some lengths to help get Wade Cunningham comfortable (but fast) over the bumps. After all, any damage incurred by rookie mistakes on Cunningham's part is money that could otherwise be spent on go-fast bits and massaging of the #98 Dallara for maximum speed both in traffic and out front at Las Vegas.

Dan Wheldon is an exciting driver to watch regardless of where or what he races. If this season's Ketucky race is anything like last year's was, I expect it to be a massively entertaining race for both the fans in the stands and the viewers at home.

Snippets: Brembo brakes confirmed as the exclusive supplier of carbon brake systems through ~2015... Tomas Scheckter signed to drive Sarah Fisher Racing #57 Angie's List Special in Las Vegas Finale, will partner former Vision Racing teammate Ed Carpenter... Wade Cunningham to make second career start at Kentucky Speedway... Firestone Indy Lights points leader Josef Newgarden can clinch his first career Firestone Indy Lights championship with a finish of 13th or better at Kentucky... Townsend Bell to return to Indycar competition with Dreyer and Reinbold in #22 as a substitute for Justin Wilson.

Cheers!

- K

On NASCAR Chase Race #2 and F1 in Singapore

Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Tony Stewart took top honors at the Sylvania 300 this weekend in Loudon, New Hampshire. The victory came a reversal of fortunes from one year ago, and made him only the second driver to open the Chase with two-straight victories. Furthermore, he completed a Stewart-Haas sweep of the New England-based facility for the 2011 season.

In a nutshell, Loudon's finish reflected what has been common on many an occasion this Cup season so far: many drivers rolled the dice on fuel strategy (several of them running out), and a driver who was solid all day long came from a late deficit to claim the victory based on the porr luck of others. That's not to devalue the accomplishment by any means though, as a win in any form is a win. Furthermore, Stewart has historically been very successful at New Hampshire, and undoubtedly deserved to win today.

In recap, the 2011 Sylvania 300 ended with Tony Stewart in victory lane after taking the race lead with 2 laps to go, and he was followed to the checkers by Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, and Brian Vickers in the top five. The ride-hunting Clint Bowyer led Stewart by several tenths of a second in the closing stages of the race but ran out of gas coming to 2 laps to go. The big Chase casualty this weekend was Denny Hamlin, who ran out of gas with less than 5 to go and came home in 29th position, 66 points behind Tony Stewart. With 8 races remaining in the Chase, Stewart holds a 7-point advantage over longtime friend Kevin Harvick, with the ever-consistent Brad Keselowski stepping up to claim 3rd place in the standings, 11 points behind. 5-time and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson used up his chase "mulligan" and came home in 18th to fall two more spots in the title fight to 10th, 29 points behind Stewart. Many believe that this could be the year that Johnson is dethroned as Sprint Cup Champion, and this blogger agrees with that sentiment. Look at the facts: in 28 races this season to date, Johnson has 1 victory, 11 top-5's and 18 top-10's. Only 1 driver has posted a stronger record, that being Carl Edwards. While Johnson's record has quietly been a very strong effort, he hasn't had the same dominant tune coming from his camp as he's had in seasons past. Perhaps he will surprise us, but I have a sneaking suspicion we'll see another face on top come Homestead.

 Credit: AFP PHOTO / Saeed Khan

On the other side of the world, on the Marina Bay GP Circuit in Singapore, Sebastian Vettel won his 9th race of the season in 14 attempts, and came within a single world championship point of clinching this year's World Drivers' Championship title. Let me rephrase that: with one more championship point, Vettel could have clinched the WDC five whole races before the conclusion of the 19-race 2011 season. We haven't seen dominance like this since Schumacher won 13 of the 18 events back in 2004! Jenson Button managed to stay alive in the title fight by finishing second, but it is highly unlikely that he will catch the dominant Vettel. Fernando Alonso finished 3rd, 29.2 seconds adrift of the 2010 World Champion.

'Til Next!

- K

IZOD IndyCar Series: Kentucky Preview

Heading into this coming weekend's penultimate championship event at the 1.5 mile Kentucky Speedway oval, the main focus is heavily on the two title contenders. After having dropped as far back as 65 markers behind rival Dario Franchitti, Will Power has returned to form and posted an 11-point lead over Dario after capitalizing on a bad weekend for the Scot. Power has run very well at Kentucky in the past and looks to do so again. He looks good, especially considering Franchitti is winless in 7 attempts at Kentucky.

The secondary story going into these final two races though is all of the cars and entries that are coming out of the woodwork for the current chassis' (which has an 8-year tenure, by the way) swansong. There are currently no fewer than 35 projected entries for the Las Vegas World Championships finale. 35! And to make this more exciting, they're pulling out all the stops for fan experience this race. They're hosting a kickoff party for fan on Thursday night, but not until AFTER they've run the cars for 6 laps in between the Monte Carlo and Flamingo hotels. AcrossTheBricks is actually planning on being at this race, so stay tuned for behind the scenes pictures, videos, and more from the event!

What I'm looking forward to, and the rest of the racing community as well, is finding out whether or not race control can get their stuff together from these last two races. I think I speak for the majority of the fan base when I say we don't want to see these guys try and tackle Kentucky in the rain like they did in New Hampshire. In all seriousness though, race control has a penchant for sniping against non-red-car (Penske/Ganassi) teams when it comes to punishable offenses. Could we see more of that this weekend? I've been saying ever since Sonoma and their last-restart debacle that the championship was firmly in the hands of race control to give away. In a season full of excitement, the championship is going to be decided by the monkeys crowded around a couple of tv cameras instead of the drivers on track. We're talking about a group of guys that spend the vast majority of practice sessions hollering at the drivers not to run so close to each other. HOW ELSE DO THEY PLAN ON FINDING OUT HOW THEIR CARS WORK IN TRAFFIC? It's ridiculous!

Finally, I'd like to add that I'm really looking forward to the race in Kentucky. Last season the race itself was dominated in large part by Dan Wheldon and Ed Carpenter from the Panther/Vision collaborative effort. There were also several shocks in qualifying, including the Conquest racing duo of Bertrand Baguette and Tomas Scheckter qualifying 4th and 6th, respectively. If this race is anything like it was last year, look for a lot of action up front, and perhaps a few new faces as well. If you're assembling a fantasy team for this race, it's hard to ignore the drivers in the Penske/Ganassi ranks.. however, it is reasonable to suggest that the Panther Racing outfit may be primed for a good weekend with drivers JR Hildebrand and anticipated addition Buddy Rice. Both drivers have shown flashes of brilliance both this season and throughout their careers on speedways, and together at Indianapolis they both posted very strong results in qualifying and the race. Either driver would make for a solid darkhorse pick. Graham Rahal has also been looking very good the past few races, and appears to have finally brought the satellite Ganassi effort on-line. He almost stole the pole in Baltimore before a last-second effort by Will Power to reclaim top honors, and ran right with Power for much of the Baltimore Grand Prix. He was also very far up the running order before contact with teammate and championship hopeful Dario Franchitti ended his challenge for the victory. The long and the short of it is that the 2008 GP St. Pete winner is due for a win, and is itching to go. Kentucky and Las Vegas are the first (and final) returns to speedways for these cars since the Texas Motor Speedway, where Graham finished 9th in race 1 before being struck with issues in race 2 relegating him to a 30th place finish. Point is, Graham has speed when it comes to the tracks with left-hand turns, and I'd be shocked not to see him duking it out up front come the checkered flag next Sunday.

That's all I got for now. Stay tuned for highlights from tomorrow's Sprint Cup Series race in Loudon, NH, and updates and outlooks on this week's upcoming three-day test session with the 2012 Dallara at the IMS.

- K

September in Motorsports!

Alright, so now that we're up and running, I'd like to start by apologizing for the way the blog looks. It's still early on, but I promise it'll get better as time goes on.

So, to jump headfirst into things, it's the end of September, which means a couple things for motorsports fans in North America.. mainly, that their series' seasons are either at or quickly coming to their conclusions.

The IZOD IndyCar Series: In the IZOD IndyCar Series, the 2011 season is drawing to a close, and once again, it's going to be a close one. For the sixth-straight season the points chase has all the ingredients of a dramatic on-track battle that will go down to the final event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. It's been a very back-and-forth season between drivers Will Power and Dario Franchitti, with plenty of drama along the way. In between driver disagreements, flagrant inconsistency in race control, upsets, the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500, and plenty of on-track action to fill the void, the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season has been one for the books. Heading into next week's penultimate event of the season at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway, Will Power capitalized on a bad weekend for title rival Dario Franchitti to complete an incredible rally and pull out to a slim 11-point lead after falling as far back as 65 points behind earlier in the season. Many people both in the paddock and the grandstands alike feel that based on recent history, Franchitti may have the edge heading into the final two events of the season (both of which are hosted on 1.5-mile ovals), but this blogger is not convinced that Power is about to let the title slip away in the same fashion he did last season. He's come a long way in the past two years and has learned the ways of the ovals. All Power really has to do is finish ahead of Dario on these ovals, and if he can't, he's got to keep him in sight. There's still 600 miles of racing to go in this one, and it's not going to be settled until the final lap in Las Vegas.

While the spotlight right now may be on Power and Franchitti's legendary rivalry, there are many other headlines going into the long off-season that are very mcuh worth paying attention to. Chief among these is the highly-anticipated arrival of the new IndyCar Series chassis in 2012 as well as a return to multiple engine manufacturers for the first time since the end of the 2005 season. 2011 Indy 500 Champion Dan Wheldon and his Indy-winning Bryan Herta Autosport organization have been in charge of the testing program responsible for proving the 2012 car with Honda power under the cowling before turning it over to Chevy and Lotus to develop. Thus far the group has tested on the road courses at Mid-Ohio, Barber Motorsports Park, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and just last week tested on the 0.875-mile bullring at Iowa Speedway. The most anticipated test is set to come next week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the turbocharged v6-powered car will take to the 2.5 mile oval in anger for the first time. After that test, the car will then be taken back to Dallara for final modifications and turned over to Honda, Chevrolet and Lotus for final development of their powerplants for the 2012 season. Teams can expect to take delivery of their first chassis as early as late November or early December, with plenty of track testing guaranteed before the cars take to the streets in St. Petersburg to open the 2012 season.

Team Penske owns another one of our notable headlines heading into the conclusion of yet another epic season of IndyCar competition. After fielding 3 cars on a full time basis for two-seasons, the organization looks set to trim back to two cars in 2012 unless the funding can be found, and with current championship leader Will Power already locked into a multi-year deal with Penske for at least 2012, it appears that after having a dismal 2010 and 2011 season to date, 6-time race winner and 2009 Championship contender Ryan Briscoe may be the odd man out. 3-time Indianapolis 500 winner (all with Team Penske) and 19-time race winner Helio Castroneves looks to be a shoe-in to continue with the team in his drive for 4 Indianapolis 500 trophies and that ever-elusive first championship.


The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: While I do anticipate keeping this blog heavily focused on the IZOD IndyCar Series, I feel that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series deserves some mention, especially since it will be closing its championship long after the final bottle of champagne is uncorked in Las Vegas.

The highly-publicized Chase for the Sprint Cup commenced earlier this week at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL. It's been a very hot topic this season due in large part to the apparent vulnerability 5-time and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson has shown this season. While drivers Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick have been burning up the track claiming the lion's share of victories in the pre-season, Johnson has emerged victorious only once: at the Crapshoot Tango 500 at 2.66 mile restrictor plate Talladega SuperSpeedway. Of course, my speculation can only be based on the pre-season, which Johnson has become famous for underplaying heading into the 10-race Chase. This week's event in Joliet didn't do Johnson any favors, as the race turned into a fuel-mileage gamble at the end and played into Tony Stewart's hand perfectly. Johnson was left in 10th place after his fuel cell ran dry at the end, relegating him from 6th to 8th place in the overall standings. Heading into this weekend's event at New Hampshire, Tony Stewart's Stewart-Haas organization is red-hot after putting both of its cars in the Chase, taking top honors at Chicagoland, and having taken their second straight pole start with Ryan Newman at the Magic Mile. In July, Newman and Stewart finished 1-2 in yet another fuel-mileage crapshoot at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but led a pretty large amount of the race up until the gamble paid off.

Another red-hot individual in the Chase is second-year Penske Racing driver Brad Keselowski. After starting the 2011 season with a relatively early shock fuel-mileage victory at the Kansas Speedway, his first driving for Roger Penske, Keselowski has been a fixture in the top-25 in points. However, with 6 races to go before the chase began, and mired in 21st place in the points with an outside shot at scoring one of the two available wild-card seeds, Keselowski was in a highly-publicized crash while testing at Road Atlanta for the upcoming race at Watkins Glen that left him with a grossly bruised and fractured ankle and foot. Although he was playing injured, Keselowski showed his true grit by driving through the pain and beginning his meteoric rise to a chase seed with a surprise Victory at the Pocono Raceway. He followed that result up with a 2nd-place finish at the demanding Watkins Glen road course, a 3rd-place result at his home event at Michigan International Speedway, and a victory in the highly-coveted Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. After carrying the reputation of an also-ran rookie the past season and a half, Keselowski looks to be finally coming into his own and tops people's list of picks to dethrone Jimmie Johnson for the Sprint Cup Series title. With 9 races left in the chase though, the championship is still wide open, and there's 11 other drivers (Johnson included) that look to get a slice of the pie.


Formula 1: The 2011 Formula 1 season has had some stellar racing with the introduction of the Drag-Reduction System (DRS) and return of Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to F1 competition. As exciting as some of the racing deeper in the pack has been, the season has been monopolized in EXTREME dominant fashion by Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull Racing team. Heading into this weekend's event in Singapore, with 5 races left before the conclusion of the season, Vettel stands unchallenged for the #1 plate in 2012. He even holds the possibility of locking it up this weekend if he can win and his closest title rival Fernando Alonso finishes off of the podium. There are no words to describe this season of Formula 1 competition other than total domination by Vettel and his Red Bull team.

I think this makes for a very solid first post. I hope you enjoyed reading, and if not, I'm very welcome to constructive criticism!

- K