You drive down Main Street and it looks like you are on the inside of a
racing track.  Very cool effect.

    From IndyStar:

    http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/SPORTS01/…

  By Curt Cavin

  March 13, 2007

"The Champ Car World Series is stepping back from its new way of starting
races in 2007.
The Indianapolis-based sanctioning body announced today it will continue
with the more familiar flying starts — cars moving at the green flag — at
least for the first three races of the season. It had planned to adopt the
Formula One-style standing starts.

"We feel we need to fine-tune our standing-start process before we implement
it," said Tony Cotman, Champ Car’s vice president of operations.

Champ Car has practiced standing starts at two recent tests, but not all of
the drivers expected to participate this season were available to practice.
Several have yet to be confirmed to rides.

Champ Car’s season begins April 8 in Las Vegas."

    IRL Preview Show on ESPN2 at 7pm Friday March 16.  One hour long.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20070317/SPORTS01/703170406/1052/SPORTS01

The complete 2007 IndyCar Series TV schedule:

The IRL, unlike chumpcar, doesn’t buy coverage.

Date              Venue                                         Network Time
March 24       Homestead-Miami Speedway     ESPN2   8 p.m.
April 1           Streets of St. Petersburg              ESPN     2:30 p.m.
April 21         Twin Ring Motegi                        ESPN     Noon
April 29         Kansas Speedway                       ESPN2   4:30 p.m.
May 27         Indianapolis Motor Speedway      ABC       Noon
June 3           The Milwaukee Mile                     ABC       4 p.m.
June 9           Texas Motor Speedway                ESPN2  10 p.m.
June 24         Iowa Speedway                            ABC      1 p.m.
June 30         Richmond International Raceway   ESPN    7:30 p.m.
July 8            Watkins Glen International            ABC      3:30 p.m.
July 14          Nashville Superspeedway             ESPN    7:30 p.m.
July 22          Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course       ABC      1:30 p.m.
Aug. 5          Michigan International Speedway  ESPN2   Noon
Aug. 11        Kentucky Speedway                    ESPN2   6:30 p.m.
Aug. 26        Infineon Raceway                         ESPN     3:30 p.m.
Sept. 2         The Raceway at Belle Isle             ABC       3:30 p.m.
Sept. 9         Chicagoland Speedway                ABC        4 p.m.

All times EDT

E N D L E S S R O A D

Road Chatter XLVII

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

IN THIS ISSUE:

* Car Trivia Questions

* Giovanni Cases

* Give Away

* Formula 1

* Bits and Pieces

* Car Trivia Answers, 15% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions

======================= ** ======================

Car Trivia (answers are later in this newsletter)

1) We all notice the big red flying horse logo at Mobil stations. Where did
that come from?

2) ‘Think Small’ was the buzz-word for Volkswagen, but they did not stay
small. What European company did VW buy in 1969?

3) Who purchased the first HUMVEE built for civilian use?

4) Ferrari is the only team that has continuously been in Formula 1 racing
since its inception. But in 1996, they had not won a Drivers Championship
since 1979. When two-time World Champion Michael Schumacher (you remember
him) came to Ferrari, he promised he would bring them a championship. But
who was the driver that gave Ferrari its championship before the long
drought after 1979?

5) The original Chaparral 2 used stock tail-lights from a production car.
What were they from, and why were they chosen?

— Retreads —

These next three questions are from over two years ago. If you remember them
from before, consider this a memory test.

6) MOPAR had a legendary set of pumped-up muscular engines. Which of these
sets is correct?

A Hemi 440/400hp & Six Pack 426/425hp

B Hemi 426/425hp & Six Pack 440/390hp

C Hemi 440/435 hp & Six Pack 426/390hp

D Hemi 426/435hp & Six Pack 440/390hp

7) What European car has a name that’s Latin for ‘I Roll’?

Henry Ford made his fortune with the world famous Model T.

Who else made a Model T?

And the last two are from four years ago.

9) Where did Ferrari get their Prancing Stallion emblem?

10) Audi’s logo is four interlocking rings. What is the derivation of this
logo?

***

About the only way to know if anyone reads this stuff is if someone tells us
when we are wrong. Well, at least four of you sharp-eyed guys do read it.
And you don’t let me get away with anything.

-Jack N., Bill W., and Glen L. reminded me of Jeff Andretti, the fifth
member of the Andretti family, for our last issue’s question #3.

-Glen also reminded me of Mike Wallace; he should have been in that list,
too.

-We had a good friend/customer discuss question #2, the F.O.B. question. He
said that it should have been ‘Freight On Board’, not ‘Free on Board’. At
first, I agreed with him and sent him a note saying so.

But since I had to correct myself to the rest of you, I looked in
Wikipedia.org, and it says: Free On Board (FOB) is an Inco term — also
commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as ‘Freight on Board’. It means that
the seller pays for transportation of the goods to the port of shipment,
plus loading costs.

To tell the truth, when I was in wholesale, I heard it referred to both
ways.

To the four of you, I do appreciate you bringing these points to my
attention. We will give each of you 15% off your next purchase for your
trouble.

==================== ** ====================

* Giovanni Cases

The die cast collectors from our retail shop will remember the great
Giovanni cases we carried. They have all the die cast sizes from 1:64 to
1:18 and more odd sizes than you can count. Of all the years we had the
shop, we never found better cases for the money. We still supply them for a
few of our customers. And we can do the same for you. Find the case you want
on Giovanni’s website, www.GiovanniPlastics.com. Then contact us, and we
will have it shipped directly to your door; same price as Giovanni, but no
$10 shipping cost.

Endlssr…@aol.com

Our Number: 1-304-274-5074

==================== ** ====================

* Gift Certificate Give Away

Our regulars know that every month, we give away a $30 Gift Certificate from
Endless Road to one of our regular Road Chatter readers. We are happy to say
the winner this month was Jack H. from Salisbury, MD.

We are changing things this month. We have been selling the great Cobra
Ferrari Wars DVD since it came out in 2005. However, we have been contacted
by the author of the book by the same name. We are told that there is a
court battle between the book author and the DVD creators over the ownership
of the name. And we are violating his copyrights selling the DVD. That
leaves us with $400 worth of DVDs we cannot sell. But we can give them away.

So … for every purchase our regular Road Chatter Newsletter recipients
make, we will put their names in our drawing, and the person whose name is
drawn will receive a $39.95 Cobra Ferrari Wars DVD from Endless Road.
Remember, you must receive our newsletter by email to qualify for the
drawing.

Good Luck.

==================== ** ====================

Formula 1

2007 Schedule

Fox will be airing four of the F1 races this year. But this time, they are
doing it right. Fox will be using the same crew we know: Bob, David, Steve
and Peter. Remember, Fox owns Speed TV now. This could be a good thing; it
will make F1 visible to millions of new viewers. Increased interest could be
good for F1 in the states.

March 18 Australia

April 8 Malaysia

April 15 Bahrain

May 13 Spain

May 27 Monaco

June 10 Montreal Fox

June 17 Indianapolis Fox

July 1 France Fox

July 8 Britain Fox

July 22 Germany

August 5 Hungary

August 26 Turkey

Sept. 9 Italy

Sept. 16 Belgium

Sept. 30 Japan

Oct. 7 China

Oct. 21 Brazil

==================== ** ====================

* Bits and Pieces

DO NOT get rid of your VHS machines; there are many great racing videos that
are available on VHS tape and not scheduled to be put on DVD.

***

Cheap Seats

By Warren N. Miller

The old saying ‘Nothing is Cheap’ certainly applies to today’s racing
activities, whether it’s actually racing or just attending a race. NASCAR
tickets can go for hundreds of dollars per seat, and even a night at the
local dirt track can set you back a few dollars, not counting food, parking,
and souvenirs, plus the cost of gasoline just to get there.

In 1963, I was stationed at the US Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton, CA as a
US Navy Hospital Corpsman. Two other corpsmen and I decided we would like to
go to the 1963 Riverside 500. Since we did not have a car at the time, I
enlisted the help of another corpsman who was willing to drive, and we
decided, for whatever reason, that we would all go in uniform. Well, I was
the last one to be picked up, and when they arrived, everyone was wearing
civilian clothes. I immediately protested and said, ‘Wait a minute, you all
said we would go in uniform’, but since it was already late, I didn’t have
time to change. So, off we went, and from what I remember, it took several
hours to get there, and when we arrived, the parking lot official looked in
the window of Howie’s car and said ’17′. Howard replied, ’17 what?’, and the
guy said, ‘$5 for each of you and $2 for him because he’s in uniform’. Wow,
$2 to see the Riverside 500 – CHEAP – there must be a better word for it
than that. The race was even better than what I expected!

– Every Car-Guy has interesting stories about their cars. If you would like
to tell us one of your car stories, then when we use it, you will have your
pick of any item we have on our web. One of our contributors from a previous
issue chose one of our great Monaco posters.

***

Floating around on the web:

A motorist was unknowingly caught in an automated speed trap that measured
his speed using radar and photographed his car. He later received in the
mail a ticket for $40 and a photo of his car. Instead of payment, he sent
the police department a photograph of $40. Several days later, he received a
letter from the police that contained another picture, this time of
handcuffs. He immediately mailed in his $40.

***

At Amelia Island:

Charlie Kolb, a road racing driver of the 60′s and 70′s, told how the first
race he ever saw was the Twelve Hours of Sebring in the 50′s. He and a few
friends were enjoying their favorite malt beverage, or perhaps whatever they
could afford. Charlie was driving an MGA at the time. The only thing between
his group and the race track was a snow fence. As the evening shade began to
shroud the more remote areas of the track, and as they consumed more
refreshments, Charlie decided that this racing thing was something that he
could do. The snow fence was not much of a deterrent. Said Charlie, ‘Well
… I entered the race.’ The race was going on; they could not stop the race
to take him off the track, so Charlie stayed out there to the end of the
race. ‘The surprising thing is, I passed a few.’

We have been telling you Amelia Island stories since we went there in March
2006. Well, now you can see the whole discussion and hear the stories for
yourself. We have the Legends of Can Am DVD in stock. The Forum Participants
were: Pete Biro, Peter Bryant, Dan Davis, George Drolsom, Vic Elford, George
Follmer, Jim Hall, Hurley Haywood, Carl Kainhofer, Charlie Kemp, Oscar
Koveleski, Pete Lyons, Bob Nagel, Jackie Oliver, Sam Posey, Brian Redman,
and Bill Warner. Believe me, if you liked Can Am, you have to see this DVD.

***

License Tag Novelists

Sometimes the tags are a bit romantic:

-White Accord Sedan: 0X0X4U2

-Silver Mitsubishi Wagon: SMILZ2U

-Very Green Ford ZX2 Coupe: D2 OF US

-VW Passat: OBAYBY

While some prefer to be more sinister:

-Black Lexus with very dark tinted windows: BLACOUT

==================== ** ====================

Car Trivia Answers

1) Mobil uses the winged horse, Pegasus, from Greek mythology. Pegasus was
the son of Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and the Gorgon Medusa. Greek
mythology doesn’t mention Poseidon doing a back flip in the middle of the
ocean.

2) In 1969, Volkswagen bought Audi.

3) Who purchased the first HUMVEE built for civilian use? You guessed it:
Arnold Schwarzenegger. We like to give easy ones once in a while.

(Thanks to our friend, Tim, the webmaster for Maryland Automobile Modelers
Association, MAMA.)

4) Ferrari won in 1979, but it was not an easy win. Carlos Reutemann left
Ferrari to partner with Mario Andretti at Lotus. That left room for Jody
Scheckter. This was the year that most of the teams were now sprouting
aerodynamics that had been so instrumental in last year’s Lotus. Alan Jones
won with his Williams in four of the last six races. But Jody’s consistency
was enough to take the title with only three wins. You can see it all on the
Formula 1 1979 DVD. We now have each year of the 70′s Formula 1 season on
DVDs.

5) The Chaparral 2 used stock tail-lights from a production Corvair.
Originally, the link between Jim Hall and GM was the hiring of Hall and the
very secluded Rattlesnake Raceway (Midland, TX) to test Corvairs in
preparation for the (then) upcoming plethora of lawsuits. Needless to say,
after the roll-over tests, there were a lot of tail-lights lying around.

(Thanks to our friend, Jay D.)

— Retreads —

6) MOPAR muscle was packed in:

B Hemi 426/425hp & Six Pack 440/390hp

7) What European car has a name that’s Latin for ‘I Roll’?

‘Volvo’ is Latin for ‘I Roll’.

(Our friend, Jeff, wants to know ‘How come the Latins named all these cars,
and they didn’t have any of their own???’)

Ford was not the only one with a Model T. From model year 1918 through
model year 1922, Chevrolet designed its 1-Ton trucks as Model T’s.

(Source: Standard Catalog of Light-Duty American Trucks, 1993. Thanks again
to our friend, Tim, the webmaster for Maryland Automobile Modelers
Association, MAMA.)

9) There are at least two stories to Ferrari’s Prancing Stallion’s
origination. One is that Enzo Ferrari had won a race in 1923, and, in honor
of this, he was given a piece of fabric from the Spad S13 fighter plane of a
member of the Baracca family of Modena. The fabric showed a black prancing
horse, possibly part of the Baracca family crest. Enzo apparently liked the
idea and adopted it as his own. Another story told by the late Battista
Pininfarina is that Ferrari’s brother served with, and died in, the same
squadron as Baracca, and, because of this, the Countess Baracca suggested to
Enzo that he should use the Prancing Stallion on his cars as a memorial.

(Both versions of this came from ‘Ferrari The Sports/Racing and Road Cars’
by Godfrey Eaton, 1982.)

10) In the early 30′s, four German auto companies joined forces to better
survive the poor economic times. These were Horch, Wanderer, DKW and Audi.
The interlocking rings symbolize the joining of these four.

(Thanks to our friend, Jeff, for this one.)

==================== ** ====================

15% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions

To Tim, Jay., and Jeff, thanks for the trivia questions. Remember, you three
will receive 15% discounts on your next orders.

We try to choose these trivia questions from several groups and still be
interesting. This time we have a brawny Governor, F1 Champs, Crushed
Corvairs, Muscular MOPARs, Latin Lessons, Model T Chevys, four Germans, a
prancing horse, a flying horse and a few Greek Gods.

Anyone have any trivia questions of your own? Send us an interesting fact on
just about anything on wheels: cars, trucks, F1, Drags, Muscle Cars, weird
obsolete car thingies, whatever, and, when we use it, you get 15% off all
purchases on everything on your next order.

***

Thanks,

Dave Payne

Last night I tuned on the Sebring race, around 9:40pm ET. They were
interviewing Bobby Rahall. Right when I turned it on they were asking what
were Graham’s plans for the year. The interviewer said "…we are all very
interested where he (Graham) might end up for the rest of the year…"

Bobby replied – "Well, Kevin Kalkhoven said he will be in ChampCar, so I uh,
take a man at his word."

Rahall said this with a big smile on his face. I’m not sure what to make of
his smile. It was almost like he was saying it’s all up to Kalkhoven and the
Rahall’s don’t know what the heck is going on.

Also notice, he said "I, uh, take a man at his word." He didn’t say he takes
Kalkhoven at his word.

Sounds like Graham Rahall getting a ride is in limbo. Amazing. He and Marco,
the future of open wheel racing in the U.S. and in F1. Marco has a ride. Too
bad Rahall is wasting his time with soon to be defunct series.

"I don’t know"

TG is quite the engaging personality…

1 1/4 seconds slower than next fastest time.

1) Massa, Ferrari (B), 1:19.746, 46 laps
2) Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes (B), 1:19.821, 109
3) Kubica, BMW-Sauber (B), 1:19.839, 96
4) Alonso, McLaren-Mercedes (B), 1:20.046, 101
5) Raikkonen, Ferrari (B), 1:20.068, 46
6) Piquet, Renault (B), 1:20.070, 76
7) Wurz, Williams-Toyota (B), 1:20.132, 78
Rosberg, Williams-Toyota (B), 1:20.143, 66
9) R.Schumacher, Toyota (B), 1:20.604, 59
10) Webber, Red Bull-Renault (B), 1:20.629, 36
11) Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault (B), 1:20.702, 70
12) Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber (B), 1:20.710, 80
13) Button, Honda (B), 1:20.751, 100
14) Zonta, Renault (B), 1:20.767, 86
15) Trulli, Toyota (B), 1:20.898, 80
16) Andretti, Honda (B), 1:22.151, 74

"ncrdbl1" <mphsric…@aol.com> wrote in message

news:1170951021.320353.287070@a75g2000cwd.googlegroups.com…

- — -

> On Feb 7, 9:10?am, "Dave-E" <davegt…@aol.com> wrote:
> > On Feb 7, 5:30 am, "ncrdbl1" <mphsric…@aol.com> wrote:

> > > On Feb 7, 12:23?am, "Dave-E" <davegt…@aol.com> wrote:

> > > > On Feb 6, 2:17 pm, "ncrdbl1" <mphsric…@aol.com> wrote:

> > > > > On Feb 5, 4:03?pm, "Anton Hulman George" <merde…@yahoo.com>
wrote:

> > > > > > On Feb 5, 10:06 am, "Hugo Chavez’s man-juice slave, Memphis
Rick"

> > > > > > <mphsric…@aol.com> wrote:
> > > > > > > On Feb 5, 6:08?am, 6andretti <mdequa…@tds.net> wrote:
> > > > > > > Denial is a serious medical problem and you should seek
treatment.
> > > > > > > NASCAR was going to over take AOW split or no split.

> > > > > > That’s a convenient rationalization.

> > > > > > >If you noticed
> > > > > > > your list there was no F1 event listed either. AOW had become
too much
> > > > > > > like F1 for Americans taste and the grass root casual fans
went
> > > > > > > looking elsewhere.

> > > > > > Based on you nothing more than your incessant contemplation of
your
> > > > > > auto-fellatio needs?

> > > > > > >There are still just as many hard core AOW fans as
> > > > > > > there was pre split. That number is about 2-3 million at most.

> > > > > > Again, while you were blowing Hugo Chavez, did this number just
pop
> > > > > > into your head simultaneously with his love-load?

> > > > > > >I t was
> > > > > > > the casual fans that created the huge numbers for Indy.

> > > > > > Wow, can you make a few more generalization based on nothing
more than
> > > > > > your own desires for man-to-man relations with Hugo Chavez?

> > > > > > >Numbers that
> > > > > > > no other AOW event came close to reaching. It was these fans
that ?AOW
> > > > > > > drove away to the land of NASCAR. NEVER in the history of AOW
did any
> > > > > > > event outside of Indy get the TV numbers that the average
NASCAR event
> > > > > > > gets today.

> > > > > > Changes measured in orders of magnitude directly following the
split
> > > > > > are inconsequential, only your own illusory analysis is
noteworthy?
> > > > > > Only a complete moron like you (America’s largest supporter of
Hugo
> > > > > > Chavez) would try to pass your own observable illogic as
reasoned
> > > > > > thought.

> > > > > So you want to examine the magnitude of the changes. The first 500
ran
> > > > > under the IRL banner saw the same drop (1.8) in TV ratings as the
> > > > > first 500 ran after the formation of cart. Look it up it is in the
> > > > > records. As far as magnitude of the drop. The viewership for the
500
> > > > > drop more in the period of time which cart was in control of open
> > > > > wheel (6.8) than at anytime in the history of open wheel racing.
Once
> > > > > again look it up it is in the official records.

> > > > Let’s examine the magnitude of the changes, shall we. In 1979 there
> > > > were far fewer TV viewing options than in 1995. Not to mention more
> > > > households with TVs in 1995. Also, the 500 was not shown live until
> > > > 1986

> > > > website:http://www.geocities.com/johnsonindy500/indy500/imstv.html

> > > > 1979 ratings/share: 13.5/24
> > > > 1980: 13.8/27
> > > > 1981: 12.8/24
> > > > 1982: 12.5/25
> > > > 1983: 14.1/27

> > > > early 90′s ratings actually were on an upswing and fairly consistent
> > > > year to year.

> > > > 1995 9.4/28 (final, race only, last real 500)
> > > > 1996 7.1/23 (final, race only)
> > > > 1997- rain, we’ll skip that one
> > > > 1998: 6.0/19
> > > > 1999 5.5/18

> > > > I don’t know what kind of math you’re using there, McShill, maybe
you
> > > > have the special TG calculator.

> > > > Then there’s the drop in attendance. the 1995 race was sold out. Was
> > > > the 2006? Is the 2007?

> > > > Let’s hear more facts and truth….

> > > > The only thing he’s right about is that OWR is a niche sport. NASCAR
> > > > is LCD (lowest common denominator) racing…of course it’s going to
> > > > appeal to more people.

> > > > Still, open wheel was growing throughout the early/mid 90′s and
doing
> > > > rather well until TG decided to strangle the golden goose…

> > > > Tony George is a liar and a fool. Those who follow him embody the

same.- –

- — -

> > > > – –

> > > Nice spin on reality. The ratings saw a short term boost after falling
> > > to 7.4 within .3 points of the rating of the 1996 of 7.1 rating which
> > > you claim was so awful. After a very short bump the rating once again
> > > began to drop. A short term correction upward then a return to the
> > > downward trend. There were many corrections in the final 10-12 years
> > > of cart controlling open wheel but the trend continued downward.
> > > 1984-1985 saw a 3.2 point drop only to see it rebound by 1.9 in 1987
> > > only to see it drop again by 3.6 to 7.4 in 1990. It saw another bounce
> > > of 1.4 in 1992 and a steady decline after that. There may have been
> > > short term bounces but the overall trend was downward. I also noticed
> > > you used creative ratings when you try to mislead. Prior to 1991 they
> > > used the combined pre-race and race numbers as the final ratings. I
> > > notice you choose only to use race only ratings. If you are going to
> > > compare apples to apples you must used the pre-race and race ratings
> > > for comparison, not the race only ratings you are trying to use.

> > No Spin here.

> > The numbers speak for themselves. The weblink is there for all to see.

> > Creative ratings? Bullshit. I copied and pasted.

> > Admit you are wrong and get over it.- –

> > – –

> Yes, you did just cut and paste but it was a SELECTIVE cut and paste.
> Prior to 1992 the ratings were not split between pre-race and race.
> You chose to cut and paste RACE ONLY ratings and try to compare them
> to the combined pre-race/race ratings of the past. It is possible in
> any trend to have anomalies in the trend and the same applies to Indy
> ratings. The long term trend shows a downward trend with a few short
> term anomalies of upturns, but the downward trend continues. There was
> a short upturn in 1976, 1983, 1987 1992 each time there was a short
> term bounce and then the downward turn continued. You know Hillary is
> looking for a running partner and the way you use selective
> information to make your points, i believe you would be perfect for
> her.

This has all been well documented and proven to
be true beyond a shadow of a doubt long ago, i.e. –

Wednesday, 25 Jan, 2006, 11:15:19 AM …

"He’s wrong yet again. No surprise to anyone though:
http://www.geocities.com/johnsonindy500/indy500/imstv.html

Note that ratings commenced their precipitous dive
in ’77 and really only started to recover last year.

Doesn’t he EVER get tired of talking out of his ass?"
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.sport.indy/msg/2d3eba39ece5f…

… AND

Wednesday, March 22, 2006, 10:59 PM

"Indy 500 ratings commenced their precipitous decline in
’77 with the advent of CART and really only commenced
a significant upward recovery trend last year.
http://www.geocities.com/johnsonindy500/indy500/imstv.html

Also well up last season were the IRL’s: overall television ratings,
web traffic, attendance, merchandise sales and sponsor exposure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indy_Racing_League

CCWS/OWRS ratings continue, in every category, to be well
below detectable levels."
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.sport.cart/msg/f78274cebefab…