So there I was transferring files for both the 2008 Driver Rankings and my own devised alternate F1 scoring scheme from my laptop to the family room iMac, updating them, and transferring them back to the laptop. It all seemed to go really smoothly.

Until I went to add in last weekend’s IRL results. – Sure I had two seperate files named “Alt-F1″ and “2008 Driver Rankings” but they both had the same content. Content that showed me the results of all this year’s Grands Prix – but nothing else.

Yes I’ve accidently overwritten and blown away all the race results and driver ranking calculations for the last seven months!!

So I guess the posted July rankings will be the last ones for this year…

The race that would become known as the United States Grand Prix was known for the first six years of its existence as simply “The Grand Prize.” The first race took place just over 100 years ago, on March 18th 1908,  in Savannah, GA, in front of a crowd of 5000 excited spectators. It was won by French driver Louis Wagner in a FIAT at an average speed of 65.11 mph. Wagner also holds the distinction of winning the first ever British GP

Louis Wagner crossing the finish line in Savannah to win the first American Grand Prize race.

After a year’s break the race returned to Savannah in 1910 and 1911 and on both occasions was won by American David L Bruce-Brown, first in a Benz and then in a FIAT by which time average speeds were up to 74 mph. The 1910 event holds the distinction of being the longest US GP on record with a race distance of 415.2 miles.

In 1912 the event was moved to a new home (starting what would become something of a tradition for the USGP over the next century) with the race taking place in Milwaukee. A FIAT once again lead the field, this time piloted by another American, Caleb Bragg. Two time defending champion Bruce-Brown was killed during practice for the event.

There was no 1913 race, and in 1914 the race for the Grand Prize moved to Santa Monica, CA where the streak of victories by home drivers continued with a win for Eddie Pullen in a Mercer.

1915 saw the first British winner of a US GP when Dario Resta took the win in a Peugeot. (He also went on to win the Indy 500 the following year.) This time race was held in the San Francisco area.

British driver Dario Resta – Winner of the 1915 American Grand Prize race

The race returned to Santa Monica in 1916 where Peugeot once again took the victory, this time with the car being shared by American drivers Howdy Wilcox and Johnny Aitken.

The 1916 event would be the last “Grand Prize” race and the US racing community would have to wait another 42 years before the arrival of the first true United States Grand Prix.

Watching yesterday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Watkins Glen prompted me to post the following quick note on my Twitter feed.

Can’t believe the lack of medical crews at the site of the 9 car pile up in today’s NASCAR race. NASCAR needs to learn from open wheel.

Thinking about it over night I thought perhaps I had over reacted  until I watched the following video again.

Watch Bobby Labonte climb out of the #43. He is obviously injured and in pain. Why was he allowed to groggily find his own way down pit lane? He even passed two NASCAR officials who let him keep going. What if he’d had internal injuries?

In fact my by my  rough reckoning it was almost 90 seconds after the impact that track workers arrived with fire extinquishers.  And this wasn’t some distant part of the circuit between two marshal posts – it was right at pit-in.

I’ve seen better marshalling and faster response times at club level road racing.

If this had happened in Formula One there would have been an international outcry in the media.  Yet I haven’t heard anyone on TV (Speed Report, Wind Tunnel etc.) or online mention it.

I’m I the only one who seems to think there’s an issue here?

Just a few days after my post about how race commentators can impact TV ratings comes news that the Indy Racing League has signed a new TV deal.

According to the announcment the series new TV partner  “will produce extended coverage, including pre and post-race shows and, potentially, programmes between races.”

All this sounds great, except for one point.

That new TV partner? – the cable channel Versus

Who?

I’ve never heard of it before. Apparently Versus is not included in most basic satellite packages, as ESPN is, and reaches 20 million fewer homes.  (OK a little research shows that Versus is the new brand for OLN best known for its hunting and fishing shows.)

I’m one of those 20 million fewer homes. I have Direct TV and whenever I’ve looked at a cable or satellite deal I’ve always stipulated that whichever package I get includes SPEED TV and ESPN.

Apparently the IRL also renewed its deal with ABC to screen five races each season, including the Indianapolis 500. So instead of watching a full season of 17 races, I’ll only be watching the occasional event.

So this makes sense how?

In the last month seven more drivers qualified to be included in the overall SPEED BLOG RANKINGS which rate drivers from NASCAR, Formula One, IndyCar, NHRA Drag Racing and World Rally against each other’s relative performances.

World Rally ace Mikko Hirvonen stays on the top again this month, while for the first time this year a NASCAR driver, Kyle Busch, breaks into the Top 10.

The Top 10 at the end of July are:

1. Mikko Hirvonen (Rally)
2. Sebastian Loeb (Rally)
3. Scott Dixon (IndyCar)
4. Helio Castroneves (IndyCar)
5. Tony Schumacher (NHRA)
6. Lewis Hamilton (F1)
7. Feliepe Massa (F1)
8. Kimi Raikkonnen (F1)
9. Robert Kubica (F1)
10. Kyle Busch (NASCAR)