The result of last weekend’s rain-shortened Daytona 500 left me feeling somewhat dissatisfied. No disrespect to Matt Kenneth, who is a good steady driver, but the whole thing felt like an anti-climax.

I love watching racing in the rain. Racing in the rain levels the field and puts driver skill ahead of car set-up. Races like the Italian GP at Monza last year when Sebastian Vettel drove to an outstanding victory in the little rated Toro Rosso car.

But it’s not just on TV, some of my favorite track side memories are of rain soaked days watching the best drivers in the world practice their craft. Watching a race car at speed down a straight throwing up a massive roster tail of spray is one of life’s primal experiences for any true race fan.

Now I’m not suggesting that NASCAR race in the rain at Daytona, but they could consider it at the road race circuits they visit. But what I’d like to see is that when a race is red flagged for rain it is for RAIN, and not for a few sprinkles on the track. Contrast the finish of the Daytona 500 with the Indy 500 in 2007. – Now that’s what I call rain.

And when a race is red-flagged for rain, and is beyond the halfway point, that the result stands immediately. No waiting around to see if the track will dry and you can squeeze the extra laps in. It’s not fair to the drivers, its not fair to the fans. If a race is “official” and is then stopped, the places at the time of the stoppage count. A red flag means the race is over. The person who passed the finish line on the lap before the flag was waved is declared the winner.

The new 2009 rule changes for the upcoming Formula One season are being billed as the biggest set of rule changes in the sport’s history. A statement I’d personally dispute/ But however you quantify them, there are a lot of changes and many of them will have a significant impact on the way that Grand Prix cars will look and behave.

The following computer animated video clip, produced by Red Bull Racing, and narrated by F1 driver Sebastian Vettel is perhaps the best explaination of the new rules and their impact I have seen.

We were delighted that The Speed Blog’s associated Twitter account http://twitter.com/thespeedblog was recently named by RaceDrive TV as one of the 99 Motorsports Twitter Accounts To Follow.

Race Drive listed all the accounts in a couple of videos which you can find below:

On a recent NASCAR broadcast announcer Darrel Walltrip declared that Kyle Busch could “run three wide all by himself.” Meaning the young driver from Las Vegas had the ability to run anywhere on the track, often switching grooves mid corner to find the best line.

Watch Busch in the #51 truck from last weekend’s race in Atlanta for a perfect example.

Over the first four weeks of the season Kyle Busch has been the class of the field in Trucks and the top two NASCAR stock car series. His historic first win for Toyota in the Cup race at Atlanta was the perfect exclamation point on a weekend that saw him lead both Cup and Truck series point standings, win two races, and dominate a third until a blown tire put him out of contention.

It seems that the off season move from Hendricks to Gibbs Racing has given Kyle Busch the opportunity to showcase his raw talent behind the wheel.

Giancarlo Fisichella – January 14th, 1973

Roman born Italian Formula One driver “Fisi”  has driven for 5 different teams over the last 10 years.  While one of the most naturally talented drivers on the grid he has never really seemed to match his early promise. Fisichella has won three Grands Prix to date. Outside of driving, he runs his own GP2 team, FMS International.

Like most current Formula One drivers, he began kart racing as a youngster. In 1992, he competed in the Italian Formula Three series. He finished runner up in 1993, and in 1994 he won the championship. He left open-wheel racing briefly in 1995, to drive for Alfa Romeo in the International Touring Car Championship series.

Fisichella (Renault) 2005 Turkish GP

In 1996 he arrived on the Formula One grid with Minardi, although did not complete a full season with the underfunded team.  The following year he joined Jordan, before moving on to Benneton from 1998 to 2001.  He rejoined Jordan for the following two years, scoring his first GP win at a chaotic Brazilian GP.  In 2004 he joined Sauber hoping that it would provde a path to a longed for drive at Ferrari. (Sauber were using rebadged Ferrari engines that year.) It wasn’t to happen and “Fisi” arrived at Renault with aspirations to be a team leader. However he was overshadowed by the arrival of double World Champion Fernando Alonso.  With Alonso’s departure to Mclaren in 2007 Fisichella assumed the role of team leader but was once more overshadowed by a younger team mate. With Alonso’s return to Renault in 2008 it seemed that Fisichella was left without a ride.

Fisichella does a lap of San Marino

Last week it was announced that he would race for the new Force India F1 team in 2008. 

The Official Giancarlo Fisichella Website

Other Birthday Drivers today:

• Don Garlits  – drag racing legend (1932)
• Tom McEwen  – drag racer (1937)