motorsports

#201, Al Unser Jr. talks drugs, driving in new book

As co-hosts of The Weekly Driver Podcast, Bruce Aldrich and I sometimes have a guest cancel at the last minute. Two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. was our scheduled guest. With his non-appearance, we decided to talk about him. Specifically, we discuss Unser’s new book, “A Checkered Past.” The 302-hardcover offering includes a foreword by Roger Penske, the team owner who once employed “Little Al” and who is now the owner of the Indianapolis Speedway. The book is written “As Told To Jade Gurss.” A long-time journalist, Gurss has written several additional motorsports books and has also worked in marketing and publicity for Mercedes-Benz and Mazda in his varied career. Unser’s book is appropriately titled. Throughout his adult life,

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Indy 500 will allow 135,000 fans in May return

When the Indy 500 returns to its traditional race day May 30, it will mark the country’s largest attended sporting event since the pandemic began. Speedway management, Penske Entertainment, recently announced 135,000 spectators will be allowed to attend the event. The total is about 40 percent of the famed raceway’s capacity. The 2020 Indy 500 was held last August without spectators. To date, the April 18 Alabama football game is currently the highest-attended post-pandemic event with over 47,000 fans. “The number-one thing fans can do to ensure a great race day is get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a statement. “We continue to offer vaccinations at IMS and will be extending

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New drink honors iconic Laguna Seca turn 8

(At the top of this post is an encore presentation of our recent podcast with Barry Toepke, the marketing and communications director at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Several changes for the 2020 season were announced after the orginal podcast brodcast April 14, 2020.) Like all businesses, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has altered its plans several times this year as the COVID-19 pandemic situation remains ever-evolving. When the multi-disciple racing season finally begins this summer, visitors to the Monterey Peninsula may wish to taste a new cocktail, created to celebrate the delayed-but still-scheduled season. To commemorative the start of the unique season, Estéban restaurant in downtown Monterey has created the Corkscrew Paradise. It celebrates the iconic corkscrew turn 8 on the

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Episode #39, Indy 500, Danica Patrick and a reporter’s legacy

Mark Glover has been a journalist for more than 40 years. He’s reported on sports, news and business and with a keen interest in automobile racing, particularly the Indianapolis 500. Glover, who lives in Sacramento, will be attending the Indy 500 with his son. It’s a special time, since the duo has been attending the event together for nearly 30 years. The elder Glover is well into his second half-century of witnessing what is called the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing.” Glover is our guest on Episode 39 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-host Bruce Aldrich and I talk with Mark about his history at the Indy 500, the event he first attended with his father when he was a young

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Jaguar history celebration set for Rolex Monterey Reunion

Jaguar will be the featured marque of the 2011 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Few automakers are as synonymous with sports car racing as Jaguar, and the reunion will highlight the 50th anniversary of the iconic Jaguar E-Type and 60th anniversary of the remarkable Jaguar C-Type’s win in the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, August 19-21 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, will host approximately 550 authentic and historic race cars from nearly every decade of motorsports history. The cars are divided into 17 groups according to age, engine size and must be period-correct in their presentation For Sir William Lyons, founder of Swallow Sidecar and Coach Building Company which evolved into Jaguar, winning Le Mans

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