It’s Official: Kimi is Back!

As I reported just last night in my Formula One rumor mill, the talk of Kimi Raikkonen coming back to the F1 circus is true. Kimi signed a two-year deal with Lotus Renault GP (next year known as Team Lotus).

SPEEDtv.com’s Adam Cooper has the story:

LRGP confirmed today that Kimi Raikkonen has signed a two-year deal with the team. The outfit that is set to change its name to Team Lotus thus has a World Champion on its hands.

Raikkonen said that racing in NASCAR gave him a taste for the wheel to wheel competition that he’d been missing in rallying.

The news was not unexpected after negotiations moved rapidly when Kimi’s talks with Williams broke down, and it became clear that Robert Kubica was out of the frame for the start of the season.

It remains to be seen who will partner the 2007 champion. Vitaly Petrov has a contract while both Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean are on standby. Against the odds there has also been contact with Adrian Sutil, despite the German’s issue with Eric Lux earlier in the year.

When he went to the WRC Kimi had ambitions to return with Red Bull Racing – something he openly admitted to this writer last year – but Mark Webber’s ongoing contract extensions put a stop that.

“I never really lost the passion in racing in F1, but maybe all the other things around it,” he said Raikkonen in a video interview. “But I did some NASCAR races this year in the States and I started to miss more and more the racing side, to race against each other, because in rallying it’s against the clock, really. That’s what I was missing.

“Then I got the call from certain people in Formula 1 and then also sorts of things happened and then in the end we managed to have a nice conversation with Lotus Renault, and ended up making a deal with them. So I’m very happy with that.

“There were two options. It was this team or Williams, and in the end everything worked out with Lotus Renault GP as we wanted, so that’s really the reason.”

Kimi insisted that there was no problem with his motivation: “I wouldn’t come back if I wouldn’t be motivated. There is always a lot of talk about the motivation, but nobody really knows what I do or what I think, apart from myself, so I don’t really care about what people say.

“I wouldn’t put my name in a contract if I wouldn’t think I would enjoy it. It will be interesting. It will be exciting to get back.”

Raikkonen said he would feel more at home in F1 after struggling to come to terms with the WRC.

“It’s been really nice in the last few years, trying to learn it. It’s been easier this year than it was last year, but still it’s a very difficult. But I’m really looking forward to coming back, at least F1 is something that I know how everything works.

“I’ve been there for many years. When I went to rallying I didn’t really know what would happen, and when I went to NASCAR I had no clue how it would be. In that way it should be much, much easier to come back. It should be pretty normal.”

Team owner Gerard Lopez added: “All year long, we kept saying that our team was at the start of a brand new cycle. Backstage we’ve been working hard to build the foundations of a successful structure and to ensure that we would soon be able to fight at the highest level. Kimi’s decision to come back to Formula 1 with us is the first step of several announcements which should turn us into an even more serious contender in the future.

“Of course, we are all looking forward to working with a world champion. On behalf of our staff, I’d like to welcome Kimi to Enstone, a setting that has always been known for its human approach to Formula 1.”

Now, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Iceman, as Kimi’s known. He may not be the most well-spoken man in the history of motorsport, but he’s a damn good driver and he’s Finnish – I have a love affair with all things Finland. So here’s to having Kimi back, the boring one-word interview answers, the ease with which he can pilot a car quicker than everyone else, and the overall cool factor that is Kimi Raikkonen.

Aussie V8 Sydney Telstra 500 Preview

This weekend’s Sydney Telstra 500 marks the final event of the 2011 V8 Supercar season. The title is still up for grabs between Team Vodafone teammates Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

Whincup enters the race with the advantage over Lowndsey, but the 888 Racing duo has never had much good luck around the challenging street circuit around Sydney Olympic Park. Last year the top three contenders in the championship were running nose to tail when the rain began to pour in Sydney, and all three crashed at the same time, in the same corner, from the same overcooked-it-on-slicks mistake. One of those drivers was Jamie Whincup, and the advantage going into that round was Dick Johnson Racing’s James Courtney who ended up taking the title in his battered Falcon. Lowndes also had an incident in that fateful race for the second consecutive year. Both Vodafone boys are hoping for better luck in Homebush this time round.

Either man can take the title by the end of Sunday’s second 250 kilometer sprint race, and the gorgeous Sydney street circuit always pans out to be an exciting weekend of the world’s top touring car series. Watch this space for updates as the weekend progresses.

On a side note: all month long the V8 Supercar circus has been supporting Movember, the growing of cheesy mustaches in honor of Breast Cancer awareness and research. This photo of DJR’s Steven Johnson makes him look more like a redneck American at a tractor pull (I speak from experience; I love tractor pulling) than a proper Aussie racing driver.

What really takes the cake, though, are the facial accessorizing done by Craig Lowndes and Ford Performance Racing’s Will Davison. I couldn’t find any good photos of them for this article, but if you get a chance, please go watch any video clip either man has appeared in this past month. Now those are some mustaches that must be seen to be believed! Seriously, both drivers are sporting some wicked ’70s porn-’staches. And if you think they aren’t overt porn-’staches then I don’t know what is! These two men have always been rather cute (to me at least), but damn… Turn OFF! (and I’m a bearded man myself, so that’s sayin’ something!)

F1 Brazilian Grand Prix – The Season Finale

First off, sorry for my absence of late. Since I work in retail and am a senior in college I’ve been busier than a fly on a carcass… -Cody

After a long Formula One season of very much the same old thing, the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday provided us with a bit of a change of pace.

Sebastian Vettel aced qualifying as usual, so the weekend started out pretty much as usual. Oh, except for the record breaking that is. Coming into the Brazilian GP, Vettel had gone P1 in qualifying 14 times this year, tying the record set by Nigel Mansell in 1992. Seb remarked simply, “Just call me Nigel,” after winning his 15th and final pole of the year on Saturday at Interlagos. And he said he didn’t care about records… Ha!

The race set off to notices sent by race director Charlie Whiting that rain was possible by half-distance. Steve Matchett on the SPEEDtv broadcast also remarked that the various teams’ weathermen were Tweeting updates on the rain movement nearing the circuit just 10 or so laps in. The first round of pit stops , for most teams, was being delayed as long as it could so teams would only have to change from the soft tire to wets (by rule negating the need to run the Prime hard tire).

Ferrari Tweeted that rain was 10 minutes out, then Alonso promptly pitted and changed onto Primes. Matchett was rather humorously flustered at the boneheaded decision, but the strategy worked out for the Scuderia as the rain never came.

Drama played out throughout the race starting from only 5 laps in when Vettel’s gearbox quickly began to lose oil. Seb nursed the car home, taking each corner a gear higher than normal and short-shifting. He let 2nd placed teammate Mark Webber by going into turn 1 so as to not screw up Red Bull’s chances of a good race.

Webber went on to score his first and only win of the season. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner remarked after the race that Vettel’s gearbox was actually completely out of oil by the time the race had ended. No one knows how he made it work, but Vettel finished 2nd anyway.

The World Championship was wrapped up with 4 races left in the season, but the battle for the remaining positions went down to the wire. The biggest win of the Brazilian GP was Team Lotus’ (next year “Team Caterham”) placement in 10th of the Constructors’ World Championship. Placing 10th means that Team Lotus/Caterham goes from receiving around $8 million to nearly $30 million in Championship payouts.

Final Driver Point Standings

Final Constructor Point Standings

In other F1 news, silly season has now kicked into high gear. TodayPatrick Head, co-founder of Williams GP announced his retirement from F1. He will now be focused on Williams’ Hybrid Power division of the company. The rumor mill is going crazy about Kimi Raikkonen being close to signing a deal to come back to Formula One next year with either Williams or Lotus-Renault GP. LRGP boss Eric Boullier said over the weekend that their final announcement is imminent. Adrian Sutil is most likely headed out to pasture as his contract with Force India F1 is over. Jerome D’Ambrisio is out at Marussia Virgin Racing as the team has signed Charles Pic to drive alongside veteran Timo Glock in 2012. Rubens Barrichello is hell bent on driving for Williams again in 2012, but we’re waiting to see what will become of that.

Kurt Busch Out as an Asshat

Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America

Early Saturday, Spencer Pratt, the President of the NAAD (The National Association of Asshats and Douchebags) announced that their organization has severed all ties with NASCAR driver Kurt Busch.

“Busch really made all asshats look bad last weekend at Homestead,” said Pratt. “It ain’t easy being this big of a douche and Kurt’s actions do not represent the good hard working asshats in America today.”

The NAAD had already fined Busch earlier this year when he sucked face with his girlfriend at Infineon Raceway. At that time, NAAD Vice President Tim Tebow said that Busch was, “gross,” adding, “no one wanted to see that.”

Reached for comment late Saturday, Busch said was grateful for all his years of being an Asshat but acknowledged it was time to move on. “I put in call to the folks at the HASA (Human Anal Swab Association) and we are hoping to have a deal to announce next week when I’m not on the stage at the Championship Banquet in Vegas”

- satire contributed to this article

The Season Ending Queers4Gears Radio Hour

The greatest race and championship ever, a booed 1st lady and Kurt Busch is an asshat…. all that and lots of your calls – listen here:

Listen to internet radio with Queers4Gears on Blog Talk Radio

Red Eye Talks NASCAR

As a night owl, I watch a lot of late night TV. While you generally won’t find me clicking onto the Fox News Channel – one show I do watch is Red Eye. At the half hour mark each night, TV’s Andy Levy comes on to point out mistakes or exaggerations made by panelist on the show. It is informative, funny and most of all fair. Right or left, Andy will call out their bullshit. Best of all, Levy is a huge NASCAR fan – and his driver is our new Sprint Cup Champion. On last night’s show Andy was guest hosting in the main chair and devoted an entire segment to NASCAR and the unfortunate incident when our fans booed the First Lady. At the end of the segment Andy put on his Office Depot #14 cap and pointed out the real news on Sunday – a historic and incredible race. Ohh, and you should all go follow Andy on twitter – he will make you laugh: @AndyLevy

Busch Apology Form Letter

Seems people associated with Kyle or Kurt Busch are having to issue a lot of apology letters lately. In order to improve efficiency – I have created this form letter:

Dear __________________________,

_________ would like to apologize for Busch and his _ at _ on . These actions do not represent ______ and are inconsistent with _ standards. We have spoken to _______ Busch and expressed our disappointment in his actions.

Thank You,

____________________________

Kurt Busch – Don’t Go Away Mad – Just Go Away

Dear Kurt Busch – please go away you foul mouthed cry baby. Week after week we hear you scream at your crew and even your boss on the scanners. Q4G already addressed your Angry Birds incident on Sunday in this week’s Gaynalysis but I just watched a video online that made me wanna punch Kurt in his neck.

The revered ESPN pit reporter was waiting to interview Kurt after the transmission blew on the #22. There was a little thing called a race going on at the moment and the guys in the booth couldn’t toss it to Dr. Jerry Punch quicly enough to suit the elder Busch.

After letting Kurt know that a piece of his trasmission had punched a hole in Tony Stewart’s grill Kurt snapped at the ESPN reporter, “That just makes me feel a lot better Doctor, can you get this mother fucker out of my face ”

Busch stood silent for a few moments before saying, “Why can’t we tape this shit?” Dr. Punch said that they wanted to do the interview live to which Busch replied, “Yeah, well I would have liked to do it live fucking ten minutes ago.”

At this point, and good for him, the good doctor Punch had enough and walked away saying “nevermind,” to the tower.

Kurt seeing Punch walk away turned to his hauler saying, “Thank you, now get the fuck out of here.”

Watch it all in disgust here….. I hope NASCAR gives him a fine and it shouldn’t be a secret!

This line seems to keep coming up – but here goes again, STAY CLASSY KURT BUSCH

UPDATE: Statements from Penske Racing and Kurt Busch -

Kurt Busch: “Unfortunately, our result in the season-ending race at Homestead on Sunday was not what we had hoped for as a team. In my frustration with the loss of my transmission early in the race, I let my emotions get the better of me. I regret having done this and apologize to the sponsors of Penske Racing , to NASCAR, its fans, to the media and in particular, Dr. Jerry Punch.”

Penske Racing: ”Penske Racing extends its apologies to Dr. Jerry Punch, our media partners and our sponsors and fans for Kurt Busch’s inappropriate actions in Homestead on Sunday. These actions do not represent Penske Racing and are inconsistent with the company’s standards for behavior, respect for others and professionalism. This matter is being reviewed internally with no further comment at this time.”

Gaynalysis: Pride and Shame

The Gaynalysis is just one gay NASCAR fan’s take on the race weekend. You can read the “straight” recap of the Championship Race by clicking here:

credit: Kevin R Tengesdal

I guess all the boys and girls in NASCAR Nation were more nice than naughty this year seeing as how we all got what asked for…. A race that will never be forgotten.

Rarely does anything in life live up to the hype but at Homestead Miami Speedway, Hot Carl and Tony delivered on every level. In twenty years you will hear callers to NASCAR radio shows say they watched this race to certify their bonifides as long time fans. We were all truly witness to history.

Smoke dodged two bullets and drove from the back twice…. You would have thought someone told him there were free Cheeseburgers up front. According to NASCAR’s loop data, Tony passed 118 cars on Sunday.

Seeing as how there were only 43 cars in the field and handful of them parked it behind the wall it would appear Stewart passed everyone in the field 3 times. His four-wide dives on the restarts will be featured on highlight reels for years to come.

Before the Chase kicked off in Chicago, Stewart himself gave his team no chance, going so far as call himself a bumbling idiot. Stewart-Hass Racing told crew chief Darian Grubb that he would not have his job atop the #14 pit box in 2012 and the team seemed resolved to run their best in the Chase and move onto next year.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Daytona…. Grubb and Smoke put together one of the best runs in NASCAR history – winning five of the ten Chase races.

Hot Carl Edwards gave everything his six-pack abs could muster; starting on the pole and leading the most laps. After the race Edwards said he did his best but in the end it was a second and half short.

In a day and time when it seems good sportsmanship has been lost in sports and life Carl Edwards showed everyone how to lose with class and grace.

Hot Carl shouldn’t be too hard on himself (that’s my job) he had an average finish of 4.7 in the Chase…. and didn’t win. Not even Jimmie “I run good in the Chase” Johnson wasn’t able to match that number in any of his five years with the Cup.

That race, the Champion and the runner-up give NASCAR something to be proud of…. and after what happened before the race… we needed it.

I hate to be the Debbie Downer here… but I can’t talk about my pride after that race without talking about my shame before it started.

Credit: By Chris Trotman, Getty Images for NASCAR

The First and Second Ladies of the United States were the Grand Marshals of the race and were in Homestead to spread awareness for “Joining Forces,” an organization that works to support military families and encourage employers to hire veterans and their spouses.

And how did NASCAR fans great Michelle Obama and Jill Biden? With Boo’s.

SHAME on you.

It made me sad to be a NASCAR fan. I don’t give a crap what your politics are… the First Lady of the United States was an invited guest there to support the families of our Military Members… and she gets boo’d?

Who does that?

Who raised these people?

Michelle Obama never ran for anything. She has not inserted herself into the political battles of her husband. Like most First Ladies she has taken on a cause for social improvement. Nancy Regan wanted to get our kids off drugs and Michelle Obama wants to get our kids off junk food.

As the Editor of a gay NASCAR fan site – I seem to constantly be defending NASCAR to people who think we are all a bunch of ignorant rednecks. The actions by some fans on Sunday are not making my arguments any easier… they are instead enforcing those negative stereotypes of NASCAR nation.

This morning NASCAR did get a lot of play in the national “non-sporting” press…. Unfortunately, the reports made no mention of what might be the greatest race ever. Instead, we got to see the footage of our First Lady getting boo’d in an endless loop.

Thanks y’all! In the t’words of Jim Utter – Shaking my damn head!

That sad episode made me more thankful for the race that followed. I am never gonna forget this one.

Kurt Busch plays Angry Birds

So the season is done and we have a Champion not named Jimmie. Tony Stewart was the last guy to win the Cup before JJ went on his five-straight tear… and now he adds the second book end.

Lastly, we can’t close this last Gaynalysis without talking about the Busch brothers. Neither will get to attend the banquet in their hometown of Las Vegas. Only the Top-10 drivers are invited and Kurt finished P11 with Kyle P12 in the standings.

Early in the race Kurt lost the transmission of the #22. As he pulled it into the garage a mysterious black Chevy Tahoe blocked his path. (we can assume it was a secret service vehicle, but that is not confirmed) Kurt saluted the Tahoe with the middle finger that his brother was posted for using in Texas late last year.

NASCAR did not penalize Kurt for his “angry birds” moment and ESPN never issued a statement or apology for airing the incident.

Stay Classy Kurt Busch!

Queers4Gears.com

NASCAR and MotorSports – From a Queer Perspective

Monthly Archives: November 2011

It’s Official: Kimi is Back!

Aussie V8 Sydney Telstra 500 Preview

F1 Brazilian Grand Prix – The Season Finale

Kurt Busch Out as an Asshat

The Season Ending Queers4Gears Radio Hour

Red Eye Talks NASCAR

Busch Apology Form Letter

Dear __________________________,

_________ would like to apologize for Busch and his _ at _ on . These actions do not represent ______ and are inconsistent with _ standards. We have spoken to _______ Busch and expressed our disappointment in his actions.

Thank You,

____________________________

Kurt Busch – Don’t Go Away Mad – Just Go Away

UPDATE: Statements from Penske Racing and Kurt Busch -

Gaynalysis: Pride and Shame

Dear __________________________,

___________________ would like to apologize for ______________ Busch and his _______ at _______ on ________. These actions do not represent ______________ and are inconsistent with _________ standards. We have spoken to ___________ Busch and expressed our disappointment in his actions.

Thank You,

____________________________

UPDATE: Statements from Penske Racing and Kurt Busch -

_________ would like to apologize for Busch and his _ at _ on . These actions do not represent ______ and are inconsistent with _ standards. We have spoken to _______ Busch and expressed our disappointment in his actions.