Top Gear US – Hitting the Redline

credit The History Channel

After a break, the second half of the Top Gear season kicked off tonight on the History Channel. If you havn’t yet checked out this show – you need to watch. If you watched in the first season and didn’t get hooked, give it another chance – you need to watch. Hell, even if you only love the BBC version of this show – you need to watch.

The BBC version of TG has a cult like following – so many of the TG faithful were not willing to give the American hosts a chance.

I do think the show had a slow start out of the gates in the first season. Most of the BBC “snobs” were bashing Top Gear US before the show show even aired. There were also folks who had no idea what Top Gear BBC was – but they also didn’t know to they needed to check out the History Channel for a car show. It also took some time for the American producers and hosts to make it their own.

I think it took a season for Rutledge Wood, Tanner Foust and Adam Ferrara to find their groove. The chemisty is now in-tune and the three play off each other – ribbing, prodding and humiliating each other at every turn. You can tell they genuinly like each other and cut-up just like they would if the cameras and pop-tops were off.

(I think I just aged myself with that pop-top reference. Kids, a pop-top is the removable tab on alumnim cans that we had when I grew up. You would pull the sharpe tab completely off the can – they were like little razor blades and everytime I went to the pool or beach I feared slicing my foot open by stepping on one. You may have heard this term, pop-top, in the Jimmy Buffet song “Magaritiville.”)

(OK, I may have just aged myself with that Jimmy Buffet reference. Kids, Jimmy Buffet is a singer/songwriter that your Mom and Dad listen to when they would get drunk and screw.)

As a car guy, Top Gear is the most fun you can have on TV. The formula is simple: take three grown-up men acting like giggling teenagers, throw in some really fast cars, crazy stunts and funny writing…..

If you are not watching Top Gear US – you need to watch.

The show comes on the History Channel every Tuesday night at 9pm.

Click here to see clips and learn more about the show.

Not That You Asked, Adam’s 2012 Wishes

Queers4Gears contributor Adam Lovelace lays out his best wishes for the 2012 racing season:

A safe season for all racing series first and foremost!
Huge, major sponsors for Queers4gears.com so we can go to every single race!
I wish you all would listen every week to the Q4G Out of the Tunnel podcast. In fact, listen now right here: CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW
Dale Earnhardt Jr wins races and the championship even. Hey, I can wish big.
I hope Danica Patrick out performs and shuts up the haters. I hope she wins races.
I wish for less haters everywhere, not just racing.
I hope the Busch brothers get another big helping of humble. They need it. I’m not hating, just wishing.
I hope Queers4gears founder, Michael, starts being stalked by Kasey Kahne.
I wish Indycar would race on more ovals, or that the road courses were more competitive. Either one.
Every ARCA race televised! The ones they do televise are generally NOT the best ARCA races to watch. You are missing some good racing not seeing the short tracks. SPEED is a channel; they should show more racing of all types.
I want to listen to Sirius NASCAR online. It is 2012. I listen in the car for about 20 mins on the way to work and 20 mins on the way home. You know what lots of folks have access to during the day? Computers and mobile devices! I could listen all day. In fact, I pay extra to listen online, but one of the few channels I can’t get online? You guessed it.
Speaking of Sirius NASCAR, how about live qualifying and practice? Why not?
While I’m at it, how about some kind of app available to ALL smartphones? Again, it’s 2012. Keep up.
I wish the following would be banned from all tracks: the word boogity, all politicians of any persuasion, confederate flags (let’s move on), and Lee Greenwood songs.
I wish the Daytona 500 was still the day before a holiday. It was much better that way.
No rainouts, for any series.
More Friday/Saturday night races.
Autoclub Speedway should be reconfigured. While that’s being done Bruton Smith should remember what he did in Vegas and bring that to Kentucky Speedway. I think it greatly improved the racing.
I wish for all races to end two or three wide at the finish line.
I wish for all championships to be decided on the last lap of the last race of the season.
I wish for more first time winners. I love seeing drivers and teams get their first win.
I wish for more sell out races for all series.
I hope this two-car tandem racing in NASCAR is coming to an end. I’ll take the pack racing anyday.
Side by side commercials all the time. I love that feature and I see more commercials that way. Seems like wise marketing to me!
And, a shameless plug for myself, I wish someone from the racing world would call me. Offer me a job. I have many skills you need.
I hope you all have a wonderful new year and enjoy the 2012 racing season!!

Follow Adam on Twitter (@aclovelace )

The “Straight” Scoop – Weekly Round-Up

This week – Q4G’s resident straight guy, Jeff Wolf, talks about the ESPN Body Issue, the upcoming Indy and Truck races in Las Vegas and some updates from the Drag Strip.

credit - ESPN The Magazine

The ESPN Body Issue

Each year I look forward to “The Body Issue” of ESPN the Magazine.

The bodies amaze me.

I’m envious of the male bods that look nothing like I’ve seen in the mirror during 58 years of showers.

I’m envious of the female bodies that are like nothing I’ve ever seen live in the flesh except for one foray into a Phoenix strip club about 20 years ago.

It was with great trepidation when I took a quick scan of this year’s edition when it arrived in my mailbox this week.

I noticed that one of the featured athletes’ last name was Force.

I was appalled. How could semiretired Funny Car driver Ashley Force Hood pose nude? Or one of her racing sisters, Brittany or Courtney?

Either of whom, I’m sure, would have been worthy of such exposure but they would never consider doing it.

Having known them since they were little kids I couldn’t have looked anyway. It would have been like seeing my niece naked.

A quick glance at the skin-only Force revealed it as John. That, also, was a bit disconcerting.

But there he was in all his glory, only his racing helmet covering his most private part.

Instead of a driving firesuit, big (we assume) John was there in his birthday suit.

His two-page spread (poor word choice) highlighted how his body has recovered from a near fatal drag racing crash four years ago.

Force devoted months to physical rehabilitation and changed his life away from the track to include daily workout regiments and the photo shows that.

He looks good for a 62-year-old who guzzled as much beer as his Nitro Funny Car guzzled nitromethane for most of his adult life until he quit drinking after the crash near Dallas.

One revelation was that Force doesn’t have tattoos on his chest of logos for sponsors Ford, Castrol, AAA and Brand Source.

The most prolific sponsor promoter in sports might consider adding that ink to get in next year’s “Body” edition.

MORE NUDITY

Another racer featured is IndyCar star Helio Castoneves. The petite Brazilian is swinging in a tire dangling from a tree. To his disgrace it is a narrow tire that, again, hides his manly shaft. It would have been better for his stature for the tire to have been one of the wide ones used on his IndyCar.

MEET THE DRIVERS

Danica Patrick opens her last week racing full-time in the IndyCar Series on Wednesday with two public appearance in preparation for the Oct. 16 IZOD IndyCar World Championships at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Fans can meet Patrick 3:30-5 p.m. Wednesday at the 7-Eleven convenience store at 1100 Las Vegas Blvd. near Charleston.

She will join the other IndyCar drivers 6 p.m. Wednesday for a free autograph session at Macy’s in the Fashion Show Mall. …

Drivers competing in the Saturday’s Smith’s 350k NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the speedway will participate in an autograph session 7:30-8:30 p.m. Friday at the Stratosphere.

TRUCKS IN DAYLIGHT

The Las Vegas truck race will be start 12:30 p.m. Saturday marking the first time it has not been held at night in 12 years. The starting time had to be moved to the afternoon because the Cup race will be held that night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and NASCAR will schedule its three national series at the same time.

SCHMIDT WINS AGAIN

Sam Schmidt Motorsports clinched its fifth championship in the Firestone Indy Lights series when driver Josef Newgarden finished second Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.

Team owner Sam Schmidt of Henderson will field four entries in the Oct. 16 season finale at LVMS.

Jeff Wolf is a freelance reporter. He can be reached at (702) 406-8165 or nitrorodeo@gmail.com.