LIVE BLOG: Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen

… I could’ve been here in the live chat. Shoot.

Folks, I don’t mean to pile on the “Milka Can’t Drive” bandwagon, but after reading some of what everyone else vented about in yesterday’s live chat, I can’t help but get things off my own chest and add to the chorus in total agreement:

• Dan Wheldon stalled, had to wait for the Holmatro Safety Team to restart him… and still re-entered the pack in front of Milka.
  
• Helio had to pit for a flat tire, and Dixon for a broken wing… and still were ahead of Milka.
  
• Adam Carroll – not merely a rookie, but a first timer in an Indycar race! – had pit issues and still finished ahead of Milka.
  
• TK had to do a late pit stop for fuel, and still finished ahead of Milka.
  
• Romancini blew his fuel pump, ended the race at a dead stop, I don’t think he even crossed the finish line, yet according to the official results, he still finished ahead of Milka!!

At either Texas or Iowa, I remember Milka getting lapped twice in around 4 or 5 laps! And for God’s sake, when a driver’s so slow you fear she’ll get rear ended by the pace car, you know there’s something extremely wrong!

Look, I understand she brings in the Citgo money… and off the track as well as outside the subject of racing, I actually have a ton of respect for her. She’s got multiple masters degrees, she’s active in promoting education, she reaches out and tries to be a positive role model for others… but friggin hell, she cannot drive a frikkin’ Indycar!! Just give her someone else’s abilities – I don’t care, AJ Foyt IV’s, whoever – and she’s be someone to cheer for, but at her pace, she’s not just Indycar’s version of Eddie the Eagle, she’s actually dangerous to other drivers! And that is a bad thing for the series, for her team, and for her primary sponsor. I realize that dropping her probably would result in Citgo simply cutting funding period, not switching to another D&R or other Indycar team’s driver, but someone should point out that keeping her in at best merely results in embarrasment to Citgo, and at worst can kill someone! She needs to be back in sports cars. She podiumed in ALMS, she won in Ferrari Challenge, let her go there. The only loser in such a deal would be D&R, and I’m not ignoring the effect it’d have on their bottom line, but seriously, what risk is being imposed by keeping her on?

Blah… didn’t realize my rant would go on for so long. Anyway, look, I hate to think negatively about any driver in the series – I defend Danica all the freakin’ time, I push for Tracy to be in regardless of the fact I never liked him after an incident with Bobby Rahal way back when, I dig Dario (Frico Suave? ROFL!), and I can even dig Scott Dixon’s passion- and emotion-free analyses (Hey! At least he’s not as openly robotic as Kimi Raikkonen was in his interviews!). I want to be able to say “There’s no driver in Indycar that I ever cheer against” because it’d be the only sport I can say that for (well, I’m 90-some percent that way for F1, but that’s it). But I can’t. Milka’s situation isn’t even funny. It’s dangerous. And all of us have nightmares about a Dario Franchitti ‘07 Kentucky flip, or worse yet, a Paul Dana crash happening again. Dario survived his, Dana wasn’t so lucky, and no one can guarantee that the next rear ender will have survivors either.

Is there a “ParkMilka.com” site up yet? If not, one really needs to go up. I say that with regret, but honestly, who disagrees with that sentiment?

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"How can a pickup truck contain enough mass to unfold into a towering machine? I say if Ringling Brothers can get 15 clowns into a Volkswagen, anything is possible."

Roger Ebert, Transformers review.