Former F1 pilot Hans Stuck is credited with one of the most memorable quotes in autodom.
“When I raced a car last,” Stuck proclaims, “it was a time when sex was safe and racing was dangerous, now it’s the other way around.”
Social commentary aside, Stuck is right. The advances made in safety for racing drivers over the last half-century have reduced the sports mortality rate by orders of magnitude, and even allowed drivers to walk away from crashes that at one time would most certainly have been fatal.
Even now, engineers and medical experts work tirelessly to continue to improve the safety record of a sport that is inherently dangerous. Let’s take a look back at how things came so far.
Make no mistake about it … online gambling and bingo have become huge business. Billions of dollars in revenue is now being generated online, and it’s not just with basic apps that rely on advertising; it’s in direct wagers and betting from players. There’s a massive market for companies and merchants to tap into, as long as you hit the right market.
Knowing the Market
Anyone worth their weight understands how important it is to know the market. A football league isn’t going to be targeting a general audience who has no interest in this or other sports.
The online gambling world is massive and it draws in a wide range of people from all walks of life and from around the world and that can make it seem as though marketing to such a wide audience would be difficult, but think about this: they love games, they love competition, and they’re a captive audience. What’s not to love about that?
Sponsorship Deals
When you have a sports league, like football (soccer to those fans across the pond), you drive business by sponsorship deals. When you have the name of your league, team, or even a favorite player front and centre, it gets people thinking about that sporting event.
Nothing really goes together better than sports and online gaming and bingo. That’s because many of the people who love these online games also have a thrill for either watching and cheering on a favorite team or placing some well thought out wagers on an upcoming game.
Sky Bingo is one of those online gaming sites that draws in thousands of fans every day. These men and women are riveted to their computer screen, tablet, or even their smartphones while engaged in some heated bingo. They wait almost impatiently for the next number to be called, checking their cards, and waiting for that precious word ‘bingo’ to be highlighted on the screen.
But a person isn’t going to just be staring at the numbers … they’re going to be looking around that screen and that’s where these sponsorship/advertising opportunities are so powerful. Read the rest of this entry →
The first Formula One season took place in 1950. In more than 65 years, the sport has changed a lot. It’s now faster, safer, and more popular than ever before. The sport is still changing, however, with the organization and drivers trying to find a balance between speed and safety. When Formula One began, not even helmets were compulsory. Today, there are many rules and regulations on safety and fair play within the sport. Vehicle design has changed dramatically too, with a focus on aerodynamics, as well as engines. Check out how Formula One has changed over the years and continues to move forward.
Rules and Regulations
One of the things that have seen change over decades of F1 is the rules and regulations. In the 1950s, little thought was given to the safety of the drivers or the sport’s spectators. Some of the first rules of the sport set out engine specs. The maximum sizes were 1500 cc for engines with a compressor or 4500 cc for normally aspirated engines. The compulsory use of helmets was another early rule. But the helmets wouldn’t have been any use today, or even then. As the sport grew, more regulations were put in place to make it safer. Rules had to evolve along with vehicle designs, and they are still catching up. Today, the F1 organization is doing its best to make the sport safer than ever. Read the rest of this entry →
Al Unser Jr., held off Scott Goodyear by 0.043 to win his first Indy 500.
In this edition of our Vintage Video, we are looking at the closest finish in the history of the Indianapolis 500.
The 1992 Indy 500 is memorable for many reasons.
It started with pole setter Roberto Guerrero spinning out and crashing on the pace lap.
Then, Michael Andretti, the son of legendary driver Mario Andretti, dominated the race leading 160 laps and building a seemingly insurmountable 30-second lead.
However, with 11 laps remaining Michael fell victim to what many have called the “Andretti curse” as his fuel pump failed and forced him out of the race.
That left the door open for another second generation driver as Al Unser, Jr. took the lead and held off Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds to become the third member of the Unser family (joining his father and uncle Bobby) to claim victory at the Brickyard.
Another notable component of the 1992 Indy 500 is that it included more former champions than any previous race and was the final Indy appearance for A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Tom Sneva and Gordon Johncock.
A.J. Foyt claimed the 1977 Indianapolis 500 to become the first to claim four Indy 500 victories.
Even though it is arguable that the hey-day of the Indianapolis 500 occurred a generation ago, with the 100th running of the famed event happening this weekend, attention is back on The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Through the first 99 races, 19 different men have claimed multiple titles.
The first multi-race winning was Tommy Milton, who won the ninth running in 1921 and then claimed his second victory in 1923. The first three-time winner was Louis Meyer as he went to the winner’s circle in 1928, 1933 and 1936.
He was soon joined as a three-time winner by Wilbur Shaw. After succeeding Milton as the winner in 1937, Shaw then became the first back-to-back winner in 1939-40. He remains the only person to claim three Indy 500 victories in a four-year stretch.
However, he is technically not the only man to win three out of four races.
In 1941, Mauri Rose started on the pole. However, spark plug issues took him out of the race after 60 laps. He then took over the car originally driven by Floyd Davis and came back to win the race.
There was no Indy 500 from 1942-45 due to World War II.
After finishing 23rd in 1946, Rose returned to victory lane in both 1947 and 1948 to join Meyer and Shaw as a three-time winner.
It would be nearly two decades before another racer reached three Indy 500 wins.
After winning in 1961 and 1964, A.J. Foyt joined the three win club in 1967. Over the next decade, Foyt finished in the top 10 five times, including third place finishes in 1971 and 1975 and second place in 1976. Read the rest of this entry →
Stock car racing got its name from the early days of the sport, when racecars were strictly stock cars from the factory that had a few performance and safety tweaks. The stock cars we watch today have come a long way from their ancestors, constantly improving and resetting the standards of racing.
How do today’s stock cars differ from what you can buy from the factory? There are several major differences:
The Engine
For comparison, we’ll use a NASCAR engine. NASCAR engine blocks are custom-made, not modified from the original engine block. They do, however, share some similarities with the original. They have the same number of cylinders, the same base displacement and the same cylinder bore centerlines. Where NASCAR engines stand in stark contrast to regular engines is in the power – they’re consistently modified so they can produce the maximum.
One main difference comes in the NASCAR engine’s cam profile. It’s designed to keep the intake valves open longer, which means more air can be packed into the cylinders. More air and fuel is let in through the use of carburetors, unlike street cars, which mostly use fuel injection. Read the rest of this entry →
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month was one of the most electrifying players in college football history.
Known as “The Jet” for his incredible speed and agility, 1972 Heisman Trophy Winner Johnny Rodgers was a versatile playmaker who dazzled fans and dominated opponents during his career at the University of Nebraska. His achievements on the field and his impact on college football have earned him a place among the sport’s all-time greats.
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