Busch needs to lighten up on on crew

If you want to work on Kyle Busch's pit crew, you need a very thick skin. A mistake on the final pit stop of last Saturday's Nationwide race at Bristol put a dominant Busch at the back of the longest line on the final restart and cost him the victory. "You suck!" were his words for the crew over the radio before he abandoned his race car and left the crew wondering where it was. Be careful, Kyle. You don't want to upset the people who take care of you.

This evening the Formula 1 season kicks off from Australia, starting at 1:30 a.m. on the SPEED channel. The championship rules are back to where they were before last week's surprise announcement by the World Motor Sport Council, awarding the title to whoever wins the most races. There was a caveat in the announcement, stating: "If, for any reason, the Formula One teams do not now agree with the new system, its implementation will be deferred until 2010." Well, the teams disagreed emphatically, and so 2009 will proceed under the old scoring system.

However, many other changes will be implemented in 2009. Drivers will be limited to eight engines per season (plus four for testing) and the rev limit has been reduced from 19,000 rpm to 18,000. The kinetic energy recover system (KERS) has been implemented, recovering energy from braking to provide a boost of about 80 horsepower for 7 seconds per lap, similar to the old Champ Car "push to pass" button. Slick tires will now be used, replacing the grooved tires that have been mandated for the past several seasons. This will increase the cars' mechanical grip, but new aero regulations will severely limit aerodynamic downforce and grip. Hopefully, this will result in more passing and closer racing. The new aero regs have already been challenged, with protests lodged against the rear diffuser designs of the Brawn GP, Toyota, and Williams cars. The protests were disallowed by the stewards at Melbourne, but we probably haven't heard the last of this.

Brawn GP, headed by Ross Brawn, is the former Honda factory team, and was assigned No. 21 for Jensen Button and 22 for Rubens Barrichello. Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton will carry No. 1 with his teammate Heikki Kovalainen assigned No. 2. The Ferrari drivers will swap numbers, with No. 3 going to Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen carrying No. 4. Sebastien Bourdais has No. 11 at Scuderia Toro Rosso and Swiss rookie driver Sebastien Buemi assigned No. 12. Buemi replaces Sebastian Vettel, who is moving up to the Red Bull senior team this season.

Is it just me, or is "Sebastien" the F1 equivalent of "Bubba"?

Carson City's Mackena Bell made her debut racing appearance at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Calif., on last Saturday. She qualified 24th, dropped to 30th early in the race, then rallied to a 17th place finish out of 35 starters. The team was pleased with her performance, but Mackena won't be satisfied until she's consistently running in the top 5 and scoring wins.

Bell returns to action on April 4.

If you want to support one of our local racers who is moving up in the racing world, you can go to Mackena's page on the Drive for Diversity website. The address is: http://drivefordiversity.ning.com/group/mackenabell.

Another local driver, Dallas Colodny, debuts at Toyota Speedway tonight in the High Point Racing No. 51 Late Model can nicknamed "Pole Position". Colodny got the ride, in part, due to his success in the ASA Speed Truck Challenge over the past two seasons. Check out www.dallascolodny.com for more information.

Bobby Hodges finished third in the NASCAR Whelen All American series race at Madera, Calif., last weekend and will race at Roseville, Calif. tonight in his chase for NASCAR state and national titles. Another local driver, Jerry Allec Jr., will take part in the SRL Southwest Tour series at Roseville on April 4.

Racing on TV is OK, but if you want to experience the smell of rubber, racing fuel, and hot metal, along with the sound of racing engines, tomorrow is the first test and tune day at Reno-Fernley Raceway's dirt oval. Admission is free, and track action will start around 1 p.m.