This was in the Birmingham News July 31st,

"WORST OF BARBER

Worst excuse for a race car

You can take a Mini Cooper and cloak it in bright colors, paint a number on the side and add a sponsor's name, but a Mini Cooper is still a Mini Cooper. The Mini Cooper that was entered in Saturday's race looked like some kid had sneaked a pedal car into the race. It also ran like a pedal car.

Worst judgment call - Grand Am Cup points leaders David Empringham and Scott Maxwell had a rough day Saturday, leading early but getting caught in the pits "

If you would like to dispute it or at least let them know the FACTS !, you can contact the sports editor here:

Tom Arenberg Sports Editor (205) 325-2433 FAX: (205) 325-2425
E-MAIL: tarenberg@bhamnews.com

 

Oh, so Tom is a sports editor.....nuf said.

 

There was no writer credit attached to it, so I don't know who actually wrote it, but if you go here: http://www.bhamnews.com/archives/ and search MINI Cooper in the sports section it's there, I will be writing them.

Manuel

 

Better yet, challenge him on some twisties.

P.S. I think this thread's likely going to get moved

 

 

why i oughta....

 

Bottom line - how did the Mini finish? Maybe the comments are true.

 

I dont belive it....we actually dont get the bham news, but if I see it, Im going to be pissed...

this ought to be moved to "mini talk"

 

Everyone send multiple messages to the "higher ups" that you are cancelling your subscriptionstions due to this person...

 

I don't care how poorly the Cooper did, this guy still knows nothing. Everyone should know by now the folly of underestimating a Mini out-of-hand. The writers showing his ignorance. Oops!!

 

FYI, Tony Nuzzo had a bad day at the track because his usual strategy of moving up, car by car, was foiled by the constant wrecks and the yellow flag/pace car situation for at least half the race, if not more.

Tony set a record in his MINI at VMI. He set the track record for his class at VMI last year. That shows that the MINI has more potential than the fellas in Birmingham realize.

I guess they are also unaware of the Mini's glorious rally history at Monte Carlo in the 60s.

Go to NuzzoMotorsports.com to get all the accurate information.

BTW, the winner of the class was disqualified for having an illegal engine.

Edit: moving this thread to Nuzzo Motorsports Coverage forum.


Clover

 

Sure, blanket statements are hardly ever right, but neither is pretending you are better than you are. Our mini's are sweet rides for sure - but don't go all 'fan-boi'. Save the excuses - a race is a race. How did he finish? If he got blown away, why shouldn't someone comment on it being slow compared to the competition? Having to qualify comments with 'for it's class' doesn't make it a fast car. Winning does.

 

This novice sports writer shows a typical lack of class, experience, and knowledge of his job duties whatsoever.

 

Reading his page, he started 15th, finished 16th with some damage. I'd say that's decent, not deserving of the review, but not some super-duper race car either. I'm sure it took great driving skill to pilot the car with steering damage and even hold position!

 

At the beginning of the race, he was hit by that most spectacular race-bred Chevy Cobalt and his steering was tweeked for the rest of the race.

It must have been that blue Cobalt that seemed to acquire more and more body damage every time the green flag came out. . .

Not going "fan-boi" here, but its hard to pass anyone when most of the race is done under the yellow flag, especially with a damaged car.

It has been fun watching the Nuzzo team over the past couple years and the MINI certainly is good enough to win and set records in this racing series.

 

Kaelaria, they set track records at Laguna Seca, came in THIRD
at Watkins Glen a couple weeks ago, and are 5th in manufacturer points ahead of Nissan, Audi and Dodge,

At Barber that day they finished 36th overall, (16th in class) AHEAD of 21 car types listed below,
Mustang GT, BMW Z3, BMW M3, Acura Integra R, Porsche 997, Mazda RX-8, Nissan 350Z, Acura RSX-S, Porsche 996, Mustang Cobra SVT, BMW Z4,

So he could of written the same about the terrible showing of the Porsches & Mustangs that finished BEHIND the MINI !,
"Just the facts ma'am, Just the facts...."

 

Oh, yeah, and nuzzo's minis arent actually "pedestrian friendly" yet either...maybe we can try them out on the sport writer...

 

I was at the race with a few others in this post and one good aspect of the race was that it was easy to get good photographs of the cars. It seemed for the most part the cars were cruising by instead of racing. Making it easy camera work. Nuzzo didn't finish in the top 10 but he did finish and that is always a good thing in racing.

What this writer fails to remember is the race in 2003 at Barber. Nuzzo did great in that race but was put out near the end due to either mechanical or electrical problems. Every race driver/car has a not so great day and this just happened to be one of them.

Did it run like a pedal car? No. When they were actually racing he looked to be going pretty well. Maybe this reporter was mad because the newspaper sent him to a race which involved right turns and it confused him.

 

I wrote Bham news on Monday night after I found out about this. I told them that they need to get the facts before writing something like that. So send your emails on to bham news and let them know what you think. Freedom of press, I have the Freedom to tell them what I think about their story.

 

The guy that wrote that dribble is a fat slob who covers the hunting and outdoor beat. His idea of a great "car" is a Ford pickup with mudders or a souped-up (to be able to carry his weight) 4-wheeler. After reading this insult, I sent 2 e-mails to the B'ham News, one that probably didn't make it past their e-mail blocker and one that I sent later after cooling down that gave alot of details on Tony's MINI and its track record as well as a list of all the cars that the little MINI beat in spite of being damaged. I'm now mad again and will send another email to express my displeasure for the B'ham News allowing someone who knows nothing about racing, other than NASCAR, reporting on such a prestigious event such as the Barber's races. I'm gong for a ride now.....

 

Despite all the bad stuff said from the Bama press person or whoever,,,

Congrats Tony and team for the great effort and wish all of you and the team the best at the next race.

I had a great time at the race and loved meeting you along with talking with the others getting the car ready for the race.

All the best for the next race.

 

I'm a teacher...because I could make more money than I could as a "journalist." Figure that.

 

Like I said, I'm not defending the blanket statement by the article. I just don't like comments on the other end of the spectrum either - be realistic. Oh and Sndwave, you can quit with the private messages, you win, your dad will beat up my dad

 

I might bet that Tony has felt the same way about the Mini at times.
Fact is that the Mini struggles in every class it's in. I know that I go through times where I feel like selling mine and go out and buy a "real" race car .. I've come close a couple of times this summer. It's just too much fun though, and when you do kick butt it's so rewarding that you did it in a Mini.

 

Geeesh, .... speak about ugly! That race was the worst. It's true as the anoucers said, something needs to be done. More and more racing is getting like this. Not fun to watch these beautifull cars gettin wiped out.

Oh Well.....