Ben, Ben, Ben

 Well, according to the numbers, Ben Spies pretty much trounced the Super
Pole field today. On top of Biaggi by .34s.

That ain't hay.

Kudos to the kid in his first run.

Mind, I don't expect him to win the race. Ideally he'll be in the front
pack and competitive, but I fear, at least at this point, that it's a
DiSalvo gesture where he wins the pole but can't stay in the race.

But then again, it IS .34s.

Should be an interesting race.

Regards,

Will Hartung

 

It is a great way to start if nothing else.  It could be said he is
"mostly unproven" (in terms of WSB) but I think he has a great track
record and has talent that has been proven time and time again.  I am
currently ignoring the spoilers and waiting for the race on the dish
later today.  The field may not resemble what it has in the past but
these are still world class racers.  I remember a time not so long ago
that the outgoing dominating WSB champ was called mostly unproven so
maybe we will see a repeat from this latest newcomer.

 Spies indeed did very well. But Haslam did really surprise me.

Great start. Amazing how many great names did not make it into the top
10!

Haga... is this *his* year!?

 It's crazy how Laconi set the fastest time of qualifying but does not get
the pole: They need to give three Q tires to everyone. He made the final
group but was 2.5s behind pole.

But congrats to Ben - he beat the rest in the final Q when it counted.

 
i still think the race counts more tha the Q? :-)