Opinion: A Great Day For American IndyCar Stars at Barber Motorsports Park

They say the one real knock on the IndyCar Series in America is that, compared to NASCAR, there are few home-grown drivers racing at the pointy end of the field. Where NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series features a cavalcade of frontrunners – Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr – the IndyCar Series has, of late, been dominated by foreign drivers, including a fleet of Brazilians and, of course, Australia’s own Will Power.

Floridian Ryan Hunter-Reay was the last American-born IndyCar Series champion in 2012 and the most recent American to win America’s premier open wheel racing series before that? Sam Hornish Jr in 2002. That was, of course, the old Indy Racing League days, before the influx of former CART drivers, an eternity ago, really.

Suffice to say, it’s been a very long time between drinks for the American IndyCar contingent – which notably includes second-generation star Graham Rahal and third-generation star Marco Andretti – but there are signs, big signs, that things are about to change.

The IndyCar Series, born out of the American Midwest and run with the venerable Indianapolis 500 as it’s centrepiece, seems set for a flag-waving USA revival. At least, if the weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is anything to go by. 

Whichever way you care to look at the on-track proceedings at Barber Motorsports Park, it was a solid day for the home nation. Promising youngster Josef Newgarden, an open wheel racer from Tennessee, a state more aligned with NASCAR than IndyCar, won the 90-lap event, staving off challenges from New Zealander Scott Dixon and another American, Graham Rahal, to score his maiden IndyCar Series victory.

It was a popular win for a driver considered to be the future of the series, and if that is indeed the case, IndyCar racing is in good hands. That Rahal, the oft-maligned son of three-time series winner and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby, was such a force late in the race, scything through the field in what is generally considered an inferior Honda power plant, is also good news. Having been in the racing wilderness for a few years, there’ve been great signs this year in terms of speed and overall finishing positions. Rahal is a favourite of mine, and there’s no better antidote for IndyCar racing than Americans on the podium.

With another promising American, Connor Daly, announced to have secured a good seat at Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports for the Indianapolis 500, there is great momentum. After a strong showing in relief of Rocky Moran Jr for Dale Coyne Racing last weekend in Long Beach, in which he did not get any practice time, Daly’s solid run has definitely piqued the interest of team owners up and down pit lane.

Daly is another one to watch, as is Sage Karam, a youngster who impressed mightily at Indy last year, and will be with the powerhouse Chip Ganassi Racing for most of the rest of this season, learning from the likes of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti. He could not have three better teachers.

Even the Indy Lights races at Barber were dominated by an American, the rising Spencer Pigot, who has climbed the ladder through feeder categories, and dominated by races at Barber, leading every lap of both races. Basically, he smashed the rest of his competitors, and now sits atop the Indy Lights championship points standings. Pigot’s goal is IndyCar, and it’s vitally important that he gets there.

The more Americans in the series, the more publicity the series will receive in mainstream press. I’ve been saying it for the longest time: IndyCar racing is the best open wheel racing in the world. The great shame is that few people know it exists.

If you’re an American and you love IndyCar, this is a good time. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti are the established stars. Graham Rahal is getting there. Ed Carpenter has always been solid on ovals, and will be a force as we head to Indianapolis this year. We shouldn’t forget Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball, an IndyCar race winner himself, and with Newgarden and Daly on the rise, and the possibility of Pigot joining the ranks in the near future, there is plenty to like going forward.

As much as IndyCar’s international diversity is good, there’s no doubt the series will be best served by having Americans up at the pointy end, winning championships and races.

2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Western Conference Semi Final Preview

Eight teams came in and four remain in the race for a Western Conference championship and Stanley Cup glory. Read on for my Western Conference semi-final preview:

Anaheim versus Calgary

Memo, Calgary: beware of the third period. That’s where the Anaheim Ducks are at their most dangerous. They blew Winnipeg away when the game was on the line, trailing in three games leading into the final frame, and ended up recording an impressive 4-0 series whitewash over the Jets. Now the scoring guns of the Ducks – Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler – turn their attention to another Canadian outfit, the Flames.

For mine, there’s still a worry for the Ducks that, like so many Bruce Boudreau-coached teams in Washington, they’ll stumble in the playoffs, but you have to like their form from the Winnipeg series. They got secondary scoring from Emerson Etem and Jakob Silfverberg, but the reality of the situation is that if Kesler, Getzlaf and Perry continue as they did against the Jets, Anaheim will be tough to stop. The team goes as that trio goes.

Flames fans should worry that they’ve lost twenty straight regular season games at the Honda Centre in Anaheim, including fifteen in regulation. As much as coaches say that doesn’t count in the playoffs, I believe it does. There’s a mindset there that’s hard to break out of. Their rookies accumulated 13 points in the Vancouver series, which Calgary won but it’ll primarily be the top line of Jiri Hudler, Sean Monahan and impressive rookie American Johnny Gaudreau who’ll determine whether the Flames can keep up with the Ducks.

Where the Ducks are improved – vastly so – in comparison to previous seasons is on defence. Blue line expertise has always been the knock on Boudreau’s squads. Defence is what wins playoff series’ and championships. It’s also where a team is shown up to be deficient under the pump of the postseason. I’ve always been a huge fan of Cam Fowler, whose Winnipeg series was excellent. His partnership with the steady Simon Despres seems to have really benefited the American. Watch for Sami Vatanen, especially in power play situations. His shot is like a cannon and scored two PP goals against Winnipeg.

In net for Anaheim, Frederik Andersen was something special, improving dramatically on his last playoff outing.  He faces a stiffer test against Calgary, who claim more offensive weapons than Winnipeg. American John Gibson, injured for the first round, is still a mystery as far as his status for this series goes, but even if Gibson is healthy, you would assume Andersen, thanks to a solid Winnipeg series, would get the nod.

At the other end of the ice, Jonas Hiller, a former Anaheim stater, and Karri Ramo split time in the regular season before an injury to Ramo saw Hiller elevated. Both players saw action against Vancouver, with Ramo coming in as relief after Vancouver scored two goals on three shots to open Game Six. Ramo stopped seventeen of nineteen shots there on out, helping Calgary to a win. Hiller knows a bit about the opposition, but then, they know a bit about him, too.

Prediction: The Ducks are too strong across the board, and I can see their power play really dominating in this series. It’ll be close to the end, but I see Anaheim advancing in six.

Chicago versus Minnesota

For the third time in three seasons, these Central Division rivals will meet in a playoff series and, as the old saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.

The Wild were definitely the surprise packet of the first round in the West. Up against a St Louis squad that I expected would be playing in the Western Conference Final, if not battling it out for Lord Stanley, the Wild really dominated, ousting the highly-fancied Blues 4-2.

How, exactly, did they win? By following the old playoff adage: if you get good goaltending, stout defence and opportunistic scoring, you’ll win more series than you’ll lose. Devan Dubnyk, a Vezina Trophy finalist who was also a trade deadline acquisition from the Arizona Coyotes, might well be the move of the year. He’s been lights out in goals ever since arriving in the State of Hockey, and a puzzle rarely solved by the Blues. Not once in the previous two playoff meetings with Chicago have the Wild been so settled in goal.

The Wild will have seen the flaky nature of Chicago’s goaltending – the Blackhawks started both Corey Crawford and Scott Darling in their six-game series victory over the fancied Nashville Predators, and pulled them both at various times – and believe they can exploit it, at least to a degree. Having two battle-tested goalies might actually be a blessing for Chicago.

Scoring was a team effort for the Wild, with eight players scoring at least one goal against St Louis. Of course, the big guns were at the forefront, with Zach Parise leading all comers, but the secondary scoring of guys like Jason Pominville and captain Mikko Koivu was impressive, too. Don’t discount Tomas Vanek, either. If he gets on a run, watch out,

Leading Minnesota’s blue line is Ryan Suter, formerly of Nashville, as good a defenceman as there is in the NHL. He formed a solid pairing with Jonas Brodin, the two playing huge minutes against the best forwards St Louis had and, for the most part, dominated. Only Vladimir Tarasenko scored more than two goals for the Blues. That speaks to Minnesota’s defensive depth.

You don’t underestimate the ‘Hawks and their ability in the post-season. There are too many guys with plenty of big-game experience on the roster. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the noted leaders, but Chicago rely on Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp, who both had solid outings in the Nashville series. Even the fourth line of Marcus Kruger, Andrew Shaw and Andrew Desjardins, is a threat.

Defensively, Chicago are as good as they come. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are supestars and Niklas Hjalmarsson is getting there, too. There’s at least some weakness towards the bottom of the depth chart, in Kimmo Timonen and Michal Rozsival, and, of course, the goaltending situation I noted above.

Prediction: A close series between Central Division rivals, but Chicago probably have just a little more polish, and will win – not without a fight – in six games.

Kitch’s Top 5 World War One Movies: #1 – Gallipoli

Director: Peter Weir
Release Date: August 1981
Starring: Mel Gibson, Mark Lee & Bill Kerr.

In A Few Words: The story of two friends from rural Western Australia who volunteer to join the Australian light horse and find themselves on the Gallipoli battlefield.

Spoilers Ahead

Peter Weir is a genius. 

The gold standard of Australian war films – and one that sparked the creation of some other good ones, like The Lighthorsemen and Breaker Morant – and quite possibly one of the best Australian films of any genre. Peter Weir’s work is a masterpiece, and although the title suggests a close look at the battle, the reality is that the story sends an anti-war message and is more about the closeness of two mates who end up on Gallipoli, and involved in the fateful Battle of the Nek in August 1015, which was a part of a greater August offensive designed by Sir Ian Hamilton.

Gibson and Lee as Frank Dunne and Archy Hamilton are fantastic. Their chemistry was apparent right from their first scene together. They are contrasting characters: Archy, a track sprinter who idolises 100 yard sprinter Harry Lascelles, is swept up in the fervour of war, whilst Frank joins up because Archie is going. He’s not so gung-ho about things, and can even be classed as a little jaded and cynical about the need to protect the British empire.

The two friends are separated at enlistment, because Frank can’t ride a horse with enough talent to enlist with the light horse. Whilst Archy heads off with the light horse, Frank joins up with three friends who worked with him on the railway in Western Australia and heads to Egypt as an infantryman. It’s during a training exercise in the desert outside Cairo that Frank and Archy reunite, and because the light horse regiments are being sent to Gallipoli without their horses, basically as extra infantry.

One of the overriding themes in the movie is a loss of innocence, and you can feel it coming, as the Australians, naïve and not knowing what they’re getting themselves in for over on Gallipoli, spend their time touring Cairo, climbing the pyramids and generally enjoying themselves.

All of that changes once they arrive on Gallipoli. The battlefield is first glimpsed in the night time, and with no small amount of wonder by the two friends. They arrive an undetermined period of time into the campaign, and the trench system is well defined. Most of the men who have been on the peninsula since the first day deal with the battle in a rather nonchalant manner, making jokes about everything, which belies the grim situation that the Australians find themselves in. They’re clinging precariously to a very narrow slice of Turkish countryside. Archy and Frank have to learn quickly how things work.

It’s soon clear that the light horse regiments (and others) have been brought to Gallipoli to be the forefront of a new offensive that is designed to break the stalemate on the Peninsula. There will be two Australian attacks: the infantry at Lone Pine and, later, the lighthorse at The Nek. Elsewhere, British infantry will make a fresh landing at Suvla Bay and New Zealand troops were to try for the summit.

After the infantry attack is a half-success – the infantry takes the first enemy trenches, but are subject to heavy Turkish counter attacks – Frank learns that one of his friends was killed and another mortally wounded during the initial charge.

What follows is the most extraordinary end to a film I can remember. The light horse wait out the night, knowing they will be charging into the teeth of the Turkish guns. An early morning bombardment concludes too early, due to officers’ watches not telling the same time. Archy is recognised as a track star by his commanding officer, and is requested to become a runner. He declines, wanting to take part in the attack, so Frank takes the job.

The attack is a disaster. Two waves are cut down, and Frank is sent to brigade headquarters to tell them the situation is hopeless, but the officer in charge has received incorrect reports that marker flags have been seen in Turkish trenches, so the attack is ordered to proceed. Another wave is killed outright, so Frank is sent to the beach, to General HQ, to try and have the last attack, of which Archy is a part, cancelled.

Frank receives those orders, but doesn’t make it back in time. The attack is called, and the last wave leave their trenches. The anguished cry from Frank as he collapses against the sandbagged wall, so close yet so far, is one that will remain with you forever, and perhaps one of the most iconic moments in Australian cinema. Second only, perhaps, to the last scene of the movie – a freeze-frame that will definitely remain imprinted on your mind. It’s of Archy, his chest hit by a flurry of machine gun bullets. 

That’s the film. It fades to black, and you’re left to ponder the futility of war. The action at The Nek was as close to organised murder as there was on a Great War battlefield. The West Australian lighthorsemen had no chance. None at all. As a final message in a movie epic full of them, it’s pretty poignant.

Reflecting on the ANZAC Centenary

ANZAC Day, in my mind, is the most important day in this country. Australia Day is a close second, and Remembrance Day is another moment that should be marked yearly, but there is something special and tangible about ANZAC Day. 

There is no other day where tens of thousands of people gather for dawn services and the moment that ANZAC Day marks – the first shots fired in the fateful Gallipoli campaign in the First World War – has, for better or worse, become a hugely important moment in the history of our country. It seems that the appreciation for what our diggers have done in the last century that they’ve been fighting under an Australian flag is only growing, and long may that continue!

It’s sometimes easy to forget that, after nine months on the Gallipoli peninsula, the Australians and New Zealanders were evacuated. The Turks, who lost many thousands more men, rightly claim the campaign as their victory. It was an ignominious departure, and, given the problems that the Australians and New Zealanders faced from the very first minute they splashed ashore, it’s a wonder that they weren’t evacuated sooner. I daresay, no other army in the world would have lasted as long as they did.

Gallipoli is no doubt important. We have a rich military history, and it’s particularly impressive given that, in the First and Second World Wars, we were a volunteer army. No draftees or conscripts, just blokes who wanted to be there. The only one of it’s kind at either of the two World Wars. If you can name another volunteer army who has such a sparkling resume of service, please use the comments below to make me aware.

Think of it: our volunteers survived Gallipoli against the odds (and showed incredible bravery at Lone Pine during the August offensive), then went to fight on the Western Front in France and Belgium, where they took part in some of the worst engagements that hellish place had to offer – Fromelles, Pozieres, Passchendaele and Villers-Bretonneux to name just a few – and more than held their own in comparison with the larger armies of Great Britain and France.

You can mount an argument that it was the Australians who stemmed the tide of the German Spring Offensive in 1918, and had they not been there, with shattered British and French units giving way to the initial and heavy enemy attacks, the war may well have, if not necessarily been won by the Germans, certainly lengthened. The Spring Offensive was the last gasp for the Germans. A mere five months after Villers-Bretonneux, the Armistice was declared, and our troops came home.

In the Second World War, our armies held back the Germans at Tobruk, a feat not exactly replicated by the British forces who took over that fortress town after our soldiers departed, and were responsible for stemming the flood of the Japanese advance across the Pacific, which had been rampant to that point. Milne Bay and the Kokoda Trail spring readily to mind as decisive engagements that halted the Japanese.

Remember that the Japanese had already bombed Darwin, and were on their way to more conquests, but our men stood in their way after, again, the British (in Singapore, especially) had folded in. In both World Wars, Australians really showed what they were made of, and often did so in the face of great odds and adversity. Talk about punching above our weight!

Australia’s military achievements stretch through Korea, Vietnam and into modern-day battles. It’s easy to forget, sometimes, in the midst of our busy lives, that there are still servicemen and women overseas, fighting and, sadly, dying in places like Afghanistan. May they all come home safe and soon!

***

Most families have some sort of connection to the Battle of Gallipoli and the original ANZACs. My great uncle (the much older brother of my dad’s father) Frederick George Kitchener was English, but found himself enlisting in Australia with the 16^th battalion of the Australian Imperial Force, as our army was known at the time.

Sadly, he was killed at Gallipoli on May 2, 1916 – seven days after the commencement of battle.