Welcome y'all again to the fourth installment of the 36ish part 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Autosport Series. 4th race weekend of the season is go in the Valley of the Sun, aka Phoenix Arizona.
This race marks the 2nd of our before Spring 3 part Nascar goes West journey. So what's cool about our latest stop?
the track has blue walls; which rhymes with something else
Last week we were treated to another crushing display of dominance by Freaky Fast Kev-o Harvick.
Can he be stopped? I think there's 0.1% chance of that seeing that this is Phoenix and our Sagittarius #4 overlord slays at this track. But hope exists nonetheless. With dudes like Kyle B, Truex, Keselowski, Larson snapping at Kev's Ford heels, uncertainty morphs into certainty. The Ford looks like they are the Mercedes W09 E+ power whatever of the field this year, sparking frantic talks of conspiracy. I try not to think of the technical side of Nascar too much, because I can only envision Larry McReynolds talking about wedge adjustment over bad CGI and that's an instant turn-off. I refuse to start my weekend with instant turn-offs.
Meanwhile, the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs and Furniture Row still look on it but those new Chevys seem like a handful atm, especially for those new young guns over at Hendrick. 7 time champ Jimmie J seems to be in an early world of hurt, but HE WILL BE BACK guys. Never discount a Virgo la JJ.
sad Virgo
Let's talk about backmarkers for a bit. One main story before this race was Matt DiBenedetto and his Go Fas ( no, not a typo ) Racing team and their struggle to even be in his race. I like Matt and it seems that a lot of dudes and dudettes do to. I remember this race from 2016 and the emotions him and his team went through by finishing a daring 6th at Bristol:
Bless them. We need teams and drivers like these. Well apparently, at the start of the week, Go Fas lost their sponsor for the Phoenix race, prompting Matt DiBen to go on Twitter and basically do a Kickstarter. Aaaaaand it seems that the Nascar community and his actual rivals went all 'we got this' and chipped in. Anxiety turned into success. Lead into Gold. Nascar Alchemy.
https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/dibenedetto-phoenix-grid-rivals-donations-1012568/
Denny, I forgive you. For now.
I like stories like these. Let's see what is there to like about Phoenix.
Back in the '97 something weird happened over the skies of Arizona and Phoenix. The event is called the Phoenix Lights. And back in the day it was one of the biggest UFO things out there. It's still one of those biggest mass sighting out there in the world. Indulge:
you're welcome
Phoenix has a NHL hockey team - the Phoenix Coyotes, which is strange for a place where ice melts quickly.
I really liked their old logo.
Coyotes and Arizona remind me of Skinwalkers, but I'll save that nonsense of the Phoenix Chase race at the end of the season.
what a cheerful bunch
basically if you see a coyote without a tail or that starts walking like a dude, just walk away. or run.
In the past this place of Arizona was inhabited by a people name the Akimel O'odham, which is a way too cool name. Also known as the Pima, which is significantly less cool.
North American Indians who traditionally lived along the Gila and Salt rivers in Arizona, U.S., in what was the core area of the prehistoric Hohokam culture. The Pima, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language and call themselves the “River People,” are usually considered to be the descendants of the Hohokam. Like their presumed ancestors, the Pima were traditionally sedentary farmers who lived in one-room houses and utilized the rivers for irrigation. Some hunting and gathering were done to supplement the diet, and in drought years, which occurred on the average of one year in five, crop failure made hunting and gathering the sole mode of subsistence. During these dry years jackrabbits and mesquite beans became the group’s dietary staples.
The intensive farming of the Pima made possible larger villages than were feasible for their neighbours and relatives, the Tohono O’odham (Papago). With larger communities came a stronger and more complex political organization. In the early Spanish colonial period the Pima possessed a strong tribal organization, with a tribal chief elected by the chiefs of the various villages. The tribal and local chiefs attained their status through their personal qualities rather than through birth. The village chief, aided by a council of all adult males, had the responsibilities of directing the communal irrigation projects and of protecting the village against alien tribes, notably the Apache. Planting and harvesting crops were handled as a cooperative venture.
From the time of their earliest recorded contacts with European and American colonizers, the Pima have been regarded as a friendly people. During the California Gold Rush (1849–50), the Pima often gave or sold food to emigrant settlers and gold seekers and provided them with an escort through Apache territory. During the Apache wars (1861–86), Pimas served as scouts for the U.S. Army.
In the early 21st century Pima descendants numbered some 11,000.
http://www.oodhamstuff.com/site/culture/akimel.html
I should've studied Anthropology instead of Biophysics.
Western man, came to call this place 'Phoenix' as it described a city born from the ruins of a former civilization. The Phoenix is one of the three symbols of Scorpio in the zodiac.
Firstly there is the spider / scorpion, living in the dark deep caverns of our subconscious, buried secrets and deep emotions. It's cool to walk through this caverns from time to time but not dwell. Scorpions have a bad habit of accidentally stinging themselves if they get too spooked. So evolution entails growth to the second stage of Scorpio: the Eagle. Eagles sour through the air, seeing more of the ultraviolet specter than us humans. It gained perspective from it's journey through the deep subconscious and now rides air currents with Trust. Trust is the ultimate bond of intimacy. The eagle soars with inner strength using vision to pinpoint prey and hunt with will.
Gaia, The World in the Tarot Major Arcana surrounded by the four fixed signs of the four seasons and four elements: Man/Angel ( Winter / Aquarius ), Bull ( Spring / Taurus ), Lion ( Summer / Leo ) and Eagle ( Autumn / Eagle ).
But Eagle becomes Phoenix, the higher octave of Pluto and Scorpio. Here Death is not an end, but a cycle of transmutation. Like the snake shedding it's skin, we shed our older selves through a process of constant death and transformation. Ever rising through the ashes of our past. Renewal is a part of nature, and thus a part of our human experience. This is real understanding. May all your deaths be graceful and with fortune.
Race time Astrology Chart:
I brought up Scorpio because of Phoenix's name but also because this week, Jupiter stationed retrograde on the 23rd degree of Scorpio, bringing to an end a period of two damn months of all major planets moving forward. I think we needed this little reprieve. What this means is that Jupiter, the planet of truth, hope, luck, perspective, expansion, faith and jolly old optimism moves into a more inward expression in the sign of Scorpio, the sign of sex, death, intimacy, trust, secrets, deep emotions and taxes. It means that all the spiritual growth we endured from the 10th of October 2017 until today needs re visioning. Our trust moves inward making us think about how best we can rely on our own inner resources instead of other peoples resources. The resources of our partners and loved ones. We need support yes, but we must also trust and rely on our own energy, strength and will. Let luck and faith come to you by shedding the old of Winter. Let the cycles of life be your friend and struggle not against your tides and emotions. Let things flow.
The Moon will be in Capricorn in Her waning phase. So letting go of old habits and traditions is a must. Winter is dying and we will celebrate it with Indycar and Nascar this Sunday. W o w e e
Also Mars is still going strong at the tail end of Sagittarius, perhaps making Harvick feel extra youthful and energetic but that will drastically change next week when Mars comes into Capricorn and has to deal with the concrete wall that is Saturn at the 8th degree Capricorn. I expect a downturn in the #4's run of recent triumphs.
Track Map:
Race time:
7:30 PM UK TIME
Truex is on pole, which is as it should be.
And as a farewell, here's someone from Phoenix:
sorry not sorry for the size
Shout-out to the Indycar fiends, if y'all still buzzing for racin' after St.Pete is done, why not join in on the Turnleftcar Arizona fun? I dare ya.
sacred triple boogity
