Contrary to earlier reports at No Fenders, current IMS Radio commentator Davey Hamilton will NOT be driving for Roth Racing at Indy this year. No, instead Super Dave and his 21 foot operations will be taking the helm for the new Kingdom Racing team, which you might recall is the upstart, Houston-based outfit with the “vision to deliver God’s Word through Motor Sports”. And despite the fact that the word “Christ” does not appear in the press release, Kingdom is very much a Christian organization.
Ladies and Gentlemen, feel free to start your “Davey and Goliath” references.
On the subject of Kingdom Racing our good buddy and fellow Christian Chris Estrada has written a nice commentary saying that this shouldn’t be such a big deal , asking point blank “What are you afraid of?”
If you are firmly set in your religious ways, whether they honor God (or another omnipotent being) or not, then to be honest, you have nothing to worry about with George Del Canto’s operation. They simply believe that the word of Christ is a message that is worth relaying to people. If they accept Him, great. If not, well, that’s their decision to make. Life goes on.This isn’t a disagreement with Chris, but speaking as a believer there is something giving me great trepidation: this team could suck.
Besides, even if a person isn’t “saved” through Kingdom Racing, he or she may still like the race team and its driver, Davey Hamilton. And there you go, one more new fan supporting the IndyCar Series in its quest to bring open-wheel racing back from its own Hell.
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I don’t know much if anything of the investors behind this team, but I know Davey is 45 years old, I know start-ups have the deck stacked against them, and I know that with the massive influx of refugee teams this year there will be little attention left to give any new NEW team to help get them up to speed. That may be no big deal for the sponsor of a product who just wants brand visibility, but there's a different level of involvement when the racing is supposed to be representing one's religious beliefs.
And furthermore, what if – God forbid, literally – Hamilton or any other driver for Kingdom suffers a horrific accident? How many fans would read that as a sign from The Almighty, and a rather ominous one at that? This isn’t to say Kingdom or Hamilton shouldn’t race or that they shouldn’t attempt to promote their ministry; it’s just an answer to the question Chris posed.
At any rate Good luck and Godspeed to Davey. Should divine intervention help him find his way to Victory Circle at Indy this year there is 100% chance of the IMS radio team cheering for their colleague. As for cheering in the media center, das ist verboten.
Well, yeah, Jeff, any start-up team is probably going to have problems at the on-set. If Kingdom is legit about what they want to do in IndyCars, then I think they know that it will be a tough climb.
But if they feel that strongly about their message...when there's a will, there's a way. I'm just saying that they deserve a chance to give it their best, just like the other race teams. Hopefully, they can evolve into a decent team and help the IndyCars build a better future.
No matter what you believe in, I think all IndyCar fans want that!
I hear ya, Chris, and like I said I'm not disagreeing with you. Just answering your question.
And honestly, I can't NOT cheer for Davey. I don't have a media credential so if he's having a good run I can be as loud as I need to be in the Southwest Vista this year.
Who says it is not Roth? Or Vision? or other team for that matter. They dont even have an I500 entry yet, this is a satellite of some proportion not a "new" team...
As for cheering in the media center, das ist verboten.
No, any cheering in the media center for a former Champ Car team and driver winning a race within earshot of Jeff Olson is verboten, ja!
Who says it is not Roth? Or Vision? or other team for that matter.
Point taken. If this is a satellite/rental team with Roth Racing then I will be certain to correct my correction.
Hey, back to the orig. point. What if they're caught cheating? Oh man, talk about damaging to message. I only bring it up because one of the big dirt teams here locally loves to wear their beliefs on their sleeve (and body wrap) in such a way, haha, and they flunked a $600 protest engine tear down about $100 into it. Maybe it's unfair, but when you market yourself like that, you'd best be prepared to be held to a different standard.
Won't work. Just ask Morgan Shepherd and his, as I call it, the "Not Qualifying with Jesus" car in NASCAR.
Sorry, but this kind of sloganeering has no place in the race that I watch on the last Sunday of May...I also find it annoying when they trot out a priest-to-be-named-later before every race, although at least those speeches are usually polytheistic.
what's the next step, an A1GP series of religions?
Also, there is already a Kingdom Racing in the IHRA.