Latest news with #CraigPollock
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Jeff Gordon could have been paired with eventual IndyCar legend in F1
By this point, it's well known that Jeff Gordon had at least a pathway to Formula 1 with British American Racing when it formed in 1999 by Craig Pollock. The story most people know is that Pollock offered Gordon an agreement that would pay the then three-time Cup Series champion to move to the CART IndyCar Series for two seasons before a possible move to Formula 1. Advertisement In a conversation with Kevin Harvick on the Happy Hour YouTube show, Formula 1 media mainstay turned IndyCar Series play-by-play announcer Will Buxton shared details he uncovered about the role eventual four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti would have played. 'Back in the late 90s, early 2000s, there was a plan, and I only learned about it recently when I was researching for a book I wrote a few years ago, and I interviewed Jeff Gordon and I interviewed Dario Franchitti,' Buxton told Harvick. 'And it turned out that, and this was before the stupid Super License rules came in … You know, Jeff was going to come over to the team Kool Green in IndyCar and run a season or two in IndyCar, and Dario was going to go over to BAR in Formula 1, and the long-term plan was that the lineup for BAR in Fomrula 1 was going to be Jeff and Dario.' This is before Dario himself made a short-lived an ill-fated attempt at transitioning to NASCAR and certainly before his titles in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Advertisement Buxton believes that the top rising IndyCar star paired with the top NASCAR star of his era would have made F1 a marquee watch in the United States. 'That would have been box office and that would have broken F1 in America 20 years, 30 years before it finally broke through [with] Drive to Survive,' Buxton added. 'You get Jeff Gordon racing in Formula 1 alongside Dario Franchitti, these two great all-time champions out of American open-wheel and stock car racing and they're racing as teammates in Formula 1? Boom! Job done. That would have been huge.' But Gordon has said before that he ultimately turned down the deal for two reasons – there was no contractual agreement with BAR for a for sure seat in F1 and that wasn't worth giving up the best ride in the Cup Series for. Gordon told Dean McNulty the following back in 2003: Advertisement 'It was them saying to me 'We would like to put you in a CART car with a team like Barry Green's and have you run two years of CART and then come and test for us in F1 and then maybe you could come drive for us.' 'I had already won two Winston Cup championships at that time. I told the BAR people I was pretty much set here. I was on my way, I was with the best team with the best sponsors. I had everything I could ask for here. It would have been a major step backward for me to do it that way with no guarantees of where it would get me.' Related Headlines
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Tar balls make sticky mess on Palm Beach beaches during busy weekend
The weather this weekend was perfect for a trip to the sun-kissed shoreline of Palm Beach. But beachgoers faced a viscous mess that started Saturday: Tar balls, accumulations of a sticky black material, dotting the coast. The U.S. Coast Guard reported the tar balls in a post on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, on Saturday. Coast Guard crews surveyed the Atlantic shoreline from Palm Beach to Port Everglades and did not find the source of the tar balls, the agency said Saturday. In a Sunday morning update, the Coast Guard said conditions were the same "if not improved" from the previous day. While the tar balls are "a nuisance mess," they are not dangerous and Palm Beach's beaches are open, said Craig Pollock, the town's chief lifeguard. Tar balls were reported at Midtown Beach and Phipps Ocean Park, he said. It's been years since tar balls washed up in Palm Beach, Pollock said. "I can't even remember the last time we had tar balls wash up on the beaches," he noted. According to Palm Beach Daily News archives, the most recent sightings may have been in 2010, following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Decades ago, it happened so frequently that one lifeguard was nicknamed "Tar Toes" who was known to carry a kit to help beachgoers clean their feet, Pollock said. "It would get all over your clothes, your feet, your shoes, your surfboard," he said. Lifeguards noted the tar balls' presence on the condition boards at the town's beaches, Pollock said. For people who are visiting or new to Palm Beach: "They're probably in total shock from it," he added. To clean the tacky gelatinous blobs off of skin, clothes or shoes, Pollock suggested using Vaseline or baby oil and a rag or paper towels. Tar balls are clumps of oil that form a mass around debris in the water, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. "The source is generally believed to originate from offshore petroleum production, drilling, and marine transportation discharges, which includes vessels pumping bilges and tank cleaning," the DEP said. "However, natural seepage from the ocean floor is also considered a source." To report a pollution spill, the Coast Guard said to call the National Response Center at 800-424-8802. The tar balls were seen along beaches south of Palm Beach, including in Lake Worth Beach and Boynton Beach, according to multiple news reports. In Broward County, some beaches in Fort Lauderdale were temporarily closed Saturday because of the tar balls, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said on social media. The agency posted an update Sunday morning that while people going to the beach should watch for jellyfish, the beaches were open with no reports of "tar balls or oily substance today." Aside from the tar balls, beach conditions this weekend were ideal for visitors, Pollock said. There was a light chop and seas were at 1 to 2 feet, he said. Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@ Subscribe today to support our journalism. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Tar balls make sticky mess on Palm Beach beaches during busy weekend
