Planking has just hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This pose, which got its start in Australia became the perfect activity for a down weather day at the famed race track ready to celebrate its 100th year. Arie Luyendyk Jr. posted up this example calling it "The highest plank at IMS" ... taken at the spotter's perch. Image Credit ariejrTo Plank, Or Not To Plank? ... That Is The IndyCar Question!
Planking is a social media phenomenon that got its start in England around 2009 and most recently is catching fire in Australia. The rules for planking are simple - planking takes its name from how players mimic a wooden board by lying rigid, preferably in a public place or on an unusual spot, such as a washing machine, a sign or a railing. The person planking lays down on the place to be planked, then stretches out stiff pointing ones fingers and toes, face down with no expression. The point is to post a wacky planking photo online.
At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, today, the practice was called of due to inclement weather. A lot of drivers and team support personnel were keyed up with nothing to do so Alex Lloyd decided to lay down a challenge with the following "tweets".
alex_lloyd Alex Lloyd
After seeing @scottdixon9's tweet on PLANKING, I decided to give it a go myself. http://t.co/4VCUPIu
alex_lloyd Alex Lloyd
alex_lloyd Alex Lloyd 50 bucks to any driver than 'planks' during driver intros.
Then former Vision Racing PR person Pat Caporali started keeping tabs on who was joining in on the planking mayhem!
Examples:
Scott Dixon's second ... and best attempt. Image Credit: scottdixon9
Bookended Aussies from Penske Racing - Will Power and Ryan Briscoe. Image Credit: PenskeRacing
Leading rookie, James Hinchcliff in the Newman/Haas garage. Image Credit: hinchtown
KV Racing Technologies' Tony Kanaan gives it a good stiffing. Image Credit: PCaporali
James Hinchcliff poseing plankstyle on a pole. Image Credit: Jalopnik via hinchtown
Rafa Matos planking across the buiness end of his AFS Dallara. Image Credit: PCaporali
All four drivers on the KV Racing Technologies team. L to R - EJ Viso, Takuma Sato, Tomas Scheckter, and Tony Kanaan. Image Credit: PCaporali
The "Yard Of Bricks" planking photo featuring Sam Schmidt Motorsports' Wade Cunningham. Image Credit: Jalopnik via wadecunningham
This excerpted and edited from CNN -
'Planking' death puts spotlight on bizarre Web craze
By Mark Milian, CNN - May 18, 2011 1:21 p.m. EDT
Apparently lying face down is all it takes to create an Internet phenomenon.
An obscure activity called "planking" is garnering international exposure after an Australian man fell to his death last week while attempting to take part in the online fad.
----
Acton Beale, the 20-year-old Aussie who fell seven stories while planking on a high-rise balcony, upped the ante to fatal consequences, police said.
----
All the recent attention has sparked a flood of fresh planking photos, as well as YouTube clips of television-news anchors face down on their desks.
Diplo, a popular electronic-music DJ, wrote on Twitter: "planking right now." A spokesperson for Honey Bunches of Oats (yes, the cereal) promoted safe planking in a message on its blog Monday.
"It's the most fun you can have being still," Sam Smith, from Australia, wrote on Facebook.
----
Among the gems: a woman lying on a bar, a man planking across the humps of two live camels' backs, a group face-down on an escalator, a woman on Kmart shopping carts, and a guy prone across the shelves of a convenience-store refrigerator.
The concept has been around for at least a decade, according to an English duo which takes credit for its invention and was profiled in a 2009 column in the Toronto Star. Then, it was called the Lying Down Game. (Not exactly a catchy name.)
----
Plankers say the activity is generally harmless fun -- though that idea was challenged last week. Some even refer to it, tongue-in-cheek, as a type of alternative sport.
"Planking is an extreme sport which requires years of constant training to perfect the complex technique," wrote Jake Mason on the Planking Facebook page.
The game hasn't won over everyone, and those opposed are especially vocal. A bunch of anti-planking pages have sprung up on Facebook.
----
Steve Molk, a radio personality in Brisbane, Australia, declares that planking has "jumped the shark."
Hopefully that won't give anyone ideas about planking an actual shark.
[Reference Here]
Gotta add Tomas Scheckter's "Yard Of Bricks" plank. Just imagine what Tomas Scheckter and the rest of the male IndyCar field would look like if they take up the suggestion made by teammate Tony Kanaan below. Image Credit: PCaporali
One last "tweet" by Tony Kanaan puts this exercise in boredom relief in perspective:
Then former Vision Racing PR person Pat Caporali started keeping tabs on who was joining in on the planking mayhem!
Examples:
Scott Dixon's second ... and best attempt. Image Credit: scottdixon9
Bookended Aussies from Penske Racing - Will Power and Ryan Briscoe. Image Credit: PenskeRacing
Leading rookie, James Hinchcliff in the Newman/Haas garage. Image Credit: hinchtown
KV Racing Technologies' Tony Kanaan gives it a good stiffing. Image Credit: PCaporali
James Hinchcliff poseing plankstyle on a pole. Image Credit: Jalopnik via hinchtown
Rafa Matos planking across the buiness end of his AFS Dallara. Image Credit: PCaporali
All four drivers on the KV Racing Technologies team. L to R - EJ Viso, Takuma Sato, Tomas Scheckter, and Tony Kanaan. Image Credit: PCaporali
The "Yard Of Bricks" planking photo featuring Sam Schmidt Motorsports' Wade Cunningham. Image Credit: Jalopnik via wadecunninghamThis excerpted and edited from CNN -
'Planking' death puts spotlight on bizarre Web craze
By Mark Milian, CNN - May 18, 2011 1:21 p.m. EDT
Apparently lying face down is all it takes to create an Internet phenomenon.
An obscure activity called "planking" is garnering international exposure after an Australian man fell to his death last week while attempting to take part in the online fad.
----
Acton Beale, the 20-year-old Aussie who fell seven stories while planking on a high-rise balcony, upped the ante to fatal consequences, police said.
----
All the recent attention has sparked a flood of fresh planking photos, as well as YouTube clips of television-news anchors face down on their desks.
Diplo, a popular electronic-music DJ, wrote on Twitter: "planking right now." A spokesperson for Honey Bunches of Oats (yes, the cereal) promoted safe planking in a message on its blog Monday.
"It's the most fun you can have being still," Sam Smith, from Australia, wrote on Facebook.
----
Among the gems: a woman lying on a bar, a man planking across the humps of two live camels' backs, a group face-down on an escalator, a woman on Kmart shopping carts, and a guy prone across the shelves of a convenience-store refrigerator.
The concept has been around for at least a decade, according to an English duo which takes credit for its invention and was profiled in a 2009 column in the Toronto Star. Then, it was called the Lying Down Game. (Not exactly a catchy name.)
----
Plankers say the activity is generally harmless fun -- though that idea was challenged last week. Some even refer to it, tongue-in-cheek, as a type of alternative sport.
"Planking is an extreme sport which requires years of constant training to perfect the complex technique," wrote Jake Mason on the Planking Facebook page.
The game hasn't won over everyone, and those opposed are especially vocal. A bunch of anti-planking pages have sprung up on Facebook.
----
Steve Molk, a radio personality in Brisbane, Australia, declares that planking has "jumped the shark."
Hopefully that won't give anyone ideas about planking an actual shark.
[Reference Here]
Gotta add Tomas Scheckter's "Yard Of Bricks" plank. Just imagine what Tomas Scheckter and the rest of the male IndyCar field would look like if they take up the suggestion made by teammate Tony Kanaan below. Image Credit: PCaporaliOne last "tweet" by Tony Kanaan puts this exercise in boredom relief in perspective:
TonyKanaan Tony Kanaan
Under control bro RT @tomasscheckter Tomorrow is every driver has to take viagra and plank naked.
... notes from The EDJE
... notes from The EDJE
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