In case you see the Invisible Man

Oreo briefly mentioned this in his loving article about Ed Carpenter (for real!) earlier this week, but the Vision Racing preview for Mid Ohio makes it official.

The team is pleased to welcome IndyCar Series winner and auto racing veteran, Bryan Herta as a road course consultant for the remainder of the 2008 season. Herta's expertise and vast experience will be put through the paces beginning this weekend at Mid-Ohio as he will offer advice to Carpenter, Foyt and the engineering staff. Herta, who most recently drove this year for Andretti Green Racing in the American LeMans Series, has two career IndyCar Series victories and is one of only three drivers in history to win a race in the IndyCar Series, the ALMS and CART.

BRYAN HERTA -- Team Road Course Consultant: "When Tony called me I was really impressed by his dedication to taking the steps to build a top level team. I was flattered that he considered my road course experience an asset to his team and I certainly look forward to sharing it with Ed (Carpenter) and A.J. (Foyt IV) in the coming weeks starting in Mid-Ohio and hope to help the team move forward in their objectives for the season."

Not a bad move by Vison since Carpenter and Foyt are still trying desperately to compete on the twisties against a field full of road course specialists, although if Herta had a bigtime sponsor he might actually be racing one of those cars. Usually the phrase “impressed by his dedication” translates to “amenable to the compensation offered”, so after he was recently given the boot from his ALMS ride Bryan is probably fine with whatever racing-related work he can find.

That other guy Vision hired this week – Paul something-or-other – might also be able to offer some expertise on driving those courses as well. Advice like, if you’re getting into a fight after crashing into a competitor, be sure to remove your helmet first so you’re more recognizable when they show the fight on SportsCenter.

(Ridiculously nerdy photo of Herta courtesy of BBC.com)

Viso healed

In case you haven’t noticed the entry list for the Mid Ohio race this weekend, the name “EJ Viso” is included.

Of his former affliction, the Center for Disease Control says:

The mumps virus replicates in the upper respiratory tract and is spread through direct contact with respiratory secretions or saliva or through fomites.

The infectious period or time that an infected person can transmit mumps to a non-infected person is from 3 days before symptoms appear to about 9 days after the symptoms appear.

The incubation time, which is the period from when a person is exposed to virus to the onset of any symptoms, can vary from 16 to 18 days (range 12-25 days).

Which means that after having two weeks off the Indy Racing League’s newest driver to lay claim to the moniker of “Mr Excitement” is no longer under quarantine and is clear to race.

As a public service message for those who may find themselves working with or around Viso this weekend, please be careful since the CDC also notes that mumps can cause “inflammation of the testicles” or “deafness” – symptoms that the Panther Racing team would say Viso has already exhibited with his driving this year.

Babe

ESPN may have devoted too much time to televising the leaders blocking each other at Nashville last weekend, but darned if the WorldWide Leader didn’t try to make the event entertaining in other ways. Not did we “go down to Jack Arute” about fifty times (half of which were breathless weather reports), and not only did Scott Goodyear drop the now infamous “boyfriend” remark, but as pressdog captured in his Nashville Notes they also snuck in an amusing radio transmission from the RLR channel.

Lap 37: ... Replay of Bobby Rahal on the radio pre-race. "Babe, be smart and strong and go have a good race, babe."

That’s right, Rahal called Ryan Hunter-Reay “Babe”. Twice! And that’s just from five seconds of conversation, so who knows how many other times he dropped a “Babe” on Ryan.

This smells like a nickname adjustment for The Hunter. Recall that the movie “Babe” is the story of a pig that overachieves by avoiding the slaughterhouse and training to become more than just a plateful of bacon. The flick culminates with a victory in a contest in the closing scenes, so considering what pigs the RLR cars had been considered to be until Hunter-Reay put one in Victory Lane at The Glen earlier this month there may be good reason for the ‘Stache to call him “Babe”.

Let’s all sing along with pressdog’s lyrics.

I know it's true we ain't got it all
Look out baby, I'm in the wall.

Babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

Big Fish

When we last left Sarah Fisher she was exiting the infield medical center at IMS in dismay, fearful that a crash in the Indianapolis 500 had ruined her family investment in the fledging Sarah Fisher Racing entity. Sarah openly wept, as did many FishHeads.

Well turn that frown upside down because Sarah’s got some new sponsors – including an unbelievable deal with Dollar General – and is ready to get back on track.

Though Fisher wouldn’t comment on the value of the deal, sports marketers said it is likely a low to mid six-figure deal. Fisher said it is a deal for a “primary sponsorship” that will allow her to race aggressively and not worry about crashing the only car she has.

“We’re not going out there to just run around in circles,” Fisher said. “We have to have a good result. And we have to make sure Dollar General has a good experience.”

Fisher said money is built into the deal that will allow any fixes necessary, and since there’s a month between her two races, that allows plenty of time for repairs.

The deal is structures somewhat like Chip Ganassi’s deal with Target, Fisher said, with product makers landing shelf space at Dollar General co-sponsoring the effort. Fisher’s car is co-sponsored by Dollar General’s vendor partners, Arm & Hammer, Band-Aid, Clorox, Colgate, Kraft, Lysol, Reese’s and Slim Jim.

(MORE from Indianapolis Business Journal)

It would seem that losing that beverage company deal wasn’t the worst thing in the world for SFR, because, well, check out the size of those sponsors! Ahem.

Oh, and for those of you that wrote checks or simply handed cash directly to Sarah back in May when she was experiencing a more dire financial situation, rest assured she has not forgotten you.

Fisher has sent more than 100 notes of gratitude and included a piece of carbon fiber from her Indy 500 car, damaged in a crash.

"It's like a wedding," says Fisher, who was voted the Indy Racing League's most popular driver for three consecutive years. "You get all these people sending money, and I had to send thank-yous. It's only appropriate. One fan even said they would frame (the piece) as a souvenir."

(MORE from USAToday)

If you ever wonder why Sarah’s maintains her popularity despite her recent struggles on the track, then observe how sending “thank you” notes and a piece of the car works towards energizing the fan base. Sarah Fisher the driver may be scoffed at by others, but Sarah Fisher the brand is unmistakably formidable. With a deal like this one involving so many sponsors it's possible that a comparison to Ganassi – who as a driver had a less spectacular record than Sarah’s – will one day prove to be prophetic.

Less fanfare, more surprise

Way back when your humble host was merely an undergraduate word butcher at Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, there was a big event announcing Bill Frieder as the new basketball coach for the Sun Devils. The hiring was problematic inasmuch as Frieder was still contractually the coach of the highly-ranked University of Michigan squad who was expected to participate in the upcoming NCAA tournament. Long story short, Michigan didn’t want a lame-duck coach so they axed Frieder before the tournament, the Wolverines went on to win the championship with an interim coach, and ASU never really did much in the Frieder era. Karma.

Why is this relevant? Because the press conference introducing Frieder at ASU began with the school’s Athletic Director plainly stating “I’d like to say a word about timing ...” And so with that quote in mind we come this Forsythe Racing press release on “Paul Tracy Special Announcement Day”.

The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Series will see the return of Forsythe Racing Inc. to the grid as the championship winning outfit announced today its intention to compete in the official feeder series to the Indy Racing League from next season onwards.

“The opportunity to return to Indy Lights is obviously one that we’re relishing,” said Neil Micklewright, Vice President of Operations at Forsythe Racing Inc. “This is an extremely exciting time for Forsythe Racing as we’re once again in the thick of a title battle in the Atlantic Championship while we’re also looking to further bolster our race programs, starting with our Indy Lights announcement.

(MORE from Forsythe Racing)

Yes, very curious timing indeed given the shotgun marriage of bimergification left Mr Tracy with a long-term contract to a no longer existent Forsythe Racing team. I’m sure Tracy is absolutely thrilled that on the day he finalizes months of work for a one-race ride his old employer decides now would be the PERFECT time to reveal their intention to finally do something involving the Indy Racing League. Yes, Paul and Gerry are most certainly meeting at St Elmo Steak House for shrimp cocktail right now.

Then again this could just be posturing because it doesn’t take a great deal of resources to simply say an organization is intending to start an Indy Lights team next year. To the point, allow me to also take the opportunity to announce that My Name Is IRL has a similar “intention to compete” in the 2009 Indy Lights program – just don’t hold your breath on seeing us at too many events.

But if Forsythe’s intentions are genuine, Indy Racing Revolution notes this jump into the IRL pool would lend credence to the theory that Gerry and Kevin Kalkhoven are looking to sell the Atlantic series. It remains to be seen if anyone out there is in the market to buy a feeder series that feeds into nothing, but maybe that guy that bought all of those DP01s is interested in making another deal.

Should such a transaction occur, we can look forward to some interesting timing on that announcement as well.

LiveBlog: The unnecessary news conference

And here we are for the "Special Announcement".

7:58 The intrepid Curt Cavin has already spilled the beans.

7:59 Still nothing on the IndyCar front page to click.

8:00 Well, now there’s a big black spot on the front page where the announcement graphic had been. I guess the big announcement is the discovery of a black hole.

8:03 Still nothing but the big black space where presumably something would appear. Something other than a big black space. I’d refresh the page but that could take a while since there’s WAY TOO MUCH stuff on that IndyCar.com front page.

8:04 Finally there’s a picture of The Pagoda with a link to click live.

8:05 And here’s a table with four nameplates. “Derrick Walker”. “Paul Tracy”. “Tony George”. Can’t make out the fourth, although I’m certain it doesn’t say “Suspense”.

8:06 Unfortunately there’s still just a table with no people to go with the nameplates.

8:07 Now some gentlemen are walking across the camera view from right to left. I guess the buffet is over on that side.

8:08 A-ha! Here’s Mr George. And Mr Tracy. And Mr Walker. And Mr Can’t Make Out His Name.

8:09 And now I hear the disembodied voice of Mike King. He’s a radio guy so you don’t actually get to see him. He’s probably wearing pajamas, that’s what radio people do.

8:11 The fourth guy is Mark Bamford, representing the Edmonton race.

8:12 Tony George says “we’re very excited” field an entry for Paul. In reality, Mr George doesn’t get “very excited”.

8:13 Mr George continues to speak and all I hear is “your eyelids are getting very heavy, you’re getting very sleepy”. Suddenly a phone starts ringing in the background, snapping me back to consciousness.

8:14 Now Tracy is talking about “running where I’m accustomed to running”. I suddenly notice the giant visage of Scott Dixon on the right side of the video player staring at me, reminding me of where the Iceman is accustomed to running.

8:17 Tracy apparently has a new sponsor, but it hasn’t been announced. I’m holding out that it’s a “hamburger and hot dog” joint like Wienerschnitzel.

8:18 Now over to Derrick Walker, who says of Tracy “I like the fact that he’s bald.” Savvy!

8:19 While Walker speaks Tracy continues to stare off to the left where all of those fellow were heading earlier. That must be quite a buffet they have over there.

8:20 Mark Bamford is now speaking, and he’s clearly Canadian. He’s also more soft-spoken than Mr George so I’m starting to feel sleepy again.

8:21 And here’s Jared, the guy who lost all of that weight Tony Stewart has recently found, from “Subway” to reveal the sponsor. HAHA! No folks, Captain Crunch is certainly NOT driving for hamburgers and hot dogs! OMG!

8:22 OK, the laughing has subsided and now we're back to low-talking.

8:23 Good grief, I can’t possibly watch any more of this. We got a fantastic punchline but otherwise this is just a one-race deal for one driver. If this is Lewis Hamilton or Jeff Gordon I can see the need for the pomp and circumstance, but this is Paul Tracy at Edmonton. Come on. I’m guessing they really, REALLY need to sell some tickets up there in The Great White North if IRL officials feel compelled to call this a “special announcement”.

While they’re still talking (quietly) I’ll leave the quotes to the professional wordsmiths. Congratulations, Paul and Derrick. Canada’s long national nightmare has finally ended.

mmack’s nnotes

My Name Is IRL is all about sharing, and since his comments were overshadowing my own race recaps it only seemed right to hand the duties of post-race analysis over to one of our favorite readers. Ladies and gentleman, let’s give it up for John Oreovicz’s biggest fan, the one, the only, the “mmack”.

Ahh the demands of the public for more writing. I believe that's what drove Hemmingway and Fitzgerald to drink. Or something like that.

Seriously, I'd like to comment, but … Maria and I watched the beginning of the race on Saturday night while having dinner (roasted poblano peppers stuffed with ground turkey and her special blend of spices and salsa) and then retired to the infamous "big comfy couch" to watch the finish. Our shared observations:

Boy that two races, two series, one day thing really worked out well for Marco, didn't it?

I was glad to see Danica didn't do the patented "Patrick Plunge" through the field during the race. She stayed up in the top five and when she wasn't attending a block party against her will, she looked pretty strong.

Due to illness, the part of EJ Viso will be played by Will Power.

Scott Dixon and Choppers got "dumb lucky" Saturday night.

Maria is sick of Scott Dixon winning. Also, she thinks Dan Wheldon "looks like a girl".

After the race we switched to the NASCAR race on TNT, opened the window, sat out on our patio, and lit a fire in the chiminea. We held hands, drank beer, and listened to Kyle Busch win yet another NAPCAR race. At least he had to pass somebody this time.

We both agreed that as much as we wanted to go to Nashville again, maybe it was for the best due to the rain.

Mark

It's it. What is it?

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

LIVE EXCLUSIVELY ON INDYCAR.CIM FROM THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

LOG ON AT 11 A.M. (ET) TUESDAY, JULY 15TH, FOR LIVE STREAMING VIDEO OF NEWS CONFERENCE

Your humble host doesn’t know what this means, but I have discovered the latest betting lines for what it could be.

2-1: Tony George has enabled Paul Tracy to drive a “crapwagon” in exchange for “hamburgers and hot dogs”.

4-1: The IndyCar series has finally secured a new title sponsorship with AT&T, Verizon or some other telecom giant who has been effectively muted from the “Sprint Cup” series.

10-1: Conquest Racing is replacing the disgruntled Enrique Bernoldi with John Andretti.

25-1: EJ Viso has magically cured himself of the mumps by consuming a diet entirely of artichoke hearts and rutabagas.

50-1: Scott Dixon will be driving with Energizer bunny sponsorship for the rest of the season, allowing Target Chip Ganassi racing to move Dario something-or-other into another Target car.

90-1: Conquest Racing is replacing the disgruntled Enrique Bernoldi with Brooke Patrick.

250-1: An IndyCar mixed martial arts night, featuring a title bout of Castroneves v Kanaan. Sam Hornish Sr and Anthony Fedele will be featured on one undercard, along with Vitor Meira fighting a driver to be announced.

500-1: Marty Roth has formed a strategic alliance with Stewart-CNC racing.

1000-1: Conquest Racing will be replacing the disgruntled Enrique Bernoldi with Michael Schumacher.

The truth is out there

Struck by lightening? Mumps-related symptoms? “Boyfriend” troubles? It’s time to find out what really happened to drivers who mysteriously disappeared from this weekend’s race.

Enrique Bernoldi (20th): His early pit stop then allowed him to make his way to third by lap 62 when the front-runners made their stops. Unfortunately for the Conquest rookie he ran out of fuel just before his scheduled pit stop. He did manage to make it back into the pits and was sent back out after falling a few laps down. After his stop, Bernoldi encountered some sudden handling issues and chose to retire from the race with 66 laps completed.

Jamie Camara (21st): Rookie Camara had a strong couple of first laps jumping up to 17th from his 23rd place on the grid. But when a yellow came out, Camara had no choice but to run over some debris left by the contact between Ryan Briscoe and Marco Andretti in order for him to avoid hitting Briscoe who was stopped in the middle of the track. Camara then came in for a pit stop under yellow after which the handling of his car was not the same. Camara did fight on for another 44 laps but damaged caused by the debris made the car not handle properly and Camara preferred to retire after 50 laps.

AJ Foyt IV (22nd): Foyt, who qualified 22nd, was forced to start in the 24th spot due to an engine change in the No. 2 Lilly Diabetes Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine. He ran as high as 19th in the race, but was credited with a 22nd place finish after having to leave the race on lap 45 due to ... mechanical failure related to steering.

At least he didn’t say “crapwagon”

"I know what's going on behind the scenes … There's no way Paul could have a competitive car out of this deal. My advice to Paul is not to do it. I don't see any way he could have the testing or the competitive car given the amount of time they have. I know they'd love to have him there but I don't see the point in sending Paul around the track to embarrass himself. I don't think that's in Paul's best interests." – Nick Challis, adviser to Paul Tracy, anticipating a poor performance by Tracy and preemptively blaming said performance on his prospective Walker/Vision entry before Captain Crunch has finalized his ride for the race at Edmonton.