My Name Is IRL

Hello, I Must Be Going

2010-12-06T11:59:00.001-07:00

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older." - Mario Andretti

Since I don't have a snappy hologram or a bunch of guys with Verizon Droids in a conference room I'll make this announcement brief. However, this isn't so much a post as a re-direct.

After six months of wandering in the desert (semi literally, since I live in Arizona) I'm ready to jump back to the keyboard. Six months is a long time to remain silent, especially when it's December and we're still having press conferences every other day.

What started out in 2006 with me talking to myself grew over the years beyond my wildest expectations, to the point that I felt like I was letting down people I didn't even know when I shuttered the joint six months ago. It pains me to say this - mostly because I stapled the notes for this post to my arm - but "My Name Is IRL" is still and forever a closed book.

However...there is a new book. And I'm going to do my best to make it the same as the old book. Henceforth, you can find me posting at my new site: One Lap Down. Well, actually it's not MY site - it's graciously located at VERSUS.com. See you there.

My letter of resignation

2010-06-01T21:02:00.004-07:00

Dearest fellow IndyCar fans (as well as anyone who arrived here via Blogger’s “Next blog>>” feature),

It is the with sincerest lack of humor that I am submitting my letter of resignation to you, my readers. For over four years (50 months and one day, in fact) I have endeavored to entertain and inform you, but recent events for me outside the world of racing have left me with little verve to provide for you the coverage of Indy Racing League news at a standard at which I am comfortable. In short, I’ve lost my mojo. So it is that I am effectively ending the run of “My Name Is IRL”, which for the record was always supposed to be pronounced like “Earl” and not “I-R-L”. (It was intended to embrace the slam Gene Simmons once said about how “IRL sounds like a disease”. In case you ever wondered.)

Rest assured my departure has nothing to do with the state of racing. Now, I would be lying if I said I was not concerned at the possibility of the sport transforming itself into a series of events featuring DeltaWings bouncing around the streets of major metropolitan areas because as anyone who has read this site would know that’s obviously (yes, I said "obviously") not what I as a fan would enjoy. But that’s not the reason, because as of right now that’s not what the 2010 season is featuring, and even though I’m resigning from the blogging business by no means am I surrendering my enjoyment of IndyCar racing.

No, this has everything to do with my life and the “Behind the Blog” episode that will never air on VH1. What I can tell you is this departure isn’t because I’m checking into a rehab clinic or battling some medical issue or anything like that, but I won’t divulge anything more than to say I’ve been struggling with some external circumstances that have gotten even more serious in recent weeks. And that seriousness has been weighing on me to the point that I don’t feel like I’m neither following the sport nor writing about it at the level your and I have come to expect. I know it’s cliché, but in this case it's absolutely true that I want and need to spend more time with my (shrinking) family.

In all honesty, I probably should have shut it down at the conclusion of last season. I was hardly posting back then, and even though I’d read innumerable stories about which I thought many of you would like to comment, I just couldn’t put the words together in a way that would make it worth your while to read. I mean, you have a lot of choices where to get your racing news, and since the whole bimergification there have been some incredible IndyCar sites popping up. In recent years the bar for online publications dealing with IndyCars has been raised considerably, and I’d rather say nothing about the topics of the day than waste your time saying something that’s not only already been said, but also been said more interestingly at any number of other sites.

And since this is the end I want to say “thank you” to EVERYONE who has helped me with this site in any capacity, although quite frankly that would be a list too long to even being to compile. That said, I’m compelled at least to publicly acknowledge my appreciation for the efforts of those who have contributed here: Declan Brennan, Dale Nixon, Shane Rogers, the MMack, and even Tony Johns who after a few posts here managed to score a gig at SBNation. (For the record, I’ve used whatever influence I have to request that the good folks at IndyCar.com to replace the link to my site with his.) And I also cannot properly express with words my eternal gratitude to my occasional landlord Roy Hobbson, as well as MoneyCJ and Bill “pressdog” Zahren for being such great friends beyond the realm of blogging ...and I have to stop there before I become overwhelmed with manly tears.

Lastly, I need to thank you, dear reader, whomever you are. When someone starts a blog they do so hoping and praying someone will eventually read it, but when the hits and comments increase to the level I’ve enjoyed here that anticipation turns into a heartfelt feeling of privilege and responsibility. And man, although I have loved having that responsibility for the better part of this run, I also have been keenly aware you deserve a lot more than what I’m able to give you right now. I hope someday the mojo comes back, but that day isn’t today.

And ...well, I guess that's it. Oh, the blog and the sidebar will still be here and I'll still be around on twitter now and then, but the posting portion of the program is now closed for business. So with that, I say to you all one last, heartfelt time - thank you very VERY much, and good night.

Your humble host,

Jeff Iannucci

Indy 500: Winners, Losers, and Some In-Betweeners

2010-05-31T06:21:00.016-07:00

It all started with 33 cars polished and fueled, gleaming on a grid with the highest of hopes in the air along with with news helicopters, high-wire cameras and balloons. When it ended four hours later, some of the cars were still gleaming, while others had to be pulled from the back of a tow hook.

The 2010 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race was high in spectacle and finished with a dramatic Hollywood flourish. Yet, it was still unmistakably the Indy 500.

As long as the buildup to Indy, the reality is the teams still have to pack up the haulers and head to Texas Wednesday. In between, there is the analysis of what went right and what went wrong.

Here is our own synopsis of the 33 car field by finishing position after sorting through the maelstrom of 500 miles in four hours.

1. Dario Franchitti - First turn outside pass for lead proved to be the key; running out front and stretching a lead made every other team react to what he was doing. Driver + crew both ran a perfect race. Did he have enough fuel to finish? We'll never know for sure. Chip Ganassi said yes, others said no. Best all-around driver in the IRL right now? Probably. His only hiccups during the race were a few run-ins with Graham Rahal and swigging from the milk bottle at the end. Dario v.2010 was older, wiser and at the top of his game.
2. Dan Wheldon - Panther knows Indy, Wheldon drove a strong race although he never led, he stayed out of trouble in some high traffic areas and was in position to win if Dario ran out. Fast enough to stay in the front pack. Moved up +2 in the season points standings to ninth with Texas, another strong Wheldon/Panther track, coming up next week. "I was hungry to win, but the team were getting on my butt about saving fuel those last three laps. Maybe if I was young like Rahal and Marco Andretti, myself back in the day, I would have totally ignored them, tried to run Dario down when I saw him slowing down. I knew it was close. Just one of those things."
3. Marco Andretti - Was charging at the end of the race, another where the heck did he come from suddenly from pack to podium, and very happy the race finished under yellow. "If I would have raced Dan, we weren't finishing the race. Like I said, it was very easy to ends up where Tony did."
4. Alex Lloyd - In my eyes, really the story of the race. Started 26th and finished fourth giving his career a big boost. "About 20 laps to go, maybe 15, when we started making some moves, we were coming through pretty quickly, I tell you, I started shouting in my helmet a little bit, C'mon. I was getting excited. I was really pumped up, ready to go. Not the best thing to do when you're trying to save fuel. The guys don't want that. I felt like I figured something out that I could save the fuel, make positions. I was pumped." So was his owner Dale Coyne.
5. Scott Dixon - Even before his pit road incident in which he lost a tire Dixon was seemingly never a threat to win. Lap times were solid, but unspectacular. Did the veteran decide the car wasn't perfect early and shoot for points?
6. Danica Patrick - Her finish seemed to be more a sigh of relief than a sign of a major turnaround. Patience worked, fuel strategy worked and moved up when a few cars in front of her needed more ethanol.
7. Justin Wilson - Solidly in the Top-10 for most of the race and led laps after his teammate Mike Conway pitted for fuel. Led laps 179 to 190 before a splash and go.
8. Will Power - Probably the Penske driver who looked best in the race conditions. Led five laps. A stop-and-go penalty after a pit stop refuelling incident derailed his run to the front, which was compounded when he missed his pit box later. Maintained his IZOD IndyCar Series points lead.
9. Helio Castroneves - Despite entering the race as the consensus favorite after a dominant pole position, Helio never led a lap in the race. Stalled the car on a late pit stop.
10. Alex Tagliani - The surprise of the qualifying session. Looked to have been caught out on the setup and hot track conditions, as he started fourth and went backwards from there. Still a very successful month and finish from an upstart team and driver.
11. Tony Kanaan - The de facto hard charger of the race. Passed eight cars on the first lap and worked up as high as second before a splash-and-go. Despite starting dead last, salvaged a solid finish out of a difficult month.
12. Graham Rahal - Certainly didn't make any friends with other drivers or race officials and was black flagged for blocking. Was in the middle of the action all day and still posted a solid finish.
13. Mario Romancini - Highest finishing rookie. Showed patience and aggressiveness in equal measure and probably a great boost for his own self-confidence. "The momentum was just taking me throughout the race. I didn't feel that I ran 500 miles. It was quite easy at this point."
14. Simona De Silvestro - The new darling of the female driving contingent. Rookie didn't put a wheel wrong for the whole month, and was spectacular at times in her second career oval race. Another confidence-boosting finish for driver and team.
15. Tomas Scheckter - In the thick of the action from start to finish. Led five laps. Probably off Davey Hamilton's Xmas card list though.
16. Townsend Bell - Ran in the Top-10 for much of the race, but a blocking penalty derailed his one-off Indy 500 effort.
17. Ed Carpenter - Showed speed and consistency, spent time in the Top-5 and deserving of a better finish. Wheldon wants him as a full-time teammate, we'll have to see if Panther puts him back in a car again.
18. Ryan Hunter-Reay - Made the highlight reel after running out of gas and getting vaulted by Mike Conway. Ran in the Top-10 for much of the afternoon, and is still Top-5 in points while meshing well with his Andretti Autosport teammates. Will IZOD really let their poster boy get the hook after Texas? Nobody seems to be saying anything about his status for the rest of the year, which probably isn't a good sign.
19. Mike Conway - Really opened eyes during the race with his driving and led 15 laps, unfortunately it's his spectacular crash at the end that most will remember. Probably out of the season with compound fracture in his left leg, and as bad as that sounds, he's still probably the luckiest driver in the field because he's still alive. The crash was probably the worst in an IndyCar race since Ryan Briscoe's airborne accident in Chicago 2005.
20. Takuma Sato - Struggled and finished two laps down, but still finished with the car in one piece, so the day's driving on the oval will go a long way in building experience. It will be interesting to see what he does in Texas, another track that can bite down hard on impatient drivers.
21. Ana Beatriz - Never really punched through the into Top-20 but drove well and brought the car home in one piece. Consistent through the month and probably merits a full-time ride.
22. Bertrand Baguette - Lost a mirror and spent considerable time in the pits, but brought the car home and had a good experience in his second oval race.
23. Sebastian Saavedra - Didn't make friends with the turn one wall during the month, ending two runs there. Indy can turn one week's fortune into misfortune in a hurry. At 19, he still has plenty of room to grow as a driver, but may have tried the 500 a year too early.
24. Ryan Briscoe - Never seemed to get on track during the month, and was consistently third amongst the Penske drivers, but still managed to lead five laps before ending the race in the wall.
25. E.J. Viso - Out of the race on lap 140 with suspension damage from kissing the wall. Also probably missed on the setup, as the car seemed like a handful.
26. Sarah Fisher - Was a few laps down before retiring with a broken suspension. All the credit in the world for trying but is her team trying to do too much with too little?
27. Vitor Meira - Disappointing end in the wall. Spent some time in the Top-20 early in the race after charging forward with Kanaan, but A.J. Foyt Racing never seemingly came to terms with their cars during the month.
28. Hideki Mutoh - Eye-opening speed during the qualifying sessions, but fell straight back once the race started and pulled out after 72 laps.
29. Raphael Matos - Impressive speed during the race, ran as high as third, but ended up in the wall hard. At some point he's going to have to start posting consistent finishes even with DeFerran in his corner.
30. John Andretti - Never was a factor, race in ended in wall. More ride buyer than Andretti these days, as much as that hurts to say. Will this be his last 500?
31. Mario Moraes - At some point he's going to have to stop crashing. Extremely fast when he's in the car, but suspension damage from a wall brush ended the day very early.
32. Bruno Junqueira - Big hit in turn two wall was second caution of the day. FAZZT team will have to find a way to balance qualifying speed with race setup, but they weren't the only team caught by the 96 degree temperature.
33. Davey Hamilton - First caution of the day as he ran out of real estate in turn two before he looped and ended up in the inside Safer barrier. Called Tomas Scheckter an idiot on national broadcast. Will his car be back together for Texas?

LIVE Live Blog: the 2010 Indy 500

2010-05-30T09:09:00.053-07:00

SPEEDWAY, IN (Sunday May 30, 2010) _ Greetings from @Dale_Nixon, Live from Bloggers' Row on the fourth floor of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media Center for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing...flanked by James Black (16thandGeorgetown.com); Stef Walcraft and Paul Dalbey (Planet-IRL.com). Extra special props to Stef for the computer jumper cable; as my ACER power cord is sitting on the desk in my hotel room.

First and foremost, the crowd is mammoth and continuing to build. Sunshine with a high haze, temperature looking a little bit higher than originally predicted. I left the hotel downtown (the Comfort Suites in the shadow of Lucas Oil Stadium) at 7:02 AM and arrived at the track at 8:43AM...a physical trip of approximately 7 miles that was most spent sitting on 16th street waiting to turn off for the special super mega top secret shortcut given to me by a kind yellow shirt when I was leaving the track Saturday night. It was magic, and probably took another hour off the commute. Thanks, Mr. Gateman.

Also hazy are the recollections of last night's details. IZOD darn sure knows how to throw a party. The one thing I've always felt the Indy 500 lacked a bit was Saturday night downtown action, but there were streets blocked off, live bands playing, celebrities a plenty, and a mammoth red-carpet high dollar party at the Conrad Hotel. At least I think it was the Conrad...totally surreal - I've never seen so many well-groomed folks in the same place at the same time, and that includes South Beach. Better still, despite Jaegerbombs (not really always a good idea at 1:30 AM when you have to get up at 5:30 but c'est la vie). An extra shout out goes to Arie Luyendyk Jr. and his girlfriend, who upgraded us to full VIP status. It was the last days of Pompeii, only with with pop collar attire.

There is much pomp and circumstance at the moment. Celebrities have definitely been upgraded by the IZOD IndyCar connection. The Kardashian-Jenners, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, Jewel, Robin Roberts in the pace car and a plethora of Hollywood illuminati. Driver interviews are rolling, introductions are pending. It's more of a Spectacle now for some of the others who aren't hard-core race junkies.

Ryan Briscoe just said "IndyCar racing is on the rise" and he's definitely accurate in that assessment. The crowd is exponentially higher than any I've witnessed thus far and there is definitely a palpable buzz in the air. I'm sticking with my Dario pick, especially with a chance of late showers.

12:39 cars are on the grid; drivers are introduced. Jack Nicholson is saluted by the crowd as he's in the starter stand. Hard to believe Jack made the trip with his buddy Dennis Hopper passing, but the show must go on...Jack's quote “It's good to be here.” But he's mugging for the crowd and kissed the Bricks with Mario Andretti....My favorite Jack role - "Here's Johnnnnnnnnnny..." The Shining. What a movie.

Interesting quote from @CurtCavin today about new IZOD IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard: "I like that he spent $20,000 of his own dough to buy tickets and hotels for all his friends and family members. He refused to get comps. I like that."

Jewel belts the national anthem out of the park. Great, great job.

Drivers to their cars. Mark Wahlberg getting a special trip in the two-seater at the back of the field. The drama builds. All wagers must be posted NOW!

Timing and scoring is active. Broadcast is on time delay. Davey Hamilton in the wall. Tony Kanaan past eight cars on the first lap. +1 on the Indy wagers for me; push on first car out with Hamilton. Wow, Franchitti was around Helio before the flag, and leads the Indy 500.

Back to green, Lap 5....Jack won't leave the starter stand and waves it again. Nice.
Scheckter is up to P8 and was savaged by Hamilton in the interview.

Lap 8. Another wreck. Bruno into the wall and there goes a big dark horse choice in the B&W Special. Two veterans who usually bring the car home out, all rookies still in it to win it. Go Figure.

Lap 12 back to green. This ABC broadcast delay is tough to stomach when cars are thundering by me in the tower.

Lap 19 Dario, Power, Helio, Tags, Matos....holy s^%& where did Matos come from?

Lap 23 Sarah Fisher struggling to keep the pace, could be the first car lapped? Some of the red mist out there has cleared and the race pace is very fast. Ryan Hunter-Reay up to 11th.

------pause for computer battery going down-------------

Lap 70 Kanaan up to fourth, Carpenter fifth, RHR in P6...
Lap 81 - Holy penalty boxes - Graham Rahal gets black flagged for blocking. Kardashians weep and make their makeup run. Drive-thru again. Which isn't exactly a black flag. He put the big block on Wheldon and dropped to P24. Bobby is $%R$^#*$( at Barnhart.
Lap 84 - Watching the track feed with the ABC sound is impossible. ABC is on a 19 second delay. Even Milka was closer than that...give me a break.'
Lap 86 - Mad props to Paul for hooking me up with his computer. He's in his seats, photoblogging. Just received a message from IndyCar blogging forefather/legend Money CJ. He would've killed it at the IZOD party last night, because that's how we roll.
Lap 90 - Just received a text from Iannucci with an excellent point: "Dario might be the only one NOT blocking right now." Suffice to say the Franchitti-Judds won't be exchanging Xmas cards with the Rahals. Send some haggis, that will fix 'em.
Lap 95 - The crowd is eating up this battle. No one is making bathroom breaks; after the caution outbreak the pace of the race is picking up considerably.
Lap 97 - Mutoh out of the car. Sato still in. Go frickin' figure part II.
Lap 98 - How can ABC go to commercial heading into the halfway mark? We don't need Ashton Kutcher commercials; it's THE INDY 500!

Lap 100- Dario, Helio, Briscoe, Carpenter (!!!), Kanaan (!!!!) - TK started 33rd after shifting from his T car to his primary. He's playing this track like IRacing. Could it be the day that Indy pays back TK for some misery?
Lap 105 - Yellow - Vitor is slow on the track. Bit the T2 wall. T4 is clean thus far; too bad for Vitor, he was pretty optimistic about today's race.
Lap 109 - Cattle call on pit road. Scheckter stayed out and leads, Kanaan up on the radio - he's too busy passing cars to enter.
Lap 111 - Sato gets a stop and go for hitting pit lane personal. Sayonara to Japan's Indy 500 hopes this year.
Lap 113 - Dario by Tomas into T1 - TK into second, Scheckter dropping like a wheel on pit lane as everyone else has fresh tires. But do they have MonaVie airtime? Townsend Bell up to P8, hustling along and keeping his nose clean (knocks on formica)
Lap 125 - The lap counter is clicking by...track temp announced at 131 degrees - easy greasy. Kanaan & Scheckter are the current stories as Franchitti is rollin'.
Lap 129 - It's almost too remote up here in the Media Center - isolated from the noise and the rumble - I think I'll go out on the deck for a while. I expect to see Dario applying sunscreen as he drives down the front straight.
Lap 131 - Marco is flying, but he's used 10 of his 15 push to passes charges. Maybe he can buy John Andretti's unused ones?
Lap 134 - Sarah Fisher is out, P25, but the car is in one piece and that's important. She just couldn't find the speed this month. Maybe it's time to retire her car "Old Faithful"? Media Center hordes descend on the ice cream bin like Mongols on Eastern Europe.
Lap 140 - Green flag stops. Already had a day's action in the pits. Sixty laps to go. Dario is up by 9.77 seconds and has set the cruise control. No use of the phrase "making fuel" yet, but I can't imagine he is chugging the ethanol. Ana Beatriz hanging in there P19, while Simona de Silvestro is motoring in P13. Rookie of the Year battle looks to be those two ladies. Really impressed with both, considering they were in the fray.
Lap 144 - Helio stalls it in pit lane. Now he can just charge by everyone like all the predictions. As much as Indy is speed, it's also attrition and concentration for drivers; one small mistake like that can totally wreck your day.
Lap 147 - Briscoe stuffs it in the wall. Not a picture perfect day for Roger Penske, not by a long shot. That was a big hit out of turn four, reminiscent of Sam Hornish Jr.'s crash in 2004.
Lap 150 - At the three-quarter mark, Dario leads the procession under yellow, followed by Marco,Kanaan, Scheckter and T Bell. That top five is pretty much the opposite of what we all expected to be a Penske-Ganassi train. But it is amazing how much can happed in such a small window of time; seven cautions already in the books.
Lap 155 - Helio tops off. Briscoe mea culpas. Everyone hits the button on the restart. Speedi Dry flies. Dario is almost making it look too easy. In half an hour, we might have an answer.
Lap 159 - Bell black flagged for blocking Ryan Hunter-Reay. Barnhart means it today.
Lap 160 - Saavedra into the wall. He'd been staying out of trouble before that and doing a pretty good job. It's a long race, 500 miles, not 402...
Lap 162 - Mileage numbers are crunched. Danica in ninth, ESPN's producer is excited.
Lap 163 - Dixon released right into Ryan Hunter-Reay's path. Not good for RHR's car, Dixon probably escapes damage. He's not been a factor at all today, which is somewhat to very surprising, depending on your point of view.
Lap 170 - Mike Conway leads out of the yellow, followed by teammate Justin Wilson. Fuel strategies are thrown in the air. Helio third with Graham Rahal in front of Franchitti yet again. More haggis is ordered.
Lap 177 - Laps are clicked off. Mention Dad's Root Beer, for crissake. Conway has been leading 15 laps.
Lap 182 - Justin Wilson leads; apparently that's not a great story for ABC as they keep cutting to commercials. D&R is flexing their muscle today. Watch out for Dan Wheldon; he's lurking in the typical Panther last 20 laps spot of seventh.
Lap 189 - Fuel is pumped. More numbers are crunched, sorting out the fuel is interesting. Does Helio have enough after that top off? Helio and Dario are abcked way off to save ethanol.
Lap 192 - Helio is in. Dario is winning, both are running in conserve mode, not sure how they can conserve for eight laps.
Lap 194 - I'm going to the window to watch the real deal live. Wheldon has enough fuel, same with TK. It's going to be interesting. Energy efficiency is the mode du jour.
Lap 200 - Dario Franchitti wins the 2010 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race under yellow; Dan Wheldon second, Alex Pink Lloyd with the drive of the day for third place. Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay in a serious dustup on the white flag lap, with Conway up into the fence. Scott Dixon fourth, Danica with a well-earned fifth. Conway is okay, as is Hunter-Reay.

Franchitti celebrates. Great job by the crew, can't imagine there are more than two drops of ethanol in the tank as the bagpipes blare in the background.

* addendum number one - Latest report is Mike Conway has a broken left ankle from his savage crash. Ryan Hunter-Reay accepted responsibility for the wreck as he slowed suddenly after running low/out of fuel.

** addendum number two - Three cars were ruled to have passed Marco Andretti under the yellow; so move back Alex Lloyd (fourth), Scott Dixon (fifth) and Danica (sixth) in the official running order and put Marco on the podium in third.

Vitor Meira Ready to Shed Bridesmaid Role

2010-05-29T11:50:00.008-07:00

If there is ever an IndyCar recasting of the Katherine Heigl romantic comedy 27 Dresses (and why would there be, but stay with me for a second), Vitor Meira would have to be cast in the leading role.

No driver in the modern era has romanced the podium so many times without walking down the aisle himself. Meira has a stellar career record that features 15 podiums and 42 Top-10 finishes but never a trip to the top step in his 98 starts.

A career-defining win at Indy would certainly change his status in the sport and the history books. And that's not to say Meira hasn't been close. He's been very close.

The Brazilian veteran has finished second in the Indy 500 twice (in 2005 and 2008, and has finished in the Top-10 at the big race in five of his seven starts. His 2009 race ended in a spectacular fashion when he locked wheels with a charging Rafael Matos in turn one on lap 174, and the subsequent crash shelved him for the remainder of the season with two broken vertebrae.

Paired again with A.J. Foyt Racing for another shot in the 2010 race, the ever-upbeat Meira has shaken off a disappointing qualifying setup that resulted in the 30th slot. He vows that starting in the back end of the grid won't be a problem, and he figures to be a driver to watch slicing through the field like a lawnmower along with fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan.

"I can guarantee you that - that's how it worked out and it's going to pay off," Meira said. "Everything's looking good. We're prepared, the car is ready and it will be a big one"

Driving for Super Tex can be a double-edged sword, particularly at a track like the Brickyard where he has probably discarded more information than most drivers learn in their careers. The four-time Indy 500 winner is known to be a particularly demanding
boss, but many longtime fans were shocked to see Foyt reduced to tears when Meira finished third at the season-opener in Sao Paulo.

The operative term for Meira this time around isn't charge, it's patience.

"Patience - it is a big word. Always. It's 500 miles. Patience and attacking at the right time," Meira said with a veteran's confidence. "It all depends on where you're starting and what you want to accomplish. A Top-10 is really realistic. Anything better than that we need things to happen that we can't control, but a Top-10 is pretty realistic."

Of course, Meira would be the last one to complain if he ended up winning. Heck, it'd probably even make the boss shed a couple more tears and certainly earn Meira a lifetime supply of Foyt's famous homemade beef jerky.

Even the bridesmaid has to get married sometime.

Indy 500 Prop Bets - Planet IRL vs. MyNameIsIRL

2010-05-29T07:46:00.006-07:00

While sitting here and scanning driver tweets during the Public Drivers Meeting (yes, we all know you are at the Driver's Meeting - say something interesting!) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, my colleague Paul Dalbey from Planet-IRL.com and I have come up with a brilliant idea - betting on the Indy 500. Super Bowl-style, no-holds-barred sports betting.

We've devised a list of 33 Sports Wagers related to the Indy 500. Hey, if the Super Bowl can have it (can I type Super Bowl without someone suing?), why can't we....it's the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, let's also make it the Greatest Spectacle in Race Betting.

Here are our 2010 Inaugural 33-Bet Indy 500 Field, feel free to post your own picks in the comments section.

1. Winner - Dario Franchitti (DN); Ryan Briscoe (PD)
2. Rookie of the Year - Bertrand Baguette (DN); Simona DeSilvestro (PD)
3. Hardest Charger - Vitor Meira (DN); Bruno Junqueira (PD)
4. Halfway Leader - Scott Dixon (DN); Dario Franchitti (PD)
5. Most Laps Led - Helio Castroneves (DN); Dario Franchitti (PD)
6. Highest Finishing Female - Simona DeSilvestro (DN); Ana Beatriz (PD)
7. First In Class (Highest Finishing non-Penske/Ganassi Car) - Ryan Hunter-Reay (DN); Hideki Mutoh (PD)
8. Fastest Race Lap - Ryan Briscoe (DN); Will Power (PD)
9. First Pass on Lap 3 - Marco Andretti (DN); Tomas Scheckter (PD)
10. Highest Finishing American - Ryan Hunter-Reay (DN); Ed Carpenter (PD)
11. Highest Finishing Full Season Firestone IndyLights Alum - Alex Lloyd (DN): Rafa Matos (PD)
12. Highest Placing Non-Tweeting Driver - Dario Franchitti (DN); Will Power (PD)
13. First Post-Race Tweet - Mario Moraes (DN); Graham Rahal (PD)
14. First Driver to Whitewall Out of Turn 4 - Graham Rahal (DN); Mario Romancini (PD)
15. First Stall on Pit Lane - Tomas Scheckter (DN); Sebastian Saavedra (PD)
16. First Rookie Out of Race - Takuma Sato (DN, PD)
17. First Woman Out of Race - Danica Patrick (DN); Sarah Fisher (PD)
18. First Driver to Be Lapped - John Andretti (DN); Sebastian Saavedra (PD)
19. First Mechanical Out - Mike Conway (DN); Bertrand Baguette (PD)
20. First Driver in the Wall - Takuma Sato (DN); Mario Moraes (PD)
21. Danica's Position After Lap 10 - P19 (DN); P21 (PD)
22. Overly Optimistic Move of the Race - Raphael Matos (DN); Dan Wheldon (PD)

Over/Under:
23. Average Winning Speed +/- 152.056 MPH (Under DN); (Over PD)
24. Margin of Victory +/- 1.5 seconds (Under DN); (Over PD)
25. Number of Cautions in Race +/- 7.5 (Over DN); (Under PD)
26. First Caution Lap +/- 13.5 laps (Under DN); (Over PD)
27. Penske & Ganassi Combined Laps Led +/- 190 laps (Over DN, PD)
28. Leaders Green Flag Pit Stops +/- 2.5 (Over DN); (Under PD)
29. Number of Passes by Tony Kanaan on Lap 1 +/- 4.5 (Over DN); (Under PD)
30. Number of Penske & Ganassi Cars in Top 10 (*including Townsend Bell) +/- 3.5 (Over DN; PD)
31. Number of Crashes by KV Racing Drivers +/- 1.5 (Over DN; PD)
32. Lap Number of Marco Andretti Crash (*can be caused by other driver) +/- 124.5 (Over DN; PD)
33. Number of Laps Completed by Graham Rahal +/- 74.5 (Under DN); (Over PD)

To check out what an actual sports book line for the Indy 500 looks like, we found this one on Bodog.com. We didn't really look at this until after completing our own 33-bet field; so the comparisons are interesting.

You can check out Paul's article here at Planet-IRL.com.

The Carb Day Onion - Have a Miller Lite, Throw the Can on the Ground

2010-05-28T14:27:00.009-07:00

The No Sponsor Left Behind Program

Two sponsors who had hard luck stamped all over their Versus airtime on Bump Day have found new homes, as Service Central, who were on Jay Howard's sidepods, have found a placement on the second FAZZT Racing Team entry of Bruno Junqueira (it's a yellow car, so no alterations were necessary to the color scheme). GEICO, the longtime backer of KV Racing's Paul Tracy, are now in the primary spot on teammate Mario Moraes' car. It was a bad week for the insurance giant, as they also missed the field for the Coca Cola 600.

ZZ Top Rocks the Pagoda, Much Beer Consumed

Just got back from wading into the crowd at the Miller Lite concert stage. ZZ Top piloted the good ship buzz over a MASSIVE crowd in the former F1 infield circuit; and the beer bongs were out in force in an episode of IndyCar Fans Gone Wild. The requisite Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers were joined by bad tattoos and future melanoma cases, with the primary attire being sunburn, not sombreros. Asked about the attendance, no one was willing to put a estimate on the record, but most in the Media Center reckoned it was certainly biggest Friday crowd in the last 10-15 years. So "frickin' big crowd" will have to suffice as the official descriptive.

Helio Wins Pit Stop Challenge, Media Center Yawns

Not content being defending race winner and present pole sitter, Helio Castroneves' Penske Racing crew added another trophy to the case with a convincing victory over the upstart Newman-Haas crew of Hideki Mutoh in the Pit Stop Challenge. Penske has won the last five Pit Stop Challenges.

"You saw it out there, they do an incredible job. I do believe all winter work, it’s paying off today. Not only today but every race when we’re out there. Yes, sometimes I overshoot and I make mistakes but they never see that way, they see it as a good practice to be ready for anything. And today in the pit stop it was just an incredible job," Castroneves said. "So proud of these guys, so honored to be working with this organization and these guys. So today is their day. I just have to sit down and drive the car. But it certainly is great to carry this momentum to the race. Because I know when I go out there, I will rely on these guys and normally, I’m sure we’re going to succeed as well."

Fun-tastic!

Isn't That Grandpa's Delta Wing in the Case?

The Daytona 500 trophy made a special trip to the Brickyard for an interview and mutual admiration society meeting of the (only) two Daytona 500-Indy 500 winning owners, Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi. It was set up next to the Borg-Warner Trophy on the media center dais and positively Delta Wing-esque.

"Actually, it's great to be here and obviously the guy sitting next to me is the one that we have to beat every weekend whether it's here at Indianapolis or certainly at Daytona or Charlotte. But I've never seen these two trophies side by side. I just asked Chip which one does he want because I don't care if I get two, I'd just like to have one. Anyhow, it's great to be here, and we've had a great month, very competitive," Penske said. "As I said to a number of people in the last few days that something's different here this year. We have a sponsor, we have four women in the race, the field is probably as tight as it's ever been and the great thing was we had bumping on the second day which I think brought a lot of interest to the sport, a lot of notoriety. So we're going to have a great race. To me this is the guy I know we've got to beat for sure."

There was no talk of who thought who was, uhh, supposedly bending the rules to their advantage, just some back-slapping frivolity between the two biggest check writers in the IZOD IndyCar series.

Hunter-Reay Hopes He's Home To Stay

2010-05-28T11:35:00.003-07:00

The migrant racing career of Ryan Hunter-Reay has already taken more twists and turns than a blind man trying to navigate the Long Beach Grand Prix circuit.

Three different teams in the Champ Car World Series, with a pair of wins; a Rookie of the Year award and a race win (Watkins Glen) in the Indy Racing League with Rahal Letterman Racing, followed by a split season last year with Vision Racing and A.J. Foyt Racing.

IZOD factory backing helped Hunter-Reay move to Andretti Autosport over the winter. After a long and sometimes strange trip, he seems to have found a permanent home, in the car and out. Or should it be he hopes to have found a new home? Permanence in racing is about as long lasting as sponsor dollars keep hitting the direct deposit at the bank.

"It's been excellent - we've been on the podium half the time we've worked together and we've already won a race," Hunter-Reay said after Friday's drivers meeting, referring to his emotional victory at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

The 29-year old Florida native is one of a select group of drivers to have won on an oval, road and street course at the elite level of American open wheel racing and is the only active American driver to have done so. Adding an Indy 500 victory would probably raise his status from star to the superstar level.

After a sixth-place finish in his 2008 Indy 500 debut earned him Rookie of the Year honors, Hunter-Reay ran the 2009 race with Vision before replacing the injured Vitor Meira with Foyt. The game plan this time around is to be aggressively patient, if there is such a beast when the red mist triggered by the green flag starts flowing.

"We're going to just go out there and try to be aggressive, but we're going to let it come to us," Hunter-Reay said. "We're right in the middle of the pack so it'll be interesting to see where we are halfway through (the race). We've gotten great (pit) stops so far and the team has given me great race cars."

While Hunter-Reay is content to focus on the big race, it's hard to believe that the spectre of an uncertain future still does not tap him on the shoulder from time to time. The deal with Andretti technically runs through Texas, and despite numerous rumors of a contract extension to finish out the season, nothing has been confirmed.

Andretti has already announced plans to run A1GP champ and Formula 1 test driver Adam Carroll in select races, but no one seems willing to define whether it will be as Hunter-Reay's teammate or his replacement. Winning on Sunday would go a long way toward cementing a future with the team, as it is difficult to imagine IZOD wanting to see their poster driver rideless again, but stranger things have happened in the topsy-turvy world of big money racing.

"It's going to be a heck of a race all the way down to the finish. It's the best race in the world, it's going to be tight."

At this point, it's hard to say whether Hunter-Reay was referring to the upcoming Indy 500, or perhaps alluding to his career trajectory. Some strange trips never end.

Carb Day - Anticipation Builds, Conway Late For Class

2010-05-28T07:09:00.007-07:00

Ever had one of those days when you walked into a final exam only to find that it had started an hour earlier and was almost over?

And had the whole class turn and look at you as the door opened?

Dreyer and Reinbold Racing sophomore Mike Conway had that red-faced, pit-of-the-stomach feeling Friday when he arrived well late to the mandatory pre-Indy 500 driver's meeting.

But better late than not at all.

To his credit, Conway didn't blame the traffic, which was prodigious and still building for the Friday Carb Day morning session. He was filled in on the fine points starting etiquette by Professors Brian Barnhart and Al Unser Jr (see photo).

Those admonitions were still ringing in Conway's ears when the door opened. Patience is not just a virtue at the Indy 500, it's mandatory equipment. Conway started 24th and finished 18th in his rookie outing, and says the lessons learned in the 200 laps will go a long way for the second time around. He will start on the outside of the fifth row in the 15th slot Sunday which is either closer to the front or in the middle of a very long accordion, depending on your perspective.

"Obviously, like last year, it's a long race - you've got plenty of time - you just need to make to make your decisions," Conway said Friday morning. "And at the end of the day make sure you're there for the last 50 miles and make sure you're in a good position."

For drivers and crew alike, Carb Day represents a welcome relief to stop answering the same questions for the thousandth time, pull on the gloves and helmet, and get back in the car. Conway said there is separation anxiety for both driver and machine.

"Yeah, it's great. It feels like it's been a long time and it was only Sunday," Conway said. "We've kept busy and we're looking forward to getting out there today."

Carb Day practice starts at 11:00 AM and represents the last time for drivers to get on track before Sunday's race.

Thursday Afternoon Roundup...Mann Up, Simmons Happy to Be Back in the Saddle

2010-05-27T14:17:00.007-07:00

#SPEEDWAY, IN. _ I've got to compliment everyone here at IMS on the flawless check-in and credentialing process (as usual); I think I set a new personal record with about 15 minutes total from picking up the passes to parking in the media lot. Heck, it took longer to turn left at the 16th and Georgetown traffic light than it took to get situated.

Thursday at the Indy 500 is probably the best day to just cruise the pits with impunity and get closest to the action. It doesn't have a catchy name, but all of the teams and drivers were in evidence hammering out that last bit of prep work prior to Carb Day.

And what a time to arrive, as Sam Schmidt Racing's Pippa Mann blistered the track for a two-lap average speed of 187.989 mph to claim the first pole of her Firestone Indy Lights career for Friday's 2010 Freedom 100.

Blistered being the operative word, as Lights qualifying saw with an ambient temperature of 92 degrees and a scorching track temp of 126 degrees. If the reaction on pit road was any indication, Mann proved a popular choice as the second-year British driver had to negotiate as many congratulatory pats on the back from other team crew members as she did from the trackside media and fans. In the process, Pippa became the first female pole winner in the hundred year history of the Brickyard.

“I just went out there and did my best to pedal it. This afternoon when it got hot, we went to work on speed. We found some things that really helped," Mann said. "We found some things that made my life more difficult but made the car quicker. For this afternoon, we decided to rein it in a little bit so it would come home all in one piece. Whatever they reined in, they did it perfectly."

For the sake of comparison, Mark Martin's pole winning time in another series-that-shall-not-be-named (this week, at least) was 182.054 mph in 2009. FIL veterans Wade Cunningham (187.742), Charlie Kimball (187.375) and Martin Plowman (187.209) filled out the remainder of the first two FIL rows.

Starting on the inside of row 3 is a familiar name to IndyCar fans, as veteran Jeff Simmons made a welcome return to the series after a sabbatical in 2009 in the Team E Zymol car. Although the qualifying time was a bit slower than Simmons had hoped after he posted the fastest time in the Friday morning practice, it was hard to tell from the smile on his face after the session. A fuel pickup issue was later diagnosed by the team that slowed Simmons' car noticeably on the backstraight in the second qualifying lap, but the contagious grin was there under some new facial hair.

"I'm glad I didn't forget how to drive, it felt great to be out there," Simmons laughed. "As long as nobody calls me old; I prefer experienced. Honestly, I'm having fun out there. The Team E Zymol car is fast in traffic in practice, and that means we should be pretty fast in the race."

Friday is shaping up to be a barnburner at the Brickyard, with the Carb Day festivities highlighted by what promises to be an intense IndyCar practice session as teams rush to make their last bit of track time before the big dance count, followed by the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 and last, but definitely far from least, a concert by that lil' old band from Texas - ZZ Top.

Guitar slinging ZZ mainman Billy F. Gibbons, a motorhead of the first order and a long-time hot rod freak, actually threw the green flag on the first Freedom 100 in 2003.

Speed, Indycars, beards, beer and rock - does it get any better? Best bring the sunscreen.

Bump Day Sunday: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly *(and Sad)

2010-05-23T19:34:00.012-07:00

The Brickyard is a fickle mistress. And with a centennial birthday celebration in front of her, she took the full nine hours Sunday to remind the 95th Indy 500 qualifying hopefuls that there was still much drama to be written.

It was all there in technicolor, and belying her age, HD television as well.

The joy, the pain, the wheel marks on the walls, and the transporter being loaded up all too early.

There were some who thought they knew her well (Tony Kanaan, Barry Green, Paul Tracy, Milka Duno) and others who had barely made her acquaintance (Sebastian Saavedra, Mario Romancini, Jay Howard) yet somehow their lives intertwined in a drama of Shakespearian proportions that played out until after the final gun sounded at 6:00 PM to end qualifying session and set the 33-car field.

The Good

Tony Kanaan got the doctoral thesis lesson in the Brickyard ethos of tragedy. Pain, frustration, hope and redemption all touched the veteran driver who has given so much to the track, but had yet to taste her sweet, 2% fat-free white nectar in victory lane. Kanaan began the day as an improbable second-day qualifier, then in his second practice lap of the day kissed the wall of the short chute between turns one and two for the second time in 24 hours. It was a violent kiss and ended up dangling with the remaining half of his car on the back of the tow truck hook, leaving all to wonder how and if the veteran Andretti Autosport driver could pull it back together and squeeze enough speed out to make the field. He did so barely and without much celebration, having narrowly escaped the track's wrath. In the Brickyard, it seems, the sin of pride and overconfidence exact a special punishment.

"Obviously it was a very emotional day. I'm not the type of guy ‑‑ I don't cry very easy. The other Brazilian does all the time (laughing). But it was a tough day for me. Every time I came out it was very emotional.
"I mean, you have an idea how much the fans like you. And then I hear from you guys because you guys are out there and saying I'm the fans' favorite, this and that. And I never really paid a lot of attention. I always treat my fans really nice. But every time I came out here, it was amazing, driving to Pit Lane to make an attempt or to try my car again, how big the crowd cheered," Kanaan said.
"And that made me very emotional, and, again, it was a long day. Probably lost five days of my life today. Not a lot of hair anyway to lose. But here we are. I'm happy to be here."

Nineteen year-old Columbian rookie Sebastian Saavedra saw his own hopes explode into a festival of carbon fiber (TM), yet somehow was improbably rewarded with a starting berth while being examined in the Methodist Hospital emergency room.

Bruno Junqueira proved the best way to invade the grid was in stealth mode, with a last minute entry that turned into the fastest second-day qualifier. Bruno came late, stayed quiet, and will start from the back of the field in a certified rocket ship from FAZZT Racing.

Takuma Sato, the Formula One veteran who previously only driven on the track backwards through the infield, cobbled together both his Lotus Special and an improbably speedy late qualifying run to bump back into the grid. The gods of the Brickyard apparently still have a fondness for British racing green.

The Bad

The agony was written on the face of Sarah Fisher Racing driver Jay Howard after his first qualifying session. A post first-qualifying attempt interview had Howard expressing his doubt about the time posted, and when the Brit's team braintrust discarded his qualifying time with Paul Tracy behind him in the chute, the final act of drama proved the most unpredictable of all. With the wings flattened down and the deus ex machina cranked up, Howard rode the ragged edge of his previous qualifying time before falling short after the final gun sounded. Destiny was within his grasp, but instead was handed on a silver platter to to the now car-less Saavedra.

The Ugly

But it was Paul Tracy who merited perhaps the cruelest and most unusual punishment for his hubris. In many pre-race discussions Tracy brought up the possibility of avenging his "lost win" of 2002 (*when an executive ruling upheld Helio Castroneves' victory and sent Tracy to the asterisk zone of Borg-Warner Trophy history). Second quickest until the closing minutes of Friday's practice session, the fall from grace was swift and punishing for Tracy, who caressed the wall twice in a let-it-all-hang-out late qualifying attempt, but ran out of time with Howard on track parrying a counter attack that killed both drivers' hopes. A strangely serene Tracy emerged from the press conference older, wiser, and perhaps even a bit contrite. In missing the field, he had attained some strange form of redemption and perhaps even enlightenment.

"We've had a tough week, KV. The cars have ‑‑ like I said, in certain conditions it had become very difficult to drive. We had three cars hard into the wall. So I was happy that we didn't end up going on the trailer in a box with a bunch of pieces," Tracy said afterwards.
"It's how Indianapolis is, you know? Some of the greatest drivers have not made it."

And for others, important lessons were learned. AJ Foyt learned it's not a good idea to fire your driver on the morning of qualifying, especially when he is also an heir to your throne.

Dale Coyne learned the value of Milka Duno to his team is essentially zero + sponsorship dollars - Indy 500 starting spot dollars. Robbie Buhl learned that it's a great deal easier to enjoy qualifying when Milka is not on your team.

Nine hours.

Nine grid spots.

One epic drama.

2010 Indy 500 Super Saturday Qualifying - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

2010-05-22T17:16:00.011-07:00

It's amazing how much of a difference a year can make.

In 2009, the first day of Indy 500 qualifying had little in the way of surprises and excitement, and the tired format was more distinguished by tradition and procession than action.

The tweaks to the Indy 500 qualifying procedure for 2010 were the subject of much speculation, explanation, and for that matter, a bit of derision from some Brickyard veterans.

But judging by the mammoth crowd on hand for the 2010 Firestone Fast Nine Shootout, the resounding success of the new format will be felt far into the future and could perhaps even become the plotline of a Drew Barrymore-ish chick flick -
How the Brickyard Got Her Groove Back.

The Good:

The feel-good hit of the week had to be Alex Tagliani and his upstart FAZZT Racing team. Sown from the ashes of the punchline Marty Roth Racing operation, the FAZZT crew showed focus, determination and sheer speed, all of which paid off in a well-deserved second-row starting spot for Tags, who proved both affable and ebullient. Riding the shockwave of his qualifying pace, the Denis Lemieux soundalike Tagliani thrust himself clearly into the role of underdog crowd favorite. The only question remaining for the FAZZT crew is if the impressive performance was enough to shake loose the purse strings of the potential sponsor for a rumored second entry piloted by Bruno Junqueira.

Last year, Helio Castroneves was happy to here, happy to not be in Federal custody and generally happy to be on the pole in a loosey-goosey Brazilliant way. But in 2010, Helio took control of the pole shootout on his very first lap and set the bar so high that other swats at it were virtually laughable. Total world domination.

Penske Racing put three cars in the first two rows amid whispers of sandbagging during the week's practice sessions. Whether Penske has an unfair advantage with their "third spring" technology is moot; all teams can and will use anything at their disposal to annihilate the competition. Lost in much of the discussion about Penske's Empire is the fact that the cars of Helio and Ryan Briscoe are still lacking primary sponsors, so credit Roger Penske for at least keeping the checks flowing with no shortcuts that affected performance.

Dario Franchitti shattered Penske's dream front row with a stellar performance, while his teammate Scott Dixon qualified well but was unspectacular in the shootout portion of the show. Indy-only addition Townsend Bell narrowly missed punching his way into the shootout and will be quite content with 10th on the starting grid if he can withstand Sunday qualifying times.

Obviously, Graham Rahal's career trajectory has not gone according to plan. But a solid outing in the Rahal Letterman Racing entry has the one-off one-car team in row three, albeit with Kim Kardashian on the side of the purple car. A finish, and a good one, in the 500 should raise the future demand for Graham's services.

Perhaps overshadowed by his higher profile teammate Dapper Dan Wheldon, Ed Carpenter put the Fuzzy's Vodka Special right into the shootout and squarely in the role of dark horse candidate to win the big show. Carpenter knows every undulation of the Brickyard, and showed no rust from his relegation to part-time status for the 2010 season. Plus, we mentioned his car was sponsored by Fuzzy's Vodka. Can you imagine the clip of Easy Ed mixing White Russians with the victory circle milk?

Bertrand Baguette has flown so far under the radar that Iannucci's interview with the Belgian rookie pops up second on a Google search under his name. But surviving his time on the bubble will allow BB a crucial extra day to work on race setup and generally get some rest. St. Martin Belgian White Ales and DVDs of In Bruges all around.

The Bad:

Andretti Autosport pulled out a mixed bag, with Marco Andretti the brightest spot of what was an otherwise dismal day that began with Tony Kanaan breaking his string of Top-Six Indy starts and his car with a trip into the wall and ended with Danica Patrick throwing her team under the bus, then backing it up over her car. Ryan Hunter-Reay bumped back into the field, which should leaving him feeling about 100% better than he did at 5:59 PM on Sunday qualifying last year, but John Andretti and Kanaan both will have to post times Sunday.

Danica Patrick's lackluster month was punctuated with the 23rd spot on the grid and some choice words for her team and car in a P.A. system interview after the session which led to boos cascading from the stands. Danica's public approval rating seems hovering around the BP level, but that could take off some intense media pressure for the race itself.

Gearbox woes aborted Paul Tracy's first qualifying attempt, and the speed Tracy showed on Fast Friday disappeared overnight. Another qualifying attempt later in the afternoon left the frustrated Tracy pulling out tufts of his remaining hair.

AJ Foyt Racing saw the cars of both Vitor Meira and AJ Foyt IV bumped from the field in the final hour of open qualifying. Not an auspicious sign for a team that is habitually one of the best of the rest at Indy.

The Ugly:

Takuma Sato said sayonara to his Lotus in the morning practice session in spectacular fashion that left a trail of Speedy Dry leading out of turn two for the duration of the day. The KV Racing crew will have to Humpty Dumpty the car back together for Sato, if he is indeed cleared to drive.

Tony Kanaan's uncharacteristic shunt punctuated his day in the early afternoon, and as mentioned, ended a streak of Top-10 starts dating back to 2002. While speed should not be a problem for Kanaan Sunday, the margin for error has shrunk considerably.

Milka Duno is going to have a hard road to the field, and as an easy target for criticism, the less that is said, the better.

Kanaan Flexes Muscle As Speeds Rise On Fast Thursday

2010-05-20T17:09:00.005-07:00

Tony Kanaan laid down the gauntlet.

And if Penske and Ganassi drivers have left any sand in their proverbial bags, Kanaan's hot lap of 226.775 mph at the very least served notice that the road to the 2010 Indy 500 pole award will at least pass by a 7-11 or two. The affable Brazilian then followed with a little sandbagging of his own, as he simultaneously downplayed his own chances and challenged his Andretti Autosport team to find more speed. Worth noting is the fact that Kanaan has never started an Indy 500 lower than sixth on the grid.

"Right now, I don't see anybody else besides the three Penske and the two Ganassi guys to be on the pole, to be honest with you," Kanaan said. "Unless somebody finds something between now and Saturday; I think we're going to see that they're going to play between themselves."

Paul Tracy posted the second fastest lap of the day at 226.322 mph; while Newman-Haas driver Hideki Mutoh continued his strong showing with the third best lap of the day (226.230 mph), his second straight day in the Fast Five. Tracy cautioned that all of the track time lost to rain (Thursday's session was cut 55 minutes short after another lengthy delay in mid-afternoon) and the new Top-9 pole shootout format could have some teams peeling their cars off the wall Saturday afternoon.

"I haven't been out here as much and gotten used to the downforce levels being trimmed way off and doing the four-lap qualifying runs with the car being super trimmed out," Tracy said after the session concluded. "So asking the driver to go and stick his neck out on the line once is hard enough because the car is free and sliding and dancing to get the speed. To do that multiple times and sticking your neck out, I can predict that someone is going to step over that line."

With more rain predicted for Friday, many drivers were scrambling to complete race simulations while also churning out laps in qualifying trim. On the outside of the 33-car field timewise Thursday were Thomas Scheckter, Sebastian Saavedra, E.J. Viso (in his backup car after Tuesday's hard meeting with the Turn One wall) and the omnipresent Milka Duno. Worth noting was the fact that veteran and former pole winner Bruno Junqueira was able to squeeze some extra speed out of a stint in Saavedra's car.

The new qualifying format, a hybridization of the normal Pole Day format with the Fast Six shootout of road course qualifying (extended to nine for the 33 car field) left the usual suspects wondering how it will all play out.

"Mentally, it requires a lot more. I was playing out a couple scenarios and trying to figure out the new format. I pretty much said, "You used to go out and do the four laps while hanging on for your life, and you put it in the field sixth and think: 'That's it. I'm happy. I'm going to go home.'" Kanaan said. "Now I have the risk to actually lose that spot and start ninth. The people that are going to suffer are the guys at the edge, which you're going to have plenty of because of the tight field, they're going to wonder, 'Can I do it again?'"

Getting to know Bertrand Baguette

2010-05-18T09:03:00.005-07:00

Like many IndyCar fans the first time I ever heard Bertrand Baguette’s name was when it was preceded by the phrase “Conquest Racing announced...", and I would bet I’m not alone in admitting my first reaction was wondering who this probable ride-buyer was. It seems there are always a few drivers who pop up out of nowhere (or at least nowhere to American race fans) and even though our buddy Declan had some kind words about him Baguette seemed no different.

But after looking a little further into his bio I can assure you this Baguette fellow demands a bit more attention than he has received. Formula Renault 3.5 is second only to GP2 as a feeder series for Formula One, and last year the now 24-year-old utterly dominated in Formula Renault 3.5 to the tune of 5 wins and 10 podiums in 17 races. Note that this was a season in which current F1 driver Jaime Alguesari (Scuderia Torro Rosso) finished 5th in the championship.

Put this in IndyCar terms: this is a series Will Power finished 7th in 2005, and it's generally accepted that Will Power is a bit North of "OK" as a driver. Baguette is not just another guy who showed up wanting to play race car driver – he's already proven to be one. So let’s find out a little more about about Belgium’s finest export to America since Jean Claude Van Damme.

MNII: After a handful of races, what's your first impression of IndyCar fans and racing here in America?

BB: I really like the atmosphere here. The IZOD IndyCar Series fans are very close to the drivers which I think is really important for the sport.

MNII: How would you describe your first oval race at Kansas? Did you put your left foot on top of your right foot?

BB: Ahaha, kind of, yes. It's a very strange feeling, especially qualifications. You're flat out the whole time and the only thing you can really do is work with your tools to try and go a bit faster. When you start the race it's a completely different story. During the race you are running with other cars which means dirty air. The car starts to move a lot and that's when it becomes interesting. You really have to work with your tools and on your lines to continue taking all of the corners flat.

MNII: Since you’re Belgian: Kim Clijsters or Justine Henin?

BB: It's not easy to answer. They're both very good players and we're really proud of them in Belgium. Since Henin just went back to number one, I would have to say her.

MNII: You raced briefly against Mario Romancini in Formula Renault in 2008 but now he's your teammate. Do you guys get along off the track or are you just teammates?

BB: Mario is a great guy and we get along well on and off track. We're both rookies so we are working together to learn everything and give the teams the best data and feedback as possible.

MNII: Mario has raced on many of these tracks already, albeit in an Indy Lights car. Has he offered any helpful advice to you this year, or has driving the IndyCar been a learning experience for both of you?

BB: Mario was able to give me a few tips concerning the basics of driving on oval, but driving the IZOD IndyCar Series car has been a new experience for both of us.

MNII: Having driven cars in F1, Formula Renault, and Superleague your in a unique position to answer this question: how does the current IndyCar compare?

BB: All of the cars are very different and require different skills. All I can say is that the IZOD IndyCar Series car is really fun to drive on ovals.

MNII: As an accomplished driver who's had no prior experience driving in this series - much less on ovals - what's your goal for this year? A podium? A top 10? Just finishing every race?

BB: Honestly when you're racing you're racing to win, nothing else. I'm not used to being in the position I am now, but the team and I are doing everything we can to bring the No. 36 car to the top of the rankings. I know that this year will be really difficult and that there is a lot to do, but if we can get a top 5 finish this year I will be very happy.

MNII: In your bio on IndyCar.com it says "If a movie was made of Baguette’s life, he says he would like Nicolas Cage to play the role." Considering that Cage has played psychos, drunks and vampires, umm, well, why would you want him to play you?

BB: I don't know really, I think he's a really good actor and I like his films so I said Nicolas Cage.

Ed. Note: Upon further review, any possibility of a racing movie involving Nic Cage needs to be pursued with the utmost vigor, if only for the inevitable "Cage eats a spark plug" scene. Seriously, sign me up for that. It can't possibly be any worse than "Driven".

MNII: Important question for every driver: Do you have a nickname?

BB: Not really, in Belgium people that know me well call me Ber or Beber but that's not really related with racing. I am open to any suggestions if you have one.

MNII: Last question, again related to Belgium: Jean Claude Van Damme - National treasure or embarrassment of the nation?

BB: National treasure for sure. I like Van Damme a lot especially the way he speaks. :-)

Agreed. Van Damme speaks with roundhouse kicks to the face better than any actor ever. Thanks to Bertrand for sharing, as well as to Conquest Racing PR guru Lauren Boyd for facilitating the chit chat.

Photo: TrackSide Online

Quote of the day

2010-05-17T14:17:00.002-07:00

"If you're in the 500, you have a shot at winning the race. So you don't lose sight of that. But you say 'OK what are the things we need to do to beat them? How are we going to beat them?' That's what you really focus on. Where as (big teams) are focused on 'OK, let's not just beat ourselves.' You have to focus on beating that. And it's doable.

"I tell you, there's no way you ever get in a race car an say 'Well, I don't have a chance.' Because then why get in it? Even if you realistically don't have a chance you you get in it then and you say 'OK these certain circumstances are going to have to happen, but you know what, they can. I'm here and I'm gong to do the best I can to put myself in a position so that if they do happen I'm gong to take advantages of them.'" - John Andretti, who's positive attitude wants nothing to do with any pessimism resulting from that 0 for 48 slump his family is currently experiencing at The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.

Bernard gets a welcome to the big leagues

2010-05-13T15:06:00.015-07:00

In his rookie year with the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson saw, at very close range, a 46 point clinic by the 76'ers veteran guard and playground legend, World B Free.

College superstar, Brian Bosworth, began his debut season in the NFL by signing an enormous contract but he received an even bigger humiliation live on national television when fellow rookie Bo Jackson simply ran over him like a hauler driving over a possum.

These were classic 'welcome to the big league' moments, moments that would shape the careers of both men. In Bosworth's case the shape was sadly, that of a pear.

Randy Bernard may just have had his own rookie beat down today at the hands of Bruton Smith. As Robin Miller explains here, the CEO of Speedway Motorsports pulled the massive promotional rug from under Bernard's feet today as he revealed the plan to make Memorial Day 2011 a hugely interesting affair.

The IndyCar CEO seems to get the fact that auto racing in the USA is generally struggling for media attention and ratings and Bernard fully recognises the potential of such a huge event. “I want to do some things to shake up the world of racing and all boats rise on a high tide,” he told Miller recently.

Smith's comments are evidence that, indeed, no good deed goes unpunished and he does not do anything that is not in the best interests of his shareholders and Bruton Smith. The most egregious part of today's events is the fact that Smith basically did everything he could to make this look like it was his idea and he was facilitating every facet of it.

When World B Free was asked recently about that extraordinary performance against the NBA's newest superstar he explained, "When people are looking somewhere they are not looking somewhere else. So I wanted to catch their attention. I was the underdog at that moment ... and that‘s when I‘m dangerous."

Maybe that mindset can explain Bruton Smith's need to take the upper hand this afternoon? Is it possible that he felt like the underdog and maybe Randy Bernard and the Indy 500 are a bigger threat than he thought?

The 24 Hours of IndyCar

2010-05-12T14:36:00.003-07:00

Marshall Pruett's latest Triple Stint column is a must read this week. In particular his chat with ex Champ Car pilot and current endurance superstar, Simon Pagenaud, is well worth checking out. Pagenaud was somewhat of a victim of the open wheel merger in early 2008 when he lost his team Australia ride. Gil de Ferran was quick to spot his potential and he was signed to drive for the Brazilian's fledgling ALMS LMP2 team. He quickly built a reputation as a fast and consistent pilot and soon parlayed his efforts into a Le Mans deal with the Pescarolo team running a private Peugeot 908. 2010 sees him move to the full factory Peugeot team in Europe which he will dovetail with his season-long ALMS commitments to Patron Highcroft Racing.

Pagenaud also believes his time in prototypes will be invaluable as and when the IndyCar Series regulations open up in 2012 and beyond.

“That is what I am hoping for. I think, in a way for me, ChampCar stopped and I couldn't go to IndyCar at the time with a good opportunity, so it was a great thing for my career because then I looked at sportscars and had a fantastic chance with Gil de Ferran and Acura. It was for me the time to polish my driving, but also to work with everybody as a team to improve the car, improve the tires, improve traction control, improve the engine; I got to work on pretty much every part of the car. So I grew up very much as a technical driver. I wouldn’t have been able to develop myself as well if I would have been in spec series.

“I think I was really lucky. Maybe this sounds crazy to an IndyCar driver, but for me, the education with a fast prototype is a lot more than what a driver can get with a spec car in open-wheel. For the future, if IndyCar is looking to go away from spec cars, indeed it could be really, really interesting for me because I've got all these tools with me now and would be a good asset for any team.”

The diesel powered Peugeot 908 will give Pagenaud every chance of winning at Le Mans in 2010

I wrote about the obvious benefits of racing in a state of the art sportscar last year and how Marco Andretti, in particular, could benefit from prolonged exposure to so much power combined with huge amounts of downforce. Pagenaud's opinions about the benefit of endurance racing got me thinking about the real reasons and the potential benefits of Marco's first attempt at Le Mans this June. He has signed to race in one of the Rebellion Lola Judd prototypes in the LMP1 class.

To get a better idea of what he can expect and how the experience can help him as an IndyCar driver, I decided to consult his Rebellion team mate at La Sarthe, Guy Smith, a man with Indy Lights (twice a race winner in 1998) and Champ Car experience which goes along nicely with his victory for Bentley at Le Mans in 2003.

Smith agreed with Pagenaud insofar as the level of technical input is much greater in contemporary sportscar racing than is the case in the IndyCar Series. "[In IndyCar] Right now the adjustments you can make are very small, everything is about fine tuning the car." From the moment he gets to France, Marco will be working with Lola on the chassis, Michelin on the tyres and Judd Engine Developments on the 700HP V10 engine. "He'll will have to develop the whole package and he will have to learn how to get the best from the whole car", Smith added.

Coming from a spec series and, effectively, a spec ladder system means that Andretti has never had to fully develop a whole car as such and has almost exclusively driven cars with less horsepower than grip. Developing a feel for the car is crucial especially as longer stints at Le Mans can see a driver use the same set of tyres for anything from one to four 45 minute stints. "In 2003 we were quadruple stinting tyres and if you went out and did a blindingly fast time in your first stint and 'rooted' the tyres, you had a long way to go before you could change them" warned the Yorkshireman. He stressed the value of tyre management and how it can improve an IndyCar drivers performance, "That is something Dario and Dixon are able to do over the course of a race and hopefully doing [Le Mans] will be a valuable lesson for Marco." A perfect example of this is Marco's aggressive performance in the early laps at St Petersburg in comparison to Dario's charge at the finish.

Tyres are far from the only variable over the course of 24 hours. Smith is heading into his seventh Le Mans and has experienced almost everything the car and track can throw at a driver. "What [Marco] has to learn is how to cope with a changing car. The car is usually a 'bag of nails' by the end. The brakes don't work, you can't see and the engine sounds rough. You get to a point where the car feels like it is at 80 or 90% but you still have to drive it as hard, sometimes you have to drive at what feels like 110%! The car might be mega at night but crap in the day, good in the wet and not so good in the dry, but either way, you still have to drive it!"

The Englishman spends a lot of time in the USA as he is a factory driver for the Dyson Mazda team in the ALMS. Subsequently he gets to spend quite a lot of time with a number of his compatriots in IndyCar. After it was announced that Andretti would be joining the Rebellion squad at Le Mans, Smith sought the opinion of one of Marco's rivals in the series. "Dario loves the prototypes because of the downforce and he reckons Marco's "big cojones" will be a real help to him in the high speed sections [at La Sarthe]. [Dario] also thinks he lacks a bit of feeling on road courses and particularly at street events where there is generally less grip." Smith agrees with that assessment based on seeing Andretti up close in the ALMS in 2008. "Marco was blindingly fast at Sebring but he struggled at Lime Rock where you rely on more mechanical than aerodynamic grip."

The utterly beautiful Bentley Speed 8 that took Smith to victory at Le Mans in 2003 (Pic: www.7extrememotorsports.com)

If the Lola is reliable, Andretti will gain a colossal amount of race experience and seat time at the event. Smith believes it can only benefit his open wheel career, "he'll do the equivalent of five IndyCar races and come back to the IndyCar Series a complete and more rounded driver." Smith went on to suggest that, "he can learn more in 1 weekend than he did all of last season!"

Much like the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an ongoing itch that the whole Andretti dynasty feel the need to scratch. Realistically however, the Rebellion team have little chance of overall victory. Their petrol powered LMP1 is simply no match for the impending diesel onslaught from reigning champions Peugeot and their German rivals, Audi. Smith stresses that there is a need to approach the event with eyes open and a cool head. "Marco will need to manage his own expectations, we're not going to beat the diesels and we are really fighting against the Aston Martins for a top 5 finish on Sunday."

Andretti is the remarkable position of being able to compete in two of the 'Big 3' global races in the space of two weeks and in doing so will gain an enormous amount of invaluable experience that can only serve to make him a more consistent driver and, potentially, a formidable IndyCar force over the next decade.

Quote of the day

2010-05-11T12:33:00.004-07:00

"We need to blow up IRL...It needs to be (known as) IndyCar. To the purist, (IRL) is a negative acronym. We need to get away from using it... (we need) some sort of press statement to show that (IRL) is dead. We need to let people understand we're trying to change." - IRL and/or IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard on roses, names, and how sweet they don't smell.

On a side note, "My Name Is IndyCar" doesn't have quite the same je ne sais quoi.

Rahal to drive for Rahal

2010-05-05T07:56:00.004-07:00

Considering Graham's stint with SFR is done and Bobby's team has been moth-balled, it shouldn't be surprising that...

1986 Indianapolis 500 champion Bobby Rahal and his Rahal Letterman Racing team announced today that its entry in the 2010 Indy 500 would be piloted by his son Graham.

Graham, who is the youngest driver ever to win an Indy Car race, will be racing for his father's Ohio-based team for the first time in Indy Cars, although the 21-year-old Rahal has raced with RLR in its sportscar programs in past seasons.

"I am extremely excited to be racing with my father and with this team," grinned the younger Rahal. "I have known a lot of the guys on this team since I was very young and to go after the dream of winning Indianapolis with them means a lot to me and my family. I know we can put together a quality effort and we expect to be competitive."

The #30 Dallara/Honda/Firestone expects to be announcing further details concerning its livery and potential sponsorship for the 500 in the coming week.

If anyone has any sponsor suggestions now might be a good time to speak up. Which begs the question: is Red Roof Inns still in business?

Photo: TrackSide Online

LiveBlog: Kansas 2010

2010-05-01T10:24:00.048-07:00

Welcome to Kansas where your humble host is glad to not be. Not because I'd rather be at home than at a track - oh, heavens no - but because Kansas seems to be always be place where Mother Nature has her huge hissy fits or meteorological fury.

Last year there were tornadoes all around the track, and this week there's been lots of rain. Might even be a little on the chilly side according to the braintrust at TrackSide Online. Hopefully the track will stay dry for today's race, as the qualifications

(Meanwhile, here in Arizona it's Chamber of Commerce weather. Sunny, clear, high in the 70s. If anyone wants to have an IndyCar race here instead...I know, I'm beating dead horse here.)

But the weather right now looks clear in Kansas, and if qualifications are any indication we might have a fun race, since cars from Panther, Newman-Haas-no Lanigan, and FAZZT (yes, FAZZT) were all qualifying in the front rows. Wheldon however was penalized for going below the white line in quals so he gets to start in the back fully enraged.

But Briscoe is on the pole, Milka is starting in the back, and somewhere Nicole Manske is getting her "#parkmilka" ready for today today. And with that, it's time to start.

0: Marty Reid just said "It is the Month of May". Technically, yes, but "The Month of May" proper doesn't start until Donald Davidson's "Talk of Gasoline Alley" is back on the airwaves. I'm calling today April 31st.

0: Ryan Hunter-Reay is being interviewed. He has some issues about something (contract? car?) but I can't focus because the ubiquitous IZOD Girl is standing behind him smiling encouragingly at me. Yes, me. And I'm suddenly feeling very calm.

0: I miss Jack Arute on these ESPN/ABC broadcasts. Rick DeBruhl just doesn't have the same level of passion or the probability for unintentional comedy. Might was well have a robot out there.

0: Marty Reid just said he was going to introduce us to "Silvester de Simona". Oh, COLOSSAL FAIL!

0: Obligatory Danica interview. ESPN loves the Danicker. However, the interview serves as a transition to a package on...Simona. Har!

0: Vintage Indy 500 footage breaks out. Unsers, Andretti, Wheldon. This is even more re-assuring than the IZOD Girl.

0: Some anonymous woman (to me) commands "Drivers! Start Your Engines!" Nice job, except for the shoulder shrug afterwards.

0: Dan Wheldon is the "in-car commentator". Dan starts talking about the great car and...he stalls it. Note: "in-car commentator" is rarely a good idea.

0: First oval in an IndyCar for Sato, Simona, Baguette and Romancini, although Mario Romancini has race in the Indy Lights. Then again, he also put the car in the wall in practice.

0: John Andretti, sporting classic Petty colors, gets air. Meanwhile Briscoe and Dixon lead them to the line.

1: And we are GREEN! And cars are moving around going three-wide and life is worth living again.

2: Marco Andretti, who started in 26th, ais already up to 19th. Must be that Venom Energy Drink sponsor.

4: Conway and Mutoh are shown battling for 6th. On ESPN. There's nothing real in the world anymore.

5: It's Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Helio, Vitor. Meira is already winless in 101 races

8: Hyphen-Reay started near the back but he's already up to 13th. Marco is up to 15th. It's a festival of overtaking!

12: Just noticed KVRT teammates Moraes and Viso are 8th and 9th respectively. Wonder if ESPN will mention them.

13: Dixon gets a little lose and loses 2nd to Dario. Franchitti has the Suave sponsorship this week to celebrate his glorious locks.

18: Danica is in 14th with Rafa Matos and John Andretti chasing her for position. How do I say that without making it sound like a double entendre?

21: Dixon gets back around Dario. Meanwhile that Top 5 of Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Vitor, and Helio have about a two second lead on everyone else. Vitor, hanging with the big boys!

24: Ryan Hunter-Reay is up to 10th. Marco up to 11th. Kanaan in 7th. Andretti Autosport brigade is blaring trumpets and are on the charge.

28: Dixon is trying to go two-wide for the lead while trying to lap Romancini. Racing excitement engaged.

34: Back from commercial and Scott Dixon is now leading. Pass for the lead has to be shown on tape delay. Not quite as exciting.

40: Leaders are lapping plenty of drivers. Wilson, Milka, Simona, Lloyd and Romancini are all a lap down. Next up is Wheldon, who clearly doesn't have the same car he had yesterday.

42: And there goes Dixon by Wheldon.

43: Dixon is starting to make this less than interesting. He leads Briscoe and Dario by over 4 seconds. Helio 8 seconds back. Vitor 9 seconds back.

49: Pit stops for Briscoe, Kanaan, Helio, Dixon. Without incident.

50: Now Dario comes in. Must be saving a wee bit more fuel than the other leaders.

50: Will Power comes in and has an extended stay pit stop. Too far from the middle of the pit stall to get the fuel hose in completely. Crikey!

55: After all the stops it's Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Vitor. Kanaan 6th. Hunter-Reay 7th.

58: Penalty of some sort for Viso on the pit stop. Now he's back to 18th. Dammit. So much for that interesting run.

65: Good news - Vitor is getting airtime in 5th. Bad news - he's 14 seconds back of the lead.

68: Mutoh and Sato battling for 11th. And here I am caught without any Godzilla references at the ready.

69: Danica, in 14th, about to be lapped by Dixon.

71: Down goes Danica. Next up is Marco.

72: Scott Dixon is the opposite of racing excitement. There, I said it.

73: YELLOW! Viso, clearly desperate for TV time, gets a little high and scrapes the wall. Manages to get the car into the pits though.

75: Pit stops for everyone. In and out and the leaders are now Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Vitor. Hunter-Reay now up to 6th in a demonstrable plea for additional sponsorship to run the full season.

75: Chaos at the back of the field as Duno and Sato touch and drive each other into the grass. No wall contact though so they might be able to continue.

76: Ryan Briscoe is missing a wheel. That ain't gonna work. Has to come in get a fourth, dropping for 11th.

80: Interview with EJ. Poor guy.

82: Something must have happened to Vitor. Dixon, Dario, Helio, Kanaan and Hunter-Reay now lead the field.

84: Back to GREEN!

85: 16 cars on the lead lap. Danica is not one of them. But she's still getting airtime. Go figure.

89: Tagliani in 6th, Vitor right behind him. Hope springs eternal for the underdogs.

96: John Andretti is 9th. He's...not too bad at this IndyCar thing.

98: Hunter-Reay keeps looking to get a run on Kanaan but he can't. So we are lock-steppin' up at the front.

103: Danica, a lap down, throwing a big 'ol block party for Helio all around the track. Even Scott Goodyear calls that "bad etiquette".

108: Helio still struggling to get around Danica. Goodyear says "When he gets beside her he's got to hold her down..." Oh my!

109: Danica finally lets Helio by. And Kanaan as well for good measure. Must have heard from the Iron Hand of Justice.

113: Something must have happened to Hunter-Reay, as he's dropped back behind Tagliani and Mutoh. What it was, nobody knows.

114: And here's Danica making a pit stop. Really ESPN, this is embarrassing. Let go of the Danicker already.

119: YELLOW! Debris on the track. Looks like an endplate on the track so it's legit. Might have been thrown by Brian Barnhart himself, though. Just to keep things remotely interesting.

122: Pit stops for everyone. And on pit exit it's Dixon, Dario, Kanaan, Mutoh, Helio. Mutoh Mania rises to a near fever pitch.

127: So, exactly how long does it take to pick up an endplate on the track? It's been 8 laps, for crying out loud!

128: Finally, back to GREEN!

135: Lots of racing but not much passing, if that makes any sense. The Ganassi cars have already pulled away by almost a second from Kanaan. Try to act shocked.

143: And now it's two seconds between the Dixon-Dario combo and Kanaan. Meanwhile Briscoe is on the charge and working on Mutoh for 4th.

146: P1 just walked out of the room saying "Yeah for races that are boring". I would guess many of you watching this feel the same way.

151: Takuma Sato, reported "road course specialist", is up to 7th. Mutoh still in 4th. Japan is well represented this week.

155: Dixon-Dario ahead of Kanaan by 3.5 seconds. 45 laps to go and it's all over but the crying.

161: Final round of pit stops starting. Leaders not pitting yet. I know, that's not terribly helpful. Sorry.

165: Mutoh on the Push To Pass but he can't get around Kanaan. Insert Japanese swearing here.

170: Dixon now pulling ahead of Dario by two seconds, or so says Marty Reid. I can't verify it because Timing & Scoring is frozen at Lap 148 for me. Not very helpful.

175: Dixon ahead of Dario by almost 3 seconds now. Ahead of Kanaan by over 10 seconds. *sighs*

177: Kanaan and Mutoh both pit. Come out the same way they went in. Not even passing in the pits for those two.

178: Dixon pits and...YELLOW! Jay Howard has made contact with the wall. He seems OK, making hand gestures to the safety crew, but the car is missing the rear wing.

179: Replay shows Jay was behind teammate/boss Sarah Fisher and got a little too high. Or, based on the result, a lot too high.

180: Somehow in all this the leaders are now Dixon, Helio, Dario, Kanaan, Mutoh. Not sure how Helio snuck into second but there he is.

184: Finally, back to GREEN! And now YELLOW as Sato and Mutoh collide ending the proud run for Japan.

182: Ironically, if we finish under yellow it might actually be a closer margin of victory.

188: Still yellow. Big Jamie Little informs us that with 12 laps to go and Dixon has 18 Push To Pass tries left. Feel the anticipation of racing excitement leaving the building.

190: Only six cars on the lead lap. Dixon, Helio, Dario, Kanaan, Hunter-Reay, Briscoe. Pfffft.

193: And we're back to GREE...no, strike that. Waved it off.

194: And this time we're back to GREEN! Look at that Scott Dixon gooooooo!

196: Dario gets his Push To Pass on and gets around Helio for 2nd.

197: Here comes Kanaan up to Helio. Side-by-side (hooray!)

198: Kanaan got 'em.

199: White flag as Kanaan pulls up on Dario's attenuator.

200: And checkers for Dixon, as Franchitti holds off Kanaan for 2nd.

Congrats to Dixon, not for winning but for having a lovely wife who gleefully shares with us what Scott had for breakfast. Listening to her say "ba-nah-nah" is more exciting than watching him race. But that's just me.

Also, nice runs for Dario, Tony, Helio and the two Ryans. Hunter-Reay in 5th, now hanging in fourth place in the standings. I need to make like Scott Dixon and get moving in a hurry today, so with that I leave you all. Thank you very much, friends, and good night.

The “I” in Wheldon

2010-04-30T13:46:00.009-07:00

The Kansas City Star has what would normally be considered a “puff piece” on Dan Wheldon, who won the IndyCar series event at Kansas Speedway in ‘07 and ’08. And while “puff pieces” are normally designed for people who don’t follow racing, this one might be telling something to those of us who actually know a bit about Dan’s career.

First though, note this excerpt in Robin Miller’s mailbag last week.

Q: Who will be the first driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series to be released from their current team and be replaced?
Chris Fiegler, Latham,NY

RM: I'd bet on Graham Rahal for Dan Wheldon if the contracts weren't so binding.

Of course this is taken with a grain of salt because Robin says “Graham” about every third word out of his mouth. But there is truth in the fact that Wheldon has been a highly paid driver and Panther took him on with the expectation he would be able to do win more races than the winless Vitor Meira. But after 21 races the Panther/Wheldon relationship has resulted in zero wins and, oh, notice how Dario Franchitti has taken Dan’s old ride to the ’09 series championship.

Which brings us to the curiously-titled article There’s an “I” in Wheldon’s Panther Racing Team, which features quotes by Wheldon about liking the responsibility of driving for a one-car team. Pretty much the same stuff he’s been saying since he signed with Panther, which means that’s not the interesting part. Not that would be the other quotes about Dan, which are by ...Scott Goodyear? Yes, Scott Goodyear, who is most definitely not Panther co-owner John Barnes or anyone else affiliated with the team.

It’s not so much that Goodyear had anything interesting to say, but rather that he – a former Panther driver himself – would be the only other person sourced for this kind of story. Press releases aside, I don’t remember the last time the usually talkative Barnes had anything to publicly say about his driver. He’s always talking about the National Guard sponsorship or the league officials or the 2012 chassis, but his current driver? Insert the sound of crickets chirping.

Maybe I’m wrong and maybe there’s no “there” there in all of this, but it sure seems like this summer is going to be awfully frosty in the Panther Racing garage between Wheldon and everyone else. Maybe this could all change if some sort of miracle happens and Wheldon can give Panther their first win since 2005, like say at Kansas this week, or even at Indy where Wheldon has also won and Panther has finished 2nd the last two years.

But more than likely the winless streak continues, which would almost certainly leave Dan pounding the pavement for a new ride next year. Who would be willing to pay him is anyone’s guess, it does bear noting that his reputation as an “oval specialist” seems a bit overblown. Sure, Dan hasn’t been on a podium for a course with right turns in quite a while, but in 4 non-ovals this year he’s finished between 5th and 11th in three of them - the lone exception being when his Dallara went all “Christine” in St Pete. Wheldon isn’t a threat to win on a road or street course, but if he’s finishing in the top half nearly every week then he’s certainly showing he still belongs in the series.

But it’s the former part of that description – the “isn’t a threat to win” clause – that seems to carry a lot of weight against potential employment for Wheldon. As Robin noted this week "I think you should make as many races this season as possible because Wheldon would appear to be an endangered species." (And yes, I just quoted Robin Miller twice in a single post. Cats and dogs living together.)

I sure hope he's not an "endangered species" because as a fan I like Dan even with the strangely unsettling teeth, because he’s got healthy doses of personality and talent. And I’ve watched the IRL long enough to remember he’s got gargantuan boulders in the nether reaches of his firesuit. And quite frankly, I’m not ready to see him leave the IRL for ...bobsledding?

Photo: TrackSide Online

The pressdog is deployed

2010-04-30T09:03:00.003-07:00

There may be some of you who don’t appreciate the more satirical pieces of work on his blog, but don’t let that stop you from catching up on the REAL REPORTING Bill “pressdog” Zahren has been doing over at his site lately. It's enough to make a fellow blogger shed a manly tear. Check out some of these recent wire-worthy works, and in doing so you may in fact learn something.

IndyCar Crap Shoot? Kansas Speedway Casino Project Includes Second Cup Race

Sister Track Presidents Say "Cookie Cutter" Label Doesn't Cut It

No Anti-IndyCar Bias within ISC, Track Presidents Say

This weekend pressdog is ON SITE in Kansas, so expect him dial up the race coverage an extra notch. Just go to www.pressdog.com and hit refresh every few seconds like me. Trust me, it won’t hurt your computer one bit, and I guarantee his site is more stable than IndyCar Timing & Scoring.

So Mr. Carroll we meet again!

2010-04-29T12:29:00.007-07:00

Adam Carroll really ought to be racing in Formula 1, thank goodness he's not. It is stupendously good news for IndyCar Racing that Andretti Autosport has secured his signature for a select number of races later on this season.

Marco Andretti will have few doubts about the wee man from Portadown can be competitive straight away, particularly on road courses, having spent almost a whole A1 GP season watching Carroll vanish into the distance week in week out. The Ulsterman clinched the title in the Spring of 2009 and has been in professional limbo ever since.

Danica Patrick also has more than a basic working knowledge of Carroll's ability having raced against him in British Formula Ford in 2001. The footage below is all that is left of their time together in the UK. It's nice to see Danica's mania was fully formed almost a decade ago.

Quote of the day

2010-04-28T22:16:00.003-07:00

"This is a really special opportunity for me - getting to drive for my cousin, getting to race on the same team with Marco, getting to work with a race team that just won a couple weeks ago and an organization that has won a lot of races. This is such a great opportunity to come here and participate in a positive way - not only from the race-team side, but also with Window World and all their great support.

"I feel a little bit like I'm 16 years old. I'm going to get out there, roll up my sleeves and maybe even reach deeper to get more and make the most of what is a short-term opportunity, but a great one, nonetheless." - John Andretti, who hasn't been 16-years-old in 31 years, but will still be starting in his first IndyCar race other than the Indianapolis 500 since...what, 1992?

Of course, he was at Indy last year...

...which begs the question of the week: "Where's Graham?"

200% more champions, no added calories

2010-04-28T21:39:00.005-07:00

By now you've probably heard that yesterday the IZOD IndyCar Series has decided to:
1. Crown separate oval and road/street course champions
2. Name the awards after two historic drivers
3. Do this IMMEDIATELY, as in this year

My first thought was "Oh, hella yeah!" if for no other reason than this finally gives me a reason to stay awake through the entire race at Sonoma. But after sleeping on it (notice how "sleeping" and "Sonoma" are totally correlated) I've decided that, yup, it is still a "Oh, hella yeah!" idea. Bravo, Mr Bernard, on putting forth a good suggestion.

Honestly (and I hate saying that because it infers that everything else I've said has been dishonest, but not enough to actually NOT say it...OK, I'm gonna just focus back here) I don't know why anyone would be against this idea. It's not like it's a total gimmick, because it doesn't actually change the racing at all. The real money is still in the championship, so this doesn't dilute the interest in that award one bit. If anything it strengthens the overall championship because these separate titles now showcase the distinction of IndyCar racing, which is a mastery of different disciplines of racing. And that, dear friends, is what is known as "accentuating the marketing angle"...or, if you're not in favor of the idea, "making up stuff as you go along". I'm in the camp of the former.

And if I may be so bold I'd like to make two quick suggestions regarding this whole idea.

First, these awards absolutely positively must be named after AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti. No slight to any number of incredible drivers named...well, I'm not even going to name them because then it start getting into an argument of who's left off the list. But I've never met an IndyCar fan who wouldn't agree that any discussion regarding the greatest driver who raced IndyCars ever requires those two to be included. They just...are. And even if YOU think they aren't, there names are so ingrained in the psyche of American racing that to ignore either of them as the names for these two awards would be, well, stupid.

Second, let me refer to a remark by BP of Drive Hard, Turn Left, who actually suggested this idea a while back.

Now, while I don't expect Will Power's wings to be polka-dotted so that people recognize him as the top street/road racer in the circuit...

Well, if you won't then I will. If the goal of this whole "championships within a championship" is to accentuate driver skills, then I say let the drivers show that skill. Just as the Tour de France has separate jerseys for stage winners and mountain climbers, the series should allow either the points leader in each respective category or the previous champion to have something signifying the accomplishment. Like a dramatically colored bar on the top of the car or one of the the wings, or a giant picture of Foyt or Andretti, or even a specific sponsor on the sidepod - SOMETHING! Let the casual fans ask "What's that mean?" and get them engaged - that's the point, right? Is anyone less interested in the series because of this? Really?

Final note: IndyCar.com did the research and determined the following would have been champions under this new arrangement.

Year, Oval Champ(points), Road & Street Champ(points)
2009 Scott Dixon (406), Dario Franchitti (270)
2008 Scott Dixon (482), Helio Castroneves (233)
2007 Dario Franchitti (463), Scott Dixon (217)
2006 Dan Wheldon (415), Scott Dixon (125)
2005 Dan Wheldon (536), Tony Kanaan (133)

Does anyone have a problem with these champions? Even if you think this is all about Danica?

IndyCar to race on the oval at Daytona?

2010-04-26T04:33:00.007-07:00

Buried in a relatively uninteresting press Q&A, about the much needed re-surfacing of the Daytona Speedway, was a rather intriguing morsel.

Daytona Speedway President, Robin Braig, discussed the logistics and time frame for the repaving of the oval and dropped a startling bombshell with regards to the future of the venue once the project has been completed.

When Braig was asked about the potential upside (and downside) of the endeavour, he replied with the following:

The upside is obvious: a smooth track, which by the way, opens the door to Daytona talking race dates with the Indy Racing League.

We haven't talked to the folks in Indianapolis about this, but our phone lines are open. We would listen to any call they would make.

It is hard to work out exactly what may have prompted this or even if Braig was referring to the potential of IndyCars racing on the road course which will include a substantial section of the newly repaved oval. What is clear is that every element of the NASCAR's business is being battered by the combination of the economic downturn and its inability to properly react to the changing market conditions on and off the track. Is it possible now that ISC have finally woken up to the idea of working with IndyCar to promote events? The coming months will possibly provide us with an answer.

Maybe we will have to get a little bit more used to the sights like this.

If a picture says a thousand words

2010-04-22T13:03:00.004-07:00

What does this one say?

(In case you don't recognize him, the follically challenged skinny guy in the black shirt is Paul Tracy. The, uh, well-rounded guy in the blue shirt is Super Tex. And the guy in the white shirt is likely in possession of a different skill set than the other two.)

Photo: TrackSide Online - sign up today!

The franchise and the rival

2010-04-22T08:22:00.013-07:00

Now in its sixth year, Danicamania continues even though the crowds around Mrs Hospenthal seem, at least upon first glance, to be dwindling a bit. Perhaps that’s due to her lack of amassing wins, or her participation in some questionable commercials, or her flirtation with the other side of American motorsports. Or maybe it’s all that and the fact that she never really got herself a good rival get people fired up.

Goodness knows IndyCar fans have tried to tie her to a rival. First there was Sarah Fisher, who Danica had some blunt words for way back when. But Sarah hasn’t had the equipment or the schedule to really give Danica a good run. Then there was Dan Wheldon, and that was a lot of fun for about a week before everyone realized Danica wasn’t going to be able to hang with Dan most weekends so long as he was in a Ganassi car. Then there was Milka and the towel, and as amusing as that was that certainly hasn't resulted in any kind of competitive rivalry.

Now it looks like many fans are hoping Simona De Silvestro will emerge as some sort of “anti-Danica” to generate a lasting storyline. I understand why they are trying to tout this would-be rivalry entirely based on gender, but to your humble host this seems as artificial as a rivalry based or nationality or car number or hair color or whatever. Sure, I’d love to see Danica and Simona battling it out because that would be great for the series, but right now it makes little sense to pit them against each other since there’s nothing either of them has said or done anything to garner the attention of the other. It makes as much sense as saying Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno are now some kind of rivals.

However, in the quest to find a rival for Danica we might have overlooked the fact that she already has one, and that rival is not a girl. (And yet, I know at least one person who refers to this particular driver as a “girl”, but that person is also a fan of Danica’s so I don’t know what to make of that. Sorry for the non sequitur.)

My point, if I can stay on it, is there is growing evidence of a rivalry with Ryan Briscoe.

Exhibit A:

In May of 2007 Ryan was hired to drive for Jay Penske’s fledgling Luczo Dragon team, prompting Danica to offer her two cents:

"I would say this to his face, so I'm not saying anything out of line, but he crashes," Patrick told the New Jersey Express-Times.

"I've seen it before, I've been a victim sometimes when he just has some brain fade."

Ouch! At first glance that could have been just an off-handed comment from an overly-confident driver, but a year later...

Exhibit B:

You’ve probably seen it dozens of times, but the Danica v Briscoe stompapalooza at Indy in ’08 never really gets old. They both look so amusing – Danica marching through the pits like some miniature Terminator bobblehead while Briscoe hunkers remains frozen in his car pretending to be Invisible Boy.

But amusement aside, for many people this incident served as a reinforcement of Danica’s “brain fade” verbal smack down of Briscoe – one of whom most assuredly was Danica herself.

Exhibit C:

Before presenting the piece de resisitance it’s important to note a little history and context. “Danica Patrick” might be the most recognizable name that comes to mind when contemplating young ladies from Roscoe, Illinois, but second on that list would be “Nicole Manske”. Manske in fact was once on the same cheerleading squad as as the young Ms Patrick, and of their relationship Manske once said in 2005:

"Naturally, I'm supposed to be objective and treat all drivers equal, but I watch the speeds, and when I saw hers going 225, 226, 227, yeah, I cheer…I told her, 'Great job.' It's just really cool because she's the real deal. How can you not be proud of her? She's gone further in her career than I have in mine."

Keep that quote in mind, friends, because as you’ll see Manske has definitely changed her tune now that she covers N****R for ESPN. And now that she’s married to...you guessed it, Ryan Briscoe. It’s a small world after all.

And with that we throw you to the ever exciting world of twitter this weekend, starting with SBNation’s Jeff Gluck.

Ha, @nicolembriscoe is going to get me in trouble. She wants me to comment on overhyped Danica's poor, slow qualifying effort. But I won't.

You might think he’s making that all up just to start something, except that a few minutes later Manske said...

@jeff_gluck um...think you just did. You have to speak for all of us who don't have freedom of speech!

Well then! Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?

Some of you might suddenly find your hair on fire at this because Manske is not just a driver’s wife but is also the host of a show that focuses on another racing series that now features Danica Patrick. And you have a great point and I hope you go ahead make it because I’m not going to do so at the risk of derailing my “rivalry” angle today. I am focused like a laser, but you can make of this what you want.

Like I said, my point is it definitely looks like Danica and Ryan have more than a little of animosity going on, although the one thing we're missing is Ryan saying something inflammatory. So far in 2010 he's looking like the third best driver on a two-car team, so fanning these flames might actually help raise his profile.

Regardless, these two certainly have more than a little history of dislike going on here, and that’s the kind of stuff where a real and lasting rivalry comes from. How this plays out on the track remains to be seen since Ryan and Danica haven’t exactly been racing near each other this year, but it’s something to keep an eye on because the Danica v Briscoe lack-of-love-fest has already outlasted Danica’s other contrived rivalries.

(Thanks to Jerry Wilson for recently bringing this to our attention.)

Quote of the day

2010-04-20T14:10:00.004-07:00

"The experience I’m most looking forward to is the Indianapolis 500. I continue to hear what an unbelievable and life-changing type of an event it is. I think that it’s going to be even more exciting this year because we’ll have a minimum of 40 cars trying to qualify, which we haven’t seen in almost 15 years. It shows another wave in momentum as our sport continues to grow." - Indy Racing League CEO Randy Bernard, dropping a big "four-oh" on fans of The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.

UPDATE: It's true: 40 entries, 73 cars total counting the "T"s. Bumpity bump!

Long Beach photo dump

2010-04-20T06:37:00.013-07:00

Behold a few of the sights at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, as captured by the way-less-than-professional camera on my Blackberry.

LiveBlog: Long Beach 2010

2010-04-18T13:02:00.027-07:00

Welcome to Southern California where your humble host is LIVE on site for the 36th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. I've had a blast this weekend talking to race fans and now I'm going to sit down and bring this week's LiveBlog coverage from the spectacular vantage point of ...the basement of the media center.

Yes, it's the dirty little secret that when in the media the choices for covering the race are either (a) in the pits watching a TV monitor and not hearing anything or (b) sitting in a media center watching the VERSUS broadcast. I chose the latter since that's where the wi-fi is.

So today we have another street race, our third in four races, and who's on the pole but none other than Will Power. Not exactly shocking since his performance thusfar in 2010 has left everyone expecting him to run away with any street race. It's gotten so bad even Team Penske's Tim Cindric, on seeing Will running 4th on a practice session earlier this weekend, said coyly to Power "You sandbaging it out there today?"

But no matter, he's still gotta run the 85-lap race and Ryan Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson and Power's teammates will be nipping at his heels. Or at least trying their best to nip at his heels.

And with that, it's time to start.

0: Cars are hot. Flyover conducted. TSO Patrick is sitting next to me chowing on some kind of Mexican meal. We are good to go.

0: One more lap to green. Curt Cavin is now down here. He's on the opposite side of the room with all those real media people, but I'm cool with that since I'm closer to "Leah" the hearing aid dog. She's staring at me, and with this Mexican food next to me I SWEAR I hear "You quiero Taco Bell".

1: And we are GREEN! Power leads the way but speaking of green Tony Kanaan jumps from 6th to 4th before the 1st turn. He's feeling the power of Brazilian fuel.

2: Power, Hunter-Reay, Wilson up front, but things get a little dicey around 9th as Tagliani cuts off Marco and appears to remove part of Andretti's front wingplate. Probably not the last piece of broken carbon fiber we'll see today.

4: The entire lap is run without any passes as the front three appear to separate from the pack. Did I mention Dixon and Franchitti are in 7th and 8th respectively. Somewhere Chip Ganassi is feeling unhappy and hugging a stuffed delta wing pillow.

6: Danica Patrick is in 20th. Even ESPN wouldn't be showing her that far back.

7: Milka Duno is at the back, 47 seconds off the pace. The lap times for the leaders are running around 71 seconds, and Milka is running 78 second laps. So she should get some TV airtime shortly.

10: Amazingly Ryan Hyphen-Reay is only 6 tenths of a second back of Power. There's a part of me that wonders if Power is ~~sandbagging a bit~~ conserving fuel here.

12: Milka is now 1 lap down, and since the leaders didn't pass here I'm guessing she had to make a pits stop before she became a factor.

14: Track feed shows Milka has been parked. In the pits with grooved tires now on the car. Somewhere Nicole Manske is doing a Snoopy Dance.

15: New last place car is Bertrand Baguette, 29 seconds back. If he plays his cards right this will be the only time I mention him all day.

18: Power appears to be slowing dramatically - like he missed a gear - and so Hunter-Reay and Wilson go right around him. Meanwhile, when no one was looking, Briscoe got around Helio for 5th.

20: IZOD poster boy Hunter-Reay is rocketing away and is now 1.5 seconds ahead of Wilson. Now would be a good time to mention that I'm currently wearing IZOD jeans. For real. Gotta represent the title sponsor.

21: Just checked the leaderboard. Power is still in 3rd but Dario, who's usually pretty tough on these street race deals, has dropped to 11th. Asheley can't blame that on Milka this week.

24: Here comes the strategy. Danica, Rafa and Simona all make pit stops.

25: Rafa pays the price as Hunter-Reay laps him after pit exit.

26: Dario pits. Sato pits. That can only mean one thing - he's still in the race. Other cars pit as well.

27: Finally a leader pits as Wilson makes a stop. Cleans stop, comes out on the blacks.

28: Hunter-Reay pits meaning Will Power once again leads. In and out like a professional.

29: LLoyd and Sato mix it up and Sato goes sideways into a runoff. Looks like Takuma didn't stall it so he's still racing. Meanwhile Kanaan and Helio made a pit stops.

30: Power finally pits, along with Briscoe and Tagliani. T&S indicates they were the last three to make a stop.

31: Televised overtaking breaks out as Kanaan gets around Briscoe and Helio makes a move to pass Tagliani. Top 5 are now Hunter-Reay, Wilson, Kanaan, Power, Briscoe.

32: Mario Moraes in 9th. Really? Not too shabby.

32: It's a celebration of televised overtaking, as Briscoe passes Kanaan for third and then Kanaan passes him right back a turn later through turns 4 and 5. Hooray for racing!

35: I've hear the N****R race in Texas was rained out today. Hopefully VERSUS - who graciously gave a group of IndyCar fans a tour of their trucks today - will benefit with a ratings bump. Hope springs eternal.

37: The Big Hyphen leads Wilson by over 2 seconds and Kanaan and Briscoe by over 7 seconds. Smell ya later, dudes.

38: I can't hear the VERSUS commentary, so if when Jack Arute says something memorable I'm going to be totally oblivious. My viewing is not enhanced.

40: Hunter-Reay, Wilson, Power, Kanaan, Briscoe. Simona 17th, Danica 18th for those who are interested.

43: Haven't had a yellow flag yet. Shades of Homestead in '09.

44: First to last on the track is a 48 second differential, so we aren't likely to see any lapped traffic come in to play.

46: Tagliani makes what's likely an unscheduled pit stop. Must not have gotten fully fueled on his first stop since it seemed like he only got more ethanol.

48: Evidently T&S was wrong since Hunter-Reay is now all up on Alex Lloyd and about to lap him. Meanwhile Wilson is closing on Hunter-Reay. Oh, the drama!

51: Wilson has caught Hunter-Reay, who is still battling to get around Lloyd. In fairness to Alex, he's running well and not exactly blocking.

53: And...finally Hunter-Reay gets around Lloyd. Wilson tries to duck underneath and OUCH Lloyd cuts him off and folds up Wilson's front wing. Oh, that's gonna be a pitstop.

54: Lloyd may have a cut tire as well as both he and Wilson pit. Dreyer & Reinbolds Larry Curry is shouting and finger-pointing at an official right now.

55: Hunter-Reay, Power, Kanaan, Dixon, Helio.

56: Pitstops for what seems like all the leaders so I have no idea who's leading. Maybe Dixon? Meanwhile Baguette is 11 laps off. Toasted in the pits with "mechanical" issues.

59: Dixon pits. The last driver left to make a second stop is Mike Conway. Leaders are now Hunter-Reay, Power, and Conweezy.

60: YELLOW! Rahal goes into the tires and Mario Romancini goes right into his attenuator. The Grahamerican jumps out of the car and goes over to "have words" with Mario. Replay shows Mario hip-checked Graham in a battle for 20th, and Graham got his hands off the steering wheel about a split second before incurring a broken wrist.

61: Apparently D&R's Larry Curry was not exactly pleased with race control either. He said "If Brian Barnhart won't do his job they need to get someone who can!" Much discussion regarding the concept of ordering drivers to allow themselves to be lapped breaks out all around.

65: Leaders are Hunter-Reay, Power, Wilson, Dixon, Kanaan. That yellow was good news for Justin but bad for his teammate Conway who hadn't yet made his 2nd pit stop.

66: Back to GREEN! And we are cleanly back to racing.

67: Wilson, enraged by earlier events, closes in and passes Will Power for second. Elsewhere Danica makes an aggressive more and passes Simona for 16th.

68: Hunter-Reay has a lead over Wilson of over three seconds. To quote Morrissey, stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.

69: Sato is kindly pulling aside and letting everyone not named "Milka" around him. He just wants everyone to get a better look at his stylin' ride.

72: Hunter-Reay's lead is up to 6 seconds, which may be due in part to the lapped Rafa Matos who seems to be holding up Wilson. Where's the love, Rafa?

74: Moraes is up to 6th. Really. Very stealth performance by the lost Jonas Brother today.

76: Hunter-Reay is in total control. Wouldn't be surprised if he soon starts tweeting from the car about how awesome his Dallara is handling.

79: True story: walking pit road during a practice session some guy came flying by me, tripped on the curb, and fell down. It was Michael Andretti, and in the second before he got up I momentarily panicked that he had snaped his ankle and everyone would blame me.

80: I only mention that because Andretti's team is about to get his first win in quite a few races. (Maybe Milwaukee in '08?)

81: Hunter-Reay by 5 seconds. Wilson, Power, Dixon, Kanaan. Moraes still hanging in 6th.

84: White flag. You know who by a comfortable margin. I'm sure IZOD is quite thrilled about their driver winning at Long Beach.

85: Checkered flag for Ryan Hunter-Reay, winner of the 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach! A few folks here in the media center declared "that's kinda nice". If you mean seeing someone other than Team Penske win this year I'd say that's an understatement.

Post-race interviews deployed: Ryan says his car was "fun" a bunch of times. Dedicates his race to his mother who passed away last year. Gets some sugar from his main squeeze Beccy Gordon. Thanks IZOD and Michael Andretti.

Meanwhile...hey, I need to get ready for the post-race press conference! Sorry to cut things short today, so thanks to all of you for enjoying the race. I've got work to do, so thank you very much, and good night.

Saturday Afternoon at Long Beach

2010-04-17T16:58:00.003-07:00

I'll try to continue by avoiding any name-dropping today, simply reporting the news that fits. Here's what this fully sunscreened word butcher uncovered today.

Paul Tracy had a presser announcing what everyone anticipated would be a three or four race deal. Turns out it's an Indy-only fourth car with KVRT. The Canadian fans may now gasp in horror and cancel their Geico insurance. Assuming you can get that in The Great White North.

TSO Patrick (do sign up) asked the first question to team co-owner Jimmy Vasser: "How are you fixed for stuff since some of the KV equipment has been torn up this year?" Paul responded first saying "I asked the same question!"

Also, someone asked if Vasser's success today in the Pro-Celeb race (shameless plug: read all about it at The Silent Pagoda) made them think about entering a 5th car at Indy. Co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven quipped "Have you seen Jimmy's waistline? He'll fit in a (pro-celeb) car, that's it." (Note: Kalkhoven actually said "Toyota", but the pro-celeb cars are Honda Civics, and I didn't want to get Kevin in trouble with Honda since they are the sole engine provider of the IndyCar series...and maybe I just did.

(Ed Note: turns out Kalkhoven was right - those were Toyota Scion TCs in the pro-celeb race. My bad. Now we know why Kevin owns a race team and I own a blog.)

One final note relating to the Pro-Celeb race: beforehand they had a singing of Our National Anthem, and I noticed a few foreign drivers rolling by on their scooters as many Americans stood at attention. It doesn't bother me too much me since after all, it's not their country. But ONE foreign driver not only stopped walking back towards the trailer, but also removed his hat - Scott Dixon. Respect.

I walked around a bit to watch qualifications later in the day, but really there's not much to report. The smell of racing fuel and tires is awesome, but you don't need me to tell you that. Mostly though I was in the bowels of the media center writing that post for Silent Pagoda. However, I did attend the subsequent interview with the participants in the Firestone Fast Six - none of whom drive for Chip Ganassi.

Press conferences are always more lively with this many drivers, but with Helio and Tony Kanaan sitting at the same table it's practically begging for distraction. These two were clowning around the whole time with hand gestures and whispering and laughing - honestly kids, go to the back of the class until you can conduct yourselves better! (And by that I mean thank goodness for entertaining guys like these two.)

Seriously, at one point Kanaan had his hands under the table and looked like he might be tweeting. I can't confirm that though.

Asked about Will's run of success this year Kanaan said "We (other drivers) wake up every morning thinking about him...wondering what are we gonna do to beat him." Did anyone suspect Will Power would be getting into other drivers head this season? Other that Shane Rogers, that is.

It's gotten so bad that Helio joked "We just and to take one read tire from him," and I think Justin Wilson said "yeah, the left front". Even Ryan Briscoe, who wears the expression of the 3rd best driver on a 2-car team, said half-jokingly in response to a question of Rick Mears assistance to the Team Penske drivers "He's helping Will too much".

Lastly I found Robin Miller (does that count as name-dropping?) because I had to ask if that Facebook page was actually his. His response was that someone - he doesn't know whom - set it up and he only found out about it when he started getting emails with questions from Facebook users. But he doesn't use it at all otherwise. In fact, of the new media he said "I'm too old for that s--t", adding "nobody picks up the phone and just calls anymore".

Blogger victory of sorts, I suppose.

Saturday Morning at Long Beach

2010-04-17T10:42:00.003-07:00

Good morning from beautiful Southern California, which because of the proximity to the beautiful Pacific Ocean will always be just as beautiful as any other universally-proclaimed beautiful facility elsewhere.

After re-reading my own post from last night (yes, I do read my own press - ahem) I realized it was sorely lacking in any journalism-ish-ness. So today I decided to represent THE FANS by speaking truthiness to power, or whatever that phrase is, and taking off my shoe and pounding it on the table of the IndyCar.com braintrust and demanding to know what in the world is UP with Timing and Scoring being all effed up much of the time.

And by shoe-pounding I mean humbly asking in polite and respectful tones.

Turns out these folks actually should have some sympathy for the predicament, because they're trying to bring the data that anyone walking pit road can see to the internet without the benefit of having a stable and proven interface. In simple terms, it's kinda like they're trying to teleport the Jeff Goldblum scoring data and putting him all back together covered in flies. And as you've seen, the results can be a bit grotesque.

As it was explained to me, all of the scoring data is collected by an application known as "Result Protocol", which is fantastic for providing trackside information but has no compatible web interface. Due to constant feature updates this tends to wreck the interface that the IndyCar.com people use on the web site, and you the consumer suffer the consequences. All this time everything looks wonderful for race teams and IRL officials.

The solution likely will be to find some type of scoring system that already has a designed and supported interface (wait...I see your glazing over again). Let me try that again - they need to have someone who can properly control both telepods, flies and all. In the meantime know they are "getting hammered" from people complaining, and are trying to constantly monitor every session, even entering manual codes to try to correctly display stuff during sessions. And as an IT guy by trade I can tell you "manual" is a practically four-letter word.

Bottom line: it's not the fault of the web sites designers - it's someone else's for buying a timing and scoring solution that doesn't "solve" all of the IRL needs. With several thousand fans following even the Lights events the web presence is only going to be leaned on more and more by fans. And if the sport is ever going to have data shown on other sites (i.e. VERSUS or ESPN) this issue might want to be bumped up in priority.

In the meantime, they appreciate your feedback and believe me they're fully embarrassed and not happy with the situation.

Friday at Long Beach

2010-04-16T21:13:00.009-07:00

It's been a while since your humble host was actually in attendance for an IndyCar event, but after last year's enjoyable time wandering around the IMMENSE grounds at Long Beach I decided I had to come back. Mind you, I'm not beating the path to try to find actual news, but to try to bring you something interesting you won't get elsewhere. I have no idea how your favorite driver did in practice today (unless your favorite driver is Ryan Hunter-Reay or Milka Duno, who were fastest and slowest respectively), but hopefully some of this otherwise lengthy post will prove worthwhile.

A word of warning - I'm not a big name dropper, but I'm about to drop enough names to make the floor shatter worse than Lindy Thackston's iPhone. And yes, this is actually Lindy's phone (first name dropped - BAM!) and yes it actually works. I have no idea how she tweets on that thing without shredding her fingers like one of Tomas Scheckter's former half shafts.

Jack Arute - Lindy's co-host Jack Arute was sighted, with lighter and little brown cigarette tightly gripped in his left hand. Lucky for me I caught Jack before he smoked it, because I'd forgotten how much of a close talker he is. Seriously, I've had dentists work on me from greater distances. I'll give Jack this - it might be the tan he's aquired from the surface of the sun, but he really does have thick skin because he told me how much he enjoys the fun us bloggers poke at him. Either that or it's reverse psychology. Oh, and Jack couldn't contain his enthusiasm for telling me how much he loves reading "pressdog". Of course.

"Leah" - Back in the "deadline" media center, an unnamed member of the regulars has brought along a hearing-assisting dog to the races this year. (Note: this media member insisted their hearing loss was NOT due to attending too many loud-ass street races.) Anyhow, I've never heard of a dog in a media center before, so I had to say hello to "Leah", a tiny little chihuahua, who immediately jumped in my lap and decided I was the coolest person in the world. I'm thinking I should bring her a chalupa tomorrow.

Graham Rahal - Alright, I didn't actually talk to Graham today. And if I ever do I'd have to say "Hi, I'm the guy that wrote the 'obviously' post and I suppose you want to punch me in the face", but what I did see was Graham sitting outside the Sarah Fisher Racing trailer talking to his dad, then a few minutes later The Grahamerican was in the Newman Haas Lanigan area being handed a phone that some other guy dialed, then a couple minutes later jumping onto his scooter and being handed a FedEx envelope from some mystery man. I swear, this all happened. Could mean nothing, but I remind you all Tony Soprano was never actually declared dead in that final episode.

Side note: speaking of scooters, the Luczo Dragon one is a simply beautiful display of total chrome. I coudnlt determine if it was Autobot or Decepticon, though.

Paul Tracy - I noticed Paul in one of the KVRT pit boxes. As you can see, he appears to be losing both weight and hair. Still fully stocked with attitude, as anyone who follows his twitter account can confirm.

James Hinchcliffe - Hinch, a fine young driver who knows not only understands how to use new media (see Hinchtown) but also can tell a story, explained what happened after that crazy first lap incident with Phillip Major at St Pete. Hinch said he was really PO'd at Major, who's his roommate in Indy, after the incident, and was ready unload after the wreck. But Major came up to him first and was so sorry he was nearly in tears, to which Hinch said "So then I was twice as mad, because not only did he take me out but he deprived me of my moment of rage, but then you can't yell at a guy when he's so sorry he's crying." They went back, grilled some steaks, and it's all good.

Randy Bernard - If you read one thing this entire post, this is it. I was standing outside of the "deadline" press room where word butchers sneak into and pretend they're cool, and new Vice President of the IndyCar Universe Amy Konrath came over and personally introduced me to The 'Nard Dog himself. It's moments like this I really wish my site had a more authoritative name, like "Indy Racing Times-Chronicle". Oh well.

I figured I didn't have a lot of time, so after exchanging pleasantries and saying he's making a great first impression I asked one question about an answer he gave in an interview about the importance of developing the IndyCar ladder series. He said he's been speaking with Mazda, Ford and several other manufacturers and reached out to every karting series he can find to see what it's going to take to organize a clear path for would-be IndyCar drivers here in the US. He noted that there are not only tens of thousands of kids in America who race some form karting but also around half are from ages 21-32 and are above average in income. His point was there are people with both passion and disposable income on the sport without ever making a connection to the IndyCar series.

He wants to see if there can't be more commonality among series, like say having portable chassis so costs aren't completely sunk from year to year. He wants to try to set up regional clinics organizing the series and presenting them together at IndyCar-related events involving IRL personalities. He wants to have a publication that goes out to all participants that keeps them connected and involved.

He was throwing so much stuff at me I couldn't keep up. And all this was just from a single question. I was kinda overwhelmed to think that this guy, who's been on the job just a few weeks, was already informed and putting together a plan for trying to connect the sport with a fiscally invested base. He even clarified to say he wasn't necessarily looking at N****R but other sports to see how to best emulate the development and retention of talent. I know, I'm like the bazzilionth person to say this, but color me extremely impressed.

Al Unser Jr - I will never live this down, but every bit of it is true as Stephanie Wallcraft of Planet-IRL, who was standing next to me at the time, can attest. Little Al's gracious wife, Gina, has been sending me complimentary "tweets" on twitter for some time, so when I saw the two of them walking by I just had to say "Hi Al! You know, I totally rooted against you when you first raced but I really grew to like you and appreciate all that you've done and continue to do for the sport. But if you don't mind I have to introduce myself to your wife..." And so I did, much to his confusion.

Lastly, not famous to you but to me, thanks to the wonderful Stephanie, Marc, and Terry for inviting me to some great dinner conversation tonight. It was good to talk about racing in person with folks I otherwise only know digitally.

Final caveat: Golf clap to Rachel of Swift Engineering (a.k.a. @Pinkgineer) for going the extra mile to have pink eyebrows.

Until tomorrow, friends...

PS - if you're left asking "but what about the cars, the times, the track..." I suggest you subscribe to TrackSide Online right now. Best $22 you'll spend all year.

The hometown underdog

2010-04-15T13:00:00.006-07:00

Forgive me for invoking the name of the heroic Butler Bulldogs in this post, but the comparison in this case might be appropriate. For most of nation, Butler's story this year was that of a relatively unknown who managed to scrape their way to play for the win in their hometown. It was a feel-good story that ended when some other school that always wins everything managed to beat them by one point, depriving us from what could have been the best sports movie since, well, since that last movie about about a basketball team from an unknown school in Indiana.

And while Butler's 2010 season may be concluded, feel-good stories of unheralded underdogs will forever continue to bubble to the surface in every form of competition. Except tennis. Roger Federer has single-handedly ruined that possibility. But we're not talking tennis - we're talking IndyCars. Indy Lights, to be specific, and without any embelishment from me here is an exceptionally interesting press release for one Joel Miller of SoCal, who many of you might end up cheering for this weekend at Long Beach.

Joel Miller's talent in pushing the pedals and cranking the wheel were important of course, but pounding the pavement is what got the 21-year-old from Hesperia, Calif. a ride in the Firestone Indy Lights race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 18.

Miller lives about 70 miles from the street course in Long Beach, Calif., and he's been dreaming of competing there since he attended his first Long Beach Grand Prix a decade ago, when he was 11.

He's paid his dues.

He's racked up all sorts of accomplishments in karting, Skip Barber, USF2000 and Star Mazda. He's a past winner of the Team USA Scholarship and the John Gorsline Scholarship. After earning the championship in the BF Goodrich Skip Barber National presented by Mazda in 2007, he earned yet another scholarship from Mazda that helped pay for a full season of Star Mazda
competition the following year. He made good use of it, finishing second in the Star Mazda championship in 2008.

The following season he got picked up by Andersen Racing of Palmetto, Fla., a team that has rewritten the book on driver development. It has its own 1-mile road course test track; a regional, national and international karting team; its principals run the USF2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda; and it fields multi-car Star Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights teams.

Andersen Racing ran Miller in the Star Mazda series in 2009. (He finished fifth.) It tested him in a Firestone Indy Lights car twice; once in 2008 at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla., and again last December at Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Fla.

The team co-owners, brothers Dan and John Andersen, liked what they saw. They wanted Miller in Firestone Indy Lights and he desperately wanted to run one of their cars in that series, which is the final step before the IZOD IndyCar Series in the Road to Indy program. As is often the problem in such an expensive sport, however, money was the stumbling block, and it kept Miller parked.

He didn't like it, and on Monday he'd had enough. With a gulp of air for confidence and a smile on his face, he took all the tenacity he could muster and jumped in his 2006 VW GT1 (which has over 100,000 miles on it but is paid for), and hit the road.

"I literally just took off driving from home to Long Beach, and I visited every single company and person I knew along the way," Miller said. "I started when the first place opened and I stopped when they were closed. My dad has a little electrical contracting shop, and he has been keeping people informed about how my racing has been going. Even if I didn't know them but Dad did, I stopped by.

"You can't walk into a small company and throw a big figure at them and expect them to be able to do anything with you," Miller said. "But with smaller amounts from a lot of different companies and individuals added together, by the end of the day I was able to get close enough to call Dan and say I think I can do it. I still have some more calls to make, but I feel confident I'll have enough by the race weekend."

What was his sales pitch?

"I just asked them if they would help a local kid," Miller said. "I'm a local guy, and there were only two Americans who ran in the season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. - Jonathan Summerton, who is from Florida, and Charlie Kimball, who is from Camarillo, Calif. Charlie is local too, but I really want to drive at Long Beach. I came up through the local karting ranks just like Joey Hand did. He got to drive Atlantics at Long Beach and we all looked up to him for that. Now I'm out of karting, and I want to be able to drive at Long Beach too."

Now he's going to, thanks to the following people and companies: Doug Mockett of Mockett and Co., John Wilkins of Rancho Motor Co., Vance Mitchell of The Mitchell Co., Seers Lumber Co., Daniel Singh, Joe Phillips and Greg Ewald. "Doug Mockett is a long-time supporter; he's helped me since I did Team USA," Miller noted.

Miller is still soliciting other companies and individuals for funds to help make his appearance at Long Beach - and hopefully other races - a reality.

He knows how to add it all up. He took some time off from school to pursue his racing career, but he's currently a junior mechanical engineering major at the University of California, Riverside. Last quarter he recorded a 3.1 grade point average. When he was graduated from Hesperia Christian School High School in 2006, he did so as the salutatorian of his class with a 4.0 GPA.

But racing is still his career goal. "This is a one-off ride now, but I hope to turn it into more," Miller said. "This will be the only street course race I've done except for the airport course at Cleveland, if you want to call that a street course, and Trois-Rivieres in Quebec. I did those races in Star Mazda."

If the course and the series will be knew to him, he'll have some familiar faces in the paddock and pits. "I'll be working with Yancy Diotalevi, who was my lead engineer on the Andersen Racing Star Mazda team," Miller said. "It's great for me, because Yancy and I already know each other and get along. And there are other people on the Andersen Racing team that I'll get to work with again too, so that'll be great!"

One challenge has already cropped up, though. "I'm trying to find tickets and passes for all my sponsors," Miller said.

For more on Joel check out Junior Open Wheel Talent's post on this story.

(Press Release: Andersen Racing, Photo: Joel Miller Racing)

A brief Q and A with Bob Jenkins

2010-04-14T08:53:00.002-07:00

There aren't too many interviews done here at My Name Is IRL, but when the opportunity to have a little electronic chit-chat with VERSUS announcer Bob Jenkins comes along, well, saying "no" isn't really an option.

Here's his resume for those who may not know: Jenkins has 30 years of professional experience as covering motorsports, conducting either host or play-by-play duties for innumerable IndyCar and N****R races. Many of those were on ESPN, where he was one of the first announcers hired in the early 1980s. He even serves on the public address staff at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a position which I would surmise every young Hoosier aspires to at some point. And he's awesome.

(I know, it doesn't actually say "awesome" on his resume, but it should.)

So without any further unnecessary gushing on my part, please enjoy this little Q&A with Mr Jenkins on subjects like booth monitors, basketball, and the infamous "brassiere".

MNII: Since you’ve been announcing all different kinds of motorsports for decades you’re one of the few qualified to answer this question. What’s more difficult to follow as an announcer – 24 IndyCars in street races or 43 stock cars on an oval?

BJ: It's all the same, because I never look at the track. Once in a while I'll get up during a commercial break and stretch my legs and will glance at the track, but for the most part we all watch our monitors. In a normal IZOD IndyCar Series race on VERSUS, I have at least six monitors in front of me, the main one has the "air" signal on it, that is what the viewers at home are seeing. We concentrate on talking about what is on the air, so as not to confuse the viewers. Some of the races, such as those in Japan, Brazil and Edmonton, we call from the studio. Although it's nice to be at the venue, it's just as easy to call a race from studio since you're only talking about what's on the screen.

MNII: Have there been many names during your career that have been troublesome to try to pronounce? Like Simona de Silvestro or Thiago Medeiros or Dick Trickle?

BJ: My biggest problem was when I was doing a few Formula One telecasts, and also "SpeedWeek". Although I took four years of Spanish in high school and college, I was never good at French names. With a few minutes of practice, I can usually pronounce them correctly.

MNII: Your biography lists lots of experience covering auto races, but haven’t you announced other sports? Surely a good Hoosier such as yourself has covered at least one basketball game during your illustrious career.

BJ: You're right, basketball is the sport in Indiana. But I never was much of a basketball fan. I didn't play in either high school or college. I attended Indiana University and of course have always supported and rooted for the team, but this year I couldn't help but "fall in love" with the Butler Bulldogs. I think they stole the hearts of many fans nationwide.

The only other sport I ever covered was a track meet in Syracuse in the early 80's. But only one, I must not have done a very good job. The other sports I enjoy are hockey and baseball but have never done play-by-play for either.

MNII: Last month there was a very humble apology appearing at the TrackForum site under your name, saying that your announcing during the epic 2010 opener in Sao Paolo was “awful”. From what I could tell the only thing viewers noted was your one-time pronunciation of “Brazil” as “brassiere”, and most of them were amused and not upset. Was that message actually from you, and if so what prompted it?

BJ: I don't take criticism well but I should since I've been the subject of lots of it over the years. The "brassiere" thing upset me so much, I just felt I had to say something. When I go on the air, I want to do a better job than the time before and then when something like that happens it really bothers me. I feel it's very important to maintain a close relationship with race fans and that was my way of reaching out to them. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm just a race fan who got lucky and have the job that I dreamed about when growing up.

MNII: You once said in an interview that if you could broadcast any Indy 500 it would be the race from 1960, which you said you attended as a boy. This brings to mind an endearing image of a 12-year-old Bob Jenkins developing his craft by sitting in Turn Four talking into his track fries. When did you start thinking about being an announcer and was there anyone you wanted to emulate?

BJ: The 1960 race that I attended with my father ranks as one of the two most memorable days of my life. The other being a USAC "Championship" race at the Dayton, (Ohio) Speedway when I was 8. The 1960 race was one of the most competitive races, and I think I would have enjoyed working it. On the other hand, I would take nothing for the day with my father, who passed away in 1988.

People kept telling me in high school I had a good voice. So it was then that I started thinking about broadcasting as a career. My second passion besides racing is 50's and 60's music. I guess initially I saw myself as a "disc jockey", but in college I began to consider the possibility of combining broadcasting with my love of racing. That began to happen in 1972 when I moved to Indianapolis. Through the help of many people I was able to do that.

MNII: The fan reaction still appears to be positive to the VERSUS broadcast booth team that pairs you with Jon Beekhuis and Robbie Buhl. Despite his incredible on-air composure, does Robbie ever just go off or start throwing things off-air when something happens to one of his Dreyer & Reinbold cars?

BJ: The only time that Robbie has physically expressed emotion was during qualifying at Indy last year. It was the day that nothing was going right for D & R. At one point he had to get up out of his chair and walk it off. But I don't think it was obvious on the air. He's able to separate his job as team owner and broadcaster very well. I couldn't be happier with the two guys with whom I work in the booth.

MNII: Last question: With all of your experience do you ever get butterflies in your stomach, and if so are you more likely to feel them staring into a camera speaking to a faceless audience of millions or speaking into the public address system before hundreds of thousands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

BJ: I've been at this job since 1979. I feel as if I have encountered every conceivable on-air situation during that time. So I don’t really get nervous anymore, believing that whatever happens I've dealt with before. I don't think about the hundreds or thousands of people to whom I'm speaking. It's just me and you, one listener or viewer.

The only race that makes me very emotional is the Indy 500. During the 20-minutes directly preceeding the command to start engines, I think about who I am, how lucky I am, my dad, family, friends and my heroes who are about to run the most important race of their lives. I'm not ashamed to say that many tears stream down my face during that time.

(My sincerest thanks to Mr Jenkins, as well as Leslie Byxbie of VERSUS for assisting with this interview.)

In other news....

2010-04-13T04:16:00.021-07:00

Quinn's worth a look:

If PBIR's latest recruit, Niall Quinn, makes the Indy Lights podium at Long Beach do not be surprised. He was born and raised in Dunboyne, County Meath, a town whose streets were the backdrop for the historic Leinster Trophy Races for a decade from 1958 to 1967. Racing through the village predates Ireland's first permanent race track by one year and the town and event is held very close to the hearts of a whole generation of racing fans in Ireland.

Starting on Martell Brandy was probably not best idea when it comes to street racing.
[Pic courtesy of Dunboyne Car Club]

Quinn became a member of Red Bull's Junior team after winning their 'High King of Karting' title in Ireland in 2005. He was thrown into the cauldron of UK Formula BMW in 2006 and the German Series in 2007 where he showed flashes of his potential without consistent results. Since the end of the 2007, Niall has not had a full-time seat but he was the reserve and test driver for A1GP Ireland and ran in some Asian F3 races in 2008. As a fellow Irishman, I'm thrilled to see him land a ride for the rest of the season and Indy Lights is improved by his presence in the series.

JK Rolling on:
Being a Red Bull Junior program drop out is not always a sign of a lack of talent. Just ask JK Vernay who has just taken the opening two rounds of the Firestone Indy Lights Series. With three years in Euro F3 Vernay is arguably taking a step down in class and performance to compete in Indy Lights. Anyone who can boast a win in the F3 Grand Prix on the streets of Macau (the qualifying race in 2009) and has finished on the podium there is an elite talent. Just look at the following list of winners and podium finishers in the former Portuguese colony.

Ayrton Senna [Winner, 1983]
Mauricio Guglemin [Winner, 1985]
Michael Schumacher [Winner, 1990]
David Coulthard [Winner, 1991]
Jacques Villeneuve [3rd, 1992]
Jarno Trulli [2nd, 1995]
Darren Manning [Winner, 1999]
Jenson Button [2nd, 1999]
Takuma Sato [Winner, 2001]
Lucas Di Grassi [Winner, 2005]
Mike Conway [Winner, 2006]

The streets of Macau was the birthplace of the one of the greatest rivalries in Grand Prix racing. It was there that Michael Schumacher first got the better of Mika Hakkinen through questionable driving tactics. It would most certainly not be the last.

Vernay, now holds the outright lap record on the 'Guia Circuit' at Macau and has the chance to add victory at Long Beach to his impressive list of performances on the World's greatest street circuits.

Half a World away:

The VLN Championship is an endurance series for GT cars run exclusively on the Nordschliefe, the old, dangerous and spectacular Nurburging track. Porsche is using this series to test its latest creation, the 911 GTR Hybrid. The success of this car may have some significance to the future direction of IndyCar racing. On Sunday the car, driven by factory drivers, Joerg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler finished in third place. The immediate impact of this event on the IndyCar Series is minimal, but the longer term prospects are significant and extremely exciting. While the Delta Wing concept has all of the divisive qualities of a Tea Party gathering, it has become clear that it has re-ignited the potential interest in a number of European (and particularly German OEM's). The broad concept is a perfect fit for more than one of the brands currently under the Porsche SE umbrella (particularly Porsche, Audi, VW & Lamborghini). Ben Bowlby spent a not inconsiderable amount of time with Audi's Dr Wolfgang Ulrich at Sebring in the days following the 12 Hour race there in March and DW CEO, Dan Partel, has built his reputation on providing an international motorsport platform for European based manufacturers.

The 'very ordinary looking' 911 GT Hybrid, yesterday

In separate conversations recently, both parties have described to me how energized the major players in Europe are about the potential future direction of US Open wheel racing. Both Porsche and Audi see that there is an opportunity to develop an inexpensive production based engine program for IndyCar that translates directly to their offerings in the show room and this includes the diesel and hybrid technologies that both marques currently race. While the look of the Delta Wing may not please everyone, the fundamentals behind the design have, without question, an important part to play in the long term growth and well being of IndyCar racing.

Quote of the day

2010-04-12T20:44:00.003-07:00

"I wanted to see what happened in the first race and I had heard there wasn’t going to be any passing but I saw plenty of it out there...I intend to sit down and talk with the IndyCar people but really, I don’t think we need to change a thing." - George Barber, owner of Barber Motorsports Park, on his commitment to racing excitement at his beautiful facility.

Simona flashes mutant superpowers

2010-04-12T09:37:00.004-07:00

In case you missed it, here's Simona De Silvestro demonstrating her freaky inhuman visualization skills this weekend. Clear the space in front of you for when your jaw inevitably hits the floor.

I'm told Professor X strongly disapproves of this kind of public display by any his pupils.

LiveBlog: Barber 2010

2010-04-11T12:16:00.038-07:00

Welcome to Barber Motorsports Park, also known as "a beautiful facility". A gorgeous road course with a spectacular museum that, if previous auto races are any indication, promises to feature virtually no passing whatsoever today. But it's the "Augusta" of road courses.

Today's race features a compelling storyline of Will Power attempting to suffocate any hope for anyone else winning any races the rest of the year. The Toowoomba Tornado has won the first two races and starts from the pole today. Rumors are running through the paddock that he's a cyborg from the future sent to destroy Scott Dixon for the sake of humanity.

Meanwhile Mike Conway has qualified second, meaning he has two choice today. One: he can follow Power around all day and finish on the podium. Two: he can try to jump Power at the line and take an early lead, only to panicked into a mistake at some point later in the race. Choose wisely, anonymous redhead.

And with that, it's time to start.

0: Jack Arute is back, interviewing Helio. Jack was not part of the broadcast team for the last event for the St Pete race, one of the few IndyCar races he's ever missed. And of course the St Pete race was rained into a Monday morning. Coincidence? I think not. Somebody check Arute's home for sorcery paraphernalia.

0: Mike Conway is starting second, so he's getting an on-air interview for something other than a mid-race, post-wreck chit chat. And I could swear that Leona Lewis is wearing an IZOD firesuit and standing behind Conway during the interview.

0: Will Power enjoys his vegemite, so he's a bona fide Australian cyborg.

0: Marco Andretti has giant sunglasses with red lenses, smartly co-ordinated with his red and black firesuit. He's finished 23rd and 12th in two races this year, but despite that he's still exceptionally fashion conscious.

0: Justin Wilson says "a common misperception about me is that I'm tall". He made a funny. On a more serious note, if he can find a place to pass he could give Dreyer & Reinbold it's first win since 2000.

0: Jack Arute asks the burning question: "How do you pass when you can't pass?" It's not a real IndyCar race if Arute isn't making my brain explode with his mind-bending madness.

0: Charles Barkley's in the house. The Team Penske paddock, to be exact. Insert me imagining him telling their drivers "Paul Tracy is a knucklehead".

0: Now Barkley is talking to EJ Viso. EJ is about as big as Charles Barkley's leg.

0: Here's a perfectly-timed ad for Brazilian coffee. I think we all agree we're gonna need a whole lotta that beverage today.

0: We've gone 37 minutes into the broadcast and I don't think I've heard the name "Danica" mentioned once. How can this even be an IndyCar race with such an egregious omission?

0: Barber owner/president/overloard George Barber says "Ladies, gentlemen, ya'll start these engines." And the rows get "hot".

0: Power, Conway, Helio, Marco, Dixon and Sato will lead the way into the first turn. You don't need me to tell you first turn on a road or street course is often an improptu re-enactment of "Death Race".

1: And we are GREEN! And we are CLEAN through the opening turns.

2: Clean first lap. Everyone in single file formation. Apparently Dixon jumped the start (shocking, I know) and had to surrender back the position back to Marco. Power, Conway, Helio, Marco, Dixon lead the field.

6: Other than Dixon's jumped start we've had no televised passing yet. *sighs* Where's my coffee.

8: Timing and scoring indicates some passing back in the field...no, wait, that's just because Tagliani is pitting. Nevermind.

10: Romancini and Wheldon pit, trying to get off sequence. It's a celebration of pit strategy today. I tell ya, when you those IndyCar teams plan fuel strategy it's breathtaking wonder to behold.

12: YELLOW! Sato and his glorious Lotus livery is stalled on the course. This is happening during a GoDaddy commercial, which is the first appearance of Danica all day.

12: Delphi Safety team out to perform AAA duties and give him a tow to the nearest pit stall.

13: Lots of cars pit. Not all though. Helio, Marco and others stay out. And it looks like Conway has bested Power to the pit out line...wait, replay says NO! Power by a couple inches.

14: Now it's Helio, Marco, Dixon, Dario, Simona. Yet another Simona sighting near the front.

16: Back to GREEN! And Marco is all over Helio...hang on...maybe..maybe..YES! A televised overtake as occurred! Marco takes the lead, nearly running Helio into the beautiful grass at this beautiful facility.

18: Meanwhile Power and Conway are 13th and 14th respectively.

19: Holy smokes! Wilson just got around Hunter-Reay ON TV for 17th. And right after that Briscoe goes around Romancini for 15th. VERSUS is showing the passing but Jenkins and team are talking about something else. And now we go to commercial. *banging head on laptop*

22: Twitter is all abuzz with word that Taylor Hicks referred to this on IMS Radio as a Formula One race. FOUR TIMES.

23: Speaking of the number four, fourth televised overtake as COnway goes wheel-to-wheel and gets around Briscoe for 14th. I guess Power got around him at some point, but it was not suitable for television.

27: Marco is still leading. He has gone 54 INdyCar races since his lone series win. Calls to mind the Rocky Bobby line "If you ain't first, you're last".

28: In a related note I think this is Vitor Meira's 100th race. All winless. A moment of silence for all those second place finishes by Vitor.

29: Marco will pit. From red to black sidewalls. Helio assumes the lead.

30: I think Tagliani just got around Wheldon for 8th. There was a replay of a pass earlier so now we're up to SIX televised overtakes. I'm giddy like a schoolgirl.

31: Helio pits. This is a 90 lap race so he may try to go the distance on two stops. Comes out in front of Dixon, who was in 2nd. The leaders are now Marco, Helio, Dixon, Kanaan and Power. Looks like the fuel strategy by Kanaan and Power isn't looking so hot right now.

35: Tagliani and Hunter-Reay make pit stops. That's about all that's happening.

37: Hang on. Matos and Vitor are battling. Replay shows Matos nearly taking out Tagliani on pit exit. And back to live for a LIVE overtake of Matos by Vitor. Like Jack Daniels, that's Number 7!

41: Bob Jenkins tells us Takuma Sato is back on track. He's 21 laps down so I guess he has been for some time. I know, I really should look at the ticker on the screen more often.

42: Power, Conway, and Briscoe all pit. Haning together on a renegade pit strategy. Top 5 is now Marco, Helio, Dixon, Dario, Simona. Swiss Miss is all business today.

45: Replay shows Wheldon, Tagliani and Matos all passing Milka in one turn. Sorry, but passing Milka doesn't count as a televised overtake.

46: Mutoh, Sato, Rahal, and others are now going around the friendly moving chicane that is Milka Duno. Immediately afterwards Mutoh goes wide on exit or a turn and does a little lawn mowing. Nothing serious though, surrendering just one position.

47: Danica around Viso. Overtake number eight!

49: Timing and Scoring indicates not only has Alex Lloyd's car not failed him yet, but he's up to 8th. I sincerely hope I didn't just jinx him.

51: I'm a little disappointed they haven't said anything about the new guy named Baguette yet. Arute could go to town with that name.

53: Helio is all over Marco's rear bumper. Not passing though. Might not need to since if there's no yellow Helio could be the only car to go the distance on two stops.

54: Looks like Power got around Simona for 5th. Didn't see it though. Her crew says she will be 2 short of going all laps on one more stop. Life is 2 short.

55: Wilson around Lloyd on the replay. Number nine. That was for 10th so Alex has dropped a couple spots.

57: Marco into the pits. Helio leads again. After the stop Marco only drops to 4th. Dixon and Dario ahead of him.

59: Very brief mention of The Grahmerican. He's in 17th.

60: Another bunch of overtaking of Milka. Meanwhile Viso spun for some reason, but doesn't stall and soldiers on. No replay on what happened.

60: Dixon pits. Dario must have pitted earlier. Helio is ahead of them all by over 20 seconds. Laying the smack down.

61: Helio rolls into the pit box. Here comes Marco and...Marco will get ahead of him. Dixon, Power and Dario now round out the Top 5.

62: Wilson carefully overtakes his teammate Conway for pass number 10. Rejoice.

65: Quick math: Helio went from 32 to 61 on a tank, all green flag laps. He's gonna cut it real close to finish without pitting again. Not impossible though.

66: Meanwhile Marco will definitely be a couple laps short on his current fuel. Where's a spinning Bryan Herta when you really need him?

67: Milka goes off course but no yellow. Replays show Marco's strategist Kyle Moyer shouting "Crash! Crash!" at the monitors. Insert me spewing coffee on my laptop.

68: Danica tries to help her teammate by hip-checking Alex Lloyd into a spin. No stall and no yellow, though. Sorry, Marco.

71: Up front Helio is all over Marco like a cheap suit, trying to force him into a mistake. Meanwhile they're closing in on Marco's teammate and Helio's rival - TOny Kanaan. Gird your loins, fellas.

72: Behind Marco and Helio, Dixon is about a second back. Meanwhile Dario is 17 seconds back in 4th. Power is 27 seconds behind the leaders in 5th.

75: Andretti Autosport has not won in 27 races (Richmond '08). Without a yellow it's going to be 28. We're just waiting to see if there's a yellow in the4 next dozen laps at this point.

78: Marco is right behind Rahal right now. Massive airtime for Sarah Fisher Racing and Dollar General.

82: Drama averted as Marco pits. No tires, just fuel.

83: Helio and Dixon go around Rahal, so that's a dozen televised overtakes. It's Helio, Dixon, Dario, Power, Marco. I think the Ganassi cars need to pit, but I could be wrong.

84: Wilson around Kanaan. 13 televised overtakes, roughly half of which are by Justin Wilson, now in 7th.

85: Simona is stalled on the inside of turn for a local yellow...wait, now it's a full course caution. Time to bunch them up.

86: Arute reminds us at the start of the race at St Pete "Marco carved himself like a hot knife through butter." Ouch!

87: I guess the Ganassi cars don't need to pit, which means we can look forward to watching Dixon try to jump the start on Helio. That would be a nice bookend to this event.

88: Back to GREEN! Both Helio and Dixon are "on the button" so no passing occurs up front.

89: White flag for Helio, who probably furiously mashing the Push To Not Be Passed button.

90: And Helio is your winner, meaning Team Penske is now 3 for 3 in 2010. Dixon, Dario, Power, Marco round out the Top 5. Now we get to see if they have any fencing in Alabama that's suitable for climbing.

Yup, they got fencing for Spiderman to climb.

Post-race interviews deployed. Scott Dixon is complaining "I think the officials screwed us at the start". Don't be whiny, Scott. Not after driving so well today.

Meanwhile Helio is talking about his baby daughter. Looking into the camera at me in my living room Drops a "fun-tastic" in there for good measure. He's giving a master course in media savvy.

Marco has put the shades with the red lenses back on. Sounds low-key, but glad to be in the Top 5. Somehow his hair is still vertical despite wearing a helmet for the last two-plus hours. Impressive.

Well, that's it for me. I counted just 13 televised overtakes, although if you include the times Milka Duno got passed that number easily doubles. Congrats Barber on your beautiful facility, to Marco for making it interesting (sorta), and to Helio and Team Penske for getting it done today. Thank you very much folks, and good night.

If a picture says a thousand words

2010-04-09T19:03:00.003-07:00

What does this one say?

(Photo: AJ Foyt Racing)

Rico Suave

2010-04-08T16:39:00.002-07:00

This week, the #10’s livery is all about Dario’s magnificent hair.

Suave will serve as the primary sponsor of the Target Chip Ganassi Racing No.10 Honda Dallara for reigning IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti in Round 3 of the series at the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy Credit Union at Barber Motorsports Park this Sunday, April 11 (3:00 p.m. ET, VERSUS).

(MORE from ChipGanassiRacing.com)

Toiletries and sundries are lovely, but I'm still hoping for another Target sponsorship crossover with Guitar Hero. But that's just me.

When in doubt, look to Indy

2010-04-08T14:31:00.004-07:00

Yeah, I know, I’ve been gone a while. I could try to explain my absence but there’s little fun in such, much as there’s little fun in explaining how Butler missed defeating Duke by roughly the same margin Ed Carpenter missed defeating Ryan Briscoe last fall. (DAMMIT!!!)

It would be more exciting to envision my departure as a 10-day penalty served for an inadvertent word butcher attack on Graham Rahal. And an involuntary departure at that. Say, something like I was rendered unconscious while out for a stroll, waking up a dozen hours later in a dumpster in Columbus with the word “OBVIOUSLY” tattooed on my forehead. But that didn’t happen, I swear. Speaking of, pardon me while I take care of an administrative requirement once and for all.

Dear Mr Rahal,
Please accept my apology as I sincerely promise never to make light of any words you may or may not overuse. You are a fine young driver with a great future, one in whom Americans will take great pride for many years. In fact, to represent this I will heretofore refer to you most respectfully as “The Grahamerican”. And I’ll never, ever, EVER mention the O-word again.
Sincerely, Iannucci

OK, with that out of the way, the IRL is now rolling along towards race number three, which in all likelihood will have difficulty living up to the excitement of the first two. Brazil – which by the way is having even more calamitous weather problems than it did last month – was an unprecedented festival of street race passing, and the subsequent race in St Pete was a spectacle of the future of racing. Marco and Viso each led, The Grahamerican and Simona were racy near the front, and Rafa notched another quality finish that has him 5th in the championship standings. If only these drivers could start winning some races we’d be on to something.

However, race number three appears like it might well be the first snoozer of the season. Oh, there’s a beautiful track with a beautiful museum smack dab in a part of America that isn’t known for it’s IndyCar fanbase (Will McCarty aside). There’s even a chance that bona fide “road course specialist” Justin Wilson could give Dreyer & Reinbold their first win since the Clinton Administration. But there’s little if any chance for passing, as I may have mentioned a year ago and Dylan is mentioning now. With the track’s current configuration it looks nothing will help - not Charles Barkley, not Taylor Hicks, not even that creepy giant metal spider that lurks at the facility.

But no matter, because today’s news relates to a better place, as fan-friendly Vision Racing has announced a partnership with Panther Racing that will allow Ed Carpenter a chance to extend his streak of two-straight top-8 finishes at IMS. (And yes, two can be considered a streak.) Added to last week’s announcements of John Andretti’s ride with his cousin’s team and Alex Tagliani’s über-classy addition of Bruno Junqueira the total number of entries for this year’s running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing looks almost...quantitative.

Here’s the unscientific but up-to-the minute tally of entries:
5 from Andretti Autosport (M Andretti, J Andretti, Kanaan, Hunter-Reay, Patrick)
4 from KV Racing Technologies (Moraes, Sato, Tracy, Viso)
3 from Target Chip Ganassi Racing (Bell, Dixon, Franchitti)
3 from Team Penske (Briscoe, Castroneves, Power)
2 from Dale Coyne Racing (Duno, Lloyd)
2 from De Ferran Luczo Whatever (Hamilton, Matos)
2 from Dreyer & Reinbold (Conway, Wilson)
2 from FAZZT Racing (Tagliani, Junqueira)
2 from HVM (Baguette, de Silvestro)
2 from Panther Racing (Carpenter, Wheldon)
2 from Sarah Fisher Racing (Fisher, Howard)
1 from Bryan Herta Autosport (Saavedra)
1 from Conquest Racing (Romancini)
1 from Foyt Racing (Meira)
1 from Newman/Haas/Lanigan (Mutoh)
1 from Walker Racing (Gordon) – this could partner with another team

That’s 34, and that doesn’t even count the The Grahamerican, who at the very least has GOTTA be with a Rahal Letterman entry. Add another from Team 3G for my very distant cousin named Antinucci, a ride for AJ Foyt IV at grandpa’s team, and maybe a third D&R car for Ana Beatriz or Tomas Scheckter and we’re up to 38 – and a very probable 38 at that. We’re just a Roger Yasukawa and an Oriol Servia away from 40.

And (Jack Arute voice) this is one of the rare instances in life when it’s considered good to be over 40...and yes, that punchline totally deserves an eye roll and a groan.

Live Blog from Sunny (no, not really) Saint Pete Race Day #2

2010-03-29T07:05:00.098-07:00

So from a national broadcast on ABC, Sunday afternoon, with a N***** rain-out, to a Monday morning on the Deuce. Randy Bernard is going to have to get a rain totem and soon if the Izod IndyCar Series is actually going to attain a whole number rating before May.

Nice to see Jamie Little back on pit road. Marty is talking about birds and worms. Am I the only one wondering why Marty Reid gets so excited for the tin tops and is so laid back for the Izod IndyCar series (there, I said it...)? Maybe Scott Goodyear (another name anomaly in a Firestone-shod series) should borrow some Venom Black Mamba from Marco and set up an IV drip?

Race control has declared it a "dry race". Barnhart is furiously knocking beer cans out of spectators' hands - oh, not that kind of dry. Apparently, if it's a "dry race" you can start on any kind of tire, but if it was "wet" you have to start on rain tires. Decisions, decisions. Looks wet from here. Crowd is actually looking robust for a Monday morning.

Drivers are strapped in to their cars. Tires they are a changin'. Vitor and AJ are starting on blacks. Overhead shot. Skies look clear, ground is wet, overhead shot of the crowd is not as flattering as the straight-on view.

Engines are fired. All rows are "hot". Yes, even Milka's engine is working.

Turn one ought to be fun. Green, greasy track and some drivers angry at being up so early on a Monday may not bode well. APEX Brazil commercials abound. Skies are blue.

Milka spun on the pace lap. Not even kidding on that one.

Uh oh. Lots of moisture still on tires as they come around but it seems everyone is starting on dry tires. Everyone makes it through turn one, TK drops back. Uh,oh Mike Conway is stalled in T2, and Dario gasses it onto the straight and spins himself. Still pretty moist off the racing line. Both cars refired, Dario flatspotted all four tires as the yellow emerges.

Rafa Matos comes in for gas, Franchitti new tires and Conway also gets gassed. Franchitti took off his reds before two laps, so confusion over the rules.

Marco squeezes past Dixon and into P2 on the restart. He's on it. And looking for more as Power is squeezed off line and it's Marco, Marco, Marco in the lead. TK third, Justin fourth, RHR fifth.

Lap 42 - it's Briscoe as the bright sunshine hits the track, followed by Mutoh and Helio.

Lap six Dixon takes over the lead from Marco as Andretti Autosports flexes the muscles. Marty says "looking very racy" for the first time. Cars are still running weird lines as moiture is still off line. Helio drafts past Marco into T1 for second place. ESPN2 does not have side by side, so bathroom breaks are permitted. Gawd, bad daytime TV commercials for ambulance chasing lawyers.

FINALLY able to log in to timing and scoring feed. Lap 10 run down - Dixon, Helio, Marco, Power, Kanaan, Wilson, RHR. Brief interlude for a Panica as the Superstar drops from 21st to 22nd...already 30 seconds back. Rest of the Top-10 Tags, Sato, and my dark horse pick for the season EJ Viso. A Little sidebar on Simona, who is up to P12. Disco Briscoe in for blacks on lap 13, first green stop for anyone.

Bottom of the board 20- Matos, 21- Dario, 22 - Danica, 23- Briscoe, 24 - Milka...Dario turns fastest race lap flying past Danica. Milka has mechanical issues. Probably something to do with a lift in her right foot. More commercials. Thou shall not be denied commercials on an ESPN broadcast. Ever. Uggh.

Izod commercial - it's RHR in Alcatrazz shorts wakeboarding. Progressive Insurance commercial, maybe they should sponsor a car? Got to admit Flo is kind of hot.

Lap 17 - back in Dixon +3.9 seconds over Helio, Power passes Marco for third as track is drying rapidly. Power pulls out of the draft past Helio into T1...getting offline could still be tough, so drivers are actually yielding positions if someone is on the race line next to them.

Alex Lloyd is out due to suspension problems and smacked the wall. It's Dale Coyne Racing locked up in P23 and P24 as racing continues with a nice dice between TK and Justin Wilson. Wilson past TK into T1...looks like the only good spot for passing in the street parade.

Lap 21 - Rahal and Tags with green flag stops. Dixon is driving away +6.6 seconds over Power. I'd imagine more stops are pending. We shall see how Briscoe's early stop pays off. Back from commercials brief Lights interlude, props to JK Vernay.

Surprise, Sato is into the tires in T4, as Vitor was pressuring him and pushed him out in a battle for ninth. Yellows all around. JLittle said Sato's left front tire had been done for several laps. The series really should figure out a way to get cars off track faster, the yellows on street courses are ponderous.

Lap 26 - Dixon, Power, Helio, Marco ...everybody is coming in for pit stops who hasn't already. RHR +3 spots into fourth out of the pits. The track sweeper wakes up pretty much everybody coming off the line. Vitor stays out and takes the lead.

Okay Vitor is the race leader but without pitting, followed by Matos and Dario. I'm sure Vitor is happy to see Matos next to him as we head towards a restart. Or not. Vitor is waved around the pace car but for some reason the rest of the field is behind it, so we have a bit of a salad in the order. Brief editorial comment - it should not take 5 laps to pull the nose of Sato's car out of a tire barrier. Get rid of these lazy yellows, Mr. Barnhart. Yank the car off the track and go green.

Some fun in the field as Mutoh jets past Tags for fifth. Helio and Power squeeze Rahal and move past the Dollar General car. Mario Moraes chops off Dixon's front wing, Moraes gets a flat for his troubles and Dixon's wing is weirdly folded up and blocking his vision. I'd file that under racing incident as the replay shows both guys with some blame. Dixon, TK, Moraes and Marco all pit. Vitor in for blacks and gas on lap freakin' 34. Tires? We do not need new stinkin' tires.

Matos and Franchitti are the leaders, but neither has pitted since lap two so I'd guess they will be coming in soon. Vitor rejoins in P17 in front of Dixon, TK, Marco and Moraes to catch up on that group. Matos coming in for gas as the rest of the field bunches up like Iannucci in Phoenix traffic.

Okay, now there are several different pit sequences going out there, with Dario due in very soon while running P1, followed by Briscoe, Mutoh (!!!), Helio, Tags, Power, Wilson, RHR, Graham and Viso. There is a big congo line going as Mario Moraes is holding up everyone from Tags back while Conway attacks Graham at the rear.

Dario green flag stop on lap 41...it's Briscoe and Hideki Mutoh in second. That's right - Mutoh running VERY strong and you know that NHL can track every drop of fuel at the street festivals of speed. Mutoh is actually haulin' oats and actually pulling away from Helio. Moraes is STILL holding up a train of about 15 cars.

Man, ESPN2 needs to chill on the commercials. There was just approximately 1.5 minutes of racing between four of commercials here as we soldier on to the halfway point. Seven different leaders in the first 44 laps, and Hideki next in line as Briscoe nears his window.

Oh, no. Back from commercial to see Moraes and Wheldon being pulled from the car in turn one. Carbon fiber everywhere as it looks like Wheldon broke something and spun as he hit the brakes. There are parts everywhere as Wheldon's mirror sits under a Firestone banner. If it took six laps for Sato cleanup, get ready for 12 here. A big break for Briscoe to pit under the yellow though, as he was due in for juice any freakin' time now. Just wondering if Johnny Rutherford has push-to-pass in the pace car?

Power, Wilson and Viso stay out and take the Top 3. Okay replay confirms Dan's left rear suspension broke at the braking zone of the front straight, and sent him on a ride. Could've been much worse, but it was unfortunate for Moraes being in the wrong place as Dapper Dan spun on by. Another bad break cuts off Marty in mid-sentence with dumb ESPN commercials.

Lap 51 - Top-3 remains the same, followed, by Simona, Danica and Dario. Wheldon apologizes to Mario and KV for taking them out. Nicely done by Dapper Dan, who also gave props to Panther for giving him a good car. Jeez. We are now in yet another break. The continuity of these broadcasts is terrible.

Lap 53, back to green as Dixon outbrakes Vitor into turn one, with obligatory Danica props for running in fifth. Dixon last pitted on Lap 40, so he's in shape for a good while despite the front wing disaster. Franchitti flat left rear so he comes in for rubber and gas. It's impossible to track the sequences. Simona doing a nice job holding off Dixon for now. Spoke too soon, Dixon past Simona, who now has Danica and her ESPN entourage in the mirror.

Lap 58, it's Will "Don't Call Me Billy" Power +2.5 seconds over Justin Wilson, with Viso holding down third despite a white wall, as Dixon attacks from fourth. Then it's Simona, Danica then another .6 seconds to the rest of the field spearheaded by Matos. Wilson staying in touch with Power, but not pushing too hard. Can anyone imagine the pandemonium of a D&R win?

TK, Helio and Briscoe all up in the gearbox of Matos. Viso in to the pits lap 64. He might be close to the rest of the race if we get another yellow. WOW, Viso catches a HUGE break as Conway gets punted into the wall by Matos. Full course yellow.

Fuel strategies out the window as engineers furiously recalculate. If they come in 66, most should be able to make it to the end. Viso...looking amazing if the yellow lasts for a while from P14. Danica comes out of the pits on reds. We shall see what happens there since they only have been lasting 10-12 laps. Power's crew nails the stop. Vitor stays out and assumes the race lead and we all know what happens when one assumes...

And my network crashes. Viso's gearbox says goodbye moments after inheriting the lead. Oh, Simona "obviously" gets divebombed by Graham, and while she sat in the middle of the track a few turns back, Dixon clips the inside wall of Turn 9 and stuffs it on the exit, bringing out yet another caution.

Push to passes galore as the counter hits Lap 80; it's Power back in the lead, followed by Wilson, Helio, Briscoe, Tags (!!!), Danica, Matos, Graham, TK and Dario (!!!) We have had 10 lead changes...and a big train of angry cars. Tags took on fuel only, and is being told to baby the tires. Lap 82 Wilson has begun to push Power and is pulling up on the leader's gearbox. Push to pass speculation abounds.

Riding on board with RHR - there are some fast times being posted with 15 laps to go. Power, Wilson and Helio all posting sub 1:04 lap times, putting some ground on the rest of the field. Sidebar piece on Power's engineer David Faustino. Who'd have thought Bud Bundy would be engineering the series points leader? Oh, it's a different guy. Or is it? The evil empire of Penske Racing can be a font of subterfuge and disinformation.

Lap 90 - Dario outbrakes TK into T1; it's game on for everyone. Power, Wilson, Briscoe, Helio, Tags...then Danica, Matos, Graham, Dario and TK. That 7-10 group is really dicing. Could be some antics there before the end of the race. Sidebar speech on how 'Stash isn't helping Graham with his sponsor finding. Big surprise there. Dario past Graham with Dario charging and Danica on her disintegrating reds holding up the line. Dario outbreaks Matos and is on Danica like, well, a Go Daddy commercial.

Lap 95 - Wilson has been stockpiling P-2-P pushes...and has +5 to Power. Dario past Danica and sets off after Tags, who is +2.5 seconds. Replay shows Will Power with a very very close miss in T10. Feeling the pressure as Wilson charges.

Three laps to go. Power and Wilson both furiously pushing to pass, while Dario runs down Tags! From P11 to P5 in 12 laps. Briscoe and Helio are also dancin' with two laps to go.

White flag is out. Power, Wilson, Briscoe, Helio and Dario, who is probably going to have to be content with fifth, while Tags' tires hold up a line. Danica uses her last P2P.

At the line, it's Power a few car lengths over Wilson, followed by Briscoe and Helio. Dario fifth. Tags holds on to sixth, with Danica, Matos, Graham and TK.

Little parting fact from Marty, Will Power is only the second driver in series history to open the season with two wins, the gone but not forgotten Sam Hornish Jr. being the other.

"Perfect weekend, perfect race," Power said. He's memorized the Penske Book of Rhetoric. Wilson did not use all of his Pushes according to Jamie Little. A second for D&R is a nice start. Briscoe charged from his bad starting spot, Helio not even sweating somehow after the race. Either a quick blow dry or a lap with the helmet off?

Thanks to St. Pete for letting everyone out of work today, and thanks to Iannucci for the spot in the lineup. It's time for me to head to work, as well.

LiveBlog: St Petersburg 2010

2010-03-28T12:54:00.004-07:00

Welcome to St Pete where...it's wet. Very wet. With lots of wind. And lightning. And puddles so deep they might be harboring alligators. And while that might add an extra level of excitement for race fans in the comfort of their homes, it's a living nightmare for the IRL logistical staff as well as the drenched fans seeking cover in Florida.

When the powers that be figure out when this baby will be raced I'll be glad to tell you all about it. For now, well, the intrepid Curt Cavin just tweeted "There is NO CHANCE this race is held today. NONE!"

After the weather-related fiascoes to start the 2010 season, I wonder if Randy Bernard is starting to plan ways to have indoor races.

UPDATE: Looks like the race will be at 10am ET on ESPN2, which is 7am for those of us at or near the west cost. It's like breakfast at Wimbledon for IndyCar fans.

Sponsorship Activation: Rule 1

2010-03-27T07:05:00.007-07:00

Learn to spell the name of your partner's biggest event.

Well done everyone at IZOD & IndyCar for collectively making yourselves look like buffoons! This is the Washington 'Natinals" all over again.

Washington's baseball team have blazed a trail of ineptitude since they moved from Montreal.

Robin says Graham returning to N/H/L

2010-03-24T12:22:00.004-07:00

At this point it's just a rumor according to Robin, but...

Graham Rahal rejoins the IZOD IndyCar series this weekend at St. Petersburg in Sarah Fisher's car but the 21-year-old second generation star is poised be reunited with the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team for the rest of 2010.

SPEEDtv.com has learned that young Rahal secured sponsorship that will likely put him back with the Chicago-based squad he's driven for since 2007 - beginning at Long Beach next month.

"I don't want to say too much yet but it's looking good for something full-time," said Rahal on Tuesday night following his ALMS Corvette test at Sebring, Fla.

(MORE from SPEED)

Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that tongues were wagging about Graham being a third driver for Ganassi? Yeah, well, looks like we can all forget about that. At any rate, congrats to the Son of 'Stache on his return to being fully returned.

Dario gets TP'd for 200

2010-03-24T08:31:00.003-07:00

Sunday's race at St Pete will be the 200th start in Dario Franchitti's illustrious CART and IndyCar career. He's marking the occasion with toilet paper.

Cottonelle Brand to Sponsor Dario Franchitti at Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

INDIANAPOLIS (March 24, 2010) –Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced today that Cottonelle brand will serve as the primary sponsor of its No.10 Honda Dallara for reigning IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti in Round 2 of the series at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (March 28 at 3:30 PM ET, ABC). Kimberly-Clark joined the Target racing program in 2010, and its brands will be featured on both the team’s IZOD IndyCar and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars this season.

(MORE from Target Chip Ganassi Racing)

I rather enjoyed the awful racing double entendres that resulted from Dario's Vaseline For Men livery, but I don't know where to begin with IndyCar potty humor.

Word on the street

2010-03-23T12:32:00.002-07:00

Based on totally unscientific feedback gleaned from such reputable samples as blog comments and message board posts, the consensus is that despite issues with the weather and the track surface (or perhaps because of them) the street race in Sao Paolo was pretty high on the entertainment charts. The biggest reason? Sao Paolo featured 95 passes, many of which were not only for the actual lead but were also visible to actual television viewers.

That's right, 95 passes in a street race. An abbreviated one, in fact. No wonder Jack Arute was talking about the possibility of swarms of locusts appearing.

Maybe it was because of the weather issues, or the track configuration which featured long straightaways leading towards abrupt turns, or even the souped-up "push to pass" button which now seems like less of a video-game inspired punchline and more like something that facilitates interesting racing. Whatever the reason it was...man, after years of despising street racing parades even I have to admit that was *gulp* exciting.

...and here come the swarms of locusts...

Now, your humble host is still a vocal supporter of oval-based preferences, and is not suggesting the IRL needs more street racing. But as the league struggles to find new venues it might be that we're going to get more street racing whether we like it or not. To think, just three seasons ago the IndyCar series featured exactly one street race on the schedule with the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg, but bimergification has prompted the IRL to add similar events at Sao Paolo, Long Beach, Toronto, and Edmonton to the schedule, and yet another is growing closer.

Baltimore Racing Development LLC envisions sponsoring the Indy Racing League event - including a main race with cars going at speeds up to 200 mph - starting in August 2011 and continuing annually for at least five years.

"It's a world-class event that brings global media exposure to the city and has a huge economic benefit for the city and the citizens of Baltimore," (Ryan O'Doherty, a spokesman for Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake) said. He said the city could realize $60 million in economic gains over the five years of the race, as well as hundreds of full-time jobs and millions in city and state tax revenue.

"They very much want this market," (Jay Davidson, chief executive of Baltimore Racing Development) said. "They don't have anything in the Mid-Atlantic."

Note the comment about racing in August, and couple it with this quote from an interview with Randy Bernard in the St Petersburg Times.

I'm not convinced that sanction agreements are always in the best interest of the league and I would like to see possibly co-promotions and I'd like to see possibly the bottom two events dropped every year so that we continue to make sure that we are bringing better value every single year to our fans.

If Tony George brought his hammer to work everyday, the it looks like Randy's bringing his axe. So with regards to August, a quick check of the schedule shows Edmonton (proven money loser) in late July, Mid Ohio (regionally close to perennially-discussed Cleveland) in early August, and Sonoma (chronically poor attendance) in late August as possible candidates for culling. Considering the comments the new CEO made in an extensive interview with Declan Brennan about focusing on the fact this is primarily an American series, Edmonton may be the slight favorite if there is a chopping block derby.

Meanwhile...anyone heard any good rumors about adding any ovals lately?

Quote of the day

2010-03-22T21:48:00.003-07:00

“I’m not going to be like someone else -- who you can probably figure out who...I’m not going to sit here and hang the N****R carrot over everyone’s head and say ‘Oh, well, if you guys don’t help me I’m going to just leave.’ That’s not the way it is for me. I’m committed to this.” - Graham Rahal, on his commitment to staying in the IndyCar series less than a month after the intrepid Curt Cavin reported Rahal was scheduled to meet with N****R officials.

(Thanks to pressdog for the find.)

Conquest warming Baguette for Indy.

2010-03-22T06:45:00.003-07:00

Following on from our weak pun based breaking news of a couple of weeks ago, it has been confirmed, by Conquest Racing, that the 2009 World Series by Renault Champion, the magnificenly monikered, Betrand Baguette will make his debut at Barber Motorsports Park.

March 22, 2010 (Indianapolis, IN)- Conquest Racing announced today that it will enter a second car in the IZOD IndyCar Series for Belgian driver Bertrand Baguette, beginning with the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 11th through the remainder of the season. The car will carry the colors of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium's National Team. The RACB is the Belgian motorsports governing body.

"I have always been attracted to racing in America," commented Baguette. "American open wheel has a rich heritage in competitive races and legendary drivers, and I couldn't be happier about following in their footsteps. Racing in the US is a fantastic opportunity for me, and I am excited about entering into this next step of my career."

Baguette, 24, received considerable attention in Europe after he captured the 2009 World Series by Renault championship. As a result of his success in 2009, Baguette was invited to test for Formula 1 teams Renault F1 and BMW Sauber earlier this year in Jerez, Spain.

"I am looking forward to the 15 races this year with the IndyCar series and I am thankful to the sponsors and for the support of the RACB National Team that have made this possible," said Baguette of the newly formed deal. "I will carry the yellow color of the Belgian National Team with dignity and pride, especially during the legendary Indianapolis 500. To run this race in front of 400,000 spectators will undoubtedly be a big moment of emotion for me as a driver and Belgian countryman. I will be counting on the experience of my new team owner, Eric Bachelart, to help me enter successfully into this new world of racing."

Bachelart is excited about the prospect of a Belgian driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Bachelart has watched the career of Baguette closely over the last several years and is optimistic about Baguette's ability to be successful this season.

"I am completely confident in the capacities of Bertrand to quickly adapt to the IZOD IndyCar Series car and the North America road and street circuits. I followed his 2009 season and was impressed by the excellent degree of competitiveness and maturity he showcased on his way to becoming Formula Renault 3.5 Champion," asserted Bachelart. "Because of his ability to adapt well to new formula, I am confident that he will also learn the art of oval track racing relatively quickly."

While he will not be racing until the Barber Motorsports event, Baguette will be attending the St. Petersburg Grand Prix this weekend to familiarize himself with the IZOD IndyCar Series, the cars and the team.

"I am really looking forward to becoming more familiar with him during the upcoming race in St. Petersburg," said Bachelart. "It will be good for Bertrand to be able to attend an event, understand the communication between driver and team and get acclimated to IZOD IndyCar Series racing without the pressure of also having to learn the cars on the same weekend. This should make Bertrand's debut event at Barber much smoother for him and for the team."

This is hugely encouraging for the IndyCar Series as a whole. Randy Bernard quite correctly stated that the IICS needs to have the best open wheel racers in the world competing in the championship. Baguette represents the next generation of such drivers and his move to IndyCar serves to significantly increase the talent pool of young racers in the series.

And his name is simply a gift that keeps on giving, so it's a 'win/win' for all of us!

Quote of the day

2010-03-18T15:53:00.003-07:00

"Jack Arute asked Vitor in the post-race interview if he had tears in his eyes. Vitor said, 'A.J. would kick my butt if I was crying here so I better not.'

"Maybe not, Vitor, maybe not. As hard as you worked to recover and as hard as you raced, you deserved this. I was as thrilled for you as if you had won the race. By the way, you didn't have to thank me for waiting for you. You drove like the champion we knew you to be when we hired you so of course we waited for you to come back.

"And when you do win this year, I'll be wearing my sunglasses, even if it's raining."
- AJ Foyt, coming thisclose to shedding a manly tear.

Obviously this is a problem

2010-03-18T04:49:00.005-07:00

In recent years fans of any number of sports have had unprecedented, round-the-clock coverage of sports to the point of receiving up close and personal at a near constant clip. Such is the task of the modern athlete, who probably feels they have a microphone shoved in their face every time they blink. Unfortunately this whole process of constantly seeking verbal feedback (i.e. "describe the feeling") has revealed that many athletes - like most of us - are not exactly modern-day Ciceros.

This isn't to say skilled professionals like IndyCar drivers are stupid, but rather that despite all efforts to coach the modern driver in the proper ways of conducting an interview many of them still suffer from verbal ticks manifesting themselves most often as "uhh" or "umm" or the ever-dreaded "you know". And you know who says "you know" a lot, right?

(Full disclosure: I'm not claiming to be immune to this disease. Ever notice how many times your humble host says "well", "look" or "hey"? That's not just typing - it's the way I actually speak. And actually "actually" is another one I probably overuse, but I digress.)

It's sad that it's come to this, but one IndyCar driver's problem in this area has reached a point of crisis, requiring an intervention of some sort. I'm talking about Graham Rahal and his abuse of the word "obviously", because not only did young Mr Rahal use the word "obviously" a whopping SEVENTEEN times in a teleconference with Sarah Fisher this week, but it was, in fact, the very first word out of his mouth. Here's the awful truth:

1. Obviously, it's extremely exciting for me...
2. And so obviously being that there was one race...
3. ...and obviously Dollar General for me, I just had to jump right at it.
4. Extremely excited and obviously very enthusiastic...
5. ...a lot of it has to be about the atmosphere, obviously the track.
6. ...and we're obviously going to test here at the end of this week.
7 and 8. ...it obviously looked as if we would be on the outside looking in, which it was obviously very frustrating for me.
9. And obviously for the first four months of the off‑season...
10. ...and obviously we've been in touch with various teams.
11. So for many, many years obviously known about Sarah...
12. Once we got in and we got going, obviously Dad did whatever...
13. So obviously I'm very thankful for that.
14. Well, you know, there's obviously ‑‑ there's a lot going on.
15. Because obviously, as I tell everybody, Sarah has been great...
16. ...because obviously she's already got one out of the way...
17. Obviously we want to be ‑‑ we want to be full time.

Obviously this "obviously" madness has to stop, and the best way would be for Graham to get a rubber band around his wrist so he could snap it every time he says the O-word? Here, let me finish this post by showing how this would work.

I'm obviously *snap* not mentioning this problem to pick in Graham. I'm only bringing this up because obviously *snap* he needs to overcome this issue since he's expected to be one of the faces of the league for many years. And obviously *snap* that means lots of interviews that can't be troubled with time and again inappropriately using the o-word. He's a bright young guy, so obviously *snap* I'm confident that with a little effort he can get this worked out, although it's obviously *snap* frustrating for all of us.

Please Graham, get help now. Before snarky bloggers start calling you "Captain Obvious".

UPDATE: Obviously Graham had to respond...

For those of you on my name is irl I have three words! Obviously! Obviously! Obviously! Obviously I need to learn more words just for you!

...and now, obviously, I'll have to cheer for him to win at St Pete if only for the post-race interview. I may even have to buy some GR gear now. Go Son of 'Stache!

Thinking green on St Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T14:51:00.005-07:00

Last week the rumors of the Lotus/Cosworth/KV Racing Technology arrangement became fact, although it's still unclear what exactly the whole deal means. It might mean Lotus will one day again create an IndyCar chassis, or that Cosworth will soon return with an IRL-approved engine.

It definitely means KVRT will have SMOKIN' HOT historically-themed liveries like this.

The classic Racing Green and Yellow livery used on Lotus Racing cars in the 1950s and ‘60s returns to North America, with its debut on the No. 5 KV Racing Technology car in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 28.

Lotus and Cosworth have entered into a technical and commercial partnership with the IZOD IndyCar Series team. The car will be driven by former Formula One driver Takuma Sato.

“This is fantastic news for everyone,” said Sato, who made his IZOD IndyCar Series debut on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 14. “It is exciting for me to be a Lotus driver and I’m really looking forward to great success with this new project.”

(MORE from IndyCar.com)

Jimmy Clark, Graham Hill, and...Takuma Sato? Who'd have thunk it?

Because we always need more road rage

2010-03-17T10:41:00.003-07:00

IRL CEO Randy Bernard has been telling anyone who will listen that his main priority is to turn the drivers of the IZOD IndyCar series into superstars, and aside from bikini pictorials or dance contests one of the better ways to make drivers more interesting is to have them form a solid, blood-thirsty rivalry. Think of Castroneves and Kanaan banging wheels, or Milka and Danica exchanging pleasantries, or Moraes and Marco having first-lap carbon fiber shredding festivals.

A rivalry doesn't necessarily matter if drivers are equal in skill or stature in the league. It requires that someone be mad, and that they go public with their anger so we know that we should be looking for something interesting in subsequent races. And friends, Alex Tagliani is mad.

As you might recall, Tagliani was tangled up with Tony Kanaan on Sunday as the two battled near the front of the pack, ending Alex's day and sending Kanaan to the back of the field. Replays though showed that the accident was caused when Dan Wheldon give Tags the chrome horn, which worked out for Dan since he finished in 5th. Perhaps because he inadvertently took out his longtime buddy Kanaan, Dan was rather apologetic for the whole incident.

“It’s really great for all of us at Panther Racing to start the season with a Top Five, but first I have to apologize for taking Tag (Alex Tagliani) and TK (Tony Kanaan) out of the race,” Wheldon said. “Tag had a bit of a bobble coming onto the straight and I got a really good run; he defended a little bit and I was going to look to the inside but decided to pull in just a touch and when I braked I hit a really big bump and it just lifted my front wheels off the ground. When that happens you can’t stop.”

Wheldon immediately claimed responsibility for the accident on the radio, and adamantly apologized to the crews of both drivers after the race.

Wheldon even apologized to Tagliani in person after the race, which seemed to be the end of it all until...

"He comes to me at the airport, apologizes and says, 'Oh, I'm sorry. I hit a bump and locked up and slid into you,’” Tagliani said in a phone interview with the CP. "And I said 'OK. No problem. You're OK. Thank you.' And I shake his hand. Everything's good. And then I come to Indy and I watch the replay and it's [Baloney Sandwich]. I'm not happy."

But wait, there's more. Act now and you'll also receive this special "you lie to my face" quote.

"I watched the replay. I'm not stupid. You bump me off the road. You hit me. You crash my car and then you lie to my face?" said Tagliani in a phone interview Tuesday from Indianapolis. "He (Wheldon) created a massive incident early in the race.

"I appreciate the fact he went to see our (crew) guys (to apologize), but the reasoning behind his excuse is total crap."

As the kids today like to say, it's on like Donkey Kong. For the forensically inclined members of the viewing audience you can skip to around the 4:20 mark of the video below and review it as you would the Zapruder film.

And while you try to determine Dan's actual braking point - which does appear to be after he gives Alex the heave ho - remember that once upon a time Alex had an epic throwdown with Paul Tracy (meaning Alex got thrown down by Tracy) over a similar incident on a street course.

I figure the odds of two well-coiffed drivers like Alex and Dan ever actually getting into a fight are roughly equivalent to Milka Duno winning an IndyCar race, but if they do surprise us and break into fisticuffs hopefully they both act like ~~hockey players~~ adults and remove their helmets and gloves first. Oh, and be sure there are video cameras deployed nearby as well. I bet Randy Bernard would insist upon it.

(Thanks to Chris Estrada for bringing this to our attention.)

The TV numbers are in for Brazil........

2010-03-17T05:02:00.004-07:00

......and they are sort of encouraging. A .4 national household rating is a significant improvement on last years season opener at St Petersburg.

It's hard to argue that those numbers aren't encouraging although there is still a long way to go before a race on Versus can match the numbers that any race on ABC can achieve. But this is a solid start and the addition of DirecTV's subsciber base should only see this increase as the season progresses.

VERSUS' live coverage of the Sao Paulo Indy 300 on March 14 garnered a 0.4 national household rating, the third-highest rated IZOD IndyCar Series race on the fast-growing sports cable network.
The race peaked at a 0.6 household rating between 2:15 -2:30 p.m. (EDT) and averaged 411,000 viewers, up 30 percent from the 2009 season average (315,000) and up 76 percent from the 2009 season-opening race (233,000).

The fact that the season opener was of such high quality and excitement good can only help too.

Quote of the day

2010-03-16T08:50:00.004-07:00

"Boy am I feeling lousy. Today was not one of my better days, or even close, but I hate to hear that I've disappointed some of you, to the point of wanting me replaced. It was a difficult weekend getting the pictures and sound, but I have no excuse for my poor performance. All I can ask is, that you give me another chance, and I'll hope for a better outcome in Birmingham." - VERSUS announcer Bob Jenkins, in a post at TrackForum entitled "What an Idiot!" (Really? Yes, really), apologizing for upsetting fans with what some thought was a sub-standard performance on his part for the Sao Paolo race.

I didn't notice any major faux pas on his part during the telecast, but then again maybe this means Bob will consider taking up Roy Hobbson's suggestions for stepping up his game.

(HT: Pop Off Valve)

Another long national nightmare is over

2010-03-15T14:09:00.004-07:00

VERSUS and DirecTV just kissed and made up.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and PHILADELPHIA, March 15, 2010 - DIRECTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return VERSUS to the DIRECTV programming lineup today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.

(Ed Note: I don't have DTV but I've been told this is channel 603.)

"We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV.

"We're excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule," said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS. "We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more."

"...much more..." is clearly code for IndyCar racing, right? Umm, of course.

mmack's nnotes: Sao Paolo 2010

2010-03-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

(Ladies and gentleman, once again My Name Is IRL proudly welcomes guest commentary from a man who evidently spent the last six months learning Portuguese. Still at home and still enjoying the amenities of the comfy couch, it's the one, the only, the mmack.)

Notas do sofá comfy Sao Paolo Indy 300

Olá! e leitores bem-vindos! It' tempo de s para notas do sofá comfy.

(Hello and welcome readers! It’s time for notes from the comfy couch.) Mrs. Mmack and I were rudely awakened to the fact that today ends Daylight Savings Time. Luckily we got to see the end of the F1 race, and had time enough to prepare an American version of a traditional Brazilian breakfast. At first I thought this meant a sword with ten pieces of steak skewered on it, but Mrs. Mmack informed me that 1) we have no swords handy and 2) the meat on a sword dish is Argentinean, not Brazilian. At least we have mimosas made with mango-papaya to tide us over. Kudos to the Fabulous Mrs. Mmack for Googling what folks in Brazil have for Pequeno almoço.

From watching Versus on Saturday, I’ve learned that qualifications were suspended until this morning. Part of the track is used as the Sambadrome for Carnival, and the street was PAINTED for the samba parade! Even after removing the paint, that section of the track caused much mayhem in practice. After grinding the surface over night, qualifications were held today with Dario Franchitti (Oh não outra vez!) and Alex Tagliani (Que boa surpresa!) sharing the front row.

After some indecision over is it/isn’t it raining hard enough to postpone the start, the drivers are instructed to start their motores and after the pace laps, the first green flag of the Dois mil e dez IRL season flies!

And it’s soon followed by the inevitable first yellow flag of the 2010 IRL season. Cars are spinning, crashing, flipping, landing atop each other, Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! Mario Moraes decides to even the score with Marco Andretti by leapfrogging his car atop Marco’s #26 machine. During replays of the first lap crash we see the dreaded accordion effect at the head of the field, with Sato torpedoing another car and then getting caught up with Dixon and Castroneves. Helio even runs over Sato’s front wing. At this point the survivors head to the pits for service while Jack Arute, looking less like a human and more like a walking stick of beef jerky (Jack, George Hamilton called, he wants to warn you about the effects of too much sun) tries to interview Mario Moraes and Marco. Mario is evidently too angry to talk, but Marco calmly talks to Jack about the big wreck. Mrs Mmack thinks he got some Thorazine in the track medical center. I think that after 100 million interviews about crashes he’s started or been caught up in, Marco is pretty blasé about these things. A replay shows Moraes going sideways trying to slow down before he vaults over Marco.

At this point, with hardly any racing at all, obviously pole sitter Franchitti leads, followed by Tags. On lap 9 the race restarts and everybody left is a good boy or girl and follows single file through the turns of the first actual green flag lap. Going from memory (Hey, YOU try writing notes with one hand and drinking a mimosa with the other and see how much you get written buddy!), the front two positions were pretty set for the next ten laps or so, but from third on back, dare I say it, we saw some passing. On a street course no less. Now granted, some of that was Castroneves and Dixon fighting their way up from having to pit for work on their cars, but Dan Wheldon (!) and Ryan Hunter-Reay(!!), you know, two guys better known for their oval prowess, were actually making moves and advancing to the front. Within a lap of each other, Ryan took second from Tags and Wheldon took fifth place.

And then Milka Duno stalled on the course. Que surpresa, or for Milka, en español: Una qué sorpresa. For some reason this means we have to have a full course caution. Everyone pits except for Simona de Silvestro, who stays out to take the lead. Her first race and she’s already ahead of Danica Patrick! Hey, maybe one prediction I made will be correct.

Speaking of predictions, Jack Arute breaks in to tell us those dark clouds we keep seeing in the distance are rain clouds, and they’re headed right for us. Ah, sunny Brazil!

The race restarts around lap 27 with Simona being chased by Dario and O-Ryan the Hunter. RHR takes Mr. Ashley Judd and then sets off after Simona. On the next lap he forces his way past her with a shower of sparks from the undertray of his car. With rain coming in Penske pulls in Ryan Briscoe to change to rain tires. On track, suddenly Tony Kanaan and an unseen car go skidding off into a run-off. A replay shows Dan Wheldon prefers slam dancing to the samba, and shoves Alex Tagliani into TK. TK gets back on track but no Tagliani.

After that the rain comes. And with it, those that stay out on slicks perform beautiful pirouettes on track for the fans, including Danica Patrick. Perhaps if Danica had more experience in stock cars, she would have avoided that spin. Sorry, I must have channeled ol’ DW there.

Now it begins to rain harder as we see Alex Lloyd’s car in the wall. The rain is now mixed with HAIL, and timing and scoring is knocked out! So on lap 36, the race is red flagged so we can dry the track and the drivers can have a siesta. I should NEVER have made fun of NASCAR for the delays in this year’s Daytona 500. Karma, it’s a buzz kill.

When the race restarts, it will be a timed race. Before the rain came teams gambled on when to put on the rain tires. With the track starting to dry out, now teams have to decide when to go back to slicks. Briscoe Inferno, O-Ryan the Hunter, and Will Power blink first and duck in for slicks. This gives the race lead back to Franchitti. The race restarts and there’s a lot of position shuffling as cars hit the pits to get slicks back on. RHR takes the lead and there is an actual battle from second to fourth with Power, Briscoe, and Matos. Castroneves is also trying to move up.

Somewhere in here Bob Jenkins announces this race is now the most viewed telecast in Brazilian television history. I think to myself of course it is. Everyone is calling everyone else saying something like “Hey, turn on channel 12, yeah, the Indy Car race. This one car jumped on top of another, yeah, IT WAS GREAT!”

At this point Ryan Briscoe comes up to second as we are told Ryan Hunter-Reay must MAKE FUEL. It is now a timed, fuel conservation race. Great! The announcing staff debates the merits of RHR staying in the lead versus falling back to second and pacing off Briscoe. Soon the point becomes academic because Briscoe passes RHR, but then RHR passes him back to retake the lead! Except that both drivers cut the corners and took short cuts through the turns while trying to pass each other. RHR has to give the lead back to Briscoe, and falls into the clutches of Will Power. A few laps later Briscoe plucks defeat from the jaws of victory and flies straight as an arrow into the tire barriers. With the resulting yellow, all that race leader RHR needs to worry about is Will Power.

With about six minutes to go, the race restarts with Ryan Hunter-Reay being chased by Will Power. Somehow, Vitor Meira, in the AJ Foyt Racing #14, has gotten up to third place. Behind him is all manner of slicing and dicing that portends mechanized chaos. Up at the front, Will Power makes a move and takes the lead from RHR. Ryan can’t get close enough before the finish to try to retake the lead, so the finish is Power, Hunter-Reay, and Meira for the podium. Although it’s not a win, hopefully Ryan’s strong run convinces Izod to write a full season check to Michael Andretti.

And for all the talk about Simona de Silvestro, let’s give a hand to Brazilian rookie Ana Beatriz, who finished ahead of both Simona and Danica in 13th spot, and is also the highest finishing rookie in the race.

In closing, even with all the rain, some dreaded “lock-step”, and a first lap that would embarrass the field in a bomber stock race at the Grundy County Speedway, the Sao Paolo course offered some actual racing, with at least three good passes for the lead.

Adeus do sofá comfy, everyone, until the next race at St. Petersburg.

LiveBlog: Sao Paolo 2010

2010-03-14T08:35:00.056-07:00

Welcome to Brazil, where the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season is about to kick off for the first time outside the friendly confines of the US borders. But it's all good - Jack Arute is there to make Sao Paolo feel just as awkward as any other race.

Today's race features 7 Brazilians racing in their homeland. IRL regulars Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Rafa Matos and a freshly healed Vitor Meira will join rookies Mario Romancini and Ana Beatriz, and thanks to a last minute deal Mario Moraes will be racing as well. Collectively they might outsell Danica Patrick at the merchandise trailer this weekend.

The big story this weekend is that yesterdays qualifications were canceled due to a slippery straightaway. The front section is part of what's none as the Sambadrome, although after removing the surface paint from the recent Carnivale festivities the concrete track was more like the ice at the Saddledome. The slippery surface might have been some nefarious plot to eliminate passing altogether on a street course, but Brian Barnhart called in the grinders overnight and now it appears we have a sufficient racing surface.

So we have a serious test of of the off-season conditioning today, as this morning they've had a practice session, qualifications, and now the race. Let's hope the drivers did their workouts workouts, are properly hydrated, and have made all other necessary preparations...

...because after a loooooong winter IT'S TIME TO START!

0: Dario Franchitti will be starting from the pole today. Arute is stuffing the mic in his face, and Dario does not disappoint. Says for Brian Barnhart "had to have really big attachments" to cancel qualifications yesterday. I just spewed coffee.

0: Alex Tagliani, in his first race for his the FAZZT Racing team he co-owns, is starting next to Dario on the front row. Justin Wilson and part-timer Ryan Hunter-Reay are starting in Row 2. Bully for the little guys!

0: And...we have a little rain. Now they have to figure out if they need to change tires. Jack Arute is showing us the weather radar, pointing to multi-colored blots. It appears it's May in Brazil.

0: Well, the pace car circled the track and I guess it's not too wet.

0: The most sedate man in Sao Paolo announces "...drivers, start your engines..."

0: OK, we have red tires, black tires, and our first chance to see IndyCars with a reverse gear. Hopefully this will help avoid a few yellow flags. On a personal note, I'd love to see the winner of this race circle the track in reverse for a super-slow victory lap.

0: For those interested, we have 5 rookies. Beatriz and Romancini, along with Takuma Sato, Simona de Silvestro, and Alex Lloyd. Quite a diverse group.

0: ...and finally We Are GREEN GREEN GREEN!

0: HOLY GOAT RODEO, BATMAN!!! What a messed up first turn! In what is possibly the worst start EVAH to an IRL race we see Helio, Dixon, and Sato are spinning, lots of cars through the run off, and Mario Moraes's Dallara is on top of Marco Andretti's head!

1: Marco is still stuck in that car and under that other car. A little help over here, please.

2: Arute tells us Marco has contacted his team through the in-car radio that he is OK. That's amazing - three sincere cheers for Dallara safety!

3: Replays show that Sato got loose entering the first turn causing the first mess. Moraes looks like he was spinning as well before he gassed his car over the back of Marco's. Boom, zoom, crash! (Warning: I'm fast exceeding my exclamation point quotient.)

4: Marco is out of the car, walking to the ambulance. Applause all around. Franchiti, Tagliani, Hunter-Reay...wait, now Power is third and Ryan is 4th? What? How are we passing under yellow?

5: Looks like some cars are pitting, none of the leaders though. A crane has arrived to remove what's left of Marco's car. Power makes a pit stop, so Hunter-Reay is back in 3rd. Kanaan and Matos round out the top 5.

6: Moraes declines to be interviewed by Arute. These aren't the droids you're looking for, Jack. Meanwhile, Marco has been checked, released, and will no doubt be tracked down by the very busy Arute.

7: Just got a shot of Romancini's car. Bright white with green "DOLLY" on the side. Now I have Louis Armstrong singing in my head.

8: Might be going green again soon. Gird your loins for the battle in the first turn, folks.

9: Restart on and we are once again GREEN GREEN GREEN!!! Through turn one, then two, then three, and we are in full parade mode.

10: Arute tracks down Marco, who seems fairly even headed about the whole thing. Said "couldn't see a foot in front of you" and that he was letting off on the gas, inferring the kind sould behind him might not have been so cautious. Marco might still be a bit woozy from having a 1500lb car sitting on his head for a few minutes.

11: Dixon has recovered nicely from that first lap fracas. He's already up to 9th, while Helio is back in 16th. Meanwhile Sato is parked in the pits. 20 drivers on the lead lap, with only Alex Lloyd a lap down after having to have some parts changed earlier.

12: Well, it looks like Milka just got lapped, so make that 19 cars on the lead lap.

14: Top 4 are pulling away, with Dan Wheldon all up in Rafa Matos' business for 5th.

15: Wheldon, Mutoh, Vitor, Danica, Conway comprise 6th through 10th, in case you were wondering. NO PENSKE CARS in the Top 10!

18: And Wheldon has gotten around Matos for 5th. Looks like Wheldon is moving up invisibly through the field. Would have been nice to see some actual overtaking. *banging head on laptop*

19: RHR passes Tags for P2. Hooray for televised passing!

20: Kanaan tries to get around Tagliani, but can't quite get er done. Locks the brakes but maintains control, drawing the applause of the crowd.

22: YELLOW for a stalled Milka Duno on the course. Why a full course caution? I don't know, and I'm getting tired of asking during these street races. I guess they can't just push her to a runoff with a local yellow...but what do I know.

24: Pits are open...and EVERYONE comes in. Nice and orderly. All drivers are on their best behavior. Looks like first out are Dario, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Tagliani, and Wheldon.

25: Hold the phone - one car did not pit: Simona de Silvestro, who now leads the race. She pitted right before the yellow so this is legit. You go girl!

26: Looks like the rain is coming in. Jack says "I'm starting to feel like the hippy-dippy weatherman." *another spit take*

27: Back to GREEN. Hang on, Simona - here they come! Hunter Reay is all over Dario's rear wing. Works him the entire lap and finally gets him in the last turn for P2.

28: RHR is driving like a man possessed. Takes the inside line, sparks flying from the bumps, and rockets past Simona for the lead.

29: The hippy-dippy weatherman says rain is coming.

29: Ruh-roh! Tagliani tangles with Kanaan and they both slide into the run-off. Oh, they Brazilian fans will not be pleased.

29: Hang on, replay shows Dan Wheldon punted Tags who spun into Kanaan. Meanwhile Briscoe pulls into the pits to change to rain tires...and here comes the rain!

30: Kanaan is back on the the track, and while we were looking at the accident it seems Dario got around Simona for second.

30: Lots of cars pulling into the pits to change for rain tires, but a few stay out. Curous call for those who stay out, as we see Beatriz, Danica, and Romancini spinning around, all without contact. It's like ice capades with cars. Quite graceful actually.

30: Full course yellow now as Alex Lloyd has made contact with the wall. Probably had an ungraceful spin, but we have no replays.

31: Rain is really coming down now. Arute suggests the way this weekend is going locusts might not be far behind. Looks like puddles are forming, which as I recall caused some significant delays at the race at St Pete a couple years ago.

32: Oh by the way, the leaders are RHR, Dario, Swiss Miss, Dixon, Wheldon. Meanwhile it appears Romancini has spun yet again. Hello Dolly!

33: Now Bob Jenkins says that Timing & Scoring is messed up and your actual Top 5 are RHR, Power, Dario, Dixon and Conweazy. Hmm. I think I liked the other Top 5 better.

36: Red flag. Everybody park it.

36: Arute with Tags, who is out of the race. He's not enraged, which is disappointing since I was hoping he'd go after Wheldon in the pits now. The only thing this race is missing a good dust up. Well, that and locusts.

36: Laps, schmaps - we're going to have a timed race. Just like that puddle-rific race in St Pete a few years ago. I thought this timed nonsense ended when the IRL went to VERSUS, but I guess that's not the case.

36: All the drivers are out of their cars, waiting for the signal to race for 45 minutes. It's like halftime at a soccer match. Meanwhile dozens of Brazilians with brooms are furiously sweeping water off the course.

36: Arute with Will Power, asking him "...what to do in the middle of a race in Rio?" Yes, he said Rio. That's our Jack! Meanwhile we learned that the Aussie is eating a banana and honey sandwich - what, not vegemite?

Ed Note: Shane Rogers, the International Superstar, tweets thusly: "Vegemite might be on short supply in Brazil, I condone the choice of Banana and Honey as the T sandwich for Will Power."

36: To kill time VERSUS is showing us 2012 chassis designs. Dallara, Swift, Lola, BAT and OH LOOK AT THIS AMAZING DELTAWING. Time for me to go make my own banana and honey sandwich.

36: Man, this race seems almost as long as the off-season.

36: Drivers are putting the helmets back on. The "Up With People" show better be wrapping ups because this IndyCar halftime show is almost over.

36: The command is given on pit road to fire the engines, so away the roll. The sun is shining and the track is drying, so the game of "how long do you race on grooved tires" begins.

36: Still under yellow with the sun shining on puddles, Briscoe, RHR, Power all pit for slicks. And there's still a lot of puddles on the course. Somewhere pressdog is readying the clown cars.

37: Franchitti, Dixon, Conway, Wilson, Vitor are now the Top 5. Other cars are pitting for slicks as well.

-38 (minutes): I have to change the notation since this is a timed race.

-36: GREEN GREEN GREEN. Target cars lead the way. Oh joy.

-35: Helio passes Viso for 5th, and Viso passes him right back. Look, racing!

-33: Drivers on slicks are marching through the field as RHR, Power, Briscoe up to 8th, 9th, and 10th respectively.

-30: Wilson and Helio have had enough of this nonsense and pit for slicks. Dixon as well. Hunter-Reay up to 2nd now and gunning for Dario.

-29: Dario pits. RHR has the lead with Will Power chasing him 3 seconds back. MMatos Briscoe and Vitor round out the Top 5. Much furious jockeying for position here.

-27: Hunter-Reay is up by six seconds plus. The Big Hyphen is opening up the can of of Whoop-Ass. It's chaos behind him as Power, Briscoe and Matos battle for 2nd.

-24: Briscoe is 2nd, now only 4 seconds back. It might be a Ryan-Ryan finish. Matos third, Power fourth.

-21: Ryan Hunter-Reay drives an IZOD sponsored car. This is IZOD's first race as series sponsor. Go ahead and start your own "the call" rumors.

-20: Romancini has smacked the wall, but he limps around without drawing a full-course caution. Golf clap here for Mario.

-18: Briscoe has caught up to the other Ryan, but that might be because there's some fuel conservation going on.

-17: Briscoe takes the lead...and then Hunter-Reay takes it back, but only when they both go side-by-side and take a shortcut through a turn. It's in the IHJ's hands now.

-16: The IHJ says RHR has to give back the position. Hunter-Reay surrenders the lead but lookie here it's Will Power all over his rear bumper! It's a three-way battle for fuel conservation!

-15: On a positive note, at least they have to conserve with their foot instead of the knob, since the multiple fuel mappings are GONE from the cockpit. Hallelujah!

-13: Still Briscoe, Hyphen, Power, with Matos and Vitor 8 seconds back.

-12: Whoopsie! Briscoe misses a turn and goes into the tires. So much for that Ryan-Ryan finish. Hunter-Reay retakes the lead, and we now have a full course caution. Tick tick tick...

-10: Hyphen, Power, Matos, Meira, Wheldon. Dixon and Dario lurking in 6th and 8th.

-8: This is actually lap 56 for those of your scoring at home. Or even if you're by yourself. *rimshot*

-6: Back to GREEN GREEN GREEN! Hunter-Reay and Will Power launch from the rest in not time at all.

-5: Vitor gets around Matos in a Brazilian battle for third. Vitor is smelling that podium in his first race in 9 months.

-3: Will Power, the Towoomba Tornado, sizes up Hunter-Reay and...and...and he's by for the lead! Tick...tick..tick...

-2: Here's the part where I tell my kids "I told ya Will Power would win, didn't I?" And they nod, because it's easier to beat Shane Rogers in a Vegemite eating contest than it is to best Power on a street circuit. (And Shane is all about the Vegemite, friends.)

-1: Dixon and Dario are battling for 6th. Getting dicey. Easy boys, you're going to be teammates all year. Meanwhile, white flag for Will Power, powered by bananas and honey.

0: It's Power, Hunter-Reay, Meira as the opening race is done. Man, I feel like I've been blogging this race for the last four hours...wait!

Will emerges, acknowledges the crowd and pulls bandages off his fingers. His hands are a bloody mess, and I don't mean that in the way Brits swear. Seriously, he looks like he's been in one of the MMA cage match deals. That's the price of victory.

Congrats to Will for showing Roger Penske he made the right call by getting him a full season deal. Puts that wreck in practice at Infineon last year waaaay in the rear view mirror. I may just sign up for Verizon as a sign of support. Also congratulations to Ryan Hunter-Reay for being up near the front all day. Ain't no shame in his part-time game.

No offense to those two fine gentlemen but the biggest hand of the day goes to Foyt Racing's Vitor Meira, who was last seen at Indy being pulled from a broken car with some freshly broken vertebrae. Months of rehab later he emerges as the top Brazilian in the homeland race. If anyone knows how to say "Way to go, Vitor!" in Portuguese I'll gladly second that exclamation.

And since AJ Foyt's team made the podium, you know what that means? Some quality Brazilian steakhouse is gonna get taken down tonight!

Well, that's going to be a wrap here. We had racing surface issues, weather issues, time issues, Arute issues, but in the end some sense of familiarity is restored as Will Power once again wins on a street course. The season is underway, and for the time being none of the three drivers who were battling for the series title last year are in the Top 5. Hope springs eternal. Thank you very much - good night!

Audience participation requested: fearless predictions

2010-03-12T15:05:00.003-07:00

It has taken be a mere four years of writing about the subject to realize it, but when it comes to IndyCars I know nothing. I mean, I know a few things like EJ Viso's hat size, the date of Dario and Ashley's nuptials, as well as entry code to Chip Ganassi's super secret underground lair. But beyond that? Pfft - nothing.

Which is exactly the reason I am not making any predictions for the 2010 season. Who wins the Indy 500? Don't know. Who wins the IZOD IndyCar series championship? Probably one of five guys, but beyond that I'll guess with ya. What kind of tragic karmic payback will befall ESPN for not renewing Jack Arute's contract? I shudder to think.

So I am asking you, dear reader, to stake you claim now in the Comments section now, before the 2010 season actually starts. Make you prediction. Call your champion. Call the first out at Indy. Call the number of teams Graham Rahal races for this year. Call the number of times Danica Patrick says "you know" on live television. Call your mom. I don't care what you predict, but whatever you do put it writing now so you can have bragging rights about it later.

Graham Rahal is saved!

2010-03-10T15:06:00.003-07:00

Our long national nightmare is over. Temporarily. So sayeth the intrepid Curt Cavin:

Graham Rahal has finally landed an Izod IndyCar Series ride, and it's an unexpected pairing.

Rahal will drive Sarah Fisher's Dollar General-sponsored car at two early-season races as he prepares his program for the rest of the 2010 season.

(MORE from IndyStar.com)

Pressdog sums up the weeks of peril best: "FISHER SAVES SERIES BY GIVING RAHAL TWO-RACE RIDE". The two races are the second and third of the season on the Streets of St Pete and Barber Motorsports park respectively. After that...who knows. Maybe Randy Bernard is executing some tremendous marketing plan of having the Son of Stache drive at least once for every team this year.

Meanwhile, here's an artistic interpretation from Tony Johns that should induce an aneurysm.

When the Captain speaks, people listen

2010-03-09T13:02:00.002-07:00

Last week a fifth (yes, I said fifth) design group entered the fray from the 2012 IndyCar Chassis Derby, showing that anyone with a computer is interested in designing the next generation of racing in the IRL. And you don't even really need a spectacular computer - you could have a Commodore Amiga or even and Apple IIgs - as it appears the folks do over at BAT Engineering.

The BAT Engineering design has not only produced a very fast car, but it also provides the strength and structure to allow the drivers to race hard and go wheel to wheel without ending their race early. This close racing and the durability of the car design, will add to the on-track spectacle and competitive format with more entries making the dash to the checkered flag.

Blah blah blah. Come on, BAT - if you're gonna be late you gotta come with something stronger than that. Anyhow, you can view all FIVE designs anytime you want over at this page at IndyCar.com

In a related note, I happened upon a quote from a couple weeks ago that had been published at the corner of the internet owned by Gordon Kirby. Somewhere in between 17 bazillion words of the typical Kirby tome was this interesting quote from Roger Penske regarding the DeltaWing, which seems to be lacking Chip Ganassi's level of enthusiasm.

"Honda's been a big partner and so has Dallara and we don't need a political battle with some car owners wanting a Delta Wing and other owners wanting to stay the traditional way," Penske comments. "I think if we wait a year and push it out to 2013 we can race what we have. We've had good racing and we can keep the costs down especially with the economy the way it is. Then Chip and those guys can get that car developed. Once we get it on the racetrack it's going to be real obvious. I think when that happens they'll either be a lot of support or there won't be.

"At this point I think any new innovation is positive and I think it's important that we evaluate it properly. I think we need innovation. The world is living on innovation and certainly this is an opportunity. What we want to do is evaluate it properly because a knee jerk at this time with a new car and new engines it's going to be expensive. On the other hand it might be something to take Indy car racing where it needs to be."

Does this mean Roger Penske wants to try to lock in another year of dominance? Does it have anything to do with the Ilmor/Honda current monopoly of engines? Does it mean he's not a big fan of jokes about race cars that look like phallic tricycles? I won't pretend to know, leaving all mind-reading duties to the more skilled members of the audience.

What I do know is waiting a year takes away one of the supposed advantages of the War Wiener design since it is said to be a lot further along in development than any of the other four bidders. At the very least we have some obvious hedging here from a man whose reputation involves very little second-guessing.

At the very least it's encouraging to hear The Captain declare "...we don't need a political battle with some car owners..." Amen to that!

Andretti V Prost V Mansell: The Previous Generation

2010-03-07T08:00:00.007-07:00

The most excellent Sam Smith at Lola has just been tweeting live from the Le Mans Series test at Paul Ricard today. Marco Andretti is partnered with Nicolas Prost and former CCWS pilot and A1GP Champion, Neel Jani in one of the Rebellion Lolas.

[Picture courtesy of Sam Smith & Lola Cars]

This, of course, means that the test is full to the brim of racing families of more than a little pedigree. There are a boat load of Mansells there and now comes the news that both Mario Andretti and Alain Prost will test the Rebellion Lola this afternoon.

So today we are in the extraordinary position of being able to compare the times Mansell Senior, Prost Senior and Andretti (very) Senior.

How truly awesome is that?

UPDATE: After some late day trouble with the Rebellion Lola, both veterans Champions are due on track later on this afternoon.

Baguette with your dog sir?

2010-03-06T08:18:00.005-07:00

According to my spies (okay one of my Belgian listeners), 'Der Morgen', the Belgian newspaper is reporting that Bertrand Baguette has signed with Conquest Racing to run the Indy 500 this year.

Baguette dominated the 2009 World Series by Renault (Renault 3.5) Championship. He is hugely talented but coming in to to run exclusively at Indy is rather risky. Good for the car count but maybe not too good for Conquest's bank account.

He also has a spectacularly funny name and it was used to great effect (I would say that) in the 'US F1 The Series: Christmas Special' [see below]

Pressdog scores again with Dallara interview

2010-03-04T14:56:00.004-07:00

This whole new media thing might be working out after all, as hot on the heels of his in depth conversation with Swift Engineering's Mark Page comes another thoughtful discussion with a representative from another 2012 chassis designer not involved with "Delta Wing". It's crazy, I know.

This time Andrea Toso of Dallara gets to represent.

On priorities:

Toso said Dallara’s approach to car design focuses on “the 3S of Racing,” -- Safety, Strength and Speed.

“You need Safety first; if you are fine with Safety, then you move to Strength, which includes engineering strength (reliability) and marketing (economics, costs, support and distribution ); if you are fine with Strength, then you move to Speed (which is performance). Anytime you have an issue in the Safety or Strength department, you have to address it right away, even by conceding on Speed.”

On cost reduction:

Dallara says it’s designs would reduce chassis costs by 45%. Much of that savings, Toso said, will come from being able to design a car for the league as it is today.

“The current chassis was designed in 2002, in an era of strong competition between chassis and between engine manufacturers, when oval races were the only format; so the car was designed to host a variety of wheelbase and track width options, multiple aero parts, pull rod front suspension (to reduce drag etc.),” Toso said. “By 2005, it had to be adapted to road courses, by 2007 it became de facto a single chassis – single engine series, as competition went away.”

There's so much more discussed - from open source, to the competition, to plans for building the chassis in Indianapolis - that if you have any interest in the 2012 design I highly urge you to read the entire post. If you don't have the time now then print it out and take it to the restroom as "reading material", strategically leaving it behind so someone else can absorb the depth of article as well. (You think I'm joking? How do you think I learned so much about computers?)

As a side note, I don't know about you but I'm excited about the possibilities of this increase in participation in IndyCar journalism from non-traditional outlets. Who knows what scoops the future holds.

"Perez Hilton discovers Team 3G driver plans for 2010..."

"Harvard Law Review has determined Danica Patrick unaffected by weight restrictions..."

"FoodNetwork.com reports Dario and Ashley adopting Hatian orphan..."

"Gizmodo has learned Roger Penske will purchase Greece..."

More Milka than ever before

2010-03-04T14:43:00.003-07:00

I could say something here, but I've learned over the years that Milka Duno news requires no spark of ignition from me to light a forest fire in the comments section. And I'm sure this ought to burn some people while filling others with a light of joy.

IZOD® IndyCar Driver Milka Duno has signed with Dale Coyne Racing for the full 2010 IndyCar Series Championship schedule. While this will be Duno's fourth consecutive season in IndyCar " it will mark her first full-schedule season.

"I look forward to competing with Dale Coyne Racing. I've had the chance to speak with Dale and the team to discuss goals for the season and we are in harmony in all areas", said Duno. "For the past three seasons I've only run partial schedules and I'm anxious to be competing in all the races this year. Doing so builds momentum and maintains consistency that I feel is a key factor to good results. The full schedule includes seven races at tracks that I have yet to compete on so I will be doing my absolute best to learn these new tracks as quickly as possible. This full season will be challenging " but I'm very thankful for the opportunity!"

Duno will contest all seventeen races on the 2010 schedule beginning with the Sao Paulo Indy 300 in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 14, 2010.

Don your flamethrowers and have at it. Just try to keep it within a PG-13 rating, please.

The Lotus Position

2010-03-03T09:33:00.005-07:00

You can't believe everything you read on blogs, but blah blah blah...how about some crazy rumors about Lotus creating a two-car team and replacing Honda as an engine manufacturer?

Rumors are swirling that Lotus Group is looking to join the Indycar Series in 2010 as a way to promote the Lotus brand. James Rossiter is supposedly being backed by Lotus in 2010 at KVRT as a Team Lotus USA/KVRT car. James tested at Barber with KVRT and ran around the middle of the pack.

However, this story keeps evolving. Today Autocar is reporting that Lotus has confirmed they will be returning to Indycar racing at the season opening event in Sao Paolo on March 14th.

"Although full details are yet to be confirmed, it is expected a Lotus-branded team will run two cars in the championship under the Team Lotus USA banner. They will be Dallara built and Honda powered."

(MORE from The Other Side)

The Autocar article states emphatically that Lotus is seeking a major role in the series.

Currently Honda supplies the 3.5-litre V8 powerplants in Indycar, but Lotus is said to be considering a bid to takeover the supply when Honda's contract ends in 2011.

What does it mean? I have no idea. This post is for the gearheads. And the British fans. And The Stig.

UPDATE: Guest Contributor Declan Brennan has gently reminded me that he was alluding to this very story last week here at My Name Is IRL.

*pounding head on desk*

Thus begins Simonamania

2010-03-02T09:40:00.003-07:00

Danica, shmanica...check out today's news.

In a collaborative effort with Team Stargate Worlds, HVM Racing will enter driver Simona De Silvestro in all 17 races of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series. Known as Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing, the No. 78 entry will carry primary sponsorship from Stargate Resistance and associate sponsorship from Bernard Richards Manufacture (BRM), FireSky, Cheyenne Mountain Games, and Cardinal Technologies.

As a public service to those of us IndyCar who know very little about Simona, I have busted out my Google for reasearch purposes. Here's what I found:

1. Simona is from Switzerland. I realize there will be a certain group of fans who will grumble that this is YET ANOTHER foreign driver in the IndyCar series, but this Swiss Miss has actually lived and competed in the states for a few years and lists her current city of residence as Phoenix. Which of course means there are now two IZOD IndyCar series drivers from here in the Valley of the Sun - and neither of them has the Y chromosome (hint: the other one models swimwear and occasionally drives stock cars). Perhaps we should rename the city "PhoeniXX".

And even if we must consider her a foreigner, I'm not ashamed to say that any country kind enough to give us Cyndie Allemann is okey doke by me.

2. Simona won four races in Atlantics last year. Not 1, not 2, but FOUR wins, indicating this is no backmarker type of driver here. In the 2009 Atlantics season three drivers each won 4 of the 12 races - Simona, John Edwards (no, not the politician), and Jonathan Summerton. Simona even reached the podium for 8 straight races, so Simona has clearly got some driving skillz.

3. Simona's teammate in Atlatics was Frankie Muiz. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but I mention that for the "Malcolm In the Middle" fans in the audience.

4. Simona's lap times at Barber last week bested Jay Howard, Rafa Matos and...wait...hold on...yes, Danica Patrick. It's true, Simona bested Danica in terms of a best lap time. I'm trying to resist the natural inclination for comparisons here based on gender, especially since Danica has been spending a lot of time this winter driving much slower cars. But at the very least it shows Simona won't be an embarrassement on road and street courses despite being a rookie.

Then again, in the immortal words of Allen Iverson, we talkin' about PRACTICE.

5. Simona has never raced on an oval. The good news for Simona is that the first four races in 2010 are not ovals, so she has time to get familiar with here Dallara and perhaps even squeeze some practice in elsewhere. The bad news is she's in an HVM car, which means just finishing on the lead lap will be a struggle. At least she'll get to have some fun racing back there with Sarah Fisher, Jay Howard, Mario Romancini and a few others...not that we're likely to see much of that racing during broadcasts.

For more on Simona check out Simona's Women of Pressdog feature from a few months ago.

Questions for new CEO Randy Bernard

2010-03-01T15:23:00.002-07:00

Hello all,

The nice people at 'Midweek Motorsport' at www.radiolemans.com are putting together their 'IndyCar: State of the Series' show for broadcast next week prior to the start of the IndyCar season in Brazil. We are hoping to talk to representatives from Swift, Lola and Delta Wing as well as input from Marco Andretti, Gil De Ferran, Marshall Pruett (SPEEDTV) and Sam Collins (Race Car Engineering).

As central part of the show will be our chat with new IndyCar Series CEO, Randy Bernard. So here is YOUR chance to get your questions to the new boss. You can post them in the comments section here, or you can post them on the dedicated thread on the show's facebook page.

In the mean time, if you were wondering how Randy did on his first day in the office at 16th and Georgetown, we can exclusively show you right here (below).

If a picture says a thousand words

2010-02-27T07:55:00.004-07:00

What does this one say?

Tomaso at No Fenders has an idea.

(Photo: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing)

You saw them here FIRST!

2010-02-25T11:33:00.005-07:00

News comes from the great Adam Cooper and his blog, that life is about to imitate badly animated art!

A source close to US F1 tells me that the factory staff in Charlotte are in the process of making the toaster immortalised by a series of satirical cartoons on YouTube in recent months. And yes, I am serious…

Check it out here: http://adamcooperf1.com/

Personally, I'm absolutely flabbergasted and more than a wee bit proud of this outcome. As long as I get one of the bloomin' things when it is produced!

[Picture courtesy of http://adamcooperf1.com/]

Hmmmmmmmm

2010-02-24T15:18:00.002-07:00

Hmmmm - Interesting livery

Hmmmm - Lotus coming back to IndyCar

Hmmmm - Focusing on their heritage

Hmmmm - Lets put two and two together and get 'ironing board' shall we?

It's fun to speculate!

Mutoh joins the esteemed lawfirm of Newman, Haas and Lanigan

2010-02-22T15:25:00.001-07:00

It has been rumored for several months that Hideki Mutoh would be competing with Newman Haas Lanigan Racing in 2010, but it has also been rumored in recent weeks that the NHLR team might not be around much longer. Fortunately, the former rumor has panned out.

Hideki Mutoh has confirmed his long anticipated switch to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for this year's IndyCar Series.
The 27-year-old Japanese driver spent the first two years of his IndyCar career with Andretti Green.

(MORE from autosport.com)

Looks like I've got to prepare for another year of "Godzilla" references.

Viso's revenge

2010-02-22T12:04:00.002-07:00

When IndyCar fans saw EJ Viso get punted both during and after the race at Toronto last year, we knew it was just a matter of time before EJ extracted his vengance. If you mess with the bull you get the horns, and if you mess with Viso you are lucky to escape with all of your vital organs intact.

The only question that remained was exactly how Viso would make Moraes pay for his impetuous transgressions. Public castration? Too obvious. Poisoned energy drink? Not obvious enough. Scalping Mario like an enraged Iriquois? That may have almost happened.

In the end, EJ got back at Mario by taking his ride away from him.

KV Racing Technology announced today that IndyCar Series veteran E. J. Viso will join the team for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Viso will drive the #8 KVRT entry supported by PDVSA, Herbalife, CANTV, SBA Airlines and team partner Plantronics.

“We are very excited to have E. J. join our driver line-up for 2010,” said General Manager Mark Johnson. "We have been in talks with E. J. for quite some time now and successfully tested him at Sebring. Over the last two seasons he has impressed both Jimmy (KVRT co-owner Jimmy Vasser) and I with his race craft and growth as a driver. E. J. brings IndyCar and oval experience to our team, which will be extremely valuable as we progress through the season. I would also like to welcome commercial partners PDVSA, Herbalife, CANTV and SBA Airlines to the KVRT organization. We look forward to working with all of them.”

(MORE from KVRT's Fecebook page. Yes, I said their Facebook page.)

A Swift response to the Delta Wing

2010-02-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

It would appear that "Delta Wing" is the new "Tony George" inasmuch as the mere mention of the two words seems to send IndyCar fans into a frothy fit of syllable-based bomb throwing. To keep stoking this fire of conversation, the Delta Wing has been sending members of it's group out for various interview hither and yon to sell their "concept" which many race fans have mistaken for an actual vehicle. Meanwhile other would-be suitors for the 2012 IndyCar chassis have been curiously silent, saying nothing but a few humble techincal words on PDFs containing their own designs while enduring the Delta Wing full frontal assault by team owners amounting to "Take this design or shove it!"

That is (Jack Arute voice) until now.

Many of you may not realize that our buddy Bill at pressdog.com was once a newspaper reporter, which in revelation may help explain the the name of his site. (See, you CAN learn something from a blog!) Today he decided to go more "press" with only minimal "dogging" in hunting down Swift chief scientist Mark Page. You might recall Swift as the kind folks who presented this as an idea.

Show THAT to some 10-year-olds and get back to us with your survey results. But before you do, give Mr Page's interview at pressdog a read, as there is much to be gained by anyone who cares even one whit about the future of this sport. It doesn't take long before you figure out two things about Page: he's quite excited to discuss designs relatign to the 2012 chassis, and he's very eager to work with the IRL whichever chassis solution they decide.

“Whatever the IRL decides about the 2012 car, we want to be involved”

See, I told you so.

There are a boatload of issues available for discussion relating to this single interview, but three in particular seem to stick out as issues that need to be resolved before Swift, Delta Wing, or anyone else for that matter are handed the keys to the future of the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Rectangles and triangles

We started with the stated objectives from IRL. They chose to give objectives instead of specs, which gave us freedom to innovate...The car had to be a modernized IndyCar. To us, that was open-wheel, with a rear-engine, and four corners. Wings were optional.

We have heard and read many interviews with Delta Wing lead designer Ben Bowlby, and although there has been much discusses exactly none of them have involved asking the single question I would ask: Does it HAVE to be a tricycle? (I know it actually has four wheels, but those two up front are 24 inches apart, and I've read early designs actually involved a single front wheel. And it certainly doesn't have "four corners".)

Compare this in terms of a different automotive innovation. In the mid-1990s, a particular American auto manufacturer wanted to come up with a vehicle that would meet the changing needs of consumers, that would be able to be made at a lower cost than it's rivals, and that would have unique looks that were sure to turn heads. This resulted in...TA DA!

The Ponitac Aztek was disaster as an automobile because too many consumer couldn't get beyond the look of the thing, and it provides a wonderful lesson about the concept of "the concept". Despite all the money that might be saved by the concept of the Delta Wing, the fact is it stopped being a concept for most fans when the tarp came off the thing and the simulation videos were unleashed for us to actually SEE the concept. And that's exactly the point where the air went out of the balloon, because from then on it’s been nothing but "man parts" jokes in the comments of every story featuring a picture of the Delta Wing.

While much of this could be rectified if they could just change the car to have "four corners", if you listen to Ben Bowlby on a recent Trackside show and if you read some of the information at the Delta Wing site you’ll quickly notice that one thing that holds this adventure in engineering together is that eye-sore of a front end. The 24-inch track with the lack of wings that gives the whole design its man-parts-iness are extremely critical to this entire design.

In other words, the very things that make it not so much an IndyCar to many are the very essence of what make it a Delta Wing. Bowlby didn't explicitly say it but it sounds like he can’t expand the front wheelbase without making all of the science behind the whole concept go out the window. It would be most helpful to know if this is in fact true, because if the front track could be expanded a little and the rear reduced from 70 inches then we might be looking at something that looks a bit better.

Tony Johns at Pop Off Valve shows an idea.

I can only speak for myself, but as a fan I can take a 300 horsepower engine, I can take the lack of wings, and I could even someday embrace the giant freaking airplane wing on the model. I can take the any number of radical changes presented by the Delta Wing in the name of innovation, but I simply cannot see the relevance of watching a race involving three-wheeled vehicles.

The not-so-free market

The DeltaWing’s concept of “open source” gets a little more skepticism from Page and Swift.

“There are two ways to look at it,” he said. “One is that different part makers making the same parts, therefore additional competition encourages better pricing. That’s a very strong argument. The other one is that you let competitors go into the wind tunnel and develop their own special bits -- If that extends to the entire car -- the money proposition doesn’t come close to closing.”

As I mentioneed earlier, one of the selling points Delta Wing's Ben Bowlby made was that the engineering committee for Delta Wing would take design submissions from anyone, evaluate the product, put a price on the product, and make it available to everyone. Well, it could be that the "put a price on the product" part seems like the built-in protection for higher-budgeted teams like Penske or Ganassi.

Let's say The Captain develops some super unobtanium-based nosecone that costs like $200,000 to build. OK, that's a $200,000 part that anyone can buy, but how may teams are going to buy that part? I'm thinking two.

I can't tell for sure but it appears there are all kinds of places for tweaking the "concept" or the "open source" Delta Wing, especially in technology that extends beyond the surface of the car. I don't know how much the Delta Wing would standardize, but what about computer related parts that work internally? Or gearings? Or the part that's become the most highly designed on the current car - the shock absorbers?

Please note that I'm not saying the Delta Wing should be rejected on this facet. I understand this is what the vested parties in the parts buying game - that is, the owners - are relishing, and if it significantly helps them from bleeding money like a mortgage lender then it needs to be given huge consideration.

But open source does not mean equal source, and given that for the foreseeable future some teams will have significantly more funding than others it would be disingenuous to portray the Delta Wing as some sort of great leveler of the playing field. Ultimately what needs to be addressed is not only the cost of competition but also the competition itself. You know, the actual racing product that right now produces two teams that win nearly every race.

This is not to say that Swift or any other manufacturer have the perfect solution, but Swift has also propsed a "Mushroom buster" in their designs, which shows that they are at least thinking about how to make cars that can actually pass each other. IndyCar fans have seen enough "lock step" races recently to last several lifetimes.

On a side note, between "Push To Pass" and "Mushroom Busters" it appears the future of IndyCar racing is inextricably linked to Mario Kart.

For the love of the fans

I started re-reading IndyCar articles in RACER magazine. Then we all hit the internet to see what fans were saying on blogs. Also, we received a lot of positive feedback on the FN09 car. But the most important thing was to show our concepts publicly, long before everything was set in stone. Internet blogs and polls have provided tremendous feedback. We think this could be used a few more times in the car’s development. This lets the fans direct the design. Our notion is to generate feasible options, present them to the world, and in three days you have the answer.

At somepoint all of this scientific acheivment accomplished by the new chassis design has to translate beyond concepts and become actual ticket sales and TV ratings and maybe even merchandising arrangements. And at the end of every single one of those goals is a consumer who needs to be given something of value for their entertainment dollar.

This isn't being mentioned as a display of some massive enlightenment on my part, but rather to show how Mr Page gets this particular "concept" - the one that involves paying customers. Just as Dallara and Lola have submitted designs that have been made available to the general public, so to has Swift, and Page makes no excuses for saying that seeking feedback has "let the fans direct our design". He's no dummy, because Page knows that while the IRL principals need to meet certain thresholds of performance, safety, and cost, they also need to have something that looks appealing at first glance.

This is why it is absurd to insist we need to think about designs for a few days and only then decide whether or not they are appealing. First impressions are profound, and if the IndyCar series is ever going to grow it's base of popularity they need to have cars that on first glance don't look revolting to a significant portion of the public.

If a TV ad comes on with a car someone finds ridiculous then they won't be inclined to buy the product, and if another someone is channel surfing and finds a race with cars that they think look ridiculous they aren't going to "take a few days" to consider watching. The IRL can't afford to make a mistake here, because no amount of shoe-pounding about form over function or 10-year-olds is going to change those initial reactions.

The saving grace of this is that Delta Wing and Swift aren't mutually exclusive. While we can debate all we want about our favorite chassis "concept" submitted thusfar, there is still the chance that the Delta Wing is re-conceptualized to look more like a car and less like man-parts, and if those changes are made Page says Swift would be delighted to work with the platform. In that respect the Delta Wing COULD be the best of all possible worlds as a concept, because it allows for multiple manufacturers to compete in the series. And you probably noticed there aren't a lot of companies beating a path to participate in the IRL.

But now is the time for discussion and feedback, and hopefully ALL potential owners of the next iteration of IndyCar chassis will listen to the positives AND THE NEGATIVES of their current proposals. In Bill's words, "keep talking", because ultimately you are the one with the time and money that will help sustain and elevate this sport.

On a final note I highly urge you to leave feedback at the HVM Racing site on this subject, as well as vote in THIS POLL. I'm pretty sure it's being watch closely by officials at 16th and Georgetown. While decisions will probably not be based on this alone, it does give the league an idea of what YOU want to see in the next generation of IndyCar - and that ain't a bad thing at all.

Guess who's coming to Indianapolis?

2010-02-19T14:15:00.007-07:00

This particular story seems to be rumored nearly every year, but this year it may be more than just rumors. Our buddy Diecast Dude is in SoCal and found his way to the nearest race track so he could speak with some drivers. And since he's an IndyCar fan at heart, he had to ask THE question.

Ran into Robby Gordon as he was headed toward his car prior to first practice. He’s working on a deal to run in this year’s Indy 500. Nothing firm yet, and no teams ruled in or out. Don’t know if he’s planning the double by running the Coca-Cola 600 later that day. If I can find out more I will, but at least now you know the scoop.

Word on twitter is this deal involves Walker Racing (remember them!), but obviously there has been no announcement yet.

This seems like a fantastic time to relive this epic Indy 500 memory. (Well, unless your name is Robby Gordon, in which case you probably don't want to go through this again.)

If you listen close I think you do in fact hear Robby dropping an F-bomb on LIVE television. You probably would too if you were him that day.

Head count

2010-02-19T00:01:00.001-07:00

We're about a month away from the start of the season, which means the shotgun-marriages that are last-minute driver deals are coming fast and furious. Or furiously. Or whatever. Months of courting by teams, drivers, and their respective financiers is finally resulting in actual paper-and-ink contracts, and since the driver count for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season has expanded beyond the number of fingers on even Antonio Alfonseca's hands it's high time we got ourselves a head count.

The latest announcement came yesterday out of Japan, where Hideki Mutoh...wait, wrong guy...I meant to say former Formula One driver Takuma Sato has inked a deal to race fulltime for KV Racing Technologies. Start your own "Has he ever raced an oval?" hysteria amongst yourselves if you want, but first here's a word from Sato.

Speaking of KV, many folks on twitter have noticed that EJ Viso seems to be preparing to join Sato, although again nothing is etched in stone. He hasn't explicitly said "I-Heart-K-V" (which in his native tongue would be more like "Yo-corazon-K-V" but with proper punctuation), but that's the impression people are getting after he tested with KV recently.

Also, it should be noted that former F1 development driver (for Honda, no less) James Rossiter is (a) on twitter, (b) following only a few people including the KVRT account as well as KV co-owner Jimmy Vasser, and (c) tweeting about getting fitted for seat and going to Indianapolis for medical evaluations. And that is all I have to say about that.

So here is the tally of FULL TIME drivers thus far.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing: Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti
Team Penske: Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Will Power
Andretti Autosport: Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick
Panther Racing: Dan Wheldon
KV Racing Technologies: Takuma Sato
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: Justin Wilson, Mike Conway
AJ Foyt Enterprises: Vitor Meira
Luczo, Dragon, de Ferran etc: Raphael Matos
FAZZT Racing: Alex Tagliani

So that's 13.. 14.. 15 so far, but Viso and Rossiter could bump that up to a 2008 Champ Car level of participation. Plus Sarah Fisher, Jay Howard, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Davey Hamilton have been confirmed for 4-9 races each, so it's not IndyCarpocalpse Now just yet. Also, don't forget that guys like Mario Moraes and Hideki Mutoh are supposed to be walking around with sponsorship cash already in hand, so there's little reason to think they won't be on the grid at Sao Paolo.

As for other teams...

HVM Racing - Robert Doornboos was thought to be a lock her, but on a recent episode of the Trackside radio show HVM owner Keith Wiggins seemed to be hedging away. And today his twitter status read something about a "door closing". Perhaps checks aren't clearing. Next in line would see to be Atlantics graduate Simona DiSilvestro, who has been testing for the team lately.

Dale Coyne Racing: Well, JR Hildebrand has been Uncle Dale's test driver, so this pairing could be a definite maybe. Or maybe Jan Heylen comes out of nowhere. You just never know these days.

Conquest Racing: According to my Google translator, a Brazilian report says Tomas Scheckter will soon be here, and I think it says the team may have up to three drivers. In the immortal words of Baseball great Mark Grace, "Spring hopes eternal".

Team 3G: Perhaps my distant cousin Richard Antinucci will return. Or perhaps Jaques Lazier will come back because he loves it when cars disintegrate under him on the opening lap.

Vision Racing: Umm...well, they are still collecting letters of reference. In the meantime, they're selling non-essential equipment to help pay the bills. If you are in the need for any non-essential equipment, by all means pick up the phone and give them a call.

And then there's Newman Haas Lanigan Racing, about whom there seems to be rampant speculation - all of it bad. Everything from a one-team ride-buyer program to no team at all. It would be convenient of me to not all the drivers and wins this historic organization has enjoyed, but until certain death has been pronounced the eulogy will for now be reserved. In the meantime, let's just say things are very quiet.

Which brings us to the 2010 occupant of the Throne of Injustice: former NHLR driver Graham Rahal. Last year everyone was up in arms that Ryan Hunter-Reay - who was perhaps the only driver not named "Danica" featured in an ad campaign - was without a ride. But at the last minute he got a deal with Vision, but then trouble hit and he was out of a ride, but then Vitor Meira got hurt so Tony George loaned him to AJ Foyt's team, and in the meantime we got to see that famous commercial with Ryan about 10,432 times. In the end, everything was indeed going to be alright. Heh heh.

But now the unsigned driver for whom all hearts bleed is young Graham Rahal, the Son of 'Stache who dared to win a couple pole positions and stand on a couple other podiums, often taking on the role of Ralphie while last year Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske were taking turns abusing the field like they were Scut Farkus and Grover Dill. I don't know where Graham will end up, I don't know when he'll end up there, but I do know he's definitely not going to USF1.

RLR lawyers up

2010-02-18T20:02:00.004-07:00

Rahal Letterman Racing still exists. How do we know? Because they're suing somebody.

According to their lawsuit, their relationship with the sponsor of their entry for last year's Indianapolis 500 has not reached a satisfactory level of monetary compensation. From Courthouse News Service:

Rahal Letterman Racing clams the Ceallaigh Group and DAFCA paid only $90,000 of the $200,000 owed for putting their logo on a car and team clothing in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, in Columbus, Ohio, Federal Court.

OK, hooray for lawsuits, but...is it me or does $200,000 seem like a ridiculous bargain to sponsor a car driven by Oriol Servia in the Indy 500? Not that I have that kind of cash to shop around for such things. Oh, most certainly, I do not.

Quote of the day

2010-02-18T08:57:00.002-07:00

“Our success and whether we’re going to stay in business, in all motorsports, is determined by that 10-year old kid. It’s not going to be determined the 40-year old looking at the computer.” - Panther Racing co-owner John Barnes, explaining his enthusiasm relating to the Delta Wing tricycle concept.

Point of contact

2010-02-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

Interested in a particular chassis design? Got a favorite race track? Have a smashing recipe for Our buddy pressdog has an excellent idea: Tell the new CEO.

Yes, while we're all still twiddling our thumbs waiting for the IZOD IndyCar Series season to start you might as well take a moment to give the new boss a few words of encouragement and/or advice since:

1. He's admittedly never been to an IndyCar race.
2. He's relying on Brian Barnhart to explain the sport to him.
3. Perhaps somewhat related to 1 and 2, he REALLY wants to hear from the fans.

All of that is 100% true. Or so I'm told. At any rate, here is your chance to make a great first impression. Pass on your sage words of wisdom by filling out this here form (yes, I have been assured this will genuinely send an email to the league Inbox)

Or send an actual letter he can hold in his actual hands to:
~~Andy~~ Randy Bernard
CEO, IZOD IndyCar Series
4790 W 16th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46222

Tell him what you love. Tell him what you want. Tell him how awesome his singing is.

The truth behind the Delta Wing launch debrief

2010-02-17T10:32:00.004-07:00

Chip and Ben have a few words after the launch of the Delta Wing project in Chicago.

As the Wheel Turns

2010-02-17T06:38:00.004-07:00

Last summer much was made about Gil de Ferran - excuse me, 2003 Indianapolis 500 Champion Gil de Ferran - as he spoke of shuttering his ALMS venture and moving towards assembling an IndyCar team. Names of drivers like Rahal and Dixon were frantically churned through the rumor mill as possible drivers even though the team hadn't so much as a single Dallara for anyone to pilot. At Indy much was also made of de Ferran hanging around with F1's Takuma Sato, but as the year drew to it's close there was still no team, no IRL equipment purchased, and certainly no verified reports of signed drivers for de Ferran.

Well, finally de Ferran has a team. It's not exactly his own, but...

Steve Luczo and Jay Penske, co-owners of Luczo Dragon Racing, and Gil de Ferran, owner of de Ferran Motorsports and former Indy 500 winner, have merged their two businesses to create a new cutting edge motorsport venture that will leverage technology and science to compete at the highest levels of the IZOD IndyCar Series, it was announced today.

De Ferran, the 2003 Indy 500 winner and two-time IndyCar champion, will serve as co-owner, President and Managing Partner of Luczo Dragon Racing/de Ferran Motorsports.

Tony Johns says pairing guys with Penske ties is a recipe for success, but I just want to note that while these gentlemen have every right to be impressed with themselves it would be incredible helpful if they could check their egos at the door and come up with a team name that isn't so freaking long? Sheesh. (And I know "Penske" isn't in the name, but "Dragon" is because that was the name of one of Jay's other business ventures, and perhaps also because his father threatened to cut him out of the will if Jay thought the universe was big enough for another race team named "Penske".)

But this should make this team better, and in terms of driver news the press release explicitly states that Rafa Matos is still the guy for...uh, do we call them LDRdFM? (Obscure musical reference: anyone else think that acronym looks like the result of Lords of Acid merging with KMFDM? Is that just me? OK, then excuse me while I remove my Doc Martens.)

Right now, we are running one car with Raphael Matos, but are working hard on expanding our program as this will increase our ability to improve and to extend our resources. We hope to have those details ironed out very soon.

So Rafa's their man while they are "working hard" so that he might soon have a teammate. Could it be Sato? Well, my ability to conjugate Portuguese verbs leaves much to be desired, but Brazil's Grande Premio indicated Sato either will be signing or has signed with...KV Racing Technologies? OK, show of hands - who saw that coming? I think the same article indicates Mario Moraes will also be returning, but again none of this has been confirmed.

Meanwhile, in recent days KV Racing was conducting a test...with EJ Viso. Hey, why not - right? I say get a guy that speaks Japanese, a guy that speaks Portuguese, and a guy that speaks Spanish and let 'em all throw broken English at each other. Besides, they all speak "Speed", right?

Finally, speaking of guys who speak "Speed" and "English" proficiently, "Captain America" JR Hildebrand has also been testing for the currently driver-less Dale Coyne Racing. Coyne made an announcement that the team now has sponsorship from Boy Scouts of America, so from a promotional standpoint Hildebrand definitely falls under the heading of "synergy". And as those that saw him in Firestone Indy Lights have seen he's a really good driver, so that helps as well.

And yes, I'll soon get around to discussing actual drivers who have actually been signed to actual contracts once there's a break from talking about Delta Wings and Danicas and Dragons and such.

Danicamania, the sequel

2010-02-13T09:40:00.003-07:00

In 1988 I was a freshman at Purdue University, and yes, I realize those nine words just lost me half of my readership. Anyhow, on an otherwise unremarkable day I recall sitting in my dorm room in Wiley Hall watching a news cast where the talking head revealed how the St Louis Cardinal football team was packing up its truckload of losing seasons and heading West to my home state of Arizona.

The room next to mine was occupied by two fine young sports fans from St Louis, and within mere seconds of the airing of this announcement one of them got up, walked over to my open door, stood there and said simply to me “You can have ‘em.”

That pretty much sums up my feelings about the media coverage of Danica Patrick’s first official N----R race tomorrow. It’s not that I want her to be gone from the Indy Racing League – goodness, no – but that now some other group of sports fans has to deal with the media circus and all the skewed coverage that goes along with her involvement with motorsports.

"I can't believe I'm getting interviewed today. She must have finished early." - Tony Stewart

For all the coverage that Danica has brought to the IRL over the last few years, I would say more than not has been coverage brought to herself. That's not necessarily her fault as I don't think her intention was to ever overshadow her sport, but as a fan who has watched five years of races where every driver not named “Danica” has be ignored for what seems like half of the broadcast.

I once asked a representative of ESPN if he realized their coverage seemed to focus half of their broadcast on a single driver, and he earnestly replied that was correct, and that their studies or surveys showed that HALF of the audience is watching only to see Danica. It was quite the "jaw meet floor" moment.

Then again, when the ratings for an ARCA race on SPEED basically doubles (or triples, or quadruples) that of every IndyCar race other than The Indy 500 last year, it's hard to argue with that.

"According to the 'media' not only is Danica the most amazing racing driver since Dale Sr. but she is also related to Jesus lol." - Scott Speed

Of course, if broadcasters are going into the event thinking that one competitor is responsible for half the audience then they're most assuredly going to play it up. The "Jesus" comparison isn't beyond them because for years Danica was proclaimed as the savior for the IRL. And to some extent she may have been, as soon after her arrival the IRL ownership purchased and bimergified with Champ Car.

But there is also the possibility that for all the fans she added that there were others who stopped watching altogether what had effectively become the DaniCar series. I won't suggest that it's an equal amount to those she added, but it's not exactly a secret that over the last five years the ratings and attendance for many events has gone DOWN, not up.

"We've never had a female -- in my era -- that's been competitive. I think most of them have just been here because they're female. I think Danica's the first real female racecar driver that's coming in here. I'm not saying she's going to be competitive overnight but she's the first one who's got any sort of credentials that should be racing cars." - Kevin Harvick

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of having Danica involved in any racing series is the endless chatter of how well she compares to other women drivers, as if that were some other form of driving class. We're often told the car doesn’t know the gender of the driver, but innumerable race fans with their Swimsuit Editions stashed at their bedside most certainly do.

It's only human nature, I suppose, to be fascinated with women in what has for so many years been a men's sport, but at some point it would seem this has to end, right? I mean, at some point between Jackie Robinson and Barry Bonds we stopped saying "black baseball player", so there has to be a point where Danica and other drivers without the Y chromosome are simply "drivers". Obviously though, we haven't reached that point. It would seem we're not anywhere near it.

As I said before when I suggested she was undoubtedly the IRL’s “Driver of the Decade”, Danica’s participation in any motorsport event fundamentally changes the coverage of the sport. There will ALWAYS be more cameras and microphones pointing to her before, after, and most distressingly during any race in which she participates. It’s because a huge portion of the viewers wouldn’t be watching the race if she weren’t in it. Yes, I get that, even though I personally would prefer to watch footage of actual passing on a race track than Danica Patrick driving around by herself.

But now it’s time for stock car fans to get a taste of this. They thought they were getting a nice 10-ounce Daytona sirloin this week, but instead they’re being served 72 ounces of wall-to-wall coverage of a driver who isn’t even racing in the main event. I can’t revel in schadenfreude here because after years of this I know the feeling all too well. At first it’s so seductive to think of the interest of having a capable and fetching young lady competing in your sport, but before you know it every other person in your sport is rendered to near insignificance.

"Maybe ESPN could cover Danica on ESPN2 and the other 50 plus cars on ESPN Classic or something." - Regan Smith

Yup. Welcome to our world, stock car fans. I hope you enjoy the show.

The Delta Wing thing arrives

2010-02-10T15:10:00.002-07:00

In 1963, Craig Breedlove set his first land speed record at the Bonnevile Salt Flats in one of his series of "Spirit of America" vehicles. Here is one of those vehicles.

Curt Cavin first mentioned the relevance of this epic car to the future of IndyCar a few weeks ago, and today, nearly 50 years after the first record-setting run, this "Spirit of America" design has been applied to the "Delta Wing" IndyCar design as a sign of unprecedented innovation. Behold that which might possibly be the future of IndyCars.

In my less-than-esteemed opinion, it's soaking wet bag of mess. The unsightly offspring of a dragster and an F-16. A high-speed tricycle, and according to several IndyCar fans, a phallic tricycle at that.

It's a steaming pile of retro-inspired junk, summarized ironically by the Delta Wing site when it read, at the expiration of it's longstanding countdown, "Sorry, you're too late." Really, at best this is very Colonial Viper, circa 1978, but flattened and encumbered by wheels.

Maybe I'm off my rocker but I thought in addition to speed and innovation IndyCar racing is supposed to also be about aesthetics and, in recent years, safety. This new design might be fast, but as a race car that would be required to turn is looks ridiculous. As bad as you might think the currently well-aged Dallara design is, can you tell me you'd rather watch this instead?

Really? That doesn't look - forgive me for saying this - utterly laughable to you?

Before I ruffle too many feathers here, I want to say that I do appreciate the "boldness" of the design, and I understand that designer Ben Bowlby has put a lot of thought into this.

“Looking radical was never the objective – the Delta Wing shape is simply the outcome of addressing performance targets. Approaching it as an engineer I was most aware of safety, performance and efficiency and its relevance to the auto industry and also cost. It’s not about making a cheap race car, but there is the issue of cost vs. value for money. This car is high-tech but simple. The parts count is way down and that helps keep it inexpensive and easy to maintain compared to the cars of the last 20 years – and we have a great deal of visible signage area!

“It’s an integrated approach. It’s not JUST the car. It’s the technology, spectator and industry appeal and engagement, combined with the car. What we have proposed for the car is not a styling exercise…. Form has followed function.”

Fine, but let's talk about that form for a moment. I'm not engineer, but what I am is - like most of you - a fan. And I'm certain that even though I feel like this makes about as much sense as an IndyCar as a Kia Sedona does as a Cup entry, I fully acknowledge there are at least some of you who love this thing like it was warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie. And to the extent that it should be given consideration to race against designs already presented by Dallara and Swift - as well as some lovely designed paragraphs from Lola - I say fine, by all means let 'em race.

Except here's the rub: right now the series, in an effort to contain costs, claims that there will be only one chassis design for 2012. As Marshall Pruett has noted amidst some senseless name-calling and mistaken comparisons to a Spike Lee flick, this is a design supported by many IRL team owners, and as such it is has been submitted under the guise of a veiled threat.

It’s sad, lame, and plays into the partisan politics that have no place in a series as fragile as IndyCar. I don’t know if he (Brian Banhart, whom Pruett refers to as "Kee-Rock") realizes just how close he keeps pushing the Delta Wings to a point where they decide to form their own series.

Jackass moves by USAC spawned CART. A jackass move created the IRL. Maybe this latest jackass move will cause the Delta Wings, an ownership base mostly free of jackasses, to take their fire elsewhere.

I can hear it now…“I’m a caveman, and I’m frightened by your strange Delta Wing machine…”

If Kee-Rock keeps it up, he could find himself with an empty paddock in 2012 and no one to drive his new Dallara.

This, from a man who earlier in the same article suggest all parties involved should "Put aside your differences, whatever they may be, and work together." Really? Working together, you say? By calling those who disagree with you names?

But I don't want to be distracted here because this isn't about Mr Pruett or Mr Barnhart, but about the rest of us who dedicate our time and money to this sport. The FANS. And this is the part that as a fan I start swearing, throwing small appliances, and threatening to take up blogging about some other sport. We just got bimergified two years ago after years of insistence by these very owners, and now all of a sudden it sounds like they're ready to tear it all apart again over some stupid-looking car. Excuse me, but anything associated with another open-wheel split is certainly not going to be described as "innovative".

And aside from the baggage that already accompanies this car there are some very real issues based on the prototype revealed today. On first glance it looks to me like that car has no mirrors, probably because they'd have to go directly in the driver's line of sight. Couple that with the extremely narrower wheelbase in the front and it would seem drivers would be more likely to run into each other with those big backsides.

And speaking of running into each other, the Delta Wing also has an extraordinarily exposed tub without protective sidepods that makes me wonder if anyone gave Alex Zanardi a consultation. Oh, and it's got fenders, which call me crazy seems antithetical to "open-wheel" racing. Then again, if the wheelbase variance makes collisions more likely then fenders may be warranted. At this point I ask in earnest, "What exactly were you designing here again?"

Early reaction from IRL drivers was mixed - Graham Rahal digs it, Justin Wilson does not, Alex Lloyd is diplomatic - and since these are the people that would have to actually drive the thing they should certainly be allowed some input. As it is, you can sell me on the innovation but not on the aesthetics, so excuse me while I dump a bottle of Hater-ade all over that...thing.