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.

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!

After further consideration, Roger Penske has decided he does not want to buy Saturn - the car company, not the planet (which he may still one day acquire) - effectively bringing an end to the auto manufacturing brand.

General Motors will close Saturn and wind down its dealership network after a deal to sell the faltering brand to Penske Automotive Group collapsed, the automaker said Wednesday.

The breakdown of a deal that had been widely expected to close this week will force some 350 Saturn dealerships to close and could cut thousands of auto retail jobs that would have been preserved under a plan by auto magnate Roger Penske.

(MORE from CNBC)

Rest in peace, oh plastic-door and fixed price innovator. I shall remember you well, mourning the loss of any possible cross-promotional advertising with Helio Castroneves.