Yahoo Sports is carrying this with a byline of "By Bruce Martin, PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor":

PHOENIX SET TO RETURN TO INDYCAR SCHEDULE IN 2008: After a two-year absence, the IndyCar series has proposed and discussed a return to Phoenix International Raceway in 2008 when the IndyCar schedule is announced later this season.

The season will begin the first weekend in March at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with Phoenix potentially regaining the second spot on the schedule.

However, the series will remain at 17 races because the annual race at Michigan International Speedway is expected to be dropped, marking the first time since the track opened in 1968 that a major open-wheel racing series, USAC, CART or IndyCar, will not compete at the famed two-mile oval.

IndyCar left Phoenix after the 2005 race when 7,500 fans came out to the oval for a Saturday afternoon race, leading former ESPN reporter Marlo Klain to say, I had more people at my wedding.

Is this actual news or is this a hypothetical story? Don't be jerking my chain on this, people.

For the record - I'd love for IndyCar racing to come back to my hometown, but not necessarily at the expense of the high-speed action at Michigan.

So this is what it's come to. Danica grabs Dan's arm at Milwaukee, Tomas throws his gloves at Marco in Texas, and now Sam and Tony barked there way into such a frenzy the bystanders broke out in a fracas. Eventually, smack begets smackdowns.

While the original collision that left a snappy tire mark on Nariz's ride seemed to a "racing incident", it should be noted we're getting a lot of these lately. Nonetheless, after the race when Kanaan decided Sam's mark was not sidepod worthy it was interesting that unlike the Meltdown in Milwaukee, both drivers were all too happy to discuss their shenanigans.

And that's where things got silly.

As Kanaan pointed out afterwards, he and Sam weren't going likely going to be punching each other so there was no need for anyone else to be involved. Say what you will about him dropping the "needs his dad to defend him" remark, but that's exactly what it looks like. No one was in danger of anything, so Sam Sr needs to stay in the team bus.

So Sam, as a public service JUST IN CASE you ever go to NAPCAR where they have these skirmishes all the time:

Rule 1: When taking issue with a driver off the track, first remove your helmet. (You too, Tony, even though you're likely not going anywhere else.)

Rule 2: Do not let any family member or friend get in a fight in your stead, unless of course it's your wife. That seems to be an acceptable thing in Tin Top land.

Rule 3: In the post race interview, refer to the other driver only by his number so as not to give his name any airtime. That will upset his sponsors, which darn near as satisfying as punching him in the face.

The Good
Scott Dixon OWNS this track. He's probably lobbying right now to get a second event (or why not three) at The Glen added to the 2008 schedule. Unfortunately for him, there appeared to be not so many fans taking in the action.

We've been pretty hard on Uncle Sam as of late, not only because his "haven't made up my NAPCAR mind" thing is getting old but also because lately he's seemed uncharacteristically whiny in interviews. However, the man deserves a hand for a stellar second place performance today on a road course. Bernie Ecclestone for you on line one, Sam.

Dario Franchitti did what he had to do, which is stay up near the front while Iceman was pillaging the New York countryside. Having two of his AGR teammates (Kanaan and Andretti) tag along for Top 5 finishes was gravy. Wonder if they celebrated by throwing pies at each other afterwards.

Buddy Rice has been interviewed at the conclusion of three straight races. So help me if Jesse James busts out and wins a race this year, I'm going to iron the bills of every baseball cap I own.

The Bad

The RLR team gambled with early pit stops, and that pretty much was a death blow to that team's chances on Sunday.

Shame on Marty Reid and Scott Goodyear for calling out TJ Patrick as the now infamous "psycho in the white shirt" who took down Sam Hornish Sr. Although they later corrected their mistake and interviewed Dadica (presumably as some sort of mea culpa), that's not a mistake that should ever be made. Just ask Richard Jewell.

Darren Manning had another strong run going until he admit ed he gassed out the final laps with sore arms. Same thing that happened at St Pete. Attention Danger Mouse: you are competing against freaking triathletes! Getcha head in the game and getcha butt in the gym. 12-ounce curls aren't getting it done.

The Ugly

Oh, Helio. It wasn't just that rear wing that collapsed in Milwaukee - it was his season. How a guy wins the pole 5 times in 10 races and has the season he's working on is incomprehensible.

We don't want to beat the poor fellow about head with his run self-inflicted damage (and getting stuck by a wheel in Texas wasn't his fault), but the image of Helio's flaming car spinning away as Dixon drove past and Franchitti ran over the wreckage of the #3 car was pretty much Spiderman's season in a nutshell.

It's almost as if since Andretti 3.0 went head over heels at Indy the gremlin that was laying waste to the season for Marco jumped onto the #3 car, wreaking havoc ever since. Suddenly Marco is looking like the stars are shining on him, while Helio is looking like a guy who should go nowhere near a casino.

At this point Castroneves can try to salvage his season by trying to log a couple of wins - or at least start with finishing on the lead lap. He still has a fast car and he always has a chance to win any of the remaining races. If that doesn't work, well, start punching somebody.

OK, let's all study the pattern here. Going into this race Helio Castroneves has won the pole for both ICS races at The Glen, but Scott Dixon has won twice.

This just in: Helio won the pole for the third straight year. Dixon was going to be the Cheat Sheet pick regardless, but this rather solidified Iceman as "the favorite" for Sunday.

So as a public service, we are going to try something different this week and explain why no one other than New Zealand's Finest has any shot at winning the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix. Scott's fellow Kiwi Wade Cunningham won the first IPS race, so you might as well all pull over and let the #9 by, boys and girls. Here's why:

Castroneves - Has only won 3 of the last 12 races he started from the pole. Clearly it's there's nowhere to go from there but backwards.

Franchitti - Seven career wins, all on ovals. Don't you DARE call him a "road course specialist". Yet.

Kanaan - Only one of Kanaan's nine career wins has come when he started fourt. (I know, I'm reaching here.)

Hornish - Highest career road course finish is 7th. Formula One is so NOT calling Sam.

Wheldon - Has yet to break the Top 5 on a twisty with TCGR. Chip wants his money back.

Andretti - Bryan Herta is not present to spin out late on this road course (just kidding!)

Rice - Only once before in his career has Buddy finished in the Top 5 in three straight races - and that was in 2004.

Scheckter - Best finish on a road course is 10th, which means he's either eating too many or too few White Castles.

Sharp - He's finished ninth here twice, which is his career best on a road/street course. And they say Uncle Sam has problems with right turns.

Carpenter, Fisher, Foyt, Manning, Matsuura, Meira, Patrick, Simmons - As a group they have the same amount of ICS wins as me or you. Well, most of you.

Money says: "Dixon, yo."

One final note of interest is that last year there were quite a few unexpected results. After Dixon, the next five drivers were:
2. Meira (Panther)
3. Briscoe (Dreyer & Reinbold)
4. Buddy Rice (Rahal Letterman)
5. Felipe Giaffone (Foyt)
6. Ed Carpenter (Vision)

Although none of these is more bizarre than Giorgio Pantano's (who?) P4 finish in 2005. Yes, Georgio!

Expect the unusual, other than Dixon winning of course. Enjoy the show!

Sadly, there isn't much excitement to report on the first of the Corning Twin 100 IPS races at The Glen this weekend. Welcome back to road racing.

After some slicing and dicing at the start, the yellow flag was brought out when Ryan Justice spun into the gravel. Get out your pencils and note that at this time top 4 positions were held by:
1. Wade Cunningham
2. Hideki Mutoh
3. Alex Lloyd
4. Phil Giebler*
(*we are still snickering at the old reader comment nicknaming him "The Giebler Elf")

Anyhow, 25 laps later the final results were:
1. Wade Cunningham
2. Hideki Mutoh
3. Alex Lloyd
4. Phil Giebler

Usually I love the madcap activities of the IPS, but from what we saw this was a bit of a snoozer. Once awakened from slumber, I realized three things mattered:
1. Alex Lloyd's season has hit the skids, with his first finish outside the Top 2 all year. So sad.
2. Hideki Mutoh has nearly caught up to Lloyd racewise (but certainly not points wise), with both having one win and 3 other podiums in the last four races.
3. Wade Cunningham finally won a race since he chopped his super-cool hair. Huzzah!

Well, it also gives reason to link this story for a laugh. Thanks, Phil.

As I’ve said before, My Name Is IRL doesn’t normally make a habit out of discussing the family members of our beloved participants in the Indy Racing League, but this one particular spouse is practically BEGGING for attention. Think “hat like a lamp shade”.

Apparently the odd bird known as Ashley Judd took exception to some recent remarks in the Des Moines Register regarding her trip to Iowa, and so she decided she would write an email to columnist John Carlson. Well, Carlson was so delighted with the correspondence he went ahead and published her, umm, comprehensive email so we could see the other side of the story. That would be the side with restaurant hopping, x-ray vision and one or two run-on sentences.

I trust this small dose of additional information is enough to give your paper (and perhaps its readers) pause to reconsider the vaguely nasty tone, and to remember that there are, indeed, always two, and perhaps even more, sides to any "story," and that sometimes, what we observe is through not only our subjective experience but the distorted perceptions we unconsciously carry and project onto others. (MORE)

Yup – she’s an actress.

Seriously though, you have to feel for Mr Judd. Not only does his wife NEVER actually speak the name of “my husband”, but he also has the regular announcers pronouncing first name like it rhymes with “stereo”. Poor Dario has been a solid driver in the league for several years, has won at Indy, leads convincingly in the points this year...and all we can talk about is his wacky wife. Oy.

From the "Great Moments in Racing Diplomacy" series (ahem!), here's one less thing for Marco Andretti to worry about this weekend. Same for his AGR teammate Danica Patrick, as I recall.

I'm sure someone will blame Tony George for this.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans hosting Fourth of July barbecues will pay more cold cash for the cold ones this year as beer joins the list of foods and beverages whose prices are jumping, in part because of the booming ethanol market.

Retail prices for beer at supermarkets and other stores were up 3% in May from a year earlier, the biggest increase in 2½ years, according to the latest data from the Labor Department. That's higher than the inflation rate for the overall economy, and a bigger gain than in prices of liquor and wine bought to be consumed at home. (MORE from USAToday.com)

While The Captain and Uncle Sam grapple with indecision, Big Chip thinks the Well Done one ain’t going anywhere near NAPCAR.

NASCAR and IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi doesn't foresee open wheel star Dan Wheldon moving to stock cars anytime soon.

"I personally don't see it on his radar screen [for] next year," Ganassi told ESPN.com Monday.

Ganassi did say he and Wheldon discussed the proposition several months back, but discontinued those talks with the plan to resume them later in the summer. They've yet to do so, Ganassi said.(MORE from ESPN.com)

Still, it would be quite the hoot if Dan managed to find himself in the car below. Synergy.

Best wishes today for the three-time series champion and the all time leader in IndyCar wins - 19 of them in 108 starts. Born July 2nd, 1979, in Defiance, Ohio, Sam Hornish Jr should be having a ball today.

Unfortunately, it sounds like he's not in the best of moods. According the the Charlotte Observer, his bags are packed and he's nearly out the IndyCar door.

A full-time move to NASCAR for reigning IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. seems all but certain.

Hornish, a three-time Indy Racing League champion and former Indianapolis 500 winner, is expected to join the Nextel Cup Series full-time next season with Penske Racing, the Observer has learned.

Penske has a primary sponsor to field a team for Hornish, sources said.

Not sure if that really advances anything we didn't already know because it doesn't really say much. However, Uncle Sam's words may speak a bit louder.

"You feel like they don't need you sometimes," Hornish told PA SportsTicker. "They've got their stars. That's another reason why you might want to do something else."

Excuse me while I start humming "Hey Jealousy".

Meanwhile, the intrepid Curt Cavin follow up on this (because that's what actual reporters do). According to Cavin, no decision has been made.

"Hand over my heart, we don't have any plans for Sam for next year," Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said. "Just like his real boss (his wife) just told you, even he doesn't know yet what he wants to do.

"He's driving our Indy car until we tell you different."

Again, no news is somehow news. Weird.

At any rate, Happy Birthday Sam. Someone let us know if he's actually celebrating with a NASCAR decorated cake.

So - anyone still think Dario Franchitti is getting it done on luck alone?

Mr Judd - and contrary to some he will remain with that moniker until Ashley stops getting more face time than him, or at least until she actually refers to him as "Dario" instead of "my husband" - was handed the pole position by the rain at Richmond, and then proceeded to lay total smack down all over the track.


After his dominance of short(er) tracks the last month, I think everyone should be convinced that if this IndyCar gig doesn't work out that ol' Dario could join World of Outlaws. Then again, this IndyCar gig is going pretty sweet for Franchitti right about now.

Remember after he won at Indy how folks were asking how a handsome driver with a famous wife was not a marquee name in the series? Well, at this rate this up this may not be an issue for much longer.

The Good

Buddy Rice has been interviewed at the conclusion of consecutive races. There is much price for our fellow Phoenician, but seriously - is this a sign of the apocalypse?

Third and fourth at Milwaukee, pole position in Iowa, second and third at Richmond - looks like the Target Twins have figured out short tracks. Now they just need to figure out how to get past that #27.

Another race and another Top 10 for Scott Sharp, who is doing a fine job of keeping the groovy Patron machine clean. RLR is not back to a top-tier team, but it's a whole heck of a lot better than the garbage season of last year.

Sometimes we think he's confused us beyond comprehension, but Jack Arute continues to upstage his colleagues. Dude is so good he reports on mechanical problems of the pace car.

The Bad

As neato keen as that ground level shot at the start/finish line was of Uncle Sam showing his backside to the world, it meant his car failed from the get go and Sam was never in contention at a race he was considered a favorite. After calling out Vitor last week (after reviewing the Iowa restart ourselves it sure sounded like Meria was standing on the gas) there is one word for Sam: karma. With several road courses forthcoming, his chances for a Championship repeat look dim.

Marco Andretti didn't wreck, but he was never a factor at Richmond. Then again he probably hasn't reached the point he should have been considered a factor on short ovals, so we should probably try to tie down the sliding expectation scale for the young Skywalker.

No matter how may races he wins, Marty Reid and Scott Goodyear still seem to think "Dario" rhymes with "stereo". Ugh.

As good as Buddy Rice, Scott Sharp and Vitor Meira have looked the last few weeks, there has been notable disparity in the performances of there teammates. Sarah Fisher has been clean but slower, Jeff Simmons seems stuck in "this could be the week" mode, and we are running out of adjectives (horrendous, abysmal, wretched, etc) to describe Kosuke Matsuura's season.

Milka...pffft.

The Ugly

Did everyone see the pre-race footage of Brian Barnhart's birthday celebration? All the drivers had gathered around and presented him with a cake, and then like Lloyd Ruby out of the frame popped Helio Castroneves, shoving an unidentified confection into the face of the Iron Hand of Justice. (Is your recent racing not difficult enough, Mr Spiderman?)

So really, was anyone surprised later when Helio got a penalty that effectively put him a lap down? I mean, when is the last time a "blending" violation was called? What that...I hear "blending" and I think of that Marissa Tomei line from "My Cousing Vinny".

Come on, Helio - you don't tug on Superman's cape and you don't mess around with the IHJ. It looked before like you just had some unbelivably bad luck, but now you're just bringing it on yourself.