It would seem that Sam Hornish Jr will not be taking his Indecision '07 tour to Kansas Speedway this weekend, since (a) he's not on the N-word entry list and (b) he spent yesterday practicing at Kentucky Speedway.

Maybe in all the frustration he got Kansas and Kentucky mixed up. Or not.

“We haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet. The big thing for me is to continue to wait a little bit and get to the point where I feel like I have a good head on my shoulders as far as making the decision,” Hornish, Jr., said. “We’ll make it when that time comes. The best thing about it is that I’ve not had to make that decision yet.” (MORE from WhoWon)

Sam's wife Crystal must be the most patient woman on the planet.

Remember that bit about Dario Franchitti running in an ARCA race next weekend? Yeah, probably not gonna happen. Looks like Mr Judd will be in Atlanta that weekend for a Petit Le Mans race – racing for Andretti Green.

Dario Franchitti's plans to kick off his stock car career with Chip Ganassi Racing in two weeks' have been put on hold because of the Scotsman's contractual commitments with Andretti Green Racing.

Chip Ganassi has been working on a deal to try to get Franchitti some stock car experience as soon as possible, with the aim of having him well-prepared to drive for his team in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup.

However, negotiations have apparently hit a stumbling block as Franchitti is still under contract with AGR, has further commitments to the team, and an early release from his obligations has not been reached. (MORE from autosport.com)

Nothing like Michael and Chip playing hardball, leveraging the current Indy 500 champion against each other. It's strictly business, of course.

“We are just waiting to announce one new two-car team for next year. We think there are two or three others coming...and we’ve got a couple of very good league sponsors to announce. They’re signed, sealed, delivered.”

“We’re waiting during our quiet period, and this is a little bit of a strategy. When we unfortunately have a bit of an off-season we want to really kind of sequence that information into the market to let people know that there are good things happening on a regular basis with the Indycar series.”

Terry Angstadt, President of the Commercial Division of the Indy Racing League, during an interview with IMS Radio’s Mike King. Angstadt says he expects a “minimum of 22 cars” for the opener in Homestead, although he also suggest 26 cars as the maximum allowable for regulars the series.

Ubiquitous race blogger Alan Brewer (this time at A1TeamRacer.com) tells us how 2004 Indy 500 champ Buddy Rice is spending his free time. Hint: it's NOT in a tin top.

Buddy Rice will drive for A1 TEAM USA in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2007-08 season opener Sunday at Zandvoort, a 2.6-mile, 11-turn circuit on the Dutch coast.

It will be the first A1GP race for Rice, who has tested for a total of 2 ½ days at Silverstone in the Lola-Zytek mandated by the series.

“I’m very excited to have this opportunity to drive for A1 TEAM USA and represent my country in the World Cup of Motorsport,” Rice said. “It is an honor and carries a new type of responsibility. You always want to do well for your team and yourself and, now in A1GP, for my country.” (MORE from A1TeamRacer.com)

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

If you would like, click here for a taste of the "World Cup of Motorsports".

So how did he do? Not too shabby. Considering Helio and his partner got the most "points" it would seem he's unlikely to go home this week. No offense to Danica Patrick, but having someone approach her level of exposure who has actually won quite a few races seems like a very real possibility if he's gonna keep looking like this.

Here's the video of Helio's performance, although posting footage is NOT going to become a regular feature. It's more so you can judge for yourself what 20 meeeellion viewers are seeing as representative of perhaps their first impression of IndyCar racing.



Note that some of that Detroit footage looks a lot like Chicagoland, and before you say anything, I think they meant he was the youngest to win back-to-back Indy 500s. I'm cool with a few mistakes (hey, they got his name right), but it's tremendously disappointing they couldn't work Tomas Scheckter's famous quote in there. Oh well.

Our DWTS expert Jennifer says: Helio came out with a smile and charmed everyone. He seemed to genuinely enjoy himself and there was obvious chemistry between him and Julianne. Perhaps I’m a bit biased, but having watched every season and having a feel for what the judges are looking for, I thought he gave one of the best ballroom performances I have seen in the first round during any season. There were a few spots where his leg extensions could have been a little firmer. But his holds were strong and he seemed relaxed.

The judges were also pleased with Helio and Julianne’s performance, giving them the highest score, a 25, of the men. Never discount the power of the judges’ scores and comments. They can have a strong influence on the viewers’ votes. After seeing her cha cha cha on Monday I believe Helio’s main competition will be Cheetah Girl, Sabrina Bryan.

Thanks Jennifer, but if Castroneves loses to the Cheetah Girl then P1 (Radio Disney fan that she is) will never let me live this down. To paraphrase Al Davis, the Cheetah Girl must go down, and she must go down hard!

Something makes me think Sarah Fisher will be back next year, like for example this press release.

IndyCar Series driver Sarah Fisher is featured in American Honda Motors' first national broadcast corporate image campaign in two years.

The 30-second commercial, shows Honda jet planes, solar racers, test-track racing with Fisher and safety researchers, all in home video-style movement to The Who's "I Can See for Miles." All the video images are "shot" by Asimo, Honda's walking robot. Tagline: "See what we see." It's the first time the Torrance, Calif.-based automaker has used national advertising for corporate image since the "Safety for everyone" campaign in October 2005.

The new spot is slated to run during the "Dancing With the Stars" season premiere and can also be seen during the season premieres such as "Brothers and Sisters," "Cane" and "Chuck." The commercial will also run during the Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series.

Looks like she didn't change her name to Sarah O'Gara. Smart move.

If anyone finds the video of the commercial online please let us all know.


UPDATE: Reader Arni (Arni!) informs us you can see the ad with Fisher in the video section of the Honda Racing site HERE. Sarah's not talking, but she looks very busy.

Well, it’s time. TONIGHT our beloved Helio Castroneves boldly takes his act to primetime with his debut performance on Dancing With The Stars. For purposes of journalistic endeavors, your humble correspondent will be attempting to watch Helio’s pursuit of, well, I don’t know what the winner actually gets. But whether or not he gets it the TV will be on, the notepad will be out, and after my first attempt at watching last night I think the liquor cabinet will be stocked.

Seriously, using Monday night as a warm up I tried watching DWTS for the first time. Sorry to say to fans of the show, but this was painful to watch. It was girls night, and while the older celebs like Marie Osmond and Jane Seymour were doing these slow-motion, don’t-break-my-hip moves, the Spice Girl and the Cheetah Girl were hopping around like they were auditioning for the return of Solid Gold. Very bizarre.

(By the way – shouldn’t being someone who dances in your career preclude a person from being on this show? Wouldn’t that make said person a ringer? Seriously, I don’t get this show.)

For those like me who had never seen Dances With Helio before, here are some observations:

• I had no idea this show was hosted by the guy from America’s Funniest Home Videos (no, not Bob Saget – the new guy). Was Regis not available?
  
  
• Considering the sponsors, I am apparently the only man (well, straight man) in America watching the show. Feeling fresh is not a big selling point among men.
  
  
• The music and background singing exceptionally high in cheese. Do we need to hear a ballroom cover of “Don’cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me...?” Good gracious!
  
  
• The judges on the show not only give verbal critiques, but the also hold up these little signs from their laps with a score. I think it’s a rating of 1 to 10 of the performance, which in the end means NOTHING since advancing on the show is determined by viewer votes.
  
  
• Speaking of the judges, Simon Cowell is NOT on this show. Bummer.

Incidentally, the IndyStar is reporting that Helio is early favorite in to win the, umm, whatever they win. Yes, they have a betting line on this, proving once again (you really can bet on anything in Vegas.

It won't hurt that Castroneves is paired with Julianne Hough, who led Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno to last season's title. Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has predicted Castroneves and Hough will win. Multiple Las Vegas casinos have them as a co-favorite along with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his partner, "Dancing" veteran Karina Smirnoff.

"He's darling, and that spark that Emmitt has, that charisma, is what I see in Helio," (senior talent producer Deena) Katz said. "As a sports figure, men will watch him; women will vote for him.

"I'm telling you, the women will love him."

Feel the love, and stay up to date with the updates and photos at IndyCar.com in case I can’t make it through the entire program. Believe it or not, you can already start voting for Castroneves. So if you have nothing better to do...

Call: 1-800-868-3409
Text: Vote 3409 (AT & T Customers only)

Good luck, Helio! And for the love of Roger Penske please don’t lose to Wayne Newton.

Whether you are pricing out a new sports car for your travels or you simply like hearing a lovely young lady talk about cars, Motor Trend is here to help. For their current issue they’ve enlisted none other than Danica Patrick to review four new cars, despite the fact that she can barely see over the dash of most of these bad boys.

Here are some of the Andretti Green driver’s thoughts about the cars she tested, with links providing full video reviews.

Posche 911 GT3RS: “Sixth gear was a little bit useless..it felt a little bit nervous in the rear…it felt rigid.”

Chevrolet Corvette Z06: “It just didn’t have that bottom-end torque that I want to feel…I thought it was a little bit weak.”

Dodge Viper SRT 10: “You really had to be hard on the throttle to feel the grunt…it went over the bumps soft but it didn’t recover.”

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640: “It’s so fun…the shifting is too jerky, and when you get off the throttle the rear gets a little bit light…it sounds good, it sings.”

Oh, I’m sorry – was she talking about cars?

Reader Bethany was kind enough to forward this. The woman who made sopping-wet sundresses all the rage this summer has teamed up with Goody's Family Clothing to unleash the Ashley Judd collection. You - yes, YOU - can now purchase any number of "classic separates including denim, organic and knit tees, as well as jackets, blouses, sweaters and trousers."

Shockingly, no big hats or sunglasses - talk about an opportunity lost!

“I think Ashley is really the perfect match for what we want because we wanted a really nice updated missy line. Our strength has been our juniors. We go from juniors to an older customer, and we don’t really have anything in between that’s really updated,” Goody’s CEO Charles Turlinski said.

Judd, who personifies the South, is someone who Goody’s customers can resonate with, Turlinski said.

All of the company’s marketing was directly structured around what Judd does in her spare time, such as playing in the creek, rescuing animals, swinging on the front porch, said Mary Beth Fox, Goody’s vice president of marketing, strategy and planning. (MORE from Knoxnews.com)

Say what? I'm not overly familiar with Women of the South, but I didn't realize ya'll are spending your free time playing in the creek. Ladies, do tell which of Ashley's shoes would be apropos of just such an occasion.

As one Scottish driver prepares to depart the IndyCar series...

"We have a few little hurdles to get done before we can announce something (with Dario Franchitti), but we are feverishly working at it. We are confident we are going to be able to put something together with him," (Chip) Ganassi said Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

A formal announcement of Franchitti's move is expected this week, sources said.

Asked if Franchitti knows for certain the Cup series is where he wants to compete full time, Ganassi said: "He definitely wants to do it." (MORE from That's Racin')

...another Scottish driver may be coming.

Champ Car rookie Ryan Dalziel was recently fired, reportedly one of two drivers let go so Champ Car could feature Mexican drivers for their upcoming event in Mexico City. Via con dios, amigos.

Dalziel said he was now considering either a return to Grand-Am - where he took second in a one-off for the SAMAX team last weekend - or a switch to the IRL IndyCar Series.

"I'll definitely be racing, it's just a case of determining what the best option is," he said.

"I've had a great time driving Daytona Prototypes in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series in the past two years and I'd definitely be interested in a return there given the strength of the competition.

"Similarly there's potential to stay in open-wheel racing and switch to the Indy Racing League so I'll consider what's on offer and hopefully have things lined up sooner rather than later." (MORE from Autosport.com)

That's right, SAMAX. After Ashley Judd called out Milka Duno, how ironic would it be to see the SAMAX team featuring a citizen of Scotland as a teammate to Milkalicious? More than a wee bit, me thinks.