With the IndyCar off-season lasting long enough to read the entirety of a of Gordon Kirby column, drivers are always on the lookout for ways to keep their senses keen. They need to drive - no, RACE - anything they can, whether that be go-karts, stock cars, formula cars...tricycles.
Sadly for Ed and Vision Racing, that was not a points race.
"They're magically delicious." - Dario Franchitti, who oddly enough is NOT Irish, does NOT jump around in a green suit, and most assuredly will NOT steal your Lucky Charms.
Derek Daly, on the other hand...
Wednesday, Feb 25th: HVM Racing Team Owner Keith Wiggins Comments about New Formula Team, USF1
"Its very difficult to start a new Formula One team, but there are a lot of factors that determine how hard it is going to be. There are questions that need to be answered. Where will the team get its chassis? Who will provide the engine? These are the biggest aspects to accomplish along with location and personnel.
Its doable, but you have to have the budget. You need good and experienced people and proper planning for everything to work, especially if it is to be based here. The proposed budget for this team is good, but its a smaller budget. You may not run at the front, but it really depends on a lot of factors that we dont know yet.
There are a lot of logistical issues of being based in the United States. You have freight, and that may be a big obstacle. How are they going to handle this with FOCA? Its certainly more expensive to race out of the United States in Formula One. I think its important, too, to think about your drivers. Its ideal to have one driver who is more familiar with the cars and the tracks. A.J. Allmendinger may be the best American driver with the most potential to fill one of the spots. Its going to be interesting to see how this pans out."
Thursday, Feb 26th: HVM Racing Team Owner Keith Wiggins Clarifies Comments Regarding USF1 American Driver Choices
"I wanted to clarify comments in an earlier statement regarding the best American drivers for the new USF1 operation. After being told of the teams wish list, I felt that A.J. Allmendinger was and is the best choice from that list given. This does not reflect what would be my own personal choice of driver from the U.S. for Formula One or any other series."
I don't know what this means, and honestly it's the first time I've paid attention to an HVM release since Viso had the mumps. But I do know HVM Racing has been a possible destination for Ryan Hunter-Reay, which means he may or may not be someone's "personal choice of driver from the U.S.".
Honestly though - does anyone know the reason for all of this tediousness?
I was all set to write about how EJ Viso is spitting in the face of racing superstitions. His car already has green all over it and now he's changing his number to "13", so all he needs is a "planters peanuts" sponsorship to score an unholy trifecta. He might even be looking to break some mirrors and walk under ladders, just for good measure. As Tony Kanaan, Vitor Meira, Graham Rahal and several others found out last year, EJ Viso isn't afraid of bad luck; he IS bad luck.
But...then I came across this photo of Viso laughing at having some giant, deadly snake wrapped around his neck and I realized there's nothing more I can add at this point. I mean, we've reached the point where there just isn't enough hyperbole in the English language to describe this guy. I may have to switch to Spanish instead.
But...then I thought I should note how I first saw the pic (here linked from IndyCar.com), which was via the Vision Racing twitter feed, and how this particular team has done an incredible job of using twitter to feed information to fans this week. (The only other team using a twitter account is HVM, but they aren't doing much with it, possibly because they have to keep rescuing otherwise deadly animals from Viso.)
Plus, as if that's not fan-friendly enough, they also have a running Q&A on the Vision Racing Facebook page similar to the one Panther Racing. Huge kudos to those teams for doing the unthinkable and interacting with fans no mater where they are.
But...since we're talking about twitter accounts I thought I should suggest a few more folks to follow since they're constantly "tweeting" about IndyCar racing.
@FuriousWedge - from "The Furious Wedge"
@IndyCarNation - from the Indy Racing League
@whatimthinking - from "so...here's what i'm thinking..."
There are others who pass along IRL-related info, but along with @VisionRacing these folks actively participate in the discussion. In other words, they respond to you. If you are unable to hang out at the bar with friends to discuss racing, use the internet that Al Gore invented to hang out with these folks (along with your humble host @MyNameIsIRL) instead.
But...there's one last thing on twitter that got my attention: @teamamericaf1. Not so much because of the feed but because, well, just check out their web site and blog. This image says it all.
This week VERSUS revealed - hold your breath - four one-hour specials to be aired ahead of the start of the IndyCar series season opener. Compared to the meager one-hour show that ESPN held last year, this is *checking calculator* four times the pre-season programming! Huzzah!
(Although in fairness to the four-letter network, that one hour was brilliantly hosted by Helio Castroneves, who if he doesn't get deported this year will most assuredly ending up replacing that Sugar Ray guy as host of "Access Entertainment" or whatever it's called.
Anyhow, here are the anticipated programs.
March 7, Danica: Five Years Running Includes highlights of Danica Patrick's career, including her win at Motegi that at least twelve of us actually saw.
March 14, IndyCar Series: Top 10 Closest Finishes Feature the top-10 closest finishes in IndyCar Series history, including the 2008 season finale at Chicagoland Speedway where the car that finished second was first to Victory Lane.
March 21, IndyCar Series: Crashes and Conflicts Showcases some of the most memorable incidents and conflicts between drivers and several of the most incredible crashes in recent IndyCar Series history. Expect to see Danica v Wheldon, Danica v Briscoe, Danica v Duno, Danica v Jacques Lazier, Danica v Safety Truck...
March 28, IndyCar Series World Tour 200 This sound a bit like a bunch of footage since it supposedly has "highlights from each racetrack on the IndyCar Series schedule, but also showcase highlights from the first street-course race in series history in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 2005 and top photo finishes from the site of the '09 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway". In other words, everything on YouTube tagged "indycar".
Still, it's all a noble effort and a great start to the season, but I think if VERSUS is going to show a commitment to the series they need to help expose fans of their other sports to the personalities of the IRL - and by "expose" I don't mean bikini contests involving GoDaddy-sponsored drivers (although some may argue that would draw more many more viewers than any given race).
Off the top of my head, here are additional few ideas for VERSUS.
Dario Franchitti VERSUS the track - Given his vast array of experience racing various cars, Dario will show up and enter races featuring vintage cars, drifts, snowmobiles - you name it. The kicker is Dario has to be paid more than any other driver to actually enter the race, but that shouldn't be a problem in anything that doesn't involve the N-Word series.
Darren Manning VERSUS your kitchen - Since he doesn't have a ride, Chef Danger Mouse can spend lots of time going into various homes in the greater Indianapolis area, raiding their cupboards, and using the available contents to introduce Hoosiers to tasty British cuisine like "Bangers and Mash" or "Yorkshire Pudding". Imagine grandma's surprise when she gets a taste of "Spotted Dick".
Ryan Hunter-Reay VERSUS unemployment - Free agent driver Ryan shows how ride-buying is done by hosting a weekly telethon to raise money for a seat in the IndyCar series. If you liked watching that the dancing monkey, or that juggling mime, or the 8-year-old who melts your face, then operators are standing by to take your donations!
Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti VERSUS college - Each week Graham and Marco sit in on a different class at a local university and attempt to learn what other young men their age are doing. Imagine the fun and excitement as Graham debates Jungian vs Freudian while Marco dives into Linear Approximations. My personal favorite - ROTC week!
Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon VERSUS your closet It's like "What Not To Wear", except with Danica and Dan as hosts...meaning it's exactly the same show. If nothing else it's something for your wife/girlfriend/life partner who doesn't usually watch racing to enjoy.
After yet another long, hard winter of discontent, the cars are finally on the track and testing speed at Homestead. The braintrust at TrackSide Online is on site and providing live updates what may or may not be a Milka Duno sighting.
- Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has three transporters. (Yes, the Internet reports were true - there are two KV Racing transporters here.)
- N/H/L is setup in the garage area with three slots for cars. (KV Racing is setup for one car, and the crew reports they'll be running just one car.)
- They have three pit boxes on pit road - for cars numbered 02, 06, and 23.
- The #23 pit equipment has Citgo branding. (#23 was the number Milka ran last season at Dreyer and Reinbold Racing.)
Tongues continue to wag. In the meantime, irritate your boss by following all of the action for test of both series LIVE today with the IndyCar timing and scoring.
UPDATE: More Milklicious news from TSO has arrived.
It's kind of sad we only have news to bring you on Milka Duno, but, well, it's a test.
Newman/Haas/Lanigan has now rolled off a #23 car with Citgo and Arctic Ice (an energy drink) sponsorship. By contrast, the sidepods for Robert Doornbos' N/H/L car read "Bobby D", which we're reasonably sure is not an energy drink. Photos of both are up in the photo gallery.
Robin is saying today that Justin Wilson may soon be employed by Dale "checking the sofa cushions for" Coyne Racing. We'll see if this pans out but it's great to see the ultra-nice Wilson, who P1 endearingly refers to as "freakishly large", getting another opportunity. Although struggling with the ovals last year, he'd certainly be expected to be a factor on any course featuring right turns.
Additionally mentioned in the story is that Dale Coyne is also "working on several things" to pair Wilson with Bruno Junqueira, who managed to sneak a few Top 10 finishes last year when no one was looking. But most mind-shattering of all is that Junky "reportedly drove for no salary for Coyne the past two years".
Once more, with feeling: reportedly drove for no salary for Coyne the past two years!!!
I love writing for My Name Is IRL and I pretty much do it for free, but it's not like I could write a bad post and suddenly end up seriously injured. It's not like Meesh or Chris or pressdog or whoever could link my posts incorrectly and then I'm upside-down at 200 miles-per-hour. It's not like Blogger has an error and suddenly I'm on fire. It's not like my next typo could put me into the wall.
Driving for free isn't just commitment - that's either an addiction or an affliction. I'm sure other drivers have raced for free, but sheesh, two years without salary is...well, hamburgers and hot dogs.
20 February 2009 - LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) announced today that Dutch driver Robert Doornbos, 27, will join the team for the 2009 IndyCar Series (ICS) season.Congratulations, Bobby! Robin Miller has already put $20 down on you to be 2009 Bombardier Rookie of the Year.
Details of the sponsorship will be announced at a later date.
(MORE at RobertDoornbos.com)
This quote may seem look some kind of satire but apparently it's very real. Here, straight from the mouth of Formula One driver Mark Webber, may be the predominant reason why F1 struggles to have much cross-over audience with Americans who stubbornly demand passing in their racing events.
"If you're talking about overtaking in terms of someone just passing someone else on the straight, then that is an overtaking move but it's not very exciting. If that's what we want and we want people to not get held up behind other drivers and be able to pass on the straight then that might well happen, but we see in IndyCar racing that there are some times where they pass people six times per lap - and that's not that exciting either.Well, so much for any rumors of that guy racing in the IndyCar series.
"Whether we have exciting overtaking moves because we can pass people on the brakes and with good slipstreaming remains to be seen, but I don't think it's going to do much for the racing, no."
(MORE from Yahoo! Sport)
"Did you see any quotes from me in that press release?...I guess they were looking for publicity, but nobody from that group has contacted me or my agent. The first I knew about it was when I read the (Associated Press) story from London." - Danica Patrick, expressing how utterly thrilled she is at having her name used for the express purpose of someone else's publicity.
Full disclosure: I'm considering retaining the services of a driver to be the official spokesperson for My Name Is IRL, and among the names under consideration is, of course, Danica Patrick. I think she'd be a sterling representative of this product and I would enthusiastically work with her to help increase awareness of this fine online publication. I should have a related press release available shortly.
(Thanks to our buddy pressdog for catching this in his daily perusal of the finer Canadian publications.)
