Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Sept. 26 newsstand: Lots o' stuff

Catching up on a few days' worth of stories ... a few things going on in the world of IndyCar racing.

Season redux
ESPN's John Oreovicz gives out his Oreo Awards for the 2007 season
Take with a grain of salt -- note the source is an ex-Gang of Four member. Among the awards: Best Choreography goes to ... not Helio Castroneves, but Ashley Judd, the Like Father Like Son award to Marco Andretti, and Dan Wheldon is Least Popular Among His Peers.

While we're on the subject of opinions, ESPN's Terry Blount says the IRL's schedule needs fixing -- namely, don't end the season on the same weekend as the Richmond NASCAR race and NFL opening weekend, shorten the Month of May by a week to add another race, and do everything possible to keep Eddie Gossage happy.

Indy purse growing
The Indy 500's purse is set to grow when the new financial plan is revealed next week, according to the Indianapolis Star. How much, we don't know?

Testing at Iowa
The IRL will be testing next week at Iowa Speedway to get the aerodynamic package right after the wreckfest this year. AGR, Penske & TCGR will be doing the testing. The test will be Oct. 3-4 and it appears it might be open to the public. AP Story Des Moines Register SpeedTV
Says Brian Barnhart: Iowa Speedway is like nothing else currently on our circuit. It combines the characteristics of a short oval with those of a banked superspeedway. We want to make sure we're providing the best possible on-track product for our drivers and our fans when we return to Iowa Speedway next season.''

The IRL will not have too much company at Iowa, as NASCAR is keeping its big series away from Rusty's track.

Other notes: Chicagoland, Buddy & Sarah
A couple of nuggets in this TSN notebook. First, Chicagoland Speedway is getting lights (for its NASCAR date). Buddy Rice is running his first A1GP race this weekend, and Sarah Fisher is being featured in Honda ads (I get the sense this means Sarah is going to be in a car somewhere next year).

The IRL's official notebook
has a Dancing with the Stars update, Ethanol's first season in IndyCars, Aaron Godnai has been named director of sales for the IRL, and Greenwood, IN karting standout Kyle Wiegand is going to test an IPS car for SWE.

IndyCar.com also has the Kyle Wiegand story.

The Gary Post-Trib also notes Chicagoland's addition of lights, as does the Chicago Tribune. The IRL race will stay in the daytime.

Auto Racing Daily notes Buddy Rice's A1GP run at Zandevoort.
Says Buddy: "We’ve developed some good, reliable information on what the ‘We The People’ car likes in our tests and the challenge we face at Zandvoort is finding the optimum performance during a race weekend."

Other off-season notes
Danica Patrick has gotten to drive some really cool cars for Motor Trend.

Speaking of Sarah
Her wedding was better than any podium finish. Read her diary on ESPN.com.
Says Mrs. O'Gara: "One of the neater parts of the ceremony was actually at the end, when our recessional played "Back Home Again in Indiana." It was cool to hear everyone's reaction to it."

Dario's defection ...
Scotsman.com notes that Dario Franchitti is nearing a switch to NASCAR. Chip Ganassi has admitted that he's trying to sign Dario.

Before he goes to NASCAR, Dario will join Tony Kanaan at the Petit Le Mans race in the ALMS.

... and Sam's
AutoWeek notes that Penske is not giving up on Sam's NASCAR career.

The Dancing with the Stars beat
Curt Cavin notes that Helio's fancy footwork might help him and the IRL, and then says Helio shined in his first night on the show. The San Jose Mercury-News also gave a thumbs-up to Helio's performance. The Palm Beach Post said Helio is as comfortable dancing as he is in the Indy 500. IndyCar.com notes that the judges were impressed with Helio's performance.

Helio talks about it in his diary on IndyCar.com.

Possible IRL stuff
It's a Champ Car story, but John Oreovicz notes the future whereabouts of those running for Best in Show in Champ Car (better known as the guy who gets to finish a distant second to Bourdais this year). Among the notes from Oreo is a note that Justin Wilson and CDW might be coming over next year. Says Oreo: "With Champ Car canceling or relocating races with alarming frequency, there are reports that CDW is unhappy with the series, and speculation has the driver and his sponsor moving to Newman/Haas/Lanigan to replace Bourdais, or leaving Champ Car altogether in favor of the IndyCar Series or sports cars."

Speculation from Herr Miller
Check out Robin Miller's SpeedTV chat
Among the items:
*-Robin thinks the 17th IRL event might still happen in Southern California.
*-Sarah might start her own team (he's thrown that one out before) and Rahal may want Rice back.
*-SAMAX's owner has told Robin that he'd like to run two cars in 2008. Milka has to be in one of them to get Citgo's sponsorship, however.
*-Scheckter, RHR, Mutoh, Rice and Justin Wilson all possibilities for the 4th AGR seat.
*-Some wild rumors that Sharp & Patron are leaving RLR, but they seem to be very wild.
*-Piggybacking on the Wilson story above, Robin says CDW is likely out of CC and headed to ALMS, but Wilson is looking at the IRL.
*-Mixed emotions on revenue sharing.
*-Anticipate the worst crowd ever for CC at Mexico City (where the website isn't even up yet).


Non-IRL stuff
Colin McRae's funeral drew 200 mourners, including Dario Franchitti & Jackie Stewart.

And finally ...
Donald Davidson is offering his "History of the 500" class on four Tuesday evenings in October.

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