A quick update after a day of taking in stick-and-ball sports ...
What is Dario doing?
Dario Franchitti was initially going to run next weekend's ARCA race in Talladega for Chip Ganassi, but AGR said Dario must honor his contract and stay with AGR through December (and run the ALMS Petit Le Mans race for AGR). Now, it appears Chip is trying to negotiate with AGR to get Dario out of that contract and into a tintop ASAP.
Says Chip of Dario: "The plans are there for him to race this year. We have him signed and sealed; he's just not delivered. We're working through some things to get him in the car this year. We're working feverishly to get him in the ARCA race at Talladega. That's the plan."
Speaking of Dario, the Indy 500 and IndyCar Champ was named the Driver of the Year quarterly winner for the second straight quarter.
Sarah Fisher Racing?
Robin Miller mentioned it as a possibility a few weeks back, but Curt Cavin also brings up the possibility of Sarah Fisher starting her own team (with a built-in crew chief, of course). Sarah has no current plans to go back to D&R next year. Right now, Sarah doesn't have the $$ to run the full season, but Cavin also mentions it as an Indy-only possibility. (Also notable in this notebook, speaking of $$, Cavin mentions the IRL's purse structure is pretty similar to what it was in 1996. It's undergoing a big change next week). Sarah is also being featured in national Honda ads, leading everyone and their brother to believe she'll be in the IndyCar Series in some capacity next year.
News & notes
A press conference is being held Tuesday to discuss the new revenue sharing plan.
Lots of IRL items in this notebook from the St. Pete Times, including 55-year-old former IPS driver Tom Wieringa trying to earn an IRL license, and notes that Sam is NOT participating in next week's test at Iowa.
Next week, three teams (AGR, Penske, Ganassi) will test at Iowa. On Oct. 12, some more teams will be at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, testing road-course modifications, including the "enhanced" steering and paddle-shifters.
Those are also mentioned in the official IRL news & notes.
Chicagoland is getting lights. The IRL race is still slated for the day, but the track president would love to see a night race with the title on the line. Problem is, of course, that NASCAR's Richmond race is already scheduled for that night (and it's one of their best races of the year).
And finally ...
Did Scott Sharp, and Infineon TK, go to NASCAR? If they did, there's no Brian Barnhart equivalent to punish him.
And, while this story is often overplayed, the Detroit Free Press' Mike Brundell plays the "NASCAR is where everyone wants to go" story, using extensive J.J. Yeley quotes. FYI, Yeley told me in 1998 that NASCAR was where he ultimately wanted to be. Mike is one of the better motorsports journalists.
Robin Miller tries to see what the oldtimers would say about the state of the Indy 500 today.
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