A couple of interesting weekend items tops this update ...
Scott's No. 8
Scott Dixon was one of six current or former IRL drivers in the Autosport Magazine Top 50 drivers in the world.
The top 10 (based on 2007 performance): 1. Kimi Raikkonen (F1), 2. Lewis Hamilton (F1), 3. Fernando Alonso (F1), 4. Marcus Gronholm (WRC), 5. Sebastien Loeb (WRC), 6. Jenson Button (F1), 7. Dario Franchitti (IRL), 8. Scott Dixon (IRL), 9. Mark Webber (F1), 10. Nick Heidfeld (F1).
Other IRL drivers on the list: 16. Tony Kanaan; 30. Helio Castroneves; 42. Sam Hornish Jr.; 50. Alex Lloyd.
The entire list is here
Other drivers from American series:
NASCAR: 20. Jimmie Johnson; 25. Jeff Gordon; 36. Matt Kenseth
Champ Car: 23. Sebastien Bourdais; 43. Justin Wilson
ALMS: 24. Romain Dumas; 26. Allan McNish
Former ICS drivers: 33. Nic Minassian (one-time Indy 500 starter, now in European LeMans Series); 37. Giorgio Pantano (drove a couple of road races for TCGR in 2005, now in GP2).
Sam would like to drive IndyCars again
... in selected races, including the Indy 500 if the time thing can be ironed out
One question that is never asked ... there is a lot of complaining about ABC & IMS changing the Indy starting time from noon EDT to 1 p.m. EDT, but why doesn't NASCAR change the start time of the Fizzy Pop 600 if having guys do the "double" is such a big deal to them?
Says Sam: "I hope they move the schedule so somebody could do (the double). That's my goal. If I never ran in the Indy 500 again or an Indy Car Series race, I would probably say I would be disappointed."
Mario talks ...
Mario Andretti catches up with AutoWeek
Among the items ...
*-Mario talks about his last time in a "real" racecar, which ended in his airplane spin at Indy. He refers to the Dallara's design as "stupid," too.
*-He never even mentions Indy when asked about his biggest racing accomplishment.
*-On the split: He actually criticizes someone from CC ... "They're all in denial. I've tried so hard to get some sense in them. They just don't seem to realize they keep losing ground. More and more, that's the thing Kevin Kalkoven doesn't really realize. He's in Dubai, cultivating those foreign markets, and it just doesn't work."
*-On Marco: "He really needs to be in F1." (ugh ... this again).
Vitor's a truck driver
At least for one day, as Vitor Meira tested a race truck in Brazil. Don't tell the NASCAR media, or the "exodus" stories will begin again.
Looking ahead
Honda's Robert Clarke discusses tech specs for 2008
Among the highlights:
*-Multiple fuel settings is a possibility f0r 2008 (instead of the one fuel setting as happened in 2007)
*-1,400 miles on an engine between rebuilds
*-Trying to change the "sound" of the engines
*-ECUs will have to be modified to accommodate paddle shifting
Dario redux
The Herald catches up with Dario Franchitti and looks back on his 2007 season.
Says Dario: "I must have gone through about 20 different emotions during the Indy 500, but to finish in the lead when the weather intervened summed up how things went in my favor as the summer progressed ... it was the same when Scott Dixon's car ground to a halt on the last corner in the final race, I surged past him and knew I had the championship in my pocket."
And finally
... make sure you buy some IndyCar trading cards for your kid's stocking
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