We're a bit behind due to personal stuff, but we have Texas wrapups & not much else, as the series takes its first break since before heading to Motegi/Long Beach.
Danica testing in F1?
Reports are that Danica Patrick is testing a Honda F1 car. And then, Honda denies it.
The next steps
Robin Miller starts lobbying for more road courses and street parades, and says Homestead and Nashville are goners. He also says New Hampshire is a 60% possibility to be reinstated.
Analysis & commentaries
After taking the yellow/checkered (the second straight time an IndyCar race has ended that way), Scott Dixon says one of NASCAR's crummiest rules should be considered, the green-white-checkered.
Says Scott: "The fans come first. That's why we're here."
This notebook also covers the Marco/RHR crash, driver penalties and Eddie Gossage again angling for date-after-Indy status.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Dave Kallman says "no" about "overtime."
The Dallas Morning News' Richard Durrett says "please."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Racing drowns out Eddie's whining
Says columnist Gil LeBreton: "There were 83,000 spectators in the grandstands at the speedway. For 106 laps, the heart of Saturday's race, they had watched accident-free, 210 mph-plus racing, sometimes by three cars, side by side by side. And Gossage was still mad about a race in Milwaukee?"
ESPN: Dominant Dixon not good for IndyCar
Says Terry Blount: "Dixon doesn't sell tickets. With all due respect to his lovely new bride, Dixon is missing a racing version of sex appeal.He's a little too quiet, a little too icy and little too, well, normal."
FW Star-Telegram: The buzz from TMS
Sports Network: Broadcast does disservice to IndyCars
Preach on. I was pretty groggy when the broadcast ended at 1 a.m., long after the race was actually over.
Texas recaps
Race stories from Dixon's win
From the Indianapolis Star, AP, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sportal.com (NZ), Denton Record-Chronicle, Speed, IndyCar.com
Dixon says Marco gave him plenty of room for the winning pass: "You could have put two or three cars through there."
And then RHR says Marco didn't give him any room when he tried to pass for 2nd, and then wiped them both out: "He gave me the bottom line on the backstretch, then he really turned early. He said that he gave me enough room. I didn't feel he did. Moving down to avoid contact, the car got unhinged."
The Star-Telegram also has a sidebar on the Marco-RHR crash, as does John Oreovicz of ESPN
Post-race press conference
Daily Trackside Report for raceday
Driver/team stuff
Mansfield (OH) News-Journal: Danica's foil picking up steam
Two weeks later, stories about Ryan Briscoe still mention Danica first.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram catches up with Tomas Scheckter and Dan Wheldon
Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News reports on Penske's Texas efforts
And IndyCar.com catches up with the malcontent & the rookie at Dale Coyne Racing
Jack Arute looks at John Barnes' shedding 140 pounds
IndyCar.com catches up with PCM's Tyler Tadevic
Expat news
The Orlando Sentinel says Sam needs to park it
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
June 7 newsstand: Texas race day
News
Indy Star: Andretti offered full-time ride at Roth Racing
John Andretti might be a full-time IndyCar driver again. Marty Roth has offered him a seat. Where does this leave Jay Howard? We don't know ...
Indianapolis Business Journal: IRL enters talks for new TV deal
ESPN is wanting revenue sharing, instead of a rights fee. The IRL is wanting more promotional time. And NBC/Turner are reportedly interested.
Qualifying stories & race previews
Indy Star: Wheldon pained by hard flip
Dan Wheldon took a tumble last night and hurt his ankle. "That was probably the biggest hit I've ever had."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
We posted this last night, but it's updated
Dallas Morning News: Dixon wins pole
You have to skip down in this DMN notebook, but drivers don't like the 4-lap qualifying rules. (is there anything about ovals some of these guys like?)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The buzz
Five things to look for tonight.
Commentaries
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: All not smooth at TMS
Jennifer Ford Engel says Eddie Gossage isn't happy about a few things, and the IRL drivers' (err, Danica's) complaining isn't helping. Says Eddie about his placement on the schedule (or, more notably, Milwaukee's placement on the schedule): "Somebody that has been loyal to you and somebody that has been a place, when the really tough things came along, you could always point to Texas, bump your chest and be proud of it. I just do not understand. But if that is what the IRL wants to do..."
Driver features
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: John Andretti back at TMS
Racing nomad John Andretti is really enjoying himself this year. Says John: "You know, a Tony Stewart would do a bunch of things. I'm sure Jeff Gordon would, and I know Jeff Burton would. There are a variety of guys who would do more if they had the time and opportunity. If they had one, I'm sure they would get the other."
Crash.net: Franck Perera back in Indy Lights
He wants to be in the ICS, so he's running in Lights until an IndyCar ride opens up.
The Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle has a piece on RHR and his spotter
Expats
Philadelphia Daily News: Hornish's success in NASCAR modest
Edmonton Sun: Canada has been good to Bourdais. Seabass says Edmonton and Toronto need to be part of the IRL schedule, too.
Indy Star: Andretti offered full-time ride at Roth Racing
John Andretti might be a full-time IndyCar driver again. Marty Roth has offered him a seat. Where does this leave Jay Howard? We don't know ...
Indianapolis Business Journal: IRL enters talks for new TV deal
ESPN is wanting revenue sharing, instead of a rights fee. The IRL is wanting more promotional time. And NBC/Turner are reportedly interested.
Qualifying stories & race previews
Indy Star: Wheldon pained by hard flip
Dan Wheldon took a tumble last night and hurt his ankle. "That was probably the biggest hit I've ever had."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
We posted this last night, but it's updated
Dallas Morning News: Dixon wins pole
You have to skip down in this DMN notebook, but drivers don't like the 4-lap qualifying rules. (is there anything about ovals some of these guys like?)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The buzz
Five things to look for tonight.
Commentaries
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: All not smooth at TMS
Jennifer Ford Engel says Eddie Gossage isn't happy about a few things, and the IRL drivers' (err, Danica's) complaining isn't helping. Says Eddie about his placement on the schedule (or, more notably, Milwaukee's placement on the schedule): "Somebody that has been loyal to you and somebody that has been a place, when the really tough things came along, you could always point to Texas, bump your chest and be proud of it. I just do not understand. But if that is what the IRL wants to do..."
Driver features
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: John Andretti back at TMS
Racing nomad John Andretti is really enjoying himself this year. Says John: "You know, a Tony Stewart would do a bunch of things. I'm sure Jeff Gordon would, and I know Jeff Burton would. There are a variety of guys who would do more if they had the time and opportunity. If they had one, I'm sure they would get the other."
Crash.net: Franck Perera back in Indy Lights
He wants to be in the ICS, so he's running in Lights until an IndyCar ride opens up.
The Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle has a piece on RHR and his spotter
Expats
Philadelphia Daily News: Hornish's success in NASCAR modest
Edmonton Sun: Canada has been good to Bourdais. Seabass says Edmonton and Toronto need to be part of the IRL schedule, too.
Preach on, Eddie
Texas week is always interesting for two things.
One is, of course, the race -- usually the most entertaining on the calendar.
The other is, what the heck is Eddie Gossage going to do?
Last year, he used an on-track feud between Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick to help sell the race, among other things.
This year, Eddie spoke words that many on the IRL side of the divide have been thinking, but might have been afraid to say.
Ever since February, we've heard calls from ex-CC people (and some of their cheerleaders in the media) that the IRL needs to adopt, well, everything that CC had. More road courses (Gordon Kirby wasn't the only one beating the drum for one-third roads, one-third streets, one-third ovals), podiums (never got to even fight that one), turbocharged engines (there's another pimpage of that in today's newsstand), push-to-pass, heck, even replacing the Dallara with some version of the Panoz DP01 chassis. Adding Cleveland, Mexico City, Portland, Toronto, Long Beach, Road America, Edmonton, Eur (and on and on and on) to the schedule. The series is already 1/4 of the way there, and it looks like Toronto is a lock, Mexico City is a possibility and Cleveland is at least on the radar screen.
Meanwhile, at least a couple of ovals appear to be casualties.
And so, as we watch the IndyCar Series accelerate its morphing into CART II -- the series that was committing a slow suicide a decade ago by going to too many road races -- Eddie Gossage comes in to say what we've all been feeling.
To be viable in the United States, IndyCar MUST be a predominately-oval series.
Gossage told ESPN.com's Terry Blount that to be successful, the IndyCar Series must have at least 80% ovals (that would be, say, 15 ovals and 3 road courses on an 18-race schedule).
The ratio might not need to be that high, but ovals should be the primary focus of the series.
Why?
Oval racing is the foundation of American racing.
NASCAR didn't get popular because it ran Riverside and Watkins Glen. Formula One has never had much of a presence in the United States, even when it ran Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Detroit, Phoenix, Indy ... While writers wax poetic about CART's heyday in the mid-1990s, its best-attended races were on ovals -- Indianapolis and Michigan, and the series was (and still is) carried by the Indianapolis 500.
The two biggest races in the United States are the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 -- races on 2.5 mile ovals.
Eddie as much as said so, calling Champ Car's history "failed" and correctly pointing out that what popularity IndyCar racing has comes from ovals like Indy and Texas. He also correctly points out that the losers in a battle don't get to set the agenda.
Unfortunately, Tony George and the IRL have been more than willing to bend over backwards to almost let the ex-CC guys do that.
To be successful in the States, a sport requires three things -- close competition, something that translates well to television and heroes/villains. The close competition can even be manufactured -- see NASCAR with its famous "debris cautions" late in races, and idiotic rules like the lucky dog and green-white-checkered; the NFL with its salary cap; and the NBA with, well, the first 46 minutes of every game. But there has to be a close finish, a tight battle. Oval racing provides it, most of the time. Road racing doesn't. The second is television. Like it or not, oval racing translates well to TV -- it's fast, there are four corners, and you can tell by watching the broadcast where the cars are on the track. Road racing doesn't. Unless you're familiar with the course (or have a map of the track in front of you -- which is how I end up watching road races), it's difficult to envision a road course from a limited TV shot. The third thing is heroes -- something no type of course can provide. More TV coverage and more ratings can help provide heroes and villains, which is going to have to come with ovals.
The heroes will be easier to find if the sport if young American drivers are more attractive to teams. While U.S.-trained road racers are more prevalent than in the past (Danica, Rahal 2.0, Andretti 3.0, RHR), 20 of the 28 starters in the Texas race are from outside the U.S. A few (Helio, TK, Dixon, Wheldon) have garnered fan bases in the U.S., but a series that's chock full of foreign road racers is too easy to dismiss by the casual fan, especially when the guy running at their local short track is in a tintop.
Oval racing is like football -- easy to watch, easy to package for television, and while not technically-perfect all the time, usually rewards the best team unless it makes a mistake (fumbles a lot/crashes). Road racing is like soccer -- technically enjoyable, great to watch when you know what you're looking for, but difficult to watch on television, and therefore hard to translate the nuances of it to the masses.
IndyCars belong on ovals. They're the fastest cars in any form of closed-course racing -- and high-speed ovals allow them to stretch their muscles and display their speed (which blows tintops away). They also can work on road courses, but the technical brilliance can be as easily shown at Milwaukee or Phoenix as at Long Beach and Belle Isle.
And, to be popular, IndyCars need to be on ovals. There is room for road racing -- this series needs to be diverse. But a good mix of short ovals (Milwaukee, Phoenix, Loudon, Richmond, Iowa), high-banked medium-length ovals (Kentucky, Kansas, Nashville, Texas, Chicagoland) and longer ovals (Michigan, Indianapolis) can combine with a few good road courses -- Watkins Glen being one. Road America is another. You can even toss in a street parade or two -- St. Pete is a great race, Long Beach always draws a crowd.
Questions are asked -- drivers have complained a lot about the perceived danger of IndyCars on higher-banked, higher-speed ovals. But while the current spec Dallara has had its share of harrowing accidents -- including one tonight with Dan Wheldon flipping across the frontstretch at Texas -- it has seen very few serious injuries. Take, for example, for all of the chirping Flying Scotsman Dario Franchitti made about safety last year (and all the testing he did of the Dallara's safety), he survived both of his flights with barely a scratch. He hasn't been so fortunate in an allegedly-safer stock car.
IndyCar racing needs some diversity. But the foundation of the series must be ovals. While Eddie Gossage is speaking as the owner of an oval track, his statement about 80% is a bit high. But the number of ovals should never dip below 60% if the IndyCar Series expects to expand in the American consciousness.
To grow and become mainstream in the United States, ovals needs to be a major part of the schedule. And the highest-visibility races need to be on ovals.
Otherwise, the IndyCar Series can be content to be auto racing's verison of the NHL. A better product than its direct competitors, for sure. That battle has already been won. But it would be vastly-improved if it was a product that gained mainstream success. The only way to do that in the United States is to run a substantial number of races on ovals.
One is, of course, the race -- usually the most entertaining on the calendar.
The other is, what the heck is Eddie Gossage going to do?
Last year, he used an on-track feud between Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick to help sell the race, among other things.
This year, Eddie spoke words that many on the IRL side of the divide have been thinking, but might have been afraid to say.
Ever since February, we've heard calls from ex-CC people (and some of their cheerleaders in the media) that the IRL needs to adopt, well, everything that CC had. More road courses (Gordon Kirby wasn't the only one beating the drum for one-third roads, one-third streets, one-third ovals), podiums (never got to even fight that one), turbocharged engines (there's another pimpage of that in today's newsstand), push-to-pass, heck, even replacing the Dallara with some version of the Panoz DP01 chassis. Adding Cleveland, Mexico City, Portland, Toronto, Long Beach, Road America, Edmonton, Eur (and on and on and on) to the schedule. The series is already 1/4 of the way there, and it looks like Toronto is a lock, Mexico City is a possibility and Cleveland is at least on the radar screen.
Meanwhile, at least a couple of ovals appear to be casualties.
And so, as we watch the IndyCar Series accelerate its morphing into CART II -- the series that was committing a slow suicide a decade ago by going to too many road races -- Eddie Gossage comes in to say what we've all been feeling.
To be viable in the United States, IndyCar MUST be a predominately-oval series.
Gossage told ESPN.com's Terry Blount that to be successful, the IndyCar Series must have at least 80% ovals (that would be, say, 15 ovals and 3 road courses on an 18-race schedule).
The ratio might not need to be that high, but ovals should be the primary focus of the series.
Why?
Oval racing is the foundation of American racing.
NASCAR didn't get popular because it ran Riverside and Watkins Glen. Formula One has never had much of a presence in the United States, even when it ran Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Detroit, Phoenix, Indy ... While writers wax poetic about CART's heyday in the mid-1990s, its best-attended races were on ovals -- Indianapolis and Michigan, and the series was (and still is) carried by the Indianapolis 500.
The two biggest races in the United States are the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 -- races on 2.5 mile ovals.
Eddie as much as said so, calling Champ Car's history "failed" and correctly pointing out that what popularity IndyCar racing has comes from ovals like Indy and Texas. He also correctly points out that the losers in a battle don't get to set the agenda.
Unfortunately, Tony George and the IRL have been more than willing to bend over backwards to almost let the ex-CC guys do that.
To be successful in the States, a sport requires three things -- close competition, something that translates well to television and heroes/villains. The close competition can even be manufactured -- see NASCAR with its famous "debris cautions" late in races, and idiotic rules like the lucky dog and green-white-checkered; the NFL with its salary cap; and the NBA with, well, the first 46 minutes of every game. But there has to be a close finish, a tight battle. Oval racing provides it, most of the time. Road racing doesn't. The second is television. Like it or not, oval racing translates well to TV -- it's fast, there are four corners, and you can tell by watching the broadcast where the cars are on the track. Road racing doesn't. Unless you're familiar with the course (or have a map of the track in front of you -- which is how I end up watching road races), it's difficult to envision a road course from a limited TV shot. The third thing is heroes -- something no type of course can provide. More TV coverage and more ratings can help provide heroes and villains, which is going to have to come with ovals.
The heroes will be easier to find if the sport if young American drivers are more attractive to teams. While U.S.-trained road racers are more prevalent than in the past (Danica, Rahal 2.0, Andretti 3.0, RHR), 20 of the 28 starters in the Texas race are from outside the U.S. A few (Helio, TK, Dixon, Wheldon) have garnered fan bases in the U.S., but a series that's chock full of foreign road racers is too easy to dismiss by the casual fan, especially when the guy running at their local short track is in a tintop.
Oval racing is like football -- easy to watch, easy to package for television, and while not technically-perfect all the time, usually rewards the best team unless it makes a mistake (fumbles a lot/crashes). Road racing is like soccer -- technically enjoyable, great to watch when you know what you're looking for, but difficult to watch on television, and therefore hard to translate the nuances of it to the masses.
IndyCars belong on ovals. They're the fastest cars in any form of closed-course racing -- and high-speed ovals allow them to stretch their muscles and display their speed (which blows tintops away). They also can work on road courses, but the technical brilliance can be as easily shown at Milwaukee or Phoenix as at Long Beach and Belle Isle.
And, to be popular, IndyCars need to be on ovals. There is room for road racing -- this series needs to be diverse. But a good mix of short ovals (Milwaukee, Phoenix, Loudon, Richmond, Iowa), high-banked medium-length ovals (Kentucky, Kansas, Nashville, Texas, Chicagoland) and longer ovals (Michigan, Indianapolis) can combine with a few good road courses -- Watkins Glen being one. Road America is another. You can even toss in a street parade or two -- St. Pete is a great race, Long Beach always draws a crowd.
Questions are asked -- drivers have complained a lot about the perceived danger of IndyCars on higher-banked, higher-speed ovals. But while the current spec Dallara has had its share of harrowing accidents -- including one tonight with Dan Wheldon flipping across the frontstretch at Texas -- it has seen very few serious injuries. Take, for example, for all of the chirping Flying Scotsman Dario Franchitti made about safety last year (and all the testing he did of the Dallara's safety), he survived both of his flights with barely a scratch. He hasn't been so fortunate in an allegedly-safer stock car.
IndyCar racing needs some diversity. But the foundation of the series must be ovals. While Eddie Gossage is speaking as the owner of an oval track, his statement about 80% is a bit high. But the number of ovals should never dip below 60% if the IndyCar Series expects to expand in the American consciousness.
To grow and become mainstream in the United States, ovals needs to be a major part of the schedule. And the highest-visibility races need to be on ovals.
Otherwise, the IndyCar Series can be content to be auto racing's verison of the NHL. A better product than its direct competitors, for sure. That battle has already been won. But it would be vastly-improved if it was a product that gained mainstream success. The only way to do that in the United States is to run a substantial number of races on ovals.
Friday, June 6, 2008
June 6 newsstand: Texas qualifying
It's almost Texas race day.
We'll have a race-day installment with quals stories, but here is Friday's wrapup (of both AM and PM stories).
28 cars are set to take the green flag ... here is the lineup. The green flag drops at 9:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage on radio and IndyCar.com. ESPN2's broadcast will be slightly tape-delayed.
Today's news
Eddie Gossage always has something to say. And this time, I almost agree with him. He says the IRL's schedule should be 80% oval. Meanwhile, guys from Champ Car are calling for it to be no more than 33% ovals, and it seems the IRL is headed toward 50%. Gossage says the American public will not accept Euro-style road racing and calls the increased amount of road courses "baggage" from the merger.
Anyway, Eddie always has a point to make, so let's let him make it: "IndyCar officials have to understand that it will take 80 percent ovals to truly succeed. Otherwise, this is nothing more than a niche sport. If they're comfortable with that, fine, but I don't think they are. The Indy 500 and high-speed ovals like TMS are why the IRL won this war."
Eddie blasts out at the minions from Champ Car that want the IRL to morph into CC: "They lost this fight. ... They need to look back and see that model is failed history. There's a littered battlefield left behind them from USAC to CART to Champ Car. You have to learn from that."
Of course, there is a reaction from the drivers, sought out by Speed's Jeff Olson.
Says TK: "If somebody who has such good vision and can organize a race as good as this thinks we should be racing on 80 percent ovals, he isn’t looking out for the series’ best interests."
Says Vitor Meira: (Ovals are) where we have been successful and NASCAR has been successful. We’ve proven that the American fan likes it, and that’s our fan base. It’s more entertaining. I’m talking only about the business side of it. I’m taking myself out of the equation, because, man, it’s dangerous."
Read down in today's Indy Star notebook for a glimpse into the future. IRL officials are planning to visit Houston, Mexico City and Cleveland. Hopefully, the former is just a favor to A.J. Foyt, because the last thing this series needs is more street races. Cleveland and Mid-Ohio will struggle to co-exist, but Cleveland is a fun race. Especially when Paul Tracy does his annual wipeout of half the field on the first corner.
IndyCar racing is brought up in a Q&A with the new president of Charlotte (er, sorry, Lowe's) Motor Speedway in the Greensboro News-Record. Says Marcus Smith: "I'll never say never, and we have a great relationship with the IRL with our events in Sonoma and Texas. We'll continue to be open to those discussions. We're excited about reunification. We think that's going to be a big plus for open-wheel racing and look forward to seeing them climb the charts on their popularity." The story also mentions SMI's attempt to bring a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky. Hopefully, that won't affect the IRL's date there, largely because the track is the most convenient non-Indy venue to get to from Indy on the schedule (and a really nice track to catch a race).
Arizona Republic: IndyCar to take a look at 2011 cars
Former CART PR guru Michael Knight pimps turbocharged engines, among other things.
Texas previews
Dallas Morning News: Danica doesn't like the limited practice time
Danica also wants Milwaukee to remain in its traditional date. Eddie Gossage wants the date after Indy status, and fires away: "If Danica and the league think running in front of 28,000 people in the 34th largest market in the country is more important than running in front of 90,000 in the fourth largest market in the country, they're definitely making the right decision."
Will Power: Texas is the toughest
Qualifying stories
AP: Dixon, Castroneves 1-2
Other quals stories: Speed TV, IndyCar.com
Says Scott: "Yesterday we were fast out of the box, but today we lost that. I didn’t think the car was capable of running a speed like that, and I didn’t think it was good enough to stay there. That’s a credit to the guys for getting the car back on top."
Wheldon crashes coming out of T4 in practice, flips, suffers a "sore" ankle, then goes out and qualifies his backup car: AP, Indy Star, Dallas Morning News, ESPN, IndyCar.com
Today's Daily Trackside Report (which has everything you need to know) from the track.
Driver features
St. Petersburg Times: John Andretti wants full-time ride somewhere
He also said he'd like to run the Brickyard in Indy. He's already become the first person to run the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year.
John qualified seventh for this race. He and Marco are making starts No. 1001 & 1002 for the Andretti family tonight.
IndyCar.com also has a feature on Andretti and his qualifying run.
Says JA: "There's a lot of experience on the team and it's gaining more experience, but as a group it's all still new - and especially with me."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
Says Dan: "I really like the track. It's a very close, intense race. It's fast. You can get to the front pretty quickly if you have a good car. It's under the lights, and there's always a very good energy here."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Milwaukee win has Briscoe moving forward
Ryan looks back at the win, the Indy pit-lane crash and being hired by the Captain.
Indy Star: Texas looms large for Meira
A great feature on the guy who's always in the mix, and always (seemingly) second. Says Vitor, who got his "pilot wings" from the Indiana National Guard after his flight at Milwaukee: "I think people follow me for things like that, but second, because I try to treat them right, the way I'd like to be treated as a fan. I think that's why they wish me more even though I'm not in the spotlight all of the time."
ESPN: Meira hunting for first win
Says Graham Rahal of Vitor: "If you want talk about an all-around good guy, that's him. He's been close so many times; I don't even know how many second-place finishes he's had. Eventually, some day, he's going to win and then all the wins will start pouring in."
Boston Herald: Return to TMS good for Kanaan
An update on TK's season as he heads into the home of 7-11.
New Zealand Herald: Dixon shows no signs of slowing
Not much here, but something from the Kiwi press.
AP: Castroneves wants to win a race, title
Says Helio: "Finishing top five every race seems to be the key for us. When the car gets right, we're going to go for the win."
Dallas Morning News: Fans fall in step with Castroneves
Ryan Briscoe is noticing a big turnout for his teammate: "I asked what made them come out, and they said they watched Helio on TV and wanted to see what his day job was like. What fans find out is, that personality and fun guy they saw on TV is the way he is all the time. That's not an act."
AP: Danica excited, disappointed about unified series
Danica asks for better marketing. "It's very exciting from the inside. There's more drivers, there's more fans, there's more media, there's more excitement. But when it hits mainstream America, I don't think that it's had enough of an impact yet."
FemmeFan.com: Rahal new face of IRL
OK, this is the first time FemmeFan.com has been on this site -- before or after hiatus.
Notebooks
Ottawa Sun: Danica wants more marketing
This mentions the same stuff as the AP story above, but it also mentions Kimi Raikkonen is considering retiring from F1.
And finally
Sam Hornish Jr. tells Helio (and anyone else) that no IRL driver should ever complain about the schedule being too long.
While we're on the subject of NASCAR, SI wonders why Ganassi's team hasn't been producing.
We'll have a race-day installment with quals stories, but here is Friday's wrapup (of both AM and PM stories).
28 cars are set to take the green flag ... here is the lineup. The green flag drops at 9:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage on radio and IndyCar.com. ESPN2's broadcast will be slightly tape-delayed.
Today's news
Eddie Gossage always has something to say. And this time, I almost agree with him. He says the IRL's schedule should be 80% oval. Meanwhile, guys from Champ Car are calling for it to be no more than 33% ovals, and it seems the IRL is headed toward 50%. Gossage says the American public will not accept Euro-style road racing and calls the increased amount of road courses "baggage" from the merger.
Anyway, Eddie always has a point to make, so let's let him make it: "IndyCar officials have to understand that it will take 80 percent ovals to truly succeed. Otherwise, this is nothing more than a niche sport. If they're comfortable with that, fine, but I don't think they are. The Indy 500 and high-speed ovals like TMS are why the IRL won this war."
Eddie blasts out at the minions from Champ Car that want the IRL to morph into CC: "They lost this fight. ... They need to look back and see that model is failed history. There's a littered battlefield left behind them from USAC to CART to Champ Car. You have to learn from that."
Of course, there is a reaction from the drivers, sought out by Speed's Jeff Olson.
Says TK: "If somebody who has such good vision and can organize a race as good as this thinks we should be racing on 80 percent ovals, he isn’t looking out for the series’ best interests."
Says Vitor Meira: (Ovals are) where we have been successful and NASCAR has been successful. We’ve proven that the American fan likes it, and that’s our fan base. It’s more entertaining. I’m talking only about the business side of it. I’m taking myself out of the equation, because, man, it’s dangerous."
Read down in today's Indy Star notebook for a glimpse into the future. IRL officials are planning to visit Houston, Mexico City and Cleveland. Hopefully, the former is just a favor to A.J. Foyt, because the last thing this series needs is more street races. Cleveland and Mid-Ohio will struggle to co-exist, but Cleveland is a fun race. Especially when Paul Tracy does his annual wipeout of half the field on the first corner.
IndyCar racing is brought up in a Q&A with the new president of Charlotte (er, sorry, Lowe's) Motor Speedway in the Greensboro News-Record. Says Marcus Smith: "I'll never say never, and we have a great relationship with the IRL with our events in Sonoma and Texas. We'll continue to be open to those discussions. We're excited about reunification. We think that's going to be a big plus for open-wheel racing and look forward to seeing them climb the charts on their popularity." The story also mentions SMI's attempt to bring a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky. Hopefully, that won't affect the IRL's date there, largely because the track is the most convenient non-Indy venue to get to from Indy on the schedule (and a really nice track to catch a race).
Arizona Republic: IndyCar to take a look at 2011 cars
Former CART PR guru Michael Knight pimps turbocharged engines, among other things.
Texas previews
Dallas Morning News: Danica doesn't like the limited practice time
Danica also wants Milwaukee to remain in its traditional date. Eddie Gossage wants the date after Indy status, and fires away: "If Danica and the league think running in front of 28,000 people in the 34th largest market in the country is more important than running in front of 90,000 in the fourth largest market in the country, they're definitely making the right decision."
Will Power: Texas is the toughest
Qualifying stories
AP: Dixon, Castroneves 1-2
Other quals stories: Speed TV, IndyCar.com
Says Scott: "Yesterday we were fast out of the box, but today we lost that. I didn’t think the car was capable of running a speed like that, and I didn’t think it was good enough to stay there. That’s a credit to the guys for getting the car back on top."
Wheldon crashes coming out of T4 in practice, flips, suffers a "sore" ankle, then goes out and qualifies his backup car: AP, Indy Star, Dallas Morning News, ESPN, IndyCar.com
Today's Daily Trackside Report (which has everything you need to know) from the track.
Driver features
St. Petersburg Times: John Andretti wants full-time ride somewhere
He also said he'd like to run the Brickyard in Indy. He's already become the first person to run the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year.
John qualified seventh for this race. He and Marco are making starts No. 1001 & 1002 for the Andretti family tonight.
IndyCar.com also has a feature on Andretti and his qualifying run.
Says JA: "There's a lot of experience on the team and it's gaining more experience, but as a group it's all still new - and especially with me."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
Says Dan: "I really like the track. It's a very close, intense race. It's fast. You can get to the front pretty quickly if you have a good car. It's under the lights, and there's always a very good energy here."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Milwaukee win has Briscoe moving forward
Ryan looks back at the win, the Indy pit-lane crash and being hired by the Captain.
Indy Star: Texas looms large for Meira
A great feature on the guy who's always in the mix, and always (seemingly) second. Says Vitor, who got his "pilot wings" from the Indiana National Guard after his flight at Milwaukee: "I think people follow me for things like that, but second, because I try to treat them right, the way I'd like to be treated as a fan. I think that's why they wish me more even though I'm not in the spotlight all of the time."
ESPN: Meira hunting for first win
Says Graham Rahal of Vitor: "If you want talk about an all-around good guy, that's him. He's been close so many times; I don't even know how many second-place finishes he's had. Eventually, some day, he's going to win and then all the wins will start pouring in."
Boston Herald: Return to TMS good for Kanaan
An update on TK's season as he heads into the home of 7-11.
New Zealand Herald: Dixon shows no signs of slowing
Not much here, but something from the Kiwi press.
AP: Castroneves wants to win a race, title
Says Helio: "Finishing top five every race seems to be the key for us. When the car gets right, we're going to go for the win."
Dallas Morning News: Fans fall in step with Castroneves
Ryan Briscoe is noticing a big turnout for his teammate: "I asked what made them come out, and they said they watched Helio on TV and wanted to see what his day job was like. What fans find out is, that personality and fun guy they saw on TV is the way he is all the time. That's not an act."
AP: Danica excited, disappointed about unified series
Danica asks for better marketing. "It's very exciting from the inside. There's more drivers, there's more fans, there's more media, there's more excitement. But when it hits mainstream America, I don't think that it's had enough of an impact yet."
FemmeFan.com: Rahal new face of IRL
OK, this is the first time FemmeFan.com has been on this site -- before or after hiatus.
Notebooks
Ottawa Sun: Danica wants more marketing
This mentions the same stuff as the AP story above, but it also mentions Kimi Raikkonen is considering retiring from F1.
And finally
Sam Hornish Jr. tells Helio (and anyone else) that no IRL driver should ever complain about the schedule being too long.
While we're on the subject of NASCAR, SI wonders why Ganassi's team hasn't been producing.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Texas preview
A decade or so ago, I was a budding racing fan that had been pulled the direction of the dark side -- watching cars with fenders bang off of each other most weekends.
It was largely because I bought into the mantra that NASCAR was a "down-home 'Murican racing series whar da people arr nahs and not snawbs lak dem furrin pointy-car drahvers," rather than the monopolistic behemoth it was on the way to becoming.
Then, I sat down with a friend and watched the IRL's June Texas race.
It was 1999. All I remember is about 30 laps of a side-by-side battle for the lead between Scott Goodyear and Greg Ray, breathtaking three-wide passes where the leaders would split lapped cars and that kind of action all over the track. Goodyear ended up winning, barely.
Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I realized something. This is everything NASCAR claims to be. Only this is the real thing. And it's a whole helluva lot better.
Growing up 6 miles north of the Indianapolis Motor SpeedwBlogger: IndyCar newsstand - Create Postay helped make an Indianapolis 500 follower. Watching Texas made me an IndyCar follower.
Texas Motor Speedway calls itself the second home of the Indy Racing League. It once ran two races a year there, both in front of huge crowds. It routinely draws the best non-Indy crowd of the year. And once you see what happens on the track, it's easy to understand why.
Some drivers love it -- Tomas Scheckter, for one. Many drivers hate it because of the bare-knuckle racing that takes place. The high speeds, high banks and tight turns make it likely to be the most dangerous track the IndyCar Series runs on.
Texas is the home of the second and third-closest 1-2-3 finishes in IndyCar history, a championship decided at the line and six of its races have been decided by less than a tenth of a second, and 13 have been decided by less than a second, including last year's duel between Sam Hornish Jr. and Tony Kanaan. Two races have featured 30+ lead changes.
It's also the site of the widest margin of victory in series history (Mark Dismore's only win came when he lapped the field at TMS in 1999). It's also the home of one of the worst accidents in series history -- Kenny Brack's flight into the fence, which he survived, at the 2003 finale.
The best moments at Texas:
*-9/15/2002. Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves are battling for the IndyCar title, and the race win. Whoever wins the race wins the championship. In a long side-by-side shootout, Hornish nudges out Helio to give himself (and Panther Racing) a second straight championship in a side-by-side finish. It was the third-closest finish in series history -- .0096 of a second.
The next year, five different drivers are in the championship hunt in the Texas II finale, but Scott Dixon clinches the title by virtue of a second-place finish. Brack's accident red-flags the race.
*-6/8/2002. Jeff Ward, Al Unser Jr. and Airton Dare take the final lap three-wide. Ward noses out Little Al on the high side and wins by 1 hundredth of a second. The three are separated by .0595 of a second. Helio Castroneves and Felipe Giaffone were on their tails. That wasn't the closest 1-2-3 finish at the track, however. Sam Hornish Jr.'s title-clinching win in 2001 over Scott Sharp and Robbie Buhl saw the three separated by .0468 of a second (Hornish's MOV over Sharp was .0188).
It's also been the site of some not-so-great moments:
*-6/7/1997. The first race at Texas. Billy Boat is convinced he's won the race. He is celebrating in victory lane with A.J. Foyt and his team. Suddenly, Arie Luyendyk comes into Victory Lane claiming that he is the legitimate winner and gets a legendary slap-down from A.J. -- probably the best-remembered moment of the early IRL. The next day, USAC admits a scoring error and Luyendyk is declared the winner. The IRL essentially fires USAC and decides to officiate and sanction its own races after the gaffe. A.J. never returns the trophy (a duplicate was made for Luyendyk) and the great legend of the early IRL is born. Eddie Gossage was none too pleased, but the IRL stayed at the track (and even ran two races there for a time) and the event grew. What was a huge gaffe has become a folk tale.
Boat and Foyt would be in Victory Lane the next year, too. That time, they'd get to keep the win. That race is as memorable for Tom Sneva on color commentary and making a mess of the broadcast with hideous puns ("Stewart needs a little bit more of that Glidden to catch up"), and, IIRC, newly-minted Indy winner Eddie Cheever joining the broadcast after wrecking on Lap 4 and doing a great job.
*-4/29/2001. CART's revenge. If the low point of split politics was the 1996 U.S. 500, this was probably No. 2. And, much like the U.S. 500, this started with CART attempting to upstage the IRL and ended with CART embarrassing itself.
In 2001, CART decided to go after the IRL by staging a race at its second-biggest track, which was TMS. If they could show the folks in Texas what real open-wheel racing looked like (after all, they were the real stars with the real cars, or so they said), that could drive a real stake into the IRL's heart. So, despite multiple warnings from Eddie Gossage about finding a way to lower speeds, CART brought in higher-horsepower cars and guys running 230+ mph around the track, with dizzying results. The G-forces were way too high, drivers' brains couldn't process what was going on, and a really unsafe event was about to unfold -- especially after Mauricio Gugelmin had a harrowing accident in practice. The race was cancelled shortly before it was supposed to start. Kenny Brack won the pole that day. A few current IRL regulars were in the field -- Oriol Servia qualified third, Tony Kanaan 14th, Dario Franchitti 16th, Helio Castroneves 19th, Scott Dixon 20th and Bruno Junqueira 21st.
What was the result? The race dropped off CART's calendar, and within a year and a half, most of CART's teams would migrate to the IRL. Two years later, CART would also be gone. Meanwhile, the race remained an IndyCar staple.
*-Last year, ESPN ran the race on a tape-delay, but spoiled the result by noting that Sam Hornish won the race on the bottom-screen ticker while he was still battling with Tony Kanaan on the track.
It will be the great IndyCar race outside of Indy again this weekend. Sit down, cover up the ticker on the bottom of your screen (it's on a slight delay again this year) and enjoy.
Who to pick?
The king of TMS is Sam Hornish Jr., who has won three races at the track, but he's racing tintops now. He also has led more laps than anyone else in the history of the track.
Guys who have been strong at TMS:
Helio Castroneves (winner, 2004 October, 2006). Two wins and a runner-up, plus a pole. He's also led 216 laps at the track, fourth-most among active drivers. The Penske team has won four of the last six races at TMS.
Tony Kanaan (winner 2004 June). A win, three runner-up runs and a third-place run in his history at TMS. He has AGR's only victory at the track, and his 266 laps led are third-most among active drivers. Horsepower is important at Texas, and AGR always seems to find some.
Tomas Scheckter (winner 2005). Always a hot shoe, Scheckter is really fast around Texas. His 371 laps led are most among active drivers and second-most to Hornish all-time. He's a part-timer this year, but was really impressive at Indy until his car gave out.
Scott Dixon. OK, he's never won here. But he's come close, finishing second twice. And he's going to be strong, because the two Target cars (especially the 9 car) is the fastest in the series. Ganassi has one win at TMS, Jeff Ward's victory by a nose in 2002. He probably would've won in 2006 if not for some bad luck late in the race.
Dan Wheldon. Again, never won here. Lost one to Castroneves in the pits in 2006 and stormed off at the end of the race. He's been third three times, including that 2006 run. He's led more laps (266) than any active driver except Scheckter (most of those were in the 2006 race, which he dominated).
Best of the rest
Ed Carpenter, Darren Manning, A.J. Foyt IV, Vitor Meira and Danica Patrick all have Top 10 finishes at Texas. Danica had a podium finish last year, if Texas had a podium. Vitor was third in 2002's June race. Oriol Servia is the most experienced of the ex-CC guys on ovals, and he did qualify third here in that ill-fated CART race seven years ago. Expect Carpenter and Meira to be strong, because they're oval drivers who have managed to find some speed recently.
It was largely because I bought into the mantra that NASCAR was a "down-home 'Murican racing series whar da people arr nahs and not snawbs lak dem furrin pointy-car drahvers," rather than the monopolistic behemoth it was on the way to becoming.
Then, I sat down with a friend and watched the IRL's June Texas race.
It was 1999. All I remember is about 30 laps of a side-by-side battle for the lead between Scott Goodyear and Greg Ray, breathtaking three-wide passes where the leaders would split lapped cars and that kind of action all over the track. Goodyear ended up winning, barely.
Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I realized something. This is everything NASCAR claims to be. Only this is the real thing. And it's a whole helluva lot better.
Growing up 6 miles north of the Indianapolis Motor SpeedwBlogger: IndyCar newsstand - Create Postay helped make an Indianapolis 500 follower. Watching Texas made me an IndyCar follower.
Texas Motor Speedway calls itself the second home of the Indy Racing League. It once ran two races a year there, both in front of huge crowds. It routinely draws the best non-Indy crowd of the year. And once you see what happens on the track, it's easy to understand why.
Some drivers love it -- Tomas Scheckter, for one. Many drivers hate it because of the bare-knuckle racing that takes place. The high speeds, high banks and tight turns make it likely to be the most dangerous track the IndyCar Series runs on.
Texas is the home of the second and third-closest 1-2-3 finishes in IndyCar history, a championship decided at the line and six of its races have been decided by less than a tenth of a second, and 13 have been decided by less than a second, including last year's duel between Sam Hornish Jr. and Tony Kanaan. Two races have featured 30+ lead changes.
It's also the site of the widest margin of victory in series history (Mark Dismore's only win came when he lapped the field at TMS in 1999). It's also the home of one of the worst accidents in series history -- Kenny Brack's flight into the fence, which he survived, at the 2003 finale.
The best moments at Texas:
*-9/15/2002. Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves are battling for the IndyCar title, and the race win. Whoever wins the race wins the championship. In a long side-by-side shootout, Hornish nudges out Helio to give himself (and Panther Racing) a second straight championship in a side-by-side finish. It was the third-closest finish in series history -- .0096 of a second.
The next year, five different drivers are in the championship hunt in the Texas II finale, but Scott Dixon clinches the title by virtue of a second-place finish. Brack's accident red-flags the race.
*-6/8/2002. Jeff Ward, Al Unser Jr. and Airton Dare take the final lap three-wide. Ward noses out Little Al on the high side and wins by 1 hundredth of a second. The three are separated by .0595 of a second. Helio Castroneves and Felipe Giaffone were on their tails. That wasn't the closest 1-2-3 finish at the track, however. Sam Hornish Jr.'s title-clinching win in 2001 over Scott Sharp and Robbie Buhl saw the three separated by .0468 of a second (Hornish's MOV over Sharp was .0188).
It's also been the site of some not-so-great moments:
*-6/7/1997. The first race at Texas. Billy Boat is convinced he's won the race. He is celebrating in victory lane with A.J. Foyt and his team. Suddenly, Arie Luyendyk comes into Victory Lane claiming that he is the legitimate winner and gets a legendary slap-down from A.J. -- probably the best-remembered moment of the early IRL. The next day, USAC admits a scoring error and Luyendyk is declared the winner. The IRL essentially fires USAC and decides to officiate and sanction its own races after the gaffe. A.J. never returns the trophy (a duplicate was made for Luyendyk) and the great legend of the early IRL is born. Eddie Gossage was none too pleased, but the IRL stayed at the track (and even ran two races there for a time) and the event grew. What was a huge gaffe has become a folk tale.
Boat and Foyt would be in Victory Lane the next year, too. That time, they'd get to keep the win. That race is as memorable for Tom Sneva on color commentary and making a mess of the broadcast with hideous puns ("Stewart needs a little bit more of that Glidden to catch up"), and, IIRC, newly-minted Indy winner Eddie Cheever joining the broadcast after wrecking on Lap 4 and doing a great job.
*-4/29/2001. CART's revenge. If the low point of split politics was the 1996 U.S. 500, this was probably No. 2. And, much like the U.S. 500, this started with CART attempting to upstage the IRL and ended with CART embarrassing itself.
In 2001, CART decided to go after the IRL by staging a race at its second-biggest track, which was TMS. If they could show the folks in Texas what real open-wheel racing looked like (after all, they were the real stars with the real cars, or so they said), that could drive a real stake into the IRL's heart. So, despite multiple warnings from Eddie Gossage about finding a way to lower speeds, CART brought in higher-horsepower cars and guys running 230+ mph around the track, with dizzying results. The G-forces were way too high, drivers' brains couldn't process what was going on, and a really unsafe event was about to unfold -- especially after Mauricio Gugelmin had a harrowing accident in practice. The race was cancelled shortly before it was supposed to start. Kenny Brack won the pole that day. A few current IRL regulars were in the field -- Oriol Servia qualified third, Tony Kanaan 14th, Dario Franchitti 16th, Helio Castroneves 19th, Scott Dixon 20th and Bruno Junqueira 21st.
What was the result? The race dropped off CART's calendar, and within a year and a half, most of CART's teams would migrate to the IRL. Two years later, CART would also be gone. Meanwhile, the race remained an IndyCar staple.
*-Last year, ESPN ran the race on a tape-delay, but spoiled the result by noting that Sam Hornish won the race on the bottom-screen ticker while he was still battling with Tony Kanaan on the track.
It will be the great IndyCar race outside of Indy again this weekend. Sit down, cover up the ticker on the bottom of your screen (it's on a slight delay again this year) and enjoy.
Who to pick?
The king of TMS is Sam Hornish Jr., who has won three races at the track, but he's racing tintops now. He also has led more laps than anyone else in the history of the track.
Guys who have been strong at TMS:
Helio Castroneves (winner, 2004 October, 2006). Two wins and a runner-up, plus a pole. He's also led 216 laps at the track, fourth-most among active drivers. The Penske team has won four of the last six races at TMS.
Tony Kanaan (winner 2004 June). A win, three runner-up runs and a third-place run in his history at TMS. He has AGR's only victory at the track, and his 266 laps led are third-most among active drivers. Horsepower is important at Texas, and AGR always seems to find some.
Tomas Scheckter (winner 2005). Always a hot shoe, Scheckter is really fast around Texas. His 371 laps led are most among active drivers and second-most to Hornish all-time. He's a part-timer this year, but was really impressive at Indy until his car gave out.
Scott Dixon. OK, he's never won here. But he's come close, finishing second twice. And he's going to be strong, because the two Target cars (especially the 9 car) is the fastest in the series. Ganassi has one win at TMS, Jeff Ward's victory by a nose in 2002. He probably would've won in 2006 if not for some bad luck late in the race.
Dan Wheldon. Again, never won here. Lost one to Castroneves in the pits in 2006 and stormed off at the end of the race. He's been third three times, including that 2006 run. He's led more laps (266) than any active driver except Scheckter (most of those were in the 2006 race, which he dominated).
Best of the rest
Ed Carpenter, Darren Manning, A.J. Foyt IV, Vitor Meira and Danica Patrick all have Top 10 finishes at Texas. Danica had a podium finish last year, if Texas had a podium. Vitor was third in 2002's June race. Oriol Servia is the most experienced of the ex-CC guys on ovals, and he did qualify third here in that ill-fated CART race seven years ago. Expect Carpenter and Meira to be strong, because they're oval drivers who have managed to find some speed recently.
June 5 newsstand: Texas previews
Today's news, notes & views from the Indy Racing League.
First off, Helio's not going anywhere
Or at least that's what he told a Dallas Morning News chat
The NASCAR media likes to play up the "everyone's going to NASCAR" story about this time, but Helio says comments that he'd keep his options open shouldn't be read into any further.
Says Helio: "What you heard was out of context. I'm doing everything I can to clinch the championship and run here in open wheel. Right now we've merged and the series is in a good spot and I would say the opportunity, I don't think, is there to go to NASCAR. I would consider it in that you should always leave doors open."
Texas previews
Remember when CART attempted to run the fastest 1.5 mile in open-wheel racing, only to pull the plug before the race ever happened? The depths of the split brought on some bad decisions, like trying to run 240 around Texas to show up the IRL. Like the U.S. 500, it backfired on CART.
A couple of retrospectives of that ill-fated move from the Indianapolis Star and the Dallas Morning News
Says Oriol Servia: "Honestly, it was the first time in my career that I was, well, not scared, but I could tell constantly that things were happening faster than I could process."
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram rehashes Helio's play date with the Dallas Cowboys. So does IndyCar.com.
Says Helio to Terrell Owens: "Sign my shirt, because I'm the new player -- or mascot -- on the team." Replies TO: "You're more like a kicker."
The Kansas City Star spotlights Briscoe in its weekly racing preview
Commentaries
The Lafayette (IN) Journal & Courier's Tom Kubat says the media was wrong to call out Danica for her stomp down pit road.
Says Tom: "I find it interesting that, not all that long ago, A.J. Foyt was treated as a folk hero for the exact same behavior. And, even today, NASCAR fans love it when Tony Stewart throws a temper tantrum."
Mike King checks in with his weekly IndyCar.com column
Notebooks
Cincinnati Enquirer: Briscoe's win another feather in Penske's cap
Says the Captain on No. 300: "I think really it shows the amount of work that has been done by so many people on the team, so many good drivers, so many good pit crews, all the way back when we think about winning the first TransAm and Indianapolis and you just go on and think of the drivers that have been with us. It's pretty exciting."
Official IRL news & notes
Quotes from Vitor & Ana Beatriz, the Richmond & Nashville races are being moved from ESPN2 to ESPN, and an FIL preview.
Driver features
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a great piece on Buddy Rice
Says Buddy: "We need more testing, more wind-tunnel time. A sponsorship on the car would allow more time to do these."
USA Today: Cup commoner Ganassi rules elsewhere
A look at Chip Ganassi and his success at Indy.
AP: Penske still winning
Says Rick Mears: "Driving for Roger, or just working for him, is a privilege. He treats everybody the same and anybody who works for him knows he will give you the tools to win. And, as a driver, you know that you have a shot at winning just about every time you get on the track in a Team Penske car."
The Mansfield (OH) News-Journal notes some of the young racing stars of central Ohio, including Graham Rahal.
Interviews
Vitor Meira and Ana Beatriz were on the IRL's weekly teleconference. Read the transcript at IndyCar.com.
First off, Helio's not going anywhere
Or at least that's what he told a Dallas Morning News chat
The NASCAR media likes to play up the "everyone's going to NASCAR" story about this time, but Helio says comments that he'd keep his options open shouldn't be read into any further.
Says Helio: "What you heard was out of context. I'm doing everything I can to clinch the championship and run here in open wheel. Right now we've merged and the series is in a good spot and I would say the opportunity, I don't think, is there to go to NASCAR. I would consider it in that you should always leave doors open."
Texas previews
Remember when CART attempted to run the fastest 1.5 mile in open-wheel racing, only to pull the plug before the race ever happened? The depths of the split brought on some bad decisions, like trying to run 240 around Texas to show up the IRL. Like the U.S. 500, it backfired on CART.
A couple of retrospectives of that ill-fated move from the Indianapolis Star and the Dallas Morning News
Says Oriol Servia: "Honestly, it was the first time in my career that I was, well, not scared, but I could tell constantly that things were happening faster than I could process."
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram rehashes Helio's play date with the Dallas Cowboys. So does IndyCar.com.
Says Helio to Terrell Owens: "Sign my shirt, because I'm the new player -- or mascot -- on the team." Replies TO: "You're more like a kicker."
The Kansas City Star spotlights Briscoe in its weekly racing preview
Commentaries
The Lafayette (IN) Journal & Courier's Tom Kubat says the media was wrong to call out Danica for her stomp down pit road.
Says Tom: "I find it interesting that, not all that long ago, A.J. Foyt was treated as a folk hero for the exact same behavior. And, even today, NASCAR fans love it when Tony Stewart throws a temper tantrum."
Mike King checks in with his weekly IndyCar.com column
Notebooks
Cincinnati Enquirer: Briscoe's win another feather in Penske's cap
Says the Captain on No. 300: "I think really it shows the amount of work that has been done by so many people on the team, so many good drivers, so many good pit crews, all the way back when we think about winning the first TransAm and Indianapolis and you just go on and think of the drivers that have been with us. It's pretty exciting."
Official IRL news & notes
Quotes from Vitor & Ana Beatriz, the Richmond & Nashville races are being moved from ESPN2 to ESPN, and an FIL preview.
Driver features
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a great piece on Buddy Rice
Says Buddy: "We need more testing, more wind-tunnel time. A sponsorship on the car would allow more time to do these."
USA Today: Cup commoner Ganassi rules elsewhere
A look at Chip Ganassi and his success at Indy.
AP: Penske still winning
Says Rick Mears: "Driving for Roger, or just working for him, is a privilege. He treats everybody the same and anybody who works for him knows he will give you the tools to win. And, as a driver, you know that you have a shot at winning just about every time you get on the track in a Team Penske car."
The Mansfield (OH) News-Journal notes some of the young racing stars of central Ohio, including Graham Rahal.
Interviews
Vitor Meira and Ana Beatriz were on the IRL's weekly teleconference. Read the transcript at IndyCar.com.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
June 4 newsstand: We're back
After an untimely two-month hiatus brought on by life events, the Newsstand is back.
Spread the word.
I'm going to tweak things a bit ... the daily newsstands might be a bit more bare-bones. I will also probably have more originally-generated stuff.
Anyway, Milwaukee is done and what is usually the second-best race of the year -- Texas -- is almost here. Here goes.
Officially, RIP Champ Car
The Champ Car assets were auctioned off yesterday
Though one thing caught my eye. A collector in Atlanta bought three DP01s (he now owns 20) to start another racing series with "green" motors. I guess the F-troop over at Champ Car Fanatics might have something to do now.
Texas previews
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: With win, Danica puts talk in rearview mirror
Says Danica: "The people on the inside, they know that I wasn't the worst driver in the field before I won in Japan. And I'm not better now, necessarily, just because I actually won."
Fort-Worth Star-Telegram: Guess who's back
Milka Duno getting some love.
Texas entry list: 28 cars including Tomas Scheckter
How they've fared at Texas
More Danica
Tampa Tribune: More on the Indy wreck
This notebook also has a quote from Danica about anti-Danica fans: "Unfortunately, as your popularity grows, so does your anti-fan base. ... There was this guy at Indy. He wore a 'Danica Who?' hat. I was thinking how funny it was, 'Danica Who?' He's got my name on the hat, so he obviously knows who it is."
Perspectives
Des Moines Register: Parnelli speaks
Parnelli laments open-wheel racing's spot as No. 2, calls Tony George a benevolent dictator and says reunification will help.
Gordon Kirby: Briscoe wins
Lots of looking back at why the Captain hired Ryan, and him vindicating himself with the win.
Speed TV: Robin Miller's Q&A
Always an interesting read.
Says RM about Milwaukee: "There are 38,000 permanent seats and my guess is that 30,000 had a butt in them. ... It was encouraging because Milwaukee has always been a bastion for IndyCars. It can stand alone, it doesn’t need NASCAR help."
Speed TV: David Phillips looks back at Milwaukee
News & other stuff
AP: Davey Evans' killer charged with murder
The assailant of the NHL crewman who lost his life in a barfight last month is being charged with murder.
IndyCar.com looks at the factors tied in with qualifying
IndyCar.com: Dixon's workout regimen
From A.J.'s perspective
A.J. talks about Darren Manning's Milwaukee performance, and the race itself
Says A.J.: "Danica and gentlemen, start your engines."
Sorry, I meant: "Congratulations to Briscoe on his first Indy car win. He probably thought he had it won only to think he was going to lose it when that crash happened with three laps to go. The way his luck had been running, he should have crashed but this time Lady Luck was on his side."
FIL news
Richard Antinucci will drive the Six Hours at the Glen this weekend
Expatriate news
1995 Indy winner Jacques Villeneuve is trying to find the $$ to run stock cars
Apparently, their eyes are on Chip Ganassi's team, which is collecting Indy 500 winners (on both sides of the divide).
And finally
This guy and his family are why the IndyCar Series could use a race in the Northeast. Like, the Pocono 500 (if the Mattolis would ever give up the track and allow someone to make it IndyCar friendly).
One more ... apparently, some folks down south aren't too thrilled with their TV coverage, either. Anyway, enjoy an entire summer of races on cable.
Spread the word.
I'm going to tweak things a bit ... the daily newsstands might be a bit more bare-bones. I will also probably have more originally-generated stuff.
Anyway, Milwaukee is done and what is usually the second-best race of the year -- Texas -- is almost here. Here goes.
Officially, RIP Champ Car
The Champ Car assets were auctioned off yesterday
Though one thing caught my eye. A collector in Atlanta bought three DP01s (he now owns 20) to start another racing series with "green" motors. I guess the F-troop over at Champ Car Fanatics might have something to do now.
Texas previews
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: With win, Danica puts talk in rearview mirror
Says Danica: "The people on the inside, they know that I wasn't the worst driver in the field before I won in Japan. And I'm not better now, necessarily, just because I actually won."
Fort-Worth Star-Telegram: Guess who's back
Milka Duno getting some love.
Texas entry list: 28 cars including Tomas Scheckter
How they've fared at Texas
More Danica
Tampa Tribune: More on the Indy wreck
This notebook also has a quote from Danica about anti-Danica fans: "Unfortunately, as your popularity grows, so does your anti-fan base. ... There was this guy at Indy. He wore a 'Danica Who?' hat. I was thinking how funny it was, 'Danica Who?' He's got my name on the hat, so he obviously knows who it is."
Perspectives
Des Moines Register: Parnelli speaks
Parnelli laments open-wheel racing's spot as No. 2, calls Tony George a benevolent dictator and says reunification will help.
Gordon Kirby: Briscoe wins
Lots of looking back at why the Captain hired Ryan, and him vindicating himself with the win.
Speed TV: Robin Miller's Q&A
Always an interesting read.
Says RM about Milwaukee: "There are 38,000 permanent seats and my guess is that 30,000 had a butt in them. ... It was encouraging because Milwaukee has always been a bastion for IndyCars. It can stand alone, it doesn’t need NASCAR help."
Speed TV: David Phillips looks back at Milwaukee
News & other stuff
AP: Davey Evans' killer charged with murder
The assailant of the NHL crewman who lost his life in a barfight last month is being charged with murder.
IndyCar.com looks at the factors tied in with qualifying
IndyCar.com: Dixon's workout regimen
From A.J.'s perspective
A.J. talks about Darren Manning's Milwaukee performance, and the race itself
Says A.J.: "Danica and gentlemen, start your engines."
Sorry, I meant: "Congratulations to Briscoe on his first Indy car win. He probably thought he had it won only to think he was going to lose it when that crash happened with three laps to go. The way his luck had been running, he should have crashed but this time Lady Luck was on his side."
FIL news
Richard Antinucci will drive the Six Hours at the Glen this weekend
Expatriate news
1995 Indy winner Jacques Villeneuve is trying to find the $$ to run stock cars
Apparently, their eyes are on Chip Ganassi's team, which is collecting Indy 500 winners (on both sides of the divide).
And finally
This guy and his family are why the IndyCar Series could use a race in the Northeast. Like, the Pocono 500 (if the Mattolis would ever give up the track and allow someone to make it IndyCar friendly).
One more ... apparently, some folks down south aren't too thrilled with their TV coverage, either. Anyway, enjoy an entire summer of races on cable.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Where have we been?
Suddenly, the season starts and the blog disappears.
What happened?
I feel I need to offer a bit of an explanation to a sudden disappearance and lack of updates.
First, my day job suddenly began consuming a tremendous amount of time for the month of April, and I didn't have the time to rummage through stories and post them -- heck, I didn't have time to *read* them.
Second, I spent the first two weeks of May in China adopting my son, and returned in time to get to Indy for second-weekend qualifying and the race. All blog sites were blocked in China, so I couldn't post if I had tried.
That, and other sites (most notably Is It May Yet?) basically began doing what this site was attempting to do, only better and updated more quickly, and the urgency to update was gone.
If there is sufficient response, I will get the daily news updates and occasional commentaries going again this summer. If there isn't, I'll toss out a commentary or two.
While you're at it, you might want to read this piece of race coverage from a writer I know pretty well. They didn't post the notebook I wrote online, so I might eventually post it here.
What happened?
I feel I need to offer a bit of an explanation to a sudden disappearance and lack of updates.
First, my day job suddenly began consuming a tremendous amount of time for the month of April, and I didn't have the time to rummage through stories and post them -- heck, I didn't have time to *read* them.
Second, I spent the first two weeks of May in China adopting my son, and returned in time to get to Indy for second-weekend qualifying and the race. All blog sites were blocked in China, so I couldn't post if I had tried.
That, and other sites (most notably Is It May Yet?) basically began doing what this site was attempting to do, only better and updated more quickly, and the urgency to update was gone.
If there is sufficient response, I will get the daily news updates and occasional commentaries going again this summer. If there isn't, I'll toss out a commentary or two.
While you're at it, you might want to read this piece of race coverage from a writer I know pretty well. They didn't post the notebook I wrote online, so I might eventually post it here.
Monday, March 31, 2008
March 31 newsstand: Wrapping up
Wrapping up the weekend and looking forward to St. Pete.
First, the news
What is Opes Prime's bankruptcy going to do to Conquest?
Opes Prime's $917 million debt possibly includes its two-year sponsorship deal with Eric Bachelart's team.
Iowa on through 2009
The Des Moines Register says the Iowa race is confirmed for next year
The track, which sold out last year, is looking to expand bleacher capacity to allow 40-50,000 fans to attend.
Homestead redux
Miami Herald: Andretti redeemed as Indy runner-up
Marco struggled on the ovals last year. He had a really good run on No. 1 this year, leading 85 laps and finishing in Scott Dixon's exhaust fumes.
''The goal at first was just to finish this darn thing. After my luck at this place the last couple of years, I'll take second place.''
Looking ahead
Tampa Bay is getting ready to welcome the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
First, the news
What is Opes Prime's bankruptcy going to do to Conquest?
Opes Prime's $917 million debt possibly includes its two-year sponsorship deal with Eric Bachelart's team.
Iowa on through 2009
The Des Moines Register says the Iowa race is confirmed for next year
The track, which sold out last year, is looking to expand bleacher capacity to allow 40-50,000 fans to attend.
Homestead redux
Miami Herald: Andretti redeemed as Indy runner-up
Marco struggled on the ovals last year. He had a really good run on No. 1 this year, leading 85 laps and finishing in Scott Dixon's exhaust fumes.
''The goal at first was just to finish this darn thing. After my luck at this place the last couple of years, I'll take second place.''
Looking ahead
Tampa Bay is getting ready to welcome the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Sunday, March 30, 2008
March 30 newsstand: Homestead redux
Scott Dixon is the winner of the first unified IndyCar Series race ... although it was almost Tony Kanaan (and likely would've been had Ernesto Viso not popped a tire). A great race, with only two real incidents -- one of which caused by a flat, the other involving Milka Duno -- and a few CC refugees to keep Marty Roth company. Oriol Servia was the best of those guys, finishing 12th.
It gives TCGR three consecutive wins at Homestead -- the last two by Dan Wheldon. Dixon has 11 career IndyCar wins, and now two at Homestead (2003, 2008).
I'll toss my thoughts out tomorrow. Tonight, let's look at the coverage from last night's event ...
First, however, the news
From Cavin's notebook
Carpenter & Foyt had to move to the back of the field. Also, Conquest Racing has some sponsor issues with Opes Prime declaring bankruptcy, there is an Indy Lights recap.
But the big news is at the bottom ... Pacific Coast Motorsports might be in after all. Mario Dominguez is the driver, starting with Indy. DirecTV has signed a "letter of intent" with the IRL about being a presenting sponsor. Tim Cindric says there is a 30 percent chance Penske will field a third car at Indy (last year, they did so with Luczo Dragon ... LDR has spun itself off and is now on its own, fielding a car for Tomas Scheckter for Kansas, Indy & Infineon). I wonder if that 30 percent is the chance Sam Hornish Jr. won't qualify for the Fizzy Pop 600 and will suddenly have Memorial Day weekend free?
Race stories
Indy Star: Dixon wins trouble-free opener
Most of this focuses on the amalgamation of the CC guys into the series.
AP: Dawn of OW's new era gets a strong start
It covers the CC angle, but also some of the race action, including the bizarre finish.
Says TK: "I've been around a long time and the race is not finished until the checkered flag. With 10 laps to go, I was looking around and I was thinking, `This looks too easy.' "
Says Dixon, who almost wiped out himself and Marco Andretti midway through the race: "For a bad day, we still came away with maximum points,. That's what we've got to do. We've got to hit the start hard and gain as many points as possible because I think, last year, that's how we lost it (with a slow start).''
Boston Globe: Dixon off to fast start
A little bit on the race, but this story extensively quotes TG, Joie Chitwood and Roger Penske about the first race.
Says Dixon: "It's good to go in the record books as being the first to win since reunification. But, to be honest, I don't think the other guys [from Champ Car] had a fair shot, because they had so little time to get ready. I think next year will be more of a true championship under reunification."
SpeedTV
Says Scott of TK's accident: "I didn’t even know he’d hit the guy. It would have been really close even if he hadn’t had the incident because we were catching him pretty quickly. It was a shame to see him have such a silly little incident take him out of the race.”
The local stories ...
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Dixon takes opener
Says Scott: "Well, we were catching (TK) quick, and it would have been close at the end. I think Tony and Marco probably had the better cars, but we came through with the win."
Palm Beach Post: Dixon starts season on top
Says Scott: "It was one of those races where we didn't exactly have the speed all the time, or things weren't really going our way, but we still came out on top."
Tampa Tribune
Fort Myers News-Press
St. Petersburg Times
The Sports Network
IndyCar.com
ESPN
Race notebooks & driver stories
Top 3 press conference transcript
Servia, Andretti & Wheldon join Scott Dixon at the press conference.
Race boxscore
Official IRL news & notes
Recaps of both races from last night, look ahead to St. Pete.
This won't be on the official notes ... A.J. Foyt complains about Firestone's tires in the Tampa Tribune. Says A.J.: "We've got junk for tires. They've got one heat cycle, and they screwed us up the other day for qualifying; they fall off two or three tenths." He also says the Japanese-made Bridgestones are better than domestically-made Firestones. Tony Stewart move over.
Bringing it home: IndyCar.com looks at the CC drivers
Says Oriol Servia: "It was a long day in the office, but that means we achieved our first goal, which was to finish the race with no damage to the car. But it was also long because we did not have the speed that we were hoping for. We knew we were going to struggle. It's just tough when you are in the middle of it."
Palm Beach Post: Restart passing infuriates RHR
Ryan Hunter-Reay complains that TK was allowed to lead the field to the last restart on three wheels, which caused everyone to bunch up, which caused RHR to lose momentum, which caused him to lose positions.
St. Pete Times: Rahal's ride could have helped
Penske says it would've helped NHL get parts to put Graham Rahal in the race this weekend.
Says Tim Cindric: "We would have liked to have been able to help with that but nobody asked." RLR, obviously, would have also helped, and Vision Racing had a backup car that could have been used. Also, Helio Castroneves is looking for a place to stay in St. Pete next week. Not only is the Grand Prix going on in St. Petersburg, the Women's Final Four is taking place across the bay in Tampa.
Boston Herald: Open wheel, open season
Dan Wheldon says he's staying: "I’ve been very fortunate in IndyCar to have won a lot of races (and) I hope to continue to win races."
Easton (PA) Express-Times: Andretti not perfect, but still good
A look at the runner-up's performance Saturday night. Says Marco: "We were really working all off-season to get a car that works on this track."
Sydney Morning Herald: Aussies crash out
Briscoe gets collected by Milka Duno. Power's suspension breaks on contact with Justin Wilson.
Commentaries
In his blog, Cavin lists 5 things to like and dislike
Miami Herald: IRL's new era 'smashing'
He describes TK's accident in some detail: "Just sit there and watch Viso's car butterfly-kiss the right front tire assembly, marring it just enough to make it unfit for proper use. Just over seven laps from victory on what counts as his home track, Kanaan became just another part of South Florida's agony parade."
ESPN: IndyCar newbies get schooled
Terry Blount looks at life from the CC refugees: "Welcome to hair-raising, high-speed ovals, boys. Get out of the way and we'll show you how it's done. ... The new guys were schooled from start to finish in the Gainsco Auto Insurance 300 Saturday night. They never had a chance. Don't blame the Champ Car drivers for their lack of success in this one. You might as well have asked them to land a 757 on South Beach."
Robin Miller: IRL's Big Three reign on
The more things change ... the more they stay the same. Robin says: "But, aside from the fact Saturday night’s IRL season opener looked more like Saturday afternoon’s Grand Am show between prototypes and GT cars, there were no major surprises other than the lack of caution flags." But he spends most of the time talking with the ex-CC guys.
SpeedTV: OW's Appomattox
Writer Thomas O'Keefe says: "From the details we have heard so far, Tony George has chosen to follow Lincoln and General Grant in allowing the owners and sponsors of Champ Car to save face and diminish the financial impact of closing down Champ Car."
Driver stories
The Miami Herald has a big piece on Helio and his house
Helio gives the secret to decorating: "The answer is trophies. If you have enough of them you don't need to come up with too much artwork or shiny things to decorate your house.''
Indy Lights
Battistini wins at Homestead
It gives TCGR three consecutive wins at Homestead -- the last two by Dan Wheldon. Dixon has 11 career IndyCar wins, and now two at Homestead (2003, 2008).
I'll toss my thoughts out tomorrow. Tonight, let's look at the coverage from last night's event ...
First, however, the news
From Cavin's notebook
Carpenter & Foyt had to move to the back of the field. Also, Conquest Racing has some sponsor issues with Opes Prime declaring bankruptcy, there is an Indy Lights recap.
But the big news is at the bottom ... Pacific Coast Motorsports might be in after all. Mario Dominguez is the driver, starting with Indy. DirecTV has signed a "letter of intent" with the IRL about being a presenting sponsor. Tim Cindric says there is a 30 percent chance Penske will field a third car at Indy (last year, they did so with Luczo Dragon ... LDR has spun itself off and is now on its own, fielding a car for Tomas Scheckter for Kansas, Indy & Infineon). I wonder if that 30 percent is the chance Sam Hornish Jr. won't qualify for the Fizzy Pop 600 and will suddenly have Memorial Day weekend free?
Race stories
Indy Star: Dixon wins trouble-free opener
Most of this focuses on the amalgamation of the CC guys into the series.
AP: Dawn of OW's new era gets a strong start
It covers the CC angle, but also some of the race action, including the bizarre finish.
Says TK: "I've been around a long time and the race is not finished until the checkered flag. With 10 laps to go, I was looking around and I was thinking, `This looks too easy.' "
Says Dixon, who almost wiped out himself and Marco Andretti midway through the race: "For a bad day, we still came away with maximum points,. That's what we've got to do. We've got to hit the start hard and gain as many points as possible because I think, last year, that's how we lost it (with a slow start).''
Boston Globe: Dixon off to fast start
A little bit on the race, but this story extensively quotes TG, Joie Chitwood and Roger Penske about the first race.
Says Dixon: "It's good to go in the record books as being the first to win since reunification. But, to be honest, I don't think the other guys [from Champ Car] had a fair shot, because they had so little time to get ready. I think next year will be more of a true championship under reunification."
SpeedTV
Says Scott of TK's accident: "I didn’t even know he’d hit the guy. It would have been really close even if he hadn’t had the incident because we were catching him pretty quickly. It was a shame to see him have such a silly little incident take him out of the race.”
The local stories ...
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Dixon takes opener
Says Scott: "Well, we were catching (TK) quick, and it would have been close at the end. I think Tony and Marco probably had the better cars, but we came through with the win."
Palm Beach Post: Dixon starts season on top
Says Scott: "It was one of those races where we didn't exactly have the speed all the time, or things weren't really going our way, but we still came out on top."
Tampa Tribune
Fort Myers News-Press
St. Petersburg Times
The Sports Network
IndyCar.com
ESPN
Race notebooks & driver stories
Top 3 press conference transcript
Servia, Andretti & Wheldon join Scott Dixon at the press conference.
Race boxscore
Official IRL news & notes
Recaps of both races from last night, look ahead to St. Pete.
This won't be on the official notes ... A.J. Foyt complains about Firestone's tires in the Tampa Tribune. Says A.J.: "We've got junk for tires. They've got one heat cycle, and they screwed us up the other day for qualifying; they fall off two or three tenths." He also says the Japanese-made Bridgestones are better than domestically-made Firestones. Tony Stewart move over.
Bringing it home: IndyCar.com looks at the CC drivers
Says Oriol Servia: "It was a long day in the office, but that means we achieved our first goal, which was to finish the race with no damage to the car. But it was also long because we did not have the speed that we were hoping for. We knew we were going to struggle. It's just tough when you are in the middle of it."
Palm Beach Post: Restart passing infuriates RHR
Ryan Hunter-Reay complains that TK was allowed to lead the field to the last restart on three wheels, which caused everyone to bunch up, which caused RHR to lose momentum, which caused him to lose positions.
St. Pete Times: Rahal's ride could have helped
Penske says it would've helped NHL get parts to put Graham Rahal in the race this weekend.
Says Tim Cindric: "We would have liked to have been able to help with that but nobody asked." RLR, obviously, would have also helped, and Vision Racing had a backup car that could have been used. Also, Helio Castroneves is looking for a place to stay in St. Pete next week. Not only is the Grand Prix going on in St. Petersburg, the Women's Final Four is taking place across the bay in Tampa.
Boston Herald: Open wheel, open season
Dan Wheldon says he's staying: "I’ve been very fortunate in IndyCar to have won a lot of races (and) I hope to continue to win races."
Easton (PA) Express-Times: Andretti not perfect, but still good
A look at the runner-up's performance Saturday night. Says Marco: "We were really working all off-season to get a car that works on this track."
Sydney Morning Herald: Aussies crash out
Briscoe gets collected by Milka Duno. Power's suspension breaks on contact with Justin Wilson.
Commentaries
In his blog, Cavin lists 5 things to like and dislike
Miami Herald: IRL's new era 'smashing'
He describes TK's accident in some detail: "Just sit there and watch Viso's car butterfly-kiss the right front tire assembly, marring it just enough to make it unfit for proper use. Just over seven laps from victory on what counts as his home track, Kanaan became just another part of South Florida's agony parade."
ESPN: IndyCar newbies get schooled
Terry Blount looks at life from the CC refugees: "Welcome to hair-raising, high-speed ovals, boys. Get out of the way and we'll show you how it's done. ... The new guys were schooled from start to finish in the Gainsco Auto Insurance 300 Saturday night. They never had a chance. Don't blame the Champ Car drivers for their lack of success in this one. You might as well have asked them to land a 757 on South Beach."
Robin Miller: IRL's Big Three reign on
The more things change ... the more they stay the same. Robin says: "But, aside from the fact Saturday night’s IRL season opener looked more like Saturday afternoon’s Grand Am show between prototypes and GT cars, there were no major surprises other than the lack of caution flags." But he spends most of the time talking with the ex-CC guys.
SpeedTV: OW's Appomattox
Writer Thomas O'Keefe says: "From the details we have heard so far, Tony George has chosen to follow Lincoln and General Grant in allowing the owners and sponsors of Champ Car to save face and diminish the financial impact of closing down Champ Car."
Driver stories
The Miami Herald has a big piece on Helio and his house
Helio gives the secret to decorating: "The answer is trophies. If you have enough of them you don't need to come up with too much artwork or shiny things to decorate your house.''
Indy Lights
Battistini wins at Homestead
Saturday, March 29, 2008
March 29 newsstand: It's opening day!
Scott Dixon and Ed Carpenter will lead the newly-merged 25-car IndyCar Series field to the green flag in what is the most anticipated race in IRL history since that first event at the Mickyard, or the 2002 finale at Texas (save, of course, those held at 16th and Georgetown).
The green flag drops at 8 p.m. on ESPN2
Here's the lineup
Before we get started, could Sam and/or Dario be back?
St. Petersburg Times: As Sam & Dario struggle, IRL begins anew
Read Roger Penske's quote below ...
TK says of Dario: "The way open wheel was going at the time, it was the right choice. If you ask him right now if he thinks he made the right choice, he's probably wondering. … I don't see Dario regrets anything. He's very committed about the decisions he makes and he always presents himself well in anything he did. So … I can make fun of him now."
Meanwhile, is there a chance Sam could come back if his struggles continue? Says Roger Penske: "There's no set plan on that front, but we operate with a lot of options. But I would be very surprised if the reason he came back (to the IRL) is because it didn't work out there. I know how determined he is. I'd be surprised, but you never know."
Also ... a title sponsor on the way?
DirecTV is all set to become the presenting sponsor of the IndyCar Series (possibly as soon as today), with Coca-Cola and Frank's Energy Drink likely to be announced as category sponsors soon. Scroll down in the Indianapolis Business Journal's blog to read about it.
Race previews
Indy Star: Historic IRL race one to remember
Says Scott Dixon: ""I definitely want to TiVo the first lap so I can watch it at home. And who knows what happens after that."
St. Petersburg Times: Danger lurks in first unified race
Says Tony Kanaan: "Running in traffic with three cars in front and two in cars in the back, they don't know what to expect. So they're washing up the track and you're right beside them. But they've never experienced that; so we can't expect them to anticipate something they haven't gone through. We were giving each other a lot of room, which I know is not going happen in the race."
Meanwhile, Danica Patrick tosses in this whopper: "Foreign drivers tend to have some interesting habits. Sometimes they block; on an oval they might feel like a road course and put up a bigger fight when you go by. These are things I experienced in England when I lived there."
AP: Mix of veterans, Champ Car drivers proves for interesting opener
Says TK: "The huge impression was when I came into the pits and I saw that the pit lane was full from the first box coming in to the last box coming out. I'm the third pit out, so I had to drive through all the teams and I was just smiling big-time inside my helmet."
Season previews
Boston Globe: Debut for reunited IRL
Says Tony George: "It has been about 30 days since we were last here to officially announce reunification and since that time it's been going pretty well, I think. Everybody's been working really hard to try and help manage the traffic and the logistics involved and trying to get the equipment to the Champ Car teams coming aboard."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: New talent brings fresh IndyCar expectations
This notebook also has some storylines, et al, plus quotes from Eddie Gossage, where he again lobbies for race-after-Indy status (but 2 weeks after Indy).
Says Dan Wheldon: "From a driving standpoint, I can't wait to get to Homestead and be racing against 25 other cars. And not just 25 (cars). There are some great names and it's going to be really fun to be racing against them. It's going to be good to hopefully get back to having household-name IndyCar drivers, and to be a part of that for me is very special."
Miami Herald: IndyCar Series begins anew
A good analysis of unification. Quoth Michael Andretti: "'The black cloud has been lifted and now we can start focusing on all the positives."
Kansas City Star: OW series gets back on track
Says Oriol Servia: "Now, when you have kids that have divorced parents and after 12 years of separation they get together. No matter how you look at it, it’s good news.”
TSN: TG looking forward to season opener
Says the czar of open-wheel racing: "Champ Car did a lot of things creative, out of the box and had an exciting product for their fans (but) we weren't giving everybody what they wanted, which was unification. There's going to be some blemishes this week but it won't take everyone long to get acclimated and get really competitive."
TG also addresses Paul Tracy: "I've had conversations with people that are close to Paul and I've had a conversation with Paul," said George. "He has a contract (with Forsythe Championship Racing) and he wants to honor that contract. I don't know where it's at today; it may be getting uglier, it may be becoming clearer. I'm sure he probably wants to race (but) I don't know if he'll race at all this year. We certainly would like to see him."
IndyCar.com: You can feel it
Commentary
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette: New IRL, but not new contenders
Columnist Ben Smith -- one of the best around -- looks at the Brave New World of the IRL.
Says Ben: "So this is what the Brave New World looks like. Or the Brave Reconstituted World. Or the Brave World Once Removed. Or the Brave World as it looks now that Tony George has finally reunited American open-wheel racing, in much the way Genghis Khan united Asia. Which is to say: Champ Car is dead at last, hammered to shards by the iron fist in the mild-mannered George’s velvet glove. Open-wheel has one address again. Who knows what happens next. "
ESPN.com's Terry Blount: It's time to recapture the good old days
Says Blount: "Home for IndyCar racing won't be the same as it was 13 years ago, but it sure is nice to finally start down that path and see what we've missed."
Joliet Herald-News: More cars, fewer stories
Dan Wheldon gets defensive when asked about defecting drivers: "If you're referring to Sam and Dario going to NASCAR, I think if you look at the teams where they have moved on from, it's not like Michael Andretti or Roger Penske is going to replace them with people that are not up to par."
Jeff Olson shares his unification mailbag
Says Jeff: "It won’t be pretty at first, and there will be growing pains, and it might take five to 10 years to see tangible results, but this is the foundation for taking the sport forward. Had the two series continued apart for another decade—if they could have lasted another decade—it would have destroyed open-wheel, single-seat, open-cockpit racing in the U.S."
Miami Herald: Cross your fingers, IRL has added risks
Qualifying stories
Florida Today: Dixon on pole at Homestead
Says Scott Dixon: "It's going to be a very interesting race for a lot of people. I'd like to think our cars were pretty decent and we were struggling a lot too. There's going to be a lot of cars out there with their hands full, probably my teammate especially starting from the back, so those two laps and watching Dan is going to be pretty exciting."
AP: Crash puts Wheldon's string of Homestead victories in jeopardy
Says Dan: "It's a long race. We'll just have to try to be real patient and try to stay out of trouble until we can get where we need to be.''
UPI: Dixon wins pole
Speed TV: Dixon wins Homestead pole
Says Scott: "What a crazy qualifying session. Two big crashes and a new format. It was pretty interesting.”
ESPN.com: Crashses on 1st day of qualifying
Autosport: Naturally, Vision is happy with its performance
Carpenter & AJIV are P2 & P3 tonight.
Says Carpenter: "As the run was going on, I was thinking that I couldn't remember exactly what Scott ran, but I know that we've got to be close or even ahead of him and I think we just missed it on the last lap."
Autosport: Wheldon confident he can recover
Things weren't as good for the 3-time defending Homestead champ.
Says Dan: "I simply got loose in Turns 3 and 4. It's unfortunate because the car was incredibly quick."
Easton (PA) Express-Times: Marco tries to turn his fortunes
A qualifying story that focuses on their local driver.
Driver stories
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Briscoe not second fiddle to Helio
Says Ryan: "For me, it's going to be real important to have good, solid races. Especially the first race out."
Palm Beach Post: Hunter-Reay's IRL dream begins in South Florida
Says RHR: "It's like a Christmas present in March. It's everything I've wanted for many years now."
Notebooks & other stuff
Indy Star: Sometimes, it's wise to skip race
Curt Cavin looks at Graham Rahal's decision to skip Homestead.
Also, a couple of other notes -- the fields will be fixed at 33 at Indy, 28 at all other races except Milwaukee, Iowa and Richmond, which will have 26 starters due to pit lane restrictions.
AP notebook: TG excited about results so far
Says TG: "I know it will be more popular and a happier time in many people's memories than 1994 or 1996. But, beyond those two reference points, I don't know."
The notebook also lists the rookies and has a piece on the weight rule.
Danica complains about the new weight rule
Read about it in Hollywood Today (with lots of runway photos) | South Bend Tribune |
It's officially over
CC-IRL merger completed
The bankruptcy hearing has been completed, CC will cease to exist after Long Beach, and we're all one happy family again. Well, all of us except these people.
If you're in Indy
Drop by IMS tonight and watch the race on the big screen
Lights news
Matos on the pole (IndyCar.com story)
Official season preview
And finally, Shorty's back (but not for an IRL ride)
This is great to see ... Cristiano da Matta was nearly fatally injured at Road America a couple of years ago. He was at Homestead yesterday.
Says da Matta: "I was worried that there would have to be another career for me. But the happy part was I got back in the car and 3-4 laps … it was like riding a bicycle. Once you do it, you never forget. … And there was relief. Big, big relief."
The green flag drops at 8 p.m. on ESPN2
Here's the lineup
Before we get started, could Sam and/or Dario be back?
St. Petersburg Times: As Sam & Dario struggle, IRL begins anew
Read Roger Penske's quote below ...
TK says of Dario: "The way open wheel was going at the time, it was the right choice. If you ask him right now if he thinks he made the right choice, he's probably wondering. … I don't see Dario regrets anything. He's very committed about the decisions he makes and he always presents himself well in anything he did. So … I can make fun of him now."
Meanwhile, is there a chance Sam could come back if his struggles continue? Says Roger Penske: "There's no set plan on that front, but we operate with a lot of options. But I would be very surprised if the reason he came back (to the IRL) is because it didn't work out there. I know how determined he is. I'd be surprised, but you never know."
Also ... a title sponsor on the way?
DirecTV is all set to become the presenting sponsor of the IndyCar Series (possibly as soon as today), with Coca-Cola and Frank's Energy Drink likely to be announced as category sponsors soon. Scroll down in the Indianapolis Business Journal's blog to read about it.
Race previews
Indy Star: Historic IRL race one to remember
Says Scott Dixon: ""I definitely want to TiVo the first lap so I can watch it at home. And who knows what happens after that."
St. Petersburg Times: Danger lurks in first unified race
Says Tony Kanaan: "Running in traffic with three cars in front and two in cars in the back, they don't know what to expect. So they're washing up the track and you're right beside them. But they've never experienced that; so we can't expect them to anticipate something they haven't gone through. We were giving each other a lot of room, which I know is not going happen in the race."
Meanwhile, Danica Patrick tosses in this whopper: "Foreign drivers tend to have some interesting habits. Sometimes they block; on an oval they might feel like a road course and put up a bigger fight when you go by. These are things I experienced in England when I lived there."
AP: Mix of veterans, Champ Car drivers proves for interesting opener
Says TK: "The huge impression was when I came into the pits and I saw that the pit lane was full from the first box coming in to the last box coming out. I'm the third pit out, so I had to drive through all the teams and I was just smiling big-time inside my helmet."
Season previews
Boston Globe: Debut for reunited IRL
Says Tony George: "It has been about 30 days since we were last here to officially announce reunification and since that time it's been going pretty well, I think. Everybody's been working really hard to try and help manage the traffic and the logistics involved and trying to get the equipment to the Champ Car teams coming aboard."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: New talent brings fresh IndyCar expectations
This notebook also has some storylines, et al, plus quotes from Eddie Gossage, where he again lobbies for race-after-Indy status (but 2 weeks after Indy).
Says Dan Wheldon: "From a driving standpoint, I can't wait to get to Homestead and be racing against 25 other cars. And not just 25 (cars). There are some great names and it's going to be really fun to be racing against them. It's going to be good to hopefully get back to having household-name IndyCar drivers, and to be a part of that for me is very special."
Miami Herald: IndyCar Series begins anew
A good analysis of unification. Quoth Michael Andretti: "'The black cloud has been lifted and now we can start focusing on all the positives."
Kansas City Star: OW series gets back on track
Says Oriol Servia: "Now, when you have kids that have divorced parents and after 12 years of separation they get together. No matter how you look at it, it’s good news.”
TSN: TG looking forward to season opener
Says the czar of open-wheel racing: "Champ Car did a lot of things creative, out of the box and had an exciting product for their fans (but) we weren't giving everybody what they wanted, which was unification. There's going to be some blemishes this week but it won't take everyone long to get acclimated and get really competitive."
TG also addresses Paul Tracy: "I've had conversations with people that are close to Paul and I've had a conversation with Paul," said George. "He has a contract (with Forsythe Championship Racing) and he wants to honor that contract. I don't know where it's at today; it may be getting uglier, it may be becoming clearer. I'm sure he probably wants to race (but) I don't know if he'll race at all this year. We certainly would like to see him."
IndyCar.com: You can feel it
Commentary
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette: New IRL, but not new contenders
Columnist Ben Smith -- one of the best around -- looks at the Brave New World of the IRL.
Says Ben: "So this is what the Brave New World looks like. Or the Brave Reconstituted World. Or the Brave World Once Removed. Or the Brave World as it looks now that Tony George has finally reunited American open-wheel racing, in much the way Genghis Khan united Asia. Which is to say: Champ Car is dead at last, hammered to shards by the iron fist in the mild-mannered George’s velvet glove. Open-wheel has one address again. Who knows what happens next. "
ESPN.com's Terry Blount: It's time to recapture the good old days
Says Blount: "Home for IndyCar racing won't be the same as it was 13 years ago, but it sure is nice to finally start down that path and see what we've missed."
Joliet Herald-News: More cars, fewer stories
Dan Wheldon gets defensive when asked about defecting drivers: "If you're referring to Sam and Dario going to NASCAR, I think if you look at the teams where they have moved on from, it's not like Michael Andretti or Roger Penske is going to replace them with people that are not up to par."
Jeff Olson shares his unification mailbag
Says Jeff: "It won’t be pretty at first, and there will be growing pains, and it might take five to 10 years to see tangible results, but this is the foundation for taking the sport forward. Had the two series continued apart for another decade—if they could have lasted another decade—it would have destroyed open-wheel, single-seat, open-cockpit racing in the U.S."
Miami Herald: Cross your fingers, IRL has added risks
Qualifying stories
Florida Today: Dixon on pole at Homestead
Says Scott Dixon: "It's going to be a very interesting race for a lot of people. I'd like to think our cars were pretty decent and we were struggling a lot too. There's going to be a lot of cars out there with their hands full, probably my teammate especially starting from the back, so those two laps and watching Dan is going to be pretty exciting."
AP: Crash puts Wheldon's string of Homestead victories in jeopardy
Says Dan: "It's a long race. We'll just have to try to be real patient and try to stay out of trouble until we can get where we need to be.''
UPI: Dixon wins pole
Speed TV: Dixon wins Homestead pole
Says Scott: "What a crazy qualifying session. Two big crashes and a new format. It was pretty interesting.”
ESPN.com: Crashses on 1st day of qualifying
Autosport: Naturally, Vision is happy with its performance
Carpenter & AJIV are P2 & P3 tonight.
Says Carpenter: "As the run was going on, I was thinking that I couldn't remember exactly what Scott ran, but I know that we've got to be close or even ahead of him and I think we just missed it on the last lap."
Autosport: Wheldon confident he can recover
Things weren't as good for the 3-time defending Homestead champ.
Says Dan: "I simply got loose in Turns 3 and 4. It's unfortunate because the car was incredibly quick."
Easton (PA) Express-Times: Marco tries to turn his fortunes
A qualifying story that focuses on their local driver.
Driver stories
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Briscoe not second fiddle to Helio
Says Ryan: "For me, it's going to be real important to have good, solid races. Especially the first race out."
Palm Beach Post: Hunter-Reay's IRL dream begins in South Florida
Says RHR: "It's like a Christmas present in March. It's everything I've wanted for many years now."
Notebooks & other stuff
Indy Star: Sometimes, it's wise to skip race
Curt Cavin looks at Graham Rahal's decision to skip Homestead.
Also, a couple of other notes -- the fields will be fixed at 33 at Indy, 28 at all other races except Milwaukee, Iowa and Richmond, which will have 26 starters due to pit lane restrictions.
AP notebook: TG excited about results so far
Says TG: "I know it will be more popular and a happier time in many people's memories than 1994 or 1996. But, beyond those two reference points, I don't know."
The notebook also lists the rookies and has a piece on the weight rule.
Danica complains about the new weight rule
Read about it in Hollywood Today (with lots of runway photos) | South Bend Tribune |
It's officially over
CC-IRL merger completed
The bankruptcy hearing has been completed, CC will cease to exist after Long Beach, and we're all one happy family again. Well, all of us except these people.
If you're in Indy
Drop by IMS tonight and watch the race on the big screen
Lights news
Matos on the pole (IndyCar.com story)
Official season preview
And finally, Shorty's back (but not for an IRL ride)
This is great to see ... Cristiano da Matta was nearly fatally injured at Road America a couple of years ago. He was at Homestead yesterday.
Says da Matta: "I was worried that there would have to be another career for me. But the happy part was I got back in the car and 3-4 laps … it was like riding a bicycle. Once you do it, you never forget. … And there was relief. Big, big relief."
Friday, March 28, 2008
March 28 newsstand: We're back
We had to take a self-imposed two-week break due to a simple lack of time on my part, thanks to some really busy stuff going on at work.
Now that the season is starting, we'll be back on a more regular basis.
First off, the stuff for Saturday's race:
Gainsco Insurance Indy 300 @ Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5 oval)
Time: 8 p.m. EDT
Broadcast: ESPN2/IMS Radio Network
Entry list | Schedule | Driver performance (all links from IndyCar.com)
Season previews & commentaries
Indy Star: TG eager for season to begin
A couple of notes: TG wants to use the Vanderbilt Cup as the series championship trophy (rather than the IRL's championship hardware, which I always thought was a pretty cool trophy itself). Also, the name "IRL" might be changed if there is ever a title sponsor.
SI: So happy together
Bruce Martin has a comprehensive must-read season preview. Races to watch, drivers to watch, intriguing storylines. Martin mentions Coca-Cola and DirecTV are both showing interest in series sponsorship.
Speed TV: Robin Miller's season preview
It's usually a good read, full of facts, opinions and analysis.
Says Robin: "While 24-26 cars figure to be the norm on the rest of the IRL’s 19-race schedule, another set of numbers isn’t likely to change for quite a while. Since 2005, three teams have won 45 of the 47 races. Andretti Green, Target-Ganassi and Penske Racing have also combined to claim the last five IRL titles and seven of the last eight Indy 500s."
AP: New teams, new equipment, same old names likely in title chase
Says Vitor Meira: "I think it will be very competitive but, realistically, we won't find out till Homestead, and not only in Homestead, because a lot of people will still be adjusting. I can only predict it will be very good and very hard for our teams, but fans will get the best of it. If I was a fan, I'd definitely be watching the first race."
ESPN: From Dan to Danica, 2008 campaign won't be lacking in drama
John Oreovicz picks eight drivers to watch.
Cincinnati Enquirer: Open wheels ready to roll
Five storylines, five drivers to watch for 2008.
Cincinnati Enquirer: Big changes in store
A primer on the changes in the IndyCar Series this year.
Detroit Free Press: New IndyCar Series debuts
The Freep's Mike Brundell previews the season, focusing mostly on unification.
"I'm extremely excited about having one series again. I've always been outspoken about that. One strong open-wheel series is going to be the best for everyone, not only the drivers, not only for the teams, not only for the press, but especially for all the fans."
ESPN: From contenders to pretenders, 2008 packed with drama
John Oreovicz handicaps the 2008 field.
ESPN: Q&A with Oreo: Could the ICS be on the verge of great things?
Says Oreo: "From a competition standpoint, it means there will be 26 cars on the grid for Saturday's season opener, the most since 2001 and a similar number to what many people consider IndyCar racing's most successful era, the mid-1980s to the mid-'90s. Several other teams have announced part-time programs that could occasionally swell the field to 28 or even 30 cars, and there should be enough meaningful bumping to restore drama to Indianapolis 500 qualifying."
Yahoo: Re-starting open-wheel's engines
Bob Margolis gives us the storylines for the 2008 season.
Grand Rapids Press: IRL season opener worth watching
Steve Kaminski predicts his Top 10 for 2008.
San Diego Union-Tribune: IndyCar restarts engines, but will fans notice?
A season preview with a capsule look at every team.
The AP has a capsule look at each team
Toronto Sun: IRL smoke clears
It's a look at the future of racing in Canada -- Edmonton is on the schedule for this year, while Toronto is a possibility for 2009.
CC defector stories
Indy Star: New faces of the IRL
A program will be necessary. Says TK: "Part of me makes me say, 'Who are these guys?' We definitely have to learn about each other if we're going to race this close together."
Indy Star: Ex-CC drivers search for speed
Marty Roth beat them all at the Homestead test. Yes, you read that right.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: CC drivers face uphill climb
One thing that will be interesting is how the CC guys handle the ovals.
Says Will Power: "It is evident after two days of testing here that we are lacking quite a bit of speed in comparison to the IRL guys."
CBS Sportsline: CC defectors hope to get up to speed
Says Will Power: "We've got to judge the competition when we get there, but it's going to be a tough road because we have no time in these cars, let alone the fact that most of us have very little experience on ovals. We've got to be realistic and these first few races are going to be very difficult."
St. Petersburg Times: NHL struggles to adjust
Says NHL GM Brian Lisles: "You reset your goals. We'll be happy if we finish on the lead lap at Homestead."
Fort Myers News-Press: Danica cautious about new IRL drivers
Says DP: "You're going to have to be really careful, especially until we get to know the tendencies of these drivers. I think it's going to be a tip-toe game at the beginning a little bit if you want to stay in the race."
PCM won't be there
Obviously, given they're not on the entry list. There have been rumblings about Pacific Coast Motorsports joining with RLR for some road course races later in the year.
Salinas Californian: A preview of Long Beach
Homestead preview
Palm Beach Post: Will IRL have a bang-up opener?
Says Oriol Servia: “Hopefully, we’ll finish the race and add more miles to our testing, because this is the way it is for all of us here - the first few races are actually testing, learning the cars."
ESPN: If it's Homestead, the favorite has to be Wheldon
John Oreovicz previews the season opener.
Says Wheldon: "It's one of those racetracks you race as little downforce as possible; we practice mostly in the daytime, the race is at night and that makes it exciting because it changes how the car handles and you have to judge it correctly. But for whatever reason, it just works for me and I'm not going to try and jinx that by saying anything different. I just love the place."
Driver stories
Miami Herald: Helio's star burns bright
The Herald catches up with Helio Castroneves in the wake of his DWTS victory.
Says Tim Cindric: "'In the past, he's always tried to figure out how can he become mainstream because he has a personality that is addictive. Now he has a connection as a winner on and off the track -- and when he does win, and people see his name go across the SportsCenter ticker, they will know him. Before, it was just another driver who won a race. It gives the IRL a celebrity who's a winner, which is something they haven't had.''
Easton (PA) Express-Times: Optimism abounds for Marco Andretti
Says Marco: "I was pretty beat up about last year. But I couldn't wait to get going again this year, basically to redeem myself. I know we can turn things around."
USA Today: Gifted Wheldon looks to extend Homestead streak
Says the newly-married Brit: "I have always been gifted with great race cars there. I certainly am not afraid to run wheel to wheel with anybody, and I have a good feel for what you need to be quick on that style of track, but you've got to have competitive equipment." Dan also has some advice for Dario Franchitti for when Chip "goes postal" on his Cup team's failures so far -- don't be around when it happens.
IndyCar.com: Unfinished business for Dixon
The 2007 runner-up has a little bit more to do.
Says Dixon of the final lap of 2007: "It was one of those surreal instances where you don't really want to believe it, though I was definitely angry for a few days after. A couple days later you're still thinking about it, but then you just tend to forget about it and understand what a great year you had. At least you were fighting at the end."
USA Today: Kanaan's family expands, as does IRL's, for 2008
Says TK: "I have four kids, three on the team and one at home."
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: RHR in right place at right time
Says RHR: "I know we've got a lot of work to do on the 1 1/2-mile ovals. We're a 12th-place car right now and we're better than that. We're better than that on the road courses. That said, I want to consistently finish in the top seven ... to be there in the end for a championship. I'd like to get a race win and a couple of podiums. And I believe we can."
Autosport: Viso confident in mid-season progress
Says HVM's Keith Wiggins: "Ernesto showed maturity and professionalism well beyond his years, and not only was he quick in the car, he was a very useful tool for the engineering staff."
Rahal out
One of the potential warts of unification has come to roost already: Graham Rahal will miss the Homestead race because he wadded his car up in testing and enough spare parts aren't yet available.
Says Rahal: "Our team wasn't in position to rush things, and it wasn't worth the risk. Our guys has been working very hard just to get to the point, and they need some rest. We'll focus on getting a good start on next week because we ought to have a good shot at finishing on the podium there."
Other notes from the story: The TEAM incentive is now $1.3 million, and there are lots of Brazilians in the ICS.
GR tells the Tampa Tribune that searching for someone else's backup was initially a possibility, but NHL was worried about not getting it up to their standards.
A cool perk
Not only are the races going to be in HD this year, you can have access to six HD views yourself.
Says IMS Productions' Charlie Morgan: "The clarity from those cameras is so amazing you can actually read the telemetry lights on the steering wheel. That sense of being in the cockpit has never been so real. And with the 360-degree capability, the (on-track) passes are even more dramatic. It's really cool in the pits. You can show all four corners of the car in a continuous sweep."
Other stuff
Palm Beach Post: Heavy IndyCar racers get even field
A piece on the cars being weighed with driver this year. Robby Gordon was not available for comment.
IndyCar.com rounds up the changes on ovals for 2008
Four-lap qualifying, back to multiple fuel mixture settings, paddle shifting are all on the docket for this year.
Official IRL news & notes
Press conference with Dan Wheldon, Donoso to IPS, stuff on TV.
Menards back in IRL with Vision Racing
Indy Lights stuff
The IPS is now Firestone Indy Lights
The Gary (IN) Post-Tribune has a piece on Logan Gomez
Says Gomez: "Teams like to say they want to win races, but they want championships with consistent top 5, top 10 finishes. Overall I want to be winning races by the end while in contention for a championship. ... With all the drivers coming over (in the merger), I see some seats opening up next year or maybe halfway through this year."
And finally ...
This isn't IRL related, but it is awesome to see Cristiano da Matta getting back into a racecar
Now that the season is starting, we'll be back on a more regular basis.
First off, the stuff for Saturday's race:
Gainsco Insurance Indy 300 @ Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5 oval)
Time: 8 p.m. EDT
Broadcast: ESPN2/IMS Radio Network
Entry list | Schedule | Driver performance (all links from IndyCar.com)
Season previews & commentaries
Indy Star: TG eager for season to begin
A couple of notes: TG wants to use the Vanderbilt Cup as the series championship trophy (rather than the IRL's championship hardware, which I always thought was a pretty cool trophy itself). Also, the name "IRL" might be changed if there is ever a title sponsor.
SI: So happy together
Bruce Martin has a comprehensive must-read season preview. Races to watch, drivers to watch, intriguing storylines. Martin mentions Coca-Cola and DirecTV are both showing interest in series sponsorship.
Speed TV: Robin Miller's season preview
It's usually a good read, full of facts, opinions and analysis.
Says Robin: "While 24-26 cars figure to be the norm on the rest of the IRL’s 19-race schedule, another set of numbers isn’t likely to change for quite a while. Since 2005, three teams have won 45 of the 47 races. Andretti Green, Target-Ganassi and Penske Racing have also combined to claim the last five IRL titles and seven of the last eight Indy 500s."
AP: New teams, new equipment, same old names likely in title chase
Says Vitor Meira: "I think it will be very competitive but, realistically, we won't find out till Homestead, and not only in Homestead, because a lot of people will still be adjusting. I can only predict it will be very good and very hard for our teams, but fans will get the best of it. If I was a fan, I'd definitely be watching the first race."
ESPN: From Dan to Danica, 2008 campaign won't be lacking in drama
John Oreovicz picks eight drivers to watch.
Cincinnati Enquirer: Open wheels ready to roll
Five storylines, five drivers to watch for 2008.
Cincinnati Enquirer: Big changes in store
A primer on the changes in the IndyCar Series this year.
Detroit Free Press: New IndyCar Series debuts
The Freep's Mike Brundell previews the season, focusing mostly on unification.
"I'm extremely excited about having one series again. I've always been outspoken about that. One strong open-wheel series is going to be the best for everyone, not only the drivers, not only for the teams, not only for the press, but especially for all the fans."
ESPN: From contenders to pretenders, 2008 packed with drama
John Oreovicz handicaps the 2008 field.
ESPN: Q&A with Oreo: Could the ICS be on the verge of great things?
Says Oreo: "From a competition standpoint, it means there will be 26 cars on the grid for Saturday's season opener, the most since 2001 and a similar number to what many people consider IndyCar racing's most successful era, the mid-1980s to the mid-'90s. Several other teams have announced part-time programs that could occasionally swell the field to 28 or even 30 cars, and there should be enough meaningful bumping to restore drama to Indianapolis 500 qualifying."
Yahoo: Re-starting open-wheel's engines
Bob Margolis gives us the storylines for the 2008 season.
Grand Rapids Press: IRL season opener worth watching
Steve Kaminski predicts his Top 10 for 2008.
San Diego Union-Tribune: IndyCar restarts engines, but will fans notice?
A season preview with a capsule look at every team.
The AP has a capsule look at each team
Toronto Sun: IRL smoke clears
It's a look at the future of racing in Canada -- Edmonton is on the schedule for this year, while Toronto is a possibility for 2009.
CC defector stories
Indy Star: New faces of the IRL
A program will be necessary. Says TK: "Part of me makes me say, 'Who are these guys?' We definitely have to learn about each other if we're going to race this close together."
Indy Star: Ex-CC drivers search for speed
Marty Roth beat them all at the Homestead test. Yes, you read that right.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: CC drivers face uphill climb
One thing that will be interesting is how the CC guys handle the ovals.
Says Will Power: "It is evident after two days of testing here that we are lacking quite a bit of speed in comparison to the IRL guys."
CBS Sportsline: CC defectors hope to get up to speed
Says Will Power: "We've got to judge the competition when we get there, but it's going to be a tough road because we have no time in these cars, let alone the fact that most of us have very little experience on ovals. We've got to be realistic and these first few races are going to be very difficult."
St. Petersburg Times: NHL struggles to adjust
Says NHL GM Brian Lisles: "You reset your goals. We'll be happy if we finish on the lead lap at Homestead."
Fort Myers News-Press: Danica cautious about new IRL drivers
Says DP: "You're going to have to be really careful, especially until we get to know the tendencies of these drivers. I think it's going to be a tip-toe game at the beginning a little bit if you want to stay in the race."
PCM won't be there
Obviously, given they're not on the entry list. There have been rumblings about Pacific Coast Motorsports joining with RLR for some road course races later in the year.
Salinas Californian: A preview of Long Beach
Homestead preview
Palm Beach Post: Will IRL have a bang-up opener?
Says Oriol Servia: “Hopefully, we’ll finish the race and add more miles to our testing, because this is the way it is for all of us here - the first few races are actually testing, learning the cars."
ESPN: If it's Homestead, the favorite has to be Wheldon
John Oreovicz previews the season opener.
Says Wheldon: "It's one of those racetracks you race as little downforce as possible; we practice mostly in the daytime, the race is at night and that makes it exciting because it changes how the car handles and you have to judge it correctly. But for whatever reason, it just works for me and I'm not going to try and jinx that by saying anything different. I just love the place."
Driver stories
Miami Herald: Helio's star burns bright
The Herald catches up with Helio Castroneves in the wake of his DWTS victory.
Says Tim Cindric: "'In the past, he's always tried to figure out how can he become mainstream because he has a personality that is addictive. Now he has a connection as a winner on and off the track -- and when he does win, and people see his name go across the SportsCenter ticker, they will know him. Before, it was just another driver who won a race. It gives the IRL a celebrity who's a winner, which is something they haven't had.''
Easton (PA) Express-Times: Optimism abounds for Marco Andretti
Says Marco: "I was pretty beat up about last year. But I couldn't wait to get going again this year, basically to redeem myself. I know we can turn things around."
USA Today: Gifted Wheldon looks to extend Homestead streak
Says the newly-married Brit: "I have always been gifted with great race cars there. I certainly am not afraid to run wheel to wheel with anybody, and I have a good feel for what you need to be quick on that style of track, but you've got to have competitive equipment." Dan also has some advice for Dario Franchitti for when Chip "goes postal" on his Cup team's failures so far -- don't be around when it happens.
IndyCar.com: Unfinished business for Dixon
The 2007 runner-up has a little bit more to do.
Says Dixon of the final lap of 2007: "It was one of those surreal instances where you don't really want to believe it, though I was definitely angry for a few days after. A couple days later you're still thinking about it, but then you just tend to forget about it and understand what a great year you had. At least you were fighting at the end."
USA Today: Kanaan's family expands, as does IRL's, for 2008
Says TK: "I have four kids, three on the team and one at home."
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: RHR in right place at right time
Says RHR: "I know we've got a lot of work to do on the 1 1/2-mile ovals. We're a 12th-place car right now and we're better than that. We're better than that on the road courses. That said, I want to consistently finish in the top seven ... to be there in the end for a championship. I'd like to get a race win and a couple of podiums. And I believe we can."
Autosport: Viso confident in mid-season progress
Says HVM's Keith Wiggins: "Ernesto showed maturity and professionalism well beyond his years, and not only was he quick in the car, he was a very useful tool for the engineering staff."
Rahal out
One of the potential warts of unification has come to roost already: Graham Rahal will miss the Homestead race because he wadded his car up in testing and enough spare parts aren't yet available.
Says Rahal: "Our team wasn't in position to rush things, and it wasn't worth the risk. Our guys has been working very hard just to get to the point, and they need some rest. We'll focus on getting a good start on next week because we ought to have a good shot at finishing on the podium there."
Other notes from the story: The TEAM incentive is now $1.3 million, and there are lots of Brazilians in the ICS.
GR tells the Tampa Tribune that searching for someone else's backup was initially a possibility, but NHL was worried about not getting it up to their standards.
A cool perk
Not only are the races going to be in HD this year, you can have access to six HD views yourself.
Says IMS Productions' Charlie Morgan: "The clarity from those cameras is so amazing you can actually read the telemetry lights on the steering wheel. That sense of being in the cockpit has never been so real. And with the 360-degree capability, the (on-track) passes are even more dramatic. It's really cool in the pits. You can show all four corners of the car in a continuous sweep."
Other stuff
Palm Beach Post: Heavy IndyCar racers get even field
A piece on the cars being weighed with driver this year. Robby Gordon was not available for comment.
IndyCar.com rounds up the changes on ovals for 2008
Four-lap qualifying, back to multiple fuel mixture settings, paddle shifting are all on the docket for this year.
Official IRL news & notes
Press conference with Dan Wheldon, Donoso to IPS, stuff on TV.
Menards back in IRL with Vision Racing
Indy Lights stuff
The IPS is now Firestone Indy Lights
The Gary (IN) Post-Tribune has a piece on Logan Gomez
Says Gomez: "Teams like to say they want to win races, but they want championships with consistent top 5, top 10 finishes. Overall I want to be winning races by the end while in contention for a championship. ... With all the drivers coming over (in the merger), I see some seats opening up next year or maybe halfway through this year."
And finally ...
This isn't IRL related, but it is awesome to see Cristiano da Matta getting back into a racecar
Friday, March 14, 2008
March 14 newsstand: Sharp settles
Scott Sharp & RLR have settled their lawsuit
They've come to a settlement, that, reading between the lines of Rahal's words, looks like Patron & Scott paid some cash to RLR.
Scott looks ahead to his new career ...
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: After years of turning left, things turning out right for Sharp
Scott talks about life in the ALMS.
The new Rahal
Graham Rahal has always been destined to be a racecar driver
Says Graham: "You get the bonuses but at the same time there is a lot of pressure to do well. It's the same for anybody – like Marco and A.J. Foyt IV -- that carries a name. Anybody inside the racing community realizes that everybody has to learn and grow, and obviously at my age especially a lot of people recognize that it's going to take a little time."
On Power
Australian Age: Power's switch creates challenge
Says KV's newest driver: "It makes me feel like a rookie again. It's going to be tough but I'm up for the challenge."
Assimilating
The CC teams are set to test at Sebring next week
The two-day test will be March 19-20. KV, NHL, Coyne & Conquest are expected to participate. HVM might participate if they can get the car put together.
John Oreovicz says the mad scramble is on to get ready
Says Jimmy Vasser: "As you can imagine, all the Champ Car teams are absolutely flat out. It's a huge undertaking, and we're working around the clock seven days a week just to get prepared for first the test at Sebring, which I think we'll make."
Oreo lists Nelson Phillippe and Paul Tracy as potential Conquest drivers.
Meanwhile, Robin Miller has an in-depth piece with HVM.
Keith Wiggins says they plan to run one car this year. Ernesto Viso is the likely driver.
And Paul Tracy unloads to David Phillips
Says PT: "I woke up the other morning and realized this could be how my career ends. I feel like the guy who bought a tuxedo, rented a limo and got his shoes polished for the prom . . . and then realized he doesn’t have a date."
Forsythe "consulting"
He won't own a team, but Gerry Forsythe's group is "helping" others
They've come to a settlement, that, reading between the lines of Rahal's words, looks like Patron & Scott paid some cash to RLR.
Scott looks ahead to his new career ...
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: After years of turning left, things turning out right for Sharp
Scott talks about life in the ALMS.
The new Rahal
Graham Rahal has always been destined to be a racecar driver
Says Graham: "You get the bonuses but at the same time there is a lot of pressure to do well. It's the same for anybody – like Marco and A.J. Foyt IV -- that carries a name. Anybody inside the racing community realizes that everybody has to learn and grow, and obviously at my age especially a lot of people recognize that it's going to take a little time."
On Power
Australian Age: Power's switch creates challenge
Says KV's newest driver: "It makes me feel like a rookie again. It's going to be tough but I'm up for the challenge."
Assimilating
The CC teams are set to test at Sebring next week
The two-day test will be March 19-20. KV, NHL, Coyne & Conquest are expected to participate. HVM might participate if they can get the car put together.
John Oreovicz says the mad scramble is on to get ready
Says Jimmy Vasser: "As you can imagine, all the Champ Car teams are absolutely flat out. It's a huge undertaking, and we're working around the clock seven days a week just to get prepared for first the test at Sebring, which I think we'll make."
Oreo lists Nelson Phillippe and Paul Tracy as potential Conquest drivers.
Meanwhile, Robin Miller has an in-depth piece with HVM.
Keith Wiggins says they plan to run one car this year. Ernesto Viso is the likely driver.
And Paul Tracy unloads to David Phillips
Says PT: "I woke up the other morning and realized this could be how my career ends. I feel like the guy who bought a tuxedo, rented a limo and got his shoes polished for the prom . . . and then realized he doesn’t have a date."
Forsythe "consulting"
He won't own a team, but Gerry Forsythe's group is "helping" others
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Looking like 25-26 full-timers
Homestead is going to be fun ... there will be 25 to 26 full-time cars on the grid for the 2007 IndyCar season, from 14 different teams.
There hasn't been this much depth or variety in either of the now-unified series in a long, long time.
The count now: 17 returnees from the 2008 IRL season: 8 from the Big 3 (AGR-4, Penske-2, Ganassi-2), 9 from the rest of the league (D&R-2, Vision-2, Roth-2, Panther-1, Foyt-1, RLR-1).
It appears the CC refugee number will be either 8 or 9, depending on how many cars Dale Coyne enters. KV, Conquest & NHL are all entering two cars. HVM (ex-Minardi) is entering one car. Coyne is planning to enter two at this stage, which leads us to 25 or 26 cars, without tackling the confirmed partial-season (beyond Indy) programs -- Sarah Fisher's ride, Luczo Dragon Racing and possibly Pacific Coast Motorsports running some road courses. Not to mention, we don't yet know what Ganassi has planned for Alex Lloyd ... there was talk of him in a third Vision car, but he could run a partial schedule for TCGR or Vision in IndyCar and focus on Grand Am the rest of the time.
There will be bugs, but I'm as excited for Homestead as I've ever been.
There hasn't been this much depth or variety in either of the now-unified series in a long, long time.
The count now: 17 returnees from the 2008 IRL season: 8 from the Big 3 (AGR-4, Penske-2, Ganassi-2), 9 from the rest of the league (D&R-2, Vision-2, Roth-2, Panther-1, Foyt-1, RLR-1).
It appears the CC refugee number will be either 8 or 9, depending on how many cars Dale Coyne enters. KV, Conquest & NHL are all entering two cars. HVM (ex-Minardi) is entering one car. Coyne is planning to enter two at this stage, which leads us to 25 or 26 cars, without tackling the confirmed partial-season (beyond Indy) programs -- Sarah Fisher's ride, Luczo Dragon Racing and possibly Pacific Coast Motorsports running some road courses. Not to mention, we don't yet know what Ganassi has planned for Alex Lloyd ... there was talk of him in a third Vision car, but he could run a partial schedule for TCGR or Vision in IndyCar and focus on Grand Am the rest of the time.
There will be bugs, but I'm as excited for Homestead as I've ever been.
Silly Season update: March 12
The short version
Confirmed/likely IRL FULL-TIME returnees (17-18 full-time cars)
AGR (4): 7-Danica Patrick, 11-Tony Kanaan, 26-Marco Andretti, 27-Hideki Mutoh
D&R (2): 15-Buddy Rice, 23-Milka Duno/Townsend Bell
Foyt (1): 14-Darren Manning
Ganassi (2): 9-Scott Dixon, 10-Dan Wheldon
Panther (1): 4-Vitor Meira
Penske (2): 3-Helio Castroneves, 6-Ryan Briscoe
RLR (1): 17-Ryan Hunter-Reay
Roth (2): 24-Jay Howard, 25-Marty Roth
Vision (3): 2-A.J. Foyt IV, 20-Ed Carpenter, 22?-Alex Lloyd
Champ Car teams (7 confirmed cars, 9 likely cars)
*-Confirmed team
*Conquest (2): Franck Perera, TBA (Simon Pagenaud?)
*KV (formerly PKV) (2): 32-Oriol Servia, 8-Will Power
*Newman/Haas/Lanigan (2): 06-Justin Wilson, 02-Graham Rahal
*HVM (formerly Minardi) (1): TBA (Ernesto Viso?)
Coyne (2): Bruno Junqueira, Mario Moraes (likely)
Part-time/Indy-only (listed in order of likelihood of happening)
*-Confirmed team
*-Fisher (1): 67-Sarah Fisher (Indy/Texas/Kentucky/Chicagoland)
*-Luczo Dragon (1): 12-Tomas Scheckter (Indy/Kansas/Sonoma)
*-Rubicon (1): Max Papis (Indy-only)
*-Beck (1): Roger Yasukawa (Motegi, possibly Indy)
Playa Del Racing (1-2): Al Unser III, Al Unser Jr. in 2nd car if it materializes
Pacific Coast (1): Alex Figge (road courses only)
PDM (1): Usually fields a car for Jimmy Kite at the 500. Plans to field an Indy entry this year. Is attempting to secure sponsorship.
Racing Professionals (1): Jon Herb
Additional cars from major teams for Indy: AGR (1); Vision (1)-possibly Davey Hamilton or John Andretti; Panther (1)-possibly John Andretti or P.J. Chesson; Foyt (1)-41-Pablo Donoso
Kingdom (1) (haven't heard anything from them)
D.B. Mann (1) (ditto)
Rumored/possible/potential entries (up to 2)
A.J. Foyt (1): Pablo Donoso, could begin at Indy and continue
Ganassi (1): Paul Tracy (if Chip decides to have a third car, highly unlikely)
RLR (1): Second car (#8 car vacated by Scott Sharp). Cavin said that Rahal is still working diligently on trying to field this car.
Future teams
Cheever Racing ... the Aug. 28 IRL press release quotes Eddie's nephew Richard Antinucci as looking to get into the ICS (and get the team back into the ICS) long-term, if, of course, the $$ comes together.
Future races
The schedule will expand to 20+ races in 2009 most likely. Here are some candidates to be added to the docket.
A preseason Grand Prix (possibly non-points) in the Caribbean islands of Turks & Caicos has been discussed.
Michigan International Speedway has mentioned they'd be interested in a return for 2009. We've had speculation on New Hampshire Motor Speedway returning to the IRL for 2009 if it loses a Cup date, coming from NHMS themselves. However, TG said in the unification press conference that the IRL had exhausted all potential ovals, and insinuated that it would likely not be looking to add any more.
Several reports out of Toronto have stated the city's street race at Exhibition Place is a potential go for 2009 if sponsorship can be found.
The Mexico City race has been mentioned as a possible addition for either 2008 or 2009
NHL co-owner Mike Lanigan promotes street/airport events in Houston and Cleveland. Lanigan is hoping to get one or both races on the 2009 schedule.
Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama hosted an IRL test in the fall and its owner expressed hope of hosting an IRL race someday. With unification, it's unlikely to happen.
Other North American CC races that are not in the proposed 2008 schedule, but were on the CC docket: Road America (a strong possibility for the future), Mont-Tremblant (unlikely), Portland (goner, almost didn't make it in '08), Laguna Seca (could make a merged schedule if Infineon ever drops off the list).
Races confirmed for the future: Indianapolis (forever), Texas (through 2009), Iowa (through 2009), Milwaukee (through 2009), St. Petersburg (through 2009), Detroit (through 2011), Surfer's Paradise (through 2013)
Since we have a lot of teams coming over, here's a list of car numbers that are currently in use
1-Reserved for last year's series champion (AGR, could be used on 5th car at Indy)
2-Vision (A.J. Foyt IV)
3-Penske (Helio Castroneves)
4-Panther (Vitor Meira)
6-Penske (Ryan Briscoe)
7-AGR (Danica Patrick)
8-KV (Will Power)
9-Ganassi (Scott Dixon)
10-Ganassi (Dan Wheldon)
11-AGR (Tony Kanaan)
12-Luczo Dragon (Tomas Scheckter)
14-A.J. Foyt (Darren Manning)
15-D&R (Buddy Rice)
17-RLR (RHR)
18-PDM (Indy-only)
19-Racing Professionals (Jon Herb, Indy-only)
20-Vision (Ed Carpenter)
21-Playa del Racing (Indy-only)
22-Vision (Alex Lloyd?)
23-D&R (Milka Duno)
24-Roth (Jay Howard)
25-Roth (Marty Roth)
26-AGR (Marco Andretti)
27-AGR (Hideki Mutoh)
31-Playa del Racing (Indy-only)
32-KV (Oriol Servia)
39-AGR (5th Indy entry, if they don't use #1 this year)
41-A.J. Foyt (usually used additional Indy entries)
55-Panther (could be used for 2nd Indy entry?)
67-Fisher (Sarah Fisher)
77-Chastain Motorsports (Indy-only, used in 2007)
91-Hemelgarn (Indy-only, if they run)
98-Greg Beck (Indy-only)
99-Sam Schmidt (Indy-only, if they run)
Known vacant numbers: 5, 13, 16, 28, 29, 30, 33-38, 40, 42-54, 56-66, 68-76, 78-90, 92-97
An NHL statement listed Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson's car numbers as 02 and 06. We'll see if those hold.
Confirmed/likely IRL FULL-TIME returnees (17-18 full-time cars)
AGR (4): 7-Danica Patrick, 11-Tony Kanaan, 26-Marco Andretti, 27-Hideki Mutoh
D&R (2): 15-Buddy Rice, 23-Milka Duno/Townsend Bell
Foyt (1): 14-Darren Manning
Ganassi (2): 9-Scott Dixon, 10-Dan Wheldon
Panther (1): 4-Vitor Meira
Penske (2): 3-Helio Castroneves, 6-Ryan Briscoe
RLR (1): 17-Ryan Hunter-Reay
Roth (2): 24-Jay Howard, 25-Marty Roth
Vision (3): 2-A.J. Foyt IV, 20-Ed Carpenter, 22?-Alex Lloyd
Champ Car teams (7 confirmed cars, 9 likely cars)
*-Confirmed team
*Conquest (2): Franck Perera, TBA (Simon Pagenaud?)
*KV (formerly PKV) (2): 32-Oriol Servia, 8-Will Power
*Newman/Haas/Lanigan (2): 06-Justin Wilson, 02-Graham Rahal
*HVM (formerly Minardi) (1): TBA (Ernesto Viso?)
Coyne (2): Bruno Junqueira, Mario Moraes (likely)
Part-time/Indy-only (listed in order of likelihood of happening)
*-Confirmed team
*-Fisher (1): 67-Sarah Fisher (Indy/Texas/Kentucky/Chicagoland)
*-Luczo Dragon (1): 12-Tomas Scheckter (Indy/Kansas/Sonoma)
*-Rubicon (1): Max Papis (Indy-only)
*-Beck (1): Roger Yasukawa (Motegi, possibly Indy)
Playa Del Racing (1-2): Al Unser III, Al Unser Jr. in 2nd car if it materializes
Pacific Coast (1): Alex Figge (road courses only)
PDM (1): Usually fields a car for Jimmy Kite at the 500. Plans to field an Indy entry this year. Is attempting to secure sponsorship.
Racing Professionals (1): Jon Herb
Additional cars from major teams for Indy: AGR (1); Vision (1)-possibly Davey Hamilton or John Andretti; Panther (1)-possibly John Andretti or P.J. Chesson; Foyt (1)-41-Pablo Donoso
Kingdom (1) (haven't heard anything from them)
D.B. Mann (1) (ditto)
Rumored/possible/potential entries (up to 2)
A.J. Foyt (1): Pablo Donoso, could begin at Indy and continue
Ganassi (1): Paul Tracy (if Chip decides to have a third car, highly unlikely)
RLR (1): Second car (#8 car vacated by Scott Sharp). Cavin said that Rahal is still working diligently on trying to field this car.
Future teams
Cheever Racing ... the Aug. 28 IRL press release quotes Eddie's nephew Richard Antinucci as looking to get into the ICS (and get the team back into the ICS) long-term, if, of course, the $$ comes together.
Future races
The schedule will expand to 20+ races in 2009 most likely. Here are some candidates to be added to the docket.
A preseason Grand Prix (possibly non-points) in the Caribbean islands of Turks & Caicos has been discussed.
Michigan International Speedway has mentioned they'd be interested in a return for 2009. We've had speculation on New Hampshire Motor Speedway returning to the IRL for 2009 if it loses a Cup date, coming from NHMS themselves. However, TG said in the unification press conference that the IRL had exhausted all potential ovals, and insinuated that it would likely not be looking to add any more.
Several reports out of Toronto have stated the city's street race at Exhibition Place is a potential go for 2009 if sponsorship can be found.
The Mexico City race has been mentioned as a possible addition for either 2008 or 2009
NHL co-owner Mike Lanigan promotes street/airport events in Houston and Cleveland. Lanigan is hoping to get one or both races on the 2009 schedule.
Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama hosted an IRL test in the fall and its owner expressed hope of hosting an IRL race someday. With unification, it's unlikely to happen.
Other North American CC races that are not in the proposed 2008 schedule, but were on the CC docket: Road America (a strong possibility for the future), Mont-Tremblant (unlikely), Portland (goner, almost didn't make it in '08), Laguna Seca (could make a merged schedule if Infineon ever drops off the list).
Races confirmed for the future: Indianapolis (forever), Texas (through 2009), Iowa (through 2009), Milwaukee (through 2009), St. Petersburg (through 2009), Detroit (through 2011), Surfer's Paradise (through 2013)
Since we have a lot of teams coming over, here's a list of car numbers that are currently in use
1-Reserved for last year's series champion (AGR, could be used on 5th car at Indy)
2-Vision (A.J. Foyt IV)
3-Penske (Helio Castroneves)
4-Panther (Vitor Meira)
6-Penske (Ryan Briscoe)
7-AGR (Danica Patrick)
8-KV (Will Power)
9-Ganassi (Scott Dixon)
10-Ganassi (Dan Wheldon)
11-AGR (Tony Kanaan)
12-Luczo Dragon (Tomas Scheckter)
14-A.J. Foyt (Darren Manning)
15-D&R (Buddy Rice)
17-RLR (RHR)
18-PDM (Indy-only)
19-Racing Professionals (Jon Herb, Indy-only)
20-Vision (Ed Carpenter)
21-Playa del Racing (Indy-only)
22-Vision (Alex Lloyd?)
23-D&R (Milka Duno)
24-Roth (Jay Howard)
25-Roth (Marty Roth)
26-AGR (Marco Andretti)
27-AGR (Hideki Mutoh)
31-Playa del Racing (Indy-only)
32-KV (Oriol Servia)
39-AGR (5th Indy entry, if they don't use #1 this year)
41-A.J. Foyt (usually used additional Indy entries)
55-Panther (could be used for 2nd Indy entry?)
67-Fisher (Sarah Fisher)
77-Chastain Motorsports (Indy-only, used in 2007)
91-Hemelgarn (Indy-only, if they run)
98-Greg Beck (Indy-only)
99-Sam Schmidt (Indy-only, if they run)
Known vacant numbers: 5, 13, 16, 28, 29, 30, 33-38, 40, 42-54, 56-66, 68-76, 78-90, 92-97
An NHL statement listed Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson's car numbers as 02 and 06. We'll see if those hold.
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