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."
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