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
Monday, March 31, 2008
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.
March 12 newsstand: Power, Servia official
Will Power & Oriol Servia are officially in as the drivers for KV Racing, adding two more confirmed cars to the grid.
Official press release and another, with quotes.
Servia's car number will be 32. Power's will be the 8 vacated by Scott Sharp & RLR.
The AP story and another focused on Power from the Melbourne Herald-Sun
Motorsport's Allan Brewer has a wrapup of today's press conference with NHL's Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson and KV co-owner Jimmy Vasser. The transcript.
Minardi in (with a new name)
AP: Former CC teams facing big obstacles
It appears Minardi is in, as they're getting their car today (from Walker Racing). Paul Stoddart is gone, and the team will probably change name (maybe to HVM). The driver is also TBA.
Says owner Keith Wiggins: "I won't deny that it's a struggle, but we're doing our best to get one car on the grid for the first race."
Also, from Wiggins: "We all know it's a tough deal, a lot of scrambling because of timing and the situation. But the bigger picture is where the significance of what happened is pretty dramatic. When you solve any war or situation like that, there's always fallout and some inconvenience. It's difficult in the timing, but it's for a common goal and for the common good after all the things that have happened. I'm sure, come the end of this year, it will almost be forgotten."
IndyCar.com says the team name will be HVM.
Official press release and another, with quotes.
Servia's car number will be 32. Power's will be the 8 vacated by Scott Sharp & RLR.
The AP story and another focused on Power from the Melbourne Herald-Sun
Motorsport's Allan Brewer has a wrapup of today's press conference with NHL's Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson and KV co-owner Jimmy Vasser. The transcript.
Minardi in (with a new name)
AP: Former CC teams facing big obstacles
It appears Minardi is in, as they're getting their car today (from Walker Racing). Paul Stoddart is gone, and the team will probably change name (maybe to HVM). The driver is also TBA.
Says owner Keith Wiggins: "I won't deny that it's a struggle, but we're doing our best to get one car on the grid for the first race."
Also, from Wiggins: "We all know it's a tough deal, a lot of scrambling because of timing and the situation. But the bigger picture is where the significance of what happened is pretty dramatic. When you solve any war or situation like that, there's always fallout and some inconvenience. It's difficult in the timing, but it's for a common goal and for the common good after all the things that have happened. I'm sure, come the end of this year, it will almost be forgotten."
IndyCar.com says the team name will be HVM.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
March 11 newsstand: Forsythe back ... sort of
Forsythe Racing is kind of back in the IRL ... helping out Conquest Racing with a "technical partnership."
Read the story from Speed TV.
Franck Perera is slated to drive one of Conquest's cars. Could the other be driven by Paul Tracy?
More on Walker
Derrick Walker addresses his team's situation on its website
Walker is planning to keep the Atlantic program going in 2008, and he plans to be in IndyCar in 2009.
Says Walker: "The Atlantic program will definitely continue, and we are looking at A1GP to possibly help out some other race teams and take that time to work our way back to IndyCar in 2009. It's the best time to be in open wheel racing and we want to get back as soon as we can."
Season preview: Vision
IndyCar.com takes a look at Vision Racing's 2008 season, with Ed Carpenter and AJIV.
Catching up with
... Ryan Briscoe, who will be cheering for Nico Rosberg in the Aussie GP.
Says RB: "Well just have to wait and see, but I'm feeling pretty confident about it all. I will still be learning the ropes on the ovals so that's a bit of an unknown."
... Ryan Hunter-Reay, who threw out the first pitch at today's Twins-Marlins game.
Commentaries
Gordon Kirby tells us IndyCar needs continuity, stability and parrots the CCF line about the "difficulty" of finding "safe" ovals.
RIP
Former IndyCar car builder John Buttera passes away at age 68
Buttera built Dennis Firestone's Eagle in the 1982 Indy 500. He also entered Johnny Rutherford's 11th-place car at Indy in 1987, and won the Clint Brawner Mechanical Excellence Award at the 1987 500.
Read the story from Speed TV.
Franck Perera is slated to drive one of Conquest's cars. Could the other be driven by Paul Tracy?
More on Walker
Derrick Walker addresses his team's situation on its website
Walker is planning to keep the Atlantic program going in 2008, and he plans to be in IndyCar in 2009.
Says Walker: "The Atlantic program will definitely continue, and we are looking at A1GP to possibly help out some other race teams and take that time to work our way back to IndyCar in 2009. It's the best time to be in open wheel racing and we want to get back as soon as we can."
Season preview: Vision
IndyCar.com takes a look at Vision Racing's 2008 season, with Ed Carpenter and AJIV.
Catching up with
... Ryan Briscoe, who will be cheering for Nico Rosberg in the Aussie GP.
Says RB: "Well just have to wait and see, but I'm feeling pretty confident about it all. I will still be learning the ropes on the ovals so that's a bit of an unknown."
... Ryan Hunter-Reay, who threw out the first pitch at today's Twins-Marlins game.
Commentaries
Gordon Kirby tells us IndyCar needs continuity, stability and parrots the CCF line about the "difficulty" of finding "safe" ovals.
RIP
Former IndyCar car builder John Buttera passes away at age 68
Buttera built Dennis Firestone's Eagle in the 1982 Indy 500. He also entered Johnny Rutherford's 11th-place car at Indy in 1987, and won the Clint Brawner Mechanical Excellence Award at the 1987 500.
Monday, March 10, 2008
March 10 newsstand: Walker, PT & other stuff
Mostly old news today, but ...
Silly season news
From Cavin's blog -- 7 to 10 entries from CC
Currently, 5 are at least semi-confirmed (KV-Servia & Power/NHL-Rahal & Wilson/Conquest-Perera). Cavin expects two entries from Dale Coyne for Brazilians Bruno Junqueira and Mario Moraes. Conquest had planned two cars, but a second car is still TBA. Minardi & PCM are still TBA, as well. PCM might team up with an existing IRL team (RLR, perhaps?) to run the road/street courses only (likely for Alex Figge). Minardi would likely bring Robert Doornbos.
More on Walker
He's gone, for now, but he is trying to keep his Atlantics team afloat and hopes to move it up to the IndyCar Series in 2009. He'll run Greg & Leo Mansell (yes, Nigel's kids) in the series.
Tagliani looking for a ride
KV is looking for a ride buyer with a bigger wad of cash than Tags can bring, so he's out right now. Translation: Craig Gore is bring Will Power over for Tags' ride.
What's going on with Atlantics?
AutoWeek tries to explore some of Formula Atlantic's questions
Official IRL news & notes
Today's release has a piece on ethanol, the Vision season preview, a piece on the college students' design project and a piece on Helio & DWTS.
Vitor looking ahead
He hopes Henri Durand will get him some Ws, according to IndyCar.com
Says Vitor: "We went to the first test and changed a lot of things on the car, which were all for the good, and it was the best test we had all year."
Houston gone ... completely
ALMS is gone, too, and the GP of Houston is completely kaput
Says promoter (and NHL co-owner) Mike Lanigan: “We are saddened and disappointed to have to make this decision, but we remain optimistic that we will have the opportunity to bring the American Le Mans Series and the Indy Racing League to Houston in 2009.”
Our boys down there
First, USA Today has a piece on how the new OW defectors -- Sam & Dario -- are struggling in stock cars. It's not just IRL headliners, either. Villeneuve is out of a ride, Carpentier isn't doing too hot, Allmendinger has DNQed himself into having Mike Skinner drive his car. Of course, they never mention Tony Stewart as a former IRL champion, either.
Speaking of Tony, he had some tire issues with Goodyear after yesterday's cab race.
Smoke gives a great comment for the IRL's official tire supplier: "I'm going home and taking everything that has Goodyears off and put Firestones on and feel a lot safer. It's a shame these teams that work so hard are being dictated by a company incapable of building tires fit for a street car."
This ESPN story quotes TS as saying "I guess that's why they got run out of Formula One, the IRL, CART and USAC, you name it. They couldn't keep up and provide a quality product."
Yikes. Goodyear, obviously, responds. "Goodyear decided to leave other racing series only because of the escalating costs of competition ... " (I'll let you provide your own translation).
And finally
If you've got a wad of cash, you can have a Dallara simulator
Silly season news
From Cavin's blog -- 7 to 10 entries from CC
Currently, 5 are at least semi-confirmed (KV-Servia & Power/NHL-Rahal & Wilson/Conquest-Perera). Cavin expects two entries from Dale Coyne for Brazilians Bruno Junqueira and Mario Moraes. Conquest had planned two cars, but a second car is still TBA. Minardi & PCM are still TBA, as well. PCM might team up with an existing IRL team (RLR, perhaps?) to run the road/street courses only (likely for Alex Figge). Minardi would likely bring Robert Doornbos.
More on Walker
He's gone, for now, but he is trying to keep his Atlantics team afloat and hopes to move it up to the IndyCar Series in 2009. He'll run Greg & Leo Mansell (yes, Nigel's kids) in the series.
Tagliani looking for a ride
KV is looking for a ride buyer with a bigger wad of cash than Tags can bring, so he's out right now. Translation: Craig Gore is bring Will Power over for Tags' ride.
What's going on with Atlantics?
AutoWeek tries to explore some of Formula Atlantic's questions
Official IRL news & notes
Today's release has a piece on ethanol, the Vision season preview, a piece on the college students' design project and a piece on Helio & DWTS.
Vitor looking ahead
He hopes Henri Durand will get him some Ws, according to IndyCar.com
Says Vitor: "We went to the first test and changed a lot of things on the car, which were all for the good, and it was the best test we had all year."
Houston gone ... completely
ALMS is gone, too, and the GP of Houston is completely kaput
Says promoter (and NHL co-owner) Mike Lanigan: “We are saddened and disappointed to have to make this decision, but we remain optimistic that we will have the opportunity to bring the American Le Mans Series and the Indy Racing League to Houston in 2009.”
Our boys down there
First, USA Today has a piece on how the new OW defectors -- Sam & Dario -- are struggling in stock cars. It's not just IRL headliners, either. Villeneuve is out of a ride, Carpentier isn't doing too hot, Allmendinger has DNQed himself into having Mike Skinner drive his car. Of course, they never mention Tony Stewart as a former IRL champion, either.
Speaking of Tony, he had some tire issues with Goodyear after yesterday's cab race.
Smoke gives a great comment for the IRL's official tire supplier: "I'm going home and taking everything that has Goodyears off and put Firestones on and feel a lot safer. It's a shame these teams that work so hard are being dictated by a company incapable of building tires fit for a street car."
This ESPN story quotes TS as saying "I guess that's why they got run out of Formula One, the IRL, CART and USAC, you name it. They couldn't keep up and provide a quality product."
Yikes. Goodyear, obviously, responds. "Goodyear decided to leave other racing series only because of the escalating costs of competition ... " (I'll let you provide your own translation).
And finally
If you've got a wad of cash, you can have a Dallara simulator
Sunday, March 9, 2008
March 9 update: Walker out
Thanks to Craig Gore & the Aussie Vineyards sponsorship jumping ship (presumably to KV), Derrick Walker will not field an IRL team in 2008.
Will Power is rumored to be taking KV's second ride. Simon Pagenaud is out of a ride.
Currently, 6 former CC cars are confirmed on the grid ... 2 from KV (Seriva, Power?), 2 from NHL (Wilson, Rahal) and 2 from Conquest (Perera, TBA). Expect that number to jump to 8 when Dale Coyne announces a two-car effort.
That leaves Minardi (1 car seems likely), Rocketsports & PCM (the latter two, I don't see putting any interest in) left ... so the field of CC refugees will be somewhere between 8 and 11 cars, with 9 likely.
Will Power is rumored to be taking KV's second ride. Simon Pagenaud is out of a ride.
Currently, 6 former CC cars are confirmed on the grid ... 2 from KV (Seriva, Power?), 2 from NHL (Wilson, Rahal) and 2 from Conquest (Perera, TBA). Expect that number to jump to 8 when Dale Coyne announces a two-car effort.
That leaves Minardi (1 car seems likely), Rocketsports & PCM (the latter two, I don't see putting any interest in) left ... so the field of CC refugees will be somewhere between 8 and 11 cars, with 9 likely.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
March 8 newsstand: Saturday reading
Nothing much, but a few interesting odds and ends on a Saturday ...
TG is spending some big $$ to make unification happen
According to the Indy Star, it's upwards of $20 milllion, in this story about CC's bankruptcy.
Bell is back
San Luis Obispo's newspaper has a piece on hometown driver Townsend Bell, who has a seven-race deal with D&R to share a car with Milka Duno.
Says Townsend: “Having raced at Indy once makes this even more exciting because I know what a great event it is. My excitement, however, is tempered by a high degree of focus to catch up, if you will. I’m jumping right back in the heat of the action, so there isn’t a lot of time to cherish the moment. I still have a lot of work to do to get ready for my first race.”
Race or Rays?
The St. Pete race could be in jeopardy, with a proposed new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays going through the middle of the IRL's street course
Says Brian Barnhart: "Yes, we're concerned. I think we all consider St. Pete one of the marquee events on the schedule. ... It's something we're going to keep our eye on."
The race is contracted through 2009.
This notebook also includes items on Milka Duno's movie, Speed Racer, which debuts May 9; Ryan Briscoe reading the owner's manual on the paddle shifters; and TK wanting to crash Dan Wheldon's wedding.
News from the south
You have to scroll down to get to it, but recently-temporarily-replaced NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger has no plans to leave taxicabs and return to IndyCars.
Says the other A.J.: "I want to be here ... I know if we are in the top 35, we are never going to fall out because I'm going to race a lot better than I qualify."
Mike Skinner has temporarily replaced 'Dinger so he can try to get the team in the Top 35 in points so it can get the qualifying mulligan.
Maybe Robby Gordon isn't going to have to follow through on his "threat" to leave NASCAR for the IRL. His 100-point penalty was rescinded (but a $100,000 fine was increased by $50K).
And finally ...
IndyCar.com has a piece on the art student project
TG is spending some big $$ to make unification happen
According to the Indy Star, it's upwards of $20 milllion, in this story about CC's bankruptcy.
Bell is back
San Luis Obispo's newspaper has a piece on hometown driver Townsend Bell, who has a seven-race deal with D&R to share a car with Milka Duno.
Says Townsend: “Having raced at Indy once makes this even more exciting because I know what a great event it is. My excitement, however, is tempered by a high degree of focus to catch up, if you will. I’m jumping right back in the heat of the action, so there isn’t a lot of time to cherish the moment. I still have a lot of work to do to get ready for my first race.”
Race or Rays?
The St. Pete race could be in jeopardy, with a proposed new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays going through the middle of the IRL's street course
Says Brian Barnhart: "Yes, we're concerned. I think we all consider St. Pete one of the marquee events on the schedule. ... It's something we're going to keep our eye on."
The race is contracted through 2009.
This notebook also includes items on Milka Duno's movie, Speed Racer, which debuts May 9; Ryan Briscoe reading the owner's manual on the paddle shifters; and TK wanting to crash Dan Wheldon's wedding.
News from the south
You have to scroll down to get to it, but recently-temporarily-replaced NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger has no plans to leave taxicabs and return to IndyCars.
Says the other A.J.: "I want to be here ... I know if we are in the top 35, we are never going to fall out because I'm going to race a lot better than I qualify."
Mike Skinner has temporarily replaced 'Dinger so he can try to get the team in the Top 35 in points so it can get the qualifying mulligan.
Maybe Robby Gordon isn't going to have to follow through on his "threat" to leave NASCAR for the IRL. His 100-point penalty was rescinded (but a $100,000 fine was increased by $50K).
And finally ...
IndyCar.com has a piece on the art student project
Friday, March 7, 2008
Silly Season update: March 7
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 (6 confirmed cars, 9 likely cars, up to 11 total cars)
*-Confirmed team
*Conquest (2): Franck Perera, TBA (Simon Pagenaud?)
*KV (2): Oriol Servia, TBA (Will Power?)
*Newman/Haas/Lanigan (2): 06-Justin Wilson, 02-Graham Rahal
Coyne (2): Bruno Junqueira, TBA
Minardi USA (1): Robert Dornboos
Pacific Coast (2): Alex Figge, David Martinez? (this is starting to look more unlikely)
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
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-RLR (currently not in use, unless RLR expands team, which is unlikely)
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)
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, 32-38, 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 (6 confirmed cars, 9 likely cars, up to 11 total cars)
*-Confirmed team
*Conquest (2): Franck Perera, TBA (Simon Pagenaud?)
*KV (2): Oriol Servia, TBA (Will Power?)
*Newman/Haas/Lanigan (2): 06-Justin Wilson, 02-Graham Rahal
Coyne (2): Bruno Junqueira, TBA
Minardi USA (1): Robert Dornboos
Pacific Coast (2): Alex Figge, David Martinez? (this is starting to look more unlikely)
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
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-RLR (currently not in use, unless RLR expands team, which is unlikely)
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)
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, 32-38, 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.
March 7 newsstand: Catching up
A little bit of news this week ...
Champ Car is bankrupt
Not a big surprise, but CC files Chapter 11
According to the AP: "The filing in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis states that Champ Car has spent tens of millions of dollars since 2004 to maintain the series and that its takeover by the IRL is in the best interest of the sport."
John Oreovicz has a little bit more
Forsythe and Kalkhoven are going to be on the IRL payroll for $2 million, which mostly involves promoting Long Beach and "commitment and support of the IRL." If that's true, GF's share could be withheld pretty quickly. They also signed a non-compete. The IRL also paid $6 million for CC's medical trailer.
Driver updates
Paul Tracy is still looking for a ride
He has talked to Gerry Forsythe and Tony George, but nothing has materialized yet. Monster Energy Drink could step up its sponsorship, but that takes time, says PT: "They have the capability ... but they're a public company that's not going to throw $5 million around willy nilly. They need to be presented a program with a marketing strategy, and then they'd have to take it to their board. That takes time."
Pablo Donoso is going to start in the IPS
According to Cavin's blog. He is hoping to run Indy and turn it into a full-year gig from Indy forward with A.J. Foyt's team.
Townsend Bell will share Milka Duno's ride in D&R's second car
Bell will drive seven races, while Milka Duno will try to stay out of everybody's way in the other 11.
Says Townsend: "It's going to be super-competitive and fun. For me, my first open-wheel race on the Champ Car side was with 28 cars. I think I was the 28th guy starting dead last with zero points. I remember how competitive that was, and you're going to have the usual suspects at the front. But that mid-pack from eighth to 20th is going to be just as fiercely competitive and hopefully we're going to keep working up the pecking order."
Beck is back, with Yasukawa
Roger Yasukawa is driving Beck Motorsports' car at Motegi.
Says Greg Beck: "When the opportunity presented itself to work with Roger, we jumped at the chance. Roger has proven himself to be a very capable driver and we look forward to giving him the best results possible."
No word on whether or not this will extend to Indianapolis, but one would expect a Beck car to be running at the Brickyard.
You have to scroll down to see it, but Max Papis will run with Rubicon at Indy
And, while this isn't about specific teams, IndyCar.com has a story about the transitional program to help the CC teams get up to speed.
Says Brian Barnhart: "I think the beauty of the whole thing is we don't get to fully optimize unification in 2008. It's a great foundation, but as Tony mentioned we don't have a lot of flexibility. You can start optimizing unification on a much cleaner sheet of paper in 2009."
Races that are migrating to the IRL
Edmonton appears on, and is OK with moving its date to July 27
Surfer's Paradise is on for 6 years
This year's race will be Oct. 26 in Australia, which is Oct. 25 here.
Gold Coast: De-tuned Indy a goer for Coast
This race apparently is going to be part of an "International Cup" that includes all of the non-U.S. races. Says race chair Terry Mackenroth: "There'll be plenty on the line We're working on this with the Indy officials and expect to have it resolved within a month."
Scott Goodyear is a fan of the Gold Coast event
Says Scott: "“For me, the highlight of the season would be returning to Surfers Paradise. Even though I had a couple of adventures there, this is a very cool track and a great event. Sure it's a long haul to get over there, but as the final event of the season everyone will want to take some time to hang out and enjoy one of the prettiest places on Earth."
Races that aren't migrating
Laguna Seca replaces CC race with IMSA historics
This race was supposed to be opposite Indy's Bump Day. Instead, Grand Am, Formula Atlantic, Formula BMW and IMSA historics will run.
Toronto GP officially canceled
Says GP CEO Charlie Johnstone: "Unfortunately, we ran out of options and time for 2008. That doesn't mean the future is bleak, but we'll need concrete actions from our partners to solidify the event's foundation and status as a marquee event in North American open-wheel racing." So now, the race is on to find sponsors.
Testing, testing
On the track: Ryan Briscoe led Days 3 & 4 at Sebring, after leading a Penske 1-2 on Day 3. TK was the quickest on Day 2, and also on Day 1.
Driver stuff
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Danica drawing the line with SI layout
Danica talks about racing and posing: "I've always looked at the swimsuit issue as being something that is so classy and so beautiful. If I wasn't comfortable doing that, then I would be susceptible to criticism and people not looking upon it as being a great thing. But I don't. I don't feel like that. I'm comfortable. I like what I did. I had a great time doing it."
The St. Pete Times catches up with Dan Wheldon
I don't recognize the guy in the picture, though. Maybe it's the smile.
Says Dan: "From a personal standpoint, I haven't had a lot of stability in my life. "It's like I was always bouncing from one place to the other, following the action. Now I have that, and it's helped me as far as fitness, as far as diet, as far as ... maturity level."
Easton Express-Times: Marco takes another big step
The youngest Andretti is going to follow in his predecessors' footsteps and run the 12 Hours of Sebring with Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi.
Tony Kanaan and Raphael Matos meet with the media
Says TK: "I think you're going to see a lot less guys trying to leave (for NASCAR) now, and especially where it was in the past and you know, we're probably still going to get a couple of people with the desire to go, but not just of the money or because the series is not competitive, it's just like some people are up for new challenges."
IndyCar.com: Jay Howard learning quickly
Says Howard: "Definitely it is a little quicker and things are happening a little faster than in the Pro car, but it was really good how much I could relay what I learned in the Pro car I could put into practice in the big car. That was beneficial to me. We're really happy with the times we race, and now it's forward, forward, forward for us."
Al Unser Jr. is now a driver coach, but he may still run Indy with PDR
Says Al: "To me, it was an opportunity to give back to the sport that has given me so much and it will keep me involved. It is a win-win situation for everybody and I just hope I'm able to help some drivers. Especially since unification, I can point out some things to drivers that haven't run the IRL cars on the ovals or two- three abreast."
Three's a crowd
The IRL is going to use top-3 podiums instead of Victory Lanes this year, with the exception of Indy. Eddie Gossage is also anti-podium, and Texas will have a Victory Lane, too.
Says Eddie: "It's perfectly fine for road-course racing or street-course racing, but you don't do that in oval-track racing ... It's like youth soccer where everybody gets a prize. What's next? Does everybody get a certificate of participation?"
Commentaries
The Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz says unification is step 1
Mike Brundell in the Detroit Free Press says the IRL is revving up
The column turns into a Paul Newman love-fest.
San Diego Union-Tribune: IndyCar merger's ripple effect
It's mostly a laundry list of complaints about the CC races that have been lost and drivers that don't have rides yet.
If you're going to the Glen
Kids get in free for general admission, if they're 12 or under. Buy tickets early.
And finally
Former Indy 500 legend Jim McElreath is being inducted into the Texas Motor Sports Hall of Fame. Arie Luyendyk (TMS Legends Award) and Sam Hornish Jr. (TMS Sportsmanship Award) are also being honored by Texas Motor Speedway.
Says McElreath: "It's a real good group and a real honor to be in that group. I've done a lot in my career and was hoping for it."
Champ Car is bankrupt
Not a big surprise, but CC files Chapter 11
According to the AP: "The filing in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis states that Champ Car has spent tens of millions of dollars since 2004 to maintain the series and that its takeover by the IRL is in the best interest of the sport."
John Oreovicz has a little bit more
Forsythe and Kalkhoven are going to be on the IRL payroll for $2 million, which mostly involves promoting Long Beach and "commitment and support of the IRL." If that's true, GF's share could be withheld pretty quickly. They also signed a non-compete. The IRL also paid $6 million for CC's medical trailer.
Driver updates
Paul Tracy is still looking for a ride
He has talked to Gerry Forsythe and Tony George, but nothing has materialized yet. Monster Energy Drink could step up its sponsorship, but that takes time, says PT: "They have the capability ... but they're a public company that's not going to throw $5 million around willy nilly. They need to be presented a program with a marketing strategy, and then they'd have to take it to their board. That takes time."
Pablo Donoso is going to start in the IPS
According to Cavin's blog. He is hoping to run Indy and turn it into a full-year gig from Indy forward with A.J. Foyt's team.
Townsend Bell will share Milka Duno's ride in D&R's second car
Bell will drive seven races, while Milka Duno will try to stay out of everybody's way in the other 11.
Says Townsend: "It's going to be super-competitive and fun. For me, my first open-wheel race on the Champ Car side was with 28 cars. I think I was the 28th guy starting dead last with zero points. I remember how competitive that was, and you're going to have the usual suspects at the front. But that mid-pack from eighth to 20th is going to be just as fiercely competitive and hopefully we're going to keep working up the pecking order."
Beck is back, with Yasukawa
Roger Yasukawa is driving Beck Motorsports' car at Motegi.
Says Greg Beck: "When the opportunity presented itself to work with Roger, we jumped at the chance. Roger has proven himself to be a very capable driver and we look forward to giving him the best results possible."
No word on whether or not this will extend to Indianapolis, but one would expect a Beck car to be running at the Brickyard.
You have to scroll down to see it, but Max Papis will run with Rubicon at Indy
And, while this isn't about specific teams, IndyCar.com has a story about the transitional program to help the CC teams get up to speed.
Says Brian Barnhart: "I think the beauty of the whole thing is we don't get to fully optimize unification in 2008. It's a great foundation, but as Tony mentioned we don't have a lot of flexibility. You can start optimizing unification on a much cleaner sheet of paper in 2009."
Races that are migrating to the IRL
Edmonton appears on, and is OK with moving its date to July 27
Surfer's Paradise is on for 6 years
This year's race will be Oct. 26 in Australia, which is Oct. 25 here.
Gold Coast: De-tuned Indy a goer for Coast
This race apparently is going to be part of an "International Cup" that includes all of the non-U.S. races. Says race chair Terry Mackenroth: "There'll be plenty on the line We're working on this with the Indy officials and expect to have it resolved within a month."
Scott Goodyear is a fan of the Gold Coast event
Says Scott: "“For me, the highlight of the season would be returning to Surfers Paradise. Even though I had a couple of adventures there, this is a very cool track and a great event. Sure it's a long haul to get over there, but as the final event of the season everyone will want to take some time to hang out and enjoy one of the prettiest places on Earth."
Races that aren't migrating
Laguna Seca replaces CC race with IMSA historics
This race was supposed to be opposite Indy's Bump Day. Instead, Grand Am, Formula Atlantic, Formula BMW and IMSA historics will run.
Toronto GP officially canceled
Says GP CEO Charlie Johnstone: "Unfortunately, we ran out of options and time for 2008. That doesn't mean the future is bleak, but we'll need concrete actions from our partners to solidify the event's foundation and status as a marquee event in North American open-wheel racing." So now, the race is on to find sponsors.
Testing, testing
On the track: Ryan Briscoe led Days 3 & 4 at Sebring, after leading a Penske 1-2 on Day 3. TK was the quickest on Day 2, and also on Day 1.
Driver stuff
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Danica drawing the line with SI layout
Danica talks about racing and posing: "I've always looked at the swimsuit issue as being something that is so classy and so beautiful. If I wasn't comfortable doing that, then I would be susceptible to criticism and people not looking upon it as being a great thing. But I don't. I don't feel like that. I'm comfortable. I like what I did. I had a great time doing it."
The St. Pete Times catches up with Dan Wheldon
I don't recognize the guy in the picture, though. Maybe it's the smile.
Says Dan: "From a personal standpoint, I haven't had a lot of stability in my life. "It's like I was always bouncing from one place to the other, following the action. Now I have that, and it's helped me as far as fitness, as far as diet, as far as ... maturity level."
Easton Express-Times: Marco takes another big step
The youngest Andretti is going to follow in his predecessors' footsteps and run the 12 Hours of Sebring with Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi.
Tony Kanaan and Raphael Matos meet with the media
Says TK: "I think you're going to see a lot less guys trying to leave (for NASCAR) now, and especially where it was in the past and you know, we're probably still going to get a couple of people with the desire to go, but not just of the money or because the series is not competitive, it's just like some people are up for new challenges."
IndyCar.com: Jay Howard learning quickly
Says Howard: "Definitely it is a little quicker and things are happening a little faster than in the Pro car, but it was really good how much I could relay what I learned in the Pro car I could put into practice in the big car. That was beneficial to me. We're really happy with the times we race, and now it's forward, forward, forward for us."
Al Unser Jr. is now a driver coach, but he may still run Indy with PDR
Says Al: "To me, it was an opportunity to give back to the sport that has given me so much and it will keep me involved. It is a win-win situation for everybody and I just hope I'm able to help some drivers. Especially since unification, I can point out some things to drivers that haven't run the IRL cars on the ovals or two- three abreast."
Three's a crowd
The IRL is going to use top-3 podiums instead of Victory Lanes this year, with the exception of Indy. Eddie Gossage is also anti-podium, and Texas will have a Victory Lane, too.
Says Eddie: "It's perfectly fine for road-course racing or street-course racing, but you don't do that in oval-track racing ... It's like youth soccer where everybody gets a prize. What's next? Does everybody get a certificate of participation?"
Commentaries
The Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz says unification is step 1
Says TG on Kravitz's radio show: "We've got a long, long list, and right now, we're trying to get some (CC) guys down here for some testing ... The good news is, we're finally all together and we're going to work together to get the best positive result."
Terre Haute Tribune-Star: Long road ahead for IndyCar
Says Indiana State professor Guy Faulkner: “This merger will create a series which is going to be more attractive to the industry, more attractive to the drivers and more attractive to the fans, and all of that leads to more money flowing into Indiana and increased numbers of jobs."
Robin Miller asks if TG is America's Bernie Ecclestone
Says Robin: "Being a car owner seems to have given him a new appreciation for the whole process. He was either smart enough or desperate enough to copy CART’s formula for diversity and that says something. Now he must figure out how to get American manufacturers and drivers back in the qualifying pictures at Indianapolis. He must get costs under control. He must do what is best for ALL of open wheel and for its future. "
Speed TV: Dave Despain tells us what he thinks
Says Dave: "America loves oval racing. The local short tracks. dirt or paved...the sprints and midgets, once the pathway to Indy Cars...and of course the 800-pound gorilla of NASCAR that now dominates American racing...all run in circles. No surprise, then, that for most of its nearly 100-year history, Indy Car racing meant oval racing."
Gordon Kirby offers his thoughts, with the help of some engineers
Says Toyota engineer Pete Spence: "We learned in the CART series that the horsepower and drag and downforce all need to stay in balance. Downforce changes the character of the racing. Early on when I was in the CART series, I thought the way forward was to take downforce away because that would bring skill back into it and then we would see more interesting racing. But the thing we learned is, that's not the case."
SI: After 12 years, Tony George makes tough decision
Mostly a recap of unification.Terre Haute Tribune-Star: Long road ahead for IndyCar
Says Indiana State professor Guy Faulkner: “This merger will create a series which is going to be more attractive to the industry, more attractive to the drivers and more attractive to the fans, and all of that leads to more money flowing into Indiana and increased numbers of jobs."
Robin Miller asks if TG is America's Bernie Ecclestone
Says Robin: "Being a car owner seems to have given him a new appreciation for the whole process. He was either smart enough or desperate enough to copy CART’s formula for diversity and that says something. Now he must figure out how to get American manufacturers and drivers back in the qualifying pictures at Indianapolis. He must get costs under control. He must do what is best for ALL of open wheel and for its future. "
Speed TV: Dave Despain tells us what he thinks
Says Dave: "America loves oval racing. The local short tracks. dirt or paved...the sprints and midgets, once the pathway to Indy Cars...and of course the 800-pound gorilla of NASCAR that now dominates American racing...all run in circles. No surprise, then, that for most of its nearly 100-year history, Indy Car racing meant oval racing."
Gordon Kirby offers his thoughts, with the help of some engineers
Says Toyota engineer Pete Spence: "We learned in the CART series that the horsepower and drag and downforce all need to stay in balance. Downforce changes the character of the racing. Early on when I was in the CART series, I thought the way forward was to take downforce away because that would bring skill back into it and then we would see more interesting racing. But the thing we learned is, that's not the case."
SI: After 12 years, Tony George makes tough decision
Mike Brundell in the Detroit Free Press says the IRL is revving up
The column turns into a Paul Newman love-fest.
San Diego Union-Tribune: IndyCar merger's ripple effect
It's mostly a laundry list of complaints about the CC races that have been lost and drivers that don't have rides yet.
If you're going to the Glen
Kids get in free for general admission, if they're 12 or under. Buy tickets early.
And finally
Former Indy 500 legend Jim McElreath is being inducted into the Texas Motor Sports Hall of Fame. Arie Luyendyk (TMS Legends Award) and Sam Hornish Jr. (TMS Sportsmanship Award) are also being honored by Texas Motor Speedway.
Says McElreath: "It's a real good group and a real honor to be in that group. I've done a lot in my career and was hoping for it."
Sunday, March 2, 2008
March 2 newsstand: Donoso in? & Unification commentary
Sunday is the day for the columnists to show up, so we have a few commentaries on the unification.
But first, does A.J. have a new driver?
It appears Pablo Donoso has signed a $100,000 deal with A.J. Foyt Racing, according to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio. A lot of this story is about the purses awarded in the IRL.
The Babelfish translation of the lead paragraph says: "The Chilean will receive 100 thousand dollars annual to run for A. J. Foyt."
Now, the commentaries
Toronto Star: Open-wheel facing bumpy road to recovery
Patrick Carpentier does a lot of whining: "They used their egos and destroyed the sport. Now they have a whole lot of nothing to try to put together ... When you look at those series, you see how little coverage they get and because of that it gets even harder to get sponsors. The kids from around the world who are filthy rich get the seats. The guy who brings the most money is the one who's going to drive."
Scott Goodyear: It's the beginning of a revival
No word on how "in lockstep" the teams are as they look ahead.
Says Scott: "The IndyCar Series of the future will bring all the best open-wheel drivers together in the same series, on the same tracks, driving the same cars, making it easy for fans to understand what they are watching. ... For the casual fan, now there is no confusion about what series they are watching. I believe this will make it easier to build their interest level. The next segment we need to continue to cultivate is the once-a-year fan, the Indy 500-only fan."
St. Pete Times: St. Pete mayor says merger is exciting
Says St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker: "The success of St. Pete's race is tied to the success of IndyCar Racing. This is a move we have been hoping for since IndyCar came to St. Petersburg."
Lorain County (OH) Chronicle-Telegram: Don't call it a merger
Writer Dan Coughlin waxes poetic about the Cleveland race and states his love for road racing: "Cleveland doesn’t fit the IRL format, which is going in circles and bouncing off walls. After all, the Indy Racing League’s name is derived from Indianapolis 500. ... Champ Car specialized in twisting road races, such as the Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport. Other races were held on city streets, much like Formula I, and ultimately the concept failed in this country."
From Richmond: Merger could affect series events at RIR
Says the IRL's John Griffin: "From that standpoint, Richmond is in a good position with us."
Says RIR's Aimee Turner: "We do not have a contract (for 2009). We go year-to-year with all of our contracts. By our race this year, we should know about next year."
Seabass' view from Europe
4-time CC champ Sebastien Bourdais complains about how CC waved the white flag.
Says Bourdais: "It is not a merger, it is the death of Champ Car and the IRL taking over, the schedules, cars, everything. ... It is a disaster for Champ Car teams."
Also, from Seabass: "Formula One was the right thing for me to do. I would not have been a contender in any way this year (in the IRL)." Of course, he probably won't be a contender in F1, either.
Stories: Melbourne Herald-Sun, Reuters, Speed TV
Kevin Harvick's view
Would he ever drive an IndyCar? Maybe if the Infineon date changes
Says Harvick: "I'd like to try."
And finally
This is semi-IRL related, but "Voice of the IRL" Mike King and driver Davey Hamilton are trying to revive the Terre Haute Action Track, one of the great dirt half-miles in America.
But first, does A.J. have a new driver?
It appears Pablo Donoso has signed a $100,000 deal with A.J. Foyt Racing, according to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio. A lot of this story is about the purses awarded in the IRL.
The Babelfish translation of the lead paragraph says: "The Chilean will receive 100 thousand dollars annual to run for A. J. Foyt."
Now, the commentaries
Toronto Star: Open-wheel facing bumpy road to recovery
Patrick Carpentier does a lot of whining: "They used their egos and destroyed the sport. Now they have a whole lot of nothing to try to put together ... When you look at those series, you see how little coverage they get and because of that it gets even harder to get sponsors. The kids from around the world who are filthy rich get the seats. The guy who brings the most money is the one who's going to drive."
Scott Goodyear: It's the beginning of a revival
No word on how "in lockstep" the teams are as they look ahead.
Says Scott: "The IndyCar Series of the future will bring all the best open-wheel drivers together in the same series, on the same tracks, driving the same cars, making it easy for fans to understand what they are watching. ... For the casual fan, now there is no confusion about what series they are watching. I believe this will make it easier to build their interest level. The next segment we need to continue to cultivate is the once-a-year fan, the Indy 500-only fan."
St. Pete Times: St. Pete mayor says merger is exciting
Says St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker: "The success of St. Pete's race is tied to the success of IndyCar Racing. This is a move we have been hoping for since IndyCar came to St. Petersburg."
Lorain County (OH) Chronicle-Telegram: Don't call it a merger
Writer Dan Coughlin waxes poetic about the Cleveland race and states his love for road racing: "Cleveland doesn’t fit the IRL format, which is going in circles and bouncing off walls. After all, the Indy Racing League’s name is derived from Indianapolis 500. ... Champ Car specialized in twisting road races, such as the Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport. Other races were held on city streets, much like Formula I, and ultimately the concept failed in this country."
From Richmond: Merger could affect series events at RIR
Says the IRL's John Griffin: "From that standpoint, Richmond is in a good position with us."
Says RIR's Aimee Turner: "We do not have a contract (for 2009). We go year-to-year with all of our contracts. By our race this year, we should know about next year."
Seabass' view from Europe
4-time CC champ Sebastien Bourdais complains about how CC waved the white flag.
Says Bourdais: "It is not a merger, it is the death of Champ Car and the IRL taking over, the schedules, cars, everything. ... It is a disaster for Champ Car teams."
Also, from Seabass: "Formula One was the right thing for me to do. I would not have been a contender in any way this year (in the IRL)." Of course, he probably won't be a contender in F1, either.
Stories: Melbourne Herald-Sun, Reuters, Speed TV
Kevin Harvick's view
Would he ever drive an IndyCar? Maybe if the Infineon date changes
Says Harvick: "I'd like to try."
And finally
This is semi-IRL related, but "Voice of the IRL" Mike King and driver Davey Hamilton are trying to revive the Terre Haute Action Track, one of the great dirt half-miles in America.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
March 1 newsstand: Wrapping up, and Robby back?
Today, we tie up some loose ends from one of the most eventful weeks in open-wheel racing history
Unification news
Tampa Tribune: Chitwood's centennial gift
The unification gives Joie Chitwood quite a series to market at the Indianapolis 500's centennial celebrations coming up
Says Chitwod, the leader of IMS: "What would happen is, every year this time of year there would be a unification story. When it didn't happen, there was a negative taint again, because they couldn't get it done. Now it's nice to have that great, positive momentum heading into the season."
Also has some perspectives from Michael Andretti: "CART as a product was good, but the way it was run was all wrong. You just cannot have it where the competitors are running the series, because everybody has their own interest at heart. With Tony, all he cares about is a successful series."
Boston Globe: Drive to unify was strong
Joliet Herald-News: Open-wheelers meet media in Miami
Edmonton Sun: He started the engine
A story about Terry Dierksen, who helped the Edmonton GP get off the ground and become what is, right now, the only Canadian event on the calendar.
PT's saga
You have to read down to the bottom to get to this, but PT was in Las Vegas yesterday to meet with Chip Ganassi about an IndyCar ride.
Oreo wraps up the PT/Forsythe fallout
Another NASCAR returnee?
We've already seen Brent Sherman leave the taxicabs to run an IPS car for Panther. Now, Robby Gordon is considering running the Indy 500 if he loses his appeal with NASCAR and isn't in Chase contention.
Gordon's appeal will be heard March 5. He was dinged 100 points and $100K for using an uncertified part in the Daytona 500. He isn't sure if he's going to run with his own team, or someone else.
The women
In Mark DeCotis' Florida Today column, Lyn St. James gives advice to the female drivers: "Be Authentic."
And finally
The Indianapolis Star editorial board lauds TG and the Hulman family for putting up the cash to make the sport work.
Unification news
Tampa Tribune: Chitwood's centennial gift
The unification gives Joie Chitwood quite a series to market at the Indianapolis 500's centennial celebrations coming up
Says Chitwod, the leader of IMS: "What would happen is, every year this time of year there would be a unification story. When it didn't happen, there was a negative taint again, because they couldn't get it done. Now it's nice to have that great, positive momentum heading into the season."
Also has some perspectives from Michael Andretti: "CART as a product was good, but the way it was run was all wrong. You just cannot have it where the competitors are running the series, because everybody has their own interest at heart. With Tony, all he cares about is a successful series."
Boston Globe: Drive to unify was strong
Joliet Herald-News: Open-wheelers meet media in Miami
Edmonton Sun: He started the engine
A story about Terry Dierksen, who helped the Edmonton GP get off the ground and become what is, right now, the only Canadian event on the calendar.
PT's saga
You have to read down to the bottom to get to this, but PT was in Las Vegas yesterday to meet with Chip Ganassi about an IndyCar ride.
Oreo wraps up the PT/Forsythe fallout
Another NASCAR returnee?
We've already seen Brent Sherman leave the taxicabs to run an IPS car for Panther. Now, Robby Gordon is considering running the Indy 500 if he loses his appeal with NASCAR and isn't in Chase contention.
Gordon's appeal will be heard March 5. He was dinged 100 points and $100K for using an uncertified part in the Daytona 500. He isn't sure if he's going to run with his own team, or someone else.
The women
In Mark DeCotis' Florida Today column, Lyn St. James gives advice to the female drivers: "Be Authentic."
And finally
The Indianapolis Star editorial board lauds TG and the Hulman family for putting up the cash to make the sport work.
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