We're a bit behind due to personal stuff, but we have Texas wrapups & not much else, as the series takes its first break since before heading to Motegi/Long Beach.
Danica testing in F1?
Reports are that Danica Patrick is testing a Honda F1 car. And then, Honda denies it.
The next steps
Robin Miller starts lobbying for more road courses and street parades, and says Homestead and Nashville are goners. He also says New Hampshire is a 60% possibility to be reinstated.
Analysis & commentaries
After taking the yellow/checkered (the second straight time an IndyCar race has ended that way), Scott Dixon says one of NASCAR's crummiest rules should be considered, the green-white-checkered.
Says Scott: "The fans come first. That's why we're here."
This notebook also covers the Marco/RHR crash, driver penalties and Eddie Gossage again angling for date-after-Indy status.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Dave Kallman says "no" about "overtime."
The Dallas Morning News' Richard Durrett says "please."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Racing drowns out Eddie's whining
Says columnist Gil LeBreton: "There were 83,000 spectators in the grandstands at the speedway. For 106 laps, the heart of Saturday's race, they had watched accident-free, 210 mph-plus racing, sometimes by three cars, side by side by side. And Gossage was still mad about a race in Milwaukee?"
ESPN: Dominant Dixon not good for IndyCar
Says Terry Blount: "Dixon doesn't sell tickets. With all due respect to his lovely new bride, Dixon is missing a racing version of sex appeal.He's a little too quiet, a little too icy and little too, well, normal."
FW Star-Telegram: The buzz from TMS
Sports Network: Broadcast does disservice to IndyCars
Preach on. I was pretty groggy when the broadcast ended at 1 a.m., long after the race was actually over.
Texas recaps
Race stories from Dixon's win
From the Indianapolis Star, AP, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sportal.com (NZ), Denton Record-Chronicle, Speed, IndyCar.com
Dixon says Marco gave him plenty of room for the winning pass: "You could have put two or three cars through there."
And then RHR says Marco didn't give him any room when he tried to pass for 2nd, and then wiped them both out: "He gave me the bottom line on the backstretch, then he really turned early. He said that he gave me enough room. I didn't feel he did. Moving down to avoid contact, the car got unhinged."
The Star-Telegram also has a sidebar on the Marco-RHR crash, as does John Oreovicz of ESPN
Post-race press conference
Daily Trackside Report for raceday
Driver/team stuff
Mansfield (OH) News-Journal: Danica's foil picking up steam
Two weeks later, stories about Ryan Briscoe still mention Danica first.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram catches up with Tomas Scheckter and Dan Wheldon
Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News reports on Penske's Texas efforts
And IndyCar.com catches up with the malcontent & the rookie at Dale Coyne Racing
Jack Arute looks at John Barnes' shedding 140 pounds
IndyCar.com catches up with PCM's Tyler Tadevic
Expat news
The Orlando Sentinel says Sam needs to park it
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
June 7 newsstand: Texas race day
News
Indy Star: Andretti offered full-time ride at Roth Racing
John Andretti might be a full-time IndyCar driver again. Marty Roth has offered him a seat. Where does this leave Jay Howard? We don't know ...
Indianapolis Business Journal: IRL enters talks for new TV deal
ESPN is wanting revenue sharing, instead of a rights fee. The IRL is wanting more promotional time. And NBC/Turner are reportedly interested.
Qualifying stories & race previews
Indy Star: Wheldon pained by hard flip
Dan Wheldon took a tumble last night and hurt his ankle. "That was probably the biggest hit I've ever had."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
We posted this last night, but it's updated
Dallas Morning News: Dixon wins pole
You have to skip down in this DMN notebook, but drivers don't like the 4-lap qualifying rules. (is there anything about ovals some of these guys like?)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The buzz
Five things to look for tonight.
Commentaries
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: All not smooth at TMS
Jennifer Ford Engel says Eddie Gossage isn't happy about a few things, and the IRL drivers' (err, Danica's) complaining isn't helping. Says Eddie about his placement on the schedule (or, more notably, Milwaukee's placement on the schedule): "Somebody that has been loyal to you and somebody that has been a place, when the really tough things came along, you could always point to Texas, bump your chest and be proud of it. I just do not understand. But if that is what the IRL wants to do..."
Driver features
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: John Andretti back at TMS
Racing nomad John Andretti is really enjoying himself this year. Says John: "You know, a Tony Stewart would do a bunch of things. I'm sure Jeff Gordon would, and I know Jeff Burton would. There are a variety of guys who would do more if they had the time and opportunity. If they had one, I'm sure they would get the other."
Crash.net: Franck Perera back in Indy Lights
He wants to be in the ICS, so he's running in Lights until an IndyCar ride opens up.
The Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle has a piece on RHR and his spotter
Expats
Philadelphia Daily News: Hornish's success in NASCAR modest
Edmonton Sun: Canada has been good to Bourdais. Seabass says Edmonton and Toronto need to be part of the IRL schedule, too.
Indy Star: Andretti offered full-time ride at Roth Racing
John Andretti might be a full-time IndyCar driver again. Marty Roth has offered him a seat. Where does this leave Jay Howard? We don't know ...
Indianapolis Business Journal: IRL enters talks for new TV deal
ESPN is wanting revenue sharing, instead of a rights fee. The IRL is wanting more promotional time. And NBC/Turner are reportedly interested.
Qualifying stories & race previews
Indy Star: Wheldon pained by hard flip
Dan Wheldon took a tumble last night and hurt his ankle. "That was probably the biggest hit I've ever had."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
We posted this last night, but it's updated
Dallas Morning News: Dixon wins pole
You have to skip down in this DMN notebook, but drivers don't like the 4-lap qualifying rules. (is there anything about ovals some of these guys like?)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The buzz
Five things to look for tonight.
Commentaries
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: All not smooth at TMS
Jennifer Ford Engel says Eddie Gossage isn't happy about a few things, and the IRL drivers' (err, Danica's) complaining isn't helping. Says Eddie about his placement on the schedule (or, more notably, Milwaukee's placement on the schedule): "Somebody that has been loyal to you and somebody that has been a place, when the really tough things came along, you could always point to Texas, bump your chest and be proud of it. I just do not understand. But if that is what the IRL wants to do..."
Driver features
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: John Andretti back at TMS
Racing nomad John Andretti is really enjoying himself this year. Says John: "You know, a Tony Stewart would do a bunch of things. I'm sure Jeff Gordon would, and I know Jeff Burton would. There are a variety of guys who would do more if they had the time and opportunity. If they had one, I'm sure they would get the other."
Crash.net: Franck Perera back in Indy Lights
He wants to be in the ICS, so he's running in Lights until an IndyCar ride opens up.
The Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle has a piece on RHR and his spotter
Expats
Philadelphia Daily News: Hornish's success in NASCAR modest
Edmonton Sun: Canada has been good to Bourdais. Seabass says Edmonton and Toronto need to be part of the IRL schedule, too.
Preach on, Eddie
Texas week is always interesting for two things.
One is, of course, the race -- usually the most entertaining on the calendar.
The other is, what the heck is Eddie Gossage going to do?
Last year, he used an on-track feud between Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick to help sell the race, among other things.
This year, Eddie spoke words that many on the IRL side of the divide have been thinking, but might have been afraid to say.
Ever since February, we've heard calls from ex-CC people (and some of their cheerleaders in the media) that the IRL needs to adopt, well, everything that CC had. More road courses (Gordon Kirby wasn't the only one beating the drum for one-third roads, one-third streets, one-third ovals), podiums (never got to even fight that one), turbocharged engines (there's another pimpage of that in today's newsstand), push-to-pass, heck, even replacing the Dallara with some version of the Panoz DP01 chassis. Adding Cleveland, Mexico City, Portland, Toronto, Long Beach, Road America, Edmonton, Eur (and on and on and on) to the schedule. The series is already 1/4 of the way there, and it looks like Toronto is a lock, Mexico City is a possibility and Cleveland is at least on the radar screen.
Meanwhile, at least a couple of ovals appear to be casualties.
And so, as we watch the IndyCar Series accelerate its morphing into CART II -- the series that was committing a slow suicide a decade ago by going to too many road races -- Eddie Gossage comes in to say what we've all been feeling.
To be viable in the United States, IndyCar MUST be a predominately-oval series.
Gossage told ESPN.com's Terry Blount that to be successful, the IndyCar Series must have at least 80% ovals (that would be, say, 15 ovals and 3 road courses on an 18-race schedule).
The ratio might not need to be that high, but ovals should be the primary focus of the series.
Why?
Oval racing is the foundation of American racing.
NASCAR didn't get popular because it ran Riverside and Watkins Glen. Formula One has never had much of a presence in the United States, even when it ran Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Detroit, Phoenix, Indy ... While writers wax poetic about CART's heyday in the mid-1990s, its best-attended races were on ovals -- Indianapolis and Michigan, and the series was (and still is) carried by the Indianapolis 500.
The two biggest races in the United States are the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 -- races on 2.5 mile ovals.
Eddie as much as said so, calling Champ Car's history "failed" and correctly pointing out that what popularity IndyCar racing has comes from ovals like Indy and Texas. He also correctly points out that the losers in a battle don't get to set the agenda.
Unfortunately, Tony George and the IRL have been more than willing to bend over backwards to almost let the ex-CC guys do that.
To be successful in the States, a sport requires three things -- close competition, something that translates well to television and heroes/villains. The close competition can even be manufactured -- see NASCAR with its famous "debris cautions" late in races, and idiotic rules like the lucky dog and green-white-checkered; the NFL with its salary cap; and the NBA with, well, the first 46 minutes of every game. But there has to be a close finish, a tight battle. Oval racing provides it, most of the time. Road racing doesn't. The second is television. Like it or not, oval racing translates well to TV -- it's fast, there are four corners, and you can tell by watching the broadcast where the cars are on the track. Road racing doesn't. Unless you're familiar with the course (or have a map of the track in front of you -- which is how I end up watching road races), it's difficult to envision a road course from a limited TV shot. The third thing is heroes -- something no type of course can provide. More TV coverage and more ratings can help provide heroes and villains, which is going to have to come with ovals.
The heroes will be easier to find if the sport if young American drivers are more attractive to teams. While U.S.-trained road racers are more prevalent than in the past (Danica, Rahal 2.0, Andretti 3.0, RHR), 20 of the 28 starters in the Texas race are from outside the U.S. A few (Helio, TK, Dixon, Wheldon) have garnered fan bases in the U.S., but a series that's chock full of foreign road racers is too easy to dismiss by the casual fan, especially when the guy running at their local short track is in a tintop.
Oval racing is like football -- easy to watch, easy to package for television, and while not technically-perfect all the time, usually rewards the best team unless it makes a mistake (fumbles a lot/crashes). Road racing is like soccer -- technically enjoyable, great to watch when you know what you're looking for, but difficult to watch on television, and therefore hard to translate the nuances of it to the masses.
IndyCars belong on ovals. They're the fastest cars in any form of closed-course racing -- and high-speed ovals allow them to stretch their muscles and display their speed (which blows tintops away). They also can work on road courses, but the technical brilliance can be as easily shown at Milwaukee or Phoenix as at Long Beach and Belle Isle.
And, to be popular, IndyCars need to be on ovals. There is room for road racing -- this series needs to be diverse. But a good mix of short ovals (Milwaukee, Phoenix, Loudon, Richmond, Iowa), high-banked medium-length ovals (Kentucky, Kansas, Nashville, Texas, Chicagoland) and longer ovals (Michigan, Indianapolis) can combine with a few good road courses -- Watkins Glen being one. Road America is another. You can even toss in a street parade or two -- St. Pete is a great race, Long Beach always draws a crowd.
Questions are asked -- drivers have complained a lot about the perceived danger of IndyCars on higher-banked, higher-speed ovals. But while the current spec Dallara has had its share of harrowing accidents -- including one tonight with Dan Wheldon flipping across the frontstretch at Texas -- it has seen very few serious injuries. Take, for example, for all of the chirping Flying Scotsman Dario Franchitti made about safety last year (and all the testing he did of the Dallara's safety), he survived both of his flights with barely a scratch. He hasn't been so fortunate in an allegedly-safer stock car.
IndyCar racing needs some diversity. But the foundation of the series must be ovals. While Eddie Gossage is speaking as the owner of an oval track, his statement about 80% is a bit high. But the number of ovals should never dip below 60% if the IndyCar Series expects to expand in the American consciousness.
To grow and become mainstream in the United States, ovals needs to be a major part of the schedule. And the highest-visibility races need to be on ovals.
Otherwise, the IndyCar Series can be content to be auto racing's verison of the NHL. A better product than its direct competitors, for sure. That battle has already been won. But it would be vastly-improved if it was a product that gained mainstream success. The only way to do that in the United States is to run a substantial number of races on ovals.
One is, of course, the race -- usually the most entertaining on the calendar.
The other is, what the heck is Eddie Gossage going to do?
Last year, he used an on-track feud between Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick to help sell the race, among other things.
This year, Eddie spoke words that many on the IRL side of the divide have been thinking, but might have been afraid to say.
Ever since February, we've heard calls from ex-CC people (and some of their cheerleaders in the media) that the IRL needs to adopt, well, everything that CC had. More road courses (Gordon Kirby wasn't the only one beating the drum for one-third roads, one-third streets, one-third ovals), podiums (never got to even fight that one), turbocharged engines (there's another pimpage of that in today's newsstand), push-to-pass, heck, even replacing the Dallara with some version of the Panoz DP01 chassis. Adding Cleveland, Mexico City, Portland, Toronto, Long Beach, Road America, Edmonton, Eur (and on and on and on) to the schedule. The series is already 1/4 of the way there, and it looks like Toronto is a lock, Mexico City is a possibility and Cleveland is at least on the radar screen.
Meanwhile, at least a couple of ovals appear to be casualties.
And so, as we watch the IndyCar Series accelerate its morphing into CART II -- the series that was committing a slow suicide a decade ago by going to too many road races -- Eddie Gossage comes in to say what we've all been feeling.
To be viable in the United States, IndyCar MUST be a predominately-oval series.
Gossage told ESPN.com's Terry Blount that to be successful, the IndyCar Series must have at least 80% ovals (that would be, say, 15 ovals and 3 road courses on an 18-race schedule).
The ratio might not need to be that high, but ovals should be the primary focus of the series.
Why?
Oval racing is the foundation of American racing.
NASCAR didn't get popular because it ran Riverside and Watkins Glen. Formula One has never had much of a presence in the United States, even when it ran Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Detroit, Phoenix, Indy ... While writers wax poetic about CART's heyday in the mid-1990s, its best-attended races were on ovals -- Indianapolis and Michigan, and the series was (and still is) carried by the Indianapolis 500.
The two biggest races in the United States are the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 -- races on 2.5 mile ovals.
Eddie as much as said so, calling Champ Car's history "failed" and correctly pointing out that what popularity IndyCar racing has comes from ovals like Indy and Texas. He also correctly points out that the losers in a battle don't get to set the agenda.
Unfortunately, Tony George and the IRL have been more than willing to bend over backwards to almost let the ex-CC guys do that.
To be successful in the States, a sport requires three things -- close competition, something that translates well to television and heroes/villains. The close competition can even be manufactured -- see NASCAR with its famous "debris cautions" late in races, and idiotic rules like the lucky dog and green-white-checkered; the NFL with its salary cap; and the NBA with, well, the first 46 minutes of every game. But there has to be a close finish, a tight battle. Oval racing provides it, most of the time. Road racing doesn't. The second is television. Like it or not, oval racing translates well to TV -- it's fast, there are four corners, and you can tell by watching the broadcast where the cars are on the track. Road racing doesn't. Unless you're familiar with the course (or have a map of the track in front of you -- which is how I end up watching road races), it's difficult to envision a road course from a limited TV shot. The third thing is heroes -- something no type of course can provide. More TV coverage and more ratings can help provide heroes and villains, which is going to have to come with ovals.
The heroes will be easier to find if the sport if young American drivers are more attractive to teams. While U.S.-trained road racers are more prevalent than in the past (Danica, Rahal 2.0, Andretti 3.0, RHR), 20 of the 28 starters in the Texas race are from outside the U.S. A few (Helio, TK, Dixon, Wheldon) have garnered fan bases in the U.S., but a series that's chock full of foreign road racers is too easy to dismiss by the casual fan, especially when the guy running at their local short track is in a tintop.
Oval racing is like football -- easy to watch, easy to package for television, and while not technically-perfect all the time, usually rewards the best team unless it makes a mistake (fumbles a lot/crashes). Road racing is like soccer -- technically enjoyable, great to watch when you know what you're looking for, but difficult to watch on television, and therefore hard to translate the nuances of it to the masses.
IndyCars belong on ovals. They're the fastest cars in any form of closed-course racing -- and high-speed ovals allow them to stretch their muscles and display their speed (which blows tintops away). They also can work on road courses, but the technical brilliance can be as easily shown at Milwaukee or Phoenix as at Long Beach and Belle Isle.
And, to be popular, IndyCars need to be on ovals. There is room for road racing -- this series needs to be diverse. But a good mix of short ovals (Milwaukee, Phoenix, Loudon, Richmond, Iowa), high-banked medium-length ovals (Kentucky, Kansas, Nashville, Texas, Chicagoland) and longer ovals (Michigan, Indianapolis) can combine with a few good road courses -- Watkins Glen being one. Road America is another. You can even toss in a street parade or two -- St. Pete is a great race, Long Beach always draws a crowd.
Questions are asked -- drivers have complained a lot about the perceived danger of IndyCars on higher-banked, higher-speed ovals. But while the current spec Dallara has had its share of harrowing accidents -- including one tonight with Dan Wheldon flipping across the frontstretch at Texas -- it has seen very few serious injuries. Take, for example, for all of the chirping Flying Scotsman Dario Franchitti made about safety last year (and all the testing he did of the Dallara's safety), he survived both of his flights with barely a scratch. He hasn't been so fortunate in an allegedly-safer stock car.
IndyCar racing needs some diversity. But the foundation of the series must be ovals. While Eddie Gossage is speaking as the owner of an oval track, his statement about 80% is a bit high. But the number of ovals should never dip below 60% if the IndyCar Series expects to expand in the American consciousness.
To grow and become mainstream in the United States, ovals needs to be a major part of the schedule. And the highest-visibility races need to be on ovals.
Otherwise, the IndyCar Series can be content to be auto racing's verison of the NHL. A better product than its direct competitors, for sure. That battle has already been won. But it would be vastly-improved if it was a product that gained mainstream success. The only way to do that in the United States is to run a substantial number of races on ovals.
Friday, June 6, 2008
June 6 newsstand: Texas qualifying
It's almost Texas race day.
We'll have a race-day installment with quals stories, but here is Friday's wrapup (of both AM and PM stories).
28 cars are set to take the green flag ... here is the lineup. The green flag drops at 9:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage on radio and IndyCar.com. ESPN2's broadcast will be slightly tape-delayed.
Today's news
Eddie Gossage always has something to say. And this time, I almost agree with him. He says the IRL's schedule should be 80% oval. Meanwhile, guys from Champ Car are calling for it to be no more than 33% ovals, and it seems the IRL is headed toward 50%. Gossage says the American public will not accept Euro-style road racing and calls the increased amount of road courses "baggage" from the merger.
Anyway, Eddie always has a point to make, so let's let him make it: "IndyCar officials have to understand that it will take 80 percent ovals to truly succeed. Otherwise, this is nothing more than a niche sport. If they're comfortable with that, fine, but I don't think they are. The Indy 500 and high-speed ovals like TMS are why the IRL won this war."
Eddie blasts out at the minions from Champ Car that want the IRL to morph into CC: "They lost this fight. ... They need to look back and see that model is failed history. There's a littered battlefield left behind them from USAC to CART to Champ Car. You have to learn from that."
Of course, there is a reaction from the drivers, sought out by Speed's Jeff Olson.
Says TK: "If somebody who has such good vision and can organize a race as good as this thinks we should be racing on 80 percent ovals, he isn’t looking out for the series’ best interests."
Says Vitor Meira: (Ovals are) where we have been successful and NASCAR has been successful. We’ve proven that the American fan likes it, and that’s our fan base. It’s more entertaining. I’m talking only about the business side of it. I’m taking myself out of the equation, because, man, it’s dangerous."
Read down in today's Indy Star notebook for a glimpse into the future. IRL officials are planning to visit Houston, Mexico City and Cleveland. Hopefully, the former is just a favor to A.J. Foyt, because the last thing this series needs is more street races. Cleveland and Mid-Ohio will struggle to co-exist, but Cleveland is a fun race. Especially when Paul Tracy does his annual wipeout of half the field on the first corner.
IndyCar racing is brought up in a Q&A with the new president of Charlotte (er, sorry, Lowe's) Motor Speedway in the Greensboro News-Record. Says Marcus Smith: "I'll never say never, and we have a great relationship with the IRL with our events in Sonoma and Texas. We'll continue to be open to those discussions. We're excited about reunification. We think that's going to be a big plus for open-wheel racing and look forward to seeing them climb the charts on their popularity." The story also mentions SMI's attempt to bring a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky. Hopefully, that won't affect the IRL's date there, largely because the track is the most convenient non-Indy venue to get to from Indy on the schedule (and a really nice track to catch a race).
Arizona Republic: IndyCar to take a look at 2011 cars
Former CART PR guru Michael Knight pimps turbocharged engines, among other things.
Texas previews
Dallas Morning News: Danica doesn't like the limited practice time
Danica also wants Milwaukee to remain in its traditional date. Eddie Gossage wants the date after Indy status, and fires away: "If Danica and the league think running in front of 28,000 people in the 34th largest market in the country is more important than running in front of 90,000 in the fourth largest market in the country, they're definitely making the right decision."
Will Power: Texas is the toughest
Qualifying stories
AP: Dixon, Castroneves 1-2
Other quals stories: Speed TV, IndyCar.com
Says Scott: "Yesterday we were fast out of the box, but today we lost that. I didn’t think the car was capable of running a speed like that, and I didn’t think it was good enough to stay there. That’s a credit to the guys for getting the car back on top."
Wheldon crashes coming out of T4 in practice, flips, suffers a "sore" ankle, then goes out and qualifies his backup car: AP, Indy Star, Dallas Morning News, ESPN, IndyCar.com
Today's Daily Trackside Report (which has everything you need to know) from the track.
Driver features
St. Petersburg Times: John Andretti wants full-time ride somewhere
He also said he'd like to run the Brickyard in Indy. He's already become the first person to run the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year.
John qualified seventh for this race. He and Marco are making starts No. 1001 & 1002 for the Andretti family tonight.
IndyCar.com also has a feature on Andretti and his qualifying run.
Says JA: "There's a lot of experience on the team and it's gaining more experience, but as a group it's all still new - and especially with me."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
Says Dan: "I really like the track. It's a very close, intense race. It's fast. You can get to the front pretty quickly if you have a good car. It's under the lights, and there's always a very good energy here."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Milwaukee win has Briscoe moving forward
Ryan looks back at the win, the Indy pit-lane crash and being hired by the Captain.
Indy Star: Texas looms large for Meira
A great feature on the guy who's always in the mix, and always (seemingly) second. Says Vitor, who got his "pilot wings" from the Indiana National Guard after his flight at Milwaukee: "I think people follow me for things like that, but second, because I try to treat them right, the way I'd like to be treated as a fan. I think that's why they wish me more even though I'm not in the spotlight all of the time."
ESPN: Meira hunting for first win
Says Graham Rahal of Vitor: "If you want talk about an all-around good guy, that's him. He's been close so many times; I don't even know how many second-place finishes he's had. Eventually, some day, he's going to win and then all the wins will start pouring in."
Boston Herald: Return to TMS good for Kanaan
An update on TK's season as he heads into the home of 7-11.
New Zealand Herald: Dixon shows no signs of slowing
Not much here, but something from the Kiwi press.
AP: Castroneves wants to win a race, title
Says Helio: "Finishing top five every race seems to be the key for us. When the car gets right, we're going to go for the win."
Dallas Morning News: Fans fall in step with Castroneves
Ryan Briscoe is noticing a big turnout for his teammate: "I asked what made them come out, and they said they watched Helio on TV and wanted to see what his day job was like. What fans find out is, that personality and fun guy they saw on TV is the way he is all the time. That's not an act."
AP: Danica excited, disappointed about unified series
Danica asks for better marketing. "It's very exciting from the inside. There's more drivers, there's more fans, there's more media, there's more excitement. But when it hits mainstream America, I don't think that it's had enough of an impact yet."
FemmeFan.com: Rahal new face of IRL
OK, this is the first time FemmeFan.com has been on this site -- before or after hiatus.
Notebooks
Ottawa Sun: Danica wants more marketing
This mentions the same stuff as the AP story above, but it also mentions Kimi Raikkonen is considering retiring from F1.
And finally
Sam Hornish Jr. tells Helio (and anyone else) that no IRL driver should ever complain about the schedule being too long.
While we're on the subject of NASCAR, SI wonders why Ganassi's team hasn't been producing.
We'll have a race-day installment with quals stories, but here is Friday's wrapup (of both AM and PM stories).
28 cars are set to take the green flag ... here is the lineup. The green flag drops at 9:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage on radio and IndyCar.com. ESPN2's broadcast will be slightly tape-delayed.
Today's news
Eddie Gossage always has something to say. And this time, I almost agree with him. He says the IRL's schedule should be 80% oval. Meanwhile, guys from Champ Car are calling for it to be no more than 33% ovals, and it seems the IRL is headed toward 50%. Gossage says the American public will not accept Euro-style road racing and calls the increased amount of road courses "baggage" from the merger.
Anyway, Eddie always has a point to make, so let's let him make it: "IndyCar officials have to understand that it will take 80 percent ovals to truly succeed. Otherwise, this is nothing more than a niche sport. If they're comfortable with that, fine, but I don't think they are. The Indy 500 and high-speed ovals like TMS are why the IRL won this war."
Eddie blasts out at the minions from Champ Car that want the IRL to morph into CC: "They lost this fight. ... They need to look back and see that model is failed history. There's a littered battlefield left behind them from USAC to CART to Champ Car. You have to learn from that."
Of course, there is a reaction from the drivers, sought out by Speed's Jeff Olson.
Says TK: "If somebody who has such good vision and can organize a race as good as this thinks we should be racing on 80 percent ovals, he isn’t looking out for the series’ best interests."
Says Vitor Meira: (Ovals are) where we have been successful and NASCAR has been successful. We’ve proven that the American fan likes it, and that’s our fan base. It’s more entertaining. I’m talking only about the business side of it. I’m taking myself out of the equation, because, man, it’s dangerous."
Read down in today's Indy Star notebook for a glimpse into the future. IRL officials are planning to visit Houston, Mexico City and Cleveland. Hopefully, the former is just a favor to A.J. Foyt, because the last thing this series needs is more street races. Cleveland and Mid-Ohio will struggle to co-exist, but Cleveland is a fun race. Especially when Paul Tracy does his annual wipeout of half the field on the first corner.
IndyCar racing is brought up in a Q&A with the new president of Charlotte (er, sorry, Lowe's) Motor Speedway in the Greensboro News-Record. Says Marcus Smith: "I'll never say never, and we have a great relationship with the IRL with our events in Sonoma and Texas. We'll continue to be open to those discussions. We're excited about reunification. We think that's going to be a big plus for open-wheel racing and look forward to seeing them climb the charts on their popularity." The story also mentions SMI's attempt to bring a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky. Hopefully, that won't affect the IRL's date there, largely because the track is the most convenient non-Indy venue to get to from Indy on the schedule (and a really nice track to catch a race).
Arizona Republic: IndyCar to take a look at 2011 cars
Former CART PR guru Michael Knight pimps turbocharged engines, among other things.
Texas previews
Dallas Morning News: Danica doesn't like the limited practice time
Danica also wants Milwaukee to remain in its traditional date. Eddie Gossage wants the date after Indy status, and fires away: "If Danica and the league think running in front of 28,000 people in the 34th largest market in the country is more important than running in front of 90,000 in the fourth largest market in the country, they're definitely making the right decision."
Will Power: Texas is the toughest
Qualifying stories
AP: Dixon, Castroneves 1-2
Other quals stories: Speed TV, IndyCar.com
Says Scott: "Yesterday we were fast out of the box, but today we lost that. I didn’t think the car was capable of running a speed like that, and I didn’t think it was good enough to stay there. That’s a credit to the guys for getting the car back on top."
Wheldon crashes coming out of T4 in practice, flips, suffers a "sore" ankle, then goes out and qualifies his backup car: AP, Indy Star, Dallas Morning News, ESPN, IndyCar.com
Today's Daily Trackside Report (which has everything you need to know) from the track.
Driver features
St. Petersburg Times: John Andretti wants full-time ride somewhere
He also said he'd like to run the Brickyard in Indy. He's already become the first person to run the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year.
John qualified seventh for this race. He and Marco are making starts No. 1001 & 1002 for the Andretti family tonight.
IndyCar.com also has a feature on Andretti and his qualifying run.
Says JA: "There's a lot of experience on the team and it's gaining more experience, but as a group it's all still new - and especially with me."
Dallas Morning News: Never a dull moment for Wheldon
Says Dan: "I really like the track. It's a very close, intense race. It's fast. You can get to the front pretty quickly if you have a good car. It's under the lights, and there's always a very good energy here."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Milwaukee win has Briscoe moving forward
Ryan looks back at the win, the Indy pit-lane crash and being hired by the Captain.
Indy Star: Texas looms large for Meira
A great feature on the guy who's always in the mix, and always (seemingly) second. Says Vitor, who got his "pilot wings" from the Indiana National Guard after his flight at Milwaukee: "I think people follow me for things like that, but second, because I try to treat them right, the way I'd like to be treated as a fan. I think that's why they wish me more even though I'm not in the spotlight all of the time."
ESPN: Meira hunting for first win
Says Graham Rahal of Vitor: "If you want talk about an all-around good guy, that's him. He's been close so many times; I don't even know how many second-place finishes he's had. Eventually, some day, he's going to win and then all the wins will start pouring in."
Boston Herald: Return to TMS good for Kanaan
An update on TK's season as he heads into the home of 7-11.
New Zealand Herald: Dixon shows no signs of slowing
Not much here, but something from the Kiwi press.
AP: Castroneves wants to win a race, title
Says Helio: "Finishing top five every race seems to be the key for us. When the car gets right, we're going to go for the win."
Dallas Morning News: Fans fall in step with Castroneves
Ryan Briscoe is noticing a big turnout for his teammate: "I asked what made them come out, and they said they watched Helio on TV and wanted to see what his day job was like. What fans find out is, that personality and fun guy they saw on TV is the way he is all the time. That's not an act."
AP: Danica excited, disappointed about unified series
Danica asks for better marketing. "It's very exciting from the inside. There's more drivers, there's more fans, there's more media, there's more excitement. But when it hits mainstream America, I don't think that it's had enough of an impact yet."
FemmeFan.com: Rahal new face of IRL
OK, this is the first time FemmeFan.com has been on this site -- before or after hiatus.
Notebooks
Ottawa Sun: Danica wants more marketing
This mentions the same stuff as the AP story above, but it also mentions Kimi Raikkonen is considering retiring from F1.
And finally
Sam Hornish Jr. tells Helio (and anyone else) that no IRL driver should ever complain about the schedule being too long.
While we're on the subject of NASCAR, SI wonders why Ganassi's team hasn't been producing.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Texas preview
A decade or so ago, I was a budding racing fan that had been pulled the direction of the dark side -- watching cars with fenders bang off of each other most weekends.
It was largely because I bought into the mantra that NASCAR was a "down-home 'Murican racing series whar da people arr nahs and not snawbs lak dem furrin pointy-car drahvers," rather than the monopolistic behemoth it was on the way to becoming.
Then, I sat down with a friend and watched the IRL's June Texas race.
It was 1999. All I remember is about 30 laps of a side-by-side battle for the lead between Scott Goodyear and Greg Ray, breathtaking three-wide passes where the leaders would split lapped cars and that kind of action all over the track. Goodyear ended up winning, barely.
Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I realized something. This is everything NASCAR claims to be. Only this is the real thing. And it's a whole helluva lot better.
Growing up 6 miles north of the Indianapolis Motor SpeedwBlogger: IndyCar newsstand - Create Postay helped make an Indianapolis 500 follower. Watching Texas made me an IndyCar follower.
Texas Motor Speedway calls itself the second home of the Indy Racing League. It once ran two races a year there, both in front of huge crowds. It routinely draws the best non-Indy crowd of the year. And once you see what happens on the track, it's easy to understand why.
Some drivers love it -- Tomas Scheckter, for one. Many drivers hate it because of the bare-knuckle racing that takes place. The high speeds, high banks and tight turns make it likely to be the most dangerous track the IndyCar Series runs on.
Texas is the home of the second and third-closest 1-2-3 finishes in IndyCar history, a championship decided at the line and six of its races have been decided by less than a tenth of a second, and 13 have been decided by less than a second, including last year's duel between Sam Hornish Jr. and Tony Kanaan. Two races have featured 30+ lead changes.
It's also the site of the widest margin of victory in series history (Mark Dismore's only win came when he lapped the field at TMS in 1999). It's also the home of one of the worst accidents in series history -- Kenny Brack's flight into the fence, which he survived, at the 2003 finale.
The best moments at Texas:
*-9/15/2002. Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves are battling for the IndyCar title, and the race win. Whoever wins the race wins the championship. In a long side-by-side shootout, Hornish nudges out Helio to give himself (and Panther Racing) a second straight championship in a side-by-side finish. It was the third-closest finish in series history -- .0096 of a second.
The next year, five different drivers are in the championship hunt in the Texas II finale, but Scott Dixon clinches the title by virtue of a second-place finish. Brack's accident red-flags the race.
*-6/8/2002. Jeff Ward, Al Unser Jr. and Airton Dare take the final lap three-wide. Ward noses out Little Al on the high side and wins by 1 hundredth of a second. The three are separated by .0595 of a second. Helio Castroneves and Felipe Giaffone were on their tails. That wasn't the closest 1-2-3 finish at the track, however. Sam Hornish Jr.'s title-clinching win in 2001 over Scott Sharp and Robbie Buhl saw the three separated by .0468 of a second (Hornish's MOV over Sharp was .0188).
It's also been the site of some not-so-great moments:
*-6/7/1997. The first race at Texas. Billy Boat is convinced he's won the race. He is celebrating in victory lane with A.J. Foyt and his team. Suddenly, Arie Luyendyk comes into Victory Lane claiming that he is the legitimate winner and gets a legendary slap-down from A.J. -- probably the best-remembered moment of the early IRL. The next day, USAC admits a scoring error and Luyendyk is declared the winner. The IRL essentially fires USAC and decides to officiate and sanction its own races after the gaffe. A.J. never returns the trophy (a duplicate was made for Luyendyk) and the great legend of the early IRL is born. Eddie Gossage was none too pleased, but the IRL stayed at the track (and even ran two races there for a time) and the event grew. What was a huge gaffe has become a folk tale.
Boat and Foyt would be in Victory Lane the next year, too. That time, they'd get to keep the win. That race is as memorable for Tom Sneva on color commentary and making a mess of the broadcast with hideous puns ("Stewart needs a little bit more of that Glidden to catch up"), and, IIRC, newly-minted Indy winner Eddie Cheever joining the broadcast after wrecking on Lap 4 and doing a great job.
*-4/29/2001. CART's revenge. If the low point of split politics was the 1996 U.S. 500, this was probably No. 2. And, much like the U.S. 500, this started with CART attempting to upstage the IRL and ended with CART embarrassing itself.
In 2001, CART decided to go after the IRL by staging a race at its second-biggest track, which was TMS. If they could show the folks in Texas what real open-wheel racing looked like (after all, they were the real stars with the real cars, or so they said), that could drive a real stake into the IRL's heart. So, despite multiple warnings from Eddie Gossage about finding a way to lower speeds, CART brought in higher-horsepower cars and guys running 230+ mph around the track, with dizzying results. The G-forces were way too high, drivers' brains couldn't process what was going on, and a really unsafe event was about to unfold -- especially after Mauricio Gugelmin had a harrowing accident in practice. The race was cancelled shortly before it was supposed to start. Kenny Brack won the pole that day. A few current IRL regulars were in the field -- Oriol Servia qualified third, Tony Kanaan 14th, Dario Franchitti 16th, Helio Castroneves 19th, Scott Dixon 20th and Bruno Junqueira 21st.
What was the result? The race dropped off CART's calendar, and within a year and a half, most of CART's teams would migrate to the IRL. Two years later, CART would also be gone. Meanwhile, the race remained an IndyCar staple.
*-Last year, ESPN ran the race on a tape-delay, but spoiled the result by noting that Sam Hornish won the race on the bottom-screen ticker while he was still battling with Tony Kanaan on the track.
It will be the great IndyCar race outside of Indy again this weekend. Sit down, cover up the ticker on the bottom of your screen (it's on a slight delay again this year) and enjoy.
Who to pick?
The king of TMS is Sam Hornish Jr., who has won three races at the track, but he's racing tintops now. He also has led more laps than anyone else in the history of the track.
Guys who have been strong at TMS:
Helio Castroneves (winner, 2004 October, 2006). Two wins and a runner-up, plus a pole. He's also led 216 laps at the track, fourth-most among active drivers. The Penske team has won four of the last six races at TMS.
Tony Kanaan (winner 2004 June). A win, three runner-up runs and a third-place run in his history at TMS. He has AGR's only victory at the track, and his 266 laps led are third-most among active drivers. Horsepower is important at Texas, and AGR always seems to find some.
Tomas Scheckter (winner 2005). Always a hot shoe, Scheckter is really fast around Texas. His 371 laps led are most among active drivers and second-most to Hornish all-time. He's a part-timer this year, but was really impressive at Indy until his car gave out.
Scott Dixon. OK, he's never won here. But he's come close, finishing second twice. And he's going to be strong, because the two Target cars (especially the 9 car) is the fastest in the series. Ganassi has one win at TMS, Jeff Ward's victory by a nose in 2002. He probably would've won in 2006 if not for some bad luck late in the race.
Dan Wheldon. Again, never won here. Lost one to Castroneves in the pits in 2006 and stormed off at the end of the race. He's been third three times, including that 2006 run. He's led more laps (266) than any active driver except Scheckter (most of those were in the 2006 race, which he dominated).
Best of the rest
Ed Carpenter, Darren Manning, A.J. Foyt IV, Vitor Meira and Danica Patrick all have Top 10 finishes at Texas. Danica had a podium finish last year, if Texas had a podium. Vitor was third in 2002's June race. Oriol Servia is the most experienced of the ex-CC guys on ovals, and he did qualify third here in that ill-fated CART race seven years ago. Expect Carpenter and Meira to be strong, because they're oval drivers who have managed to find some speed recently.
It was largely because I bought into the mantra that NASCAR was a "down-home 'Murican racing series whar da people arr nahs and not snawbs lak dem furrin pointy-car drahvers," rather than the monopolistic behemoth it was on the way to becoming.
Then, I sat down with a friend and watched the IRL's June Texas race.
It was 1999. All I remember is about 30 laps of a side-by-side battle for the lead between Scott Goodyear and Greg Ray, breathtaking three-wide passes where the leaders would split lapped cars and that kind of action all over the track. Goodyear ended up winning, barely.
Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I realized something. This is everything NASCAR claims to be. Only this is the real thing. And it's a whole helluva lot better.
Growing up 6 miles north of the Indianapolis Motor SpeedwBlogger: IndyCar newsstand - Create Postay helped make an Indianapolis 500 follower. Watching Texas made me an IndyCar follower.
Texas Motor Speedway calls itself the second home of the Indy Racing League. It once ran two races a year there, both in front of huge crowds. It routinely draws the best non-Indy crowd of the year. And once you see what happens on the track, it's easy to understand why.
Some drivers love it -- Tomas Scheckter, for one. Many drivers hate it because of the bare-knuckle racing that takes place. The high speeds, high banks and tight turns make it likely to be the most dangerous track the IndyCar Series runs on.
Texas is the home of the second and third-closest 1-2-3 finishes in IndyCar history, a championship decided at the line and six of its races have been decided by less than a tenth of a second, and 13 have been decided by less than a second, including last year's duel between Sam Hornish Jr. and Tony Kanaan. Two races have featured 30+ lead changes.
It's also the site of the widest margin of victory in series history (Mark Dismore's only win came when he lapped the field at TMS in 1999). It's also the home of one of the worst accidents in series history -- Kenny Brack's flight into the fence, which he survived, at the 2003 finale.
The best moments at Texas:
*-9/15/2002. Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves are battling for the IndyCar title, and the race win. Whoever wins the race wins the championship. In a long side-by-side shootout, Hornish nudges out Helio to give himself (and Panther Racing) a second straight championship in a side-by-side finish. It was the third-closest finish in series history -- .0096 of a second.
The next year, five different drivers are in the championship hunt in the Texas II finale, but Scott Dixon clinches the title by virtue of a second-place finish. Brack's accident red-flags the race.
*-6/8/2002. Jeff Ward, Al Unser Jr. and Airton Dare take the final lap three-wide. Ward noses out Little Al on the high side and wins by 1 hundredth of a second. The three are separated by .0595 of a second. Helio Castroneves and Felipe Giaffone were on their tails. That wasn't the closest 1-2-3 finish at the track, however. Sam Hornish Jr.'s title-clinching win in 2001 over Scott Sharp and Robbie Buhl saw the three separated by .0468 of a second (Hornish's MOV over Sharp was .0188).
It's also been the site of some not-so-great moments:
*-6/7/1997. The first race at Texas. Billy Boat is convinced he's won the race. He is celebrating in victory lane with A.J. Foyt and his team. Suddenly, Arie Luyendyk comes into Victory Lane claiming that he is the legitimate winner and gets a legendary slap-down from A.J. -- probably the best-remembered moment of the early IRL. The next day, USAC admits a scoring error and Luyendyk is declared the winner. The IRL essentially fires USAC and decides to officiate and sanction its own races after the gaffe. A.J. never returns the trophy (a duplicate was made for Luyendyk) and the great legend of the early IRL is born. Eddie Gossage was none too pleased, but the IRL stayed at the track (and even ran two races there for a time) and the event grew. What was a huge gaffe has become a folk tale.
Boat and Foyt would be in Victory Lane the next year, too. That time, they'd get to keep the win. That race is as memorable for Tom Sneva on color commentary and making a mess of the broadcast with hideous puns ("Stewart needs a little bit more of that Glidden to catch up"), and, IIRC, newly-minted Indy winner Eddie Cheever joining the broadcast after wrecking on Lap 4 and doing a great job.
*-4/29/2001. CART's revenge. If the low point of split politics was the 1996 U.S. 500, this was probably No. 2. And, much like the U.S. 500, this started with CART attempting to upstage the IRL and ended with CART embarrassing itself.
In 2001, CART decided to go after the IRL by staging a race at its second-biggest track, which was TMS. If they could show the folks in Texas what real open-wheel racing looked like (after all, they were the real stars with the real cars, or so they said), that could drive a real stake into the IRL's heart. So, despite multiple warnings from Eddie Gossage about finding a way to lower speeds, CART brought in higher-horsepower cars and guys running 230+ mph around the track, with dizzying results. The G-forces were way too high, drivers' brains couldn't process what was going on, and a really unsafe event was about to unfold -- especially after Mauricio Gugelmin had a harrowing accident in practice. The race was cancelled shortly before it was supposed to start. Kenny Brack won the pole that day. A few current IRL regulars were in the field -- Oriol Servia qualified third, Tony Kanaan 14th, Dario Franchitti 16th, Helio Castroneves 19th, Scott Dixon 20th and Bruno Junqueira 21st.
What was the result? The race dropped off CART's calendar, and within a year and a half, most of CART's teams would migrate to the IRL. Two years later, CART would also be gone. Meanwhile, the race remained an IndyCar staple.
*-Last year, ESPN ran the race on a tape-delay, but spoiled the result by noting that Sam Hornish won the race on the bottom-screen ticker while he was still battling with Tony Kanaan on the track.
It will be the great IndyCar race outside of Indy again this weekend. Sit down, cover up the ticker on the bottom of your screen (it's on a slight delay again this year) and enjoy.
Who to pick?
The king of TMS is Sam Hornish Jr., who has won three races at the track, but he's racing tintops now. He also has led more laps than anyone else in the history of the track.
Guys who have been strong at TMS:
Helio Castroneves (winner, 2004 October, 2006). Two wins and a runner-up, plus a pole. He's also led 216 laps at the track, fourth-most among active drivers. The Penske team has won four of the last six races at TMS.
Tony Kanaan (winner 2004 June). A win, three runner-up runs and a third-place run in his history at TMS. He has AGR's only victory at the track, and his 266 laps led are third-most among active drivers. Horsepower is important at Texas, and AGR always seems to find some.
Tomas Scheckter (winner 2005). Always a hot shoe, Scheckter is really fast around Texas. His 371 laps led are most among active drivers and second-most to Hornish all-time. He's a part-timer this year, but was really impressive at Indy until his car gave out.
Scott Dixon. OK, he's never won here. But he's come close, finishing second twice. And he's going to be strong, because the two Target cars (especially the 9 car) is the fastest in the series. Ganassi has one win at TMS, Jeff Ward's victory by a nose in 2002. He probably would've won in 2006 if not for some bad luck late in the race.
Dan Wheldon. Again, never won here. Lost one to Castroneves in the pits in 2006 and stormed off at the end of the race. He's been third three times, including that 2006 run. He's led more laps (266) than any active driver except Scheckter (most of those were in the 2006 race, which he dominated).
Best of the rest
Ed Carpenter, Darren Manning, A.J. Foyt IV, Vitor Meira and Danica Patrick all have Top 10 finishes at Texas. Danica had a podium finish last year, if Texas had a podium. Vitor was third in 2002's June race. Oriol Servia is the most experienced of the ex-CC guys on ovals, and he did qualify third here in that ill-fated CART race seven years ago. Expect Carpenter and Meira to be strong, because they're oval drivers who have managed to find some speed recently.
June 5 newsstand: Texas previews
Today's news, notes & views from the Indy Racing League.
First off, Helio's not going anywhere
Or at least that's what he told a Dallas Morning News chat
The NASCAR media likes to play up the "everyone's going to NASCAR" story about this time, but Helio says comments that he'd keep his options open shouldn't be read into any further.
Says Helio: "What you heard was out of context. I'm doing everything I can to clinch the championship and run here in open wheel. Right now we've merged and the series is in a good spot and I would say the opportunity, I don't think, is there to go to NASCAR. I would consider it in that you should always leave doors open."
Texas previews
Remember when CART attempted to run the fastest 1.5 mile in open-wheel racing, only to pull the plug before the race ever happened? The depths of the split brought on some bad decisions, like trying to run 240 around Texas to show up the IRL. Like the U.S. 500, it backfired on CART.
A couple of retrospectives of that ill-fated move from the Indianapolis Star and the Dallas Morning News
Says Oriol Servia: "Honestly, it was the first time in my career that I was, well, not scared, but I could tell constantly that things were happening faster than I could process."
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram rehashes Helio's play date with the Dallas Cowboys. So does IndyCar.com.
Says Helio to Terrell Owens: "Sign my shirt, because I'm the new player -- or mascot -- on the team." Replies TO: "You're more like a kicker."
The Kansas City Star spotlights Briscoe in its weekly racing preview
Commentaries
The Lafayette (IN) Journal & Courier's Tom Kubat says the media was wrong to call out Danica for her stomp down pit road.
Says Tom: "I find it interesting that, not all that long ago, A.J. Foyt was treated as a folk hero for the exact same behavior. And, even today, NASCAR fans love it when Tony Stewart throws a temper tantrum."
Mike King checks in with his weekly IndyCar.com column
Notebooks
Cincinnati Enquirer: Briscoe's win another feather in Penske's cap
Says the Captain on No. 300: "I think really it shows the amount of work that has been done by so many people on the team, so many good drivers, so many good pit crews, all the way back when we think about winning the first TransAm and Indianapolis and you just go on and think of the drivers that have been with us. It's pretty exciting."
Official IRL news & notes
Quotes from Vitor & Ana Beatriz, the Richmond & Nashville races are being moved from ESPN2 to ESPN, and an FIL preview.
Driver features
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a great piece on Buddy Rice
Says Buddy: "We need more testing, more wind-tunnel time. A sponsorship on the car would allow more time to do these."
USA Today: Cup commoner Ganassi rules elsewhere
A look at Chip Ganassi and his success at Indy.
AP: Penske still winning
Says Rick Mears: "Driving for Roger, or just working for him, is a privilege. He treats everybody the same and anybody who works for him knows he will give you the tools to win. And, as a driver, you know that you have a shot at winning just about every time you get on the track in a Team Penske car."
The Mansfield (OH) News-Journal notes some of the young racing stars of central Ohio, including Graham Rahal.
Interviews
Vitor Meira and Ana Beatriz were on the IRL's weekly teleconference. Read the transcript at IndyCar.com.
First off, Helio's not going anywhere
Or at least that's what he told a Dallas Morning News chat
The NASCAR media likes to play up the "everyone's going to NASCAR" story about this time, but Helio says comments that he'd keep his options open shouldn't be read into any further.
Says Helio: "What you heard was out of context. I'm doing everything I can to clinch the championship and run here in open wheel. Right now we've merged and the series is in a good spot and I would say the opportunity, I don't think, is there to go to NASCAR. I would consider it in that you should always leave doors open."
Texas previews
Remember when CART attempted to run the fastest 1.5 mile in open-wheel racing, only to pull the plug before the race ever happened? The depths of the split brought on some bad decisions, like trying to run 240 around Texas to show up the IRL. Like the U.S. 500, it backfired on CART.
A couple of retrospectives of that ill-fated move from the Indianapolis Star and the Dallas Morning News
Says Oriol Servia: "Honestly, it was the first time in my career that I was, well, not scared, but I could tell constantly that things were happening faster than I could process."
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram rehashes Helio's play date with the Dallas Cowboys. So does IndyCar.com.
Says Helio to Terrell Owens: "Sign my shirt, because I'm the new player -- or mascot -- on the team." Replies TO: "You're more like a kicker."
The Kansas City Star spotlights Briscoe in its weekly racing preview
Commentaries
The Lafayette (IN) Journal & Courier's Tom Kubat says the media was wrong to call out Danica for her stomp down pit road.
Says Tom: "I find it interesting that, not all that long ago, A.J. Foyt was treated as a folk hero for the exact same behavior. And, even today, NASCAR fans love it when Tony Stewart throws a temper tantrum."
Mike King checks in with his weekly IndyCar.com column
Notebooks
Cincinnati Enquirer: Briscoe's win another feather in Penske's cap
Says the Captain on No. 300: "I think really it shows the amount of work that has been done by so many people on the team, so many good drivers, so many good pit crews, all the way back when we think about winning the first TransAm and Indianapolis and you just go on and think of the drivers that have been with us. It's pretty exciting."
Official IRL news & notes
Quotes from Vitor & Ana Beatriz, the Richmond & Nashville races are being moved from ESPN2 to ESPN, and an FIL preview.
Driver features
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a great piece on Buddy Rice
Says Buddy: "We need more testing, more wind-tunnel time. A sponsorship on the car would allow more time to do these."
USA Today: Cup commoner Ganassi rules elsewhere
A look at Chip Ganassi and his success at Indy.
AP: Penske still winning
Says Rick Mears: "Driving for Roger, or just working for him, is a privilege. He treats everybody the same and anybody who works for him knows he will give you the tools to win. And, as a driver, you know that you have a shot at winning just about every time you get on the track in a Team Penske car."
The Mansfield (OH) News-Journal notes some of the young racing stars of central Ohio, including Graham Rahal.
Interviews
Vitor Meira and Ana Beatriz were on the IRL's weekly teleconference. Read the transcript at IndyCar.com.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
June 4 newsstand: We're back
After an untimely two-month hiatus brought on by life events, the Newsstand is back.
Spread the word.
I'm going to tweak things a bit ... the daily newsstands might be a bit more bare-bones. I will also probably have more originally-generated stuff.
Anyway, Milwaukee is done and what is usually the second-best race of the year -- Texas -- is almost here. Here goes.
Officially, RIP Champ Car
The Champ Car assets were auctioned off yesterday
Though one thing caught my eye. A collector in Atlanta bought three DP01s (he now owns 20) to start another racing series with "green" motors. I guess the F-troop over at Champ Car Fanatics might have something to do now.
Texas previews
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: With win, Danica puts talk in rearview mirror
Says Danica: "The people on the inside, they know that I wasn't the worst driver in the field before I won in Japan. And I'm not better now, necessarily, just because I actually won."
Fort-Worth Star-Telegram: Guess who's back
Milka Duno getting some love.
Texas entry list: 28 cars including Tomas Scheckter
How they've fared at Texas
More Danica
Tampa Tribune: More on the Indy wreck
This notebook also has a quote from Danica about anti-Danica fans: "Unfortunately, as your popularity grows, so does your anti-fan base. ... There was this guy at Indy. He wore a 'Danica Who?' hat. I was thinking how funny it was, 'Danica Who?' He's got my name on the hat, so he obviously knows who it is."
Perspectives
Des Moines Register: Parnelli speaks
Parnelli laments open-wheel racing's spot as No. 2, calls Tony George a benevolent dictator and says reunification will help.
Gordon Kirby: Briscoe wins
Lots of looking back at why the Captain hired Ryan, and him vindicating himself with the win.
Speed TV: Robin Miller's Q&A
Always an interesting read.
Says RM about Milwaukee: "There are 38,000 permanent seats and my guess is that 30,000 had a butt in them. ... It was encouraging because Milwaukee has always been a bastion for IndyCars. It can stand alone, it doesn’t need NASCAR help."
Speed TV: David Phillips looks back at Milwaukee
News & other stuff
AP: Davey Evans' killer charged with murder
The assailant of the NHL crewman who lost his life in a barfight last month is being charged with murder.
IndyCar.com looks at the factors tied in with qualifying
IndyCar.com: Dixon's workout regimen
From A.J.'s perspective
A.J. talks about Darren Manning's Milwaukee performance, and the race itself
Says A.J.: "Danica and gentlemen, start your engines."
Sorry, I meant: "Congratulations to Briscoe on his first Indy car win. He probably thought he had it won only to think he was going to lose it when that crash happened with three laps to go. The way his luck had been running, he should have crashed but this time Lady Luck was on his side."
FIL news
Richard Antinucci will drive the Six Hours at the Glen this weekend
Expatriate news
1995 Indy winner Jacques Villeneuve is trying to find the $$ to run stock cars
Apparently, their eyes are on Chip Ganassi's team, which is collecting Indy 500 winners (on both sides of the divide).
And finally
This guy and his family are why the IndyCar Series could use a race in the Northeast. Like, the Pocono 500 (if the Mattolis would ever give up the track and allow someone to make it IndyCar friendly).
One more ... apparently, some folks down south aren't too thrilled with their TV coverage, either. Anyway, enjoy an entire summer of races on cable.
Spread the word.
I'm going to tweak things a bit ... the daily newsstands might be a bit more bare-bones. I will also probably have more originally-generated stuff.
Anyway, Milwaukee is done and what is usually the second-best race of the year -- Texas -- is almost here. Here goes.
Officially, RIP Champ Car
The Champ Car assets were auctioned off yesterday
Though one thing caught my eye. A collector in Atlanta bought three DP01s (he now owns 20) to start another racing series with "green" motors. I guess the F-troop over at Champ Car Fanatics might have something to do now.
Texas previews
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: With win, Danica puts talk in rearview mirror
Says Danica: "The people on the inside, they know that I wasn't the worst driver in the field before I won in Japan. And I'm not better now, necessarily, just because I actually won."
Fort-Worth Star-Telegram: Guess who's back
Milka Duno getting some love.
Texas entry list: 28 cars including Tomas Scheckter
How they've fared at Texas
More Danica
Tampa Tribune: More on the Indy wreck
This notebook also has a quote from Danica about anti-Danica fans: "Unfortunately, as your popularity grows, so does your anti-fan base. ... There was this guy at Indy. He wore a 'Danica Who?' hat. I was thinking how funny it was, 'Danica Who?' He's got my name on the hat, so he obviously knows who it is."
Perspectives
Des Moines Register: Parnelli speaks
Parnelli laments open-wheel racing's spot as No. 2, calls Tony George a benevolent dictator and says reunification will help.
Gordon Kirby: Briscoe wins
Lots of looking back at why the Captain hired Ryan, and him vindicating himself with the win.
Speed TV: Robin Miller's Q&A
Always an interesting read.
Says RM about Milwaukee: "There are 38,000 permanent seats and my guess is that 30,000 had a butt in them. ... It was encouraging because Milwaukee has always been a bastion for IndyCars. It can stand alone, it doesn’t need NASCAR help."
Speed TV: David Phillips looks back at Milwaukee
News & other stuff
AP: Davey Evans' killer charged with murder
The assailant of the NHL crewman who lost his life in a barfight last month is being charged with murder.
IndyCar.com looks at the factors tied in with qualifying
IndyCar.com: Dixon's workout regimen
From A.J.'s perspective
A.J. talks about Darren Manning's Milwaukee performance, and the race itself
Says A.J.: "Danica and gentlemen, start your engines."
Sorry, I meant: "Congratulations to Briscoe on his first Indy car win. He probably thought he had it won only to think he was going to lose it when that crash happened with three laps to go. The way his luck had been running, he should have crashed but this time Lady Luck was on his side."
FIL news
Richard Antinucci will drive the Six Hours at the Glen this weekend
Expatriate news
1995 Indy winner Jacques Villeneuve is trying to find the $$ to run stock cars
Apparently, their eyes are on Chip Ganassi's team, which is collecting Indy 500 winners (on both sides of the divide).
And finally
This guy and his family are why the IndyCar Series could use a race in the Northeast. Like, the Pocono 500 (if the Mattolis would ever give up the track and allow someone to make it IndyCar friendly).
One more ... apparently, some folks down south aren't too thrilled with their TV coverage, either. Anyway, enjoy an entire summer of races on cable.
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