After watching that all afternoon, all I can say is "wow!"
What a finish -- the championship contenders are running 1st & 2nd, and it looked to be a side-by-side move at the line, and then Dario has to pull an evasive move to pass a sputtering Dixon and win the title.
I hate that the title was decided on fuel mileage, instead of a 2002-style shootout at the line. But what drama at the end for the title.
No manufactured excitement, no points reshufflings, no contrived "Chases" or "Shootouts" or "Playoffs." One whole season comes down to the final race -- and does almost every year. And, for the third time in IRL history, it comes down to the final lap.
Congrats to Dario Franchitti -- Indy 500 winner and ICS champion.
It's unfortunate for all of us that he's likely going to be running 40 mph slower in the open-wheel retirement series next year, but we'll hopefully see the defending Indy champion back in an actual racecar again soon, although it'll be fun watching his wife get pummeled in the press the first time she calls out Jeff Gordon the way she trashed Milka Duno in this postrace.
--
Also notable today: Hideki Mutoh got more racy as the day went on and finished eighth in his debut. RHR managed to finish 7th and clinch Rookie of the Year honors despite running only a half-season. Buddy Rice finishes 9th both today and in the final standings -- a nice job for the D&R team.
And, where the heck was Brian Barnhart or anyone to present the trophy? Jack Arute's semi-forced, spontaneous, half-hearted "presentation" for TV seemed really, really third-rate.
Race results
Chicago Lap Chart
Final points standings
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Sept. 9 newsstand: Championship Sunday
We're not far from another champion to be decided. But, of course, taxicabs have a way of dominating the headlines. And they do so again on the second-biggest day of the open-wheel racing calendar.
Today's race: Chicagoland's Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
Lineup: PDF HTML
Green flag: 4 p.m. (ABC/IMS Radio Network)
Defending champion: Dan Wheldon
Points battle: 1. Dario Franchitti 587, 2. Scott Dixon -3, 3. Tony Kanaan -39.
Dario's Southern fling?
Chicago Sun-Times: Franchitti bolting for NASCAR in '08
Quotes a "source close to the negotiations" saying the announcement will be made after the IRL season, which ends in a few hours.
Indianapolis Star: Franchitti won't deny he's jumping to NASCAR
The typical non-denials "we're focused on the championship" from Chip & Dario, plus a note on Ganassi. Next year, Dixon & Wheldon are back, plus efforts to get Alex Lloyd in a third car. Says Chip: "I'd like to get to that, but I don't know. It always depends (on sponsorship)."
Times of Northwest Indiana: Franchitti mum on defection rumors
ESPN.com's John Oreovicz writes about NASCAR's systematic raiding of IndyCar's assets
Says Oreo: "Once the road to Indy racing, USAC sprint and midget competition is now NASCAR's chief training ground. Free-spending manufacturer Toyota pulled out of open-wheel in favor of stock cars, and Honda surely can't be far behind." Actually, Robert Clarke has said on multiple occasions that Honda has no interest in developing 1960s-style carbeurated pushrod engines, but anyway ...
Indianapolis Star: Franchitti starts up front
Quote from Sam on next year: "At some point I'm going to quit driving Indy cars, whether to go to something else, take a break, retire, whatever. ... There will be some point in time (when) I'll have to quit. I can say still, 100 percent without a doubt, I don't think there's any way it will be my last IndyCar race. If I knew what I was going to do next year it would be emotional, but as far as I'm concerned, we're going out there trying to win the race, to give everybody a lot of good things to think about in the offseason."
Some SillySeason stuff in this notebook from Sarah Fisher: "I can't thank Dennis (Reinbold) enough for the opportunity to be here, but we had some major communication problems. It just wasn't what I wanted to be, let's put it that way. ... I'd love to be back," she added. "I've got some opportunities to run some road courses in the offseason, so I need that. We'll go do that and learn some more."
Actual Chicagoland race coverage that makes no mention of NASCAR
Hornish/Kanaan/Franchitti press conference transcript
Saturday's Daily Trackside Report
IndyCar.com: Pressure-packed finale
Dave Lewandowski catches up with the three championship contenders.
Chicago Tribune: Franchitti wins pole, inside track for IRL title
IndyCar.com: Five degrees of separation: Franchitti 1st, Kanaan 4th, Dixon 6th
Says TK: "For you guys, it's going to be fun. For us, it's going to be breathtaking. But so far so good. I think it's going to be a long day."
Joliet Herald-News: Nothing wrong with Franchitti's run
Quals recap. Says Scott Dixon: "I think it's going to be a pretty good shootout between all of us. I think Dan, after the last few races, definitely wants to get back on the map and I'm sure he's going to be super aggressive so I'll (even) being looking out for him. Dario, you might want to."
AP: Franchitti set to battle Dixon for IRL title
Eurosport: Franchitti earns Chicago pole
Speed TV: Franchitti earns pole
Peoria Journal-Star: Anything can happen at Chicagoland
Says Dario: "I'm pretty relaxed about it, because with winning the (Indianapolis) 500 this year, I think it's taken some pressure off my shoulders. I think I was maybe more nervous three or four races ago than I am now."
IndyCar.com's Pit Boss lists Helio a 2-to-1 favorite
Joliet Herald-News: Raceway roars
The obligatory fan story.
Driver stories
Chicago Tribune: Danica winless, but still sitting pretty
This story spends a lot of time trying a forced comparison of Danica to Anna Kournikova, and is a long read. Interesting ... worth the time.
Says Danica: "If I was a guy from the beginning, I have no idea where I'd be now. I like to think I got here being who I am. I've gotten some negative stuff, but what makes us go is our sponsorship and I definitely have an edge as a female when it comes to marketing. There are still a lot of positives being a girl."
Chicago Sun-Times: Wheldon wonders why 2007 has been a speed bump
Chicago Sun-Times: Duno's learning curves
Says Milka: ''You have to compete with yourself. You have to be better every time, beat your own records every time. This is the way you improve.'' Of course, Milka hasn't exactly competed with anyone else this year, except trying to stay out long enough to avoid the black-flag.
Indianapolis Star: Will Helio drive 'em crazy on the dance floor?
Curt Cavin heads to the Dancing with the Stars beat.
IPS stuff
The Times of Northwest Indiana catches up with Crown Point, IN driver Logan Gomez.
Interesting quotes, first from author Hillary Smith: "He'll likely spend another year in the Indy Pro Series, hoping to work his way into IndyCar while taking over the racing space on the Schmidt team left vacant by Alex Lloyd."
Then, from Mr. Gomez himself: "I think overall, open-wheel and the Indy Racing League is a lot more prestigious (than NASCAR). There's probably a lot more money in sponsors in NASCAR, but I like the open-wheel crowd better. As opposed to being 43 drivers, everyone sort of knows everyone."
Gomez then went out and beat his teammate in the closest race in IPS history. 1.65 inches was his MOV.
Speed TV reports that Al Unser III is running the Playa Del Racing IPS car next year. PDR is non-committal on whether or not it will field an effort for the Indy 500.
And finally
A rare political story: The Gulfport (MS) Sun-Herald mentions tensions between the mayor & city council. One of the issues -- the mayor tried to push through the proposed non-points IRL street race through the area (which, of course, didn't happen).
Today's race: Chicagoland's Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
Lineup: PDF HTML
Green flag: 4 p.m. (ABC/IMS Radio Network)
Defending champion: Dan Wheldon
Points battle: 1. Dario Franchitti 587, 2. Scott Dixon -3, 3. Tony Kanaan -39.
Dario's Southern fling?
Chicago Sun-Times: Franchitti bolting for NASCAR in '08
Quotes a "source close to the negotiations" saying the announcement will be made after the IRL season, which ends in a few hours.
Indianapolis Star: Franchitti won't deny he's jumping to NASCAR
The typical non-denials "we're focused on the championship" from Chip & Dario, plus a note on Ganassi. Next year, Dixon & Wheldon are back, plus efforts to get Alex Lloyd in a third car. Says Chip: "I'd like to get to that, but I don't know. It always depends (on sponsorship)."
Times of Northwest Indiana: Franchitti mum on defection rumors
ESPN.com's John Oreovicz writes about NASCAR's systematic raiding of IndyCar's assets
Says Oreo: "Once the road to Indy racing, USAC sprint and midget competition is now NASCAR's chief training ground. Free-spending manufacturer Toyota pulled out of open-wheel in favor of stock cars, and Honda surely can't be far behind." Actually, Robert Clarke has said on multiple occasions that Honda has no interest in developing 1960s-style carbeurated pushrod engines, but anyway ...
Indianapolis Star: Franchitti starts up front
Some Silly Season stuff
From Sam Hornish Jr.: "I can say 100 percent that I don't in any way believe this is going to be my final Indy-car race." He is planning to run the Indy 500 even if he does go south.
From Curt Cavin: "An Andretti Green Racing teammate said Saturday the Scotsman will not return to the team next season. Instead, he'll take his Canadian Club sponsorship to Ganassi Racing's NASCARNextel Cup program, replacing David Stremme in the No. 40 car."
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Report: Franchitti on move
Says TK: "I don't want to talk to him about that, because I don't want to hear what I probably don't want to hear. I will support him as a friend. As a teammate I will miss him a lot."
Says Helio: "People are looking for the best option out there. If that happens, Indianapolis is still going to be Indianapolis." Writer Dave Kallman also asks "what are they doing?" in his blog.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Dario Franchitti on move
Says Chip Ganassi: "I am currently in Chicago with our IndyCar Series team and I am solely focused on Scott Dixon and Team Target bringing home another IndyCar Series championship and that is all."
Says an AGR rep ... no comment, as "everyone is focused on the race and the two drivers we have in contention for the championship."
Speed TV: Franchitti non-committal about NASCAR move
Writer Jeff Olson says "While rumors swirled and the reports remained unsubstantiated, the notion arose that the story could be a hoax to improve Franchitti’s bargaining power in future negotiations. Franchitti reportedly is not happy with AGR ... Some drivers doubted the story, saying it’s common for drivers to feign interest in other teams or types of racing to bargain up their asking price, a trick Franchitti has applied in the past. Ganassi, who has been occupied in a bitter championship battle with AGR, also has been known to enjoy such games." Sam Hornish Jr. chips in with an "I'll believe it when I see it."
ESPN.com: Hornish hopes to play spoilerFrom Sam Hornish Jr.: "I can say 100 percent that I don't in any way believe this is going to be my final Indy-car race." He is planning to run the Indy 500 even if he does go south.
From Curt Cavin: "An Andretti Green Racing teammate said Saturday the Scotsman will not return to the team next season. Instead, he'll take his Canadian Club sponsorship to Ganassi Racing's NASCARNextel Cup program, replacing David Stremme in the No. 40 car."
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Report: Franchitti on move
Says TK: "I don't want to talk to him about that, because I don't want to hear what I probably don't want to hear. I will support him as a friend. As a teammate I will miss him a lot."
Says Helio: "People are looking for the best option out there. If that happens, Indianapolis is still going to be Indianapolis." Writer Dave Kallman also asks "what are they doing?" in his blog.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Dario Franchitti on move
Says Chip Ganassi: "I am currently in Chicago with our IndyCar Series team and I am solely focused on Scott Dixon and Team Target bringing home another IndyCar Series championship and that is all."
Says an AGR rep ... no comment, as "everyone is focused on the race and the two drivers we have in contention for the championship."
Speed TV: Franchitti non-committal about NASCAR move
Writer Jeff Olson says "While rumors swirled and the reports remained unsubstantiated, the notion arose that the story could be a hoax to improve Franchitti’s bargaining power in future negotiations. Franchitti reportedly is not happy with AGR ... Some drivers doubted the story, saying it’s common for drivers to feign interest in other teams or types of racing to bargain up their asking price, a trick Franchitti has applied in the past. Ganassi, who has been occupied in a bitter championship battle with AGR, also has been known to enjoy such games." Sam Hornish Jr. chips in with an "I'll believe it when I see it."
Quote from Sam on next year: "At some point I'm going to quit driving Indy cars, whether to go to something else, take a break, retire, whatever. ... There will be some point in time (when) I'll have to quit. I can say still, 100 percent without a doubt, I don't think there's any way it will be my last IndyCar race. If I knew what I was going to do next year it would be emotional, but as far as I'm concerned, we're going out there trying to win the race, to give everybody a lot of good things to think about in the offseason."
Some SillySeason stuff in this notebook from Sarah Fisher: "I can't thank Dennis (Reinbold) enough for the opportunity to be here, but we had some major communication problems. It just wasn't what I wanted to be, let's put it that way. ... I'd love to be back," she added. "I've got some opportunities to run some road courses in the offseason, so I need that. We'll go do that and learn some more."
Actual Chicagoland race coverage that makes no mention of NASCAR
Hornish/Kanaan/Franchitti press conference transcript
Saturday's Daily Trackside Report
IndyCar.com: Pressure-packed finale
Dave Lewandowski catches up with the three championship contenders.
Chicago Tribune: Franchitti wins pole, inside track for IRL title
IndyCar.com: Five degrees of separation: Franchitti 1st, Kanaan 4th, Dixon 6th
Says TK: "For you guys, it's going to be fun. For us, it's going to be breathtaking. But so far so good. I think it's going to be a long day."
Joliet Herald-News: Nothing wrong with Franchitti's run
Quals recap. Says Scott Dixon: "I think it's going to be a pretty good shootout between all of us. I think Dan, after the last few races, definitely wants to get back on the map and I'm sure he's going to be super aggressive so I'll (even) being looking out for him. Dario, you might want to."
AP: Franchitti set to battle Dixon for IRL title
Eurosport: Franchitti earns Chicago pole
Speed TV: Franchitti earns pole
Peoria Journal-Star: Anything can happen at Chicagoland
Says Dario: "I'm pretty relaxed about it, because with winning the (Indianapolis) 500 this year, I think it's taken some pressure off my shoulders. I think I was maybe more nervous three or four races ago than I am now."
IndyCar.com's Pit Boss lists Helio a 2-to-1 favorite
Joliet Herald-News: Raceway roars
The obligatory fan story.
Driver stories
Chicago Tribune: Danica winless, but still sitting pretty
This story spends a lot of time trying a forced comparison of Danica to Anna Kournikova, and is a long read. Interesting ... worth the time.
Says Danica: "If I was a guy from the beginning, I have no idea where I'd be now. I like to think I got here being who I am. I've gotten some negative stuff, but what makes us go is our sponsorship and I definitely have an edge as a female when it comes to marketing. There are still a lot of positives being a girl."
Chicago Sun-Times: Wheldon wonders why 2007 has been a speed bump
Chicago Sun-Times: Duno's learning curves
Says Milka: ''You have to compete with yourself. You have to be better every time, beat your own records every time. This is the way you improve.'' Of course, Milka hasn't exactly competed with anyone else this year, except trying to stay out long enough to avoid the black-flag.
Indianapolis Star: Will Helio drive 'em crazy on the dance floor?
Curt Cavin heads to the Dancing with the Stars beat.
IPS stuff
The Times of Northwest Indiana catches up with Crown Point, IN driver Logan Gomez.
Interesting quotes, first from author Hillary Smith: "He'll likely spend another year in the Indy Pro Series, hoping to work his way into IndyCar while taking over the racing space on the Schmidt team left vacant by Alex Lloyd."
Then, from Mr. Gomez himself: "I think overall, open-wheel and the Indy Racing League is a lot more prestigious (than NASCAR). There's probably a lot more money in sponsors in NASCAR, but I like the open-wheel crowd better. As opposed to being 43 drivers, everyone sort of knows everyone."
Gomez then went out and beat his teammate in the closest race in IPS history. 1.65 inches was his MOV.
Speed TV reports that Al Unser III is running the Playa Del Racing IPS car next year. PDR is non-committal on whether or not it will field an effort for the Indy 500.
And finally
A rare political story: The Gulfport (MS) Sun-Herald mentions tensions between the mayor & city council. One of the issues -- the mayor tried to push through the proposed non-points IRL street race through the area (which, of course, didn't happen).
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Silly Season update, Sept. 8
Lots of new stuff, so I'm posting it today
2007 lineup (and possible 2008 lineup)
Andretti Green Racing (4)
7-Danica Patrick (Motorola, 3rd-year FT driver, 1st year with AGR). Confirmed for 2008.
11-Tony Kanaan (7-11, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR, 2004 champ). Under contract through 2008.
26-Marco Andretti (NYSE Group, 2nd year FT driver, all with AGR). According to published reports, Marco is happy with AGR and is staying.
27-Dario Franchitti (Canadian Club, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR). Free Agent at the end of the year.
MAY BE HEADED TO NASCAR. Possible replacements: Jaime Camara (AGR ALMS driver), Tomas Scheckter (free agent).
**Update, Sept. 8: Reports are that Dario is headed to Chip Ganassi's NASCAR team. If that happens, Tomas Scheckter or Jaime Camara would likely be the top two choices for the 27 car.**
**Update, Aug. 28: Dario's options seem open, whether they be the IRL team or the ALMS car with AGR.**
**Update, Aug. 20: Jaime Camara's name is getting mention a lot in connection with AGR, but nothing concrete is being mentioned beyond that.**
Team Penske (2)
3-Helio Castroneves (Team Penske, 6th-year FT driver, all with Penske, 2-time I500 champ). Under contract to Penske through 2008.
6-Sam Hornish Jr. (Team Penske, 8th-year FT driver, 4th with Penske, 3x ICS champ). May be headed to NASCAR. Probable 2008 replacement: Ryan Briscoe.
**Has been heavily rumored to be pondering NASCAR, and is running ARCA/Busch/Cup races this year**
**Sept. 7 update: Sam is planning to drive 7 NASCAR races this year and will make a decision later, because "it's a big decision." Curt Cavin expects Sam to return for the Indy 500 if he does go to NASCAR. Mike King thinks Penske may yet elevate Briscoe and run 3 cars if Sam stays.
**Sept. 3 update: Hornish has tested a Car of Tomorrow twice and is planning to run several Cup races at the end of the season, provided he can qualify. Tim Cindric said Ryan Briscoe is a likely replacement if Sam leaves (and, if you read between the lines, you can probably pencil Briscoe into the 6 car).
Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2)
9-Scott Dixon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, all with TCGR, 2003 champ). Likely for 2008.
10-Dan Wheldon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, 2nd with TCGR, 2005 champ). Confirmed for 2008.
**Sept. 7 update: Alex Lloyd said he's going to drive for a frontrunner team in 2008, and he's spent a lot of time with TCGR. Possible 3rd car?**
**Alex Lloyd a possibility for 2008. If so, it will likely be as a third car. He drove CGR's Grand Am car during Sonoma weekend and tested one of Ganassi's IndyCars at Sebring a couple of weeks back.**
**Aug. 27: Chip Ganassi has said Wheldon will remain with TCGR's IndyCar team for 2008.**
Rahal Letterman Racing (2)
8-Scott Sharp (Patron, 12th-year FT driver, 1st with RLR, 1996 champ). Will be at RLR as long as Patron has the $
17-Ryan Hunter-Reay (Ethanol, rookie, former CC driver). Replaced Jeff Simmons at RLR before Mid-Ohio race. Will likely be the ICS Rookie of the Year.
**Sept. 8 update: RHR would like to be back in the IRL next year. Would like to be back in the IRL.**
Panther Racing (2)
4-Vitor Meira (Delphi, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Panther). Confirmed for 2008.
55-Kosuke Matsuura (Panasonic, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Panther). May be on his way out, with Hideki Mutoh waiting in the wings.
**Update, Sept. 8: Not sure what he's doing next year.**
60-Hideki Mutoh is entered for Chicagoland. Said he will be running in the IndyCar Series in 2008. Possible replacement for Matsuura or a possible 3rd car.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2)
5-Sarah Fisher (AAMCO, 6th FT season, 2nd with D&R). Has sponsorships from AAMCO and AAA.
**Sept. 8: Fisher says she has a lot of options for 2008. Didn't elaborate.**
**Aug. 11: Fisher says in AP article that D&R is going down to one car next year, and it would be difficult for her to sell herself given her performances this year. But with her gaining sponsorship from AAMCO and AAA, I would anticipate she wouldn't have much difficulty finding a ride. Later in the weekend, she said she was misquoted, but it was also stated that D&R *is* considering dropping one of its two entries for 2008.**
15-Buddy Rice (RollCoater, 6th-year FT driver, 1st with D&R). Has had a lot of success this season, given the fact that D&R generally has struggled.
Vision Racing (3)
2-Tomas Scheckter (Joost, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Vision). Has been increasingly stronger. If someone is going to bring Vision its first win, this guy will likely be it. However, he might be snooping around, or possibly be the odd man out of Vision goes to two or one cars, according to some observers.
20-Ed Carpenter (Hitachi Power Tools, 4th-year FT driver, 3rd with Vision). Confirmed for 2008.
22-A.J. Foyt IV (Indy Vision, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Vision). Free agent until funding can be found.
**Sept. 8 update: Scheckter rumored to be talking with AGR, which might be more likely given the possible exit of Dario Franchitti from the 27 car. Both Scheckter and Foyt said they don't know what their plans are for 2008.**
**Aug. 27 update: Only one car is a definite for Vision next year (Carpenter's). The other two drivers have been told they can look for other opportunities, according to the Indy Star. TG would like to field three cars, but it'll depend on funding.**
**Aug. 20 update: A couple of published stories quoted TG as considering going to a two-car team next year if sponsorship can't be found for the third car. Scheckter & Carpenter currently have sponsored rides, but speculation has centered on Scheckter leaving if there is contraction. In his Aug. 20 blog, Curt Cavin said he's not ready to say Scheckter is out, but there could be some shuffling in the works.**
A.J. Foyt Racing (1)
14-Darren Manning (ABC Supply, 3rd-year FT driver). Contract extended through 2008.
**Update Aug. 27: Foyt is exploring the option of adding a second car, pending funding.**
**Part-Time Entries**
SAMAX Racing (1)
23-Milka Duno (Citgo - rookie). Duno is on probation. She has run six races of an initially-planned 10-race part-time schedule. She skipped Kentucky to film Speed Racer. Who knows what SAMAX's plans are for next year.
Roth Racing (2)
25-Marty Roth: Has landed sponsorship from Dussault Apparel for the season finale at Chicagoland. Also slated to run Belle Isle, according to the Aug. 1 Detroit Free Press.
76-P.J. Chesson: Will run Chicagoland with Dussault Apparel sponsorship.
**Aug. 22: P.J. Chesson joins the team for Chicago, has said he'd like to run 2008 with Roth Racing, if the opportunity is there.**
**Roth Racing is planning to run the full 2008 schedule as a two-car team, according to a team press release.**
Racing Professionals (1)
Jon Herb: Has stated he's trying to squirrel together a sponsorship package for Chicagoland, but did not enter the race. As for the future, it's probably part-time at best.
Beck Racing (1)
Alex Barron: Although Beck ran some early-season events, the Beck machine hasn't been seen since Indy.
With Mutoh, Roth's two cars, Herb's one car and the Duno car, the car count could hit 23 for the Chicagoland race. Curt Cavin, in his Aug. 8 Indy Star blog, said he expects 22 cars for Chicagoland, but it appears 23 might be entered.
FUTURE ENTRIES?? (2008+)
Fernandez Racing: From Curt Cavin's blog (8/8/2007), Adrian Fernandez's team still has its IndyCar equipment and Tom Anderson is apparently interested in a return to the IRL, but things "haven't been worked out." Sept. 8: Cavin said funding isn't there yet for this team, but it would like to get back in. Cavin says on Aug. 13 that he knows of two individuals to keep an eye on for new 2008 teams, but hasn't seen any sign of $$ backing them.
Steve Horne: Curt Cavin said on 9/8/2007 in his blog that Horne has been considering starting a team for 2008, but funding isn't there. Horne was involved with the Tasman team in the past.
Kingdom Racing announced its plans to field a team for 2008 on Aug. 16. Led by Houston businessman George Del Canto, the team plans to be based on a Christian philosophy, with several pastors and Christian leaders on the board of directors.
PDM Racing would like to run a partial season of ovals in 2008 and become full-time in 2009. It would be more than good to see this longtime program back in the ICS full-time.
Cheever Racing ... the Aug. 28 IRL press release quotes Eddie's nephew Richard Antinucci as looking to get into the ICS (and get the team back into the ICS) long-term, if, of course, the $$ comes together.
Possible 2008 driver lineup
AGR: 7-Danica Patrick; 11-Tony Kanaan; 26-Marco Andretti; 27-Dario Franchitti OR Jaime Camara OR Tomas Scheckter. (Dario = free agent, rumored to NASCAR).
Penske: 3-Helio Castroneves; 6-Ryan Briscoe OR Sam Hornish Jr. (likely Briscoe)
Ganassi: 9-Scott Dixon; 10-Dan Wheldon; 33?-Alex Lloyd (a possibility)
RLR: 8-Scott Sharp; 17-RHR (likely)
Panther: 4-Vitor Meira; 55-Hideki Mutoh (likely replacement for Matsuura)
Vision: 20-Ed Carpenter. (2-Tomas Scheckter & 22-A.J. Foyt IV may or may not be around in Vision rides next year).
D&R: 15-Buddy Rice. The 5 car (Fisher) may or may not be around next year.
Foyt: 14-Darren Manning. 41?-A second car is being explored.
Roth: 25-Marty Roth; 76-P.J. Chesson OR another driver (planned)
SAMAX: 23-Milka Duno (could put Tomas Enge in the car, but methinks SAMAX won't have Hugo Chavez's funding if it isn't running Milka or another Venezuelan driver).
Fernandez: No more than 2 cars. Drivers TBA. (Scheckter or Foyt or Barron might be a good option here)
Kingdom: Likely 1 car. Drivers TBA. May or may not happen.
Horne: Funding not there yet.
Racing Professionals: Likely 1 car for Herb. Will likely continue to run a limited schedule -- Indy, Chicago, maybe 1 or 2 other races.
PDM/Beck: Likely 1 car. Driver TBA. Won't happen beyond Indy without funding.
2008 schedule
Sept. 3 update: IRL brass say to expect the schedule to remain the same -- same races, same weekends -- as this year, with the exception of the Michigan race the first weekend of August (gone from the schedule).
Curt Cavin has mentioned possible replacements as being in California, and in the same blog, mentioned Long Beach and Los Angeles (it was quickly edited to say LA after it initially said LB). Given the IRL brass has said it's a market the IRL has never raced in before, that would rule out Fontana. Dodger Stadium, Palm Springs or Long Beach would likely be the three alternatives. Fontana would be the best alternative, but apparently, that isn't happening right now (editorial comment: it should, but it isn't).
The 2009 schedule may expand to 20 races, according to IRL brass. Michigan has already been mentioned as a possible re-addition to the schedule, in a Detroit News story. The upcoming Rusty Wallace track in Sacramento is also an option for the more distant future.
2007 lineup (and possible 2008 lineup)
Andretti Green Racing (4)
7-Danica Patrick (Motorola, 3rd-year FT driver, 1st year with AGR). Confirmed for 2008.
11-Tony Kanaan (7-11, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR, 2004 champ). Under contract through 2008.
26-Marco Andretti (NYSE Group, 2nd year FT driver, all with AGR). According to published reports, Marco is happy with AGR and is staying.
27-Dario Franchitti (Canadian Club, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR). Free Agent at the end of the year.
MAY BE HEADED TO NASCAR. Possible replacements: Jaime Camara (AGR ALMS driver), Tomas Scheckter (free agent).
**Update, Sept. 8: Reports are that Dario is headed to Chip Ganassi's NASCAR team. If that happens, Tomas Scheckter or Jaime Camara would likely be the top two choices for the 27 car.**
**Update, Aug. 28: Dario's options seem open, whether they be the IRL team or the ALMS car with AGR.**
**Update, Aug. 20: Jaime Camara's name is getting mention a lot in connection with AGR, but nothing concrete is being mentioned beyond that.**
Team Penske (2)
3-Helio Castroneves (Team Penske, 6th-year FT driver, all with Penske, 2-time I500 champ). Under contract to Penske through 2008.
6-Sam Hornish Jr. (Team Penske, 8th-year FT driver, 4th with Penske, 3x ICS champ). May be headed to NASCAR. Probable 2008 replacement: Ryan Briscoe.
**Has been heavily rumored to be pondering NASCAR, and is running ARCA/Busch/Cup races this year**
**Sept. 7 update: Sam is planning to drive 7 NASCAR races this year and will make a decision later, because "it's a big decision." Curt Cavin expects Sam to return for the Indy 500 if he does go to NASCAR. Mike King thinks Penske may yet elevate Briscoe and run 3 cars if Sam stays.
**Sept. 3 update: Hornish has tested a Car of Tomorrow twice and is planning to run several Cup races at the end of the season, provided he can qualify. Tim Cindric said Ryan Briscoe is a likely replacement if Sam leaves (and, if you read between the lines, you can probably pencil Briscoe into the 6 car).
Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2)
9-Scott Dixon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, all with TCGR, 2003 champ). Likely for 2008.
10-Dan Wheldon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, 2nd with TCGR, 2005 champ). Confirmed for 2008.
**Sept. 7 update: Alex Lloyd said he's going to drive for a frontrunner team in 2008, and he's spent a lot of time with TCGR. Possible 3rd car?**
**Alex Lloyd a possibility for 2008. If so, it will likely be as a third car. He drove CGR's Grand Am car during Sonoma weekend and tested one of Ganassi's IndyCars at Sebring a couple of weeks back.**
**Aug. 27: Chip Ganassi has said Wheldon will remain with TCGR's IndyCar team for 2008.**
Rahal Letterman Racing (2)
8-Scott Sharp (Patron, 12th-year FT driver, 1st with RLR, 1996 champ). Will be at RLR as long as Patron has the $
17-Ryan Hunter-Reay (Ethanol, rookie, former CC driver). Replaced Jeff Simmons at RLR before Mid-Ohio race. Will likely be the ICS Rookie of the Year.
**Sept. 8 update: RHR would like to be back in the IRL next year. Would like to be back in the IRL.**
Panther Racing (2)
4-Vitor Meira (Delphi, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Panther). Confirmed for 2008.
55-Kosuke Matsuura (Panasonic, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Panther). May be on his way out, with Hideki Mutoh waiting in the wings.
**Update, Sept. 8: Not sure what he's doing next year.**
60-Hideki Mutoh is entered for Chicagoland. Said he will be running in the IndyCar Series in 2008. Possible replacement for Matsuura or a possible 3rd car.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2)
5-Sarah Fisher (AAMCO, 6th FT season, 2nd with D&R). Has sponsorships from AAMCO and AAA.
**Sept. 8: Fisher says she has a lot of options for 2008. Didn't elaborate.**
**Aug. 11: Fisher says in AP article that D&R is going down to one car next year, and it would be difficult for her to sell herself given her performances this year. But with her gaining sponsorship from AAMCO and AAA, I would anticipate she wouldn't have much difficulty finding a ride. Later in the weekend, she said she was misquoted, but it was also stated that D&R *is* considering dropping one of its two entries for 2008.**
15-Buddy Rice (RollCoater, 6th-year FT driver, 1st with D&R). Has had a lot of success this season, given the fact that D&R generally has struggled.
Vision Racing (3)
2-Tomas Scheckter (Joost, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Vision). Has been increasingly stronger. If someone is going to bring Vision its first win, this guy will likely be it. However, he might be snooping around, or possibly be the odd man out of Vision goes to two or one cars, according to some observers.
20-Ed Carpenter (Hitachi Power Tools, 4th-year FT driver, 3rd with Vision). Confirmed for 2008.
22-A.J. Foyt IV (Indy Vision, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Vision). Free agent until funding can be found.
**Sept. 8 update: Scheckter rumored to be talking with AGR, which might be more likely given the possible exit of Dario Franchitti from the 27 car. Both Scheckter and Foyt said they don't know what their plans are for 2008.**
**Aug. 27 update: Only one car is a definite for Vision next year (Carpenter's). The other two drivers have been told they can look for other opportunities, according to the Indy Star. TG would like to field three cars, but it'll depend on funding.**
**Aug. 20 update: A couple of published stories quoted TG as considering going to a two-car team next year if sponsorship can't be found for the third car. Scheckter & Carpenter currently have sponsored rides, but speculation has centered on Scheckter leaving if there is contraction. In his Aug. 20 blog, Curt Cavin said he's not ready to say Scheckter is out, but there could be some shuffling in the works.**
A.J. Foyt Racing (1)
14-Darren Manning (ABC Supply, 3rd-year FT driver). Contract extended through 2008.
**Update Aug. 27: Foyt is exploring the option of adding a second car, pending funding.**
**Part-Time Entries**
SAMAX Racing (1)
23-Milka Duno (Citgo - rookie). Duno is on probation. She has run six races of an initially-planned 10-race part-time schedule. She skipped Kentucky to film Speed Racer. Who knows what SAMAX's plans are for next year.
Roth Racing (2)
25-Marty Roth: Has landed sponsorship from Dussault Apparel for the season finale at Chicagoland. Also slated to run Belle Isle, according to the Aug. 1 Detroit Free Press.
76-P.J. Chesson: Will run Chicagoland with Dussault Apparel sponsorship.
**Aug. 22: P.J. Chesson joins the team for Chicago, has said he'd like to run 2008 with Roth Racing, if the opportunity is there.**
**Roth Racing is planning to run the full 2008 schedule as a two-car team, according to a team press release.**
Racing Professionals (1)
Jon Herb: Has stated he's trying to squirrel together a sponsorship package for Chicagoland, but did not enter the race. As for the future, it's probably part-time at best.
Beck Racing (1)
Alex Barron: Although Beck ran some early-season events, the Beck machine hasn't been seen since Indy.
With Mutoh, Roth's two cars, Herb's one car and the Duno car, the car count could hit 23 for the Chicagoland race. Curt Cavin, in his Aug. 8 Indy Star blog, said he expects 22 cars for Chicagoland, but it appears 23 might be entered.
FUTURE ENTRIES?? (2008+)
Fernandez Racing: From Curt Cavin's blog (8/8/2007), Adrian Fernandez's team still has its IndyCar equipment and Tom Anderson is apparently interested in a return to the IRL, but things "haven't been worked out." Sept. 8: Cavin said funding isn't there yet for this team, but it would like to get back in. Cavin says on Aug. 13 that he knows of two individuals to keep an eye on for new 2008 teams, but hasn't seen any sign of $$ backing them.
Steve Horne: Curt Cavin said on 9/8/2007 in his blog that Horne has been considering starting a team for 2008, but funding isn't there. Horne was involved with the Tasman team in the past.
Kingdom Racing announced its plans to field a team for 2008 on Aug. 16. Led by Houston businessman George Del Canto, the team plans to be based on a Christian philosophy, with several pastors and Christian leaders on the board of directors.
PDM Racing would like to run a partial season of ovals in 2008 and become full-time in 2009. It would be more than good to see this longtime program back in the ICS full-time.
Cheever Racing ... the Aug. 28 IRL press release quotes Eddie's nephew Richard Antinucci as looking to get into the ICS (and get the team back into the ICS) long-term, if, of course, the $$ comes together.
Possible 2008 driver lineup
AGR: 7-Danica Patrick; 11-Tony Kanaan; 26-Marco Andretti; 27-Dario Franchitti OR Jaime Camara OR Tomas Scheckter. (Dario = free agent, rumored to NASCAR).
Penske: 3-Helio Castroneves; 6-Ryan Briscoe OR Sam Hornish Jr. (likely Briscoe)
Ganassi: 9-Scott Dixon; 10-Dan Wheldon; 33?-Alex Lloyd (a possibility)
RLR: 8-Scott Sharp; 17-RHR (likely)
Panther: 4-Vitor Meira; 55-Hideki Mutoh (likely replacement for Matsuura)
Vision: 20-Ed Carpenter. (2-Tomas Scheckter & 22-A.J. Foyt IV may or may not be around in Vision rides next year).
D&R: 15-Buddy Rice. The 5 car (Fisher) may or may not be around next year.
Foyt: 14-Darren Manning. 41?-A second car is being explored.
Roth: 25-Marty Roth; 76-P.J. Chesson OR another driver (planned)
SAMAX: 23-Milka Duno (could put Tomas Enge in the car, but methinks SAMAX won't have Hugo Chavez's funding if it isn't running Milka or another Venezuelan driver).
Fernandez: No more than 2 cars. Drivers TBA. (Scheckter or Foyt or Barron might be a good option here)
Kingdom: Likely 1 car. Drivers TBA. May or may not happen.
Horne: Funding not there yet.
Racing Professionals: Likely 1 car for Herb. Will likely continue to run a limited schedule -- Indy, Chicago, maybe 1 or 2 other races.
PDM/Beck: Likely 1 car. Driver TBA. Won't happen beyond Indy without funding.
2008 schedule
Sept. 3 update: IRL brass say to expect the schedule to remain the same -- same races, same weekends -- as this year, with the exception of the Michigan race the first weekend of August (gone from the schedule).
Curt Cavin has mentioned possible replacements as being in California, and in the same blog, mentioned Long Beach and Los Angeles (it was quickly edited to say LA after it initially said LB). Given the IRL brass has said it's a market the IRL has never raced in before, that would rule out Fontana. Dodger Stadium, Palm Springs or Long Beach would likely be the three alternatives. Fontana would be the best alternative, but apparently, that isn't happening right now (editorial comment: it should, but it isn't).
The 2009 schedule may expand to 20 races, according to IRL brass. Michigan has already been mentioned as a possible re-addition to the schedule, in a Detroit News story. The upcoming Rusty Wallace track in Sacramento is also an option for the more distant future.
Sept. 8 update: Silly Season quotes
Straight from the drivers via the IMS Network ... from the qualifying radio 'netcast. After these, it'll be time to throw out another Silly Season update.
Dario: Lots of options. Not thinking about next year until after tomorrow.
Also: "I want the championship. I want it badly."
TK: "I'm back with AGR next year." Under contract to AGR for 2008.
Marco: "I'm already chomping at the bit to get here next year." Under contract to AGR for 2008.
Danica: "I'm joking. I keep telling everybody I'm going to rehab this winter." Under contract for 2008 to AGR.
Helio: "(Sam) was one of the first people I told about 'Dancing with the Stars.' He never tells me anything. I'd be very disappointed if he goes." Under contract for 2008 to Penske.
Sam: "We don't know yet what we're going to do, so we don't know when we're going to announce it. We're going to try to do seven stock-car races at the end of the year, see where we're at, make an evaluation and decided what we're going to do next year. It's a big decision."
Sarah Fisher: "I've got a lot of options." Plans to explore them.
Tomas Scheckter: "I'm not sure. It's called Si.ly Season for a reason. We'll see how things turn out. ... (Have you talked to Andretti yet?) There are a couple of teams that have got a hole of me. We'll see what happens sooner or later."
AJIV: "I want to be in the IndyCar Series. Tony's working on some stuff to try to make that happen." Nothing quite yet. He definitely wants to be in the ICS.
Darren Manning: "It's looking like that (I'm coming back to A.J. Foyt Racing). This team has improved a lot this year, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it. ... We can't wait to get back to these tracks with this as a starting point next year." Has been extended by Foyt.
RHR: "I'd love to be in the Series. Obviously, I'm looking to do that. My deal with Rahal was after the season, we'll talk about it. I'm open." (Mike King: "I think there's a real good possibility we'll see him back with Rahal Letterman Racing.")
Kosuke: "I haven't decided yet." I couldn't make out the rest of what he was saying, but I think it had something to do with staying with Honda in some capacity.
Mutoh: Mike King says "we do know he will be in the ICS next season." "I need a little more time to get used to it."
Vitor: "Back with Panther next year."
Alex Lloyd: "2008, I'm looking forward to. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to go ... I'm pretty excited that I'm going to be with a frontrunning team. In the next couple of weeks, we'll figure out where that will be." Davey Hamilton thinks it's with Chip in some capacity.
Mike King & Davey Hamilton discussed the possibility of Panther running 3 cars (I can't see it, but they're closer than we are), because they "really like Kosuke."
Also, "Just Al" Unser (AKA Al Unser III) is running full-time in the IPS next season for Playa Del Racing, with the goal of running in the IndyCar Series in the near future.
Lineup for Sunday:
Row 1: Franchitti/Hornish
Row 2: Castroneves/Kanaan
Row 3: Wheldon/Dixon
Row 4: Patrick/Manning
Row 5: Scheckter/Andretti
Row 6: Sharp/RHR
Row 7: Mutoh/Carpenter
Row 8: Meira/Matsuura
Row 9: Fisher/AJIV
Row 10: Rice/Chesson
Row 11: Roth/Duno
Dario: Lots of options. Not thinking about next year until after tomorrow.
Also: "I want the championship. I want it badly."
TK: "I'm back with AGR next year." Under contract to AGR for 2008.
Marco: "I'm already chomping at the bit to get here next year." Under contract to AGR for 2008.
Danica: "I'm joking. I keep telling everybody I'm going to rehab this winter." Under contract for 2008 to AGR.
Helio: "(Sam) was one of the first people I told about 'Dancing with the Stars.' He never tells me anything. I'd be very disappointed if he goes." Under contract for 2008 to Penske.
Sam: "We don't know yet what we're going to do, so we don't know when we're going to announce it. We're going to try to do seven stock-car races at the end of the year, see where we're at, make an evaluation and decided what we're going to do next year. It's a big decision."
Sarah Fisher: "I've got a lot of options." Plans to explore them.
Tomas Scheckter: "I'm not sure. It's called Si.ly Season for a reason. We'll see how things turn out. ... (Have you talked to Andretti yet?) There are a couple of teams that have got a hole of me. We'll see what happens sooner or later."
AJIV: "I want to be in the IndyCar Series. Tony's working on some stuff to try to make that happen." Nothing quite yet. He definitely wants to be in the ICS.
Darren Manning: "It's looking like that (I'm coming back to A.J. Foyt Racing). This team has improved a lot this year, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it. ... We can't wait to get back to these tracks with this as a starting point next year." Has been extended by Foyt.
RHR: "I'd love to be in the Series. Obviously, I'm looking to do that. My deal with Rahal was after the season, we'll talk about it. I'm open." (Mike King: "I think there's a real good possibility we'll see him back with Rahal Letterman Racing.")
Kosuke: "I haven't decided yet." I couldn't make out the rest of what he was saying, but I think it had something to do with staying with Honda in some capacity.
Mutoh: Mike King says "we do know he will be in the ICS next season." "I need a little more time to get used to it."
Vitor: "Back with Panther next year."
Alex Lloyd: "2008, I'm looking forward to. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to go ... I'm pretty excited that I'm going to be with a frontrunning team. In the next couple of weeks, we'll figure out where that will be." Davey Hamilton thinks it's with Chip in some capacity.
Mike King & Davey Hamilton discussed the possibility of Panther running 3 cars (I can't see it, but they're closer than we are), because they "really like Kosuke."
Also, "Just Al" Unser (AKA Al Unser III) is running full-time in the IPS next season for Playa Del Racing, with the goal of running in the IndyCar Series in the near future.
Lineup for Sunday:
Row 1: Franchitti/Hornish
Row 2: Castroneves/Kanaan
Row 3: Wheldon/Dixon
Row 4: Patrick/Manning
Row 5: Scheckter/Andretti
Row 6: Sharp/RHR
Row 7: Mutoh/Carpenter
Row 8: Meira/Matsuura
Row 9: Fisher/AJIV
Row 10: Rice/Chesson
Row 11: Roth/Duno
Sept. 8 newsstand
Combining two days today ... my regular job + my "for fun" job combined to have a two-hour one-way commute and a two-hour delay last night, so we missed Friday.
Big News: Dario to Ganassi's NASCAR team?
David Stremme is not returning in Chip's No. 40 Dodge in NASCAR. While RCR considered it, Chip may just put the Indy 500 winner in a Cup car for 2008.
The stories
Fox Sports.com: Franchitti to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing
Says author Lee Spencer: "Chip Ganassi Racing is expected to announce next week that Dario Franchitti will drive the No. 40 Energizer Dodge in 2008, sources told FOXSports.com. ... Franchitti will participate in a training program similar to the one Juan Pablo Montoya (who beat Franchitti for the 1999 CART title) used to prepare for his rookie season. Franchitti will drive in a variety of series, including NASCAR's Busch Series in Ganassi's No. 42 Dodge."
Charlotte Observer: David Stremme out at Ganassi, Indy 500 winner on deck
Says writer Jim Utter: "Likely set to replace Stremme is current Indy Racing League points leader Dario Franchitti, The Charlotte Observer and ThatsRacin.com have learned. Franchitti, a native of Scotland, is looking to lock up his first IRL championship in Sunday's season finale at Chicagoland with Andretti Green Racing."
AP: Stremme out of 40 car
Among the items: Ganassi has no sponsorship for the No. 40 car, but still plans to field three cars (Reed Sorenson and JPM drive the other two). Dan Wheldon might also be an option.
From the story: "Ganassi refused to comment specifically on Franchitti or Wheldon ... 'I do not have any deals at this time with any other driver,' Ganassi said."
Says Dario: "I could be back in IndyCar next year, or I could have some fun in sports cars or I could try my hand at NASCAR. But I've never even driven one of those (stock cars) at this point. I'd need to know a lot more about it.''
NBC's Marty Snider also fuels the rumor
TSN: Report says Franchitti to join Ganassi's NASCAR team
Not everyone is happy about it. Check out Captain Jingo at NASCAR.com
Speaking of the South: Sam's still mum, but Helio's not
Dario isn't the only one from the IndyCar Series that's been considered for a seat in tintops. Sam Hornish also has been considering it. He's looking for a house in Charlotte -- but so is Helio Castroneves, who isn't considering NASCAR. Still, here's what Helio has to say in a Palm Beach Post blog: "I think he’s going ... He never said anything to me. He never mentioned anything to me. I might be wrong, but my opinion, my feeling is I think he will move."
Defiance Crescent-News: Final IRL race will decide title
An update from Sam's hometown paper. Lots of quotes from Sam about how Chicagoland has been good for him, and also some NASCAR quotes about him running the Cup races in the next 10 weeks: "We still have to qualify for those races in order for me to run in them, but I'm really looking forward to it. The good thing about this whole deal is that (teammates) Kurt (Busch) and Ryan (Newman) will be there running as well and if I need any help I know I can count on those guys .. Right now, our whole schedule to end the year is subject to change and we're not sure if we're going to do all the Busch races as well or not," added Hornish. "It just means a lot to me to have the opportunity to do this and I feel good that Roger (Penske) is giving me this chance. There's still no timetable as to when I know exactly what I'm going to be doing next year, but like I said before it's great to have options."
New teams?
The next Silly Season update will be posted early next week (probably Tuesday), but Curt Cavin's blog from today has speculation about new teams for next year: Fernandez led by Tom Anderson, another one led by former Tasman Motorsports owner Steve Horne, and "we'll see if Roth Racing is serious about being a two-car team." He says right now, funding isn't there for those teams. Also, Sam will likely run the Indy 500.
Chicagoland race stories
Indianapolis Star: Fight to the finish
Says Scott Dixon: "All I bring it down to is competition. All of us just want that (title) as much as the other. I think it's good. It's good for the series, it builds a fan base, it builds the hype between us. You know guys aren't going to give an inch; they're going to race hard for it."
AP: IRL speeding toward dramatic finish with 3 drivers vying for the title
The soap opera doesn't undermine the friendship & respect between the drivers. Says Tony Kanaan: "We go back a long ways. We've been racing together for almost 10 years. We do get frustrated. We do talk about what happened afterward. But I think there's such a high level of respect that I think we're beyond that, we're bigger than that."
Joliet Herald-News: Heat on in IRL
Says AGR's Kyle Moyer "It is getting more tense and it will be more intense this weekend. It maybe got going when things started getting closer and closer. This is the seventh game of the World Series. Whoever walks out ahead of the other guy wins the championship."
ESPN.com: John Orevicz's column tells us it's for all the marbles
IndyCar.com recaps the title chase from Milwaukee forward
Orlando Sentinel: High drama in IndyCar title chase
Detroit Free Press: IRL series headed for slam-bang finish
IndyCar.com: On the fast track: Chicago almost always has dramatic finishes
Driver stories
Indianapolis Star: Snakebit Franchitti relaxed about title run
Says Dario: "If you look at laps led over the past two months, I think we've been at our strongest. (But) a combination of the Michigan accident, my mistake at Kentucky, the whole screw up at Sonoma, then just the craziness of this past weekend (in Detroit), you know, those things have kind of eaten into our points lead ... If you look at our performance, it's definitely been there."
Scotsman: Untouchable in Chicago is Dario's aim
Says Dario: "Sure, this season's close but nothing in sport, and especially motorsport, is ever guaranteed. ... We've seen all season how races and the championship can turn quickly. But we're going to Chicago with one aim in mind, and that's to win the race and the championship."
Autosport: Dixon plans down rivalry with AGR
Says TK: "We as teams and we as drivers are trying to play every card. The press talks a lot about what Scott said about me after Sonoma, what I said about Scott after Detroit. ... What they don't know is that behind the scenes we still hang out and we still laugh about it. We still respect each other a lot because, like Scott says, it's racing."
The Sun (UK): Dario's got nerves of steel
Says Dario: "I’ll take the same risks I’ve always taken. I’ll use the same judgment I did before the last two oval races and just do what I’ve always done.”
AP: IRL contenders: No team orders for Chicago
Says Michael Andretti: "I think the relationship that (our) drivers have is really special, all four of them. If there's a way that one can help the other in some way, I'm sure they will. But there are no orders. I think that's pretty evident in the race (at Sonoma) where Dario and Marco got together. They were both going for the win. We have no orders to take any wins away from anybody."
Interesting comments from Chip Ganassi: "If a driver wants to insert himself in the championship chase, I don't think it's difficult to do. You have to understand you're driving these cars at 200 (miles per hour) and ... if you want to affect the outcome of a particular lap, I don't think it's that difficult to do. A lot of times it's unseen to an untrained eye or without looking at the throttle trace (data) or the steering wheel position. ... Oftentimes, not till after a race do you hear the real story from the guys that were in the seats."
Dan isn't used to struggling like he has this season.
Says Mr. Wheldon: "I really wish I knew how to explain it ... I did have some unfortunate luck. I made a couple of mistakes, and our team made a couple. When things are not working for you, it doesn't just rain, it pours on what I consider an ultra-competitive, championship team ... This has been strange. I think I will handle it a little different if it ever happens again."
IndyCar.com: Last chance for first win for Danica
Says Danica: "There is no reason we can't put together a good overall weekend and keep the Motorola car up front all day on Sunday. Last weekend was another big step for us and gave us even more confidence, and now we have to take advantage of that."
And finally
SpeedTV's Jeff Olson tells us about a NASCAR convert to IndyCars
And then Jeff tells his friend he found himself liking IndyCar for all the wrong reasons. And people wonder why NASCAR folk don't often give this a second look. There's not a lot of room for snobbishness in the OW camp right now. I'm a hockey fan, but it would be like me telling someone who had just discovered the sport "you like it for all the wrong reasons" because they like the occasional fight, rather than the grace, power and speed of the play itself. We all have our own reasons, but let's face it, the IndyCar Series has something for everybody right now. There's no need to be pushing people away because they like some of the more, ahem, unsavory parts of the sport. Because, eventually, they'll come to enjoy the parts of it that we like, too -- as a lot of "fight fans" have turned into people who actually appreciate the game of hockey.
Big News: Dario to Ganassi's NASCAR team?
David Stremme is not returning in Chip's No. 40 Dodge in NASCAR. While RCR considered it, Chip may just put the Indy 500 winner in a Cup car for 2008.
The stories
Fox Sports.com: Franchitti to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing
Says author Lee Spencer: "Chip Ganassi Racing is expected to announce next week that Dario Franchitti will drive the No. 40 Energizer Dodge in 2008, sources told FOXSports.com. ... Franchitti will participate in a training program similar to the one Juan Pablo Montoya (who beat Franchitti for the 1999 CART title) used to prepare for his rookie season. Franchitti will drive in a variety of series, including NASCAR's Busch Series in Ganassi's No. 42 Dodge."
Charlotte Observer: David Stremme out at Ganassi, Indy 500 winner on deck
Says writer Jim Utter: "Likely set to replace Stremme is current Indy Racing League points leader Dario Franchitti, The Charlotte Observer and ThatsRacin.com have learned. Franchitti, a native of Scotland, is looking to lock up his first IRL championship in Sunday's season finale at Chicagoland with Andretti Green Racing."
AP: Stremme out of 40 car
Among the items: Ganassi has no sponsorship for the No. 40 car, but still plans to field three cars (Reed Sorenson and JPM drive the other two). Dan Wheldon might also be an option.
From the story: "Ganassi refused to comment specifically on Franchitti or Wheldon ... 'I do not have any deals at this time with any other driver,' Ganassi said."
Says Dario: "I could be back in IndyCar next year, or I could have some fun in sports cars or I could try my hand at NASCAR. But I've never even driven one of those (stock cars) at this point. I'd need to know a lot more about it.''
NBC's Marty Snider also fuels the rumor
TSN: Report says Franchitti to join Ganassi's NASCAR team
Not everyone is happy about it. Check out Captain Jingo at NASCAR.com
Speaking of the South: Sam's still mum, but Helio's not
Dario isn't the only one from the IndyCar Series that's been considered for a seat in tintops. Sam Hornish also has been considering it. He's looking for a house in Charlotte -- but so is Helio Castroneves, who isn't considering NASCAR. Still, here's what Helio has to say in a Palm Beach Post blog: "I think he’s going ... He never said anything to me. He never mentioned anything to me. I might be wrong, but my opinion, my feeling is I think he will move."
Defiance Crescent-News: Final IRL race will decide title
An update from Sam's hometown paper. Lots of quotes from Sam about how Chicagoland has been good for him, and also some NASCAR quotes about him running the Cup races in the next 10 weeks: "We still have to qualify for those races in order for me to run in them, but I'm really looking forward to it. The good thing about this whole deal is that (teammates) Kurt (Busch) and Ryan (Newman) will be there running as well and if I need any help I know I can count on those guys .. Right now, our whole schedule to end the year is subject to change and we're not sure if we're going to do all the Busch races as well or not," added Hornish. "It just means a lot to me to have the opportunity to do this and I feel good that Roger (Penske) is giving me this chance. There's still no timetable as to when I know exactly what I'm going to be doing next year, but like I said before it's great to have options."
New teams?
The next Silly Season update will be posted early next week (probably Tuesday), but Curt Cavin's blog from today has speculation about new teams for next year: Fernandez led by Tom Anderson, another one led by former Tasman Motorsports owner Steve Horne, and "we'll see if Roth Racing is serious about being a two-car team." He says right now, funding isn't there for those teams. Also, Sam will likely run the Indy 500.
Chicagoland race stories
Indianapolis Star: Fight to the finish
Says Scott Dixon: "All I bring it down to is competition. All of us just want that (title) as much as the other. I think it's good. It's good for the series, it builds a fan base, it builds the hype between us. You know guys aren't going to give an inch; they're going to race hard for it."
AP: IRL speeding toward dramatic finish with 3 drivers vying for the title
The soap opera doesn't undermine the friendship & respect between the drivers. Says Tony Kanaan: "We go back a long ways. We've been racing together for almost 10 years. We do get frustrated. We do talk about what happened afterward. But I think there's such a high level of respect that I think we're beyond that, we're bigger than that."
Joliet Herald-News: Heat on in IRL
Says AGR's Kyle Moyer "It is getting more tense and it will be more intense this weekend. It maybe got going when things started getting closer and closer. This is the seventh game of the World Series. Whoever walks out ahead of the other guy wins the championship."
ESPN.com: John Orevicz's column tells us it's for all the marbles
IndyCar.com recaps the title chase from Milwaukee forward
Orlando Sentinel: High drama in IndyCar title chase
Detroit Free Press: IRL series headed for slam-bang finish
IndyCar.com: On the fast track: Chicago almost always has dramatic finishes
Driver stories
Indianapolis Star: Snakebit Franchitti relaxed about title run
Says Dario: "If you look at laps led over the past two months, I think we've been at our strongest. (But) a combination of the Michigan accident, my mistake at Kentucky, the whole screw up at Sonoma, then just the craziness of this past weekend (in Detroit), you know, those things have kind of eaten into our points lead ... If you look at our performance, it's definitely been there."
Scotsman: Untouchable in Chicago is Dario's aim
Says Dario: "Sure, this season's close but nothing in sport, and especially motorsport, is ever guaranteed. ... We've seen all season how races and the championship can turn quickly. But we're going to Chicago with one aim in mind, and that's to win the race and the championship."
Autosport: Dixon plans down rivalry with AGR
Says TK: "We as teams and we as drivers are trying to play every card. The press talks a lot about what Scott said about me after Sonoma, what I said about Scott after Detroit. ... What they don't know is that behind the scenes we still hang out and we still laugh about it. We still respect each other a lot because, like Scott says, it's racing."
The Sun (UK): Dario's got nerves of steel
Says Dario: "I’ll take the same risks I’ve always taken. I’ll use the same judgment I did before the last two oval races and just do what I’ve always done.”
AP: IRL contenders: No team orders for Chicago
Says Michael Andretti: "I think the relationship that (our) drivers have is really special, all four of them. If there's a way that one can help the other in some way, I'm sure they will. But there are no orders. I think that's pretty evident in the race (at Sonoma) where Dario and Marco got together. They were both going for the win. We have no orders to take any wins away from anybody."
Interesting comments from Chip Ganassi: "If a driver wants to insert himself in the championship chase, I don't think it's difficult to do. You have to understand you're driving these cars at 200 (miles per hour) and ... if you want to affect the outcome of a particular lap, I don't think it's that difficult to do. A lot of times it's unseen to an untrained eye or without looking at the throttle trace (data) or the steering wheel position. ... Oftentimes, not till after a race do you hear the real story from the guys that were in the seats."
Also from Chip, not expecting anything untoward: "I don't think any of the drivers want anybody to point the finger at them all winter, saying they changed the outcome of the championship. I would think that would be something that would be pretty heavy on the driver's shoulders."
Daily Southtown: Wheldon in new positionDan isn't used to struggling like he has this season.
Says Mr. Wheldon: "I really wish I knew how to explain it ... I did have some unfortunate luck. I made a couple of mistakes, and our team made a couple. When things are not working for you, it doesn't just rain, it pours on what I consider an ultra-competitive, championship team ... This has been strange. I think I will handle it a little different if it ever happens again."
IndyCar.com: Last chance for first win for Danica
Says Danica: "There is no reason we can't put together a good overall weekend and keep the Motorola car up front all day on Sunday. Last weekend was another big step for us and gave us even more confidence, and now we have to take advantage of that."
And finally
SpeedTV's Jeff Olson tells us about a NASCAR convert to IndyCars
And then Jeff tells his friend he found himself liking IndyCar for all the wrong reasons. And people wonder why NASCAR folk don't often give this a second look. There's not a lot of room for snobbishness in the OW camp right now. I'm a hockey fan, but it would be like me telling someone who had just discovered the sport "you like it for all the wrong reasons" because they like the occasional fight, rather than the grace, power and speed of the play itself. We all have our own reasons, but let's face it, the IndyCar Series has something for everybody right now. There's no need to be pushing people away because they like some of the more, ahem, unsavory parts of the sport. Because, eventually, they'll come to enjoy the parts of it that we like, too -- as a lot of "fight fans" have turned into people who actually appreciate the game of hockey.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Sept. 6 newsstand
It's championship weekend ... almost. Catching up with the drivers & teams heading into Chicagoland
USA Today: Franchitti, Dixon neck and neck for IRL title
Says Dixon: "It comes down to the last race. You beat the other guy, you're the champion. That's a lot of emphasis and a lot of stress on one race, but that's what makes it a championship."
The crash from last week is rehashed. Michael says Scott backing into the wall -- and into Dario's path -- was intentional. TCGR's Mike Hull has the comeback: "He would have to be the reincarnated version of Jim Clark, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna to make that happen."
Gordon Kirby weighs in with Scott Dixon & Mike Hull on the championship chase (look back to Tuesday for the Franchitti camp's recap).
Mike Hull said changes have been made to reduce grip & slow the cars down, and that's why we have two talented drives in P1 & P2. "I think Dixon and Dario can drive a low grip car and that's one of the reasons why those two guys have been consistently successful throughout the year. On the circuits where it's been more apparent that low grip is a key, those two guys have run consistently at the front. There are other guys who have run close to them but on a consistent, points-gathering basis, that has made a difference. Although it's subtle, this is another difference from last year to this year."
Eurosport: Andretti blasts Dixon over crash
As the Vision Turns, Round 16.
Looking ahead: Silly Season stuff
Alex Lloyd is actively looking for an ICS ride.
AP: After winning IPS title, Lloyd looking for IndyCar ride
Says the author: "(Sam Schmidt) is going to hate to see Lloyd go, although he knows it's likely the driver will move up to the big show."
Quoth Alex Lloyd: "At the moment, we've got a lot of interest, which is great. We'll just have to wait and see what happens." And he's one of those guys for whom IndyCar is a big goal: "I grew up with Formula One as an ambition until I saw the (Indianapolis) 500 for the first time in person, and then all those F1 dreams went out the window, and this is where I want to be. I want to be in IndyCar racing and I want to win the 500."
Lloyd has tested Ganassi's IndyCar & driven a Grand Am car for Ganassi, but at this point, it looks like Dixon & Wheldon are set for 2008 in the TCGR cars. Could Chip be going for a three-car team? (the last time that happened, TCGR had its worst season in the IRL and quickly cut back to two).
On Sam Hornish Jr.
Autosport mentions something we had last week from the Detroit papers -- Tim Cindric admitting that Ryan Briscoe is the No. 1 candidate to replace Sam Hornish Jr. if (when?) Sam goes tintop racing.
Says TC: "At the point where we make that decision if that seat is open, Ryan is certainly the lead candidate to do that."
The original story ran in the Detroit Free Press on Sept. 1.
However, Mike King's IndyCar.com Q&A says Sam isn't going to go south.
Says the silver-toned Voice of the IRL: "Here's why. Sam really loves four things: his wife Crystal, his family, Northwest Ohio and racing. Sam and Crystal are expecting their first child Feb. 10. If you think that Sam would leave Crystal to drive a race car in late January or early February, then allow me to laugh out loud. Sam and Crystal would be miserable if they had to move to North Carolina, away from their respective families. ... My prediction? Sam Hornish Jr. returns to the IndyCar Series next season loaded for bear with, not one, but two teammates: Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe."
TK extends sponsorship
Also, 7-11 is extending its sponsor agreement with Tony Kanaan's car through 2008.
Looking ahead: Chicagoland
IndyCar.com: Graduation day: Mutoh ready for ICS
Autosport: Mutoh relaxed heading into first ICS race
Says Hideki: "It is exciting, but this is my first race so I need to be relaxed and just drive natural. I don't feel much pressure. Just be cool and stay natural is my plan."
More weekend press releases, this one from Firestone. Everything you ever wanted to know about tires (or, for our Euro readers, tyres). Left side compound: used at Homestead, Kansas and Texas. Right side compound: used at Kentucky.
Team/driver stuff
USA Today: A.J. Foyt's return to Detroit results in season-best finish
A.J. fills in his weekly report. Says Mr. Foyt: "It's clear to all of us that we have a lot of work to do over the winter, which we have already started planning out."
Sarah Fisher talks about Belle Isle & her wedding plans on ESPN.com.
Interesting comment, especially from someone who said a month ago that D&R might be cutting back and she'd likely be the odd one out: "I'm excited to continue to build and grow our program for 2008."
And finally
Check out Robin Miller's latest Speed TV chat.
Among the items: RM is banking on San Diego being the 17th race, Dario going to ALMS next year, and Buddy Rice keeping his options open for 2008, and has some CC death watch stuff -- including a full Reuters story on a class-action lawsuit in which Kevin Kalkhoven is a defendant.
USA Today: Franchitti, Dixon neck and neck for IRL title
Says Dixon: "It comes down to the last race. You beat the other guy, you're the champion. That's a lot of emphasis and a lot of stress on one race, but that's what makes it a championship."
The crash from last week is rehashed. Michael says Scott backing into the wall -- and into Dario's path -- was intentional. TCGR's Mike Hull has the comeback: "He would have to be the reincarnated version of Jim Clark, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna to make that happen."
Gordon Kirby weighs in with Scott Dixon & Mike Hull on the championship chase (look back to Tuesday for the Franchitti camp's recap).
Mike Hull said changes have been made to reduce grip & slow the cars down, and that's why we have two talented drives in P1 & P2. "I think Dixon and Dario can drive a low grip car and that's one of the reasons why those two guys have been consistently successful throughout the year. On the circuits where it's been more apparent that low grip is a key, those two guys have run consistently at the front. There are other guys who have run close to them but on a consistent, points-gathering basis, that has made a difference. Although it's subtle, this is another difference from last year to this year."
Eurosport: Andretti blasts Dixon over crash
As the Vision Turns, Round 16.
Looking ahead: Silly Season stuff
Alex Lloyd is actively looking for an ICS ride.
AP: After winning IPS title, Lloyd looking for IndyCar ride
Says the author: "(Sam Schmidt) is going to hate to see Lloyd go, although he knows it's likely the driver will move up to the big show."
Quoth Alex Lloyd: "At the moment, we've got a lot of interest, which is great. We'll just have to wait and see what happens." And he's one of those guys for whom IndyCar is a big goal: "I grew up with Formula One as an ambition until I saw the (Indianapolis) 500 for the first time in person, and then all those F1 dreams went out the window, and this is where I want to be. I want to be in IndyCar racing and I want to win the 500."
Lloyd has tested Ganassi's IndyCar & driven a Grand Am car for Ganassi, but at this point, it looks like Dixon & Wheldon are set for 2008 in the TCGR cars. Could Chip be going for a three-car team? (the last time that happened, TCGR had its worst season in the IRL and quickly cut back to two).
On Sam Hornish Jr.
Autosport mentions something we had last week from the Detroit papers -- Tim Cindric admitting that Ryan Briscoe is the No. 1 candidate to replace Sam Hornish Jr. if (when?) Sam goes tintop racing.
Says TC: "At the point where we make that decision if that seat is open, Ryan is certainly the lead candidate to do that."
The original story ran in the Detroit Free Press on Sept. 1.
However, Mike King's IndyCar.com Q&A says Sam isn't going to go south.
Says the silver-toned Voice of the IRL: "Here's why. Sam really loves four things: his wife Crystal, his family, Northwest Ohio and racing. Sam and Crystal are expecting their first child Feb. 10. If you think that Sam would leave Crystal to drive a race car in late January or early February, then allow me to laugh out loud. Sam and Crystal would be miserable if they had to move to North Carolina, away from their respective families. ... My prediction? Sam Hornish Jr. returns to the IndyCar Series next season loaded for bear with, not one, but two teammates: Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe."
TK extends sponsorship
Also, 7-11 is extending its sponsor agreement with Tony Kanaan's car through 2008.
Looking ahead: Chicagoland
IndyCar.com: Graduation day: Mutoh ready for ICS
Autosport: Mutoh relaxed heading into first ICS race
Says Hideki: "It is exciting, but this is my first race so I need to be relaxed and just drive natural. I don't feel much pressure. Just be cool and stay natural is my plan."
More weekend press releases, this one from Firestone. Everything you ever wanted to know about tires (or, for our Euro readers, tyres). Left side compound: used at Homestead, Kansas and Texas. Right side compound: used at Kentucky.
Team/driver stuff
USA Today: A.J. Foyt's return to Detroit results in season-best finish
A.J. fills in his weekly report. Says Mr. Foyt: "It's clear to all of us that we have a lot of work to do over the winter, which we have already started planning out."
Sarah Fisher talks about Belle Isle & her wedding plans on ESPN.com.
Interesting comment, especially from someone who said a month ago that D&R might be cutting back and she'd likely be the odd one out: "I'm excited to continue to build and grow our program for 2008."
And finally
Check out Robin Miller's latest Speed TV chat.
Among the items: RM is banking on San Diego being the 17th race, Dario going to ALMS next year, and Buddy Rice keeping his options open for 2008, and has some CC death watch stuff -- including a full Reuters story on a class-action lawsuit in which Kevin Kalkhoven is a defendant.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Sept. 5 newsstand
A champion to be decided
ESPN.com: No love lost between AGR & Ganassi
Bruce Martin gives us some juicy stuff on another installment of As The Vision Turns.
Apparently, Michael Andretti & Kevin Savoree made a visit to the Ganassi folks after Dixon backed into Dario's path (Michael said he thought it was intentional).
Says TCGR's Mike Hull: "I think Michael Andretti and Kevin Savoree overreacted to what they saw on television, which happens. What I thought was a classless act was the way they treated Mr. Ganassi. I won't repeat what they said ... They accused Chip that we tried to take Dario out. We don't race like that. It's too bad they react the way they do. I think that's a pretty classless way to act. Kevin Savoree was trying to get Chip to swing at him, but Chip wouldn't bite."
Dario's version: "I don't think Scott did anything on purpose. He went for a gap when Buddy ran out of fuel, he spun, was going left and going right. I chose the wrong way and he rolled back as I was going that way."Sometimes you can't do right for doing wrong."
Scott's version: "I had no control of the car -- it spun out. It's just unfortunate what happened. ... I tried to get on the inside, and it looked like (Rice) sped up again, so I tried to brake and he came down a little bit. My rear hit him and then I spun."How was it intentional? I was better off; I would have made five points on the guy if I kept going."
Tony Kanaan's version: "Do I think it was on purpose? Yes. But you know what, like he always said last weekend, too, what goes around comes around. So here we go. He lost the championship lead. He's not sleeping very well this week and I'm coming."
SpeedTV: IndyCar title coming down to epic fight again
Robin Miller checks in.
Says Robin: "Whether it's parity, the right number of races or luck, the Indy Racing League again has wound up with what all sports desire -- a championship decided in the last round. And it didn't need a contrived playoff like NASCAR, the NHRA or PGA. ... This Sunday's showdown between Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon (Tony Kanaan also has a heartbeat) at Joliet, Ill. is the third time in the past five years the IRL title is up for grabs going into the finale. ... Better yet is the fact it's become downright hateful."
Robin also checks in on Danicagate -- her testing a variable-rate steering rack during a couple of road races -- and the controversy involved, and defends Danica. Says RM: "When Danica wins her first race, it's going to put the IRL on another plateau with the national media, if not the general public. She remains open wheel racing's only meal ticket out of anonymity. ... She's turned in some superb drives this year without any "unfair advantage" so chew on that."
Scotsman.com: No old pals act for Franchitti
TK says he's going for the title, so it's no more Dario's wingman. "I was never out of the championship and now I'm right back in the hunt. It's obviously going to be very difficult but I want to win this thing." If that were the case, Tony, why not pass Dario at Infineon?
FYI, here's how the standings would look if TK had passed Dario at Infineon and, let's say, passed Helio to move up to 2nd (and Dario would've finshed 7th, which is likely): Dixon 584, Franchitti 578, Kanaan 556. Still a longshot for TK, but a much closer possibility than this week, where he has to win and both Dixon & Franchitti have to crash out on the first lap.
AP: Great Scott, can he win it?
Last week, there were about 5 stories per day from the Detroit newspapers on the upcoming race. This is the first one I've found in a Chicago-area paper, and we're five days from the green flag dropping.
IndyCar.com: Battle-tested contenders
All 3 have been here before. A look back at their championship (or near-championship) seasons.
Yesterday, we had several stories about how NASCARworld had discovered the action in the IRL, who didn't have to throw a competition yellow on the season and give a bunch of Lucky Dog passes to generate an exciting championship battle. Now, IRLworld checks in, courtesy of Jack Arute.
Points possibilities for the contenders
Print this out and stick it next to your TV so you can beat Marty & Scott to the "if the apocolypse happened RIGHT NOW and the race ended, here's how the standings would look." At least they admitted it was a frivolous graphic last week.
Official IRL news & notes
Lots of points chase battle updates & history, including the history of close points battles in other series.
Chicago race previews
IRL Chicago pre-race press release
Everything you wanted to know about the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300.
Entry list: 22 cars entered for Chicagoland (the usual 18 + Duno, Roth, Chesson & Mutoh. Herb did not enter as was initially anticipated).
How drivers have fared at Chicago
You know you want to know Will Langhorne's best finish at Chicagoland, don't you?
For the record, Kanaan's best finish is 3rd, his worst is 7th in four races at CLS. Franchitti has only run there twice, finishing 20th in 2004 and 12th in 2005 (he missed last year's race due to injury). Dixon has two seconds -- including last year -- a 7th and a 19th.
IndyCar.com: Chicagoland by the numbers
More driver stories
Jupiter (FL) Courier: Patrick passes Sharp in standings
An update from Scott Sharp's adopted hometown newspaper.
IndyCar.com: Four questions with Tomas Scheckter
We learn about the South African's swimming habits.
IPS love
MyNameIsIRL had this last week, but there were a couple of releases this week about 5-time Indy 500 starter and former IndyCar regular Jimmy Kite getting into the Indy Pro Series.
More IPS news: Alex Lloyd has the title, but several other positions are up for grabs, according to IndyCar.com.
And finally ...
If you've got $75 laying around, Dan Gurney's Eagle Racing Cars is on the market. Motor Trend gives us a brief review of a book highlighting some of the most successful racecars to run at Indy. Of course, Gurney is also known for being a driving force behind creating Split No. 1, but we'll conveniently forget that today.
ESPN.com: No love lost between AGR & Ganassi
Bruce Martin gives us some juicy stuff on another installment of As The Vision Turns.
Apparently, Michael Andretti & Kevin Savoree made a visit to the Ganassi folks after Dixon backed into Dario's path (Michael said he thought it was intentional).
Says TCGR's Mike Hull: "I think Michael Andretti and Kevin Savoree overreacted to what they saw on television, which happens. What I thought was a classless act was the way they treated Mr. Ganassi. I won't repeat what they said ... They accused Chip that we tried to take Dario out. We don't race like that. It's too bad they react the way they do. I think that's a pretty classless way to act. Kevin Savoree was trying to get Chip to swing at him, but Chip wouldn't bite."
Dario's version: "I don't think Scott did anything on purpose. He went for a gap when Buddy ran out of fuel, he spun, was going left and going right. I chose the wrong way and he rolled back as I was going that way."Sometimes you can't do right for doing wrong."
Scott's version: "I had no control of the car -- it spun out. It's just unfortunate what happened. ... I tried to get on the inside, and it looked like (Rice) sped up again, so I tried to brake and he came down a little bit. My rear hit him and then I spun."How was it intentional? I was better off; I would have made five points on the guy if I kept going."
Tony Kanaan's version: "Do I think it was on purpose? Yes. But you know what, like he always said last weekend, too, what goes around comes around. So here we go. He lost the championship lead. He's not sleeping very well this week and I'm coming."
SpeedTV: IndyCar title coming down to epic fight again
Robin Miller checks in.
Says Robin: "Whether it's parity, the right number of races or luck, the Indy Racing League again has wound up with what all sports desire -- a championship decided in the last round. And it didn't need a contrived playoff like NASCAR, the NHRA or PGA. ... This Sunday's showdown between Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon (Tony Kanaan also has a heartbeat) at Joliet, Ill. is the third time in the past five years the IRL title is up for grabs going into the finale. ... Better yet is the fact it's become downright hateful."
Robin also checks in on Danicagate -- her testing a variable-rate steering rack during a couple of road races -- and the controversy involved, and defends Danica. Says RM: "When Danica wins her first race, it's going to put the IRL on another plateau with the national media, if not the general public. She remains open wheel racing's only meal ticket out of anonymity. ... She's turned in some superb drives this year without any "unfair advantage" so chew on that."
Scotsman.com: No old pals act for Franchitti
TK says he's going for the title, so it's no more Dario's wingman. "I was never out of the championship and now I'm right back in the hunt. It's obviously going to be very difficult but I want to win this thing." If that were the case, Tony, why not pass Dario at Infineon?
FYI, here's how the standings would look if TK had passed Dario at Infineon and, let's say, passed Helio to move up to 2nd (and Dario would've finshed 7th, which is likely): Dixon 584, Franchitti 578, Kanaan 556. Still a longshot for TK, but a much closer possibility than this week, where he has to win and both Dixon & Franchitti have to crash out on the first lap.
AP: Great Scott, can he win it?
Last week, there were about 5 stories per day from the Detroit newspapers on the upcoming race. This is the first one I've found in a Chicago-area paper, and we're five days from the green flag dropping.
IndyCar.com: Battle-tested contenders
All 3 have been here before. A look back at their championship (or near-championship) seasons.
Yesterday, we had several stories about how NASCARworld had discovered the action in the IRL, who didn't have to throw a competition yellow on the season and give a bunch of Lucky Dog passes to generate an exciting championship battle. Now, IRLworld checks in, courtesy of Jack Arute.
Points possibilities for the contenders
Print this out and stick it next to your TV so you can beat Marty & Scott to the "if the apocolypse happened RIGHT NOW and the race ended, here's how the standings would look." At least they admitted it was a frivolous graphic last week.
Official IRL news & notes
Lots of points chase battle updates & history, including the history of close points battles in other series.
Chicago race previews
IRL Chicago pre-race press release
Everything you wanted to know about the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300.
Entry list: 22 cars entered for Chicagoland (the usual 18 + Duno, Roth, Chesson & Mutoh. Herb did not enter as was initially anticipated).
How drivers have fared at Chicago
You know you want to know Will Langhorne's best finish at Chicagoland, don't you?
For the record, Kanaan's best finish is 3rd, his worst is 7th in four races at CLS. Franchitti has only run there twice, finishing 20th in 2004 and 12th in 2005 (he missed last year's race due to injury). Dixon has two seconds -- including last year -- a 7th and a 19th.
IndyCar.com: Chicagoland by the numbers
More driver stories
Jupiter (FL) Courier: Patrick passes Sharp in standings
An update from Scott Sharp's adopted hometown newspaper.
IndyCar.com: Four questions with Tomas Scheckter
We learn about the South African's swimming habits.
IPS love
MyNameIsIRL had this last week, but there were a couple of releases this week about 5-time Indy 500 starter and former IndyCar regular Jimmy Kite getting into the Indy Pro Series.
More IPS news: Alex Lloyd has the title, but several other positions are up for grabs, according to IndyCar.com.
And finally ...
If you've got $75 laying around, Dan Gurney's Eagle Racing Cars is on the market. Motor Trend gives us a brief review of a book highlighting some of the most successful racecars to run at Indy. Of course, Gurney is also known for being a driving force behind creating Split No. 1, but we'll conveniently forget that today.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sept. 4 newsstand
Chase? We don't need no stinking Chase!
As the Nextel Cup Series prepares to throw its annual debris caution on the season and allow 11 Lucky Dog passes to those chasing Jeff Gordon in its annual battle of NFL-envy, the IndyCar Series hasn't had to manufacture excitement the last couple of years. It's already there, without competition yellows & jumbling points late in the year.
Among the NASCAR writers who jump in on the subject ...
Brent James of the St. Pete Times says the close IndyCar points fights the last couple of years are "uncontrived drama."
"As the Nextel Cup "regular season" meanders to its final race Saturday night at Richmond, there is little drama surrounding who will qualify for the 12-driver, 10-race championship, and if the past three seasons are indicative, there will be no last battle to decide the champion in the finale ... The Indy Racing League, meanwhile, has staged a virtual melee the past two weeks leading up to its ultimate race Sunday in Chicago. Dario Franchitti leads Scott Dixon by three points after yet another controversial finish at Detroit, with the contenders colliding in the final moments. There has been spirited racing, rotating points leaders, and team tactics at Sonoma, Calif., where Tony Kanaan protected Franchitti, his Andretti Green Racing teammate, and his points finish. How did the IRL do this? By leaving the system alone and letting the drivers sort it out."
AP motorsports writer Jenna Fryer, one of the best in the business, weighs in.
Her story begins ... "The championship race is so tight and so tense, tempers are boiling. Car owners have nearly come to blows. Accusations of dirty driving abound. ...This, however, is the IndyCar Series, its final month full of bickering and blocking. All of which is a tremendous buildup for Sunday's season finale in Chicago, where Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will attempt to hold off Scott Dixon and teammate Tony Kanaan for the title. Meanwhile, back in America's No. 1 racing series, NASCAR's much-hyped "Race to the Chase" has been a bit of a dud."
Says Ms. Fryer: "Yet it's way too early to call it a bust - the Chase may still be fantastic. And there's still time to hope it produces a fraction of the IRL's fireworks."
Florida Today's Mark DeCotis tells us not to miss the upcoming Chicagoland race.
Says the author: "The Indy Car Series has Sunday's racing landscape to itself, and that's good because with the chaos and the considerable suspense that has emerged during its last handful of races -- not to mention the razor-thin championship fight -- there's no room for anyone else."
Looking back
Curt Cavin checks in with his AutoWeek postmortem on the Detroit Grand Prix
The Windsor Star says Belle Isle is on the right track
Looking ahead
Dave Lewandowski of IndyCar.com asks: What if, Tony? If not for the blocking episode at Infineon or a couple of DNFs -- like at Nashville -- TK would be right in the thick of the points chase, instead of needing to get max points and hope the other two contenders wreck each other on the first lap. Says Dario: "I said this was going to be a hell of a championship battle, and it's gonna be. We want to win and they want to win. On the track, we don't take any prisoners, either team."
Gordon Kirby weighs in with his assessment of how the championship chase came to be, through Dario Franchitti's eyes.
Chicagoland schedule
Tech stuff
I stumbled upon this column from Gordon Kirby looking at technical aspects in racing, and future formulas -- and how to make things fair without using equivalency formulas. BB is quoted as saying the ALMS model probably won't work for IndyCars.
And finally
Back to the Champ Car suicide watch, this Montreal Journal article mentions that Alex Tagliani hasn't been paid since 2004. If you can read French (and I can, barely), have at it. Translated excerpts: "This hasn't been one of the good years for Champ Car. And when one begins to ask how long the series will survive, the situation worsens ... There are few drivers, races have been canceled, the majority of drivers must pay out of pocket, very few are paid, and in the case of one who is supposed to be paid -- Alex Tagliani -- he's not getting paid. ... One anonymous member of Paul Gentilozzi's team has said they can't afford to buy parts -- they're borrowing them from other teams. RSports hasn't paid Tags since the beginning of the year." Ten days ago, I would've put ChampCar's odds of having a 2008 season at 75%. Now, I'd say they're about as good as Sam Hornish Jr.'s odds of running the full IndyCar season next year -- probably 25% if you're looking at a rosy picture.
Since we started today's entry with some NASCAR writers, we'll finish at NASCAR.com, where David Caraviello asks "what's gone wrong" at the attempt to create a major holiday-weekend event in California. One of his suggestions to the California Speedway president was to "plead with NASCAR for better dates." She *has* one of the three prime dates on the calendar, and still can't sell out.
As the Nextel Cup Series prepares to throw its annual debris caution on the season and allow 11 Lucky Dog passes to those chasing Jeff Gordon in its annual battle of NFL-envy, the IndyCar Series hasn't had to manufacture excitement the last couple of years. It's already there, without competition yellows & jumbling points late in the year.
Among the NASCAR writers who jump in on the subject ...
Brent James of the St. Pete Times says the close IndyCar points fights the last couple of years are "uncontrived drama."
"As the Nextel Cup "regular season" meanders to its final race Saturday night at Richmond, there is little drama surrounding who will qualify for the 12-driver, 10-race championship, and if the past three seasons are indicative, there will be no last battle to decide the champion in the finale ... The Indy Racing League, meanwhile, has staged a virtual melee the past two weeks leading up to its ultimate race Sunday in Chicago. Dario Franchitti leads Scott Dixon by three points after yet another controversial finish at Detroit, with the contenders colliding in the final moments. There has been spirited racing, rotating points leaders, and team tactics at Sonoma, Calif., where Tony Kanaan protected Franchitti, his Andretti Green Racing teammate, and his points finish. How did the IRL do this? By leaving the system alone and letting the drivers sort it out."
AP motorsports writer Jenna Fryer, one of the best in the business, weighs in.
Her story begins ... "The championship race is so tight and so tense, tempers are boiling. Car owners have nearly come to blows. Accusations of dirty driving abound. ...This, however, is the IndyCar Series, its final month full of bickering and blocking. All of which is a tremendous buildup for Sunday's season finale in Chicago, where Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will attempt to hold off Scott Dixon and teammate Tony Kanaan for the title. Meanwhile, back in America's No. 1 racing series, NASCAR's much-hyped "Race to the Chase" has been a bit of a dud."
Says Ms. Fryer: "Yet it's way too early to call it a bust - the Chase may still be fantastic. And there's still time to hope it produces a fraction of the IRL's fireworks."
Florida Today's Mark DeCotis tells us not to miss the upcoming Chicagoland race.
Says the author: "The Indy Car Series has Sunday's racing landscape to itself, and that's good because with the chaos and the considerable suspense that has emerged during its last handful of races -- not to mention the razor-thin championship fight -- there's no room for anyone else."
Looking back
Curt Cavin checks in with his AutoWeek postmortem on the Detroit Grand Prix
The Windsor Star says Belle Isle is on the right track
Looking ahead
Dave Lewandowski of IndyCar.com asks: What if, Tony? If not for the blocking episode at Infineon or a couple of DNFs -- like at Nashville -- TK would be right in the thick of the points chase, instead of needing to get max points and hope the other two contenders wreck each other on the first lap. Says Dario: "I said this was going to be a hell of a championship battle, and it's gonna be. We want to win and they want to win. On the track, we don't take any prisoners, either team."
Gordon Kirby weighs in with his assessment of how the championship chase came to be, through Dario Franchitti's eyes.
Chicagoland schedule
Tech stuff
I stumbled upon this column from Gordon Kirby looking at technical aspects in racing, and future formulas -- and how to make things fair without using equivalency formulas. BB is quoted as saying the ALMS model probably won't work for IndyCars.
And finally
Back to the Champ Car suicide watch, this Montreal Journal article mentions that Alex Tagliani hasn't been paid since 2004. If you can read French (and I can, barely), have at it. Translated excerpts: "This hasn't been one of the good years for Champ Car. And when one begins to ask how long the series will survive, the situation worsens ... There are few drivers, races have been canceled, the majority of drivers must pay out of pocket, very few are paid, and in the case of one who is supposed to be paid -- Alex Tagliani -- he's not getting paid. ... One anonymous member of Paul Gentilozzi's team has said they can't afford to buy parts -- they're borrowing them from other teams. RSports hasn't paid Tags since the beginning of the year." Ten days ago, I would've put ChampCar's odds of having a 2008 season at 75%. Now, I'd say they're about as good as Sam Hornish Jr.'s odds of running the full IndyCar season next year -- probably 25% if you're looking at a rosy picture.
Since we started today's entry with some NASCAR writers, we'll finish at NASCAR.com, where David Caraviello asks "what's gone wrong" at the attempt to create a major holiday-weekend event in California. One of his suggestions to the California Speedway president was to "plead with NASCAR for better dates." She *has* one of the three prime dates on the calendar, and still can't sell out.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Silly Season update, Sept. 3
2007 lineup (and possible 2008 lineup)
Andretti Green Racing (4)
7-Danica Patrick (Motorola, 3rd-year FT driver, 1st year with AGR). Confirmed for 2008.
11-Tony Kanaan (7-11, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR, 2004 champ). Under contract through 2008.
26-Marco Andretti (NYSE Group, 2nd year FT driver, all with AGR). According to published reports, Marco is happy with AGR and is staying.
27-Dario Franchitti (Canadian Club, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR). Free Agent at the end of the year.
**Update, Aug. 28: Dario's options seem open, whether they be the IRL team or the ALMS car with AGR.**
**Update, Aug. 20: Jaime Camara's name is getting mention a lot in connection with AGR, but nothing concrete is being mentioned beyond that.**
**Update, Aug. 17: NASCAR.com and several other outlets say Dario is one of a few options for Richard Childress' Nextel Cup team for 2008, but some published reports say it's an unlikely option.**
Team Penske (2)
3-Helio Castroneves (Team Penske, 6th-year FT driver, all with Penske, 2-time I500 champ). Under contract to Penske through 2008.
**Said in early August that he would be "interested" in NASCAR (but every race driver is "interested" in other series). Helio has said he's staying with Penske, at least for next year.**
6-Sam Hornish Jr. (Team Penske, 8th-year FT driver, 4th with Penske, 3x ICS champ). May be headed to NASCAR. Probable 2008 replacement: Ryan Briscoe.
**Has been heavily rumored to be pondering NASCAR, and is running ARCA/Busch/Cup races this year**
**Sept. 3 update: Hornish has tested a Car of Tomorrow twice and is planning to run several Cup races at the end of the season, provided he can qualify. Tim Cindric said Ryan Briscoe is a likely replacement if Sam leaves (and, if you read between the lines, you can probably pencil Briscoe into the 6 car).
**Aug. 26 update: Hornish says he's unhappy with the IRL in an Indianapolis Star story, but is noncommittal one way or another. Still 50/50, but seems to be tilting to NASCAR. His number will be 37 if he goes to Cup.**
**Aug. 12: Hornish answers questions at Kentucky ... smiling, laughing, gives 5 reasons he wouldn't go to NASCAR (he gives the reasons why he wouldn't, didn't say he won't, though) ...
They are ... I couldn't have Helio for a teammate, we've got great fans in the IRL, the schedule is a little bit more over there, the Indy 500, it's not IndyCars. See it on YouTube.
**If Sam leaves, Ryan Briscoe has been mentioned as a possible replacement in several places, including Curt Cavin's blog**
Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2)
9-Scott Dixon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, all with TCGR, 2003 champ). Likely for 2008.
10-Dan Wheldon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, 2nd with TCGR, 2005 champ). Confirmed for 2008.
**Alex Lloyd a possibility for 2008. If so, it will likely be as a third car. He drove CGR's Grand Am car during Sonoma weekend and tested one of Ganassi's IndyCars at Sebring a couple of weeks back.**
**Aug. 27: Chip Ganassi has said Wheldon will remain with TCGR's IndyCar team for 2008.**
Rahal Letterman Racing (2)
8-Scott Sharp (Patron, 12th-year FT driver, 1st with RLR, 1996 champ). Will be at RLR as long as Patron has the $
17-Ryan Hunter-Reay (Ethanol, rookie, former CC driver). Replaced Jeff Simmons at RLR before Mid-Ohio race. Will be wih RLR at least through the end of the year. Will likely be the ICS Rookie of the Year.
**Aug. 18: A Mexican CC-fan site is trotting out the annual CC-fan fantasy that RLR is considering jumping the pond to CC, with Ethanol in tow. Again, no legitimate sources have corroborated it, so consider it a fan fantasy until future notice. Robin Miller seems to think there's no way it happens. Aug. 27 update: Scott Roembke said that fantasy was a bunch of people putting 2 + 2 together and equaling 6. RLR is staying in the IRL.**
Panther Racing (2)
4-Vitor Meira (Delphi, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Panther). Hard-luck driver hasn't had much luck this year.
55-Kosuke Matsuura (Panasonic, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Panther). May be on his way out, with Hideki Mutoh waiting in the wings.
**60-Hideki Mutoh is slated to run the season-ender at Chicago, as announced in a presser at Mid-Ohio. Highly rumored to be jumping into Super Aguri seat currently held by Matsuura in 2008**
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2)
5-Sarah Fisher (AAMCO, 6th FT season, 2nd with D&R). Has sponsorships from AAMCO and AAA.
**Aug. 11: Fisher says in AP article that D&R is going down to one car next year, and it would be difficult for her to sell herself given her performances this year. But with her gaining sponsorship from AAMCO and AAA, I would anticipate she wouldn't have much difficulty finding a ride. Later in the weekend, she said she was misquoted, but it was also stated that D&R *is* considering dropping one of its two entries for 2008.**
15-Buddy Rice (RollCoater, 6th-year FT driver, 1st with D&R). Has had a lot of success this season, given the fact that D&R generally has struggled.
Vision Racing (3)
2-Tomas Scheckter (Joost, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Vision). Has been increasingly stronger. If someone is going to bring Vision its first win, this guy will likely be it. However, he might be snooping around, or possibly be the odd man out of Vision goes to two or one cars, according to some observers.
20-Ed Carpenter (Hitachi Power Tools, 4th-year FT driver, 3rd with Vision). Confirmed for 2008.
22-A.J. Foyt IV (Indy Vision, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Vision). Free agent until funding can be found.
**Aug. 27 update: Only one car is a definite for Vision next year (Carpenter's). The other two drivers have been told they can look for other opportunities, according to the Indy Star. TG would like to field three cars, but it'll depend on funding.**
**Aug. 20 update: A couple of published stories quoted TG as considering going to a two-car team next year if sponsorship can't be found for the third car. Scheckter & Carpenter currently have sponsored rides, but speculation has centered on Scheckter leaving if there is contraction. In his Aug. 20 blog, Curt Cavin said he's not ready to say Scheckter is out, but there could be some shuffling in the works.**
A.J. Foyt Racing (1)
14-Darren Manning (ABC Supply, 3rd-year FT driver). Contract extended through 2008.
**Update Aug. 27: Foyt is exploring the option of adding a second car, pending funding.**
**Part-Time Entries**
SAMAX Racing (1)
23-Milka Duno (Citgo - rookie). Duno is on probation. She has run six races of an initially-planned 10-race part-time schedule. She skipped Kentucky to film Speed Racer. Who knows what SAMAX's plans are for next year.
Roth Racing (2)
25-Marty Roth: Has landed sponsorship from Dussault Apparel for the season finale at Chicagoland. Also slated to run Belle Isle, according to the Aug. 1 Detroit Free Press.
73-P.J. Chesson: Will run Chicagoland with Dussault Apparel sponsorship.
**Aug. 22: P.J. Chesson joins the team for Chicago, has said he'd like to run 2008 with Roth Racing, if the opportunity is there.**
**Roth Racing is planning to run the full 2008 schedule as a two-car team, according to a team press release.**
Racing Professionals (1)
Jon Herb: Has stated he's trying to squirrel together a sponsorship package for Chicagoland, but did not enter the race. As for the future, it's probably part-time at best.
Beck Racing (1)
Alex Barron: Although Beck ran some early-season events, the Beck machine hasn't been seen since Indy.
With Mutoh, Roth's two cars, Herb's one car and the Duno car, the car count could hit 23 for the Chicagoland race. Curt Cavin, in his Aug. 8 Indy Star blog, said he expects 22 cars for Chicagoland, but it appears 23 might be entered.
FUTURE ENTRIES?? (2008+)
Fernandez Racing: From Curt Cavin's blog (8/8/2007), Adrian Fernandez's team still has its IndyCar equipment and Tom Anderson is apparently interested in a return to the IRL, but things "haven't been worked out." Cavin says on Aug. 13 that he knows of two individuals to keep an eye on for new 2008 teams, but hasn't seen any sign of $$ backing them.
Kingdom Racing announced its plans to field a team for 2008 on Aug. 16. Led by Houston businessman George Del Canto, the team plans to be based on a Christian philosophy, with several pastors and Christian leaders on the board of directors.
PDM Racing would like to run a partial season of ovals in 2008 and become full-time in 2009. It would be more than good to see this longtime program back in the ICS full-time.
Cheever Racing ... the Aug. 28 IRL press release quotes Eddie's nephew Richard Antinucci as looking to get into the ICS (and get the team back into the ICS) long-term, if, of course, the $$ comes together.
Possible 2008 driver lineup
AGR: 7-Danica Patrick; 11-Tony Kanaan; 26-Marco Andretti; 27-Dario Franchitti OR Jaime Camara OR Tomas Scheckter. (Dario = free agent, might go to ALMS).
Penske: 3-Helio Castroneves; 6-Ryan Briscoe OR Sam Hornish Jr. (likely Briscoe)
Ganassi: 9-Scott Dixon; 10-Dan Wheldon; 33-Alex Lloyd (a possibility)
RLR: 8-Scott Sharp; 17-RHR
Panther: 4-Vitor Meira; 55-Hideki Mutoh (likely replacement for Matsuura)
Vision: 20-Ed Carpenter. (2-Tomas Scheckter & 22-A.J. Foyt IV may or may not be around next year).
D&R: 15-Buddy Rice. The 5 car (Fisher) may or may not be around next year.
Foyt: 14-Darren Manning. 41?-A second car is being explored.
Roth: 25-Marty Roth; 73-P.J. Chesson OR another driver (planned)
SAMAX: 23-Milka Duno (could put Tomas Enge in the car, but methinks SAMAX won't have Hugo Chavez's funding if it isn't running Milka or another Venezuelan driver).
Fernandez: No more than 2 cars. Drivers TBA. (Scheckter or Foyt or Barron might be a good option here)
Kingdom: Likely 1 car. Drivers TBA. May or may not happen.
Racing Professionals: Likely 1 car for Herb. Will likely continue to run a limited schedule -- Indy, Chicago, maybe 1 or 2 other races.
PDM/Beck: Likely 1 car. Driver TBA. Won't happen beyond Indy without funding.
2008 schedule
Sept. 3 update: IRL brass say to expect the schedule to remain the same -- same races, same weekends -- as this year, with the exception of the Michigan race the first weekend of August (gone from the schedule).
Curt Cavin has mentioned possible replacements as being in California, and in the same blog, mentioned Long Beach and Los Angeles (it was quickly edited to say LA after it initially said LB). Given the IRL brass has said it's a market the IRL has never raced in before, that would rule out Fontana. Dodger Stadium, Palm Springs or Long Beach would likely be the three alternatives. Fontana would be the best alternative, but apparently, that isn't happening right now (editorial comment: it should, but it isn't).
The 2009 schedule may expand to 20 races, according to IRL brass. Michigan has already been mentioned as a possible re-addition to the schedule, in a Detroit News story. The upcoming Rusty Wallace track in Sacramento is also an option for the more distant future.
Andretti Green Racing (4)
7-Danica Patrick (Motorola, 3rd-year FT driver, 1st year with AGR). Confirmed for 2008.
11-Tony Kanaan (7-11, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR, 2004 champ). Under contract through 2008.
26-Marco Andretti (NYSE Group, 2nd year FT driver, all with AGR). According to published reports, Marco is happy with AGR and is staying.
27-Dario Franchitti (Canadian Club, 5th year FT driver, all with AGR). Free Agent at the end of the year.
**Update, Aug. 28: Dario's options seem open, whether they be the IRL team or the ALMS car with AGR.**
**Update, Aug. 20: Jaime Camara's name is getting mention a lot in connection with AGR, but nothing concrete is being mentioned beyond that.**
**Update, Aug. 17: NASCAR.com and several other outlets say Dario is one of a few options for Richard Childress' Nextel Cup team for 2008, but some published reports say it's an unlikely option.**
Team Penske (2)
3-Helio Castroneves (Team Penske, 6th-year FT driver, all with Penske, 2-time I500 champ). Under contract to Penske through 2008.
**Said in early August that he would be "interested" in NASCAR (but every race driver is "interested" in other series). Helio has said he's staying with Penske, at least for next year.**
6-Sam Hornish Jr. (Team Penske, 8th-year FT driver, 4th with Penske, 3x ICS champ). May be headed to NASCAR. Probable 2008 replacement: Ryan Briscoe.
**Has been heavily rumored to be pondering NASCAR, and is running ARCA/Busch/Cup races this year**
**Sept. 3 update: Hornish has tested a Car of Tomorrow twice and is planning to run several Cup races at the end of the season, provided he can qualify. Tim Cindric said Ryan Briscoe is a likely replacement if Sam leaves (and, if you read between the lines, you can probably pencil Briscoe into the 6 car).
**Aug. 26 update: Hornish says he's unhappy with the IRL in an Indianapolis Star story, but is noncommittal one way or another. Still 50/50, but seems to be tilting to NASCAR. His number will be 37 if he goes to Cup.**
**Aug. 12: Hornish answers questions at Kentucky ... smiling, laughing, gives 5 reasons he wouldn't go to NASCAR (he gives the reasons why he wouldn't, didn't say he won't, though) ...
They are ... I couldn't have Helio for a teammate, we've got great fans in the IRL, the schedule is a little bit more over there, the Indy 500, it's not IndyCars. See it on YouTube.
**If Sam leaves, Ryan Briscoe has been mentioned as a possible replacement in several places, including Curt Cavin's blog**
Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2)
9-Scott Dixon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, all with TCGR, 2003 champ). Likely for 2008.
10-Dan Wheldon (Target, 5th-year FT driver, 2nd with TCGR, 2005 champ). Confirmed for 2008.
**Alex Lloyd a possibility for 2008. If so, it will likely be as a third car. He drove CGR's Grand Am car during Sonoma weekend and tested one of Ganassi's IndyCars at Sebring a couple of weeks back.**
**Aug. 27: Chip Ganassi has said Wheldon will remain with TCGR's IndyCar team for 2008.**
Rahal Letterman Racing (2)
8-Scott Sharp (Patron, 12th-year FT driver, 1st with RLR, 1996 champ). Will be at RLR as long as Patron has the $
17-Ryan Hunter-Reay (Ethanol, rookie, former CC driver). Replaced Jeff Simmons at RLR before Mid-Ohio race. Will be wih RLR at least through the end of the year. Will likely be the ICS Rookie of the Year.
**Aug. 18: A Mexican CC-fan site is trotting out the annual CC-fan fantasy that RLR is considering jumping the pond to CC, with Ethanol in tow. Again, no legitimate sources have corroborated it, so consider it a fan fantasy until future notice. Robin Miller seems to think there's no way it happens. Aug. 27 update: Scott Roembke said that fantasy was a bunch of people putting 2 + 2 together and equaling 6. RLR is staying in the IRL.**
Panther Racing (2)
4-Vitor Meira (Delphi, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Panther). Hard-luck driver hasn't had much luck this year.
55-Kosuke Matsuura (Panasonic, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Panther). May be on his way out, with Hideki Mutoh waiting in the wings.
**60-Hideki Mutoh is slated to run the season-ender at Chicago, as announced in a presser at Mid-Ohio. Highly rumored to be jumping into Super Aguri seat currently held by Matsuura in 2008**
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2)
5-Sarah Fisher (AAMCO, 6th FT season, 2nd with D&R). Has sponsorships from AAMCO and AAA.
**Aug. 11: Fisher says in AP article that D&R is going down to one car next year, and it would be difficult for her to sell herself given her performances this year. But with her gaining sponsorship from AAMCO and AAA, I would anticipate she wouldn't have much difficulty finding a ride. Later in the weekend, she said she was misquoted, but it was also stated that D&R *is* considering dropping one of its two entries for 2008.**
15-Buddy Rice (RollCoater, 6th-year FT driver, 1st with D&R). Has had a lot of success this season, given the fact that D&R generally has struggled.
Vision Racing (3)
2-Tomas Scheckter (Joost, 6th-year FT driver, 2nd with Vision). Has been increasingly stronger. If someone is going to bring Vision its first win, this guy will likely be it. However, he might be snooping around, or possibly be the odd man out of Vision goes to two or one cars, according to some observers.
20-Ed Carpenter (Hitachi Power Tools, 4th-year FT driver, 3rd with Vision). Confirmed for 2008.
22-A.J. Foyt IV (Indy Vision, 4th-year FT driver, 1st with Vision). Free agent until funding can be found.
**Aug. 27 update: Only one car is a definite for Vision next year (Carpenter's). The other two drivers have been told they can look for other opportunities, according to the Indy Star. TG would like to field three cars, but it'll depend on funding.**
**Aug. 20 update: A couple of published stories quoted TG as considering going to a two-car team next year if sponsorship can't be found for the third car. Scheckter & Carpenter currently have sponsored rides, but speculation has centered on Scheckter leaving if there is contraction. In his Aug. 20 blog, Curt Cavin said he's not ready to say Scheckter is out, but there could be some shuffling in the works.**
A.J. Foyt Racing (1)
14-Darren Manning (ABC Supply, 3rd-year FT driver). Contract extended through 2008.
**Update Aug. 27: Foyt is exploring the option of adding a second car, pending funding.**
**Part-Time Entries**
SAMAX Racing (1)
23-Milka Duno (Citgo - rookie). Duno is on probation. She has run six races of an initially-planned 10-race part-time schedule. She skipped Kentucky to film Speed Racer. Who knows what SAMAX's plans are for next year.
Roth Racing (2)
25-Marty Roth: Has landed sponsorship from Dussault Apparel for the season finale at Chicagoland. Also slated to run Belle Isle, according to the Aug. 1 Detroit Free Press.
73-P.J. Chesson: Will run Chicagoland with Dussault Apparel sponsorship.
**Aug. 22: P.J. Chesson joins the team for Chicago, has said he'd like to run 2008 with Roth Racing, if the opportunity is there.**
**Roth Racing is planning to run the full 2008 schedule as a two-car team, according to a team press release.**
Racing Professionals (1)
Jon Herb: Has stated he's trying to squirrel together a sponsorship package for Chicagoland, but did not enter the race. As for the future, it's probably part-time at best.
Beck Racing (1)
Alex Barron: Although Beck ran some early-season events, the Beck machine hasn't been seen since Indy.
With Mutoh, Roth's two cars, Herb's one car and the Duno car, the car count could hit 23 for the Chicagoland race. Curt Cavin, in his Aug. 8 Indy Star blog, said he expects 22 cars for Chicagoland, but it appears 23 might be entered.
FUTURE ENTRIES?? (2008+)
Fernandez Racing: From Curt Cavin's blog (8/8/2007), Adrian Fernandez's team still has its IndyCar equipment and Tom Anderson is apparently interested in a return to the IRL, but things "haven't been worked out." Cavin says on Aug. 13 that he knows of two individuals to keep an eye on for new 2008 teams, but hasn't seen any sign of $$ backing them.
Kingdom Racing announced its plans to field a team for 2008 on Aug. 16. Led by Houston businessman George Del Canto, the team plans to be based on a Christian philosophy, with several pastors and Christian leaders on the board of directors.
PDM Racing would like to run a partial season of ovals in 2008 and become full-time in 2009. It would be more than good to see this longtime program back in the ICS full-time.
Cheever Racing ... the Aug. 28 IRL press release quotes Eddie's nephew Richard Antinucci as looking to get into the ICS (and get the team back into the ICS) long-term, if, of course, the $$ comes together.
Possible 2008 driver lineup
AGR: 7-Danica Patrick; 11-Tony Kanaan; 26-Marco Andretti; 27-Dario Franchitti OR Jaime Camara OR Tomas Scheckter. (Dario = free agent, might go to ALMS).
Penske: 3-Helio Castroneves; 6-Ryan Briscoe OR Sam Hornish Jr. (likely Briscoe)
Ganassi: 9-Scott Dixon; 10-Dan Wheldon; 33-Alex Lloyd (a possibility)
RLR: 8-Scott Sharp; 17-RHR
Panther: 4-Vitor Meira; 55-Hideki Mutoh (likely replacement for Matsuura)
Vision: 20-Ed Carpenter. (2-Tomas Scheckter & 22-A.J. Foyt IV may or may not be around next year).
D&R: 15-Buddy Rice. The 5 car (Fisher) may or may not be around next year.
Foyt: 14-Darren Manning. 41?-A second car is being explored.
Roth: 25-Marty Roth; 73-P.J. Chesson OR another driver (planned)
SAMAX: 23-Milka Duno (could put Tomas Enge in the car, but methinks SAMAX won't have Hugo Chavez's funding if it isn't running Milka or another Venezuelan driver).
Fernandez: No more than 2 cars. Drivers TBA. (Scheckter or Foyt or Barron might be a good option here)
Kingdom: Likely 1 car. Drivers TBA. May or may not happen.
Racing Professionals: Likely 1 car for Herb. Will likely continue to run a limited schedule -- Indy, Chicago, maybe 1 or 2 other races.
PDM/Beck: Likely 1 car. Driver TBA. Won't happen beyond Indy without funding.
2008 schedule
Sept. 3 update: IRL brass say to expect the schedule to remain the same -- same races, same weekends -- as this year, with the exception of the Michigan race the first weekend of August (gone from the schedule).
Curt Cavin has mentioned possible replacements as being in California, and in the same blog, mentioned Long Beach and Los Angeles (it was quickly edited to say LA after it initially said LB). Given the IRL brass has said it's a market the IRL has never raced in before, that would rule out Fontana. Dodger Stadium, Palm Springs or Long Beach would likely be the three alternatives. Fontana would be the best alternative, but apparently, that isn't happening right now (editorial comment: it should, but it isn't).
The 2009 schedule may expand to 20 races, according to IRL brass. Michigan has already been mentioned as a possible re-addition to the schedule, in a Detroit News story. The upcoming Rusty Wallace track in Sacramento is also an option for the more distant future.
Sept. 3 newsstand: DGP redux
What a wild race in Detroit. We revisit it today.
Race boxscore
Winner's press conference
Daily Trackside Report
Points chase stories
Indianapolis Star: Crash sends title up for grabs
Lots of discussion about the Dario-Dixon incident. Michael: It was intentional. TK: It looked intentional. Dario: "Other than blocking me a couple of times, I don't think he did anything intentionally. Scott has raced me cleanly all year, and I've raced him cleanly." Scott did throw one obvious block, but you usually get one freebie before BB starts laying down the law.
Detroit Free Press: Only room for one
Dario Franchitti & Scott Dixon are vying for the championship. Only one will win it. It rehashes the wreck, with Buddy Rice taking the high road: "Obviously, it was a crash-fest and I just hate to get involved in the points championship because of where I'm at. Those two were battling it out, and to take them out with a lap to go or get involved in an accident because I ran out of fuel is just disappointing for everybody involved."
Race stories
Detroit News: Kanaan wins Grand Prix
Says TK: "We came here to take the championship lead away from (Scott) Dixon. We accomplished what we wanted to do." Well, TK took the championship lead away from Dixon for Dario. He might have been a lot closer if he hadn't played blocker last week.
Detroit Free Press: Kanaan wins DGP
Says author Mike Brundell: "When they talk about great fights, last man standing, the encounter Sunday between Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti in the Motor City could go down as one of the best, or, at least, the most bizarre, incidents in auto racing history."
Toledo Blade: Kanaan survives Belle Isle chaos
SpeedTV: Kanaan keeps title hopes alive
Says Dario: ”I said this was going to be a hell of a championship battle, and it’s going to be. We want to win and they want to win. On the track, we don’t take any prisoners.”
AP: Kanaan's gamble pays off
TK says "it was a weird race." Dixon answers Michael Andretti's claim that his backing into Dario was intentional: "How would that be intentional? If I'd have kept going I would've picked up five points on the guy. I had no control of the car. It was spun out."
IndyCar.com: Three for the title show: TK wins
Driver stories
ESPN.com: Kanaan thumbs nose at critics
Says TK: "After all the criticism that I was involved in last weekend, I always say to all the people that criticize me that all you do comes back to you so I guess I didn't do a bad thing. I have a lot of respect for Rick Mears. As he said, he lost a lot of respect for me, but I did not lose respect for him. I think he's the greatest of all time. I always look for him and talk to him."
Detroit News: Patrick stays alive, earns career-best finish
Says Danica: "It was a fun-filled day for me. We weren't the fastest car, but fast enough to be in contention -- which was half the battle.
IndyCar.com: Runner-up Patrick has eventful race
Says Danica: "Mid-pack is never the ideal spot to be. But (I) kind of knew that it was settle in, make good fuel mileage, be smart, and try to get 'em in the pits."
Detroit News: Helio's crash thwarts try for a triple
Says Helio: "It was very disappointing. It was very confusing and that's what caused the crash. I felt I had a chance to win. I had never lost faith. I felt it would have been a great end of the race for me."
Easton Express-Times: Marco up and down after shift in gears
Says Marco: "Unfortunately again it's just one of those years. I couldn't get out of my way at the beginning of the season. Whenever we finish the race we seem to be in the top five."
Race notebooks
Indy Star notebook: Another pole start, another short race
Today's items: Helio wins pole & DNFs, Brian Barnhart threatens to penalize "unsportsmanlike conduct," including sending the entire team through the drive-thru, and most importantly, a conflict brewing in Texas. Basically, here's what's going on: TMS demands to have the date after Indy, but they also demand their race be two weeks after Indy. The IRL refuses to take the weekend after Indy off (and it can't ... it needs to keep momentum going). Methinks this is posturing from Eddie Gossage, but if he wants the race after Indy, the easiest way to make it happen is move the race up to the weekend after Indy (and, with TG's help, get NASCAR to move their Truck date).
Detroit Free Press notebook: Patrick satisfied with runner-up finish
Says Danica: "Today I wasn't in a position that I thought I could win the race, as far as speed goes. But I came home second. So karma. What goes around comes around and I'll take it."
Other items: Hornish's day, the physical track, the soap opera nature of the recent IRL.
Detroit News notebook: Hornish plays blame game
Says Sam on his incident with Sarah: "It's not fun being taken out by a car eight miles per hour slower. Everybody needs experience and that's what she's lacking. She's obviously doing everything she can do, but she has to let us go by instead of taking a chance on taking someone out who's running up front." Other items discuss RLR, no team orders from AGR, and Joe Dumars was impressed (oh, and Ashley Judd was at the race, but that's hardly news).
Toledo Blade notebook: Frustration rides with Hornish
The newspaper's notebooks discusses Sam, the 2008 schedule, the spiffy Belle Isle, Marco and Joe Dumars' appearance at the race.
Detroit News Q&A: IndyCar returns with style
Says Angelique Chengelis: "Roger Penske has the golden touch. This was no different. If it's possible, Penske might have had something to do with the perfect weather that made for a magical three days on the island. It was a happening, an event for the city, and it was pulled off so very well."
"Event" stories
Detroit Free Press: Belle Isle welcomes back speed, excitement in return
Says Mike Brundell (who has done a fantastic job covering the two Michigan races this year): "Belle Isle put on a show on Sunday that was worthy of any city where motor sports drops in for a visit. You can spend a lot of money and watch Formula One in Monaco. You can drive to Cleveland and attend a Champ Car World Series race at an airport. Why bother? Just pack a lunch, buy a ticket and catch a bus to Belle Isle. You can catch some great open-wheel racing and be home in time for dinner."
Detroit Free Press: Simply Grand
The obligatory fan piece. My favorite quote: "It's the whole atmosphere. I can smell the exhaust up here. And this beats flying or driving anywhere else."
Detroit News: Penske touts the success of Belle Isle
Says Chip Ganassi: "Roger did a really good job making this a real event. There's plenty of people around, plenty of activity, pageantry, music. It's an event; it's not just another race. We're really lucky to have him as a promoter, and Detroit really needs to embrace Roger."
Detroit News: Detroit wins as Grand Prix roars back
Says one fan: "The renaissance they've created here for this weekend is amazing."
IndyCar.com: A day at the park
Race commentaries
Detroit Free Press: How can IRL attract fans?
An interesting column by Eric Sharp, balancing the viewpoints of Tony George and Robin Miller. RM: More American Drivers. TG: We can't control who our teams hire, but we play off the tradition of the Indy 500, which has always been an international event.
RM on unification: It must happen if the OW series are to catch NASCAR.
TG on unification: "Everyone tries to compare us to NASCAR, and I don't think that's fair." As for re-uniting with CHAMP, he said in carefully chosen words, "I don't necessarily see that. They clearly have their challenges (including canceling three races), which I can only view from afar. But I can certainly empathize with the challenges they face."
And finally
Champ Car journalist David Phillips tells us rumors of CC's demise are greatly exaggerated. However, we'll likely see more of the series in Asia (where, right now, they're 0-for-3) and Europe, rather than in the United States.
I normally don't spend this much time on the other series, but this stuff is too juicy to be ignored. So, let's have some fun.
Steve Johnson on canceling races: "It’s bad for the teams. It’s bad for the other venues. It’s bad for the series. It’s not acceptable to us and we’re putting together a schedule where, hopefully, that will not happen in the future.” (doesn't it happen every year? For those scoring at home, that's the third race canceled this season).
Says Kevin Kalkhoven: It’s called the Champ Car WORLD Series. We’ve made mistakes. Come on, we all know that. But we’re learning from those mistakes. It’s hard to get into Asia, but we’ll do it." (so far, CC is 0-for-3 in Asia).
"We’ve learned that Europe really likes us, so we’ll push on there. We’ve learned that there are other parts of the world where as Formula 1 departs, they have a great interest. They like the American approach to it. They like the open paddock, they like the accessibility of the drivers, and they like the fact that it’s American.” (the open paddock, I can agree with, but Europeans care about as much about American sports as we do about soccer).
Adds David Phillips: The fact remains, however, that the emergence of NASCAR as the 800 pound gorilla of American motorsports makes it increasingly difficult for competing sanctioning bodies -- be they the Indy Racing League, the American Le Mans Series, the Grand American Road Racing Association -- to stage economically viable events, let alone attract the commercial sponsorship that drives racing series and racing teams. This too makes Europe and Asia increasingly attractive to Champ Car . . . (uh, David, Grand Am is owned by NASCAR. ALMS is doing fine piggybacking onto the IRL/CC -- and actually outdoing CC at their own tracks, much like Road America. And, while the IRL isn't 100% healthy, it doesn't seem to have much difficulty staging economically viable events).
Adds Paul Gentilozzi: "Domestically, maybe we have always over estimated how important that market was. (translation: Nobody is watching us in the U.S.) In Europe, we have probably underestimated how important that market was. (translation: Nobody is watching us in the U.S., so we might want to look somewhere else) We’re not worldwide bragging about what our TV was. If half a million people are watching in the US, how many are watching over here? We don’t ever put out a statement saying ‘14 million people watched Champ Car (worldwide) last weekend.’” (no, you just put out statements stating 175,000 people were at the track when the race-day attendance was close to 30,000 on a good day).
Says Steve Johnson: “It’s a World Series. We’re not just selling to North America.” (With hs track record -- the guy sounds a lot like Saddam's spokesperson during the early days of the Iraq War -- Johnson would be better off not saying much of anything on-record, but you can read between the lines and see where this is going).
Race boxscore
Winner's press conference
Daily Trackside Report
Points chase stories
Indianapolis Star: Crash sends title up for grabs
Lots of discussion about the Dario-Dixon incident. Michael: It was intentional. TK: It looked intentional. Dario: "Other than blocking me a couple of times, I don't think he did anything intentionally. Scott has raced me cleanly all year, and I've raced him cleanly." Scott did throw one obvious block, but you usually get one freebie before BB starts laying down the law.
Detroit Free Press: Only room for one
Dario Franchitti & Scott Dixon are vying for the championship. Only one will win it. It rehashes the wreck, with Buddy Rice taking the high road: "Obviously, it was a crash-fest and I just hate to get involved in the points championship because of where I'm at. Those two were battling it out, and to take them out with a lap to go or get involved in an accident because I ran out of fuel is just disappointing for everybody involved."
Race stories
Detroit News: Kanaan wins Grand Prix
Says TK: "We came here to take the championship lead away from (Scott) Dixon. We accomplished what we wanted to do." Well, TK took the championship lead away from Dixon for Dario. He might have been a lot closer if he hadn't played blocker last week.
Detroit Free Press: Kanaan wins DGP
Says author Mike Brundell: "When they talk about great fights, last man standing, the encounter Sunday between Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti in the Motor City could go down as one of the best, or, at least, the most bizarre, incidents in auto racing history."
Toledo Blade: Kanaan survives Belle Isle chaos
SpeedTV: Kanaan keeps title hopes alive
Says Dario: ”I said this was going to be a hell of a championship battle, and it’s going to be. We want to win and they want to win. On the track, we don’t take any prisoners.”
AP: Kanaan's gamble pays off
TK says "it was a weird race." Dixon answers Michael Andretti's claim that his backing into Dario was intentional: "How would that be intentional? If I'd have kept going I would've picked up five points on the guy. I had no control of the car. It was spun out."
IndyCar.com: Three for the title show: TK wins
Driver stories
ESPN.com: Kanaan thumbs nose at critics
Says TK: "After all the criticism that I was involved in last weekend, I always say to all the people that criticize me that all you do comes back to you so I guess I didn't do a bad thing. I have a lot of respect for Rick Mears. As he said, he lost a lot of respect for me, but I did not lose respect for him. I think he's the greatest of all time. I always look for him and talk to him."
Detroit News: Patrick stays alive, earns career-best finish
Says Danica: "It was a fun-filled day for me. We weren't the fastest car, but fast enough to be in contention -- which was half the battle.
IndyCar.com: Runner-up Patrick has eventful race
Says Danica: "Mid-pack is never the ideal spot to be. But (I) kind of knew that it was settle in, make good fuel mileage, be smart, and try to get 'em in the pits."
Detroit News: Helio's crash thwarts try for a triple
Says Helio: "It was very disappointing. It was very confusing and that's what caused the crash. I felt I had a chance to win. I had never lost faith. I felt it would have been a great end of the race for me."
Easton Express-Times: Marco up and down after shift in gears
Says Marco: "Unfortunately again it's just one of those years. I couldn't get out of my way at the beginning of the season. Whenever we finish the race we seem to be in the top five."
Race notebooks
Indy Star notebook: Another pole start, another short race
Today's items: Helio wins pole & DNFs, Brian Barnhart threatens to penalize "unsportsmanlike conduct," including sending the entire team through the drive-thru, and most importantly, a conflict brewing in Texas. Basically, here's what's going on: TMS demands to have the date after Indy, but they also demand their race be two weeks after Indy. The IRL refuses to take the weekend after Indy off (and it can't ... it needs to keep momentum going). Methinks this is posturing from Eddie Gossage, but if he wants the race after Indy, the easiest way to make it happen is move the race up to the weekend after Indy (and, with TG's help, get NASCAR to move their Truck date).
Detroit Free Press notebook: Patrick satisfied with runner-up finish
Says Danica: "Today I wasn't in a position that I thought I could win the race, as far as speed goes. But I came home second. So karma. What goes around comes around and I'll take it."
Other items: Hornish's day, the physical track, the soap opera nature of the recent IRL.
Detroit News notebook: Hornish plays blame game
Says Sam on his incident with Sarah: "It's not fun being taken out by a car eight miles per hour slower. Everybody needs experience and that's what she's lacking. She's obviously doing everything she can do, but she has to let us go by instead of taking a chance on taking someone out who's running up front." Other items discuss RLR, no team orders from AGR, and Joe Dumars was impressed (oh, and Ashley Judd was at the race, but that's hardly news).
Toledo Blade notebook: Frustration rides with Hornish
The newspaper's notebooks discusses Sam, the 2008 schedule, the spiffy Belle Isle, Marco and Joe Dumars' appearance at the race.
Detroit News Q&A: IndyCar returns with style
Says Angelique Chengelis: "Roger Penske has the golden touch. This was no different. If it's possible, Penske might have had something to do with the perfect weather that made for a magical three days on the island. It was a happening, an event for the city, and it was pulled off so very well."
"Event" stories
Detroit Free Press: Belle Isle welcomes back speed, excitement in return
Says Mike Brundell (who has done a fantastic job covering the two Michigan races this year): "Belle Isle put on a show on Sunday that was worthy of any city where motor sports drops in for a visit. You can spend a lot of money and watch Formula One in Monaco. You can drive to Cleveland and attend a Champ Car World Series race at an airport. Why bother? Just pack a lunch, buy a ticket and catch a bus to Belle Isle. You can catch some great open-wheel racing and be home in time for dinner."
Detroit Free Press: Simply Grand
The obligatory fan piece. My favorite quote: "It's the whole atmosphere. I can smell the exhaust up here. And this beats flying or driving anywhere else."
Detroit News: Penske touts the success of Belle Isle
Says Chip Ganassi: "Roger did a really good job making this a real event. There's plenty of people around, plenty of activity, pageantry, music. It's an event; it's not just another race. We're really lucky to have him as a promoter, and Detroit really needs to embrace Roger."
Detroit News: Detroit wins as Grand Prix roars back
Says one fan: "The renaissance they've created here for this weekend is amazing."
IndyCar.com: A day at the park
Race commentaries
Detroit Free Press: How can IRL attract fans?
An interesting column by Eric Sharp, balancing the viewpoints of Tony George and Robin Miller. RM: More American Drivers. TG: We can't control who our teams hire, but we play off the tradition of the Indy 500, which has always been an international event.
RM on unification: It must happen if the OW series are to catch NASCAR.
TG on unification: "Everyone tries to compare us to NASCAR, and I don't think that's fair." As for re-uniting with CHAMP, he said in carefully chosen words, "I don't necessarily see that. They clearly have their challenges (including canceling three races), which I can only view from afar. But I can certainly empathize with the challenges they face."
And finally
Champ Car journalist David Phillips tells us rumors of CC's demise are greatly exaggerated. However, we'll likely see more of the series in Asia (where, right now, they're 0-for-3) and Europe, rather than in the United States.
I normally don't spend this much time on the other series, but this stuff is too juicy to be ignored. So, let's have some fun.
Steve Johnson on canceling races: "It’s bad for the teams. It’s bad for the other venues. It’s bad for the series. It’s not acceptable to us and we’re putting together a schedule where, hopefully, that will not happen in the future.” (doesn't it happen every year? For those scoring at home, that's the third race canceled this season).
Says Kevin Kalkhoven: It’s called the Champ Car WORLD Series. We’ve made mistakes. Come on, we all know that. But we’re learning from those mistakes. It’s hard to get into Asia, but we’ll do it." (so far, CC is 0-for-3 in Asia).
"We’ve learned that Europe really likes us, so we’ll push on there. We’ve learned that there are other parts of the world where as Formula 1 departs, they have a great interest. They like the American approach to it. They like the open paddock, they like the accessibility of the drivers, and they like the fact that it’s American.” (the open paddock, I can agree with, but Europeans care about as much about American sports as we do about soccer).
Adds David Phillips: The fact remains, however, that the emergence of NASCAR as the 800 pound gorilla of American motorsports makes it increasingly difficult for competing sanctioning bodies -- be they the Indy Racing League, the American Le Mans Series, the Grand American Road Racing Association -- to stage economically viable events, let alone attract the commercial sponsorship that drives racing series and racing teams. This too makes Europe and Asia increasingly attractive to Champ Car . . . (uh, David, Grand Am is owned by NASCAR. ALMS is doing fine piggybacking onto the IRL/CC -- and actually outdoing CC at their own tracks, much like Road America. And, while the IRL isn't 100% healthy, it doesn't seem to have much difficulty staging economically viable events).
Adds Paul Gentilozzi: "Domestically, maybe we have always over estimated how important that market was. (translation: Nobody is watching us in the U.S.) In Europe, we have probably underestimated how important that market was. (translation: Nobody is watching us in the U.S., so we might want to look somewhere else) We’re not worldwide bragging about what our TV was. If half a million people are watching in the US, how many are watching over here? We don’t ever put out a statement saying ‘14 million people watched Champ Car (worldwide) last weekend.’” (no, you just put out statements stating 175,000 people were at the track when the race-day attendance was close to 30,000 on a good day).
Says Steve Johnson: “It’s a World Series. We’re not just selling to North America.” (With hs track record -- the guy sounds a lot like Saddam's spokesperson during the early days of the Iraq War -- Johnson would be better off not saying much of anything on-record, but you can read between the lines and see where this is going).
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Sept. 2 newsstand: Detroit race day
Today's race: Detroit Grand Prix
Course: Belle Isle street course (2.08 miles)
TV: ABC (3:30 p.m.), radio: IMS Radio Network
Today's starting grid in HTML, and in PDF
"State of the sport"
As mentioned yesterday, Brian Barnhart and Terry Angstadt held the "State of the Sport" press conference yesterday, and revealed several new concepts, both in technical nature and in scheduling/marketing. The press conference transcript below is worth a read. There will be another presser next week in Chicago.
Detroit Free Press: Grand Prix to return to Belle Isle in 2008
... and every year after that through 2011. Mike Blundell rehashes the State of the Sport address.
In Curt Cavin's Indianapolis Star notebook, the paddle-shifters on next year's cars will be optional for Indy-only teams, and mandatory for everyone else. The 17th race is a "lightly-guarded secret" in California. In his blog, Cavin says "I'll bet on Long Beach." If that comes to pass, that would be very big. Cavin also mentions the possibility of Alex Lloyd with Ganassi next year, possibly in a third car.
SpeedTV checks in with the story, as does IndyCar.com.
IndyCar.com gives us the press conference transcript.
Among the quotes from Terry Angstadt on the future schedule:
"As sanction agreements are returned and executed we will be working with the tracks individually to announce their respective dates. At this point we continue to work on a 17th date for 2008 and we have notified all of our teams that they should budget for 17. The 17th will be big news ... Looking to the near future we see our schedule growing to 20 events with the west coast a priority and the potential of events in Canada and Mexico. ... We have shared with some of you the concept of a separate international schedule and we continue to look at the merits of it. We have received numerous inquiries about taking the series overseas and while it remains a work in development we do see an opportunity to expand our business with a limited international schedule shortly after our domestic championship concludes."
A few other quotes:
Brian Barnhart on engine manufacturers: "We certainly are open to multiple manufacturers, and I think eventually that would be in the best interest of the IndyCar Series, to have a multiple engine manufacturer platform." He hopes racing in Detroit, their hometown, will help.
Brian Barnhart on car count: "Well, as Terry and I have said, I think it's priority one for us. We've got to have more and healthier teams. So it is the focus of what we're doing. That's the crux of what we're hoping to roll out next weekend at Chicago, is a system that we think is going to greatly increase the value of participation in the series. We think it will stabilize existing teams and certainly get the attention of new ones and attract them." They mentioned increased race purses, and that negotiations are ongoing to land a series title sponsor.
Today's news/features
Indianapolis Star: IRL frowns on AGR's latest bit of "teamwork"
Says Brian Barnhart about last week's blocking incident: "They're starting to encroach on the integrity of the sport and the moral character of competition. It's a very touchy situation."
The St. Pete Times takes on the same subject, through Dan Wheldon's eyes, of team tactics in racing.
SportsTicker: Hornish Jr. running out of chances on road courses
Sam begins to sound like he's headed south next year: "I don't want to get fat and end up not being able to fit into an IndyCar because I love running these cars. No matter what I do, I want to try to continue to run in these from time to time. It's always tough to fit in these cars and that's always been one of the concerns on road courses because there is no room for me to turn and shift like I need to. There is more room in the other (NASCAR) cars but I don't want to be a pig and take advantage of that. I don't want to be much heavier than I am now."
Sam also has a few words about today's polesitter: "Helio has that kind of personality where he wakes up in the morning and thinks he's going to do something great whether it's win a race or dance. The dancing thing I've heard a lot more lately than the racing thing."
ESPN.com tells us that Ryan Briscoe is, according to Tim Cindric, at the top of the list to replace Hornish.
Says Briscoe: "They would be big shoes to fill, that's for sure ... I really look up to Sam Hornish, ever since I came to the United States. When I was at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, I was always watching what he did because I thought he was the best guy out there."
The Detroit Free Press catches up with Danny Sullivan
The 1985 Indy 500 winner talks about the race, the course, Danica Patrick and a few other things. He's impressed with Danica, and says Scott Dixon is the "quiet favorite" to win the title.
The Cincinnati Enquirer tells us, in the Kentucky Speedway recap story, that IndyCar attendance was up more than 20,000 from last year at the track. The story also states the track is trying to move the IndyCar race from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on its date (which will likely be the same weekend as this year).
Buddy Rice's car has picked up sponsorship from the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas for the final two races.
DGP qualifying stories
Helio is on the pole for the 7th time this season, breaking Billy Boat's league record.
Detroit Free Press: Castroneves takes pole at Belle Isle
Detroit News: Castroneves earns DGP pole
Windsor Star: Castroneves breaks Boat's record
AP: Helio Castroneves wins record pole
Easton Express Times: Helio trots to pole
Autosport: Castroneves takes record pole
IndyCar.com: Takin' it to the streets
Eurosport: Castroneves takes record pole
Says Helio: "I'm really thrilled and will enjoy the moment ... I always enjoy the qualifying. Since I was a kid, I always was like, 'How fast can I go?'"
Saturday's Daily Trackside Report from the IRL
DGP event stories
Detroit Free Press: Quite a site!
Mike Brundell waxes poetic about the Belle Isle track. One thought: " Take a bow, Motor City, you've nailed the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, and we still have a race left to run today."
Detroit News: Fans arrive early Saturday
IndyCar.com notebook: Mark Aug. 29-31, 2008 on calendar for DGP
Detroit Free Press: Five things to watch
Detroit News: Penske already has one win this weekend
IndyCar.com's "Pit Boss" says it's Helio's race to lose
Course: Belle Isle street course (2.08 miles)
TV: ABC (3:30 p.m.), radio: IMS Radio Network
Today's starting grid in HTML, and in PDF
"State of the sport"
As mentioned yesterday, Brian Barnhart and Terry Angstadt held the "State of the Sport" press conference yesterday, and revealed several new concepts, both in technical nature and in scheduling/marketing. The press conference transcript below is worth a read. There will be another presser next week in Chicago.
Detroit Free Press: Grand Prix to return to Belle Isle in 2008
... and every year after that through 2011. Mike Blundell rehashes the State of the Sport address.
In Curt Cavin's Indianapolis Star notebook, the paddle-shifters on next year's cars will be optional for Indy-only teams, and mandatory for everyone else. The 17th race is a "lightly-guarded secret" in California. In his blog, Cavin says "I'll bet on Long Beach." If that comes to pass, that would be very big. Cavin also mentions the possibility of Alex Lloyd with Ganassi next year, possibly in a third car.
SpeedTV checks in with the story, as does IndyCar.com.
IndyCar.com gives us the press conference transcript.
Among the quotes from Terry Angstadt on the future schedule:
"As sanction agreements are returned and executed we will be working with the tracks individually to announce their respective dates. At this point we continue to work on a 17th date for 2008 and we have notified all of our teams that they should budget for 17. The 17th will be big news ... Looking to the near future we see our schedule growing to 20 events with the west coast a priority and the potential of events in Canada and Mexico. ... We have shared with some of you the concept of a separate international schedule and we continue to look at the merits of it. We have received numerous inquiries about taking the series overseas and while it remains a work in development we do see an opportunity to expand our business with a limited international schedule shortly after our domestic championship concludes."
A few other quotes:
Brian Barnhart on engine manufacturers: "We certainly are open to multiple manufacturers, and I think eventually that would be in the best interest of the IndyCar Series, to have a multiple engine manufacturer platform." He hopes racing in Detroit, their hometown, will help.
Brian Barnhart on car count: "Well, as Terry and I have said, I think it's priority one for us. We've got to have more and healthier teams. So it is the focus of what we're doing. That's the crux of what we're hoping to roll out next weekend at Chicago, is a system that we think is going to greatly increase the value of participation in the series. We think it will stabilize existing teams and certainly get the attention of new ones and attract them." They mentioned increased race purses, and that negotiations are ongoing to land a series title sponsor.
Today's news/features
Indianapolis Star: IRL frowns on AGR's latest bit of "teamwork"
Says Brian Barnhart about last week's blocking incident: "They're starting to encroach on the integrity of the sport and the moral character of competition. It's a very touchy situation."
The St. Pete Times takes on the same subject, through Dan Wheldon's eyes, of team tactics in racing.
SportsTicker: Hornish Jr. running out of chances on road courses
Sam begins to sound like he's headed south next year: "I don't want to get fat and end up not being able to fit into an IndyCar because I love running these cars. No matter what I do, I want to try to continue to run in these from time to time. It's always tough to fit in these cars and that's always been one of the concerns on road courses because there is no room for me to turn and shift like I need to. There is more room in the other (NASCAR) cars but I don't want to be a pig and take advantage of that. I don't want to be much heavier than I am now."
Sam also has a few words about today's polesitter: "Helio has that kind of personality where he wakes up in the morning and thinks he's going to do something great whether it's win a race or dance. The dancing thing I've heard a lot more lately than the racing thing."
ESPN.com tells us that Ryan Briscoe is, according to Tim Cindric, at the top of the list to replace Hornish.
Says Briscoe: "They would be big shoes to fill, that's for sure ... I really look up to Sam Hornish, ever since I came to the United States. When I was at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, I was always watching what he did because I thought he was the best guy out there."
The Detroit Free Press catches up with Danny Sullivan
The 1985 Indy 500 winner talks about the race, the course, Danica Patrick and a few other things. He's impressed with Danica, and says Scott Dixon is the "quiet favorite" to win the title.
The Cincinnati Enquirer tells us, in the Kentucky Speedway recap story, that IndyCar attendance was up more than 20,000 from last year at the track. The story also states the track is trying to move the IndyCar race from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on its date (which will likely be the same weekend as this year).
Buddy Rice's car has picked up sponsorship from the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas for the final two races.
DGP qualifying stories
Helio is on the pole for the 7th time this season, breaking Billy Boat's league record.
Detroit Free Press: Castroneves takes pole at Belle Isle
Detroit News: Castroneves earns DGP pole
Windsor Star: Castroneves breaks Boat's record
AP: Helio Castroneves wins record pole
Easton Express Times: Helio trots to pole
Autosport: Castroneves takes record pole
IndyCar.com: Takin' it to the streets
Eurosport: Castroneves takes record pole
Says Helio: "I'm really thrilled and will enjoy the moment ... I always enjoy the qualifying. Since I was a kid, I always was like, 'How fast can I go?'"
Saturday's Daily Trackside Report from the IRL
DGP event stories
Detroit Free Press: Quite a site!
Mike Brundell waxes poetic about the Belle Isle track. One thought: " Take a bow, Motor City, you've nailed the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, and we still have a race left to run today."
Detroit News: Fans arrive early Saturday
IndyCar.com notebook: Mark Aug. 29-31, 2008 on calendar for DGP
Detroit Free Press: Five things to watch
Detroit News: Penske already has one win this weekend
IndyCar.com's "Pit Boss" says it's Helio's race to lose
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