Mike Conway has made a career in the IZOD IndyCar Series out of being daring. A checkers-or-wreckers kind of driver, he has mixed flashes of brilliance with a legion of destroyed Dallara chassis. Regardless, his lack of fear makes him one of the most entertaining racers on the circuit.
His latest daring maneuver, however, will see him missing the majority of the season.
On the white flag lap of the Indianapolis 500, Conway slid into the car of Ryan Hunter-Reay, launching him into the turn three catchfence. His car disintegrated as he slid down the short chute, his once familiar No. 24 Dallara-Honda now nothing more than a tub and thousands of shards of carbon fiber.
Conway suffered a broken bone and soft tissue injury in his lower left leg, as well as a compression fracture of one of his thoracic vertebrae. The former are less serious injuries, but the latter will require him to wear a back brace for three months.
Any racing hopes he might have had over the next eight races or so are shot.
Were Conway to be ready immediately on September 1, three months after the wreck at Indy, he would only be able to compete at Kentucky, Motegi, and Homestead. It is altogether possible that like Vitor Meira last year, he may miss the rest of the season.
This leaves Dreyer & Reinbold scrambling for a replacement driver for Conway over the next eight races. Two drivers, Tomas Scheckter and Ana Beatriz, raced for DRR during the Indy 500 but are seeking other employment opportunities. They look to be the first choices.
But plenty of other worthy drivers are available. Former DRR racers that don't currently have a ride include Townsend Bell, Buddy Lazier, Darren Manning, Buddy Rice, and Roger Yasukawa. And among former race winners that don't currently have full-time rides, DRR can pick from Bruno Junqueira, Oriol Servia, Paul Tracy, and Graham Rahal, who has somehow been piecing together deals all year. Rahal especially makes an interesting fit because he has worked with Justin Wilson, DRR's lead driver, in the past; they were teammates in 2008 at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.
Monday, May 31, 2010
IndyCar Race Review: Indianapolis 500 (Updated)
Dario Franchitti took his second Indianapolis 500 checkered flag in the past four years after easily leading more than two thirds of the event.
Franchitti's victory, taken under caution over Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti, made team owner Chip Ganassi the first owner to win the crown jewels of American stock car and open wheel racing in the same season.
This time, Franchitti managed to hang on in a full-length race, after winning a rain-shortened contest in 2007. He did more than hang on, though - until pit stops in the second half of the race shook up the running order, he utilized clean air to dominate much of the event.
The two major early stories of the race were Tony Kanaan and pit crew failure. Kanaan started 33rd after a disastrous qualifying weekend, but worked his way up through the field quickly. Meanwhile, the pit crews of Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Raphael Matos all made crucial errors in the first third of the race, with Power driving off with part of his fuel assembly and Dixon and Matos losing wheels on the same set of pit stops.
Blocking was also at issue during much of the event. Graham Rahal was black-flagged after blocking Franchitti and later Dan Wheldon. Wheldon was actually the victim of two huge blocks early in the event, with the other coming from John Andretti. A handful of drivers received black flags over the course of the race for blocking others, with a late-race penalty sabotaging the chances of Townsend Bell to score a good finish.
Turn two victimized a handful of cars over the course of the event, including Davey Hamilton, Bruno Junqueira, and Matos, not long after his pit issues. Franchitti continued to hold the point, however, with very few challenges - polesitter Helio Castroneves didn't lead at all until the latter stages.
Indy often can reward the perseverance of the less prominent teams in the sport with a legitimate shot at glory. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had three of its four cars lead parts of the race, with Tomas Scheckter, Mike Conway, and Justin Wilson all briefly helming the point. Scheckter faded as better cars passed him, while Conway and Wilson had to pit for fuel.
Conway was the victim of a spectacular last-lap wreck that handed the race to Franchitti. He barrelled into Ryan Hunter-Reay's car coming out of turn three and flew into the catchfence, in an incident scarily similar to Kenny Brack's 2003 wreck at Texas and Alessandro Zampedri's incident on the last lap of the 1996 500. Luckily, Conway suffered only a broken leg, compared to the more serious injuries of those two drivers.
Indy can also victimize some of the best teams in the sport. Penske Racing, which attempted to win its 16th Indianapolis 500 as Castroneves went for his record-tying fourth, had a miserable day. Ryan Briscoe, who held a fuel advantage after his last pit stop, wrecked almost instantly after to finish 24th. Power and Castroneves came home 8th and 9th, respectively. Power led early before his pit issue, and Castroneves led with as few as nine laps to go before needing to pit.
After Conway, Wilson, and others had to pit for fuel within the last 20 laps of the race, Franchitti reinherited the lead over Kanaan, who was looking to become the first driver to win the race from the last row. Such a victory would have been redemption for Kanaan, especially considering that he had nearly missed the race this year, and considering his history of bad Indy luck. But he had to pit with a handful of laps to go, handing the bridesmaid position to Wheldon for the second year in a row. It was also the third consecutive year that Panther Racing finished second in the 500.
Andretti, who had been blowing through his Honda Push to Pass allotment all race, came home third after first being classified in sixth. Originally, Alex Lloyd had been classified third, Scott Dixon fourth and Danica Patrick fifth. But all three were ruled as having passed Andretti under caution on the last lap, and his position was returned to him, and those three drivers were knocked down one spot apiece.
Two rookies finished on the lead lap - Mario Romancini in 13th and Simona de Silvestro in 14th. They both got by Franchitti as he attempted to conserve fuel on the final lap. The best finishing Indy 500 special was that of Rahal, which placed 12th.
Franchitti's victory, taken under caution over Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti, made team owner Chip Ganassi the first owner to win the crown jewels of American stock car and open wheel racing in the same season.
This time, Franchitti managed to hang on in a full-length race, after winning a rain-shortened contest in 2007. He did more than hang on, though - until pit stops in the second half of the race shook up the running order, he utilized clean air to dominate much of the event.
The two major early stories of the race were Tony Kanaan and pit crew failure. Kanaan started 33rd after a disastrous qualifying weekend, but worked his way up through the field quickly. Meanwhile, the pit crews of Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Raphael Matos all made crucial errors in the first third of the race, with Power driving off with part of his fuel assembly and Dixon and Matos losing wheels on the same set of pit stops.
Blocking was also at issue during much of the event. Graham Rahal was black-flagged after blocking Franchitti and later Dan Wheldon. Wheldon was actually the victim of two huge blocks early in the event, with the other coming from John Andretti. A handful of drivers received black flags over the course of the race for blocking others, with a late-race penalty sabotaging the chances of Townsend Bell to score a good finish.
Turn two victimized a handful of cars over the course of the event, including Davey Hamilton, Bruno Junqueira, and Matos, not long after his pit issues. Franchitti continued to hold the point, however, with very few challenges - polesitter Helio Castroneves didn't lead at all until the latter stages.
Indy often can reward the perseverance of the less prominent teams in the sport with a legitimate shot at glory. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had three of its four cars lead parts of the race, with Tomas Scheckter, Mike Conway, and Justin Wilson all briefly helming the point. Scheckter faded as better cars passed him, while Conway and Wilson had to pit for fuel.
Conway was the victim of a spectacular last-lap wreck that handed the race to Franchitti. He barrelled into Ryan Hunter-Reay's car coming out of turn three and flew into the catchfence, in an incident scarily similar to Kenny Brack's 2003 wreck at Texas and Alessandro Zampedri's incident on the last lap of the 1996 500. Luckily, Conway suffered only a broken leg, compared to the more serious injuries of those two drivers.
Indy can also victimize some of the best teams in the sport. Penske Racing, which attempted to win its 16th Indianapolis 500 as Castroneves went for his record-tying fourth, had a miserable day. Ryan Briscoe, who held a fuel advantage after his last pit stop, wrecked almost instantly after to finish 24th. Power and Castroneves came home 8th and 9th, respectively. Power led early before his pit issue, and Castroneves led with as few as nine laps to go before needing to pit.
After Conway, Wilson, and others had to pit for fuel within the last 20 laps of the race, Franchitti reinherited the lead over Kanaan, who was looking to become the first driver to win the race from the last row. Such a victory would have been redemption for Kanaan, especially considering that he had nearly missed the race this year, and considering his history of bad Indy luck. But he had to pit with a handful of laps to go, handing the bridesmaid position to Wheldon for the second year in a row. It was also the third consecutive year that Panther Racing finished second in the 500.
Andretti, who had been blowing through his Honda Push to Pass allotment all race, came home third after first being classified in sixth. Originally, Alex Lloyd had been classified third, Scott Dixon fourth and Danica Patrick fifth. But all three were ruled as having passed Andretti under caution on the last lap, and his position was returned to him, and those three drivers were knocked down one spot apiece.
Two rookies finished on the lead lap - Mario Romancini in 13th and Simona de Silvestro in 14th. They both got by Franchitti as he attempted to conserve fuel on the final lap. The best finishing Indy 500 special was that of Rahal, which placed 12th.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
IndyCar Race Review: Indianapolis 500
Dario Franchitti took his second Indianapolis 500 checkered flag in the past four years after easily leading more than two thirds of the event.
Franchitti's victory, taken under caution over Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti, made team owner Chip Ganassi the first owner to win the crown jewels of American stock car and open wheel racing in the same season.
This time, Franchitti managed to hang on in a full-length race, after winning a rain-shortened contest in 2007. He did more than hang on, though - until pit stops in the second half of the race shook up the running order, he utilized clean air to dominate much of the event.
The two major early stories of the race were Tony Kanaan and pit failure. Kanaan started 33rd after a disastrous qualifying weekend, but worked his way up through the field quickly. Meanwhile, the pit crews of Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Raphael Matos all made crucial errors in the first third of the race, with Power driving off with part of his fuel assembly and Dixon and Matos losing wheels on the same set of pit stops.
Turn two victimized a handful of cars over the course of the event, including Davey Hamilton, Bruno Junqueira, and Matos, not long after his pit issues. Franchitti continued to hold the point, however, with very few challenges.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had three of its four cars lead parts of the race, with Tomas Scheckter, Mike Conway, and Justin Wilson all briefly helming the point. Scheckter faded as better cars passed him, while Conway and Wilson had to pit for fuel. Conway was the victim of a spectacular last-lap wreck that handed the race to Franchitti.
Penske Racing, which attempted to win its 16th Indianapolis 500 as driver Helio Castroneves went for his record-tying fourth, had a miserable day. Ryan Briscoe, who held a fuel advantage after his last pit stop, wrecked almost instantly after to finish 24th. Power and Castroneves came home 8th and 9th, respectively.
After Conway, Wilson, and others had to pit for fuel within the last 20 laps of the race, Franchitti reinherited the lead over Kanaan, who was looking to become the first driver to win the race from the last row. But he had to pit with a handful of laps to go, handing the bridesmaid position to Dan Wheldon for the second year in a row. It was also the third conescutive year that Panther Racing finished second in the 500.
Andretti, who had been blowing through his Honda Push to Pass allotment all race, came home third after first being classified in sixth. Originally, Alex Lloyd had been classified third, Scott Dixon fourth and Danica Patrick fifth. But all three were ruled as having passed Andretti under caution on the last lap, and his position was returned to him, and those three drivers were knocked down one spot apiece.
Franchitti's victory, taken under caution over Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti, made team owner Chip Ganassi the first owner to win the crown jewels of American stock car and open wheel racing in the same season.
This time, Franchitti managed to hang on in a full-length race, after winning a rain-shortened contest in 2007. He did more than hang on, though - until pit stops in the second half of the race shook up the running order, he utilized clean air to dominate much of the event.
The two major early stories of the race were Tony Kanaan and pit failure. Kanaan started 33rd after a disastrous qualifying weekend, but worked his way up through the field quickly. Meanwhile, the pit crews of Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Raphael Matos all made crucial errors in the first third of the race, with Power driving off with part of his fuel assembly and Dixon and Matos losing wheels on the same set of pit stops.
Turn two victimized a handful of cars over the course of the event, including Davey Hamilton, Bruno Junqueira, and Matos, not long after his pit issues. Franchitti continued to hold the point, however, with very few challenges.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had three of its four cars lead parts of the race, with Tomas Scheckter, Mike Conway, and Justin Wilson all briefly helming the point. Scheckter faded as better cars passed him, while Conway and Wilson had to pit for fuel. Conway was the victim of a spectacular last-lap wreck that handed the race to Franchitti.
Penske Racing, which attempted to win its 16th Indianapolis 500 as driver Helio Castroneves went for his record-tying fourth, had a miserable day. Ryan Briscoe, who held a fuel advantage after his last pit stop, wrecked almost instantly after to finish 24th. Power and Castroneves came home 8th and 9th, respectively.
After Conway, Wilson, and others had to pit for fuel within the last 20 laps of the race, Franchitti reinherited the lead over Kanaan, who was looking to become the first driver to win the race from the last row. But he had to pit with a handful of laps to go, handing the bridesmaid position to Dan Wheldon for the second year in a row. It was also the third conescutive year that Panther Racing finished second in the 500.
Andretti, who had been blowing through his Honda Push to Pass allotment all race, came home third after first being classified in sixth. Originally, Alex Lloyd had been classified third, Scott Dixon fourth and Danica Patrick fifth. But all three were ruled as having passed Andretti under caution on the last lap, and his position was returned to him, and those three drivers were knocked down one spot apiece.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Carb Day a Certified Success
Miller Lite Carburetion Day, the final day of on-track activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the Indianapolis 500, was a rousing success.
From the ZZ Top concert to the IZOD Pit Stop Challenge, there was a little bit of something for everybody at the speedway on Friday, and crowds accumulated by the thousands to watch.
Final practice before the Indianapolis 500 started at 11 am, and all 33 IZOD IndyCar Series cars taking part in the race ran some final tune-up laps. The two fastest drivers were Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, followed by Will Power, a surprising Bruno Junqueira, and defending race champion Helio Castroneves. Only the Ganassi cars turned sub-40 second laps.
The IZOD Pit Stop Challenge featured 12 of the top teams in the sport competing against one another in a bracket to see which team has the fastest pit crew. Helio Castroneves won, giving owner Roger Penske his 12th Pit Stop Challenge victory, but runner-up Hideki Mutoh put up an excellent fight, advancing all the way without the benefit of a first-round bye as Castroneves had. Penske's pit crews had some moments of brilliance, turning a sub-8 second stop for Will Power in the first round and an 8.001 second tune-up for Castroneves in the final.
The Firestone Indy Lights Series also had some on-track competition on Friday, with its flagship race, the Firestone Freedom 100. Pippa Mann had become the first woman to qualify on pole at Indianapolis in any event, but her hopes of taking the third Freedom 100 win in the past four years for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, and their fifth overall, were dashed by an accident with Jeff Simmons on lap 3.
Wade Cunningham, in a one-race deal for Schmidt, and Charlie Kimball, running for AFS Racing, went down to the wire for the race victory, trading the lead multiple times in the last ten laps. Cunningham gained the point for good on lap 35 of 40, but never was able to stretch out a lead. Regardless, it was Cunningham's third Freedom 100 win, his second in a row, and made him look a highly attractive prospect for any team in need of a strong oval driver later this year.
From the ZZ Top concert to the IZOD Pit Stop Challenge, there was a little bit of something for everybody at the speedway on Friday, and crowds accumulated by the thousands to watch.
Final practice before the Indianapolis 500 started at 11 am, and all 33 IZOD IndyCar Series cars taking part in the race ran some final tune-up laps. The two fastest drivers were Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, followed by Will Power, a surprising Bruno Junqueira, and defending race champion Helio Castroneves. Only the Ganassi cars turned sub-40 second laps.
The IZOD Pit Stop Challenge featured 12 of the top teams in the sport competing against one another in a bracket to see which team has the fastest pit crew. Helio Castroneves won, giving owner Roger Penske his 12th Pit Stop Challenge victory, but runner-up Hideki Mutoh put up an excellent fight, advancing all the way without the benefit of a first-round bye as Castroneves had. Penske's pit crews had some moments of brilliance, turning a sub-8 second stop for Will Power in the first round and an 8.001 second tune-up for Castroneves in the final.
The Firestone Indy Lights Series also had some on-track competition on Friday, with its flagship race, the Firestone Freedom 100. Pippa Mann had become the first woman to qualify on pole at Indianapolis in any event, but her hopes of taking the third Freedom 100 win in the past four years for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, and their fifth overall, were dashed by an accident with Jeff Simmons on lap 3.
Wade Cunningham, in a one-race deal for Schmidt, and Charlie Kimball, running for AFS Racing, went down to the wire for the race victory, trading the lead multiple times in the last ten laps. Cunningham gained the point for good on lap 35 of 40, but never was able to stretch out a lead. Regardless, it was Cunningham's third Freedom 100 win, his second in a row, and made him look a highly attractive prospect for any team in need of a strong oval driver later this year.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
More Sponsors Sign On For Indy
The Indianapolis 500 frequently brings new sponsors into the IZOD IndyCar Series. While some of them may not stick around for long, the occasional relationship may extend through the rest of the season and/or beyond.
Many cars had settled their sponsorship deals before qualifying, but upon making the race (or upon some cars missing the event), a handful of new deals have been signed, if only for this race. Running down the field, in order:
13th-place Mario Moraes of KV Racing Technology will carry Geico logos on the side of his No. 32 Dallara-Honda. Moraes has run the unsponsored KVRT car in every race since St. Petersburg. Moraes carried Banco Panamerica sponsorship in Sao Paulo. Geico, looking to remain in the race, made the natural switch from one KV car to the other when Paul Tracy failed to qualify for the event.
17th-place Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport will receive associate support from Virgin on his No. 37 Dallara-Honda. Richard Branson's mega-conglomerate jumped into Formula 1 racing last year with Brawn GP, the eventual constructors' champion, and 1-2 points finishers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. This year, Virgin took over the fledgling Manor GP outfit with drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi, renaming it Virgin GP, and creating the first F1 car constructed completely without wind-tunnel testing.
22nd-place Simona de Silvestro will carry the majority of last year's major Atlantic Championship supporters on her No. 78 HVM Racing Dallara-Honda for the race. TDS Telecommunications has signed on to back the car, alongside full-season backer Stargate Worlds and Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy. Nuclear Clean Air Energy and Entergy were sponsors of Newman Wachs Racing in Atlantic last year, as their drivers John Edwards and Jonathan Summerton finished 1-2 in the championship. De Silvestro, their closest competitor, finished third. Each driver took four of the 12 wins on the series schedule.
23rd-place Danica Patrick of Andretti Autosport will welcome Boost Mobile back to her No. 7 Dallara-Honda. Boost sponsored Patrick from last year's 500 to the end of last season, when she signed a lucrative deal with GoDaddy.com. This year, however, Boost will return as a secondary sponsor for the remainder of the schedule. Patrick filmed a commercial for Boost last year that should be familiar to most IndyCar fans, in which her pit crew serviced her car in drag. According to a Sprint news release, Boost will sponsor Adam Carroll in his IndyCar debut for Andretti later this year.
24th-place Bertrand Baguette of Conquest Racing will be funded by Angie's List. His No. 36 Dallara-Honda was the final car to qualify on Pole Day. Angie's List, a site where users can post reviews of doctors and contractors, has dipped into open-wheel sponsorship before, sponsoring Oriol Servia and KVRT in the 2008 IndyCar season finale at Chicagoland.
25th-place Bruno Junqueira will, like his FAZZT Race Team compatriot Alex Tagliani, carry the logos of Bowers & Wilkins on the side of his No. 33 Dallara-Honda. B&W originally planned to sponsor Tagliani only in the season opener at Sao Paulo, but has since expanded their program on the base of very strong results for the team all year.
29th-place Sarah Fisher will add the logos of Service Central to her self-owned No. 67 Dallara-Honda after teammate Jay Howard failed to qualify for the race in a dramatic last-second run.
Other new sponsors to the sport that signed on before qualifying for the race was completed include Quick Trim (Graham Rahal) and Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka (Ed Carpenter). Sponsors returning to the sport for this year's 500 that had their deals in place long ago include Herbalife (Townsend Bell), Mona Vie (Tomas Scheckter), Ipiranga (Ana Beatriz), Window World (John Andretti), and William Rast (Sebastien Saavedra).
Many cars had settled their sponsorship deals before qualifying, but upon making the race (or upon some cars missing the event), a handful of new deals have been signed, if only for this race. Running down the field, in order:
13th-place Mario Moraes of KV Racing Technology will carry Geico logos on the side of his No. 32 Dallara-Honda. Moraes has run the unsponsored KVRT car in every race since St. Petersburg. Moraes carried Banco Panamerica sponsorship in Sao Paulo. Geico, looking to remain in the race, made the natural switch from one KV car to the other when Paul Tracy failed to qualify for the event.
17th-place Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport will receive associate support from Virgin on his No. 37 Dallara-Honda. Richard Branson's mega-conglomerate jumped into Formula 1 racing last year with Brawn GP, the eventual constructors' champion, and 1-2 points finishers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. This year, Virgin took over the fledgling Manor GP outfit with drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi, renaming it Virgin GP, and creating the first F1 car constructed completely without wind-tunnel testing.
22nd-place Simona de Silvestro will carry the majority of last year's major Atlantic Championship supporters on her No. 78 HVM Racing Dallara-Honda for the race. TDS Telecommunications has signed on to back the car, alongside full-season backer Stargate Worlds and Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy. Nuclear Clean Air Energy and Entergy were sponsors of Newman Wachs Racing in Atlantic last year, as their drivers John Edwards and Jonathan Summerton finished 1-2 in the championship. De Silvestro, their closest competitor, finished third. Each driver took four of the 12 wins on the series schedule.
23rd-place Danica Patrick of Andretti Autosport will welcome Boost Mobile back to her No. 7 Dallara-Honda. Boost sponsored Patrick from last year's 500 to the end of last season, when she signed a lucrative deal with GoDaddy.com. This year, however, Boost will return as a secondary sponsor for the remainder of the schedule. Patrick filmed a commercial for Boost last year that should be familiar to most IndyCar fans, in which her pit crew serviced her car in drag. According to a Sprint news release, Boost will sponsor Adam Carroll in his IndyCar debut for Andretti later this year.
24th-place Bertrand Baguette of Conquest Racing will be funded by Angie's List. His No. 36 Dallara-Honda was the final car to qualify on Pole Day. Angie's List, a site where users can post reviews of doctors and contractors, has dipped into open-wheel sponsorship before, sponsoring Oriol Servia and KVRT in the 2008 IndyCar season finale at Chicagoland.
25th-place Bruno Junqueira will, like his FAZZT Race Team compatriot Alex Tagliani, carry the logos of Bowers & Wilkins on the side of his No. 33 Dallara-Honda. B&W originally planned to sponsor Tagliani only in the season opener at Sao Paulo, but has since expanded their program on the base of very strong results for the team all year.
29th-place Sarah Fisher will add the logos of Service Central to her self-owned No. 67 Dallara-Honda after teammate Jay Howard failed to qualify for the race in a dramatic last-second run.
Other new sponsors to the sport that signed on before qualifying for the race was completed include Quick Trim (Graham Rahal) and Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka (Ed Carpenter). Sponsors returning to the sport for this year's 500 that had their deals in place long ago include Herbalife (Townsend Bell), Mona Vie (Tomas Scheckter), Ipiranga (Ana Beatriz), Window World (John Andretti), and William Rast (Sebastien Saavedra).
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
United States Grand Prix Back on F1 Calendar
Autosport.com reports that 2012 will see the return of the United States Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar. The race will be held at a yet-to-be-constructed road course in Austin, Texas.
The event marks the return of F1 to the United States after a rocky eight-year relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, marred in one year by a disastrous Michelin tire compound that rendered the majority of the cars in the field unsafe to drive.
This will be the first time since 1980, the last year of competition at Watkins Glen, that a Formula 1 race will be held on a purpose-built road course. Since then, the majority of American F1 events have been street races; Indianapolis' event took place on a road course built inside the famed oval. However, this will be the first time that a track has been built specifically for F1 competition.
The Austin race deal is a ten-year contract that ends after the 2021 event.
The event marks the return of F1 to the United States after a rocky eight-year relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, marred in one year by a disastrous Michelin tire compound that rendered the majority of the cars in the field unsafe to drive.
This will be the first time since 1980, the last year of competition at Watkins Glen, that a Formula 1 race will be held on a purpose-built road course. Since then, the majority of American F1 events have been street races; Indianapolis' event took place on a road course built inside the famed oval. However, this will be the first time that a track has been built specifically for F1 competition.
The Austin race deal is a ten-year contract that ends after the 2021 event.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Bad Luck, Drama Lead To Enthralling Indy Qualifying Weekend
The 33-car field for this year's Indianapolis 500 has been set, and both Pole Day and Bump Day provided the fans with plenty of drama. One former open-wheel champion missed the field, while another barely made it.
Neither of those two, however, were three-time race winner Helio Castroneves. He took the provisional pole on Saturday, dueling with Team Penske teammate Will Power for the top starting spot. Dario Franchitti of Chip Ganassi Racing will start third, completing the first row. All five Penske and Ganassi cars, of course, made the nine-car pole shootout at the end of Pole Day.
The other four to fill out the shootout field, though, were a bit surprising. Alex Tagliani continued his fantastic streak of qualifying for FAZZT Race Team, placing fifth. He'll start in the middle of the second row, between fourth place Ryan Briscoe and sixth place Scott Dixon. The third row contains three shockers, as Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, and Hideki Mutoh all turned flying four-lap runs to make it in. Rahal and Carpenter do not have secure futures past next weekend's race, as they are Indy-only programs for Rahal Letterman Racing and Panther Racing, respectively.
The fourth row will be comprised of Townsend Bell, making his season debut; Justin Wilson, who led the four Dreyer & Reinbold Racing cars, all of which qualified on Saturday; and Raphael Matos, who had an outside shot at Indy glory next year. Matos' de Ferran Dragon Motorsports teammate, Davey Hamilton, will start in the middle of the fifth row, between Mario Moraes and Mike Conway. Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Dan Wheldon, all current or former Andretti Autosport drivers, make up the sixth row.
E.J. Viso bounced back from a crash earlier in the week to qualify 19th, in front of Dreyer & Reinbold teammates Tomas Scheckter and Ana Beatriz. Ranking 21st, Beatriz is the highest-starting rookie in the race, as well as the top female. In the latter category, however, Simona de Silvestro and Danica Patrick both qualified immediately behind her. Bertrand Baguette completed the eighth row as the last driver to qualify for the race.
Patrick was widely booed and criticized after her Saturday qualifying run for calling her No. 7 Dallara-Honda "the worst car (she's) ever had." Patrick currently sits 16th in IZOD IndyCar Series points, after five subpar runs to start the season and three poor stock car starts. She's fallen a long way after a fifth-place run in the championship last year that was buoyed by only one DNF.
Among the crashes on Saturday were Takuma Sato in the morning practice session, and Tony Kanaan during his qualifying run. Paul Tracy, Sarah Fisher, and Vitor Meira were among the other big names not to qualify on Pole Day.
Kanaan's weekend had some excess drama on Sunday morning, as he crashed another car in early morning practice. The final nine starting spots were filled early in the day, with Bruno Junqueira, Tagliani's FAZZT teammate, turning a run that would have put him in Saturday's pole shootout. Jay Howard bumped out Sato to hold 31st for much of the day, putting Sebastien Saavedra on the bubble. At 4:00, Kanaan, Sato, Milka Duno, and Jaques Lazier were the four drivers out of the field.
Lazier, to his credit, did a remarkable job for a driver that did not know he would be driving until Sunday morning; A.J. Foyt IV left his grandfather's team after comments critical of the car, and the longtime IndyCar competitor was called down to take over. He turned a 225 mile per hour lap earlier in the day, but aborted his first qualifying run after falling way off Saavedra's pace.
Meanwhile, Kanaan had been desperately seeking stability in his car all weekend. Both accidents during qualifying weekend came after the car snapped around exiting turn one, and during post-qualifying practice he nearly snapped the car around again. Kanaan knew Sunday night that he would not start in the top 10 for the first time since 2002; for much of Sunday, he did not know if he would start at all.
Kanaan received a break when Saavedra crashed in practice just before 5:00, but his laps before that accident weren't even close to Saavedra's four lap average. He and Sato put their cars in the field, while Mario Romancini moved up to 27th by the end of the day.
Paul Tracy and Jay Howard were the unfortunate victims of the two larger teams putting their marquee drivers in the field; both withdrew and attempted to re-qualify, leaving Saavedra on the bubble when he would have been ou of the race. Howard's run at the 6 pm gun, however, was too slow, and Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car champion and 2002 race runner-up, was left waiting in line. Duno and Lazier were also unable to turn qualifying runs fast enough to make the event.
The 33 drivers will now embark on a whirlwind media tour before Sunday's 500-mile race.
Neither of those two, however, were three-time race winner Helio Castroneves. He took the provisional pole on Saturday, dueling with Team Penske teammate Will Power for the top starting spot. Dario Franchitti of Chip Ganassi Racing will start third, completing the first row. All five Penske and Ganassi cars, of course, made the nine-car pole shootout at the end of Pole Day.
The other four to fill out the shootout field, though, were a bit surprising. Alex Tagliani continued his fantastic streak of qualifying for FAZZT Race Team, placing fifth. He'll start in the middle of the second row, between fourth place Ryan Briscoe and sixth place Scott Dixon. The third row contains three shockers, as Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, and Hideki Mutoh all turned flying four-lap runs to make it in. Rahal and Carpenter do not have secure futures past next weekend's race, as they are Indy-only programs for Rahal Letterman Racing and Panther Racing, respectively.
The fourth row will be comprised of Townsend Bell, making his season debut; Justin Wilson, who led the four Dreyer & Reinbold Racing cars, all of which qualified on Saturday; and Raphael Matos, who had an outside shot at Indy glory next year. Matos' de Ferran Dragon Motorsports teammate, Davey Hamilton, will start in the middle of the fifth row, between Mario Moraes and Mike Conway. Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Dan Wheldon, all current or former Andretti Autosport drivers, make up the sixth row.
E.J. Viso bounced back from a crash earlier in the week to qualify 19th, in front of Dreyer & Reinbold teammates Tomas Scheckter and Ana Beatriz. Ranking 21st, Beatriz is the highest-starting rookie in the race, as well as the top female. In the latter category, however, Simona de Silvestro and Danica Patrick both qualified immediately behind her. Bertrand Baguette completed the eighth row as the last driver to qualify for the race.
Patrick was widely booed and criticized after her Saturday qualifying run for calling her No. 7 Dallara-Honda "the worst car (she's) ever had." Patrick currently sits 16th in IZOD IndyCar Series points, after five subpar runs to start the season and three poor stock car starts. She's fallen a long way after a fifth-place run in the championship last year that was buoyed by only one DNF.
Among the crashes on Saturday were Takuma Sato in the morning practice session, and Tony Kanaan during his qualifying run. Paul Tracy, Sarah Fisher, and Vitor Meira were among the other big names not to qualify on Pole Day.
Kanaan's weekend had some excess drama on Sunday morning, as he crashed another car in early morning practice. The final nine starting spots were filled early in the day, with Bruno Junqueira, Tagliani's FAZZT teammate, turning a run that would have put him in Saturday's pole shootout. Jay Howard bumped out Sato to hold 31st for much of the day, putting Sebastien Saavedra on the bubble. At 4:00, Kanaan, Sato, Milka Duno, and Jaques Lazier were the four drivers out of the field.
Lazier, to his credit, did a remarkable job for a driver that did not know he would be driving until Sunday morning; A.J. Foyt IV left his grandfather's team after comments critical of the car, and the longtime IndyCar competitor was called down to take over. He turned a 225 mile per hour lap earlier in the day, but aborted his first qualifying run after falling way off Saavedra's pace.
Meanwhile, Kanaan had been desperately seeking stability in his car all weekend. Both accidents during qualifying weekend came after the car snapped around exiting turn one, and during post-qualifying practice he nearly snapped the car around again. Kanaan knew Sunday night that he would not start in the top 10 for the first time since 2002; for much of Sunday, he did not know if he would start at all.
Kanaan received a break when Saavedra crashed in practice just before 5:00, but his laps before that accident weren't even close to Saavedra's four lap average. He and Sato put their cars in the field, while Mario Romancini moved up to 27th by the end of the day.
Paul Tracy and Jay Howard were the unfortunate victims of the two larger teams putting their marquee drivers in the field; both withdrew and attempted to re-qualify, leaving Saavedra on the bubble when he would have been ou of the race. Howard's run at the 6 pm gun, however, was too slow, and Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car champion and 2002 race runner-up, was left waiting in line. Duno and Lazier were also unable to turn qualifying runs fast enough to make the event.
The 33 drivers will now embark on a whirlwind media tour before Sunday's 500-mile race.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Few Surprises Atop Practice Charts Heading Into Pole Day
Heading into today's Indianapolis 500 Pole Day, Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi own seven of the top 10 cars in combined practice results.
Each driver on the two teams - Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti, and Will Power - has placed a car in the top 10, with Castroneves and Dixon placing their backup cars in as well.
Tony Kanaan of Andretti Autosport is the best driver not to run for Penske or Ganassi, ranking third overall. He, Castroneves, and Dixon are the only three to break the 39.7 second mark for a single lap.
Paul Tracy sits in eighth with a hot lap of 39.7664, the best of the Indy 500 specials. Second best in that category is Graham Rahal, whose 39.9009 second lap leaves him in 16th. 17th, 18th, and 19th on the charts belong to three other Indy-only programs, those of Davey Hamilton, Ed Carpenter, and Townsend Bell.
Much has been made of the chances that five women may run in this year's Indianapolis 500; thus far, the fastest has been Swiss rookie Simona de Silvestro. Her 40.0288 second lap, turned in the sixth practice session, is good for 25th overall. Ana Beatriz, her closest female competition, is 34th, more than a tenth off the pace. Danica Patrick sits all the way back in 36th, and the fortunes of Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher have been even worse, with both mired in the bottom six cars.
Takuma Sato barely edged de Silvestro for top rookie honors over the past week, as the last driver (and only rookie) to break the 40 second barrier. He currently ranks 23rd. However, a practice crash earlier today may hamper his chances of qualifying today. The next best rookies are de Silvestro, Bertrand Baguette (30th), Beatriz, Jay Howard (37th), and Mario Romancini (38th).
37 cars will attempt to qualify in today's Pole Day sessions. For those that have not yet heard or grasped the new format, the top 24 cars will lock in their starting positions for the Indianapolis 500 today. Those sessions will take place between 11 am and 4 pm, and will be shown live on Versus. The fastest nine cars in today's session will then have their times erased, and be guaranteed to start no worse than ninth. They will make at least one qualifying attempt between 4:30 and 6 pm, with the fastest run during that time good for the pole. This year, qualifying for the 500 will also award points to the 33 drivers who make the field.
Each driver on the two teams - Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti, and Will Power - has placed a car in the top 10, with Castroneves and Dixon placing their backup cars in as well.
Tony Kanaan of Andretti Autosport is the best driver not to run for Penske or Ganassi, ranking third overall. He, Castroneves, and Dixon are the only three to break the 39.7 second mark for a single lap.
Paul Tracy sits in eighth with a hot lap of 39.7664, the best of the Indy 500 specials. Second best in that category is Graham Rahal, whose 39.9009 second lap leaves him in 16th. 17th, 18th, and 19th on the charts belong to three other Indy-only programs, those of Davey Hamilton, Ed Carpenter, and Townsend Bell.
Much has been made of the chances that five women may run in this year's Indianapolis 500; thus far, the fastest has been Swiss rookie Simona de Silvestro. Her 40.0288 second lap, turned in the sixth practice session, is good for 25th overall. Ana Beatriz, her closest female competition, is 34th, more than a tenth off the pace. Danica Patrick sits all the way back in 36th, and the fortunes of Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher have been even worse, with both mired in the bottom six cars.
Takuma Sato barely edged de Silvestro for top rookie honors over the past week, as the last driver (and only rookie) to break the 40 second barrier. He currently ranks 23rd. However, a practice crash earlier today may hamper his chances of qualifying today. The next best rookies are de Silvestro, Bertrand Baguette (30th), Beatriz, Jay Howard (37th), and Mario Romancini (38th).
37 cars will attempt to qualify in today's Pole Day sessions. For those that have not yet heard or grasped the new format, the top 24 cars will lock in their starting positions for the Indianapolis 500 today. Those sessions will take place between 11 am and 4 pm, and will be shown live on Versus. The fastest nine cars in today's session will then have their times erased, and be guaranteed to start no worse than ninth. They will make at least one qualifying attempt between 4:30 and 6 pm, with the fastest run during that time good for the pole. This year, qualifying for the 500 will also award points to the 33 drivers who make the field.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
New Faces Atop Tuesday's Practice Chart
Scott Dixon continued his ascent up the practice charts for the Indianapolis 500, setting the fastest laps of Tuesday's slightly shortened session.
Posting the third best lap of Saturday's practice and the second best of Sunday's, Dixon dethroned Helio Castroneves at the top of the charts on Tuesday with a 39.7265 second lap. Castroneves, for his part, was eighth, only three tenths of a second off, and still maintains the fastest lap of any practice session, a 39.6395 that he turned on Sunday.
Mario Moraes, who has been fast at Indianapolis each of the past two years, ranked second, about a tenth of a second off Dixon's pace, while Marco Andretti ranked third. The top 21 cars only had about half a second between them, and of the 36 who practiced, only Sebastien Saavedra and Milka Duno were more than a second off the pace.
Simona de Silvestro continued to impress by turning a 40.147 second lap, good for 10th overall and best of both the rookies and females in the field. Jay Howard was the next best rookie, his 40.234 time good for 15th; the next best woman was Sarah Fisher in 29th. Three of the women - Fisher, Danica Patrick, and rookie Ana Beatriz - ranked 29th, 30th, and 31st, respectively, on the charts.
The fastest driver with an Indy-only ride was Paul Tracy, who came in 11th with a 40.175 second lap. Next in that category were A.J. Foyt IV, who came in just behind Tracy in 12th, and John Andretti in 13th.
Fisher completed the fewest laps of anybody, with only 15. Alex Lloyd had the most laps completed of any driver, with a high of 81.
KV Racing Technology experienced two incidents over the course of the day, with Moraes spinning on his way out of pit lane and E.J. Viso wrecking at the end of the session. Viso was transported to Methodist Hospital for evaluation.
Posting the third best lap of Saturday's practice and the second best of Sunday's, Dixon dethroned Helio Castroneves at the top of the charts on Tuesday with a 39.7265 second lap. Castroneves, for his part, was eighth, only three tenths of a second off, and still maintains the fastest lap of any practice session, a 39.6395 that he turned on Sunday.
Mario Moraes, who has been fast at Indianapolis each of the past two years, ranked second, about a tenth of a second off Dixon's pace, while Marco Andretti ranked third. The top 21 cars only had about half a second between them, and of the 36 who practiced, only Sebastien Saavedra and Milka Duno were more than a second off the pace.
Simona de Silvestro continued to impress by turning a 40.147 second lap, good for 10th overall and best of both the rookies and females in the field. Jay Howard was the next best rookie, his 40.234 time good for 15th; the next best woman was Sarah Fisher in 29th. Three of the women - Fisher, Danica Patrick, and rookie Ana Beatriz - ranked 29th, 30th, and 31st, respectively, on the charts.
The fastest driver with an Indy-only ride was Paul Tracy, who came in 11th with a 40.175 second lap. Next in that category were A.J. Foyt IV, who came in just behind Tracy in 12th, and John Andretti in 13th.
Fisher completed the fewest laps of anybody, with only 15. Alex Lloyd had the most laps completed of any driver, with a high of 81.
KV Racing Technology experienced two incidents over the course of the day, with Moraes spinning on his way out of pit lane and E.J. Viso wrecking at the end of the session. Viso was transported to Methodist Hospital for evaluation.
Rain Dampens Indy, Dampers Practice
Constant rain has wreaked havoc in IZOD IndyCar Series practice for this year's Indianapolis 500.
Monday went by without a single car getting to turn a lap, as rain washed out all activities. Practice, which was supposed to take place between 12 and 6 pm, was cancelled at around 2:30. Many teams posted photos to their Twitter accounts of the soaked speedway, but claimed that their posts did not do justice to just how wet the track really was.
Cars have taken to the pit lane as of 12:30 PM, but with rain just a few miles away from the speedway, Tuesday's practice may be a wash too. This circumstance, if it happens, would leave teams with only three days of practice before Pole Day on Saturday. Unlike on road and street courses, Firestone does not produce a rain tire for oval tracks, quashing any such idea; driving on any sort of banking at such high speeds in the wet would be highly unsafe.
The Weather Channel's forecast for Speedway, IN suggests that tomorrow and Thursday will be clear, but scattered thunderstorms are a possibility for Friday. Pole Day and Bump Day, however, should be free of rain.
Monday went by without a single car getting to turn a lap, as rain washed out all activities. Practice, which was supposed to take place between 12 and 6 pm, was cancelled at around 2:30. Many teams posted photos to their Twitter accounts of the soaked speedway, but claimed that their posts did not do justice to just how wet the track really was.
Cars have taken to the pit lane as of 12:30 PM, but with rain just a few miles away from the speedway, Tuesday's practice may be a wash too. This circumstance, if it happens, would leave teams with only three days of practice before Pole Day on Saturday. Unlike on road and street courses, Firestone does not produce a rain tire for oval tracks, quashing any such idea; driving on any sort of banking at such high speeds in the wet would be highly unsafe.
The Weather Channel's forecast for Speedway, IN suggests that tomorrow and Thursday will be clear, but scattered thunderstorms are a possibility for Friday. Pole Day and Bump Day, however, should be free of rain.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Indianapolis or Bust: Bruno Junqueira
For the first time since 2000, Bruno Junqueira did not compete in a single major American open-wheel event last year. He looks to change that this year with the FAZZT Race Team, which will be competing in its first Indianapolis 500.
Junqueira did not race in the 500 last year, though he qualified a Conquest Racing car for the event. In a last-minute ride assembled not long before Bump Day, Junqueira put his No. 36 Dallara-Honda a solid 30th in the 33-car field, with about half a mile an hour advantage over last-place Ryan Hunter-Reay. Junqueira was never in question of being bumped by any of the other cars - though his team was a different story.
When Conquest lead driver Alex Tagliani missed the race, Junqueira vacated his seat to allow his teammate to compete. Tagliani, moved to the back of the field due to the driver chance, fought his way up to 11th place by the final lap and won race rookie of the year. FAZZT part-owner Tagliani will pay Junqueira back by giving him a solid ride for the 500 this year.
FAZZT has been good everywhere they've run thus far this year, almost always qualifying and running towards the front of the pack. In five races, Tagliani has three top-10s, was running up front at Brazil before being taken out by Dan Wheldon, and qualified seventh at Long Beach, where mechanical failure took him out with 19 laps to go. These good runs have been a surprise to most, as the equipment came from former backmarker Roth Racing.
Indy practice has not been kind to FAZZT thus far, as the team's best lap was nearly a second off leader Helio Castroneves' pace on Sunday; overall, in veteran practice, Tagliani has only been the 27th fastest driver (35th counting drivers who have turned laps in multiple cars). Junqueira has not yet turned a lap in his No. 33 Dallara-Honda. FAZZT will certainly have to find some speed with Tagliani in order to live up to its name, and not have to make the same bait-and-switch move that Conquest did last year.
Chances of winning the Indianapolis 500: C-
Chances of leading the Indianapolis 500 specials: B
Junqueira did not race in the 500 last year, though he qualified a Conquest Racing car for the event. In a last-minute ride assembled not long before Bump Day, Junqueira put his No. 36 Dallara-Honda a solid 30th in the 33-car field, with about half a mile an hour advantage over last-place Ryan Hunter-Reay. Junqueira was never in question of being bumped by any of the other cars - though his team was a different story.
When Conquest lead driver Alex Tagliani missed the race, Junqueira vacated his seat to allow his teammate to compete. Tagliani, moved to the back of the field due to the driver chance, fought his way up to 11th place by the final lap and won race rookie of the year. FAZZT part-owner Tagliani will pay Junqueira back by giving him a solid ride for the 500 this year.
FAZZT has been good everywhere they've run thus far this year, almost always qualifying and running towards the front of the pack. In five races, Tagliani has three top-10s, was running up front at Brazil before being taken out by Dan Wheldon, and qualified seventh at Long Beach, where mechanical failure took him out with 19 laps to go. These good runs have been a surprise to most, as the equipment came from former backmarker Roth Racing.
Indy practice has not been kind to FAZZT thus far, as the team's best lap was nearly a second off leader Helio Castroneves' pace on Sunday; overall, in veteran practice, Tagliani has only been the 27th fastest driver (35th counting drivers who have turned laps in multiple cars). Junqueira has not yet turned a lap in his No. 33 Dallara-Honda. FAZZT will certainly have to find some speed with Tagliani in order to live up to its name, and not have to make the same bait-and-switch move that Conquest did last year.
Chances of winning the Indianapolis 500: C-
Chances of leading the Indianapolis 500 specials: B
Indianapolis or Bust: Graham Rahal
Both Graham Rahal and Rahal Letterman Racing have fallen from the peaks of IndyCar racing. A lack of sponsorship has put the driver's immediate future into question, and limited the team to Indianapolis 500-only entries for each of the past two years. In a way, both view a chance at winning Indy as redemption after some tough times.
Rahal, seventh in points last year, lost his McDonald's sponsorship at Newman/Haas Racing, and the team kept him hanging on a thread in the offseason as other rides filled up. He turned down an opportunity at Dale Coyne Racing, instead running a limited schedule with Sarah Fisher Racing at the beginning of the season.
Last year, neither driver nor team had much success at Indianapolis; while Graham Rahal qualified fourth, he crashed coming out of turn 4 in the race for the second year in a row, and finished 31st. Meanwhile, Rahal Letterman's lone car, which had been qualified 26th by Oriol Servia, finished 25th after a fuel pump failed just before the halfway mark.
The one-race dream team of father and son will get a chance to show their stuff. Team owner and father Bobby Rahal has always wanted son Graham to establish his own identity as a racer instead of driving the family equipment (a la Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter), but the combination of Graham's unemployment and Bobby's need for a driver who can attract sponsorship dollars made perfect sense. Indeed, the team signed dietary supplement Quick Trim to back them before even unloading for the first practice on Saturday; last year, many teams had to wait until later to attract sponsorship.
Rahal's driving talent has never been brought into question, even if he's failed to finish both Indianapolis 500s he's started, crashing the same way in both events. This is still the same driver that won his first IndyCar race, finished fifth in points in the final season of Champ Car, and improved tremendously as a driver last season, securing all of his top five finishes on ovals. As far as Rahal the driver goes, nobody should have anything to worry about.
Rahal the team, however, is a different story. It's important to note that Rahal Letterman has never found much success with the Dallara chassis. Its Indianapolis 500 win with Buddy Rice in 2004 came with a Panoz G-Force chassis, and since the team's switch in the middle of 2006 it has only won one race, with Ryan Hunter-Reay at Watkins Glen in 2008.
Add to this the fact that Rahal's is obviously old equipment, perhaps even the car that experienced mechanical failure last year, and the team will enter this year's 500 with some major question marks. While the car has been solid thus far in practice, turning a hot lap good for 10th in Sunday's veteran practice, it remains to be seen if the car will have the durability to go 500 miles.
Chances of winning the Indianapolis 500: C+
Chances of leading the Indianapolis 500 specials: B+
Rahal, seventh in points last year, lost his McDonald's sponsorship at Newman/Haas Racing, and the team kept him hanging on a thread in the offseason as other rides filled up. He turned down an opportunity at Dale Coyne Racing, instead running a limited schedule with Sarah Fisher Racing at the beginning of the season.
Last year, neither driver nor team had much success at Indianapolis; while Graham Rahal qualified fourth, he crashed coming out of turn 4 in the race for the second year in a row, and finished 31st. Meanwhile, Rahal Letterman's lone car, which had been qualified 26th by Oriol Servia, finished 25th after a fuel pump failed just before the halfway mark.
The one-race dream team of father and son will get a chance to show their stuff. Team owner and father Bobby Rahal has always wanted son Graham to establish his own identity as a racer instead of driving the family equipment (a la Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter), but the combination of Graham's unemployment and Bobby's need for a driver who can attract sponsorship dollars made perfect sense. Indeed, the team signed dietary supplement Quick Trim to back them before even unloading for the first practice on Saturday; last year, many teams had to wait until later to attract sponsorship.
Rahal's driving talent has never been brought into question, even if he's failed to finish both Indianapolis 500s he's started, crashing the same way in both events. This is still the same driver that won his first IndyCar race, finished fifth in points in the final season of Champ Car, and improved tremendously as a driver last season, securing all of his top five finishes on ovals. As far as Rahal the driver goes, nobody should have anything to worry about.
Rahal the team, however, is a different story. It's important to note that Rahal Letterman has never found much success with the Dallara chassis. Its Indianapolis 500 win with Buddy Rice in 2004 came with a Panoz G-Force chassis, and since the team's switch in the middle of 2006 it has only won one race, with Ryan Hunter-Reay at Watkins Glen in 2008.
Add to this the fact that Rahal's is obviously old equipment, perhaps even the car that experienced mechanical failure last year, and the team will enter this year's 500 with some major question marks. While the car has been solid thus far in practice, turning a hot lap good for 10th in Sunday's veteran practice, it remains to be seen if the car will have the durability to go 500 miles.
Chances of winning the Indianapolis 500: C+
Chances of leading the Indianapolis 500 specials: B+
Indianapolis or Bust: Paul Tracy
This series will highlight the Indianapolis 500 chances of some of the one-race "specials" in the field. These teams are defined as limited-race enterprises with Indianapolis as their focus and any other races as a bonus. Indianapolis has always brought together interesting pairings of drivers and teams, and this year's event will be no different. First in the series is Paul Tracy.
Paul Tracy competed in his first Indianapolis 500 since 2002 last year, his first of six starts for KV Racing Technology and A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Unlike the 2002 event, where Tracy contended for a victory, he was never a huge factor in 2009, but did manage to salvage a ninth place finish.
Tracy was actually KV's second best driver in the event, as Townsend Bell, another driver with a one-race deal, pulled off a very impressive fourth place finish. As far as Indy 500 specials went, however, KV had the two best, and even put both in the top 10. Only a first-turn incident on the first lap that took out Mario Moraes put a damper on KV's day.
Tracy will have his former team owner, Barry Green, on board as race strategist this year. Keep in mind that the pairing nearly won the 2002 event, only to have the victory kept away from them after an unsuccessful appeal regarding the timing of Tracy's pass of Helio Castroneves in relation to the caution lights.
Tracy is still a monumental talent, who posted some decent finishes last year for KV - three top 10 finishes, including a sixth at Edmonton. Though Tracy hasn't won a race in nearly three years, dating back to the 2007 Champ Car event at Cleveland, he still believes he can win the 500. "I'm going to Sport Clips to get a hair cut," Tracy wrote on Twitter. "Need to look my best to put my face on the Borg Warner." He also told the press that he has lost a substantial amount of weight, an important factor that can give the car an extra tenth of a second around the track, according to team owner Jimmy Vasser.
As for KV, it is widely recognized as having some of the better cars in the sport, although some of the other drivers on the team are not yet up to par with Tracy's skill. Moraes' two top-10s are the best results for the team thus far in 2010, though new driver Takuma Sato has had some strong runs before bad luck ended his days. If anybody can put a KV car in victory lane at Indy, though, it should be Tracy - he has the discipline to win races, something no other KV driver has done yet.
Chances of winning the Indianapolis 500: B
Chances of leading the Indianapolis 500 specials: A-
Paul Tracy competed in his first Indianapolis 500 since 2002 last year, his first of six starts for KV Racing Technology and A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Unlike the 2002 event, where Tracy contended for a victory, he was never a huge factor in 2009, but did manage to salvage a ninth place finish.
Tracy was actually KV's second best driver in the event, as Townsend Bell, another driver with a one-race deal, pulled off a very impressive fourth place finish. As far as Indy 500 specials went, however, KV had the two best, and even put both in the top 10. Only a first-turn incident on the first lap that took out Mario Moraes put a damper on KV's day.
Tracy will have his former team owner, Barry Green, on board as race strategist this year. Keep in mind that the pairing nearly won the 2002 event, only to have the victory kept away from them after an unsuccessful appeal regarding the timing of Tracy's pass of Helio Castroneves in relation to the caution lights.
Tracy is still a monumental talent, who posted some decent finishes last year for KV - three top 10 finishes, including a sixth at Edmonton. Though Tracy hasn't won a race in nearly three years, dating back to the 2007 Champ Car event at Cleveland, he still believes he can win the 500. "I'm going to Sport Clips to get a hair cut," Tracy wrote on Twitter. "Need to look my best to put my face on the Borg Warner." He also told the press that he has lost a substantial amount of weight, an important factor that can give the car an extra tenth of a second around the track, according to team owner Jimmy Vasser.
As for KV, it is widely recognized as having some of the better cars in the sport, although some of the other drivers on the team are not yet up to par with Tracy's skill. Moraes' two top-10s are the best results for the team thus far in 2010, though new driver Takuma Sato has had some strong runs before bad luck ended his days. If anybody can put a KV car in victory lane at Indy, though, it should be Tracy - he has the discipline to win races, something no other KV driver has done yet.
Chances of winning the Indianapolis 500: B
Chances of leading the Indianapolis 500 specials: A-
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Castroneves Paces Sunday Practice
For the second day in a row, Helio Castroneves and Team Penske set the pace in early Indianapolis 500 practice, and for the second day in a row, the two Chip Ganassi Racing cars were hot on his trail.
Castroneves' 39.639 second hot lap was under a tenth of a second better than yesterday's pace-setter, but was still good enough to beat the rest of the field. Scott Dixon, who was second best, actually turned a slower lap than his best yesterday, but still moved up a spot from Saturday's results. In all, 14 drivers turned slower laps on Sunday than they did on Saturday, with names like Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon, and Danica Patrick included in that list. Wheldon's run, however, was sabotaged by an incident in Turn 4.
33 drivers participated in Sunday's practice, with seven rookies completing Rookie Orientation and gaining eligibility to drive with the experienced veterans. They included Ana Beatriz (22nd), Mario Romancini (28th), Takuma Sato (29th), Bertrand Baguette (31st), Sebastien Saavedra (33rd), Jay Howard (did not participate), and Simona de Silvestro (did not participate). Howard maintains the best single lap on any rookie, with a 40.397 run in the morning's rookie practice. Howard remains the only rookie to break the 222 mph barrier on any given lap.
Over two days of practice, Romancini has driven the most laps around the circuit, with 120 - 91 in rookie practices and 29 in today's feature. Thus far the only other driver to break 100 laps completed is Baguette, Romancini's Conquest Racing teammate. Ryan Hunter-Reay's 16 laps stand as the fewest completed of any driver.
As for drivers to break 40 seconds thus far, the list is short: Castroneves, Franchitti, Dixon, Wheldon, Will Power, Tony Kanaan, and Mario Moraes. Of those seven, only Wheldon failed to qualify on Pole Day last year; all should be a threat for this year's honor. These drivers have combined for six wins, five poles, and 1009 laps led at the track.
Indianapolis 500 practice continues through this week, with Pole Day set for May 22 and Bump Day on the following day.
Castroneves' 39.639 second hot lap was under a tenth of a second better than yesterday's pace-setter, but was still good enough to beat the rest of the field. Scott Dixon, who was second best, actually turned a slower lap than his best yesterday, but still moved up a spot from Saturday's results. In all, 14 drivers turned slower laps on Sunday than they did on Saturday, with names like Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon, and Danica Patrick included in that list. Wheldon's run, however, was sabotaged by an incident in Turn 4.
33 drivers participated in Sunday's practice, with seven rookies completing Rookie Orientation and gaining eligibility to drive with the experienced veterans. They included Ana Beatriz (22nd), Mario Romancini (28th), Takuma Sato (29th), Bertrand Baguette (31st), Sebastien Saavedra (33rd), Jay Howard (did not participate), and Simona de Silvestro (did not participate). Howard maintains the best single lap on any rookie, with a 40.397 run in the morning's rookie practice. Howard remains the only rookie to break the 222 mph barrier on any given lap.
Over two days of practice, Romancini has driven the most laps around the circuit, with 120 - 91 in rookie practices and 29 in today's feature. Thus far the only other driver to break 100 laps completed is Baguette, Romancini's Conquest Racing teammate. Ryan Hunter-Reay's 16 laps stand as the fewest completed of any driver.
As for drivers to break 40 seconds thus far, the list is short: Castroneves, Franchitti, Dixon, Wheldon, Will Power, Tony Kanaan, and Mario Moraes. Of those seven, only Wheldon failed to qualify on Pole Day last year; all should be a threat for this year's honor. These drivers have combined for six wins, five poles, and 1009 laps led at the track.
Indianapolis 500 practice continues through this week, with Pole Day set for May 22 and Bump Day on the following day.
Indy 500 Practice Underway
The past two days have seen IZOD IndyCar Series competitors take to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway in early preparations for the 2010 Indianapolis 500. The 94th running of the famed race is set for May 30.
Over the past two days, two Rookie Orientation practices have been held, as well as daily practices for the rest of the field. Among the drivers participating in refresher runs with the rookies on Saturday were Tomas Scheckter, Graham Rahal, and Townsend Bell, who finished 1-2-3 in their practice session and did not have to participate again on Sunday. Series veterans participating on Sunday in the rookie session included A.J. Foyt IV and Davey Hamilton. All five drivers' best laps broke the 41-second mark. The fastest lap of an actual race rookie was turned by Jay Howard on Sunday; his time was 40.397.
Yesterday's full field practice saw 23 drivers in 27 cars, with the best lap of 39.717 seconds set by Helio Castroneves. Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, and Dan Wheldon are the only drivers to break the 40-second barrier thus far this year at the speedway. All four drivers' best laps were faster than last year's pole speed.
Andretti Autosport driver Tony Kanaan, undoubtedly desperate at this point in his career to finally win at Indy after so many unlucky runs, turned laps in all five of his team's cars. His best lap actually came in the No. 43 Dallara-Honda of John Andretti, a lap good enough for fifth overall. His own No. 11 car turned the sixth best lap. His hot laps in the No. 26, No. 7, and No. 37 were 15th, 16th, and 25th, respectively, all slower than their regular drivers. Marco Andretti placed his No. 26 in eighth, Danica Patrick's best lap in the No. 7 was good for 14th, and Ryan Hunter-Reay's hot lap was good for 22nd.
Among the slowest teams out of the gate were Dale Coyne Racing (Milka Duno 21st, Alex Lloyd 24th) and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Mike Conway 23rd, Justin Wilson 26th). For DRR, Scheckter's lap in rookie practice was actually faster than the bests of either of their full-time drivers. Paul Tracy, in his first IndyCar run of the season, brought up the rear of the field, but in a testament to how close the racing will be this year, was less than a second away from the top five. In fact, fifth place through 20th place all had fastest laps within half a second of one another.
Though Pole Day doesn't come until next weekend, when the weather may be drastically different and some teams may have found an extra edge, the first practice sessions suggest that getting into this year's Indy 500 may be the toughest field to crack in years. We should know more about who's going to be in safely and who's going to need an extra push on bump day with further practices this weekend.
Over the past two days, two Rookie Orientation practices have been held, as well as daily practices for the rest of the field. Among the drivers participating in refresher runs with the rookies on Saturday were Tomas Scheckter, Graham Rahal, and Townsend Bell, who finished 1-2-3 in their practice session and did not have to participate again on Sunday. Series veterans participating on Sunday in the rookie session included A.J. Foyt IV and Davey Hamilton. All five drivers' best laps broke the 41-second mark. The fastest lap of an actual race rookie was turned by Jay Howard on Sunday; his time was 40.397.
Yesterday's full field practice saw 23 drivers in 27 cars, with the best lap of 39.717 seconds set by Helio Castroneves. Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, and Dan Wheldon are the only drivers to break the 40-second barrier thus far this year at the speedway. All four drivers' best laps were faster than last year's pole speed.
Andretti Autosport driver Tony Kanaan, undoubtedly desperate at this point in his career to finally win at Indy after so many unlucky runs, turned laps in all five of his team's cars. His best lap actually came in the No. 43 Dallara-Honda of John Andretti, a lap good enough for fifth overall. His own No. 11 car turned the sixth best lap. His hot laps in the No. 26, No. 7, and No. 37 were 15th, 16th, and 25th, respectively, all slower than their regular drivers. Marco Andretti placed his No. 26 in eighth, Danica Patrick's best lap in the No. 7 was good for 14th, and Ryan Hunter-Reay's hot lap was good for 22nd.
Among the slowest teams out of the gate were Dale Coyne Racing (Milka Duno 21st, Alex Lloyd 24th) and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Mike Conway 23rd, Justin Wilson 26th). For DRR, Scheckter's lap in rookie practice was actually faster than the bests of either of their full-time drivers. Paul Tracy, in his first IndyCar run of the season, brought up the rear of the field, but in a testament to how close the racing will be this year, was less than a second away from the top five. In fact, fifth place through 20th place all had fastest laps within half a second of one another.
Though Pole Day doesn't come until next weekend, when the weather may be drastically different and some teams may have found an extra edge, the first practice sessions suggest that getting into this year's Indy 500 may be the toughest field to crack in years. We should know more about who's going to be in safely and who's going to need an extra push on bump day with further practices this weekend.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Rahals Find Indy 500 Sponsor
Rahal Letterman Racing and driver Graham Rahal will carry the purple and white colors of Quick Trim on their No. 30 Dallara-Honda for this year's Indianapolis 500.
Putting to rest earlier theories about the car's number change from No. 17, such as the return of former IndyCar sponsor Domino's Pizza, the team unloaded the car on Saturday with the new sponsor already on the car. It will be Quick Trim's first IZOD IndyCar Series race as a sponsor, and the younger Rahal's first race for his father Bobby's team if the car qualifies for the event.
Quick Trim is a popular diet system that claims to burn calories and supercharge workouts. It is endorsed by popular celebrities like the Kardashian sisters, Kim and Khloe, stars of popular E! reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The product is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee as advertised on its website.
Putting to rest earlier theories about the car's number change from No. 17, such as the return of former IndyCar sponsor Domino's Pizza, the team unloaded the car on Saturday with the new sponsor already on the car. It will be Quick Trim's first IZOD IndyCar Series race as a sponsor, and the younger Rahal's first race for his father Bobby's team if the car qualifies for the event.
Quick Trim is a popular diet system that claims to burn calories and supercharge workouts. It is endorsed by popular celebrities like the Kardashian sisters, Kim and Khloe, stars of popular E! reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The product is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee as advertised on its website.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Four For Dreyer & Reinbold at Indy
For the second year in a row, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will campaign a quartet of Dallara-Hondas in an Indianapolis 500, with the announcement of fourth driver Ana Beatriz.
Beatriz, who drove the team's No. 23 car in the season-opening event on the streets of Sao Paulo, will return to the team in its No. 25 for Indy. Tomas Scheckter will drive the No. 23 with backing from Mona Vie. Justin Wilson and Mike Conway will be at the helm of their usual rides, the No. 22 and No. 24 cars. Only Conway returns to the team from last year's 500.
Last year, the team provided rides for Conway and Milka Duno, with partnerships with Kingdom Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports providing funding for Davey Hamilton and John Andretti, respectively. All four cars struggled heading up to the race, with only Hamilton qualifying before Bump Day. Conway started 27th, Andretti qualified 28th, and Duno began the race in 30th.
The race itself was not much better for the team, with Conway, Andretti, and Duno placing 18th, 19th, and 20th. Conway and Andretti were the final cars on the lead lap, while Duno was the first car to finish a lap down. Hamilton placed 29th after a single-car accident 79 laps into the race ended his day.
Undeterred by last year's struggles, however, DRR will attempt to qualify four cars without any team-to-team partnerships this year. Hamilton and Andretti have taken their personal sponsorship packages for the month of May elsewhere, to de Ferran-Luczo Dragon Racing and Andretti Autosport, respectively, allowing Scheckter and Beatriz to step in.
Unlike last year's ringers, Scheckter and Beatriz are quite familiar with DRR. Scheckter's season began at Indy for another team last year, where he qualified 26th and finished an impressive 12th with Dale Coyne Racing. But that result led DRR to snap him up for a ten-race schedule over the rest of the year, with a best finish of sixth coming at Iowa. Scheckter hopes that another strong Indy run will do the same for him this year.
Beatriz finished 13th at Sao Paulo following two successful seasons in Firestone Indy Lights with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. She won one race each year, finishing third in points in 2008 and eighth last year. She finished fifth at the Freedom 100, Indianapolis' Lights race, in 2008, but was injured in a crash there last year.
This year, Wilson sits 6th in points through five races, while Conway ranks 15th. Wilson's highlights of the year have been runner-up placings at St. Petersburg and Long Beach, while Conway has three top-10s, with a best run of eighth at Sao Paulo. Conway's improvement has been marked; through five races last year, his only finish came at Indy, but thus far this year he has only one DNF, after a daring move on Rafa Matos at St. Pete put him in the wall.
Rookie orientation, which Beatriz must pass to attempt to qualify for the race, will take place May 15-16, with IZOD IndyCar Series teams beginning practice on those days as well. Qualifying will take place the following weekend, May 22-23.
Beatriz, who drove the team's No. 23 car in the season-opening event on the streets of Sao Paulo, will return to the team in its No. 25 for Indy. Tomas Scheckter will drive the No. 23 with backing from Mona Vie. Justin Wilson and Mike Conway will be at the helm of their usual rides, the No. 22 and No. 24 cars. Only Conway returns to the team from last year's 500.
Last year, the team provided rides for Conway and Milka Duno, with partnerships with Kingdom Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports providing funding for Davey Hamilton and John Andretti, respectively. All four cars struggled heading up to the race, with only Hamilton qualifying before Bump Day. Conway started 27th, Andretti qualified 28th, and Duno began the race in 30th.
The race itself was not much better for the team, with Conway, Andretti, and Duno placing 18th, 19th, and 20th. Conway and Andretti were the final cars on the lead lap, while Duno was the first car to finish a lap down. Hamilton placed 29th after a single-car accident 79 laps into the race ended his day.
Undeterred by last year's struggles, however, DRR will attempt to qualify four cars without any team-to-team partnerships this year. Hamilton and Andretti have taken their personal sponsorship packages for the month of May elsewhere, to de Ferran-Luczo Dragon Racing and Andretti Autosport, respectively, allowing Scheckter and Beatriz to step in.
Unlike last year's ringers, Scheckter and Beatriz are quite familiar with DRR. Scheckter's season began at Indy for another team last year, where he qualified 26th and finished an impressive 12th with Dale Coyne Racing. But that result led DRR to snap him up for a ten-race schedule over the rest of the year, with a best finish of sixth coming at Iowa. Scheckter hopes that another strong Indy run will do the same for him this year.
Beatriz finished 13th at Sao Paulo following two successful seasons in Firestone Indy Lights with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. She won one race each year, finishing third in points in 2008 and eighth last year. She finished fifth at the Freedom 100, Indianapolis' Lights race, in 2008, but was injured in a crash there last year.
This year, Wilson sits 6th in points through five races, while Conway ranks 15th. Wilson's highlights of the year have been runner-up placings at St. Petersburg and Long Beach, while Conway has three top-10s, with a best run of eighth at Sao Paulo. Conway's improvement has been marked; through five races last year, his only finish came at Indy, but thus far this year he has only one DNF, after a daring move on Rafa Matos at St. Pete put him in the wall.
Rookie orientation, which Beatriz must pass to attempt to qualify for the race, will take place May 15-16, with IZOD IndyCar Series teams beginning practice on those days as well. Qualifying will take place the following weekend, May 22-23.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Vision Racing Finds Sponsorship For Indianapolis 500
Vision Racing will finally return to the IZOD IndyCar Series at this month's Indianapolis 500 after a five-race hiatus, carrying the primary sponsorship of Fuzzy Zoeller's Premium Vodka on their No. 20 Dallara-Honda.
Ed Carpenter will return to the driver's seat, making his 100th career IndyCar start in the process. The car will be run in conjunction with Panther Racing.
Fuzzy Zoeller's Premium Vodka was launched last year by professional golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, an Indiana native, and the winner of the 1979 Masters and 1984 U.S. Open. Zoeller's vodka distinguishes itself by a filtering process distinct from that of other vodkas, going through crushed volcanic rock and charcoal ten times, according to the product's website. Buoyed by a gold medal awarded by Chicago's International Beverage Testing Institute last year, it is currently available in the midwest, with the intent of national and worldwide launches in the near future.
While the car's livery has not yet been unveiled, preview photos on Facebook show that the car will be midnight black, deviating from last year's day-glo yellow. The team plans on unveiling the paint scheme within the week.
Ed Carpenter will return to the driver's seat, making his 100th career IndyCar start in the process. The car will be run in conjunction with Panther Racing.
Fuzzy Zoeller's Premium Vodka was launched last year by professional golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, an Indiana native, and the winner of the 1979 Masters and 1984 U.S. Open. Zoeller's vodka distinguishes itself by a filtering process distinct from that of other vodkas, going through crushed volcanic rock and charcoal ten times, according to the product's website. Buoyed by a gold medal awarded by Chicago's International Beverage Testing Institute last year, it is currently available in the midwest, with the intent of national and worldwide launches in the near future.
While the car's livery has not yet been unveiled, preview photos on Facebook show that the car will be midnight black, deviating from last year's day-glo yellow. The team plans on unveiling the paint scheme within the week.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Theories Behind No. 30 For Rahal
Since today's announcement that Graham Rahal will be driving a No. 30 car for Rahal Letterman Racing in this year's Indianapolis 500, speculation has run rampant as to why the car's number was changed for No. 17. RLR has run a No. 17 car throughout most of its time in the IRL, and has never run a No. 30 car. Some of the theories include:
- A reference to the No. 3 Truesports car that team owner Bobby Rahal won the race with in 1986. No. 3 itself is unavailable, as is No. 33, but No. 30 has not been taken in the 500 since 2002, when George Mack drove the number to a 17th-place finish, two laps down. The last team to campaign the No. 30 full-time was McCormack Motorsports, which shut down in 2001.
- A reference to the 30th season that Bobby Rahal has been involved with major open-wheel racing in North America, but unless there's some data from 1981 of which I am unaware, 2010 marks his 29th season. Rahal made his CART debut in 1982. No. 29 is taken by Sebastien Saavedra and Bryan Herta Autosport.
- Finally, the theory that makes the most sense (and is the most exciting for history buffs) refers to a No. 30 car from the heyday of the 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Between 1982 and 1990, Shierson Racing entered a No. 30 car sponsored by Domino's Pizza in every Indianapolis 500, usually posting strong results. In its final year, 1990, driver Arie Luyendyk took the team to victory. Other former 500 winners to drive the car included Al Unser Jr. and Danny Sullivan.
Explaining the car number, Domino's Pizza offered a "30 minutes or it's free" guarantee for pizza delivery throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It reintroduced the concept, though not the money-back guarantee, in 2007 with its slogan "You Got 30 Minutes." Most recently, Domino's has been reinventing itself as a brand, going to great lengths to promote its new pizza recipe.
The brand has been out of racing since 2007, when its NASCAR sponsorship proved unsuccessful, but may be looking to return for Indianapolis with the right combination of driver and team. The father-son combo at RLR may just be it.
- A reference to the No. 3 Truesports car that team owner Bobby Rahal won the race with in 1986. No. 3 itself is unavailable, as is No. 33, but No. 30 has not been taken in the 500 since 2002, when George Mack drove the number to a 17th-place finish, two laps down. The last team to campaign the No. 30 full-time was McCormack Motorsports, which shut down in 2001.
- A reference to the 30th season that Bobby Rahal has been involved with major open-wheel racing in North America, but unless there's some data from 1981 of which I am unaware, 2010 marks his 29th season. Rahal made his CART debut in 1982. No. 29 is taken by Sebastien Saavedra and Bryan Herta Autosport.
- Finally, the theory that makes the most sense (and is the most exciting for history buffs) refers to a No. 30 car from the heyday of the 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Between 1982 and 1990, Shierson Racing entered a No. 30 car sponsored by Domino's Pizza in every Indianapolis 500, usually posting strong results. In its final year, 1990, driver Arie Luyendyk took the team to victory. Other former 500 winners to drive the car included Al Unser Jr. and Danny Sullivan.
Explaining the car number, Domino's Pizza offered a "30 minutes or it's free" guarantee for pizza delivery throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It reintroduced the concept, though not the money-back guarantee, in 2007 with its slogan "You Got 30 Minutes." Most recently, Domino's has been reinventing itself as a brand, going to great lengths to promote its new pizza recipe.
The brand has been out of racing since 2007, when its NASCAR sponsorship proved unsuccessful, but may be looking to return for Indianapolis with the right combination of driver and team. The father-son combo at RLR may just be it.
Father-Son Effort For Rahals at Indy
You wouldn't really know it by looking at his popular Twitter account, but the news is starting to come out in earnest that Graham Rahal will finally drive for father Bobby's team, Rahal Letterman Racing, in this year's Indianapolis 500.
Rahal posted to Twitter last night, "Everyone check out USA Today tomorrow, news flash." USA Today racing reporter Gary Graves first reported the deal between father and son, and now both the driver's site and the team site confirm it.
Rahal's car will carry No. 30, likely in reference to the No. 3 car that won the 1986 running with Bobby Rahal behind the wheel. Originally, the car was recognized on the entry list as No. 17.
Graham Rahal ran three races earlier this season for Sarah Fisher Racing, with a best finish of 9th at St. Petersburg. Last year, driving for Newman/Haas, he finished 7th in points, with third place finishes at Richmond and Motegi his best showings. His last win came in 2008 at St. Petersburg.
Rahal Letterman Racing has not competed full-time in the IZOD IndyCar Series since 2008, when they won at Watkins Glen with Ryan Hunter-Reay. Last year they only contested the 500, with Oriol Servia qualifying 25th and finishing 26th due to mechanical issues. The team won the race in 2004 with Buddy Rice. Its best points finish since joining the IRL also came with Rice in 2004, when they finished third overall.
Sponsorship for the car has not yet been announced, but is expected to be in place before cars first take to the track on May 16.
Rahal posted to Twitter last night, "Everyone check out USA Today tomorrow, news flash." USA Today racing reporter Gary Graves first reported the deal between father and son, and now both the driver's site and the team site confirm it.
Rahal's car will carry No. 30, likely in reference to the No. 3 car that won the 1986 running with Bobby Rahal behind the wheel. Originally, the car was recognized on the entry list as No. 17.
Graham Rahal ran three races earlier this season for Sarah Fisher Racing, with a best finish of 9th at St. Petersburg. Last year, driving for Newman/Haas, he finished 7th in points, with third place finishes at Richmond and Motegi his best showings. His last win came in 2008 at St. Petersburg.
Rahal Letterman Racing has not competed full-time in the IZOD IndyCar Series since 2008, when they won at Watkins Glen with Ryan Hunter-Reay. Last year they only contested the 500, with Oriol Servia qualifying 25th and finishing 26th due to mechanical issues. The team won the race in 2004 with Buddy Rice. Its best points finish since joining the IRL also came with Rice in 2004, when they finished third overall.
Sponsorship for the car has not yet been announced, but is expected to be in place before cars first take to the track on May 16.
IndyCar May Return to the Eastern Seaboard With Baltimore Race
The idea of an IZOD IndyCar Series race in Baltimore, Maryland first came up seriously early last summer, just days after one of the worst races of the season took place at Richmond International Raceway. Playing to the IRL's recent embrace of street courses, the event would take place on a two-plus mile track that circled Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Camden Yards, home of baseball's Orioles.
Today, Baltimore city officials approved a favorable five-year deal that should all but guarantee the track a place on the IndyCar schedule in 2011 and beyond. Sources say the lease costs $1.25 million a year, along with $7.5 million earmarked for upgrades to the streets on which the cars will race.
Baltimore Racing Development, which was established in 2007 to try to make the Baltimore Grand Prix a reality, released its Economic Impact Report on Monday, and the numbers were more than enough to impress the city. Projections suggest $70 million of yearly revenue generated by the race, $6 million in taxes, and 400 full-time equivalent jobs generated by the event, which is expected to draw at least 100,000 spectators. The report also claims that the city of Baltimore will receive $5.5 million worth of media exposure from the event.
Among the benefits to hosting a race in Baltimore are its central location - less than two hours from Washington DC and Philadelphia by car or rail, and an hour flight away from New York and Boston. Open-wheel racing has neglected these markets as of late, with former races in Loudon, Dover, Richmond, and Nazareth off the schedule. The only race in the northeastern part of America right now is the July 4 Watkins Glen event. Heading to Baltimore will help reclaim a fanbase in this crucial area of the country.
No date has been set for the 2011 Baltimore Grand Prix.
Today, Baltimore city officials approved a favorable five-year deal that should all but guarantee the track a place on the IndyCar schedule in 2011 and beyond. Sources say the lease costs $1.25 million a year, along with $7.5 million earmarked for upgrades to the streets on which the cars will race.
Baltimore Racing Development, which was established in 2007 to try to make the Baltimore Grand Prix a reality, released its Economic Impact Report on Monday, and the numbers were more than enough to impress the city. Projections suggest $70 million of yearly revenue generated by the race, $6 million in taxes, and 400 full-time equivalent jobs generated by the event, which is expected to draw at least 100,000 spectators. The report also claims that the city of Baltimore will receive $5.5 million worth of media exposure from the event.
Among the benefits to hosting a race in Baltimore are its central location - less than two hours from Washington DC and Philadelphia by car or rail, and an hour flight away from New York and Boston. Open-wheel racing has neglected these markets as of late, with former races in Loudon, Dover, Richmond, and Nazareth off the schedule. The only race in the northeastern part of America right now is the July 4 Watkins Glen event. Heading to Baltimore will help reclaim a fanbase in this crucial area of the country.
No date has been set for the 2011 Baltimore Grand Prix.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Tracy, KVRT Go Green At Indy
Driver Paul Tracy and the No. 15 KV Racing Technology team will have a decidedly Green flair at this year's Indianapolis 500 - Barry Green, that is.
Tracy's former CART team owner will assume the role of race strategist on the No. 15 Geico Dallara-Honda at this year's 500, reuniting a pairing that won six CART races between 1998 and 2002, as well as claiming an unofficial 500 victory in 2002.
When team owner Jimmy Vasser could not promise Tracy the same level of individual commitment to his car as he gave last year, Vasser asked the Canadian to explore new possibilities for a strategist. The choice was clear and immediate, and Green was announced in his new role today.
This will be the first that open-wheel racing has seen of Green since the end of the 2002 season, after which he sold his operation to Michael Andretti and Kim Green. The former Team Green now operates four full-time cars as Andretti Autosport.
It was actually the "unofficial" 500 victory with Tracy in 2002 that forced Green to sell his team and abandon the sport. On lap 198, Tracy passed Helio Castroneves as Buddy Lazier and Laurent Redon crashed. Because of a dispute over when the caution lights went on, Castroneves was reawarded the lead and the victory. An expensive protest followed. Some replays showed Tracy clearly ahead of Castroneves as the lights went on; the committee in charge disagreed, perhaps (as some claim) because the IRL did not want a CART team to win its biggest race once again. It was the cost of this protest that helped drive Green out of the sport.
Meanwhile, Tracy stuck by his guns in CART, selling "REAL Indy 500 Winner" shirts for the remainder of the year and winning the final series title under the CART name in 2003.
Tracy will be making his seventh 500 start if he qualifies. His teammates at Indianapolis will be Takuma Sato, E.J. Viso, and Mario Moraes. Viso and Moraes will be making their third 500 starts, and Sato will be making his 500 debut. Sato has raced at Indy before, in Formula 1, where he finished third in 2004. It was Sato's only F1 podium finish.
Tracy's former CART team owner will assume the role of race strategist on the No. 15 Geico Dallara-Honda at this year's 500, reuniting a pairing that won six CART races between 1998 and 2002, as well as claiming an unofficial 500 victory in 2002.
When team owner Jimmy Vasser could not promise Tracy the same level of individual commitment to his car as he gave last year, Vasser asked the Canadian to explore new possibilities for a strategist. The choice was clear and immediate, and Green was announced in his new role today.
This will be the first that open-wheel racing has seen of Green since the end of the 2002 season, after which he sold his operation to Michael Andretti and Kim Green. The former Team Green now operates four full-time cars as Andretti Autosport.
It was actually the "unofficial" 500 victory with Tracy in 2002 that forced Green to sell his team and abandon the sport. On lap 198, Tracy passed Helio Castroneves as Buddy Lazier and Laurent Redon crashed. Because of a dispute over when the caution lights went on, Castroneves was reawarded the lead and the victory. An expensive protest followed. Some replays showed Tracy clearly ahead of Castroneves as the lights went on; the committee in charge disagreed, perhaps (as some claim) because the IRL did not want a CART team to win its biggest race once again. It was the cost of this protest that helped drive Green out of the sport.
Meanwhile, Tracy stuck by his guns in CART, selling "REAL Indy 500 Winner" shirts for the remainder of the year and winning the final series title under the CART name in 2003.
Tracy will be making his seventh 500 start if he qualifies. His teammates at Indianapolis will be Takuma Sato, E.J. Viso, and Mario Moraes. Viso and Moraes will be making their third 500 starts, and Sato will be making his 500 debut. Sato has raced at Indy before, in Formula 1, where he finished third in 2004. It was Sato's only F1 podium finish.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
IndyCar Race Review: Road Runner Turbo Indy 300
Last year, Chip Ganassi Racing won two of the first three races of the IZOD IndyCar Series season, on its way to dominance of the series' oval races and a second consecutive championship. This year, however, Ganassi came out of the gate slowly, failing to win any of the four road course races in the first quarter of the season. Meanwhile, key rival Team Penske won three of four.
Today at Kansas, however, Ganassi began to return to form.
Scott Dixon, who would have won the series' oval championship had it been awarded last year, took his first victory of the season in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300. Teammate Dario Franchitti contributed to a 1-2 sweep for sponsor Target and owner Chip Ganassi. Tony Kanaan passed Penske's Helio Castroneves for third.
Penske driver Ryan Briscoe won the pole and led 31 laps, but fell to sixth at the checkered flag, the last driver on the lead lap. Dixon dominated the majority of the race, leading 167 laps after starting alongside Briscoe on Row 1. Franchitti, the only other driver to lead in the 200-lap event, led the remaining two laps.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, the winner at Long Beach and looking to sponsorship to help him complete the season, made yet another strong case for continued employment. He finished 5th after starting all the way back in 22nd.
Among the drivers with surprising top-ten runs are seventh place Mario Moraes, eighth place Alex Tagliani, and ninth place John Andretti. Moraes, picking up where he left off last season, passed Tagliani on the last lap. Andretti ran his first open-wheel race other than the Indianapolis 500 in nearly two decades, and improved eight spots from his qualifying position.
Today at Kansas, however, Ganassi began to return to form.
Scott Dixon, who would have won the series' oval championship had it been awarded last year, took his first victory of the season in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300. Teammate Dario Franchitti contributed to a 1-2 sweep for sponsor Target and owner Chip Ganassi. Tony Kanaan passed Penske's Helio Castroneves for third.
Penske driver Ryan Briscoe won the pole and led 31 laps, but fell to sixth at the checkered flag, the last driver on the lead lap. Dixon dominated the majority of the race, leading 167 laps after starting alongside Briscoe on Row 1. Franchitti, the only other driver to lead in the 200-lap event, led the remaining two laps.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, the winner at Long Beach and looking to sponsorship to help him complete the season, made yet another strong case for continued employment. He finished 5th after starting all the way back in 22nd.
Among the drivers with surprising top-ten runs are seventh place Mario Moraes, eighth place Alex Tagliani, and ninth place John Andretti. Moraes, picking up where he left off last season, passed Tagliani on the last lap. Andretti ran his first open-wheel race other than the Indianapolis 500 in nearly two decades, and improved eight spots from his qualifying position.
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