Rolex 24 Viewer's Guide for the IndyCar Fan

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is one of the most prestigious sports car endurance races in the world. Held on the road course inside the famed Daytona International Speedway, the race was established as a three-hour event in 1962 before eventually expanding to 2000 kilometers in 1964 and taking its current form in 1966.

Most sports car events are much shorter than the Rolex 24, especially within the Rolex Sports Car Series that has contested the event since 2000, and only require two or three drivers. But the days of a two-man team competing in a 24-hour event are long gone; teams now look to four or five drivers to contest these lengthier events.

Some of the added drivers come from within sports car racing, drivers who don't have a full-time job but provide safe options for teams looking to fill out their rosters. NASCAR drivers have also joined the field in recent years, especially since Grand-Am took over the event in 2000; Grand-Am founder Jim France is the son of NASCAR founder Bill France, and the two sanctioning bodies have merged their communication resources for the past few years.

But IndyCar drivers past and present may be some of the most popular additions to driver lineups, primarily in the top-tier Daytona Prototypes, for this prestigious event. For each of the past five years, and seven times in the past decade, a driver with significant IndyCar, CART, or Champ Car experience has taken the overall victory as part of a team. In fact, 2006's winning team was composed solely of Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, and Casey Mears, the former two full-time IndyCar drivers and the third an ex-CART and current NASCAR competitor.

This year is no different, as over two dozen drivers with open-wheel chops will appear at Daytona once again. Need help keeping up with who's where? Look no further:

Open-Wheeler Super Teams: It's no surprise that Chip Ganassi would employ five current or former open-wheel drivers between his two Daytona Prototypes. Ex-CART driver Scott Pruett has been his lead driver for years now, in the No. 01 car, and will drive with Graham Rahal. Ganassi's second car is traditionally reserved for his NASCAR and IndyCar drivers, and this year is no different; Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, and CART champion-turned-NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya will wheel that vehicle.

Michael Shank Racing will follow the same strategy as Ganassi did in 2006 with their No. 6 entry, pairing current IndyCar competitor Justin Wilson with two open-wheel-turned-NASCAR drivers: 2006 Champ Car third-place finisher A.J. Allmendinger, and 2004 Star Mazda champion and ex-Champ Car driver Michael McDowell.

Current IndyCar Drivers: Rahal, Franchitti, Dixon, and Wilson aren't the only current IZOD IndyCar Series competitors to land a drive. Ryan Briscoe will work with Wayne Taylor Racing, which has a history of fielding Team Penske drivers in the event. Meanwhile, Ryan Hunter-Reay will return to Level 5 Motorsports, with whom he competed in a handful of American Le Mans Series events last year. Joining him there will be Raphael Matos, whose 2010 Rolex 24 drive at Brumos Racing no longer exists as a Daytona Prototype.

CART, IRL, and Champ Car Alumni: Many open-wheel drivers migrate to sports car racing when their careers at Indianapolis end. Often times they become sports car champions as well. Action Express Racing, which has in effect taken over the Brumos Daytona Prototype operation as that team shifts to GT, has hired three drivers who have followed this career path: 2004 Indianapolis 500 and 2009 Rolex 24 winner Buddy Rice in the No. 5, and 2002 Rolex 24 winner Max Papis and 2004 winner Christian Fittipaldi in the No. 9.

But they aren't the only ones. Ex-PacWest driver (and now IndyCar driver Mike Conway's agent) Mark Blundell will drive in the No. 23 for United Autosports, which is running in partnership with Michael Shank. Shank will also have Michael Valiante, once a budding open-wheel talent but now a seasoned Grand-Am vet, in his primary car, the No. 60. Meanwhile, Starworks Motorsport will employ Jan Heylen and Ryan Dalziel, two competitors in Champ Car's final season, in their No. 7 and No. 8 cars, respectively. Ex-IRL driver Tomas Enge will join Dalziel, who won last year's Rolex 24, in the No. 8.

Finally, Pruett and Montoya aren't the only former CART drivers appearing in the event to somehow be affiliated with Chip Ganassi. Nicolas Minassian, who drove the team's No. 12 car briefly in their 2001 rebuilding year, has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the past few years and step into Krohn Racing's No. 76 for this year's event. But unlike years past, the 1996 CART champion for Ganassi, Jimmy Vasser, will not step into the No. 99 for Bob Stallings Racing.

GT Class: Four Atlantic Championship alumni will compete in GT cars in this year's event. 2004 fifth-place finisher and ex-Champ Car driver Ronnie Bremer will drive in Stevenson Motorsports' Chevrolet Camaro, while 1998 third-place finisher and former CART supersub Memo Gidley will step down from the Daytona Prototype of Doran Racing to a Mazda RX-8 with Team Sahlen.

The other two drivers will run Mazda RX-8s with SpeedSource. 1999 Atlantic title winner and longtime Grand-Am competitor Anthony Lazzaro will drive the No. 69. Jonathan Bomarito, the 2008 series runner-up, had been on the fast track to Champ Car until the series folded; now, he's found a home in SpeedSource's Castrol-backed No. 70, in which he finished fourth in last year's points.

A list of all open-wheel affiliated drivers, sorted by car number:

• Scott Pruett (#01 Daytona Prototype, Chip Ganassi Racing)
• Graham Rahal (#01 Daytona Prototype, Chip Ganassi Racing)
• Dario Franchitti (#02 Daytona Prototype, Chip Ganassi Racing)
• Scott Dixon (#02 Daytona Prototype, Chip Ganassi Racing)
• Juan Pablo Montoya (#02 Daytona Prototype, Chip Ganassi Racing)
• Buddy Rice (#5 Daytona Prototype, Action Express Racing)
• A.J. Allmendinger (#6 Daytona Prototype, Michael Shank Racing)
• Michael McDowell (#6 Daytona Prototype, Michael Shank Racing)
• Justin Wilson (#6 Daytona Prototype, Michael Shank Racing)
• Jan Heylen (#7 Daytona Prototype, Starworks Motorsport)
• Ryan Dalziel (#8 Daytona Prototype, Starworks Motorsport)
• Tomas Enge (#8 Daytona Prototype, Starworks Motorsport)
• Christian Fittipaldi (#9 Daytona Prototype, Action Express Racing)
• Max Papis (#9 Daytona Prototype, Action Express Racing)
• Ryan Briscoe (#10 Daytona Prototype, Wayne Taylor Racing)
• Mark Blundell (#23 Daytona Prototype, United Autosports)
• Memo Gidley (#42 Mazda RX-8, Team Sahlen)
• Ronnie Bremer (#57 Chevrolet Camaro, Stevenson Motorsports)
• Michael Valiante (#60 Daytona Prototype, Michael Shank Racing)
• Anthony Lazzaro (#69 Mazda RX-8, SpeedSource)
• Jonathan Bomarito (#70 Mazda RX-8, SpeedSource)
• Nicolas Minassian (#76 Daytona Prototype, Krohn Racing)
• Ryan Hunter-Reay (#95 Daytona Prototype, Level 5 Motorsports)
• Raphael Matos (#95 Daytona Prototype, Level 5 Motorsports)

Silly Season Roundup: November 18, 2010

A muddy IZOD IndyCar Series silly season picture for 2011 has begun to clear up, as big names begin to sign contracts, or at least line them up, with major teams.

Since the future appears bright, with Chevrolet and Lotus joining the fray in 2012, it's easy to forget that IndyCar has another season of spec racing ahead of it, and plenty of driver contracts to be signed along the way. But just this week, we saw the confirmation of two drivers returning to their teams from 2010, and another setting up a ride with an old friend for 2011.

Justin Wilson announced his return to the No. 22 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara-Honda for 2011 last Thursday, turning down offers from a handful of other teams. He'll continue a relationship that yielded an 11th-place points finish in 2010 and shone on the road and street courses all year.

Meanwhile, E.J. Viso confirmed to Yahoo! Sports Argentina that he will remain in IndyCar next season, likely returning to KV Racing Technology as the team's relationship with Lotus expands. Previously, team owner Jimmy Vasser had suggested to SpeedTV.com that the team's driver lineup would remain the same in 2011 as in 2010, although this year was a hellish season for the team that saw a plethora of wrecks.

For those who like to speculate, the article also mentioned Takuma Sato as a KVRT driver, but not Mario Moraes. Lotus has also confirmed full-time sponsorship commitment of only two cars for next year.

Meanwhile, Tony Kanaan and Gil de Ferran are a few steps closer to working together next season. Kanaan recently spent time in a de Ferran Dragon Racing car, with the intent on critiquing the team's engineering progress thus far. But de Ferran's previous driver, Raphael Matos, just finished the second of a two-year deal, and the ever-popular Kanaan is heading to Brazil, his and de Ferran's home country, to seek out sponsors. The 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner is adamant that he will employ the 2004 IndyCar champion next season.

IndyCar Season Review: Justin Wilson

2010 was a year of ups and downs for Justin Wilson.

Driving for his third IZOD IndyCar Series team in three years, the British driver looked to improve on his ninth place run in 2009 with Dale Coyne Racing. For 2010, he went to series mainstay Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, forming an all-British pairing with Mike Conway and bringing the Z-Line Designs sponsorship with him. The goal was to make DRR as viable a threat to win on the road courses as they had always been on the ovals.

Wilson had time to gain a rapport with his team early on, as the first four races were road and street events that played to his strengths as a driver. Wilson followed up a third-place qualifying run at Brazil with runner-up finishes at St. Petersburg and Long Beach, placing him fourth in points through four races and establishing him as a dark horse title contender.

Those were the ups. Unfortunately, there was nowhere else to go but down.

Wilson's only respectable oval finish in the second quarter of the season came at the most important event, Indianapolis, where he placed a respectable seventh, leading his first 11 laps of the season. A better summation of his oval fortunes came at Iowa, however, where a first-lap accident with Mario Moraes in turn four ended his day. Wilson had free-fallen to eighth in points, but the twisties were coming up on the schedule again, offering him an important opportunity to ascend the championship table once again.

Consider it a missed opportunity. Wilson could not defend his 2009 victory at Watkins Glen, placing 10th, and struggled at Edmonton to come home 21st. Mid-Ohio was marred by two incidents, one in qualifying with Ryan Briscoe, and another 22 laps into the event with E.J. Viso. His best finish of the second half of the season came at Sonoma, where he ran sixth.

Wilson's fortunes at Toronto probably summed up his year the best. The 2005 winner of the event in Champ Car, Wilson had the field covered in qualifying, taking the pole by nearly two tenths of a second over Will Power. Wilson led much of the race, only surrendering the lead due to alternative pit strategies taken by Paul Tracy, Dario Franchitti, and Tony Kanaan.

A late race caution for Raphael Matos' crash with Viso bunched the field, and Wilson had nothing for a surging Power on the restart. Soon after, a self-induced spin took Wilson out of contention for the win completely. He battled back to finish seventh, but such was his luck for the majority of the season.

Once again, Wilson was a mid-pack driver on the series' ovals, with a seventh at Chicago his final top 10 run of the season. By the time the series made it to the season finale at Homestead, Wilson was down to 10th in points, holding a 22-marker advantage over Danica Patrick. But she finished second in that race as he ran 21st, bumping him down to 11th in points.

Despite falling two spots in the standings from 2009, Wilson scored seven more points than he had last year. The 2010 season wasn't by any means a bad one, but both driver and team expected improvement in the ranks, not stagnation. As such, rumors suggest that Wilson may bolt to another team for 2011, perhaps Panther Racing as it looks to expand. Panther, judging by its late season oval runs, would offer the Brit an even stronger opportunity to place up front on both kinds of tracks.

Regardless, Wilson and whatever team he may drive for in 2011 will once again expect greater results. Wherever he goes, he will run up front and contend for wins on the road and street courses, but unless he can improve on a career-best oval finish of seventh, he may end up in the same position next year.

Opinion: Is There Shame in Being a "Ride Buyer"?

This past weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Graham Rahal made the announcement that we had all been waiting for - that he has secured the funding to compete in the next two IZOD IndyCar Series seasons. Service Central, which hooked up with Rahal for races with Sarah Fisher Racing and Newman/Haas Racing this year, will write the checks for Rahal.

The problem is, Rahal and Service Central haven't signed with a team yet.

Add Rahal to the category of "ride buyers" - professional racecar drivers who bring their own sponsorship dollars to race teams in a poor economy, and are thus installed in the otherwise blank racecars. It's a problem that has plagued much of racing over the past few years; from NASCAR, where Kevin Conway's Extenze sponsorship has landed him multiple rides, to Formula One, where many of the smaller teams take on drivers with personal services contracts.

Worst in the major forms of motorsport is IndyCar, which has seen fewer and fewer fully funded rides over the past few years.

Ride buying is certainly a way of life in racing, and always has been. Any driver with a little bit of talent and a stable paycheck behind him will land himself in a vehicle before the end of the season, if only for one race. The act of buying a ride itself isn't the problem.

The problem in IndyCar is that more and more of the ride buyers are unproven foreign drivers that the fans can't identify (nevermind identify with), and they tear up equipment that is unfamiliar to them. Meanwhile, American drivers that have earned the right to compete in their home country's biggest event, the Indianapolis 500, are stuck on the sidelines because American-based sponsors are wary of committing to them or the race teams.

That isn't to say that some of these ride buyers are undeserving. In fact, a lot of the drivers who have paid their own way into the series have had some solid performances. It's tough for them to take victories with the little teams that usually hire them, but they find ways to assert that they are deserving pilots.

Some of the drivers who have bought rides in one way or another this year include Ryan Hunter-Reay (7th in points and a win at Long Beach for Izod), Danica Patrick (10th and two runner-up finishes for GoDaddy), Justin Wilson (11th, a pole, and two second place runs for Z-Line Designs), Simona de Silvestro (19th in points with some strong road course runs despite the oldest tub in the series for Stargate Worlds), and Bertrand Baguette (22nd despite missing two races, and showing consistent improvement for a slew of Belgian companies). It's hard to make the argument in any of these cases that the drivers didn't deserve to be there, even if only two of those listed above are Americans.

As for other deserving "ride buyers," consider Paul Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car champion and one of the best open-wheel drivers in recent history; Ana Beatriz, a talented Firestone Indy Lights graduate with two wins in that series; Sebastian Saavedra, another Lights grad who has won in every series in which he's ever competed; and now Rahal, who won in his IndyCar debut in 2008 and finished seventh in points in 2009.

No, the problem is not being a ride buyer in this economy. There is no shame in attracting sponsorship to yourself by turning yourself into a solid pitchman, especially when it keeps the talent listed above on the race track. Truth is, once things turn back up and more sponsors come to IndyCar (when/if that happens), these drivers won't need to be hunting for their own money, because they'll all be hired.

The problem is that some of the other ride buyers haven't done much to deserve the seats they hold.

So much has been written about Milka Duno already that it's not worth wasting more space on her, especially when the consensus is that her license will not be renewed for 2011. But consider the incredibly slow mid-season runs of Francesco Dracone with Conquest Racing. Look at the way that all three KV Racing Technology drivers tore up equipment this season. One could even attempt to make a case for Tomas Scheckter based on a handful of mediocre finishes this year.

Meanwhile, North American talents like J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter, Jonathan Summerton, Rahal, and Tracy, as well as former Champ Car stalwarts like Bruno Junqueira and Oriol Servia, sat on the sidelines for much (if not all) of the season.

It's when these drivers get bumped out of rides that the problems begin to fester. IndyCar is a predominantly American series. Its fans would much rather see hometown heroes like those above race to win than unproven foreign ride buyers tear up equipment. And while everybody understands this, nobody is able to make a case to the sponsors to make this change, because the sponsors are often based elsewhere in the world and have their own markets to look out for.

The term for the concept is tribalism - each side would much prefer to watch the drivers that it identifies with. But as many fans of the sport may exist, there are no fan-sponsored race teams that have a proven track record or consistent money flow. The sponsors win.

IndyCar is in a position of weakness at this point, because limiting these foreign ride buyers to, say, only the ones with race victories in major foreign open-wheel series would be A) discriminatory, and B) severely limiting money flow into the series. Right now, money is as valuable as it's ever been to the sport.

Until the American economy strengthens more and a greater base of American companies view IndyCar as a marketing tool, the problem is going to continue. In the meantime, we're just going to have to put up with ride buyers, worthy or not, because until the series can keep afloat on its own with fully-sponsored cars the way that NASCAR can, we really need the money.

Beatriz Returns For Homestead Season Finale

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing have announced that Ana Beatriz will drive the No. 24 Roll Coater Dallara-Honda in this year's IZOD IndyCar Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend. Beatriz will make her fourth start of the season in the Cafes do Brazil Indy 300, the track's final IndyCar race before dropping from the schedule.

With Mike Conway focusing on completing his rehabilitation for the 2011 season instead of attempting the finale, the team needed to find a solid replacement driver, preferably one with race experience at DRR. Those fitting the criteria included Beatriz, Paul Tracy, Tomas Scheckter, and J.R. Hildebrand.

Beatriz has made three starts thus far this season, at Sao Paulo, Indianapolis, and Chicagoland. She finished 13th and on the lead lap in the Sao Paulo Indy 300, 21st at Indianapolis (completing 196 of 200 laps due to contact), and 24th at Chicago after a mechanical failure. None of those three events have seen her in the same car; she drove the No. 23 in Brazil, the No. 25 at Indianapolis, and the No. 24 at Chicago.

Her jump to IndyCar's highest level this year came after two consecutive seasons in Firestone Indy Lights, which saw her finish third and eighth in points, respectively, and score two race wins: the Sunbelt Rentals 100 at Nashville in 2008, and the Miller Lite 100 at Iowa last year.

Meanwhile, Conway has taken a conservative approach with his rehabilitation. He suffered a compression fracture in his back and a broken leg in a spectacular crash at the Indianapolis 500 in May. Rumors suggested that he could return to the car as soon as the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, but eventually the decision was made to wait. Conway's injuries have healed and he has adopted a rigorous training program to ensure that he will be 100% ready for next season's opener at St. Petersburg.

The No. 24 car was primed for a breakout season with Conway, but since the injury the revolving door of drivers have kept it decidedly mid-pack. The team has seen four top-10 finishes this year; three came from Conway in the season's first five races, while the fourth came with Graham Rahal at Iowa. Its best finish was an eighth place in the Sao Paulo season opener. Meanwhile, the car has seen DNFs at St. Petersburg (Conway), Indianapolis (Conway), Sonoma (Hildebrand), Chicago (Beatriz), and Motegi (Tracy).

It hasn't been all bad for DRR this season, however; new lead driver Justin Wilson has snagged two podium finishes and eight top-10s with only one DNF to rank a solid 10th in points. He also scored a pole at Toronto and led the most laps in that race. Also, DRR qualified four cars for the Indianapolis 500 for the second year in a row, albeit under less stressful circumstances than 2009's close calls.

IndyCar Race Preview: Honda Indy Edmonton

Once again, a Team Penske Dallara-Honda driven by Will Power will start on the pole in an IZOD IndyCar Series race.

Like clockwork, the Australian won his sixth pole of the season (fifth on road or street courses) for this weekend's Honda Indy Edmonton, the lone race that he won last season. And unsurprisingly, the rest of the top five cars all belong to his owner, Roger Penske, or his top rival, Chip Ganassi.

Meanwhile, Helio Castroneves continued his trend of being an Edmonton bridesmaid. Penske's elder statesman, who finished second in both IndyCar-sanctioned Edmonton races, qualified alongside Power. They were the only two drivers to break the 61-second mark in qualifying.

But time trials at the Edmonton City Centre Airport also provided some surprises. Namely, E.J. Viso and Simona de Silvestro will start sixth and seventh, respectively. Both drivers have or have had affiliations with ex-Champ Car teams, and were brought up through the ranks to race on this sort of track.

Indeed, most of the cream of the road course crop rose to the top in qualifying, with a handful of surprises, such as Raphael Matos and Tomas Scheckter, advancing to the second round of qualifying. But drivers who generally have run better on ovals, such as Alex Lloyd, Mario Romancini, and Danica Patrick, qualified closer to the back of the pack. Only Tony Kanaan and Milka Duno failed to make qualifying laps, and will start 24th and 25th, respectively.

The three drivers in the field that have won this event before all start towards the front. Power, obviously, sits on pole, while Scott Dixon, who won this event in 2008 with Ganassi, starts third. Meanwhile, Justin Wilson, looking to rebound from miscues that cost him last week's win in Toronto, starts ninth. He won this event in 2006 when it was still sanctioned by Champ Car.

IndyCar Race Review: Honda Indy Toronto

Will Power capitalized on a poor restart by Justin Wilson, opened up a big lead on defending race winner Dario Franchitti, and cruised to victory in today's Honda Indy Toronto. It was the fourth win of the season (all of them coming on road or street courses) for the Team Penske driver, who now holds a 42-point lead over Franchitti in the overall standings.

It was perhaps the luckiest of Power's four wins this season, however, as Wilson clearly had the car to beat all weekend. During an early practice session, Wilson had a .7-second advantage on the next best car; from there, he won the pole, and led in the early stages of the event. He only relinquished the lead during pit stops under the first caution, which came after KV Racing teammates Takuma Sato and Mario Moraes got together.

Hometown hero Paul Tracy inherited the lead on lap 18 by staying out, with Vitor Meira also choosing not to pit. Two more cautions over eight of the following 12 laps kept him there until he pit on lap 31. From there, another caution trapped Tracy in 17th, and another pit stop and a miscue while trying to pass Simona de Silvestro later in the race put him back in 13th at the finish, the first car one lap down.

Cautions were a big story of the event, especially involving KV Racing cars, which have now been involved in 20 accidents over 10 race this year. Moraes later punted Mario Romancini out of the race, leading to a drive-thru penalty from race control. And E.J. Viso ran into a spun Raphael Matos with 19 laps to go, totaling the de Ferran Dragon Racing vehicle and putting Viso three laps down in 19th at the finish.

Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon were two of the bigger names to fall out of the event. Castroneves was a victim of early braking by Meira in the third turn after the first restart, and he went hard head-on into a tire barrier in the runoff area. Dixon touched wheels with Ryan Hunter-Reay about the same place where Castroneves and Tracy had an incident last year, and a damaged left front suspension ended his day. Both drivers were unhurt.

But as Castroneves and Dixon sat on the sidelines, they watched a good show by their teammates, Power and Franchitti. The Scotsman inherited the lead from Tracy on lap 32 and held it until a green-flag pit stop on lap 53. Power and Wilson pit the next lap, with the Dreyer & Reinbold team somehow managing to beat the renowned Penske crew out of the pits. Despite being held up by lapped traffic in that extra lap, oth managed to make up enough time on track to get ahead of Franchitti coming out of the pits, and they ran 1-2-3 as pit stops cycled through. Wilson began to open up a huge lead on Power, with the help of lapped traffic and the alternate red tires, before the fifth caution of the day.

But on the restart after the Matos-Viso incident, everything went awry for Wilson. Power pressured him on the restart, making quick work of passing his former Champ Car competitor, and Franchitti was soon in hot pursuit. Going into turn eight, Wilson came in too hot and spun the car around, allowing most of the field to get by him. Wilson would rebound for seventh at the end of the race.

In the same handful of laps, Dixon had his incident, and Tomas Scheckter and Canadian favorite Alex Tagliani drove into the tires in turn one, setting up the final restart of the day.

But Power would not yield, as he beat Franchitti to the line by 1.27 seconds. Hunter-Reay, who had been struggling with his car all day, took third, followed by Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal, who scored his best finish of the year in his return to Newman/Haas Racing.

Andretti Autosport, at a track where team owner Michael Andretti took seven victories as a driver, had the best day of any team, with their other two cars of Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti taking sixth and eighth, respectively. Meanwhile, Simona de Silvestro and Dan Wheldon rounded out the top ten, marking de Silvestro's best finish of the year and Wheldon's fourth top-10 finish on a road or street course this season.

IndyCar Race Preview: Honda Indy Toronto

The IZOD IndyCar Series makes it first foray into the Great White North of the season with this weekend's Honda Indy Toronto, an event won by Dario Franchitti last year.

Each of the past eight races held on the 1.755-mile Exhibition Place street circuit have been won by different drivers; the last driver to successfully defend his victory was Michael Andretti in 2001. Andretti is the all-time wins leader at the circuit with seven victories, a factor in his decision to purchase the race's assets in mid-2008 and rescue it after that year's running was cancelled due to the demise of Champ Car.

This weekend's event, as well as the Edmonton airport race two weeks from now, are widely celebrated by the Canadian fans, and are especially welcomed by the Canadian members of the circuit. Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy, the two active Canadian IndyCar drivers, will each be running special paint schemes in the race - Tagliani a new Hot Wheels-backed livery, Tracy an equally impressive car backed by the Canadian arm of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Toronto Blue Jays.

But the drivers aren't the only ones returning to their home country this weekend. In fact, two of the engineers on the de Ferran Dragon Racing team, lead engineer Eric Zeto and performance engineer Scott Raymond, call the province of Ontario home. The team hopes to build on their momentum from Watkins Glen, where driver Rafa Matos finished an impressive 4th despite losing his in-car telemetry in the middle of the race. Matos finished 10th at Toronto last year.

Matos has certainly shown the speed this weekend, with his best lap in the second practice, a 62.3984-second run, good for fifth in that session. But 13 cars - half of the field - were within a second of that session's leader, Ryan Hunter-Reay, who turned a 62.1433-second lap.

Within those 13 cars, seven different teams are represented - Andretti Autosport, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Team Penske, de Ferran Dragon Racing, FAZZT Race Team, KV Racing Technology, and Chip Ganassi Racing. This suggests not only a close battle for pole position, but also a mammoth struggle just to make the Firestone Fast Six.

In the race itself, don't be surprised if Will Power and Justin Wilson challenge for victory. They are two of only four former Toronto winners in the field (the others being Tracy, who won it in 1993 and 2003, and Franchitti, who won in 1999 as well as last year). Power and Wilson were right on Franchitti's tail last year, finishing third and fifth, respectively, after starting second and fourth.

Television coverage of the Honda Indy Toronto begins on Sunday at 12:30 PM EST. The race will be shown on ABC.

IndyCar Race Preview: Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen

The Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen may not be the marquee road course event on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, but it is one of the more prestigious events in the championship. The cars race on a layout and circuit that formerly hosted Formula 1 events, and the race is one of the handful of events to remain on ABC after the series announced its broadcast partnership with Versus last year.

Speaking of Formula 1, IndyCar will receive a second injection of F1-caliber driving talent this season as Adam Carroll makes his series debut for Andretti Autosport. Carroll, the final A1GP champion driving for his home country of Ireland, will wheel a fifth car for the team, carrying No. 27 and Boost Mobile sponsorship.

While the establishment of the fifth squad secures Ryan Hunter-Reay’s job, at least for the weekend, plenty of questions remain for the Andretti squad. Will AA maintain the momentum that they established on the series’ first oval races, even with the addition of yet another car to its stable? Will Hunter-Reay, the race’s 2008 winner but unsettled on sponsorship for the rest of the season, pull out another victory, or overdrive and kill the momentum he’s built up all season long? Finally, how will Carroll perform in his IndyCar debut?

This year’s event will see at least one new face in the winner’s circle, as Justin Wilson and Dale Coyne Racing split up after the season. Coyne’s team has struggled with Milka Duno behind the wheel of one of its vehicles, but Alex Lloyd’s team begun to find its stride with solid placements at Indianapolis and Texas.

Meanwhile, Wilson has brought Dreyer & Reinbold Racing to new heights on road courses this season, challenging for multiple victories and doing well in the points. Paul Tracy will drive a second car for DRR this weekend, and though the Thrill from West Hill is making his season debut after failing to qualify at Indianapolis, he is still recognized as one of the sport’s best road racers. Unfortunately, Graham Rahal will not be manning a third car for the team this season after a solid finish at Iowa, as had been rumored.

The two top teams in the sport, Penske Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing, will certainly challenge for the victory this weekend. On the Penske side, points leader Will Power is currently the series’ best road course driver, although he did not compete at Watkins Glen last year. Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe have won all five poles at Watkins Glen IndyCar events, with Castroneves scoring the first three and Briscoe the last two.

On the Ganassi side of the fence, Dario Franchitti lost his lead the IndyCar points standings after mechanical failure at Iowa. Last weekend, he performed demonstration laps on the oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to help promote that track’s new IndyCar date for next season. Scott Dixon, meanwhile, has not scored a road course victory thus far this season, but normally contends at the Glen, winning each race from 2005 to 2007.

One team that could surprise this weekend is Alex Tagliani and FAZZT Race Team. The new entity purchased Marty Roth’s old equipment before the season, and little was expected out of the new outfit at first. But after signing some key personnel, Tagliani has consistently run up front all season, with only a couple of poor races due to circumstances not entirely in his control. The No. 77 team has been towards the front in every road course race and will most likely continue to run up front this weekend.

KV Racing Technology is also primed for a breakout run, and the Glen could provide that opportunity. Engineer Bill Pappas won last year’s event with Dale Coyne Racing and Justin Wilson, and lead driver E.J. Viso scored his best career finish with a third place at Iowa two weeks ago. Meanwhile, Takuma Sato’s Formula 1 experience often translates to being quick on the road courses, and Mario Moraes has shown that when he and his team come together, they can impress.

The Road to Indy also goes through Watkins Glen, as the Firestone Indy Lights Series competes this weekend, directly before the IndyCar race as per usual. Last year’s event was won by J.R. Hildebrand, who will not return to defend his victory. The revived US Formula 2000 championship will also compete, as will the World Challenge touring car championship.

The Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen will take place on Sunday, July 4.

Conway Out Three Months

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.

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.

IndyCar Race Review: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Four races was all it took for the partnership between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport to pay dividends.

After a near-miss at the season opener in Brazil, in which they finished second, the all-American team took victory at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, for Hunter-Reay's first win since Watkins Glen in 2008. It was also the first win for team owner Michael Andretti since 2008 at Richmond, and the first for the team since an offseason restructuring transformed the former Andretti Green Racing team.

Hunter-Reay started the race in second, behind only Will Power, already twice a winner this year and the champion of this race two years ago. Power entered the race with a daunting 32-point lead over teammate Helio Castroneves, and added a bonus point for his third pole of the season. Justin Wilson took third in qualifying, setting up a battle between three ex-Champ Car stalwarts for the victory.

Power took an early lead in the race, followed by Hunter-Reay and Wilson, and at the start it appeared likely that he could win his third race of the season. But on lap 17, coming out of the hairpin, Power made an uncharacteristic mistake. He hit the pit road speed limiter inside the cockpit, and because the car was going under 50 miles per hour in one of the slowest zones on the track, the limiter engaged and slowed him down. By the time he was able to bring the car back up to full speed, Hunter-Reay and Wilson had gotten by. They ran in that order for much of the rest of the event.

All told, Hunter-Reay led 64 of the race's 85 laps, while Power paced the field for 19. Scott Dixon led the other two.

The only caution of the day came when Graham Rahal and Mario Romancini got into a tire barrier after completing 58 laps. Three other cars retired due to mechanical failures. 17 of the 25 cars finished on the lead lap, with Danica Patrick and Simona de Silvestro, the last two, separated by less than a second.

Power, despite throwing away Sunday's race win, still sits pretty atop the points standings, having expanded his lead over Castroneves to 42 points. In fact, Power would have to finish last at Kansas, while Castroneves would have to win from the pole and lead the most laps, for the points lead to change hands. Even then, that margin would be a single point. Power looks to assemble a dominating campaign on par with those of Sebastien Bourdais in the later days of the Champ Car World Series. He is the only driver to score top five finishes in all four races thus far this year.

In Firestone Indy Lights, James Hinchcliffe made the most of his second pole of the year, winning an accident-filled race for his first victory in the division. It was Team Moore Racing's second Lights victory, and their first since 2008. Also of note, 1996 Long Beach race winner and current IndyCar team owner Jimmy Vasser took the checkers in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, beating Brian Austin Green to the finish line. Vasser's top driver on Sunday was Mario Moraes, who overcame a 15th place start to finish sixth.

IndyCar Race Review: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Making it two for two in 2010, Will Power won the rain-delayed Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the second event on the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule. It was his third career IndyCar win, all of which have come with the mighty Team Penske, and all of which have come on street courses.

The race was run on a Monday after standing water on Sunday prevented the race from being run safely. The rain delay affected many businesses in the area, keeping them shut down for an extra day. Emergency scheduling meant that the event had to be run in the morning.

Power had taken pole in qualifying, and started the race alongside Tony Kanaan. It was no surprise, as Power dominated all three practice sessions before qualifying, posting the fastest lap in all three. Of ten drivers to post top-five laps in the three sessions, Power was the only one to post such a hot lap in all three.

Unlike last year, the race went off to a clean start through the first turn, but separate incidents involving Mike Conway and Dario Franchitti put the race under caution. Marco Andretti, desperate to make up for a disastrous turn at Brazil and driving like a bat out of hell, took the lead from Power on lap 5 with a daring move, but Scott Dixon usurped the point on the very next lap, holding it until lap 27. Dixon's race, however, ended on lap 74 when he put his car in the turn 9 wall.

Takuma Sato hit a tire barrier with his new Lotus car on lap 25, after complaining for the previous five laps that his left front was no longer in order. It was just one part of an overall bad day for KV Racing Technology; Mario Moraes, after causing a logjam behind him by refusing to yield his lapped car, had his day ended by an out-of-control Dan Wheldon after 46 laps, and E.J. Viso, after briefly leading, lost his gearbox late in the race and fell three laps down.

Conway also had a strong run ended when a daring move in the fifth turn went awry. Trying to follow another car past Raphael Matos for position, Conway attempted to force the Brazilian onto the curb from the outside. Instead, Matos refused to yield too much, causing Conway to bounce over Matos' wheel and send himself into the fence. Matos wound up eighth.

Vitor Meira led a good chunk of the race while on an alternate pit strategy, as he was one of the few drivers to start the race on the standard black-sidewall tires. His 12 laps led were third-most of all drivers, as eight took turns at the point. Unfortunately for Meira, his strategy put him at the back of the pack when it counted, and he wound up a disappointing 15th, the last car on the lead lap.

The race also marked the return to IndyCar of American Graham Rahal, whose search for a ride this offseason was torpedoed by a lack of sponsorship. Cleaning up for Sarah Fisher in her own car, he finished ninth, but turned rookie darling Simona de Silvestro in the first turn late in the race, spoiling her solid run. De Silvestro finished 16th, one lap down.

Also on the podium were Justin Wilson and Ryan Briscoe, Power's teammate at Team Penske. Briscoe partially redeemed himself for a stupid error that cost him the win in Brazil, and Wilson repeated his podium finish at St. Pete last year. However, it was the first time in three starts that Wilson did not lead a lap at the track, as he led 18 circuits in 2008 and 52 last year.

Power will head to Barber Motorsports Park with a 44-point lead over Franchitti, Wilson, and Ryan Hunter-Reay. In a stroke of luck, none of the other drivers who finished in the top five in Brazil were any better than eighth in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, the best Brazil finish for a driver who finished fifth or better in St. Pete was seventh.

IndyCar Season Preview: Conquest Racing

Conquest Racing spent much of 2009 struggling to find funding for driver Alex Tagliani, eventually forcing the team to only run a limited IZOD IndyCar Series schedule with its lead No. 34 Dallara-Honda. They attempted to qualify a second car for the Indianapolis 500, but when that car made the race and the lead car didn't, Tagliani took the car over for the race. After announcing his departure to start the new FAZZT Race Team in 2010, team owner Eric Bachelart replaced Tagliani with a handful of pay drivers, with poor results.

The team's best run came at Toronto, when Tagliani led a good chunk of the race and may have won if not for a few bad breaks that put him back in ninth place at the finish.

This year, the team started on shaky ground when Bachelart sent Bruno Junqueira and Jan Heylen to preseason meetings, despite having no sponsorship for the car. Junqueira qualified the team's second car at Indy last year, while Heylen drove for the team in Champ Car and also calls Bachelart's native Belgium home. Later reports suggested the team had signed Tomas Scheckter, or would become a two-car Brazilian pay driver team (as it was in 2008) with Nelson Merlo in one of its vehicles.

Eventually, things shook out when Mario Romancini, one of the top young available rookies, signed to compete for the team for the entire 2010 schedule. Romancini was reasonably fast in preseason testing, usually hanging around mid-pack, and will bring Guarana Dolly soft drink sponsorship for at least the Brazil race.

Judging by his performance in Firestone Indy Lights last year, where he won two oval races, and his experience in various European open-wheel racing formulae, Romancini may be the perfect balance for Conquest as it attempts its first full-time IndyCar season since 2008. In the past, the team has struggled on ovals, mostly because its drivers have been road course experts, but Romancini showed an adeptness on the circle tracks last year that will certainly help improve their standing.

Romancini may not contend for wins this year, but he will contend for a place between 10th and 15th in the season standings. He may be the best young driver Conquest has had since Justin Wilson drove for the team in Champ Car in 2004. His development may be the key to establishing legitimacy for Conquest in the IndyCar Series, something they haven't seen since their debut season in 2002.

IndyCar Season Preview: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will enter the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season with two full-time cars for Justin Wilson and Mike Conway, and will enter Brazilian rookie Bia Figuereido (Ana Beatriz) in at least the season opener at Sao Paulo.

The team looks to improve on last season's results, when then-rookie Conway had a difficult season and six drivers shared the team's other cars. Conway had a podium finish at Infineon, but that was the highlight of the year for the entire team. The No. 23 car that a handful of drivers shared was frequently lagging off the pace, and the team's two Indianapolis 500-only entries struggled to make the field.

This year, however, things are looking up. Conway, for one, will be more consistent than last year, when he failed to finish eight races and was the second-worst ranked driver to complete the entire schedule. He'll need to improve his oval record, however, as an eighth at Iowa was his lone top-10 finish on the circle tracks.

Wilson, the lone driver to win a race last year not employed by Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi, "liked what he saw" in the team, and chose to leave Dale Coyne Racing to join them for 2010, bringing the funding of Z-Line Designs with him. He's a consistent top-10 driver who contends for wins on most road courses and has begun to improve his oval prowess. He also brings name recognition to the team, something they haven't had since fielding underfunded cars for multiple Indy winners a few years ago.

Wilson should bring a DRR car into the top-10 in series points at the end of the year, and perhaps bring the team its first win since its first start in 2000. Conway should also begin contending for podiums on the road courses, as he will have an ace to learn from this season instead of having to act as de facto lead driver.

IndyCar Season Preview: Dale Coyne Racing

Dale Coyne took his first win in over 20 seasons as an open-wheel owner last season in the IZOD IndyCar Series, taking victory with Justin Wilson at Watkins Glen. The team also nearly won the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, and scored a third top five finish at Edmonton, allowing Wilson to take ninth in points.

Boosted by this success, Coyne attempted to return to two cars for 2010, as his team had run in 2008 and in the former Champ Car World Series. Coyne signed the Boy Scouts of America to a sponsorship deal for the No. 19, and attempted to bring back Wilson to the No. 18.

Unfortunately, both Wilson and sponsor Z-Line Designs moved on, taking over the lead car at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. As a result, Dale Coyne Racing will have two brand new drivers for 2010.

Milka Duno, longtime series backmarker, will bring her Citgo sponsorship to the No. 18 Dallara-Honda vacated by Wilson, and will run her first full-time IndyCar schedule. Duno still has not raced on a handful of the tracks on the series schedule, making this year a likely learning experience. Duno's best finish in a limited 2009 schedule was 16th at Kansas, her first race of the year.

After chasing Graham Rahal and J.R. Hildebrand for the No. 19 Dallara-Honda, Coyne eventually signed British driver Alex Lloyd for the seat. Lloyd won the 2007 Firestone Indy Lights championship and has competed in a handful of IndyCar races the past two years, including two Indianapolis 500s. Lloyd will officially only contest the season-opener in Brazil, but all signs point to an official announcement of him joining the team once the series returns stateside for the race at St. Petersburg.

The key to Coyne's potential success this year is whether or not the team can efficiently replace departed engineer Bill Pappas, the most important man in Coyne's pit last year. Pappas was a winner in the past and a winner with Coyne, but left the team after only one year, not coincidentally the best year the team has ever had.

As talented of a driver as Lloyd is, and as strong of a car Duno is stepping into, the team may fall apart without a strong leader like Pappas tuning the cars. If they can't replace him effectively, expect the Coyne cars to take a step back in 2010.

Two Coyne Cars For 2010; Duno Snags One

Dale Coyne Racing will field two cars full-time in the IZOD IndyCar Series this season, for the second time in three years since joining the series in 2008.

Coyne mentioned this much in a teleconference with Bob Jenkins back in January, but could not provide driver names or sponsors. Today, Coyne is a quantum leap closer to being ready for the season opener in Brazil on March 14.

Milka Duno will run her first full-time schedule in IndyCar this season, taking over the No. 18 car from the departed Justin Wilson. The popular, albeit slow, Venezuelan driver will bring with her sponsorship from CITGO, the Venezuelan-owned oil company that has supported her since the mid-2000s. A photo posted at Pressdog.com shows Duno in an all-new, black firesuit, perhaps hinting at yet another new CITGO paint scheme. The photo is current, as last year's was a red firesuit, and this one carries the IZOD IndyCar and DCR logos.

Duno finished 24th in points last season while running a limited schedule, with a best finish of 16th. Her best career finish was an 11th place in early 2007. She does, however, have three race wins in the Rolex Sports Car Series, all in the Daytona Prototype class, from a career in that series that spanned from 2004 to 2006.

The No. 19 DCR car announced sponsorship from the Boy Scouts of America months ago, but still does not have a driver lined up. Alex Lloyd is currently the front-runner for the seat, having Twittered a seat fitting three hours away from his Indianapolis home not too long ago; Coyne's Illinois base is about three hours away from Indianapolis. Coyne offered a lucrative two-year deal to Graham Rahal, but he turned down the ride, feeling it was too restrictive. J.R. Hildebrand, another American driver and winner of last year's Firestone Indy Lights championship, recently tested for the team and was noted by Coyne as one of his targets, but may not end up in the seat as other Indy Lights graduates secure rides.

Barber Test Session 2 Results (February 24, 2010)

In the afternoon IZOD IndyCar Series test session at Barber Motorsports Park, slightly warmer temperatures and more track experience allowed five more drivers to break the 1 minute, 11 second mark.

Ryan Briscoe paced the second session, with a top time of 01:10.50, 21 hundredths of a second faster than Helio Castroneves. Justin Wilson, Will Power (fastest in the morning session), Scott Dixon, and E.J. Viso also topped 1 minute, 11 seconds. Power had been the only driver to do so in the first session, with a lap of 01:10.97.

Takuma Sato again paced all rookies with a lap of 01:11.11 that put him seventh fastest in the field.

Click here for the full results of the second session.