Just like last year, a single driver dominated yesterday's Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, the road course finale for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. What made this particular win special for that driver, however, were the circumstances surrounding it.
Will Power's fifth win of the season (all on road courses) came on a track where his career was put into serious jeopardy, after a freak accident in practice severely injured his back and prematurely ended his 2009 season. The win served as a victory parade for this year's winner of the Mario Andretti Road Course Trophy, an honor he clinched two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio.
Unlike Dario Franchitti last year, Power did not lead all 75 laps of the event; Scott Dixon, who finished second, led two laps in the middle stages of the event. But nobody really had anything for Power, who had won the pole and stretched some huge leads early on in the race.
While a top five completely populated by Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing cars doesn't suggest the most unpredictable or exciting of races, some of the action a little deeper in the field was more than exciting enough to keep the most jaded of fans interested.
Dan Wheldon's race ended before it began, with accidental contact from Bertrand Baguette at the start sending the No. 4 Panther Racing Dallara-Honda upside down in a wreck that almost looked like it came out of a video game. It was Wheldon's first DNF since St. Petersburg earlier this year, as well as his first finish outside the top 20.
Simona de Silvestro had an interesting day as well. First, contact with Alex Tagliani cut the Canadian's tire down, and then she nearly sent Raphael Matos upside down as well with an aggressive move early in the race. Finally, E.J. Viso ran into her not long after, spinning her out. De Silvestro continued on, eventually winding up 13th.
Hometown hero J.R. Hildebrand and 2006 race winner Marco Andretti got together on lap 37, ending Hildebrand's day. Not too long after, Andretti got into Mario Moraes in the same corner, eliciting a reaction from fans aware of the drivers' history with one another.
The final caution of the day came when Baguette, Matos, and Viso got together with under ten laps to go. Viso's KV Racing Technology car was able to continue on, marking only the fourth race all season where each of that team's cars finished the event. Baguette and Matos, however, were done for.
Dixon put the pressure on at the final restart, the drivers matching presses of the Push to Pass button, but the Australian managed to extend his lead once again. Francesco Dracone stalled in the final corner on the final lap, leading to a local yellow that brought down Power's margin of victory considerably, but the rule against passing during a local yellow, combined with the proximity to the start-finish line, ensured that Dixon would not have a chance to go by.
Franchitti was third, with Power's teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves rounding out the top five.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
IndyCar Race Preview: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Will Power may have already clinched the Mario Andretti Trophy as the best road course driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series this year, but he'll have plenty of unfinished business when he takes to the Infineon Raceway for this weekend's Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Power's season ended here prematurely last year when a freak accident with Nelson Philippe landed him on the sidelines with two fractured vertebrae in his back. By now, most IndyCar fans know the story: originally a temp replacement at Team Penske while Helio Castroneves' legal issues were sorted out, owner Roger Penske found the money to run Power in a handful of other events last year, and his performance was stellar until the Sonoma incident.
Regardless, Penske took a chance on the Australian full-time this year, shutting down his sports car operation to make room, and Power rewarded the veteran owner by winning his first two races back this season. He has taken four of the eight road course races run thus far this year, and he hasn't finished any worse than fourth running on the twisties.
But just because he has the road course championship in hand, and a solid 41-point advantage in the overall standings, doesn't mean that a Power victory lap at Sonoma is a certainty. It's especially not the case when his top rival in all categories, 2009 series champion Dario Franchitti, led every lap to win from the pole here last year.
Franchitti got the best of Power during Friday practice, as the series' top two drivers were 1-2 atop the speed charts. 16 drivers posted laps within a second of Franchitti's best, a 78.297-second circuit. Alex Tagliani, Franchitti teammate Scott Dixon, and Justin Wilson completed the top five in that session.
J.R. Hildebrand, in 13th with a lap of 79.039 seconds, was the top rookie in the session. Wilson's teammate at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and a California native who calls Infineon his home track, Hildebrand will attempt to top the injured Mike Conway's third-place finish in this race last year. He had nearly half a second on Bertrand Baguette, the second-best rookie.
In all, 23 of the 25 drivers attempting the race were within two seconds of Franchitti's best lap. The lone two exceptions were Francesco Dracone, making only his second career IndyCar start with Conquest Racing, and Milka Duno, who has been consistently off the pace all year with Dale Coyne Racing. The buzz around Duno gets stronger every week, with more and more fans calling for the IRL powers that be to park her. Last year, Duno had her second best finish of the season at Infineon, placing 17th.
Power's season ended here prematurely last year when a freak accident with Nelson Philippe landed him on the sidelines with two fractured vertebrae in his back. By now, most IndyCar fans know the story: originally a temp replacement at Team Penske while Helio Castroneves' legal issues were sorted out, owner Roger Penske found the money to run Power in a handful of other events last year, and his performance was stellar until the Sonoma incident.
Regardless, Penske took a chance on the Australian full-time this year, shutting down his sports car operation to make room, and Power rewarded the veteran owner by winning his first two races back this season. He has taken four of the eight road course races run thus far this year, and he hasn't finished any worse than fourth running on the twisties.
But just because he has the road course championship in hand, and a solid 41-point advantage in the overall standings, doesn't mean that a Power victory lap at Sonoma is a certainty. It's especially not the case when his top rival in all categories, 2009 series champion Dario Franchitti, led every lap to win from the pole here last year.
Franchitti got the best of Power during Friday practice, as the series' top two drivers were 1-2 atop the speed charts. 16 drivers posted laps within a second of Franchitti's best, a 78.297-second circuit. Alex Tagliani, Franchitti teammate Scott Dixon, and Justin Wilson completed the top five in that session.
J.R. Hildebrand, in 13th with a lap of 79.039 seconds, was the top rookie in the session. Wilson's teammate at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and a California native who calls Infineon his home track, Hildebrand will attempt to top the injured Mike Conway's third-place finish in this race last year. He had nearly half a second on Bertrand Baguette, the second-best rookie.
In all, 23 of the 25 drivers attempting the race were within two seconds of Franchitti's best lap. The lone two exceptions were Francesco Dracone, making only his second career IndyCar start with Conquest Racing, and Milka Duno, who has been consistently off the pace all year with Dale Coyne Racing. The buzz around Duno gets stronger every week, with more and more fans calling for the IRL powers that be to park her. Last year, Duno had her second best finish of the season at Infineon, placing 17th.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Texas to Host First Open-Wheel Doubleheader in 30 Years
The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule got a little more interesting yesterday, with the announcement of the Firestone Texas Two Step, to be held at Texas Motor Speedway on June 11 of next year.
What was once the Firestone 550k - a 228-lap, 342-mile race under the lights the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 - will become the Firestone Twin 275s, two full-field races that will each count for half points towards next year's championships. The series and track have not yet decided on how to set the field for either of the two races, nor have they settled on a time allotment between both races, though it seems likely that there will be a day race and a night race.
The race weekend has also been moved back one week, re-establishing the traditional off week between Indy and Texas that existed from 1997 to 2005. That slot was filled by Milwaukee from 2007 to 2009, assuming the track's former Champ Car date. Milwaukee was left off this year's schedule due to outstanding fees owed to multiple sanctioning bodies.
It will be the first American open-wheel doubleheader in nearly 30 years, the last coming on June 28, 1981 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway under CART sanctioning. Rick Mears swept both of those races. All in all, since 1967, 17 doubleheaders were held, the first 13 under USAC sanctioning. 10 of those 17 doubleheaders were swept by a single driver, including the first six USAC doubleheaders and three of the four held under CART sanctioning.
Doubleheaders are also a staple of many European feeder series to Formula 1. Usually, these consist of a sprint race and a feature race, though they normally award the same amount of points.
The idea of returning the doubleheader to IndyCar is not too strange, nor has it been all too long since it was last suggested. In fact, promoters for Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport were attempting to use the idea to bring open-wheel racing back to the track for the first time since Champ Car's final hurrah in 2007. The difference there, however, was that one race would take place on the traditional road course layout, while the other would be run on a brand-new oval layout.
What was once the Firestone 550k - a 228-lap, 342-mile race under the lights the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 - will become the Firestone Twin 275s, two full-field races that will each count for half points towards next year's championships. The series and track have not yet decided on how to set the field for either of the two races, nor have they settled on a time allotment between both races, though it seems likely that there will be a day race and a night race.
The race weekend has also been moved back one week, re-establishing the traditional off week between Indy and Texas that existed from 1997 to 2005. That slot was filled by Milwaukee from 2007 to 2009, assuming the track's former Champ Car date. Milwaukee was left off this year's schedule due to outstanding fees owed to multiple sanctioning bodies.
It will be the first American open-wheel doubleheader in nearly 30 years, the last coming on June 28, 1981 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway under CART sanctioning. Rick Mears swept both of those races. All in all, since 1967, 17 doubleheaders were held, the first 13 under USAC sanctioning. 10 of those 17 doubleheaders were swept by a single driver, including the first six USAC doubleheaders and three of the four held under CART sanctioning.
Doubleheaders are also a staple of many European feeder series to Formula 1. Usually, these consist of a sprint race and a feature race, though they normally award the same amount of points.
The idea of returning the doubleheader to IndyCar is not too strange, nor has it been all too long since it was last suggested. In fact, promoters for Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport were attempting to use the idea to bring open-wheel racing back to the track for the first time since Champ Car's final hurrah in 2007. The difference there, however, was that one race would take place on the traditional road course layout, while the other would be run on a brand-new oval layout.
Friday, August 13, 2010
2011 Indianapolis 500 Logo Unveiled
In a dual ceremony that took place at both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, some of the biggest names in Indianapolis 500 history unveiled the race's 2011 logo, celebrating the 100th running of the storied event and the 16th under IZOD IndyCar Series sanctioning.
Johnny Rutherford, a three-time winner of the event, helped IMS president/CEO Jeff Belskus reveal the logo at the track. The Pebble Beach ceremony was led by fellow three-time winner Bobby Unser, 1963 winner Parnelli Jones, 1985 winner Danny Sullivan, and open-wheel icon Dan Gurney.
The logo primarily features a blue banner with white letters, a black "500," and golden wings, with a red banner highlighting the 100th anniversary of the event. The IMS Creative Services department, which designed the logo, took various design elements from race logos used in the 1920s and 1930s.
Also present at the Pebble Beach ceremony was a restored 1965 Lotus-Ford, detailed exactly like the one with which Scot Jim Clark won that year's event. Its presence at the event further exhibits a revived fascination with Indy for the British company, which re-entered the sport this year as primary sponsor of Takuma Sato's No. 5 KV Racing Technology Dallara-Honda. Lotus has also announced its intention to build an aerodynamic kit for the Dallara safety cell that will be used in the 2012 IndyCar season and beyond.
Johnny Rutherford, a three-time winner of the event, helped IMS president/CEO Jeff Belskus reveal the logo at the track. The Pebble Beach ceremony was led by fellow three-time winner Bobby Unser, 1963 winner Parnelli Jones, 1985 winner Danny Sullivan, and open-wheel icon Dan Gurney.
The logo primarily features a blue banner with white letters, a black "500," and golden wings, with a red banner highlighting the 100th anniversary of the event. The IMS Creative Services department, which designed the logo, took various design elements from race logos used in the 1920s and 1930s.
Also present at the Pebble Beach ceremony was a restored 1965 Lotus-Ford, detailed exactly like the one with which Scot Jim Clark won that year's event. Its presence at the event further exhibits a revived fascination with Indy for the British company, which re-entered the sport this year as primary sponsor of Takuma Sato's No. 5 KV Racing Technology Dallara-Honda. Lotus has also announced its intention to build an aerodynamic kit for the Dallara safety cell that will be used in the 2012 IndyCar season and beyond.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
IndyCar Race Review: Honda Indy 200
Dario Franchitti posted his first IZOD IndyCar Series road course win in nearly a year in today's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, holding off polesitter Will Power to the checkered flag.
Franchitti, whose last win on a road course came at Infineon last year, inherited the lead when Alex Tagliani made his final pit stop, put the power down for a few extra laps, and managed to beat Power out of the pits to retain the lead when stops cycled through.
Tagliani, for his part, drove one of his finest races of the year, scoring his best finish, a fourth place, between Helio Castroneves, who threw away the race at Edmonton two weeks ago on a blocking penalty, and Scott Dixon, who won that race. His pit crew, reading the race like a book, had him pit on lap 22, expecting a caution that would come almost immediately after. The Canadian led from lap 26, midway through the first caution, to his final pit stop on lap 56.
That first caution came when Justin Wilson, driving with an injured thumb from a Saturday incident with Ryan Briscoe, made an ill-advised attempt on passing E.J. Viso in the first turn on lap 23. Both cars went off track and were done for the day.
Almost immediately after the green flag flew after that caution, Takuma Sato brought the yellow out again, when a combination of cold tires and cold brakes caused him to careen off course, again in the first turn. That was just the icing on the cake for a bad weekend for KV Racing; not only were Viso and Sato out, Mario Moraes had given three of his pit crew minor injuries in an incident during race warmups.
Pit incidents were not out of the question all weekend, as a 27-car field meant that pit stalls had to be shortened to 35 feet. Normally, the Mid-Ohio pit accommodates 26 cars length-wise, and is also fairly narrow. Ryan Hunter-Reay became a victim of the tight space, getting sandwiched between the Penske cars of Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe during the first pit stops and having to return to the pits for damage repairs. He dropped back to 24th but recovered to finish 10th.
Two drivers made their IndyCar debuts during the race, but neither did all that much to impress. J.R. Hildebrand, last year's Indy Lights champion, was never a factor in a 16th place finish for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Meanwhile, Francesco Dracone caused the final two cautions of the race with two separate spins on different sections of the track. He finished three laps down in 22nd, beating only Milka Duno of the cars still on track at the finish.
On the other end of the spectrum, Simona de Silvestro and Bertrand Baguette were among the drivers who scored season-best finishes in the race. De Silvestro placed eighth in an older, heavier HVM Racing chassis that was able to chase down Penske cars in some points of the race. Baguette had a top-10 car for much of the race, but was bumped down to 11th by the checkered flag.
All in all, 21 cars finished on the lead lap, the last of them being Danica Patrick. Four cars did not finish the race: Wilson, Viso, Sato, and Jay Howard.
Franchitti, whose last win on a road course came at Infineon last year, inherited the lead when Alex Tagliani made his final pit stop, put the power down for a few extra laps, and managed to beat Power out of the pits to retain the lead when stops cycled through.
Tagliani, for his part, drove one of his finest races of the year, scoring his best finish, a fourth place, between Helio Castroneves, who threw away the race at Edmonton two weeks ago on a blocking penalty, and Scott Dixon, who won that race. His pit crew, reading the race like a book, had him pit on lap 22, expecting a caution that would come almost immediately after. The Canadian led from lap 26, midway through the first caution, to his final pit stop on lap 56.
That first caution came when Justin Wilson, driving with an injured thumb from a Saturday incident with Ryan Briscoe, made an ill-advised attempt on passing E.J. Viso in the first turn on lap 23. Both cars went off track and were done for the day.
Almost immediately after the green flag flew after that caution, Takuma Sato brought the yellow out again, when a combination of cold tires and cold brakes caused him to careen off course, again in the first turn. That was just the icing on the cake for a bad weekend for KV Racing; not only were Viso and Sato out, Mario Moraes had given three of his pit crew minor injuries in an incident during race warmups.
Pit incidents were not out of the question all weekend, as a 27-car field meant that pit stalls had to be shortened to 35 feet. Normally, the Mid-Ohio pit accommodates 26 cars length-wise, and is also fairly narrow. Ryan Hunter-Reay became a victim of the tight space, getting sandwiched between the Penske cars of Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe during the first pit stops and having to return to the pits for damage repairs. He dropped back to 24th but recovered to finish 10th.
Two drivers made their IndyCar debuts during the race, but neither did all that much to impress. J.R. Hildebrand, last year's Indy Lights champion, was never a factor in a 16th place finish for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Meanwhile, Francesco Dracone caused the final two cautions of the race with two separate spins on different sections of the track. He finished three laps down in 22nd, beating only Milka Duno of the cars still on track at the finish.
On the other end of the spectrum, Simona de Silvestro and Bertrand Baguette were among the drivers who scored season-best finishes in the race. De Silvestro placed eighth in an older, heavier HVM Racing chassis that was able to chase down Penske cars in some points of the race. Baguette had a top-10 car for much of the race, but was bumped down to 11th by the checkered flag.
All in all, 21 cars finished on the lead lap, the last of them being Danica Patrick. Four cars did not finish the race: Wilson, Viso, Sato, and Jay Howard.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
IndyCar Race Preview: Honda Indy 200
Team Penske will once again be the team to beat this weekend at Mid-Ohio, as Will Power tied a series record by scoring his seventh pole of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season for tomorrow's Honda Indy 200.
Penske cars have been towards the top of the charts in every practice session, with Dario Franchitti also consistently posting solid runs. Franchitti qualified alongside Power on the front row, followed by strong runs for Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Row 3 consists of Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, involved in controversy over the finish at Edmonton two weeks ago, when a hotly contested blocking penalty on Castroneves handed the win to Dixon. Castroneves was previously the lone record holder for most poles in an IndyCar season until this weekend.
The 27-car field is one of the healthiest in IndyCar all season, and by far trumps the meager 21-car field that the series mustered last year. Besides the increase in full-time cars from last year to this year, part-time entries for Graham Rahal, Adam Carroll, and Jay Howard have inflated the field. Carroll qualified 17th, Rahal 25th, and Howard 26th.
This race will mark the IndyCar debuts for two drivers: J.R. Hildebrand, filling in for Mike Conway at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and Francesco Dracone, replacing Mario Romancini at Conquest Racing. They qualified 18th and 23rd, respectively. Hildebrand was the 2009 Indy Lights champion, while Dracone spent the majority of his professional racing career in Europe, primarily competing in the Formula 3000 Euroseries.
The race will be shown live on Versus at 2:30 PM EST on Sunday.
Penske cars have been towards the top of the charts in every practice session, with Dario Franchitti also consistently posting solid runs. Franchitti qualified alongside Power on the front row, followed by strong runs for Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Row 3 consists of Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, involved in controversy over the finish at Edmonton two weeks ago, when a hotly contested blocking penalty on Castroneves handed the win to Dixon. Castroneves was previously the lone record holder for most poles in an IndyCar season until this weekend.
The 27-car field is one of the healthiest in IndyCar all season, and by far trumps the meager 21-car field that the series mustered last year. Besides the increase in full-time cars from last year to this year, part-time entries for Graham Rahal, Adam Carroll, and Jay Howard have inflated the field. Carroll qualified 17th, Rahal 25th, and Howard 26th.
This race will mark the IndyCar debuts for two drivers: J.R. Hildebrand, filling in for Mike Conway at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and Francesco Dracone, replacing Mario Romancini at Conquest Racing. They qualified 18th and 23rd, respectively. Hildebrand was the 2009 Indy Lights champion, while Dracone spent the majority of his professional racing career in Europe, primarily competing in the Formula 3000 Euroseries.
The race will be shown live on Versus at 2:30 PM EST on Sunday.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Conquest Introduces Dracone
Italian driver Francesco Dracone will replace Brazilian Mario Romancini in the No. 34 Dallara-Honda at Conquest Racing for the final two road course events of the IZOD IndyCar Series season. Dracone will drive the car at Mid-Ohio and Infineon with sponsorship from La Pasta and Halkin Jet.
Dracone has spent time racing in Euroseries 3000 (now AutoGP) for the past four years, improving his spot in the standings each of the past three years. Dracone's best finish in points was seventh place last season, with his best race finish coming at Monza, where he placed fifth.
Dracone has been inactive for most of this season, testing a Nissan LMP1 and an F3000 car in the past few months, but was not expected to drive an IndyCar this season until passing his rookie test at Mid-Ohio last week. Dracone is team owner Eric Bachelart's second strictly European driver signing of the season, with Dracone's teammate Bertrand Baguette a former Formula Renault champion.
Romancini currently ranks third in rookie points, behind only Alex Lloyd and Simona de Silvestro, while Baguette (having missed the season's first two races) ranks fifth. But Romancini has finished no better than 13th all season, has failed to finish in five of seven road course starts (crashing four times), and brings less sponsorship money than Baguette, who has his own Belgian backing. This is no small advantage, as team owner Bachelart is Belgian as well.
Romancini will most likely return to Conquest for the final four oval races of the season, as he was the highest-finishing rookie at Indianapolis and seemed to have his best luck in Firestone Indy Lights last year on the oval tracks.
Dracone has spent time racing in Euroseries 3000 (now AutoGP) for the past four years, improving his spot in the standings each of the past three years. Dracone's best finish in points was seventh place last season, with his best race finish coming at Monza, where he placed fifth.
Dracone has been inactive for most of this season, testing a Nissan LMP1 and an F3000 car in the past few months, but was not expected to drive an IndyCar this season until passing his rookie test at Mid-Ohio last week. Dracone is team owner Eric Bachelart's second strictly European driver signing of the season, with Dracone's teammate Bertrand Baguette a former Formula Renault champion.
Romancini currently ranks third in rookie points, behind only Alex Lloyd and Simona de Silvestro, while Baguette (having missed the season's first two races) ranks fifth. But Romancini has finished no better than 13th all season, has failed to finish in five of seven road course starts (crashing four times), and brings less sponsorship money than Baguette, who has his own Belgian backing. This is no small advantage, as team owner Bachelart is Belgian as well.
Romancini will most likely return to Conquest for the final four oval races of the season, as he was the highest-finishing rookie at Indianapolis and seemed to have his best luck in Firestone Indy Lights last year on the oval tracks.
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