Open Wheel America would like to extend a warm welcome to Catie Rinderknecht, who will be joining the OWA team of writers effective immediately.
Catie has been blogging on the sport for quite a while now and frequently attends IZOD IndyCar Series races at the Iowa Speedway. Off track, she's a violin performance major and an Iowa Hawkeye. Catie's posts bring a fresh and interesting perspective on the sport, and I have it on good word that she has a couple of real fun and interesting ones coming up in the future. Stay tuned!
Adding Catie is the first step we at OWA hope to take towards becoming the premiere website for American open-wheel racing. Catie's posts range from news to opinion pieces and often take intriguing and unexpected turns - one of the main reasons why she was the first new author to be added to the site. Adding an author with a fresh perspective only helps the site diversify and grow. In the end, we all win - especially the readers, who have something new to look forward to from this day on.
Catie's most recent work can be found at To the Limit, one of the first blogs to actually link to OWA. Her old work can be found here. And finally, you can follow her on Twitter here.
Once again, welcome to the team, Catie!
Christopher Leone
Monday, September 6, 2010
Opinion: Something's Gotta Give at Andretti
It's been a story all year, but things may finally be coming to a boiling point between the four full-time IZOD IndyCar Series drivers at Andretti Autosport.
Kentucky seemed to bring out the worst in the team, when their three lead drivers - Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, and Marco Andretti - all began to race each other like rivals and not teammates. In fact, while Kanaan gave a hearty congratulations to third-place finisher Dan Wheldon after the race, he had nothing for his AA teammates.
It's a far cry from 2005, when the dream team of Kanaan, Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, and Bryan Herta swept the top four spots at St. Petersburg, won the Indianapolis 500 with Wheldon, and otherwise destroyed all competition.
Last year was AA's first winless season in IndyCar. Patrick may have finished a career-best fifth in points, but she couldn't find victory lane as she had in Motegi two years ago. This led to a massive restructuring of the business formerly known as Andretti Green Racing, with the "Green" (Kim Green and Kevin Savoree) taking over the race promotion aspect of the business and team owner/namesake Michael Andretti continuing to operate the race team.
The results have been better this year - Kanaan won at Iowa, while new driver/IZOD darling Ryan Hunter-Reay took the prestigious Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, and Andretti rank sixth, seventh, and eighth in points, respectively - the best drivers in the series not to be employed by Chip Ganassi or Roger Penske.
But Patrick's been woefully off the pace, regularly finishing towards the back in road and street course events and not giving strong oval performances consistently enough to put her in the top 10 in points. It's been a trying year for the all-world media personality anyway, with her well-documented stock car struggles adding to the problem, but a six-position drop in the standings after last year's consistent run is a huge problem.
The worst part for Andretti is that all three of these feuding drivers are locked into their contracts for the foreseeable future, while the team's other drivers are looking for the right sponsorship combinations.
Patrick's contract runs through next year and contains an option for 2012, though you wonder if she'll attempt to jump to NASCAR full-time if the money is right. Andretti has a long-term deal that is basically guaranteed by nature of his father owning the team. Kanaan and the 7-Eleven team have been together since 2003, making them one of the longest-tenured driver and team combinations in the sport.
Meanwhile, Hunter-Reay's future remains uncertain for the umpteenth consecutive year due to sponsor concerns. Andretti also has under contract an Irish driver by the name of Adam Carroll, whose prowess in A1GP should have landed him a ride in Formula 1 this year. Andretti, which operated the American team in the nationality-based racing series, became familiar with the driver as he won the series' final championship. Current Andretti Firestone Indy Lights driver Charlie Kimball raced for the team in A1GP, and they have always been high on his talent; he sits third in points in that series with four runner-up finishes in 12 starts this year.
Put simply, all three of those feuding drivers could be replaced, and the team would probably be much better off.
Hunter-Reay is nothing less than a ray of sunshine on AA. He's shown a willingness, nevermind the ability, to work with every driver on the squad, and perhaps it is that good karma that has rendered him the team's best driver this year. He's also IZOD's golden boy, having held a personal services contract with the brand for a while now, and is without contest the best American open-wheel driver in the world right now.
Meanwhile, the feuding between his three teammates all year has been a cancer that must be eating away at owner Michael Andretti's patience. Earlier this year, Andretti compared his job to that of a "kindergarten teacher" in an interview with Versus' Jack Arute. Again, it's a far cry from 2005's dream team.
RIght now, all AA can do is tough out the next two races while attempting to figure out what to do about next season. Without all of the stupid infighting that has plagued the team all season, they may have had somebody challenging for the championship. Somebody may need to leave the team before this can happen.
Obviously, the two weak links are Marco, who hasn't won a race since 2006 and occasionally seems disinterested on-track, and Danica, who is showing once and for all this year that she isn't the driver the media has hyped her up to be. But of course, these are the two drivers with the most ironclad contracts of all, being family and a megastar, respectively.
But you have to wonder if the team would take the financial hit to buy Danica out of her contract and let her try NASCAR full-time. Remember that the announcer at the ESPY Awards called her "NASCAR's Danica Patrick," not "IndyCar's Danica Patrick." NASCAR, which is already experienced at hyping up popular drivers during their on-track struggles (see Earnhardt Jr., Dale), is probably doing more with the Danica brand than IndyCar right now. On one hand, that's a problem for IndyCar, which could use all the publicity it can get; on the other, she's already established herself in IndyCar and is far less of a novelty in the open-wheel cars these days than she is as a transitioning rookie stock car driver.
Provided that the sponsors are willing to stick with the team, this opens up a spot for either Carroll, Kimball, or even Wheldon (now a free agent) to return to AA. Wheldon's "gone home" before, per se, as the current Panther Racing driver actually made his IndyCar debut in 2002 with Panther before replacing the retiring Michael Andretti in 2003.
It becomes far stickier to try and buy out your own son's contract, especially when Venom Energy stepped in to save that marginally funded team last year. Meanwhile, Kanaan has shown he's still got it as the second-best driver on that team, and it would be a mistake to let him go - especially because Penske would likely snap him up as a replacement for Ryan Briscoe, who has been rumored to be on the hot seat for a few weeks now.
Watching Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, you can see a certain chemistry between the drivers. Penske's trio of Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, and Will Power have done interviews and appeared on TV together, and the team is (barring Edmonton) often all smiles. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti get down to business for Ganassi and stay out of each other's way, showing a great respect for one another at all times.
It's become clear that the current driver ensemble at Andretti is never going to find said chemistry. Somebody has to go. None of the team's current drivers are irreplaceable, like Sam Hornish was for Panther and Sebastien Bourdais was for Newman/Haas. Nobody currently on the team has taken Andretti to heights that it will never see again without them - in fact, they've mostly taken the team to new lows that can be done without.
The Andretti drivers need to understand that they can be replaced. The series' closest thing to an all-American team could do worse than taking a gamble and doing just that.
Kentucky seemed to bring out the worst in the team, when their three lead drivers - Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, and Marco Andretti - all began to race each other like rivals and not teammates. In fact, while Kanaan gave a hearty congratulations to third-place finisher Dan Wheldon after the race, he had nothing for his AA teammates.
It's a far cry from 2005, when the dream team of Kanaan, Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, and Bryan Herta swept the top four spots at St. Petersburg, won the Indianapolis 500 with Wheldon, and otherwise destroyed all competition.
Last year was AA's first winless season in IndyCar. Patrick may have finished a career-best fifth in points, but she couldn't find victory lane as she had in Motegi two years ago. This led to a massive restructuring of the business formerly known as Andretti Green Racing, with the "Green" (Kim Green and Kevin Savoree) taking over the race promotion aspect of the business and team owner/namesake Michael Andretti continuing to operate the race team.
The results have been better this year - Kanaan won at Iowa, while new driver/IZOD darling Ryan Hunter-Reay took the prestigious Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, and Andretti rank sixth, seventh, and eighth in points, respectively - the best drivers in the series not to be employed by Chip Ganassi or Roger Penske.
But Patrick's been woefully off the pace, regularly finishing towards the back in road and street course events and not giving strong oval performances consistently enough to put her in the top 10 in points. It's been a trying year for the all-world media personality anyway, with her well-documented stock car struggles adding to the problem, but a six-position drop in the standings after last year's consistent run is a huge problem.
The worst part for Andretti is that all three of these feuding drivers are locked into their contracts for the foreseeable future, while the team's other drivers are looking for the right sponsorship combinations.
Patrick's contract runs through next year and contains an option for 2012, though you wonder if she'll attempt to jump to NASCAR full-time if the money is right. Andretti has a long-term deal that is basically guaranteed by nature of his father owning the team. Kanaan and the 7-Eleven team have been together since 2003, making them one of the longest-tenured driver and team combinations in the sport.
Meanwhile, Hunter-Reay's future remains uncertain for the umpteenth consecutive year due to sponsor concerns. Andretti also has under contract an Irish driver by the name of Adam Carroll, whose prowess in A1GP should have landed him a ride in Formula 1 this year. Andretti, which operated the American team in the nationality-based racing series, became familiar with the driver as he won the series' final championship. Current Andretti Firestone Indy Lights driver Charlie Kimball raced for the team in A1GP, and they have always been high on his talent; he sits third in points in that series with four runner-up finishes in 12 starts this year.
Put simply, all three of those feuding drivers could be replaced, and the team would probably be much better off.
Hunter-Reay is nothing less than a ray of sunshine on AA. He's shown a willingness, nevermind the ability, to work with every driver on the squad, and perhaps it is that good karma that has rendered him the team's best driver this year. He's also IZOD's golden boy, having held a personal services contract with the brand for a while now, and is without contest the best American open-wheel driver in the world right now.
Meanwhile, the feuding between his three teammates all year has been a cancer that must be eating away at owner Michael Andretti's patience. Earlier this year, Andretti compared his job to that of a "kindergarten teacher" in an interview with Versus' Jack Arute. Again, it's a far cry from 2005's dream team.
RIght now, all AA can do is tough out the next two races while attempting to figure out what to do about next season. Without all of the stupid infighting that has plagued the team all season, they may have had somebody challenging for the championship. Somebody may need to leave the team before this can happen.
Obviously, the two weak links are Marco, who hasn't won a race since 2006 and occasionally seems disinterested on-track, and Danica, who is showing once and for all this year that she isn't the driver the media has hyped her up to be. But of course, these are the two drivers with the most ironclad contracts of all, being family and a megastar, respectively.
But you have to wonder if the team would take the financial hit to buy Danica out of her contract and let her try NASCAR full-time. Remember that the announcer at the ESPY Awards called her "NASCAR's Danica Patrick," not "IndyCar's Danica Patrick." NASCAR, which is already experienced at hyping up popular drivers during their on-track struggles (see Earnhardt Jr., Dale), is probably doing more with the Danica brand than IndyCar right now. On one hand, that's a problem for IndyCar, which could use all the publicity it can get; on the other, she's already established herself in IndyCar and is far less of a novelty in the open-wheel cars these days than she is as a transitioning rookie stock car driver.
Provided that the sponsors are willing to stick with the team, this opens up a spot for either Carroll, Kimball, or even Wheldon (now a free agent) to return to AA. Wheldon's "gone home" before, per se, as the current Panther Racing driver actually made his IndyCar debut in 2002 with Panther before replacing the retiring Michael Andretti in 2003.
It becomes far stickier to try and buy out your own son's contract, especially when Venom Energy stepped in to save that marginally funded team last year. Meanwhile, Kanaan has shown he's still got it as the second-best driver on that team, and it would be a mistake to let him go - especially because Penske would likely snap him up as a replacement for Ryan Briscoe, who has been rumored to be on the hot seat for a few weeks now.
Watching Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, you can see a certain chemistry between the drivers. Penske's trio of Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, and Will Power have done interviews and appeared on TV together, and the team is (barring Edmonton) often all smiles. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti get down to business for Ganassi and stay out of each other's way, showing a great respect for one another at all times.
It's become clear that the current driver ensemble at Andretti is never going to find said chemistry. Somebody has to go. None of the team's current drivers are irreplaceable, like Sam Hornish was for Panther and Sebastien Bourdais was for Newman/Haas. Nobody currently on the team has taken Andretti to heights that it will never see again without them - in fact, they've mostly taken the team to new lows that can be done without.
The Andretti drivers need to understand that they can be replaced. The series' closest thing to an all-American team could do worse than taking a gamble and doing just that.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
IndyCar Race Review: Kentucky Indy 300
Once again, the Kentucky Indy 300 gave thousands of fans hope at an upset victory. And once again, a Roger Penske-employed driver thwarted any designs that a little guy had at victory.
Panther Racing - former IZOD IndyCar Series champions, but now restricted to an underdog role in the series as ex-CART powers have taken over - qualified first and third for the race with Ed Carpenter and Dan Wheldon, respectively. They combined to lead 104 laps of the race, including 49 of the final 53 circuits.
Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, Carpenter had the victory stolen from him by Team Penske. This year, Helio Castroneves did the honors, conserving enough fuel in an extended green flag run to coast to the win, and even turn a couple victory laps afterwards.
Last year, Carpenter was beaten to the line by Penske driver Ryan Briscoe in a memorable finish. This year, Briscoe wasn't around to challenge for the win, having crashed out in a three-car wreck before the halfway point, but Carpenter was a contender for much of the night. He even worked his way back through the pack after getting shuffled back early.
But late race, splash-and-go pit stops for all of the leaders shuffled the order, and the victory went to the driver who used the underdog strategy: hang out towards the back and run slow laps to ensure the ability to make it to the end.
It was the second consecutive strong run for Carpenter, whose team is actually a collaboration between Panther and Vision Racing, as well as Wheldon, Panther's lead driver. Last week at Chicagoland, fuel issues knocked Carpenter out of contention, while Wheldon finished second in that event. This weekend, Wheldon led more laps than anybody (93) and made a strong case to remain in the series next year, even as he and Panther will part ways at the end of the season.
In the end, Carpenter finished second at Kentucky for the second year in a row, and Wheldon placed third.
Meanwhile, Castroneves took his second race victory of the season (though, referring to an incident at Edmonton, jokingly called it his third) by running laps almost 10 miles per hour slower than the leaders in the very late stages of the event. As such, when Tony Kanaan pit with less than 10 to go to begin the cycle of splash-and-go fuel stops, Castroneves had conserved enough to stay out on track.
Kanaan, who had qualified miserably off the pace to start in 26th, passed 10 cars on the first lap of the event and eventually wound up fourth, in front of Dario Franchitti. Franchitti further closed the gap on point leader Will Power, who wound up eighth. Power led 83 laps of the 200-lap event, nearly garnering him an important two-point bonus for leading the most laps, until Wheldon topped him late in the event. Power's shrinking points lead is now down to 17 with only two races to go.
Bertrand Baguette had a career-best 10th place finish, which also propelled him past the perpetually unlucky Takuma Sato in the points. After taking out teammate E.J. Viso last week at Chicagoland, Sato failed to even complete one lap at Kentucky, as his car broke loose from him in turns three and four and he slammed into the wall. It was the latest in a long line of incidents for KV Racing Technology this season, where the crash count now tops two dozen.
Panther Racing - former IZOD IndyCar Series champions, but now restricted to an underdog role in the series as ex-CART powers have taken over - qualified first and third for the race with Ed Carpenter and Dan Wheldon, respectively. They combined to lead 104 laps of the race, including 49 of the final 53 circuits.
Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, Carpenter had the victory stolen from him by Team Penske. This year, Helio Castroneves did the honors, conserving enough fuel in an extended green flag run to coast to the win, and even turn a couple victory laps afterwards.
Last year, Carpenter was beaten to the line by Penske driver Ryan Briscoe in a memorable finish. This year, Briscoe wasn't around to challenge for the win, having crashed out in a three-car wreck before the halfway point, but Carpenter was a contender for much of the night. He even worked his way back through the pack after getting shuffled back early.
But late race, splash-and-go pit stops for all of the leaders shuffled the order, and the victory went to the driver who used the underdog strategy: hang out towards the back and run slow laps to ensure the ability to make it to the end.
It was the second consecutive strong run for Carpenter, whose team is actually a collaboration between Panther and Vision Racing, as well as Wheldon, Panther's lead driver. Last week at Chicagoland, fuel issues knocked Carpenter out of contention, while Wheldon finished second in that event. This weekend, Wheldon led more laps than anybody (93) and made a strong case to remain in the series next year, even as he and Panther will part ways at the end of the season.
In the end, Carpenter finished second at Kentucky for the second year in a row, and Wheldon placed third.
Meanwhile, Castroneves took his second race victory of the season (though, referring to an incident at Edmonton, jokingly called it his third) by running laps almost 10 miles per hour slower than the leaders in the very late stages of the event. As such, when Tony Kanaan pit with less than 10 to go to begin the cycle of splash-and-go fuel stops, Castroneves had conserved enough to stay out on track.
Kanaan, who had qualified miserably off the pace to start in 26th, passed 10 cars on the first lap of the event and eventually wound up fourth, in front of Dario Franchitti. Franchitti further closed the gap on point leader Will Power, who wound up eighth. Power led 83 laps of the 200-lap event, nearly garnering him an important two-point bonus for leading the most laps, until Wheldon topped him late in the event. Power's shrinking points lead is now down to 17 with only two races to go.
Bertrand Baguette had a career-best 10th place finish, which also propelled him past the perpetually unlucky Takuma Sato in the points. After taking out teammate E.J. Viso last week at Chicagoland, Sato failed to even complete one lap at Kentucky, as his car broke loose from him in turns three and four and he slammed into the wall. It was the latest in a long line of incidents for KV Racing Technology this season, where the crash count now tops two dozen.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Saavedra Out at Bryan Herta Autosport
Daniel Herrington will step into the No. 29 William Rast Dallara for Bryan Herta Autosport in tonight's Firestone Indy Lights Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
Herrington, who drove full-time for the team last year and has thus far been without a ride this season, replaces Sebastian Saavedra, who is leaving the team. Saavedra currently ranks fifth in Indy Lights points, with one win at Iowa. Herrington placed seventh in the standings last year, with a win at Chicago. Saavedra and Herrington finished second and sixth at the Kentucky race last year, respectively.
This marks the second impromptu driver change of the season for BHA, who replaced their other driver, Stefan Wilson, at Sonoma due to sponsorship woes. His replacement, Joel Miller, finished a respectable ninth. Wilson has since returned to the team.
The team has not yet settled on a driver for the season finale at Homestead, though Herrington is the likely choice.
According to 16th and Georgetown's Twitter account, Saavedra's father broke the news to team owner Bryan Herta last night.
“This turn of events has come to me, our sponsor and our entire race team as quite a surprise. Needless to say I am deeply disappointed," Herta said. "We greatly appreciate and admire Daniel’s willingness to step into our No. 29 William Rast Indy Lights entry on extremely short notice.”
Saavedra updated his own Twitter account today with the following: "As many will ask. Yes I will not be racing for the rest of the season with Bryan Herta Autosport. Was a tough decision but it's made. After last races things haven't gone the way they should. And at last my managers and main sponsor made the decision to stop to not continue harming my racing career and name.. I'm frustrated and sad to break up the news but that's it."
Saavedra continued, "I'm very thankful to all my mechanics, and engineers. Unfortunately things did not work contract wise but I will still be working hard to bring my countries name high!"
Saavedra was slow in the second practice session for today's Drive Smart. Buckle Up Kentucky 100, having turned a best lap nearly four miles per hour off the pace of leader James Hinchcliffe. He did not post a time in the first practice session and was one of three drivers not to make a qualifying run.
Herrington, who drove full-time for the team last year and has thus far been without a ride this season, replaces Sebastian Saavedra, who is leaving the team. Saavedra currently ranks fifth in Indy Lights points, with one win at Iowa. Herrington placed seventh in the standings last year, with a win at Chicago. Saavedra and Herrington finished second and sixth at the Kentucky race last year, respectively.
This marks the second impromptu driver change of the season for BHA, who replaced their other driver, Stefan Wilson, at Sonoma due to sponsorship woes. His replacement, Joel Miller, finished a respectable ninth. Wilson has since returned to the team.
The team has not yet settled on a driver for the season finale at Homestead, though Herrington is the likely choice.
According to 16th and Georgetown's Twitter account, Saavedra's father broke the news to team owner Bryan Herta last night.
“This turn of events has come to me, our sponsor and our entire race team as quite a surprise. Needless to say I am deeply disappointed," Herta said. "We greatly appreciate and admire Daniel’s willingness to step into our No. 29 William Rast Indy Lights entry on extremely short notice.”
Saavedra updated his own Twitter account today with the following: "As many will ask. Yes I will not be racing for the rest of the season with Bryan Herta Autosport. Was a tough decision but it's made. After last races things haven't gone the way they should. And at last my managers and main sponsor made the decision to stop to not continue harming my racing career and name.. I'm frustrated and sad to break up the news but that's it."
Saavedra continued, "I'm very thankful to all my mechanics, and engineers. Unfortunately things did not work contract wise but I will still be working hard to bring my countries name high!"
Saavedra was slow in the second practice session for today's Drive Smart. Buckle Up Kentucky 100, having turned a best lap nearly four miles per hour off the pace of leader James Hinchcliffe. He did not post a time in the first practice session and was one of three drivers not to make a qualifying run.
Friday, September 3, 2010
IndyCar Race Preview: Kentucky Indy 300
Perhaps once a year, a race appears on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule that produces - or at least gives the hope of - interesting and unexpected results.
For years, Surfers Paradise was that race, producing a different winner every year for over a decade. Two years ago, it was St. Petersburg, where Graham Rahal won in his IndyCar debut. Last year, we almost had two: Watkins Glen, where Justin Wilson gave Dale Coyne Racing its first win in 25 years of racing, and Kentucky, where underdog Ed Carpenter nearly stole his first career victory, only to be thwarted at the line by Ryan Briscoe.
This year, Carpenter's driving like he's got unfinished business at the track.
Now a part-time driver employed by a collaboration between Vision and Panther Racing, Carpenter shocked the world with a qualifying average speed of nearly 218 miles per hour, and will start on the pole for Saturday's Kentucky Indy 300. He beat even series points leader (and sudden oval wunderkind) Will Power to the top spot. Carpenter's teammate, Dan Wheldon, will roll off directly behind in third.
If that wasn't crazy enough, Conquest Racing's new de facto lead driver, Bertrand Baguette, qualified in sixth place, with teammate Tomas Scheckter in 10th. They both outpaced last week's winner, Dario Franchitti, who will start 11th. Baguette even beat Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves (eighth) and Ryan Briscoe (ninth) in the session.
If that wasn't out of left field enough for you, Milka Duno legitimately outqualified two other cars - those of Rahal and Tony Kanaan, respectively. Kanaan was an unfathomable seven miles per hour off the pace, reminiscent of his struggles at Indianapolis earlier this year. Rahal was only five miles per hour off in a Sarah Fisher Racing car that has struggled for much of the season with Jay Howard behind the wheel.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will start shotgun on the field after crashing in qualifying and being unable to produce a time.
Paul Tracy, making his first oval start in half a decade, will start 23rd for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, the slowest of the cars that maintained a pace reasonably close to that of the leader. He was the last driver to break 214 miles per hour in qualifying.
For years, Surfers Paradise was that race, producing a different winner every year for over a decade. Two years ago, it was St. Petersburg, where Graham Rahal won in his IndyCar debut. Last year, we almost had two: Watkins Glen, where Justin Wilson gave Dale Coyne Racing its first win in 25 years of racing, and Kentucky, where underdog Ed Carpenter nearly stole his first career victory, only to be thwarted at the line by Ryan Briscoe.
This year, Carpenter's driving like he's got unfinished business at the track.
Now a part-time driver employed by a collaboration between Vision and Panther Racing, Carpenter shocked the world with a qualifying average speed of nearly 218 miles per hour, and will start on the pole for Saturday's Kentucky Indy 300. He beat even series points leader (and sudden oval wunderkind) Will Power to the top spot. Carpenter's teammate, Dan Wheldon, will roll off directly behind in third.
If that wasn't crazy enough, Conquest Racing's new de facto lead driver, Bertrand Baguette, qualified in sixth place, with teammate Tomas Scheckter in 10th. They both outpaced last week's winner, Dario Franchitti, who will start 11th. Baguette even beat Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves (eighth) and Ryan Briscoe (ninth) in the session.
If that wasn't out of left field enough for you, Milka Duno legitimately outqualified two other cars - those of Rahal and Tony Kanaan, respectively. Kanaan was an unfathomable seven miles per hour off the pace, reminiscent of his struggles at Indianapolis earlier this year. Rahal was only five miles per hour off in a Sarah Fisher Racing car that has struggled for much of the season with Jay Howard behind the wheel.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will start shotgun on the field after crashing in qualifying and being unable to produce a time.
Paul Tracy, making his first oval start in half a decade, will start 23rd for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, the slowest of the cars that maintained a pace reasonably close to that of the leader. He was the last driver to break 214 miles per hour in qualifying.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Opinion: A New, Edgier IndyCar
When Cameron Haven and Kimberly Phillips appeared in a Playboy.com video a couple weeks ago modeling IZOD IndyCar Series apparel, it sent the blogosphere into a titter. Some longtime series fans, especially women, objected at the nature of the video, saying it went beyond the exploitation of women that even GoDaddy.com uses in their television ads. The video was provocative indeed, with the two women baring almost everything (but nothing deemed explicit by American standards) for the camera.
And in the end, the photo shoot and video did exactly what they were designed to do: they got people talking.
Now, this wasn't the type of thing that most other major professional sports would do. Far from it. Yes, Playboy has a lengthy racing history, but they've never been allowed on a stock car; instead, much of the bunny's recent racing exploits have come in European touring cars, where sexuality is a lot less taboo, and in American sports car racing, where there is a much smaller chance of a large public outcry against the brand. Its support has almost never been detrimental to any series.
In a way, Playboy is exactly the kind of supporter that IndyCar needs at this point in time.
For one, getting IZOD and Playboy involved took IndyCar's desire to capitalize on the sex appeal of racing to a whole new level. Does anybody remember the brilliantly half-assed "Sexier Drivers" campaign? No people, no cars, just white text on a black background with the series' shield next to it. It was about as visually interesting as your everyday encyclopedia. I think you'd be hard-pressed to remember the ad campaign.
But this, on the other hand? We're not going to forget a Playboy shoot anytime soon. It was provocative without doing anything to damage outright the series' reputation. It had front-page status on Playboy.com, which is clearly no slouch of a website. And I'm sure that such exposure at least reintroduced the brand in some subconscious sense to a good amount of people.
Witness what Rally America, the United States' sanctioning body for rally car racing, has done to entrench itself in the public eye. They've painted rallying as an "extreme sport," which - although almost certainly demeaning to the European professionals - gives the sport a unique and memorable identity here in the States. It also opens up the sport for an edgier sponsor base, with all of the big four energy drinks keeping the sport afloat, much like cigarette companies did before tobacco advertising was banned.
The American way of doing rally-car racing has attracted big names to the sport. Motocross champion Travis Pastrana. DC Shoes founder Ken Block. 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner and former IndyCar champion Kenny Brack. The list goes on.
Better still, bringing rallying to events like the X Games has opened it up to a brand new, younger fan base that would have never cared about the sport otherwise. Rallycross is one of the most popular events at the X Games. People pack the Home Depot Center to watch it, year after year.
IndyCar ought to take a page out of Rally America's book, by taking a traditional form of racing and marketing it in a way that makes people perceive it as edgy.
Purists will scoff at the notion of revamping IndyCar in such a way. Some fans would like to see the roadsters of the 1950s return to the track. It'd be nice; from a pure racing standpoint, it would be the ultimate competition. But unfortunately, the Indy Racing League has painted itself into a corner where they must do everything possible to re-establish a brand that was on life support before IZOD entered the picture.
Remember that John Barnes, the owner of Panther Racing, pointed to the younger generations as the future of the IndyCar fan base. I'm 19; I know what my peers in Generations X and Y like. I may not always agree with the hottest trends myself, but I have an idea of what works.
Brands that create interesting ads - Old Spice, for example - need to be enticed into the series, by presenting them with drivers who can act as spokespersons on and off the track. I've been saying for a little while now that Graham Rahal and Old Spice would be a great fit, especially if we could get Rahal to grow his father's trademark mustache. It'd also get the series' best young American talent back on track, at a time where part of IndyCar's downward spiral is owed to European drivers bringing their own sponsors from home. American fans just can't relate to those guys quite as well.
(Not to get all jingoistic once again, but part of my criteria for these spokespeople is that they be American. It just has to be, for the reasons I've stated above. Also, I'm not really promoting the cause of American open-wheel racing, or living up to my website's name, if I'm not going to at least go to bat every once in a while for guys like J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter, Charlie Kimball, Townsend Bell, Jonathan Summerton...)
K-Swiss has also jumped into the "edgy ad" department recently, hiring actor Danny McBride to reprise his Kenny Powers character from HBO's hit comedy Eastbound and Down in a series of ads with real K-Swiss athletes. (If you don't watch the show, Powers is a washed-up ex-pitcher who's looking to regain big league glory.) In effect, as a recent Silent Pagoda post highlights, he's Paul Tracy in another sport. They're both closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, they're both intensely confident, and they both have no problem messing with you if you get in their way. An ad campaign with the two of them facing off would be gold.
Finally, all four of the energy drink brands have had an IndyCar presence in the recent past - Monster with Tracy, NOS with Dan Wheldon, Red Bull with Buddy Rice, and Rockstar with Tomas Enge. But the two sponsors that actually used to serve as primary sponsors - the latter two - have moved out of the sport entirely, with Red Bull going stock car racing and Rockstar shifting its marketing dollars into drifting. It's these brands - and their thick checkbooks - that need to be brought back into the sport.
Imagine how popular a team of Tracy and Robby Gordon would be at Indianapolis for Monster. Picture a NOS ad campaign with their two top drivers, Wheldon and NASCAR's Kyle Busch, facing off in various extreme challenges.
Better yet, imagine two more zany Red Bull drivers on the track for the full season. Maybe Rice is gone for good, but keep in mind how many drivers Red Bull sponsors across various forms of racing. Indy Lights leader Jean-Karl Vernay was an ex-Red Bull driver. Recent Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen rallies in Europe with their backing right now. If Red Bull validated Indy Lights by giving its champion a full-time ride (sorry about this year, J.R. Hildebrand) and brought an ex-Formula 1 champion into the sport again, Nigel Mansell style, the value for IndyCar would be enormous.
This isn't even taking into consideration the brands that already have a presence in the sport. The National Guard would love to have a greater young fan base to work with, I'm sure. Racing has been an important recruiting tool for the Guard in recent years, and having more teens and young adults to recruit as a direct result of edgier brands entering the series would only help them.
Better yet, IndyCar can do this while still preserving the more "adult" brands in the sport (and no, I don't mean the Playboy kind of "adult"). Target, for example, has a potential goldmine in Dario Franchitti, especially if they can get Ashley Judd involved somehow. Will Power will need a little time to develop a stronger commercial persona for Verizon, but it can be done.
And let's be honest - the brands lending their names to engines in 2012 are not going to be the Scions and Kias of the world. They're going to be Honda, Lotus, and (if Roger Penske's alliance with Fiat Chrysler is as strong as I think it is) Alfa Romeo, returning to America after quite a while away. And BMW, while not guaranteed by any means, have alliances in sports cars and car dealerships with a handful of top open-wheel teams. Brand loyalty is important to establish at a young age, and lending their names to these IndyCars will give the younger demographic some luxury brands to aspire to in the future. (Keep in mind that IndyCar is the only American sport that can really do this, with a fan base that generally makes a comfortable salary every year and can potentially afford these vehicles.)
IndyCar needs to open itself up to those edgier brands by creating a cost-effective environment for potential sponsors, while also offering them solid spokespersons that can actually drive a racecar. The ones who are already in the sport aren't going to shy away from the larger and more coveted marketing demographic that the Red Bulls and Playboys of the world will bring in - they'll take advantage of it. After all, marketing is a business, and isn't that what business is about - taking advantage of the opportunities presented to you?
The Playboy shoot was the first step in that direction for IndyCar. Now it's time to go further.
And in the end, the photo shoot and video did exactly what they were designed to do: they got people talking.
Now, this wasn't the type of thing that most other major professional sports would do. Far from it. Yes, Playboy has a lengthy racing history, but they've never been allowed on a stock car; instead, much of the bunny's recent racing exploits have come in European touring cars, where sexuality is a lot less taboo, and in American sports car racing, where there is a much smaller chance of a large public outcry against the brand. Its support has almost never been detrimental to any series.
In a way, Playboy is exactly the kind of supporter that IndyCar needs at this point in time.
For one, getting IZOD and Playboy involved took IndyCar's desire to capitalize on the sex appeal of racing to a whole new level. Does anybody remember the brilliantly half-assed "Sexier Drivers" campaign? No people, no cars, just white text on a black background with the series' shield next to it. It was about as visually interesting as your everyday encyclopedia. I think you'd be hard-pressed to remember the ad campaign.
But this, on the other hand? We're not going to forget a Playboy shoot anytime soon. It was provocative without doing anything to damage outright the series' reputation. It had front-page status on Playboy.com, which is clearly no slouch of a website. And I'm sure that such exposure at least reintroduced the brand in some subconscious sense to a good amount of people.
Witness what Rally America, the United States' sanctioning body for rally car racing, has done to entrench itself in the public eye. They've painted rallying as an "extreme sport," which - although almost certainly demeaning to the European professionals - gives the sport a unique and memorable identity here in the States. It also opens up the sport for an edgier sponsor base, with all of the big four energy drinks keeping the sport afloat, much like cigarette companies did before tobacco advertising was banned.
The American way of doing rally-car racing has attracted big names to the sport. Motocross champion Travis Pastrana. DC Shoes founder Ken Block. 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner and former IndyCar champion Kenny Brack. The list goes on.
Better still, bringing rallying to events like the X Games has opened it up to a brand new, younger fan base that would have never cared about the sport otherwise. Rallycross is one of the most popular events at the X Games. People pack the Home Depot Center to watch it, year after year.
IndyCar ought to take a page out of Rally America's book, by taking a traditional form of racing and marketing it in a way that makes people perceive it as edgy.
Purists will scoff at the notion of revamping IndyCar in such a way. Some fans would like to see the roadsters of the 1950s return to the track. It'd be nice; from a pure racing standpoint, it would be the ultimate competition. But unfortunately, the Indy Racing League has painted itself into a corner where they must do everything possible to re-establish a brand that was on life support before IZOD entered the picture.
Remember that John Barnes, the owner of Panther Racing, pointed to the younger generations as the future of the IndyCar fan base. I'm 19; I know what my peers in Generations X and Y like. I may not always agree with the hottest trends myself, but I have an idea of what works.
Brands that create interesting ads - Old Spice, for example - need to be enticed into the series, by presenting them with drivers who can act as spokespersons on and off the track. I've been saying for a little while now that Graham Rahal and Old Spice would be a great fit, especially if we could get Rahal to grow his father's trademark mustache. It'd also get the series' best young American talent back on track, at a time where part of IndyCar's downward spiral is owed to European drivers bringing their own sponsors from home. American fans just can't relate to those guys quite as well.
(Not to get all jingoistic once again, but part of my criteria for these spokespeople is that they be American. It just has to be, for the reasons I've stated above. Also, I'm not really promoting the cause of American open-wheel racing, or living up to my website's name, if I'm not going to at least go to bat every once in a while for guys like J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter, Charlie Kimball, Townsend Bell, Jonathan Summerton...)
K-Swiss has also jumped into the "edgy ad" department recently, hiring actor Danny McBride to reprise his Kenny Powers character from HBO's hit comedy Eastbound and Down in a series of ads with real K-Swiss athletes. (If you don't watch the show, Powers is a washed-up ex-pitcher who's looking to regain big league glory.) In effect, as a recent Silent Pagoda post highlights, he's Paul Tracy in another sport. They're both closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, they're both intensely confident, and they both have no problem messing with you if you get in their way. An ad campaign with the two of them facing off would be gold.
Finally, all four of the energy drink brands have had an IndyCar presence in the recent past - Monster with Tracy, NOS with Dan Wheldon, Red Bull with Buddy Rice, and Rockstar with Tomas Enge. But the two sponsors that actually used to serve as primary sponsors - the latter two - have moved out of the sport entirely, with Red Bull going stock car racing and Rockstar shifting its marketing dollars into drifting. It's these brands - and their thick checkbooks - that need to be brought back into the sport.
Imagine how popular a team of Tracy and Robby Gordon would be at Indianapolis for Monster. Picture a NOS ad campaign with their two top drivers, Wheldon and NASCAR's Kyle Busch, facing off in various extreme challenges.
Better yet, imagine two more zany Red Bull drivers on the track for the full season. Maybe Rice is gone for good, but keep in mind how many drivers Red Bull sponsors across various forms of racing. Indy Lights leader Jean-Karl Vernay was an ex-Red Bull driver. Recent Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen rallies in Europe with their backing right now. If Red Bull validated Indy Lights by giving its champion a full-time ride (sorry about this year, J.R. Hildebrand) and brought an ex-Formula 1 champion into the sport again, Nigel Mansell style, the value for IndyCar would be enormous.
This isn't even taking into consideration the brands that already have a presence in the sport. The National Guard would love to have a greater young fan base to work with, I'm sure. Racing has been an important recruiting tool for the Guard in recent years, and having more teens and young adults to recruit as a direct result of edgier brands entering the series would only help them.
Better yet, IndyCar can do this while still preserving the more "adult" brands in the sport (and no, I don't mean the Playboy kind of "adult"). Target, for example, has a potential goldmine in Dario Franchitti, especially if they can get Ashley Judd involved somehow. Will Power will need a little time to develop a stronger commercial persona for Verizon, but it can be done.
And let's be honest - the brands lending their names to engines in 2012 are not going to be the Scions and Kias of the world. They're going to be Honda, Lotus, and (if Roger Penske's alliance with Fiat Chrysler is as strong as I think it is) Alfa Romeo, returning to America after quite a while away. And BMW, while not guaranteed by any means, have alliances in sports cars and car dealerships with a handful of top open-wheel teams. Brand loyalty is important to establish at a young age, and lending their names to these IndyCars will give the younger demographic some luxury brands to aspire to in the future. (Keep in mind that IndyCar is the only American sport that can really do this, with a fan base that generally makes a comfortable salary every year and can potentially afford these vehicles.)
IndyCar needs to open itself up to those edgier brands by creating a cost-effective environment for potential sponsors, while also offering them solid spokespersons that can actually drive a racecar. The ones who are already in the sport aren't going to shy away from the larger and more coveted marketing demographic that the Red Bulls and Playboys of the world will bring in - they'll take advantage of it. After all, marketing is a business, and isn't that what business is about - taking advantage of the opportunities presented to you?
The Playboy shoot was the first step in that direction for IndyCar. Now it's time to go further.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
This Week in IndyCar: September 1, 2010
A collection of news clippings from around the IZOD IndyCar Series over the past few days:
- Graham Rahal and Paul Tracy, viewed by many as the best available IndyCar drivers without full-time rides, have both landed rides for this weekend's Kentucky Indy 300.
Rahal will return to Sarah Fisher Racing and pilot the No. 66 Service Central Dallara-Honda, while Tracy will drive the No. 24 Motegi Wheels Dallara-Honda for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. They replace a pair of British drivers in Jay Howard (who has struggled all season for SFR) and Mike Conway (who is still recovering from injuries sustained in an Indianapolis 500 crash).
Rahal drove three races earlier this year for SFR in the No. 67 Dollar General Dallara-Honda, with a top-ten finish at St. Petersburg, before running the Indianapolis 500 for his father's Rahal Letterman Racing team and returning to 2009 employer Newman/Haas Racing for the latter part of this season. Kentucky was the only race he was due to miss for the rest of the year. Rahal has responded by scoring more points thus far than full-timers Takuma Sato, Bertrand Baguette, and Milka Duno.
Meanwhile, Tracy ran one race earlier this year for DRR at Watkins Glen, finishing 14th, before posting solid runs at Toronto and Edmonton for KV Racing Technology. Tracy hasn't run on an oval in an open-wheel car since Champ Car ran at Las Vegas in 2005, but he led 107 of the first 128 laps in that event before an accident eliminated him from contention. Tracy will also drive for the team at Motegi, Japan in a couple of weeks and is a candidate to return to the car at Homestead.
- New Hampshire Motor Speedway saw the teams of Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon appear at the track this week, testing Firestone tires in preparation for the track's August 14 race date next year.
Kanaan tweeted earlier today that he had already done the full race distance before lunchtime and called the tires "great."
The teams used an aerodynamic package similar to the one run at the Milwaukee Mile, which did not make the schedule of any sanctioning body in 2010 due to concerns about outstanding promoters' fees owed to many parties. Milwaukee and New Hampshire are both flat ovals a hair over a mile in distance, making them ideal for IndyCar events. New Hampshire also allows the series to better establish itself in the northeastern market, serving New England, eastern Canada, and New York reasonably well.
- Graham Rahal and Paul Tracy, viewed by many as the best available IndyCar drivers without full-time rides, have both landed rides for this weekend's Kentucky Indy 300.
Rahal will return to Sarah Fisher Racing and pilot the No. 66 Service Central Dallara-Honda, while Tracy will drive the No. 24 Motegi Wheels Dallara-Honda for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. They replace a pair of British drivers in Jay Howard (who has struggled all season for SFR) and Mike Conway (who is still recovering from injuries sustained in an Indianapolis 500 crash).
Rahal drove three races earlier this year for SFR in the No. 67 Dollar General Dallara-Honda, with a top-ten finish at St. Petersburg, before running the Indianapolis 500 for his father's Rahal Letterman Racing team and returning to 2009 employer Newman/Haas Racing for the latter part of this season. Kentucky was the only race he was due to miss for the rest of the year. Rahal has responded by scoring more points thus far than full-timers Takuma Sato, Bertrand Baguette, and Milka Duno.
Meanwhile, Tracy ran one race earlier this year for DRR at Watkins Glen, finishing 14th, before posting solid runs at Toronto and Edmonton for KV Racing Technology. Tracy hasn't run on an oval in an open-wheel car since Champ Car ran at Las Vegas in 2005, but he led 107 of the first 128 laps in that event before an accident eliminated him from contention. Tracy will also drive for the team at Motegi, Japan in a couple of weeks and is a candidate to return to the car at Homestead.
- New Hampshire Motor Speedway saw the teams of Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon appear at the track this week, testing Firestone tires in preparation for the track's August 14 race date next year.
Kanaan tweeted earlier today that he had already done the full race distance before lunchtime and called the tires "great."
The teams used an aerodynamic package similar to the one run at the Milwaukee Mile, which did not make the schedule of any sanctioning body in 2010 due to concerns about outstanding promoters' fees owed to many parties. Milwaukee and New Hampshire are both flat ovals a hair over a mile in distance, making them ideal for IndyCar events. New Hampshire also allows the series to better establish itself in the northeastern market, serving New England, eastern Canada, and New York reasonably well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
