2008 Commentaries from the Paddock............

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Which IndyCar Series driver will notch their first career win in 2008?

Danica Patrick
1
100%
Vitor Meira
0
No votes
Ryan Briscoe
0
No votes
one of the rookie drivers(Mutoh, Lloyd or Howard)....
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 1

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2008 Commentaries from the Paddock............

Post by mlittle » Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:00 am

With the mountain winds a-blowin' and the winter chill in the air, it is time to open up a new commentaries' thread for 2008......and what better way to start than to ask a few questions to the "Iron Hand of Justice", Indy Racing League President of Operations, Brian Barnhart........................

~~Looking back, what was the one memorable thing that stood out in 2007?
--Barnhart: Someone asked me a question last year coming off our 2006 championship when we had a tie between Sam Hornish, Jr. and Dan Wheldon[Mod's. note....for the record, Hornish won on the first tiebreaker, four wins to two.....]; at the time I said that I hope (in 2007) that it comes down to the last event with as tight a championship. This year, it not only came down to the last event, but it came down to the last turn on the last lap! From a sanctioning body standpoint, the competition can't get any closer.

~~How do you handle your responsibilites on race weekends, from running race control to the overall running of the IRL? Is it stressful? Enjoyable? Or does it fall somewhere in the middle?
--Barnhart: You always try to learn from one weekend to the next, applying any lessons learned to future situations. It is incredibly stressful; I think its' from the competition being so good and so close with all the inherent dangers present in our sport.

~~How would you rate the various manufacturers that work within the IndyCar Series and the IRL as a whole?
--Barnhart: I'd be hard-pressed to name better partners. Dallara is the finest chassis manufacturer in the world, given that we took what was originally an oval-only car and (adapted) it for road and street courses is a credit to them and our technical staff. I also can't stress it enough that Firestone puts out the best tires in the world, not only from a competition standpoint but from a safety standpoint. The reliability, performance and technology that Honda has brought to the series is unprecedented in all of open-wheel racing. Finally, there's our gearbox supplier, Xtrac. Whether its' on ovals, road courses or street circuits, their gearboxes have worked flawlessly.

~~Looking ahead to 2008, how will the series' new TEAM purse payouts affect the series, both short-and-long term?
--Barnhart: The TEAM concept was a long time coming; we had effectively been paying out the same purses since the series' opener in January 1996 and we've always looked for ways to improve the value of participation in the series. After listening and discussing the issue with team owners, drivers and event promoters, we've come up with a system that rewards teams for both participation and for performance. Teams that win races and championships will continue to receive bonus money. One team that has already seen the benefits of the TEAM concept is Roth Racing coming onboard in 2008 as a two-car team; on top of that is the fact that you have an Indy Pro Series champion(Howard) moving up to the IndyCar Series as well.

~~Finally, there's been talk about the new safety features for 2008 in the racecars themselves, from reinforced side-bony panels to new driver-seat harnesses. Is there ever a time when you can look at the scene and say that the series is as safe as it can be, or will there always be room for improvement?
--Barnhart: I don't think anyone's ever satisfied with the status quo. Safety has always been, continues to be and always will be our number one priority. We're always looking at the next weakest link and looking at how to improve that particular item, whether it is the racecars or the venues and so forth. It is a continual evolution in our safety efforts and we never ever stop trying to improve safety for our competitors and participants.
Last edited by mlittle on Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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New oval qualifying format has a touch of Indy to it........

Post by mlittle » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:34 pm

Indy Racing League officials released the 2008 series rulebook and there was one major change to the qualifying format; at every oval track on the calendar(not including Indy), drivers will now have to run four qualifying laps, with the 4-lap average speed being their qualifying speed rather than the best lap of the current 2-lap format.

Q: How will this affect qualifying?
A: It adds patience to the qualifying equation. Currently, if a driver can put together one hot flyer of a qual. lap, he or she will likely stick to that lap. Now, they have to lay four flyers....and if the car's not quite right(something that is of high importance on ovals), they're in for a long 4-lap qualy.

There is one difference between qualifying at the Brickyard and at the other oval venues on the IndyCar calendar; at Indy, you get three attempts per day.........everywhere else drivers will get only one attempt.
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

My take.....unlike on road and street courses, where if the driver's at 10/10ths' they can make up for any mistakes in car preparation, the scales are reversed on an oval......it will become vital for teams to get the cars set up right for the drivers. There could well be some surprises this season.
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Tony George..............America's Bernie Ecclestone?

Post by mlittle » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:28 am

It was a little over three decades ago that NA motorsports scion Dan Gurney wrote what has become the singular document in NA open-wheel history, the Gurney White Paper. It was a simple, comprehensive, no bulls*** analysis of why open-wheel racing in North America had failed to reach its' fullest potential. In it Gurney correctly called the United States Auto Club(USAC) to the carpet for its' weak, disorganized approach to the sport....he also singled out the failings of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, host of "the Greatest Spectacle in Racing", the Indianapolis 500 as well, but most of his thoughts were directed towards USAC.

In it, the owner of the All American Racers' racing group cited, (1)the patchwork, provincial USAC scheduling, (2)the anemic purses USAC offered and (3)the duplicity of track owners and promoters towards the sport in general. Gurney spared no one; he also singled out the various team owners, who could've in Gurney's view, organized the sport sooner but had acqueised towards USAC's point of view rather than the sport's.

Now, why does yours' truly consider the Gurney White Paper the best record of the sport's failings? Because........although it was written in 1978, its' thoughts have rung out through the years as a lonely sentinel, decrying the continued problems that have befallen the sport.

Even though, thankfully, there is now a unified sport, it still cries out for effective leadership. As Gurney himself pointed out a few years back at Long Beach,
I think I said in that White Paper the blueprint for what ought to be done is already being done in other sports, NSACAR included. Great leadership is vital; poor leadership is a death knell (for any sport). Leadership raises all boats.
Which brings me to the crux of this commentary......although, for what it is worth, I still have a....somewhat low opinion of one Mr. Anton "Tony" George, I believe that he now has an opportunity to do what Bernie Ecclestone did for Formula 1 years ago........bring American Open-Wheel Racing to the same successes Bernie E's brought to F1 over the past two decades, which means Mr. George should give up ownership of his team and run the IndyCar Series solely as a series owner, not as one who also happens to be a team owner also. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

In a sense, IndyCar racing needs, to quote Speed's resident curmudgeon, Robin Miller, a "figurehead". TG has racing in his DNA(his father and grandfather are past IMS presidents and his mother, Mari Hulman George, is Chair of the IMS Board); he's internationally recognized in motorsports circles and he has NA motorsports' biggest playground, Indy, as a playground of sorts. Is he a good public speaker? No, but he doesn't need to be....he has Brian Barnhart and Terry Angstadt for that(they are, respectively, the IRL's President of Racing Operations and President of Commerical Operations). Is he a smart businessman? At times, no(after all, he did "split" the sport..... :evil: ). But....IMHO, the past couple of years might have caused him to wisen up some; being a team owner can do that to you. Perhaps he saw the errors of the past and recognized what he had done to the sport; maybe he saw that some of CART's ideas(a diverse schedule, for example) weren't all bad......So what does he need to in such a position?
1--figure out a way to control costs while encouraging manufacturers to return to the sport
2--figure out how to keep all the team owners from reasserting control over the sport the way they did throughout CART's history
3--figure out how to do what is best for open-wheel racing in North America

If you think about it, Tony George might not be the best choice for the sport...........but he might be the ONLY choice the sport has if it is to survive and prosper.

That's my say........................What's yours?
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One for the Red, White and Blue.........

Post by mlittle » Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:59 am

If you ask anyone inside the IndyCar Series paddock who the wisest sages(a/k/a.....smartest drivers...... :lol: :lol: :shock: ) are, chances are you'd be directed towards Brazilians Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan, who are two of the top drivers in the sport today and who are very appreciative of the opportunities the sport's given them over the years. However, they also recognized that Sunday's win at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg by 19yo Graham Rahal was exactly what the racing gods ordered for American Open-Wheel Racing. Here's what the pair had to say about little ole' Graham's win..........

Helio Castroneves, Team Penske:
This is great for our sport. Bobby Rahal was a legend in our sport and now his son is following in his footsteps. It's a lot of pressure on him but he did a fantastic job today.
Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing:
We need the Rahals, the Andrettis' and the Foyts, we need new names and new stars. You see it everywhere, the new generation in NASCAR and in Formula 1 and now you're seeing it here. Graham didn't drive like he was 19 years old. He played it cool and I guess he proved how good he is and that his name still means something. I'm very, very pleased for him to win this race.
If there's one thing me and every other scribe has been beating AOWR over the past decade or so(other than the now-gone Split.......) its' been the slow dearth of American OW racers within the sport. Don't get me wrong, its' great to see drivers like Castroneves and Kanaan, along with other good racers such Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, Paul Tracy, Darren Manning, Will Power, Oriol Servia and others..........but they're not American racers! What AOWR needs are good American racers BECAUSE it is the only sure-fire way to rebuild this sport within North America.....what the sport needs is an influx of good, young, American racers....drivers like Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, A.J. Foyt, IV and others to carry the red, white and blue in the series. Other than Patrick winning a race, about the fastest way to rekindle interest in the sport to get some of the old rivalries going again, and with drivers' like little 'ole Marco and little ole' Graham, the future of AOWR is, finally, starting to look more and more bright.


That's my say..............what's yours?
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The end of one era and the beginning of another era........

Post by mlittle » Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:20 am

When the checkered flag flew Sunday at the end of the 34th running of the Toyota Grand Prix, it represented the end of one era of NA open-wheel racing.....and the beginning of a new, unified era. 452 races....dating back to when Gordon Johncock won the first-ever CART series event, the Arizona Republic/Jimmy Bryan 150 on 11 March 1979. It was one very interesting weekend, to say the least.

Going into the race weekend, all eyes were focused at Paul Tracy, AOW's resident "enfant terrible" who wasn't yet confirmed in one of Gerry Forsythe's three entries; finally, they decided to bury the hatchet and race as a team one last time. While PT looked a tad off his game compared to past years at the circuit known as "Monaco West", he ran a decent race and I really, really hope he can get a ride for the rest of the season; I think he's still some races left in him. Continuing the elder statesman train of thought, it was great to see 1996 Long Beach winner and 1996 CART champion Jimmy Vasser get off the bench for one last run. Now, JV might've looked rusty at times, but he did finish ahead of PT...... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Wandering through the paddock all weekend, I saw a little bit of venom aimed at the "Four Amigos"(Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerry Forsythe, Dan Pettit and Paul Gentilozzi) but even they, I'm betting, enjoyed seeing the competitve racing and festive atmosphere that the Beach is known for. Like most years, the festivities began on Tuesday and lasted well into the night Sunday on the Queen Mary. During the weekend's activities, one egregious wrong from 2007 was righted as former ChampCar series president Richard Eidswick presented NA open-wheel's resident analyst/gonzo journalist Robin Miller with the one and only official ChampCar media hard card for the 2008 Long Beach race. On it the hard card, "To Robin Miller, Purveyor of Truth."

Of course, what did one expect on a race weekend that featured a full moon, a couple of women winning races(Danica Patrick at Motegi, Simona de Silvestro in the Atlantic series race and ESPN pit reporter Jamie Little winning the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race)....heck, even Audi won overall honors over Porsche and Acura in the ALMS race on Saturday. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Even the post-race activities were interesting, to say the least.........once the checkers flew, it was the podium finishers from the ChampCar race(Will Power, Franck Montagny and Mario Dominguez) who were asked the obligatory post-race questions. After they left stage left, KV Racing Technology co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven was asked a few questions and gave a brief statement. Care to guess who followed? One hint......who won the race at Motegi again? :lol: :lol:

Like I said, one era came to an end.........but a new era began over the weekend. Like it or not, the sport's future is resting on some young shoulders and it will be up to Danica and Graham, Will and Marco, among others, to help carry the load. It will also be up to the fans of the sport, sponsors, the broadcast networks and series officials to light the way forward. As I've said in the past, it will be years before the sport reaches the heights it once held, but I'm confident it will return there. It's just going to take a lot of hard work. So, to quote sci-fi heroine Honor Harrington,
Let's be about it, people.
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Post by mlittle » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:36 pm

The Open-Wheel Notebook, 29 April 2008........................


With the month of May approaching(....can't you just smell the ethanol in the air?....... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .....), I guess it's time to open-up the 'ole notebook and see what's floating around? :lol: :lol:

(1)~~With ChampCar now officially gone and buried in the ground, what is the future of the Atlantic Championship short and long-term?
~~Depends on the perspective......short-term, other than the fact that they don't have a TV package at the moment(they were on ESPN..... :shock: :shock: :shock: ) they're on good footing; Vicki O'Connor(Atlantic Director) and Co. run a tight ship and this year shouldn't be a problem. Long-term......during CART's heyday, both the Atlantic Championship and then-Dayton Indy Lights Series was run under the same sanctioning banner; it wouldn't surprise me to see the IRL reach out to the Atlantic series and offer to put them under their wing alongside the current Firestone Indy Lights Series.

(2)~~With the IRL adopting a new chassis and engine formula for 2010, what should they do? Turbos or N/A engines? A new Dallara or maybe the Panoz DP01? New builders? New engines?
~~Oh, where to start.........I actually like both turbos and N/A engines; both have their distinctive sounds, but I suspect that the turbos may yet return to Indycars(both Cosworth and Honda have their respective 2.65L V8 turbos[the venerable XFE-3 and HR-1 engine] and if they can find a way to balance power output(a/k/a hp), torque and engine life(current IRL rules require Honda's H-17S V8 Indy engine to go 1250 miles between rebuilds), then that could be the route. As for chassis.....both the Dallara and Panoz have their supporters, so that's a tossup. As for new builders..........besides Dallara and Panoz, I coupld possibly see Lola and Swift return(Lola dominated CART/ChampCar from 2002-2006 and Swift currently builds the chassis in Atlantics). Finally, I don't see new engine builders unless the IRL drops its' "passenger-branding" rule and allows Cosworth, AER, Judd, etc. to build/service engines alongside Ilmor.

(3)~~Who are your early picks for the 500?
~~Ask me that in about 30 days...... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ............no, seriously, with five different winners in the first five races this year, anything's possible. :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Could someone rethink Indy qualifying, please?

Post by mlittle » Wed May 14, 2008 10:35 am

Like most things in life, qualifying and the weather didn't surprise anyone.......someone from the IndyCar Series' top-tier(Penske, Ganassi, AGR) won the pole.......and it rained on Second Day Qualifying, meaning that many of the drivers and teams, rather than working on raceday setups, will have to run qualifying setups and try to make the field first before they can work on anything raceday related.

To be fair, there was a genuine reason why the geniuses at 16th and Georgetown changed the qualifying format to the current 11-11-11, 3 attempts per qual. session. Prior to the 2005 Indy 500, there had become an increasingly bleak month of May(remember Tony George's infamous remark about how "33 is just a number"......... :evil: ) so something had to give because, quite frankly, the only time anyone showed up was for the 500 itself. Then came unification.........

This is how screwed up the 11-11-11 format is..........under the old qualifying format, when you factor in that 32 drivers posted times in practice, it would have been fair to say that at least 20-22 drivers would be in the field......instead, you had (a)the Big 3 going for positions 1-8, and (b)everyone else going for spots 9-11. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

So, what should they do?

SIMPLE! Go back to the old format; there wasn't anything wrong with it and as the saying goes, it it ain't broken, don't fix it. Drivers will still hang it out 10/10ths because it is Indy. You don't have to create or manufacture drama at "the World's Greatest Racecourse"; drama always finds its' way to 16th and Georgetown every month of May.



That's my say..............What's yours?
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IMS Announces Plans for Centennial Era

Post by mlittle » Fri May 23, 2008 10:59 am

98 years young, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is approaching a centennial milestone.....100 years of operation. Ever since Carl Fisher, James Allison, Arthur Newby and Frank Wheeler first proposed the idea of a racetrack to help promote the state's burgeoning automotive industry, the Speedway has thrilled and entertained fans of all ages throughout the years.......IMS officials announced earlier today at Marian College in Indianapolis that to celebrate the track's Centennial Era, there will be a plethora of special events to celebrate the track's anniversary, along with a new, retro logo for the Speedway and redevlopment of the Speedway, Indiana area.

Some of the events and other items mentioned include:
  • 1--a Centennial Era logo combining elements of past IMS logos from 1909, 1934 and 1961; 2--a Centennial Gala, to be held in Feb. 2009 in downtown Indianapolis, w/proceeds to benefit the IMS Foundation; 3--Balloon Festival, to celebrate the Speedway's first-ever race, a gas-filled hot-air balloon race; 4--Concours d'Elegance, in which vehicles are judged on their appearance and other factors, will take place in the summer of 2010 at the Speedway; 5--a new Interstate interchange, located at I-74 and Crawfordsville Rd. on Interstate 465, will allow for easier access to/from the Speedway and 6--Speedway, IN redevlopment....IMS officials, in conjuction with city officials, have a long list of redevelopment projects set that will, if all goes well, foster new business growth around the Speedway that will benefit both Speedway, IN and IMS for years to come
As Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George stated in today's announcement:
The Centennial Era celebration is the most multi-faceted evidence of our continued commitment to worldwide leadership in motorsports entertainment. It creates a clear, focused vision for our future while honoring the competitors and fans who have made the Speedway the landmark destination for speed over the past 100 years.
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Weekend vacation, anyone?

Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:20 pm

Since the beginning of races, IndyCar Series teams and drivers have been busy either testing or racing.......2+ months, from the Sebring and Homestead Open Tests through this past weekend's race in Texas. With a 6-race(in 6 consecutive weeks! :shock: :shock: ) schedule approaching, its' an almost-certain bet drivers will be using that time to.......to.........well, let some of them explain! :lol: :lol: :shock:

~~Darren Manning, A.J. Foyt Racing:
I'm going to relax in Indianapolis. It's been so flat-out over these last few weeks I'm going to be even more flat-out as we go. I just want to relax. I'm going to play a bit of golf, go out in the boat or kayaking or I might just plop down in front of the TV.
~~Ed Carpenter, Vision Racing:
I don't mind being on the road; I love racing. But I'll be able to catch up on some things around the houses. I have a house I'm trying to fix up to put on the market to sell. That's probably harder work than what I'm doing when I'm working. I'm going to relax my way, which means working on a house.
~~Justin Wilson, Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing:
I'm going to chill out at home and spend some time with Julia (his wife) and Jana (his daughter) and we have Julia's parents over. I'll be back in Colorado for most of it. I've had a little bit of practice changing diapers and I think my technique's pretty good but I'll have time to perfect it.
~~Vitor Meira, Panther Racing:
We have a regroup a little bit. I'm rested; I can go non-stop but the crew needs a little bit of a break. I'm looking forward to going up and down the Monon Trail and hopefully it'll be hot in Indy because I don't want any more cold.
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Mid-Season Grades for 2008...............

Post by mlittle » Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:47 am

Remember growing up and getting bad report cards? Okay....what was your first action? Most likely, it was hiding the thing until you could think of an excuse as to why you did so badly? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :oops:

Well.............with that in mind, here are the mid-season grades for the 2008 IRL IndyCar Series season. Factors used included: (1)familiarity with the Dallara/Honda Indycar, (2)the degree to which the Big 3 have *****slapped the rest of the field, (3)copious amounts of tea at the F1 Idiots Bar!, (4)budgets and driver talents and (5)whatever else will suffice.

Note.....if any teams, drivers, mechanics, crew chiefs, engineers or owners feel inspired to do better after reading these grades, feel free to thank me at season end..........if any of the above are however offended by said grades, feel free to slam Tony George or Gene Simmons to your heart's content! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


:1st: Target/Ganassi Racing. This team gets an A+; other than a few little blips here and there, no one has been able to touch Scott Dixon or Dan Wheldon this year. With five wins between them and 1st and 3rd in the points, this team has been the class of the field so far.

:2nd: Rahal-Letterman Racing. Ever heard of the phrase "fighting above your weight"? That describes the Hilliard, Ohio-based team so far this year as the one-car effort has steadily improved its' game this year. Although his finishes haven't been as good as they could've been, Ryan Hunter-Reay is turning out to be one of the best driver choices Bobby Rahal's made in years.

:3rd: Panther Racing. Another one-car team that is steadily getting better race-by-race. Although bad luck has plagued Vitor Meira some this year(...remember Texas? :evil: ), this cat' is one d--- good oval-tracker and, barring disaster, he could very well notch that first win in the second-half of this year.


And now..............the rest of the gang!
~~Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing. When Graham Rahal won at St. Pete earlier this year, he did two things:[1]became the youngest driver to win an AOW race and [2]broke the Big 3's stranglehold on the top step of the podium. Even with Rahal's lack of oval-track time, he's adapted decently well; in addition, teammate Justin Wilson has been steady all year, not burning up the track but at least he's keeping it on the proverbial island.
~~Vision Racing. Ed Carpenter's 3rd season here is turning out to be his best by far, finishing 5th at Indy and Homestead and being one of the fastest non-Big 3 drivers on ovals. Although Quattro(a/k/a A.J. Foyt IV) has been in a bit of a slump this year, he's starting to show signs of his form from the second-half of 2007.
~~Team Penske. Somewhere, Roger Penske is crying as he reads this(..... :roll: :wink: ). Although both Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe have run well most of the time, the fact that, with all of the Captain's resources at hand, the fact that this team only has one win(Briscoe's @ Milwaukee) is not a good thing for him to bear.
~~KV Racing Tech. The best of the former ChampCar teams; both Servia and Power have shown flashes of brilliance(led by Power's win at Long Beach) and the fact that they have the same number of wins that the Captain's boys have can't be comforting to the Captain......... :lol: :lol: :shock: :shock: :shock:
~~A.J. Foyt Racing. So far, their season hasn't been one to write about.....not because anything bad has happened, but because nothing really good has happened. Best finish for Darren Manning so far has been an 8th at Motegi and a 9th at the Brickyard.
~~CTE-HVM Racing. If it weren't for the talents of (1)driver E.J. Viso, and (2)engineer Michael Cannon, this team would not making a steady march to the front. Viso's learning the ovals pretty well, and with some road and street circuits ahead, he could surprise a lot of people later in the year.
~~Dreyer & Reinbold. Buddy Rice has been a one-man act this year(no offense to Townsend Bell). Anytime he gets a top-10 is a "crack the champaign" moment. As for their other entry.....while I think Bell's a decent driver, do they really, really need the CITGO money and no-talent Milka Duno? :evil: :shock: :shock:
~~Dale Coyne Racing. Last year, in equal equipment, this team nearly stole a couple of ChampCar wins courtesy of Bruno Junquiera. This year, it seems the Coyneman has gone back to his cost-cutting ways( :evil: :shock: ) and that can't spell success later on down the road.
~~Andretti-Green Racing. Question...........what the **** is going on at AGR? Yes, the Princess got her first win(albeit on fuel strategy, but a win is a win, right?) but that team frankly seems to taking on the spectre of a person getting drawn and quartered.

And at the bottom of the list, I give you..............................
~~Roth Racing. At least they've made one good decision, which was putting John Andretti in the #24 machine. Unfortunately, driver/owner "Mad Dog" Marty Roth continues to drive the #25, which can't be good for the sport or the other drivers. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Making up the list of teams with incomplete grades...........................
~~Luczo-Dragon Racing
~~Pacific Coast Motorsports
~~Sarah Fisher Racing
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Costs to race IndyCars growing out of control?

Post by mlittle » Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:26 am

For all of the faults ChampCar had in recent years(and they had many........ :evil: :evil: ), there was at least one thing they could hold over TG's head.....cost containment. When the former Champ Car World Series switched over from the venerable Lola B2K to the Panoz DP01, the first thing they did, according to former ChampCar officials, was that they locked down the rules on aero mods to the car, restricting to a great degree where, how and what the teams could do to the year. With all the restrictions, the cost of a new DP01 last year was in the neighborhood of around $300k. By comparison, the cost of a new Dallara Indycar is roughly $675k............that's right, it's over 2 times the amount of the Panoz. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Several reasons come to mind.....................
~~(1)the low cost of the American dollar vs. overseas currencies; the Panoz DP01 was built down in Braselton, Ga. at Panoz MotorSports, while the Dallara was/is built at Dallara Automobili in Italy. It could be worse, though.......if they were still using the Lola, they're built at Lola Racing Cars' UK offices, where the British pound is nearly twice the value of the greenback.........
~~(2)Teams are required by series officials to use a race kit for almost every track on the schedule.....meaning teams will have to purchase around a dozen or kits, each kit costing around several thousand dollars each and containing suspension, wing and aero parts specific to that kit....during CC's existence, they restricted the teams to three broad kits, an 'oval' kit, a 'street circuit' kit and a 'road-course' kit....that's all.
~~(3)None of the carbon fibre pieces Dallara provides with their cars come with holes pre-drilled.......meaning when a team has to fit a part to their car, they have to drill the holes themselves; borrow a piece from another team and you might end up redrilling holes in the part because the other team's drill points might not match what you need.
~~(4)Finally, teams are allowed to do their own aero mods to the cars and all their own private testing(including straight-line rolling tests and so forth).....

Never thought I'd ever agree with them, but to quote ar1's Mark Cipollini,
How stupid is that?
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

So, what should IRL officials do?
~~[1]When the design specs come up for the next-generation IndyCar, open it up to allow Panoz to challenge Dallara; no offense to Dallara, but since when did IndyCars' start looking like lawndarts? The DP01, IMO, looked like it belonged on a racetrack.
~~[2]Simplify the kits teams have to use. Design one broad kit to use on road courses, one for street circuits, one for the short oval tracks and one for the superspeedways.
~~[3]Along with #1, design the next-generation racecar so that, instead of having to drill holes into the carbon fibre carpieces, all one has to do is bolt the pieces into place because the pieces are pre-designed to start with....
~~[4]continuing with #3, restrict the changes that can be done to the car over the course of the season in terms of aero modificiations; provide one technical bulletin on what can and can't be done and stick with it the entire season.


It is high time that IndyCar officials begin reining in the costs of competing in their series or the costs may begin to spiral out of control as they did in CART's later years. If anything else, it should help equalize competition a little bit without taking away from the actual racing......

That's my say................What's yours?
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mlittle
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New television package for the IRL in 2009 and beyond.......

Post by mlittle » Fri Aug 08, 2008 12:35 pm

One of the longest-running television partnerships in North American motorsports will come to an end after 2008; officials with the Indy Racing League, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and officals with both ABC Sports and Versus announced that, beginning in 2009, the IndyCar Series will be broadcast on ABC Sports and Versus. Initial discussions between IRL officials and Versus executives began in early 2008 and progressed through to today's announcement; here are the particulars................

(1)while the final breakdown of events between ABC and Versus has not been decided, five IndyCar races(including the Indianapolis 500, which will remain on ABC Sports through 2012) will be shown on ABC, while the remaining 13 will be shown on Versus
(2)all 18 events on the 2009 calendar will have expanded pre-race coverage on Versus(similar to the pre-race coverage ESPN and Speed Channel give NASCAR); in addition, all 13 races Versus will cover will have, at a minimum, three-hour broadcast windows, which will include the aforementioned pre-race shows, plus post-race analysis and coverage
(3)all 2009 races will be re-aired on Versus in their entirety the week following each race
(4)there will be live Indy Lights races, all to be broadcast on Versus beginning in 2009
(5)Versus will provide, beginning in 2009, an additional 10 hours[minimum] of broadcasting including pre-season shows, pre-race shows held the day before each race, coverage of IndyCar Series qualifying/practice and other items of interest


My take..........on the surface, this doesn't sound like a good decision, even for TG and Co.; going from ESPN to Versus is very reminiscent of ChampCar's decision to move from Speed Channel to Spike TV. On the other hand, Versus execs' made it very clear during today's announcement that they are very committed to covering the IndyCar Series to a major degree that is sorely lacking from ESPN at present. In addition, keeping the Indy 500 on ABC continues a long-term, beneficial relationship that has spanned the past four decades and will continue through 2012. It will be an interesting ride, for sure.......... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock: :shock:

That's my say...................what's yours?
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

mlittle
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Enjoying a round of golf for charity...........

Post by mlittle » Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:55 am

Outside of endurance racing, chances are that 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal will never get to race against his son, St. Pete race winner Graham Rahal......but that doesn't mean they can't compete agst. one another in other arenas, like say.......golf?

That's right; recently, the elder Rahal competed in a charity golfing tournament agst. over 150 others, including IndyCar and Indy Lights drivers, team owners and other celebrities at the 19th annual Phil Casey Charity Golf Tournament, held yearly at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Brickyard Crossing Golf Course. To hear Rahal tell it, he might never try competing agst. son Graham............
I've given up trying to chase him (on the golf course),
the elder Rahal said after his team finished its round.
"He hits it a lot farther than I do. I've given up trying to outpower him. I try to use old age and treachery to my advantage with him.
....but don't tell that to son Graham, who opined that there were other teams just as capable of treachery on the links as Dad's.......
It's fun for us to go out and play a round. We played pretty well. I guess the people in front of us had to be cheating because we played really well. It was a lot of fun to hit the ball as hard as you can because I had people behind me if need by.
Proceeds from the tourney, which was won by a team of competitors from Brian Stewart Racing, along with a silent auction held following the tournament, were divided between the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps and Valley Children's Hospital in Fresno, California. As tournament co-hosts, both Bobby and Graham Rahal elected to give their full proceeds from the tournament to the Hole in the Wall Camps. As the elder Rahal said after all the festivities had concluded,
It's always fun to play golf, and it's even better to play golf for a good purpose. Graham has been involved with Paul (Newman) and Hole in the Wall Camps for a couple years, so anything I can do to help that organization, we're going to do it.
For more information on the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, please visit http://www.holeinthewallgang.org/.
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

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Another wonderful decision by Mr. George and Co.

Post by mlittle » Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:54 pm

..........can't you just sense the sarcasm dripping from the commentary's title? :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock:


In what has to be one of the dumbest decisions I've ever seen in recent memory, Surfers Paradise will no longer be part of the North American motorsports scene; rather the sounds of Ferrari engines and A1GP cars will fill the concrete canyons of Surfers. Earlier today an announcement was made concerning the future of the event, according to this Brisbane Times article.

Now why is this a dumb decision on the part of Mr. George and Co.?
1---every top-level racing series should have a few events that have an international "cache" to them, whether it is Monaco in F1 to Daytona for NASCAR to Sebring and LeMans for ALMS competitors to even the Rolex 24 for Grand-Am. Until today, the IRL could've boasted of at least three....Indy, Surfers and Long Beach. Now they can only boast of Indy and Long Beach.
2---look at it from the perspective of engine manufacturers such as Audi and Porsche, who are seriously looking at joining the IndyCar Series in 2011. Would you rather race in the middle of Iowa cornfields or along the beaches of the Aussie Gold Coast? That should be an obvious answer to anyone with half a brain cell..... :evil:
3---this gives critics of Tony George and the Indy Racing League more ammunition to attack "mergification" as merely a sham; after all, they would argue, only Long Beach, Toronto and Edmonton survived.
4---finally, this decision smacks of a nativist parochial attitude that doesn't help anyone in the motorsports community, even with the economic problems facing the sport; along with point #2, it seems Mr. George and Co. would rather keep their series ensconsed in North America rather than try to attract international fans with their high-adrenlin, high-speed sport. Imagine how those fans who came to see the Indycars 2 weeks back feel........d'ya seriously think they'll bother to watch Indycar racing now?
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

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