2005 IndyCar Series Race Previews

[mlittle]

This posting says it all...following the Kansas qualifying/race reviews, the remainder of the series' races this year will be posted here, in the same format as before--a race preview in mid-week, followed by a qual. summary/review, and then, after the race, a race summary, along w/any observations that are relevant to the event. As in the first posting, don't hesitate to ask about what happens during a race, or about how the qualifying format is structured, etc. Just try and keep the postings relevant to the sub-forum.

[Julian Mayo]

just dropped in to say well done, and congratulations

[mlittle]

With Round 8 of the 2005 IndyCar Series upon us--the Argent Mortgage Indy 300, here are a couple of the storylines that are sure to come up this weekend....

1-Will Anyone Be Able to Stop Wheldon's Charge? After the excitement of the bullring at Richmond, one thing remains certain, and that is whether anyone can rise up and catch the Englishman. The last time(to my recollection) anyone had that big a points lead going into the 8th race of an IRL season, it was 2001, when Sam Hornish, Jr. was w/Panther Racing and all but ran away w/the series title, eventually clinching the title prior to season's end. Could history repeat itself here?

2-Can Rahal-Letterman Repeat Its' Dominance Here? In 2004, Buddy Rice won by just 51-ten thousanths' of a second(about 18 inches) over his teammate Vitor Meira, after a ten-lap shootout between the two. Meira would love to reverse the finish this year, and this type of track suits the quiet Brazilian who took the runner-up spot at Indy this year. But Rice is no stranger to these moderately-banked tracks; two of his three wins in 2004 came at Kansas and Michigan, so the possibilty of another 1-2 finish is there.

3-Will Any Dark Horses Come To Win? Every race offers this possibilty, and Kansas is not immune to surprises. In 2002 Airton Dare, driving for A.J. Foyt Racing, won here by taking the lead on a late restart and holding off veterans Hornish and Helio Castroneves to the checkers. There are a few of them in the field; drivers who could fit in this category include Red Bull/Cheever's two, Alex Barron, and the third-place finisher at Richmond, Patrick Carpentier. Also, look for any of Target/Ganassi's three(Dixon, Manning, and Briscoe) drivers in this list; with the seeming bad luck they've had, a win from these three would be a nice respite for em'. And...

4-How Will The Rookie Class Fare Here? Of the three rookies in the series this year, all three have had their ups and downs, from great finishes(Patrick's 4th at Indy and Motegi) to awful luck(Briscoe's crashes at St. Pete and Richmond). I'd give the nod here to both Danica Patrick and Ryan Briscoe, for this reason: both have veteran racers to "draw" experience and info from and both seem to have a knack for wringing out everything from their cars during a race. However, if I had to pick one rookie out of the three, Patrick gets the nod.

I'm pretty sure some more things'll come up during the weekend; they don't call the series' motto "Adrenaline Amplified" for nothing.

[Julian Mayo]

Did I not read somewhere recently about Briscoe setting a fastest time somewhere or other ? Sorry to sound vague, it was a glimpse of something while I was busy being insulted by Rah, Bundy, JV, K-D, Ed or all five at once.

[mlittle]

Unless I'm mistaken(and it does happen sometimes) Briscoe set fastest lap during the series' open test at Watkins Glen(1:30.720/132.272 mph) back in mid-June.

Don't worry, julian; as we Americans say on occasion, I got your back, okay.

[Julian Mayo]

Unless I'm mistaken(and it does happen sometimes) Briscoe set fastest lap during the series' open test at Watkins Glen(1:30.720/132.272 mph) back in mid-June.

Don't worry, julian; as we Americans say on occasion, I got your back, okay.

Shucks Mfer! Thet makes me feel purty goshdarn good n all .

[mlittle]

Thanks, julian, they don't call us North Carolinians "Tar Heels" for nothin'. When we see someone who needs help, we help em', pure and simple.

[Julian Mayo]

Thanks, julian, they don't call us North Carolinians "Tar Heels" for nothin'. When we see someone who needs help, we help em', pure and simple.

In OZ, we help people who need help, n rubbish everybody else. At least it is an equitable system, I guess

[mlittle]

Here's the qual. summary for Sunday's Argent Mortgage Indy 300....

It was a 1-2-3 sweep for Rahal-Letterman Racing in qualifying today, but that's not all...For only the second time in series history, a woman will lead the field to start the race come Sunday. In only her 8th series start, Danica Patrick, driver of the #16 Argent/Pioneer Panoz-Honda, will start P1 on the grid, w/a speed of 214.668 mph(25.491 secs.). The only other time a woman won the pole was when Sarah Fisher did so at Kentucky Speedway, back in 2002--unlike then, Patrick is considered a legit contender to win on Sunday. Her two teammates, Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira, will start 2nd and 3rd, followed by Panther Racing's Tomas Scheckter in 4th. Darren Manning starts 5th for Target/Ganassi, w/the rest of the top 10 as follows:6)Dario Franchitti(Andretti-Green), 7)Scott Dixon(TGR), 8)Tony Kanaan(And.-Green), 9)Scott Sharp(Delphi-Fernandez), and 10)Sam Hornish, Jr.(Penske).

It was a historic day in other ways as well. With their 1-2-3 start, Rahal-Letterman became only the second IRL series team to start in such a fashion; the first was in 2002 at Michigan, when the three drivers of Red Bull/Cheever Racing, Tomas Scheckter, Buddy Rice and Eddie Cheever did the same thing as well. In addition, Patrick became the first woman to lead a practice session w/a speed of 214.745(which ironically would've also gotten her P1 in qual.) in the first prac. session.

How did the crowd react? When the final qualifyer made their run, and the results were made official, the crowd erupted in a manner similar to when she led at Indy, surprising no one there but the 36 drivers who were preparing to run a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race about 45 mins. after the IndyCar series' qual. session. The reason the crowd erupted in cheering and applause: Patrick had drawn the 22nd and last spot on the qualifying order list(i.e. she was the last driver to take a flying lap in qual.)


The race itself, the Argent Mortgage Indy 300, is set to start around 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Sun. July 3(17:00 UTC 3 July) on ESPN(television), the IMS Radio Network(nat. radio & webcast) and on XM Satellite Radio(Ch.152--domestic sat. radio). To the 4 storylines I mentioned previously prior to qual. add one more--Could History Be Made Sunday? It most certainly could be.

[JayVee]

Well done Danica Well done Alonso

This is a doubly good weekend for me

Thanks mlittle and may Danica win today, no tonight, on Sunday

[Julian Mayo]

Excellent report MFER. GO DANICA

[mlittle]

Here's a brief summary of the Argent Mortgage Indy 300, which ended about 1 1/2-hrs ago....

While polesitter Danica Patrick struggled w/a very ill-handling car the entire race, Andretti-Green stole the honors today in Kansas, w/drivers Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon finishing 1-2, followed by Rahal-Letterman driver Vitor Meira in 3rd in the series' 2nd closest 1-2-3 finish(the closest being when Sam Hornish, Jr., Scott Dixon and Bryan Herta finished 1-2-3 at Chicagoland Speedway in 2003).

Patrick, who became only the second woman to qualify P1 in an IndyCar Series, led the field to the green but was passed by teammate Buddy Rice through turns 1-2, and the day just got longer for her, it seemed. A car which had been on rails during qual. became ill-handling early on, and it just got worse as the race wore on. Throw in a malfunctioning traction-control system and an engine cutout during the race, and Patrick never seemed to contend for the victory, fighting back up to 5th before settling for 9th, her best finish since the 4th's at Motegi and Indy.

Kanaan's win puts him back in the championship fight as the series moves to Music City U.S.A.(Nashville) for the Firestone Indy 200, Round 9 of the IndyCar season; however, Wheldon's runner-up finish keeps him squarely in the lead, 76 pts. ahead of Kanaan. Marlboro-Team Penske's Helio Castroneves sits in 3rd, w/Kanaan's teammate Dario Franchitti in 4th, and Castroneves' teammate Hornish in 5th.

In the race for the Bombardier Rookie of the Year Award, Danica Patrick continues to lead w/171 pts(10th overall), while Target/Ganassi Racing's Ryan Briscoe is 48 markers back(17th overall). Just behind the Australian is Panther Racing's Tomas Enge, 4 behind Briscoe(18th overall).

Next: the Firestone Indy 200, from Nashville Superspeedway, on July 16th at 7:00 PM EDT(23:00 UTC 16 July) on ESPN(nat. television), the IMS Radio Network and XM Satellite Radio.

[mlittle]

With a couple of hrs. distance, here's some observations on today's IndyCar event at Kansas Speedway...

1--Once again, Vitor Meira was the top finisher for Rahal-Letterman Racing and showed why he is considered the "stealth" driver for the team. While everybody expects Buddy Rice to do well, and the spotlight is firmly ensconsed on rookie Danica Patrick, Meira has put together an impressive season. Granted, he's had his ups(runner-up at Indy, 5th at St. Pete) and downs(20th at Richmond) but he's a consistant driver who'll fight every lap, even if at the back. Once again, he picked up a top-3 finish here, and is currently 6th in the points table.

2--While Patrick did not have the best of days, there were several good things. She fought every lap, fell back some(at one point to 15th) but literally wringed as much speed as her ill-handling Panoz could bring. She also kept a clean line through the race and kept learning how to drive in traffic, which will help later on.

3--Honda once again reiterated that they were not leaving the IRL at the end of 2006, as Toyota is. But they also do not want to be the sole engine builder for the series; they literally crave and demand competition. This means that unless the series can convince Chevy to stay past 2005 or can find new engines, there could be some very rocky waters ahead for the IRL.

4--In an earlier posting from Fri. July 1, I listed 4 storylines, the first being whether anyone could stop pts. leader Dan Wheldon.The answer:not yet. Granted, Wheldon got 2nd, but he'll keep the points lead as the series heads to Nashville and this will add more pressure to the others to step up and try to stop him. Unless there are some big problems ahead for the driver of the #26 Jim Beam/Klein Tools Dallara-Honda, he became the prohibitive favorite to become the IRL's ninth series champion w/the results today at Kansas.

[Bundy]

well done on the forum mlittle.....i may know nothing about the IRL but that has never stopped me giving my opinion before

[Julian Mayo]

Its back to the bar for me I am seeiing seeiing double double