The Season's End...Rounds 15-17.

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:02 pm

Back in March, the IndyCar Series began its' 10th season at Homestead and, it's been a blast, but the 2005 season has but three events left on the calendar, and three great but very different venues.

Round 15 takes us to the Chicago suburbs, namely Joliet, Ill., home to the fictional Blues Brothers of "The Blues Brothers" movie, Elwood and Joliet Jake and to the Chicagoland Speedway, site of the Chicagoland Indy 300. While it will have a festive atmosphere, it will be tinged with a lot of solemnity and somber reminders of the world we live in now, for the race is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2005.

Round 16 finds the series up in the Finger Lakes of Upstate New York, to the historic Watkins Glen facility, for the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix, the second natural-terrain road course on the schedule. While NASCAR, which also uses the track, uses the short course, the IndyCars will take to the long course, a 3.4-mile, 11-turn beast which will test the drivers' fitness, just as Infineon did today.

Round 17, the 2005 season finale, brings us to the Inland Empire of Southern California, and to the California Speedway, for the Toyota Indy 400. Built on the grounds of the old Kaiser Steel Mill, the track still sports the old water tower and smoke stack featured in the movie "Terminator 2", and the track has seen three of the closest races in series history, plus in 2003, the fastest race in series history. Expect this year's round to be an all-out, 400-mile slugfest, especially if both the overall and rookie points battles are settled by then.

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:08 pm

What!! Fictional????? don't say that, they are my heroes!!!!!

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:10 pm

Well, you know, anyone visiting this site might realize the blues brothers are alive and well. A/k/a, julian mayo, and mlittle.

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:22 pm

mlittle wrote:Well, you know, anyone visiting this site might realize the blues brothers are alive and well. A/k/a, julian mayo, and mlittle.

I will do the driving, you do the singing, or we are both D.E.D if we do the other way round. I have a singing voice that stops wars, or starts them

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:26 pm

Ah, but who would play Carrie Fisher's role in the movie...it'd either have to be Danica or Katherine.

rah · Post by **rah** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:32 pm

mlittle wrote:Ah, but who would play Carrie Fisher's role in the movie...it'd either have to be Danica or Katherine.

JV. I can see her shooting all maner of weapons at you two.

If you get stuck for actors I am always willing to play Bob from Bob's Country Bunker.

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:45 pm

No thanks, rah. Ryan Briscoe could easily fit into that role.

rah · Post by **rah** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:57 pm

Poor little Ryan. You guys are just jealous that he has been closer to Danica than you have.

He is just misunderstood. When he starts whipping Danica's a#%& (literally and not literally) then I am sure you might show him a little respect.

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:12 pm

Don't worry, just surviving a season of close-quarter, open-wheel oval racing will garner Ryan respect. But considering that, A)the team he's driving for vs. the team she's driving for, and B)their results so far, I'd still say that Patrick's got the upper-hand, so to speak. Honestly, this was his race to lose at Infineon, and despite setting fast lap in practice and in qualifying, he lost it making that banzai-move at the hairpin; he could've picked another spot elsewhere on the track.

Oh, don't worry, rah...We forget that Briscoe and Patrick are in the same boat; both are road-course racers trying to adapt to oval-track racing and Patrick's just doing a bit better than Briscoe is. However, Briscoe did lead 43 laps at St. Pete and 18 at Infineon, while Patrick has led none at either venue. Chances are, unless her team figures out the right setup, Briscoe will have the better result at the Glen.

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:21 pm

rah wrote:
mlittle wrote:Ah, but who would play Carrie Fisher's role in the movie...it'd either have to be Danica or Katherine.
JV. I can see her shooting all maner of weapons at you two.

If you get stuck for actors I am always willing to play Bob from Bob's Country Bunker.

I think JV would love the role, and I don't think she would be firing blanks, so to speak