2006 IRL Rd. 6--Bombardier Learjet 500k

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Who will win the Bombardier Learjet 500k?

Poll ended at Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:52 pm

Tomas Scheckter
0
No votes
Sam Hornish, Jr.
1
20%
Helio Castroneves
0
No votes
Tony Kanaan
0
No votes
none of the above
2
40%
none of the above
2
40%
 
Total votes: 5

mlittle
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:57 am

Wheldon's teammate, Scott Dixon(#9 Target D/H) next up.......first lap coming up, 24.710 sec/211.977 mph. Second lap coming up........24.599 sec/12.929 sec, provisionally P4.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:59 am

Marco Andretti(#26 NYSE Group D/H) next up.......this will be his first visit to the 1.5-mile highbanks of Texas. First qual. lap.............24.797 sec/211.640 mph. Second lap coming up........24.716 sec/211.923 mph; Andretti currently P7 provisionally.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:01 am

Aguri-Fernandez Racing's Kosuke Matsurra(#55 Panasonic/ARTA D/H) now on-track; first lap.........24.761 sec/211.545 mph. Second lap........24.777 sec/211.407 mph. Matsurra currently P8.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:04 am

2005 series rooke award winner Danica Patrick(#16 Argent/PEAK D/H) now on-track. First lap coming up............24.827 sec/210.981 mph. Second lap now up...............24.848 sec/210.796 mph; Patrick currently sits P12 provisionally.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:07 am

1996 series co-champion Scott Sharp(#8 Delphi D/H) now on-track......first lap coming up, 24.679 sec/212.242 mph. Second lap, 24.715 sec/211.934 mph, so Sharp will slide into P7 provisionally.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:08 am

Bryan Herta(#7 XM Satellite Radio D/H) now beginning his qual. run. First qual. lap, 24.762 sec/211.532 mph. Second lap coming up, 24.788 sec/211.316 mph. Herta provisionally slots into P10.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:13 am

2 drivers remaining: Felipe Giaffone(#14 ABC Supply Co. D/H) and Dario Franchitti(#27 Canadian Club/Klein Tools D/H). Franchitti first up; Giaffone will be the last to qualify. First lap for the Scotsman, and his first AND only qual. lap is 24.715 sec/211.933 mph; Franchitti qualifies 8th. Giaffone apparently will not make a qual. run, as his team is reporting engine troubles, so qualifying has ended for Saturday's race.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:08 pm

Here is the grid for Saturday's Bombardier Learjet 500k..............
(note......all drivers are using Dallara/Honda racecars)

1}Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Marlboro-Team Penske...................24.520 sec/213.624 mph
2}Dan Wheldon, #10 Target..............................................24.523 sec/213.588 mph

3}Helio Castroneves, #3 Marlboro-Team Penske.................24.571 sec/213.182 mph
4}Scott Dixon, #9 Target...................................................24.600 sec/212.929 mph

5}Tomas Scheckter, #2 Rock & Republic.............................24.612 sec/212.823 mph
6}Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11.........................................24.671 sec/212.313 mph

7}Scott Sharp, #8 Delphi....................................................24.679 sec/212.242 mph
8}Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club/Klein Tools.................24.715 sec/211.933 mph

9}(R)Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Group..................................24.717 sec/211.923 mph
10}Kosuke Matsurra, #55 Panasonic/ARTA...........................24.761 sec/211.545 mph

11}Bryan Herta, #7 XM Satellite Radio.................................24.762 sec/211.532 mph
12}Ed Carpenter, #20 Rock & Republic................................24.778 sec/211.395 mph

13}Vitor Meira, #4 Network LIVE/EcoNova............................24.791 sec/211.284 mph
14}Buddy Rice, #15 Argent/Pioneer.....................................24.806 sec/211.163 mph

15}Danica Patrick, #16 Argent/PEAK....................................24.827 sec/210.981 mph
16}Jeff Simmons, #17 Ethanol.............................................24.890 sec/210.445 mph

17}Eddie Cheever, Jr., #51 GEICO......................................25.013 sec/209.414 mph
18}Buddy Lazier, #5 RollCoater/ESCORT..............................25.044 sec/209.152 mph

19}Felipe Giaffone, #14 ABC Supply Co..............................no time/speed
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Friday Postcard from the Paddock..........

Post by mlittle » Sat Jun 10, 2006 1:23 pm

Let's see........Julian's somewhere wrestling cattle(and no doubt, winning..... :wink: , T-K's out buzzing yet another track with his custom-built plider(they shoot at planes in Texas, don't they??..... :shock: :shock: , and I'm standing in near-100 deg.(F) conditions at TMS. Oh well, here's the Friday notebook.......

1}He's all alone out there.......gee, I wonder why? One thing I've noticed in each and every practice session at Texas is this; every time Eddie Cheever, Jr. goes out on-track and tries to practice drafting with another car, that car always cuts off onto pitlane. Or, they slow to let him by, keeping him from getting track time in drafting. Could they be sending him a message......like, stop wrecking everyone! :shock: :shock:

2}Good vibes for Panther......if there is one team that has had success at the highbanks of Texas Motor Speedway, it is Panther Racing. They've won with three drivers, Scott Goodyear in the 2000 fall race, Sam Hornish, Jr. in the 2001 and 2002 fall race. and last year, with Tomas Scheckter. That bodes well for current Panther driver Vitor Meira, who has been a bridesmade five times in IndyCar Series action, but has yet to drive into Victory Lane. Could this race end the streak for him?

3}Can anyone break the Penske-Ganassi stranglehold? Right now, I don't know. Marlboro-Team Penske has won at St. Pete, Motegi and Indy, while Target/Ganassi Racing has won at Homestead and at Watkins Glen. If any other team, such as Andretti-Green, Rahal-Letterman, Panther or Vision has any designs on the series title, now would be a good time to start towards the front.

4}Another son to debut at the Brickyard. Last year, then Indy Pro Series driver Marco Andretti won the inaugural running of the Liberty Challenge at the Brickyard, the IRL Indy Pro Series support race for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Earlier this week, it was announced that current Champ Car Atlantic driver Graham Rahal, son of 1986 Indy 500 and 3-time CART series champion Bobby Rahal, would make his IPS debut at this year's Liberty Challenge. The way Graham's season been this year, it should be an interesting race in a couple of weeks. The only differences he'll have to face are 120 extra horsepower(420 in an IPS car vs. 300 in the Atlantic car) and a different engine(gas-powered Infiniti V8 vs. methanol-powered Mazda MZR V8 ).
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sat Jun 10, 2006 1:50 pm

How do you like your steak, Mfer ?
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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Post by mlittle » Sat Jun 10, 2006 2:04 pm

Julian Mayo wrote:How do you like your steak, Mfer ?
Medium-well, thanks!
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sat Jun 10, 2006 2:16 pm

mlittle wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:How do you like your steak, Mfer ?
Medium-well, thanks!
:shock: one shoe leather coming up. (now, wheres them steers ?) :lol:
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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Post by mlittle » Sat Jun 10, 2006 4:40 pm

Julian Mayo wrote:
mlittle wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:How do you like your steak, Mfer ?
Medium-well, thanks!
:shock: one shoe leather coming up. (now, wheres them steers ?) :lol:

That's medium-well.......rare would be closer to shoe leather. :lol: :lol: :shock:
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sat Jun 10, 2006 8:56 pm

mlittle wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:
mlittle wrote:
Medium-well, thanks!
:shock: one shoe leather coming up. (now, wheres them steers ?) :lol:

That's medium-well.......rare would be closer to shoe leather. :lol: :lol: :shock:
Not here mate, in the land that sells beef to Texas,
Medium-well done = shoe leather
medium = a tad tough
medium rare = just acceptable
rare = nice
"blue"=nicer
rip the horns n hide off, toss it on, flip it, serve it = perfect :lol:
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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Penske 4, Ganassi 2.....Castroneves wins in Texas

Post by mlittle » Sun Jun 11, 2006 3:33 pm

For the second time this year, the dominant driver did not win at race's end, as Marlboro-Team Penske snuck out a victory with Helio Castroneves capturing his third win of the season in Saturday night's running of the Bombardier Learjet 500k.

As the green flag fell about 9:15 PM tonight, it was Castroneves's teammate, polesitter Sam Hornish, Jr.(#6 Marlboro-Team Penske D/H) who led the first lap.........only to lose it to Target/Ganassi's Dan Wheldon(#10 Target D/H) who proceeded to take the lead on lap 2(how dominant was Wheldon......he led 171 of 200 laps, and still didn't win.....the reason for that later). As the race progresses, Wheldon began pulling away, not by tenths' but by hundredths', leading by .083 secs. at lap 15, by .173 secs. on lap 25, eventually stretching the lead out to a second by lap 50. At the quarter mark, the top-5 were: Wheldon, Hornish, Castroneves, Matsurra and Dixon.

Around lap 53, the field began their first round of stops, the cars of Ed Carpenter(#20 Rock & Republic D/H) and Eddie Cheever, Jr.(#51 GEICO D/H) being the first to arrive for fuel and tires. Just as everyone had cycled through, the first caution came as the D/H of Buddy Lazier(#5 RollCoater/ESCORT) slowed to a stop at pitentrance; he would be one two cars out on what would eventually become the third-fastest race in IndyCar Series history.....the second was that of Buddy Rice(#15 Argent/Pioneer D/H) who's luck at Texas is equal to Hornish's at Indy prior to 2006; if Rice didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck, whatsoever. Last year, it was the differential that broke; this year, the Honda engine BBQ'ed on him, spewing smoke onto a couple of cars behind him. Ironically, Rice's caution was the second and last caution of the night; when the field went green on lap 78, there would be no more yellows....the race went green the remainder of the night.

By lap 100, Wheldon seemed in complete control of the race; he had led all but 15 or so laps and had, once again, began to stretch out a lead on the rest of the field. Unfortunately, the first set of green flag stops(the previous stops were mostly under yellow) around lap 125 would prove to be crucial in Wheldon's undoing, as the two Penske cars pitted a few laps later, along with the Aguri-Fernandez cars of Kosuke Matsurra(#55 Panasonic/ARTA D/H) and Scott Sharp(#8 Delphi D/H). When the field had cycled through their stops, there was a new leader, for Sharp had taken the point. It didn't last, as both Wheldon and Castroneves would get by Sharp, using backmarkers as picks to slide by Sharp. Now Wheldon was back on point, with Spiderman close back. By lap 150, the top-5 were: Wheldon, Castroneves, Hornish, Dixon and Kanaan; Sharp had fallen to sixth.....but the reason wasn't for any problems......he had dialed down the fuel setting, running a leaner fuel/air mix in order to stretch the fuel mileage. Why? IndyCars at Texas average around 55-65 laps with a 30-gallon fuel tank; by pitting on lap 134, Sharp's team was rolling the dice, hoping to stretch the fuel mileage and avoid a late "splash-n'-dash" at race's end.

Meanwhile, it had become a two-horse race, as both Wheldon and Castroneves began battling for the race as the laps dwindled down. By lap 170, everyone on pitlane, from the engineers to the team owners, were studying the telemetry, trying to decide.....do we pit now, and lose a shot at winning.....or do we gamble and try to stretch the fuel? Unless a caution were to come out before race's end, the answer would be no. On lap 183, Castroneves and Kanaan would pit, taking fuel only. Next lap, Wheldon and Scheckter, despite an ill-handling car, pitted, hading the lead over to Hornish. On the next lap, Hornish, whose tanks were virtually empty(telemetry indicated .7 gallons of fuel in the tank) came in for a splash of fuel.....only to stall becaue the engine cutout due to lack of fuel. They got him fired back up, but his chance at winning was gone. Even Sharp, who took the lead when Hornish pitted, had to come in for a quick drink of fuel, and the lead fell right into the lap of Helio Castroneves, who held off a hard-charging Scott Dixon to capture his second victory at Texas, and his third of the 2006 season. And, as his Spiderman's custom....he parked his car on the start/finish line, ran to the catch-fencing and climbed to the top, waving at the more than 89,000 fans who were at the race tonight. Here are the top-10 results from the race......

1}Helio Castroneves, #3 Marlboro-Team Penske..............200 laps
2}Scott Dixon, #9 Target..............................................-.240 sec.
3}Dan Wheldon, #10 Target.........................................-.298 sec.
4}Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Marlboro-Team Penske..............-14.539 sec.
5}Scott Sharp, #8 Delphi.............................................-14.590 sec.
6}Vitor Meira, #4 Network LIVE/EcoNova......................-15.929 sec.
7}Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11..................................-16.140 sec.
8}Kosuke Matsurra, #55 Panasonic/ARTA.....................-22.333 sec.
9}Ed Carpenter, #20 Rock & Republic..........................-22.979 sec.
10}Tomas Scheckter, #2 Rock & Republic.....................-1 lap

Observations to come early Sunday morning.......................
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