2006 IRL Rd. 9--Firestone Indy 200

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With eight races in the books now, the teams and drivers of the IRL IndyCar Series now move from Kansas to the Cumberland Valley of central Tennessee and the 1.33-mile concrete oval, the Nashville Superspeedway, for the Firestone Indy 200. Last year, Nashville's adopted son, Dario Franchitti, won in an event which saw his three other Andretti-Green teammates out with either wheel bearing failures or accidents. This year, for anyone not with either Target/Ganassi Racing OR Marlboro-Team Penske, it's been nothing but scraps. Can anyone stop the dual juggernaut, or will it be another Penske/Ganassi lovefest? Here is the event schedule for the weekend............(note: all times listed are U.S. CDT, -1 hr. US EDT/-5 hrs. GMT)

Practice Session #1}10:15 am, 14 July 2006
Practice Session #2}1 pm, 14 July 2006
Qualifying Session}4 pm, 14 July 2006
Final Practice Session}8 pm, 14 July 2006
Firestone Indy 200, 8 pm, 15 July 2006(live TV broadcast on ESPN, with Spanish-language TV on ESPN Deportes). The race can also be heard on the following networks:
~~XM Satellite Radio, Ch. 145--IndyCar Racing
~~IMS Radio Network(domestic AM radio)
~~IMS webcast through indycar.com
~~United States Armed Forces Network

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2 teams have announced driver changes for the upcoming race in Nashville........

~~A.J. Foyt Racing and Felipe Giaffone have parted ways; the team's struggled this year, and both sides said the split was amicable.....an annoucement on a replacement is forthcoming

~~Dreyer & Reinbold has brought in former Target/Ganassi driver Ryan Briscoe to drive in three of the remaining six races this year(Nashville, Milwaukee and Infineon). Briscoe, who has driven in the Rolex Sports Car Series and A1 Grand Prix this year, is also set to drive for Holden Racing in the Australian V8 Supercar series in its' two endurance races, Sandown and Bathurst. The team's regular driver, 2000 series champion Buddy Lazier, will drive at Chicagoland, Michigan and Kentucky.

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Last year, road-course specialist Jeff Bucknum gave A.J. Foyt Racing two good performances in the 2005 IndyCar season; Wednesday, Foyt gave Bucknum the chance to drive the #14 ABC Supply Co. D/H through the remainder of the 2006 season, beginning with Saturday's race in Nashville. Here are a few quotes from the principals.............

Jeff Bucknum, driver-#14 ABC Supply Co. D/H:

I could not be happier than to rejoin A.J. My two races with him last year were successful, a top-10 at Infineon and an 11th at the Glen after running as high as fourth in the race. Both races were arranged at the last minute but I felt very much at home with A.J. and the team. To be able to build a better relationship with everyone (there) will be a big plus. A.J. has hired me to finish the season which is six races. I cannot imagine a better opportunity to advance my oval skills than under the master himself. I have every intention of making him proud of my racing.

A.J. Foyt, Jr., owner-A.J. Foyt Racing:

We worked with Jeff a couple of times last year and he did a good job for us. I know he hasn't got much experience on the ovals but I think he can adapt to them. The next two ovals we're taking him to are the hardest on the circuit so if he can adapt to them, I think he can adapt to any oval. By the same token, I'm not expecting miracles. I told him to just go out and get some expeerience and come home clean.

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When the IndyCar Series runs at Nashville Saturday night, there will be only 18 cars on the grid, as Eddie Cheever, Jr., driver/owner of Cheever Racing, announced his team was suspending operations for the forseeable future. Originally, the team was slated to run through Indy only, but thanks to additional assistance from several associate sponsors, the team was able to run up to the Kansas round. In the press release, he also stated that his Indy Pro Series and Grand-Am(Rolex) teams will continue operations through the end of the year.

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One of the more notable items from this year's running of "the Greatest Spectacle in Racing" was the fact that Panther Racing's Vitor Meira reported being very dehydrated after the race(in fact, he had to receive IV fluids after the race ). Afterwards, the team began to look for an additional sponsor to help rehydrate the team for the stretch run through the summer(that's no pun....the team's finances were a little 'wobbly' at that time). This morning, the team found a new sponsor in Revive USA, a Dallas, Tx.-based food, drink and nutritional supplement company. Founded in late March, the team heard about Meira's predictament, sent some products to the team......and that ultimately led to today's announcement. Here are some quotes from the principals involved......

John Barnes, Co-Owner, Panther Racing:

As our newest partner, Revive USA has given Panther Racing the boost we need for a run at the 2006 IndyCar Series championship. Revive's personnel and scientists have a history of helping professional athletes perform better in everything from the Olympics to NASCAR, the NBA, professional baseball, and now they can add the IRL and Panther Racing to that list. We look forward to a long and healthy relationship.

Bruce Badgett, CEO/President, Revive USA:

Revive has similar beliefs as Panther Racing. Their team is more than just a world-class championship-caliber Indy Racing League team; they promote the sport and represent it honorably. They're involved with the community and are looking for ways to reach kids and make in difference in the educational system with the formation of the Panther Education Center. Panther does a lot more than just race IndyCars.

To assist Panther Racing, Revive USA will supply an energy drink and a hydration drink for the team's use; series officials have already cleared their use by the team(most of the teams currently use either Gatorade, Powerade or Glycomax for energy/hydration). As for customer use, the company plans to release both, along with two meal-replacement and high-protein supplement bars by mid-September throughout the Midwest, with the rest of the U.S. set for their distribution in Jan. 2007.

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Qualifying ended about 15 minutes ago, and for the second race in a row, a very scruffy-looking Dan Wheldon(#10 Target D/H) will pace the field at the beginning of the race. Here is the starting grid for Saturday's race.......(note: all cars are Dallara/Honda)

1}Dan Wheldon, #10 Target...............................................203.293 mph/23.021 sec
2}Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Marlboro-Team Penske....................202.362 mph/23.127 sec

3}Scott Dixon, #9 Target...................................................202.194 mph/23.146 sec
4}Helio Castroneves, #3 Marlboro-Team Penske..................201.995 mph/23.169 sec

5}Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club/Klein Tools................201.896 mph/23.180 sec
6}Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11.........................................201.628 mph/23.211 sec

7}Vitor Meira, #4 Network LIVE/Revive USA........................200.819 mph/23.305 sec
8}Scott Sharp, #8 Delphi/Patron Spirits...............................200.801 mph/23.307 sec

9}Tomas Scheckter, #2 Rock & Republic..............................200.426 mph/23.350 sec
10}Danica Patrick, #16 Argent/PEAK....................................200.283 mph/23.367 sec

11}Buddy Rice, #15 Argent/Pioneer.....................................200.274 mph/23.368 sec
12}Kosuke Matsurra, #55 Panasonic/ARTA...........................199.774 mph/23.430 sec

13}Ryan Briscoe, #5 RollCoater/Escort Radar Warning..........199.607 mph/23.446 sec
14}Ed Carpenter, #20 Rock & Republic.................................199.512 mph/23.457 sec

15}(R)Jeff Simmons, #17 Ethanol.........................................199.457 mph/23.464 sec
16}Bryan Herta, #7 XM Satellite Radio..................................199.386 mph/23.472 sec

17}Jeff Bucknum, #14 ABC Supply Co..................................198.450 mph/23.583 sec
18}Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Group......................................198.311 mph/23.599 sec

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It's been an interesting day....let's see, Julian's gotten lost at the Grand Ole' Opry, T-K's doing some karaoke over in Printer's Row in Nashville, and I'm having a blast at the speedway. Let's open up the Friday notebook....

1}And you thought silly season only happened in the off-season? Remember all the hubbub over Juan Pablo Montoya's decision to leave Formula 1 to drive tin-tops for the Chipster over in NASCAR? Well, apparently, fellow F1 racer Jacques Villenueve has expressed interest in the tin-tops, along with former ChampCar/IRL racer Patrick Carpentier. The biggest story, though(and one that flew under the radar thanks to Montoya!) was this gem, reported today on speedtv.com(here is the link.... www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/28634 ) Rumor has it that a top-shelf NASCAR Nextel Cup(read one of my more recent postings in the Sanity thread over in the ChampCar forum for the list) has offered Rahal-Letterman Racing driver Danica Patrick a contract to drive in Nextel Cup in 2007, and if Racer's Jeff Olsen is correct, it was for an amount that few IRL teams can match. But, the same sources pointed out that her current intent is to remain in the IndyCar Series. That sentiment was matched in the paddock by none other than Andretti-Green Racing co-owner Michael Andretti, who, if the above sources are correct, has offered Patrick a multi-year contract to race for AGR beginning in 2007. I'm not sure what to make of all this, but.....I believe it's enough to give both Tony George and Bobby Rahal headaches, ones that Excedrin won't relieve immediately.....

2}What a surprise, II....not!! During the IMS Radio Network webcast of qualifying, lead announcer Mike King has decided to do what Speed's Robin Miller has done in weeks past.....he and commentator Davey Hamiltonare offering a bounty to any driver who can win Saturday's race agst. the Penske/Ganassi juggernaut.( and, yes, they put up $100 each! ) Question is....can anyone rise to the challenge?

A couple of questions to ponder......
1--Can Marlboro-Team Penske be the first IndyCar Series team to win four consecutive races?
2--Can Andretti-Green Racing turn the corner on what has been a somewhat dismal season?
3--Will we see a new winner at Nashville?

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After qualifying Friday, Marlboro-Team Penske's Sam Hornish, Jr., couldn't stress enough the importance of not making mistakes; that memo must've gotten lost in translation, as a rare miscue by the Ovalmeister nearly cost him the points lead Saturday night. In the Target/Ganassi camp, though, it was all smiles as Scott Dixon(#9 Target D/H) and Dan Wheldon(#10 Target D/H) gave the team their first-ever 1-2 finish in IndyCar competition.

There were several highlights to the race, which gave the sellout crowd at Nashville Superspeedway(over 36,000 by most estimates) plenty of things to savor...

~~electrical problems felled both Scott Sharp(#8 Delphi D/H) and Buddy Rice(#15 Argent/Pioneer D/H); Sharp had been an early contender for the lead
~~the frenetic pace of the race, which shattered the old record of 144.809 mph(set in the race's first year, 2001); this year's race pace was 161.209 mph
~~as usual, battles for position could be found from front-to-back; the best battle, though, was for P4-P5 btwn. Danica Patrick(#16 Argent/PEAK D/H) and Dario Franchitti(#27 Canadian Club/Klein Tolls D/H), which lasted for about 15 laps(145-160)
~~for Rahal-Letterman Racing, it was a pretty good night for them; on the one hand, there was Rice's continued woes......on the other hand, both Patrick and rookie Jeff Simmons(#17 Ethanol D/H) finished in the top-10(Patrick-4th, Simmons-7th)
~~for the 11th time in his career, Vitor Meira(#4 Network LIVE/Revive USA D/H) finished on the podium without a win

Here are the top-10 from a frenetic Firestone Indy 200.............
1st}#9 Scott Dixon.........................................200 laps
2nd}#10 Dan Wheldon...................................-0.118 secs
3rd}#4 Vitor Meira.........................................-1.278 secs
4th}#16 Danica Patrick..................................-2.502 secs
5th}#3 Helio Castroneves..............................-3.565 secs
6th}#27 Dario Franchitti................................-11.945 secs
7th}(R)#17 Jeff Simmons...............................-1 lap
8th}(R)#26 Marco Andretti..............................-1 lap
9th}#5 Ryan Briscoe......................................-1 lap
10th}#20 Ed Carpenter..................................-2 laps

[Southernman]

Well done Scott Dixon.