Can Danica Patrick make it into F1 ?

[rah]

Thanks, julian. It's not everyday ya' get a compliment for one's memory. As for the sport...I just love open-wheel racing, my friend. I try and watch as many of the races as possible(unless my work schedule prevents that, in which case I read about em' as much as possible from as many sources as possible. The first race I ever saw was the 1982 Indy 500(don't remember that much of it, I was only 7 at the time) and you could say that I was hooked. I still remember back in the mid-80's(1986, I think) at Portland when Michael and Mario Andretti fought a late-race duel to the finish(I believe Mario beat his son to the line that day). Then, of course there was Danny Sullivan's "Spin-n-Win" at the 1985 Indy 500(which made the cover of SI here in the States'). You know, a lot of the great F1 legends have raced in America, from Mario Andretti(1979 WDC) to Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell(only racer to win both WDC-1992 and ChampCar title-1993 in cons. yrs.), Nelson Piquet, and Mark Blundell(who won the closest CCWS race ever, edging out Gil de Ferran at Portland in 97' by .0027 secs.)

Of couse, the door swings both ways, as some of the great AOWR(American Open-Wheel Racing) stars, such as Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve have succeeded on both sides of the Atlantic. Both won Indy 500's(JV's in 1995 and JPM's in 2000) and JV has a WDC, in 1997(if I'm correct). Ah, this is a beautiful sport, my friend, even when bad things happen(the CART-IRL split, the USGP fiasco at Indy, etc.) or when we see drivers in our sport lose their lives(Senna, Ratzenburger, Brayton, and Moore come to mind). As long as man still has that competitive fire, they'll still be racing, whether its' at Indy or Monza or Bristol(Tenn.) or wherever you can get a bunch of racers, fans and cars to watch.

Mate, you are doing a great job keeping us all informed. But my only complaint is not enough people know where to look. Perhaps Ed can create a new catergory for IRL and Cart. That way you will have your very own place. V8 Supercars has it's own area afterall. If you are willing to do the work to keep us informed, then I feel you deserve your own area.

Keep up the good work.

[mlittle]

Thanks, rah; as I've told JayVee and Julian, I'll do my level best. If they'll set up the sub-forum, I'll try to keep everyone informed. If you stop and think about it, F1, ChampCar(CART's successor) and the IRL share a lot in common, from all the safety features used(head-and-neck restraints, wheel tethers, etc) to the tracks(ChampCar and F1 both visit the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during the year, and F1 and the IndyCar Series use the Brickyard during the year. CART also, for instance, used the circuit F1 used in Detroit for a few years back in the 1980's, as well), and so on. Whether its' watching the IndyCars race the high-banks at Texas, the Formula 1 cars head up that long hill towards Eau Rouge and the Kemmel straight at Spa, or watching ChampCar's "Roar by the Shore" in Cleveland, this is a beautiful sport, rah, and may it survive the political (excuse my language) b---s--- that sometimes threatens to drown it at times. May all three series learn from their mistakes, and hopefully, not repeat them again.

[Julian Mayo]

Thanks, julian. It's not everyday ya' get a compliment for one's memory. As for the sport...I just love open-wheel racing, my friend. I try and watch as many of the races as possible(unless my work schedule prevents that, in which case I read about em' as much as possible from as many sources as possible. The first race I ever saw was the 1982 Indy 500(don't remember that much of it, I was only 7 at the time) and you could say that I was hooked. I still remember back in the mid-80's(1986, I think) at Portland when Michael and Mario Andretti fought a late-race duel to the finish(I believe Mario beat his son to the line that day). Then, of course there was Danny Sullivan's "Spin-n-Win" at the 1985 Indy 500(which made the cover of SI here in the States'). You know, a lot of the great F1 legends have raced in America, from Mario Andretti(1979 WDC) to Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell(only racer to win both WDC-1992 and ChampCar title-1993 in cons. yrs.), Nelson Piquet, and Mark Blundell(who won the closest CCWS race ever, edging out Gil de Ferran at Portland in 97' by .0027 secs.)

Of couse, the door swings both ways, as some of the great AOWR(American Open-Wheel Racing) stars, such as Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve have succeeded on both sides of the Atlantic. Both won Indy 500's(JV's in 1995 and JPM's in 2000) and JV has a WDC, in 1997(if I'm correct). Ah, this is a beautiful sport, my friend, even when bad things happen(the CART-IRL split, the USGP fiasco at Indy, etc.) or when we see drivers in our sport lose their lives(Senna, Ratzenburger, Brayton, and Moore come to mind). As long as man still has that competitive fire, they'll still be racing, whether its' at Indy or Monza or Bristol(Tenn.) or wherever you can get a bunch of racers, fans and cars to watch.

Mate, you are doing a great job keeping us all informed. But my only complaint is not enough people know where to look. Perhaps Ed can create a new catergory for IRL and Cart. That way you will have your very own place. V8 Supercars has it's own area afterall. If you are willing to do the work to keep us informed, then I feel you deserve your own area.

Keep up the good work.

Come on ED, its a quiet week, what say you???

[Ed]

Come on ED, its a quiet week, what say you???

Ok, this is now under consideration

[Kapel]

Come on ED, its a quiet week, what say you???

Julian,ur kidding rgt??Quite week

This is the week where the F1 war officially begins

[mlittle]

Ed, just in case you haven't gotten my pm from earlier in the day, I would be honored to continue providing open-wheel coverage(IRL/ChampCar) here if y'all will set up the sub-forum. Let me know when it's ready, okay?

In case anyone is wondering what happened in the other U.S. open-wheel series this weekend...The ChampCar series made its' annual foray to the Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport for the annual "Roar by the Shore", a/k/a the U.S.Bank Grand Prix of Cleveland, on Sunday, June 26. For the first time this year, we saw a repeat winner, as Canadian Paul Tracy scored his second victory of the year, leading 46 laps(out of 91 total--the race was time-shortened by 4; orig. dist. was 95 laps) and retaking the points lead by 1 marker over 2004 series champion Sebastien Bourdais, who finished 5th. Fighting for second and third were American A.J. Allmendinger, w/his second runner-up finish of the year, while the always-tough Newman-Haas Racing team scored another podium finish as Catalonian Oriol Servia, subbing for the injured Bruno Junquiera, finished 3rd, equaling his best series finish of 2005.

The ChampCar World Series will take this week off, then head across the border to the always entertaining Harbour Street Circuit in Toronto for Rd. 6--The Molson Indy Toronto. Like Long Beach, Toronto is a signature event and always an exciting race from start to finish, with very tight corners, a long back-stretch(Shoreline Dr.) and several overtaking areas in the middle and back-third parts of the circuit(what F1 would refer to as Sectors 2 & 3).

With his win in Cleveland, Paul Tracy, who first began racing for Team Penske back in the early 1990's(alongside Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser, Jr.) passed Rick Mears for 7th on the series' all-time wins list(dating back to the mid-1950's) with 30 wins in his career, and currently leads all active drivers w/wins in a career.

In case anyone is wondering where all this connects w/Patrick and F1, look no further than runner-up A.J. Allmendinger, who raced agst. Patrick in Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantics' in 02'-03'; Allmendinger currently sits in 3rd, w/his RuSport Racing teammate, ex-F1 driver Justin Wilson, 7 pts back in 4th.

[Ed]

I got your PM.

We'll let you know by PM when everything is ready.

Thanks again for your contribution

[mlittle]

Just checking, ed. Thanks again.

[Julian Mayo]

Ed, just in case you haven't gotten my pm from earlier in the day, I would be honored to continue providing open-wheel coverage(IRL/ChampCar) here if y'all will set up the sub-forum. Let me know when it's ready, okay?

In case anyone is wondering what happened in the other U.S. open-wheel series this weekend...The ChampCar series made its' annual foray to the Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport for the annual "Roar by the Shore", a/k/a the U.S.Bank Grand Prix of Cleveland, on Sunday, June 26. For the first time this year, we saw a repeat winner, as Canadian Paul Tracy scored his second victory of the year, leading 46 laps(out of 91 total--the race was time-shortened by 4; orig. dist. was 95 laps) and retaking the points lead by 1 marker over 2004 series champion Sebastien Bourdais, who finished 5th. Fighting for second and third were American A.J. Allmendinger, w/his second runner-up finish of the year, while the always-tough Newman-Haas Racing team scored another podium finish as Catalonian Oriol Servia, subbing for the injured Bruno Junquiera, finished 3rd, equaling his best series finish of 2005.

The ChampCar World Series will take this week off, then head across the border to the always entertaining Harbour Street Circuit in Toronto for Rd. 6--The Molson Indy Toronto. Like Long Beach, Toronto is a signature event and always an exciting race from start to finish, with very tight corners, a long back-stretch(Shoreline Dr.) and several overtaking areas in the middle and back-third parts of the circuit(what F1 would refer to as Sectors 2 & 3).

With his win in Cleveland, Paul Tracy, who first began racing for Team Penske back in the early 1990's(alongside Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser, Jr.) passed Rick Mears for 7th on the series' all-time wins list(dating back to the mid-1950's) with 30 wins in his career, and currently leads all active drivers w/wins in a career.

In case anyone is wondering where all this connects w/Patrick and F1, look no further than runner-up A.J. Allmendinger, who raced agst. Patrick in Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantics' in 02'-03'; Allmendinger currently sits in 3rd, w/his RuSport Racing teammate, ex-F1 driver Justin Wilson, 7 pts back in 4th.

How did Patrick go,against Allmendinger??

[mlittle]

Julian, when Allmendinger and Patrick competed in both Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantic, A.J. was the better of the two, especially in Atlantics. While Danica scored 2 podium finishes and 5 top-5's, Allmendinger had a record-setting season, tying the great Gilles Villeneuve w/9 poles and setting a new record for wins w/seven in 2003. If both Danica and A.J. were racing in the ChampCar series agst. one another, A.J. would be favored to win; however, most of the ChampCar drivers(including Allmendinger himself) have commended Patrick for her success so far in the IRL, especially Allmendinger.

This, I think, is another reason why I wish the CART-IRL split had never occured; it's a shame to think how the two would have done in a unified series.

[Julian Mayo]

Julian, when Allmendinger and Patrick competed in both Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantic, A.J. was the better of the two, especially in Atlantics. While Danica scored 2 podium finishes and 5 top-5's, Allmendinger had a record-setting season, tying the great Gilles Villeneuve w/9 poles and setting a new record for wins w/seven in 2003. If both Danica and A.J. were racing in the ChampCar series agst. one another, A.J. would be favored to win; however, most of the ChampCar drivers(including Allmendinger himself) have commended Patrick for her success so far in the IRL, especially Allmendinger.

This, I think, is another reason why I wish the CART-IRL split had never occured; it's a shame to think how the two would have done in a unified series.

Did anyone else get 7 top fives that season?

[mlittle]

Julian, I'll check on that and give you an answer as soon as possible(I'll PM you the answer so as to free up this thread a little bit).

BTW, Patrick's 5 top-five finishes included the two podium finished I mentioned(even w/my storehouse of knowledge, once in a while I do make a mistake--thought I counted the two podiums as part of her 5 top-5's in the last posting). Now you know why I'm as thorough in my postings as I am; in this day and age, if you ever get anything wrong, even a little bit, you can expect to be called on it almost immediately.

[Julian Mayo]

Julian, I'll check on that and give you an answer as soon as possible(I'll PM you the answer so as to free up this thread a little bit).

BTW, Patrick's 5 top-five finishes included the two podium finished I mentioned(even w/my storehouse of knowledge, once in a while I do make a mistake--thought I counted the two podiums as part of her 5 top-5's in the last posting). Now you know why I'm as thorough in my postings as I am; in this day and age, if you ever get anything wrong, even a little bit, you can expect to be called on it almost immediately.

Mate, I was married, I know what you mean

[mlittle]

Julian, even though a lot of the recent postings from myself and you and a couple of others have been about the IndyCar series and AOWR, here is something that has a direct tie to this particular thread, concerning whether Danica Patrick can make it into Formula 1. According to a commentary on Speedtv.com by open-wheel commentator David Phillips(here's the link: speedtv.com/commentary/17893/), "prior to the Michelin tire debacle, the biggest news story of the USGP (was) Danica Patrick." Even though she was there as a part of the small contingent of Honda VIPs present, and while she was right to decline the "demo ride" w/BAR-Honda on the Thursday before the GP, according to Phillips, one F1 observer at Indy "confidently predicted (that) she will be in Formula One in a couple of yrs." Combine this w/the near-constant calls by the UK's two major motor-sports magazines, Autosport and Motorsport News for this year's 500 winner, Dan Wheldon, to drive in F1 and the possibility of 2004 IndyCar series champion Tony Kanaan being in the running for a seat w/BAR-Honda, and you have the makings of a serious traffic jam of American open-wheelers headed to F1.

However, this wouldn't be the first time such a thing as this has happened, as Phillips comments further in his article. The worry, Phillips points out, is that back in the 1990's CART suffered the same thing, as drivers from Michael Andretti, Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya and Cristiano da Matta all went to F1 after achieving success in the States'(of the 5, only Villeneuve and Montoya have succeeded there). The concern it seems is that(according to Phillips's article), since there are now two open-wheel series in America, both ChampCar and the IRL could suffer concurrently from such a "drain" of talent.

After reading Phillips' column, my own view is that at least one of the three IRL drivers(Patrick, Wheldon, or Kanaan) mentioned will make it to F1 either next year or 07', and that possibly, all three could be there by the end of the decade. Of course, as I've said plenty of times before, who knows what could happen these days?

[mlittle]

Alright, Julian, Jayvee, here's a preview of the next race on the 2005 IndyCar Series schedule...

Round 8 of 17 takes us to the Kansas Speedway, situated in America's heartland near Kansas City, for the Argent Mortgage Indy 300, on 3 July 2005. The track, a relatively low-banked 1.5-mile tri-oval(10 deg. banking in the turns/5 deg. banking on the front & back-straights), first opened for IndyCar action in 2001 and hasn't disappointed since. Last year saw the second-closest finish in series history, as teammates Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira were separated by .0051 secs. Expect more close racing this week, as the series approaches the halfway point of the season. Currently, Dan Wheldon leads the points table w/a 89-pt lead over teammate Tony Kaanan, w/Richmond race winner Helio Castroneves just 3 markers behind. In the fight for the Bombardier Rookie of the Year Award, its' a three-way battle, w/Danica Patrick(11th overall) leading at 149 pts, followed by Ryan Briscoe(17th overall) w/111 pts. and Tomas Enge(20th overall) w/100 pts.

Qualifying will be on Sat. July 2nd at 1:45 PM(webcast on the series' website, indycar.com; just follow the links as posted for the Richmond preview), with the race itself on ESPN at 1:00 EDT(17:00 UTC) July 3rd, w/coverage also on XM Sat. Radio and the IMS Radio Network. I'll try to provide qual. and race summaries following each, and will also give any observations(wherever appropriate).

BTW, Julian, in a recent posting, you mentioned that you get "scant" coverage of IndyCar series events. I checked the series' intl broadcast lists, and in Australia, ESPN's Pacific Rim Service may have the event on(probably as a same-day tape delay broadcast). I hope that you can see the race, even if it is on tape-delay; they are a delight to watch, especially when the series' goes to such hallowed racetracks here in the States' such as The Milwaukee Mile, Michigan, Indianapolis, and this year, Infineon and Watkins Glen.