Round 14--Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix

[Julian Mayo]

Well,fancy meeting you here, Mfer

[rah]

Oops, poor ryan had a slip up. Sounds like he was doing ok up to then though.

I doubt he will pick up a date with Danica anytime soon too.

[mlittle]

Although the 2005 IndyCar Series season has been dominated by Andretti-Green Racing and driver Dan Wheldon, teammate Tony Kanaan(#11 Team 7-11 Dallara/Honda) used pit strategy, fuel strategy and a lot of racing effort to notch his second win of the year as some of the front-runners fell by the wayside during the inaugural running of the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix.

At the beginning of the race, Target/Ganassi Racing and series rookie Ryan Briscoe(#33 Target Panoz/Toyota) took the lead and began what became a very-interesting 80-lap race around the 2.3-mile Infineon Raceway. Following him were front-runners Helio Castroneves(#3 Marlboro/Team Penske Dallara/Toyota), Kanaan, Panther Racing's Tomas Enge(#2 Rockstar Energy Drink Dallara/Chevy), and Rahal-Letterman Racing's Buddy Rice(#15 Argent/Pioneer Panoz/Honda). The early surprise, though, came from Rice's teammate, series rookie points leader Danica Patrick(#16 Argent/Pioneer Panoz/Honda) who made an early charge from her starting spot of 16th to 6th by lap 10. However, it would be a short day for Patrick, Castroneves and Briscoe as the three of them crashed out going into the turn 12 hairpin. On lap 18, following a restart, Castroneves and Patrick, battling for 6th, began slowing for the hairpin when Briscoe bravely(or boneheadly,?) dove for the corner, collecting the other two as a result. While Helio was disappointed, Patrick was...well, remember Scott Sharp at Richmond when Roger Yasukawa put him in the wall? You know someone's angry when another driver, plus two corner workers, have to keep you from the third driver. Naturally, Briscoe, in a post-race interview, tried to explain what happened. Patrick, though, had a simpler view, saying, "Ryan could've been more patient. I don't know if it was desperate (or what, but) it cost him."

Meanwhile, series points leader Dan Wheldon(#26 Jim Beam/Klein Tools Dallara/Honda) became the leader and began to slowly eke out a lead, only to fall out of the race with a fuel-pump problem. This gave the lead to Kanaan, who was in the midst of a fight with rookie Enge, while the Red Bull/Cheever duo of Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier were in pursuit of the other two. Following the final round of stops, Kanaan stayed in the lead, while problems beset teammate Bryan Herta(#7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda) and RLR's Vitor Meira(#17 Johns Manville/Menards Panoz/Honda) as their cars suffered front-wing damage while trying to pass other cars. In the end, though, Kanaan held off Rice for the win, winning by just over 1 second while the Red Bull pair of Barron and Carpentier notched third and fourth, while Tomas Enge finished 5th.

With three races to go, Dan Wheldon remains the prohibitive favorite to win the IndyCar Series title, while Kanaan passes Sam Hornish, Jr for 2nd, just 79 pts. back. Hornish now sits in 3rd, 96 pts. out. AGR's Dario Franchitti is 4th, 122 markers back, while Scott Sharp is 5th, 151 pts. back.

In the race for the Bombardier Rookie-of-the-Year award, Danica Patrick continues to lead w/271 pts.(12th overall), while Ryan Briscoe remains 51 pts. back(16th overall). Tomas Enge, with his 5th-place finish, tightens up the race some, and now sits 63 pts.(17th overall) behind Patrick.

The series now heads for the Chicago suburbs, Joliet, Ill. to be exact, for Round 15, the Chicagoland Indy 300, set for 1:30 PM EDT on Sept. 11. Observations from Sonoma to follow later in the evening.

[mlittle]

Rah, I'm still trying to figure out why Briscoe did that. From the camera angle shown, Patrick and Castroneves were fighting for 6th, and then Briscoe charges in, brakes late, and in the process takes not just himself, but also Patrick and Castroneves. I'm just glad Helio was involved, though...because if that had been a two-car wreck, Briscoe would've needed the corner workers to keep Danica from, well.....you get the idea.

[rah]

Mate, it is just an Aussie way of picking up chicks. He just needed an introduction and bumping into her was the way to do it. Give it a couple of weeks and our Ryan will be doing the beast with two backs with your Danica.

[mlittle]

3-point posting, rah...

1--Judging by how animated Patrick was after the crash, it's a good thing that Helio and those corner wkrs. were nearby; otherwise, Briscoe might've seen the business end of her 4-1\4 carat diamond engagement ring she wears on her left ring finger....

2--There's probably a better way to pick up the ladies than crashing into them during a race, and...

3--As far as the "beast with two backs"...I know I mentioned this to julian earlier in the year, but Danica's fiance might disagree with you about that one. Sorry, rah.

[rah]

Hey, he is just trying to try something new. Usually with women, they like you first then hate your guts. Julian back me up here. Ryan is just tring the opposite. First Danica hates him, then she will fall for him. Well maybe.

At least she will respect him a bit more when he starts beating her. (hopefully)

[mlittle]

Look on the bright side, rah. Not only should Ryan be sending flowers and apologies to Danica, he should be giving his thanks to those corner workers and to Helio. Like I said, if they hadn't reacted quickly enough, I get the distinct feeling those two would be getting a long discussion on racing "etiquette" from series officials, namely the part of the regs that say that one will not beat the ever-living ----(fill in the blanks here ) out of one's fellow competitor. Besides, when the series goes to Chicagoland in 2 weeks, they'll be watching the two of them, just in case they decide on round 2.....

[mlittle]

Would someone please pass out all the flak jackets, helmets and boxing gloves to everyone? Here are some observations on Sunday's grand prix at Infineon.

1--Odd couple IV. Every racing series these days has its' version of the "odd couple". Formula 1 has Juan Pablo and Kimi, NASCAR has Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick, ChampCar has Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais, and the IndyCar Series has its' newest version, Ryan Briscoe and Danica Patrick. In the fight for the Bombardier Rookie Award, Patrick has outclassed Briscoe so far this year(on ovals, no less) and when it appeared that the Aussie had finally caught up, we see yet another example of what happens when you put two caustic items together, add an innocent bystander, and a banzai move that backfires. At least there was one bright spot for Patrick's team. Unlike Briscoe's teammates, who joined the Aussie at the backend of the field, her fellow Argent teammate, Buddy Rice, made it to the podium(albeit in 2nd to Kanaan). Poetic justice. All I hope for is that when the series goes to Chicagoland in 2 wks. that they don't qualify on the same row. It could get ugly(especially if they're at the front of the grid...).

2--Doubleheader next year. When the IRL returns to Infineon in 2006, they'll be joined by the Rolex Sports Car Series for a joint-appearance at the track. It should be very exciting to see modern Indy-cars on the same track with the Daytona Prototypes and Grand-Touring sports cars, and it'll be a reunion of sorts, for several of the top Rolex racers have Indy-style experience, including Scott Pruett, Max Papis, Christian Fittipaldi, Memo Gidley and Stefan Johannson.

3--Bad weekend for Ganassi, after all. While Friday and Saturday were good to Target/Ganassi Racing, Sunday was a nightmare. You've already read about Briscoe's day, and both Scott Dixon and newcomer Giorgio Pantano had so-so days. It got worse, though. Prior to the race, the Moly Shield Oil Historic GP, featuring some vintage Formula 1 cars and guess who was in the field? Bobby Rahal and Chip Ganassi, and it wasn't even close. Ganassi spun out in the Carousel, while Rahal finished 5th in the 12-lap race. Poetic justice, round 2.

[Julian Mayo]

Hey, he is just trying to try something new. Usually with women, they like you first then hate your guts. Julian back me up here. Ryan is just tring the opposite. First Danica hates him, then she will fall for him. Well maybe.

At least she will respect him a bit more when he starts beating her. (hopefully)

Hmmm, an interesting theory. Tell you what, you test it and let us know the results.........when you can talk again

[rah]

Hey, he is just trying to try something new. Usually with women, they like you first then hate your guts. Julian back me up here. Ryan is just tring the opposite. First Danica hates him, then she will fall for him. Well maybe.

At least she will respect him a bit more when he starts beating her. (hopefully)

Hmmm, an interesting theory. Tell you what, you test it and let us know the results.........when you can talk again

I just asked permision and she said no. Oh well, we all know who the boss is.

[mlittle]

Was that before or after she gave you a slap upside the head with that engagement ring of her's?

[rah]

Are you talking about Danica or my GF.
If its Danica then no. She can't slap across the Pacific. She is hiring someone to fly over and slap me later on this week.

If it's my GF you are talking about then I will slap you if you mention an engagement ring anywhere near her.

[mlittle]

Ouch. I was referring to Patrick, not...never mind. As I was saying to julian earlier, if Helio and those corner workers hadn't gotten between Patrick and Briscoe, then there was the distinct chance that Briscoe would've gotten a nice, upclose look at that ring her fiance got her last year. That's what I was referring to, rah.

[rah]

Fair enough, but someone has to be on Ryan's side, and I say the move was on. Maybe Danica should have realised that Ryan was faster.

Of course I never saw the race and read every report saying it was his fault, and hearing Ryan say it was his fault. This would obviously mean that the above opinion is a load of cods wallop.