2007 Commentaries from the Paddock.........

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And to think, it's still what, two and a half months to Homestead?........

With that, here is the first commentary for 2007...........Reversal of Fortunes.......

Back in the late 1980's or early 1990's there was a movie entitled "Reveral of Fortune"; I got to thinking about when I was asked about the state of AOWR at New Year's.......If one had asked me which series was in a stronger position going into 2007, I wouldn't hesitated to answer w/ChampCar; now, I'm not so sure. Why?

Going into the 2006-2007 off-season, it was easy to see why; at best, the Indy Racing League was looking at a 16-18 car grid, while ChampCar was looking at possibly a minimum of 20 cars; ChampCar was also rolling out the new Panoz DP01 chassis and at least one or two new teams were making plans to run in 2007. Flash forward to late Jan. 2007; assuming Cahill Racing does answer the bell, along a possible 2-car Dreyer & Reinbold team, and the IRL IndyCar Series could very well have at least 20 cars at Homestead in late March. Here's the current breakdown of confirmed drivers in the IRL:
~~Team Penske(2): Castroneves, Hornish, Jr.
~~Andretti-Green Racing(4): Kanaan, Franchitti, Patrick, Andretti
~~Target/Ganassi Racing(2): Wheldon, Dixon
~~Vision Racing(3): Scheckter, Carpenter, Foyt, IV
~~Aguri-Panther Racing(2): Meira, Matsuura
~~Rahal-Letterman Racing(2): Sharp, Simmons
~~Foyt Racing(1): Manning

On ChampCar's rostrum:
~~Forsythe Championship Racing(1): Tracy
~~Newman-Haas Racing(1): Bourdais
~~PKV Racing(1): Jani
~~Team Australia(1): Power
~~Pacific Coast Mtrspts(2): Dalziel, Figge

You do the math: IRL-16, ChampCar-6.

Then there is....the diversity of schedules.....if there has been one thing that set CART apart from Formula One, it was the diversity of tracks that made up the schedule. Case in point: Nigel Mansell, 1993 CART Champion. Having never seen a high-speed oval track(at least in anger....) Mansell proceeded to win four of the six oval races(Milwaukee, Michigan, New Hampshire and Nazareth) in addition to winning at Surfers Paradise(which opened the 1993 season) en route to his IndyCar title that year. Now, at least for ChampCar, that diversity is kaput; for the first time in the modern era of NA motorsports, they have zero ovals(....... ...........) on the calendar, and they've adopted standing starts(...... ...........) at some events. For all of Tony George's faults(and there's plenty of those...... ), he can, for once, say, "we've got the more diverse calendar"......


Then there is this....for all of Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe's herculean efforts at rebuilding ChampCar, they're still rebuilding....meanwhile, 16th and Georgetown reportedly has turned in, for the first time since the split, two cons. yrs. of profits, profits that they can plow back into, not just the IRL, but into the Brickyard itself. In addition, the IRL doesn't have to self-promote its' events, as ChampCar has had to do the past few years(which would explain why Denver is suddenly on the chopping block....) and has a stable TV deal w/ABC and ESPN(unlike ChampCar, which is moving again from one set of networks[Speed, NBC, CBS], to another set[ESPN, ESPN2, FOX....]).

Could there be, indeed, a reversal of fortunes in NA motorsports this year? Who knows............anyway, that's my say. What's yours?

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Well, with the season approaching, let's answer all the burning questions that have accumulated in the ole' notebook.....

Q: What's the expected car count in either series?
A: 2 parts........(1)Barring anything unexpected, I'd count on at least 19 cars for the IRL opener at Homestead; the word on the street is that Cahill Racing is a probable no-show and there's still a chance of Fernandez Racing answering the bell, but 19's a good guess. (2)I don't think anyone(myself included) will know the ChampCar count until their upcoming test at Laguna Seca; there's supposed to be a ton of team, driver and sponsor announcements upcoming, so I'm not really sure at present.

Q: With ChampCar moving its' Zhuhai race to after Surfers Paradise, will any of the ChampCar teams take the chance at a one-off in the 500?
A: Maybe. With the exception of Paul Tracy, Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junquiera, no one on the ChampCar grid has even been to the Brickyard(another effect of the split........ ) and it is a very expensive effort for just one race....but it is the Indianapolis 500, though. My guess.......Newman-Haas or Forsythe are probably the only CC teams with the money and moxie to attempt a one-off.

Q: What do you think of the IRL's new tech rules, especially with the changes to the wing angles on the rear wings?
A: .......... ................ No, in all seriousness, it will bring the racing closer, but.....if one driver slips or twitches wrong, you could have a potential "big-wreck" like what happened at Atlanta in 2001. On the flip side, they are allowing teams to lower the wing angles on the non-oval tracks, which should add to the racing some. The problem, unfortunately, is that, with the high-downforce, lower-hp(650 hp vs. 700+ in years past) IndyCars today, its' easy to ride behind the lead driver and run in packs 2-3 wide. What they should do(like they're going to listen to me! ) is increase the hp to, say 700(as they used to prior to 2004) and lower the downforce on the cars; make the drivers lift going into the corners rather than 100% their way around.

Q: What kind of season will we see........2004, 2005 or 2006, in 2007?
A: Well........if the testing results are any indication, it's looking a tad bit like a 2004-type season; Penske and Ganassi were not at the top of the charts the whole time, and Andretti-Green definitely looks as though they've improved over the off-season. Even the teams further back, such as Vision, Rahal-Letterman and Dreyer & Reinbold looked as though they've stepped up some, so it should be an interesting 2007 campaign.

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On the surface, Friday's press conference announcing the arrival of a new team(SAMAX Motorsports), along with a new driver, in current Grand-Am sportscar driver Milka Duno looked for all the world like one of those surprise packages you'd receive on your birthday; even IRL founder Tony George was quoted by the local media as saying,

It was a very, very, very good day.

To those of us who've followed the sport, though.......it has the makings of a massive disaster at 220+ mph(.......... ); especially after you factor in Duno's talent level/experience, the fact that her team's sponsor, CITGO, is a subsidiary of PDVSA, the state-owned Venezuelan oil company(which essentially makes it Hugo Chavez's oil company.... ) and that there are real and grave concerns over whether she is even up to the task itself.

Anyone who read Monday's full-page ad in USA Today touting Duno's "arrival" to the IndyCar Series would've been blind not to be impressed with it. For instance, it mentions' Duno's wins in both the American LeMans Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Series...........what it didn't mention is that she got those wins courtesy of her teammates, who had to pull Duno along rather than merely chip in. 2 cases in point; at Homestead over the weekend, her and teammate Patrick Carpentier finished 4th in the Grand-Am race.......of the 91 laps, Duno logged a grand total of 14 laps(Carpentier drove FIVE TIMES+ that amount).......back in January, during the Rolex 24, she finished second overall, alongside Ryan Dalziel, Darren Manning and the aforementioned Carpentier; of the 24 hr distance, Duno drove for 64 mins......the other three drove the remaining 22 hrs, 56 mins. combined.

In the mainstream sportsworld, the perception is Milka Duno is an accomplished racer; in the NA motorsports community, it is the exact opposite. Quoting a veteran sportscar driver who'll remain unnamed(I'll give this hint.....he drives the Ruby Tuesday DP in the Rolex Series....) ,

She has trouble running side-by-side and I shudder to think what she'll be like in an open-wheel car. She's a very nice (lady) but she has zero business being in those cars.

During the press conference, it was hard not to simply laugh out loud at SAMAX owner Peter Baron, who had the "stones"(..insert you own word there..... ) to suggest that a few days testing(at Texas and Kansas) will give Duno the ability to handle an IndyCar at speed. That kind of thinking all but borders on near-suicidal absurdity; personally, the press conference gave the impression(to me at least) that they think its' going to be a bowl of laughs and fun......news flash to Ms. Duno, Mr. Baron and Co.: IndyCar racing is not like driving sportscars around some road course; it is, quite possibly the fastest, most challenging and, as we have seen at times over the years, possibly the most lethal endeavour one can do on this earth.

The more I think of Ms. Duno in an IndyCar, the more the title of this commentary comes to mind, for the one person in Friday's press conference that I absolutely feel sorry for is IRL president of competition Brian Barnhart. Having, it seemed, no choice but to go along with the happy-happy mood at the conference, Barnhart noted that, if/when she passes her rookie test and by the time Duno gets to Kansas next month, (quoting)

she'll have thousands of miles under her belt. (We've) even considered putting other cars out on track with her to replicate traffic and to give her the chance to run in dirty air.

To which a third-generation IndyCar driver responded afterwards,

Good luck finding somebody to volunteer for that.

It is the honest opinion of this moderator that, hopefully, the IRL will come to its' senses and not allow this to continue. At the very least, I personally hope that Duno scares herself so badly during her upcoming test that she'll find the common decency to get out of the car and let someone who can drive, like her Grand-Am co-driver Carpentier, take the reins. IndyCar racing, like its' competitive cousins, can be dangerous at times.........just having desire, a pretty smile, lots of money/sponsors and a PR machine ARE NOT ENOUGH; you also have to have the TALENT to be able to race these seeming behemoths, especially on high-banked ovals like Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Chicagoland. And talent is something Milka Duno does not have, period.


That's my say......what's yours?

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If there is a message that 4-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears has for all the drivers arriving for the month of May, it is a timelessly simple message......."Be patient". A message to be heeded, not just by IndyCar Series debutants, but probably by series regulars as well......

You have a lot of track time, (so) there's no rush. I always tried to keep Indy as another race, not Indy. That's what I try to get across to guys who are new--to not let all the hoopla and everything distract you. Stay focused on the job at hand. This place takes laps. It's a different racetrack and a very unforgiving racetrack. Get comfortable, get acclimated, follow the track conditions and how they change from day to day and start learning what's making the changes. How much is it the car, how much is it the track? Get a portfolio of data.

For both today and tomorrow, Mears and a veritable Legends Row of Indy legends(joining Mears as rookie orientation observers are fellow 4-time winner "Big" Al Unser, Sr. and 3-time winner "Lone Star J.R.", Johnny Rutherford) will be watching IndyCar Series rookies Milka Duno and Phil Geibler progressing through rookie orientation, required before any competitor can practice during the month of May. Additionally, they'll be watching several other drivers(Ryan Briscoe, Al Unser, Jr., Michael Andretti, Stephan Gregoire, Jon Herb and Jaques Lazier) who will be taking refresher laps around the Brickyard. Probably the most nervous of the bunch, interestingly enough, is the Australian, Briscoe, who last drove here in 2005 w/Target-Ganassi Racing and normally drives for Roger Penske's ALMS effort(Briscoe is driving in a one-off for a Penske "satellite" team, Luczo-Dragon Racing).........

I think the big thing for me is we're going to try to keep things as simple as possible. Being a one-off, we're going to have to build a good race car and try to keep a cool head all the time. I'm going to have to miss some days of practice the second time due to my ALMS racing; obviously, (Indy's) a huge event and it would be nice to have a comfortable feel going into it. It will be really important for us to qualify on the first weekend. That first week we're not just going to concentrate on qualifying. We're going to need to work on race setup. We'll get a good feel of where the car is and what I'm doing in the car and what our pace is after the first day and make a plan of how much race practice and qualifying practice we'll need.

Returning to the "Ovalmeister".....Mears, who wears twin hats during the season as a driver coach in the Indy Pro Series and as an advisor for Team Penske, has a simple philosophy for drivers on getting a handle on the synergy a driver needs in order to handle the track well enough to qualify towards the front........

Be patient. Hopefully by race time you'll have a handle on things. To do that takes patience.

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As the 6:00 starter's gun was being fired from the Pagoda late Sunday, I snuck a glance over at the scoring pylon and noticed three numbers........7, 5 and 23 and thought to myself, who'd ever think there would be three women on the grid for the Indianapolis 500? (the numbers correspond to the entries of Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno.) It was only thirty years before that Janet Guthrie had made her first 500 start and that was one of the biggest events in NA motorsports; there were cameras everywhere and people were cheering and yelling(most of positive, some weren't). Now, it isn't an occasional occurrence; it is a matter of fact in NA motorsports. To quote former IndyCar Series and IMSA sports-car racer Lyn St. James(paraphrased), "The car is genderless; it doesn't really care who's driving."

Now don't get me wrong here. Having three women on the grid for "the Greatest Spectacle in Racing" is an historical first, but that's all it is; it's not news. Yes, they'll be features likely in newspapers and magazines this week, and people will take note of it on various forums and message boards and on television this week, but the fact remains........women driving racecars is no longer news; it's a reality now, pure and simple. The question shouldn't be, which one of them will be the first woman to cross the finish line at race's end, but which one will be the first to cross the finish line as the winner of the 500 out of the 33 drivers on the grid?

NA motorsports is on the precipice of history.....could we finally see a woman drive into victory lane? Whether it happens at the Brickyard or another IndyCar Series venue is immaterial; I just know that when it happens(not if, but when....) it will be a very good day in NA motorsports history and I hope to be somewhere in the paddock watching the celebrations. Could that day be Memorial Day Sunday, May 27th, 2007? Who knows; that's why they run the races.


Oh........and to anyone who thinks that the above doesn't matter because Katherine Legge won three Atlantic Championship races in 2005, some sage words of advice........

Support series racewins DON'T count........They are a great start, though.

That's my say..................what's yours?

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What are the most famous words in motorsports..............
~~(Drivers), start your engines!
~~........and Andretti's slowing down on the backstretch!

That second set of words almost exactly describes the seeming hex that the Indianapolis 500 has on the name Andretti. Over the years, five Andrettis', (elder patriarch Mario, current patriarch Michael, relatives John and Jeff, and little ole' Marco) have combined for around 90-05 starts between them......and only Mario has been to Victory Lane at the Brickyard, back in 1969.

A good example of the "Andretti Curse" is their experience back in 1992. Although its' also remembered for the late battle between "Little" Al Unser, Jr. and Scott Goodyear, neither of them had anything for Michael; until Michael's day ended courtesy of a $10 fuel pump on his Lola/Chevrolet after leading 160 of 189 laps, no one had anything for 'em. But that wasn't the worst to happen to the Andretti clan that day; Mario broke ankles in a crash on lap 78 and Jeff suffered career-ending leg injuries after a crash on lap 109; the only one of the four to see the checkers that day was John.

Granted, Sunday's 500 wasn't all that bad--AGR did capture their second 500 victory, courtesy of the Scotsman, Dario Franchitti....but events on-track and in the skies above the Brickyard helped muddle the race for everyone else. All five AGR drivers(Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Michael Andretti) ran upfront the whole race, and when the rains opened up on lap 113, Kanaan, Patrick and Marco were 1-2-3...... With the exception of the last few laps, all five drivers were in the top-10 and all five could've easily found themselves in victory lane........but the last 15 or so laps ended up giving them(Franchitti excepted) all problems.........
--lap 150; Marty Roth crashes...........Tony, Danica, Marco and Michael pit, while Dario stays out(going by the telemetry, Dario would've likely made it, weather not factored in, to around 176-177)
--restart on lap 157; Jaques Lazier smacks the turn 4 wall.....Kanaan slides to avoid him and has to bail down pitroad
--restart on lap 163; a wild crash down the backstretch sends Marco flipping over, but he emerges unscathed
--the rains come down a lap or two later and Franchitti wins

Fate ended up costing everyone but Franchitti a chance to win........
--Marco ran strong all day but crashes and finishes 24th after leading 13 laps total
--Tony ran strong as well but ends up 12th after leading 83 of 166 laps
--having pitted when they had, Danica and Michael had set themselves up to possibly win....only to see two late cautions burn their chances at victory

As luck would have, the curse not only struck Marco and Michael but their teammates.....except Franchitti, who joins his long-time hero and legendary racer Jim Clark on the Borg-Warner Trophy as the winner of the 91st Indianapolis 500.

Summing up the team's mixed emotions was this quote by Andretti-Green Racing driver Danica Patrick, who said after the race, "Another year of frustration where I really though I had a chance to win."...........to which I'm betting Mario, Michael and Marco probably replied, "Welcome to the family."

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Indy Observations..................

Here are some random observations from a graduate of that most august of public universities, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte(class of 1997!).........

~~Do they play favorites in the IndyCar Series? Let's see.....2006, Scott Dixon cops a drive-through penalty for pedaling in front of Tony Kanaan; 2007, Sam Hornish, Jr. plays a block-party special on Tomas Scheckter and....wait for it, cops nothing from the Iron Hand of Justice(a/k/a Brian Barnhart). Oh, wait a minute, I forgot.......Hornish is the series champion and Dixon's not; that explains it, doesn't it, Mr. Barnhart?

~~If there is anyone out there is NA motorsports who still thinks Danica Patrick isn't a racer, they must not have been watching Sunday's race....she drove up to 2nd, made some wicked passes for position(just ask Dan Wheldon about that!) and drove IMO the best of her three 500 starts to date..her 8th-place finish was not a reflection of the day for her and like I said in the 500 thread, she'll find her way to Indy victory lane sometime in her career.

~~Someone should shoot whoever gave the go-ahead for the start; it looked awful, unlike recent 500 starts.....of course, considering who some of the starters were, it's just as well.

~~While there wasn't lots of passing throughout the field, there were at the front of the field.....reminiscent of years when drivers passed for the lead by actually passing for position on the track, not in pitlane.

~~Who'd thunk it? Dan Wheldon never was a factor this year despite running towards the front on the practice charts all month long....

~~After getting bullied it seemed all of 2006, it does well and truly appear that Andretti-Green Racing has returned to the tip of the spear in the IndyCar Series......this should be an interesting season after all!

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Marine reservist Donny Daughenbaugh remembers every moment of a night-time patrol he and members of his unit took one night in Mahmoudiya, Iraq in October 2004.......every moment until the one in which an insurgent AK-47 bullet hit his right cheekbone. The bullet shattered his right cheekbone, and both bullet and bone fragments barely, according to reports, missed hitting his spinal column and his brain. After being treated at various emergency centers in-country(including the massive field hospital at Balad AB), Daughenbaugh spent several months in intensive recuperation/rehabilation; the Des Moines, Iowa native now works for the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, and Thursday afternoon got the ride of lifetime, getting to ride in the backseat of the Indy Racing Experience 2-seater with former series regular Davey Hamilton at the controls courtesy of Canadian Club and Andretti-Green Racing, who made Daughenbaugh an honorary pitcrew member on the #27 crew.

So what did Daughenbaugh think when he got out of the car..............?

When everything started turning sideways and the G-forces kicked in, I was shocked. It was more than I expected.

Daughenbaugh, who spoke Wednesday night at a trackside dinner sponsored by Canadian Club and the Coalition, was asked about his work with the group, of which he has been working for since early 2006......

The message is that a lot of our guys are coming back with injuries you don't hear about. You hear about the killed and everyone coming back without injuries, but the ones you don't hear about are the wounded. Some of the dilemmas they face are beyond people's grasp. We pick up when troops come back. One of our recent programs deals with post-traumatic stress, for instance. I'm motivated to do more to spread the word and hopefully get as many people to help as I can.

He also reminded people in his remarks Wednesday of the sacrifices being made by America's servicemembers..........

I am proud of what our troops are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Regardless of one's opinions are on the Iraq war, America couldn't be what it is today without men and women sacrificing everything. I'm very proud to have won the uniform that defends America's position in the world.

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As the checkers were waving over Scott Dixon's win this past Sunday at historic Watkins Glen, someone noted to me that it was the first time in over 40 years that someone had won three consecutive years at that historic facility(the other time it happened was when Graham Hill accomplished the feat in 1963, 1964 and 1965)........it was a shame, then, to see his accomplishment overshadowed by the post-race fracas in pitlane afterwards.

With his win, the New Zealand native established himself as one of the legends of the sport, and his stock with the media is on a par with fellow series drivers such as Sam Hornish, Jr., Dan Wheldon, Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick, among others. For many drivers, this might be a problem...........not so the Iceman; he has but one concern on race weekends......his car. Period.

A few years ago I once heard Dixon remark to the media that Chip Ganassi pays him to do media interviews; he just drives the #9 Target/Ganassi car for free. The more one follows the sport, the more one begins to understand what the Kiwi meant. Scott Dixon, like many of his contemporaries, loves to race, and he does all the media interviews and so forth becuase that is part of the job, pure and simple. As he puts it to the media, he lets his driving do all the talking.

By all accounts, this has a good season for Dixon, on par with 2006 up to now. Going into Nashville, he's second in points(less than 50 back of points leader Dario Franchitti) and is the defending winner in Nashville. Should he win(becoming the first repeat winner in Music City) it would mark IMO the first salvo of the championship fight w/the Scotsman and, looking at the remaining 5 events, the odds would seem to be in Dixon's favor(3 of the last five are on road and street courses, which for some reason in the IndyCar Series favor Dixon over Franchitti) and this has the makings of a classic championship battle.

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With summer breezes flying by, here are some thoughts and musings from the Appalachians...............

~~A merger of sorts? For years I've been wondering, will there ever be a merger between the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series, and with last week's announcement of a merging of equals(NASCAR's Robert Yates Racing and ChampCar's Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing), there was a merger.......of sorts. But not involving who you might think. Here's the lowdown on the above, and it involves Mari Hulman George, Jim McGee, Ralph Hansen and Kyle Krisiloff............
1--Krisiloff, the 21yo son of Steve Krisiloff and Josie George(sister of Tony George and middle daughter of Mari Hulman George), has shown promise in the land of the stockers but has had some rough patches of late
2--at the beginning of 2007 in an effort to help son Kyle, the elder Krisiloff enlisted the help of McGee, a master Indycar strategist going on 40-50 yrs. now and Hansen, acknowledged as the best sponsorship expert in NA motorsports
3--with funding assistance from Mrs. Hulman George, the pair(McGee and Hansen) restarted Travis Carter's former NASCAR team and slotted Kyle into the seat with sponsorship from Eli Lilly(who sponsored Christian Fittipaldi in 2002 and Sebastien Bourdais in 2003 over in ChampCar) and Walgreen's, one of the largest drugstore chains in North America; this deal was announced back in late June as Haas-Carter Racing(one of the co-owners is NHL Racing's Carl Haas)
4--in steps Robert Yates of Robert Yates Racing(whose Nextel Cup team has fallen behind everyone else in everything but horsepower) and Dan Davis, head of Ford Racing; both agree to support Krisiloff, who's been driving for Haas-Carter this year; the final pieces of this deal were announced at the Brickyard this past weekend during the Brickyard 400 weekend

The above helps Krisiloff, who gets teammate Stephen Leicht as a Busch Series teammate next year; Yates-NHL Racing, who now can challenge the other top teams in Nextel Cup on an equal footing, and it helps NHL Racing since, with the very restrictive rules on the Panoz DP01 over in ChampCar, it gives NHL Racing's engineers something to do during the year(namely, help Yates-NHL Racing develop better stockers!). Travis Carter and Carl Haas will remain the principals at Haas-Carter and Mari Hulman George will become a managing partner with both Haas-Carter AND Yates-NHL Racing. A merger of sorts..............yes, but don't worry; NHL Racing will still be a regular in ChampCar for the foreseeable future.


~~What the h--- is ESPN doing with NASCAR? With the ChampCar race in San Jose on Sunday at 6 pm, I got the opportunity to watch Nextel Cup racing(............ ) and ESPN's coverage gets an "AWFUL" grade(and that's being polite!! ) For instance, why is ESPN wasting announcer Allen Bestwick as a pit reporter when he's (IMO) one of the better race announcers in the business; why don't they give Mike Massaro an opportunity to work in the booth instead of Rusty Wallace, and would someone knock some sense into broadcast analyst Brad Daugherty, who commented, "There's not an empty seat in the Brickyard today!" (Mod's note........except for all those empty seats on the frontstretch, in the short chute btwn. 1 and 2 and btwn 3 and 4, right, Brad? )

~~Way to go, RHR! IMO, one of the biggest mistakes ChampCar ever made was letting American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay slip away from the series back in 2005(it didn't help that he drove for Rocketsports in 2005, which essentially wasted a year of RHR's driving career....... ), which made it all the more sweet ot see him in the Ethanol car for Rahal-Letterman Racing at Mid-Ohio; he hadn't a moment in the car, but he consistantly ran fast and finished 7th ahead of teammate Scott Sharp.

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When the Iceman, Scott Dixon, took the checkers at Mid-Ohio, he became the third driver in IndyCar Series history to win three consecutive races in a season(joining Kenny Brack and Dan Wheldon); should he win at Michigan Sunday afternoon, he will break that record and become the first driver in IRL history to do so.......Here are some recent open-wheel 4-win streaks:

~~Champ Car World Series
(1990)Al Unser, Jr.--Toronto, Denver, Michigan and Vancouver
(1998)Alex Zanardi--Belle Isle, Portland, Cleveland and Toronto
(2002)Cristiano da Matta--Laguna Seca, Portland, Chicago and Toronto
(2006)Sebastien Bourdais--Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey and Milwaukee

~~Formula 1
(2006)Fernando Alonso--Spain, Monaco, Britain and Canada
(2002)Michael Schumacher--Brazil, San Marino, Spain and Austria
(2000)Michael Schumacher--Italy, United States, Japan and Malaysia(part of a 6-race win streak that included wins in Australia and Malaysia in 2001)
(95-96)Damon Hill--Australia(95'), Australia(96'), Brazil and Argentina

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On the surface, Friday's press conference announcing the arrival of a new team(SAMAX Motorsports), along with a new driver, in current Grand-Am sportscar driver Milka Duno looked for all the world like one of those surprise packages you'd receive on your birthday; even IRL founder Tony George was quoted by the local media as saying,

It was a very, very, very good day.

To those of us who've followed the sport, though.......it has the makings of a massive disaster at 220+ mph(.......... ); especially after you factor in Duno's talent level/experience, the fact that her team's sponsor, CITGO, is a subsidiary of PDVSA, the state-owned Venezuelan oil company(which essentially makes it Hugo Chavez's oil company.... ) and that there are real and grave concerns over whether she is even up to the task itself.

Anyone who read Monday's full-page ad in USA Today touting Duno's "arrival" to the IndyCar Series would've been blind not to be impressed with it. For instance, it mentions' Duno's wins in both the American LeMans Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Series...........what it didn't mention is that she got those wins courtesy of her teammates, who had to pull Duno along rather than merely chip in. 2 cases in point; at Homestead over the weekend, her and teammate Patrick Carpentier finished 4th in the Grand-Am race.......of the 91 laps, Duno logged a grand total of 14 laps(Carpentier drove FIVE TIMES+ that amount).......back in January, during the Rolex 24, she finished second overall, alongside Ryan Dalziel, Darren Manning and the aforementioned Carpentier; of the 24 hr distance, Duno drove for 64 mins......the other three drove the remaining 22 hrs, 56 mins. combined.

In the mainstream sportsworld, the perception is Milka Duno is an accomplished racer; in the NA motorsports community, it is the exact opposite. Quoting a veteran sportscar driver who'll remain unnamed(I'll give this hint.....he drives the Ruby Tuesday DP in the Rolex Series....) ,

She has trouble running side-by-side and I shudder to think what she'll be like in an open-wheel car. She's a very nice (lady) but she has zero business being in those cars.

During the press conference, it was hard not to simply laugh out loud at SAMAX owner Peter Baron, who had the "stones"(..insert you own word there..... ) to suggest that a few days testing(at Texas and Kansas) will give Duno the ability to handle an IndyCar at speed. That kind of thinking all but borders on near-suicidal absurdity; personally, the press conference gave the impression(to me at least) that they think its' going to be a bowl of laughs and fun......news flash to Ms. Duno, Mr. Baron and Co.: IndyCar racing is not like driving sportscars around some road course; it is, quite possibly the fastest, most challenging and, as we have seen at times over the years, possibly the most lethal endeavour one can do on this earth.

The more I think of Ms. Duno in an IndyCar, the more the title of this commentary comes to mind, for the one person in Friday's press conference that I absolutely feel sorry for is IRL president of competition Brian Barnhart. Having, it seemed, no choice but to go along with the happy-happy mood at the conference, Barnhart noted that, if/when she passes her rookie test and by the time Duno gets to Kansas next month, (quoting)

she'll have thousands of miles under her belt. (We've) even considered putting other cars out on track with her to replicate traffic and to give her the chance to run in dirty air.

To which a third-generation IndyCar driver responded afterwards,

Good luck finding somebody to volunteer for that.

It is the honest opinion of this moderator that, hopefully, the IRL will come to its' senses and not allow this to continue. At the very least, I personally hope that Duno scares herself so badly during her upcoming test that she'll find the common decency to get out of the car and let someone who can drive, like her Grand-Am co-driver Carpentier, take the reins. IndyCar racing, like its' competitive cousins, can be dangerous at times.........just having desire, a pretty smile, lots of money/sponsors and a PR machine ARE NOT ENOUGH; you also have to have the TALENT to be able to race these seeming behemoths, especially on high-banked ovals like Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Chicagoland. And talent is something Milka Duno does not have, period.


That's my say......what's yours?

Well, it appears that some of us were right after all; series officials have placed Duno on probation through the remainder of the 2007 season, ordering SAMAX Motorsports to get Duno as much testing as possible before returning to series competition........my guess, the Iron Hand of Justice (apologies on the language...) grew some stones and got tired of seeing her crash out of so many events.......

[mlittle]

As of this past weekend, here are the ratings for both IndyCar and ChampCar events this year, as updated by Nielsen...........

IRL IndyCar Series................................(tv rating/viewers)
24 March, XM Satellite Radio 300(ESPN-2).......................0.7/829k*
1 April, Honda GP of St. Petersburg(ESPN)......................0.4/388k
21 April, Bridgestone Indy Japan 300(ESPN)....................0.4/376k**
29 April, Kansas Lottery Indy 300(ESPN-2)......................0.3/367k
27 May, 91st Indianapolis 500(ABC Sports).....................4.3/6.4m
3 June, ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225(ABC Sports)..........1.0/1.345m
9 June, Bombardier Learjet 550k(ESPN-2)........................0.7/875k*
24 June, Iowa Corn Indy 250(ABC Sports).......................1.1/1.593m^
30 June, SunTrust Indy Challenge(ESPN)..........................0.6/803k*
8 July, Camping World Indy GP(ABC Sports)....................1.0/1.385m
15 July, Firestone Indy 200(ESPN-2)................................0.4/508k***
22 July, Honda Indy 200 @ Mid-Ohio(ABC Sports).............1.9/2.643m
5 August, Firestone Indy 400(ESPN Classic)......................0.4/521k****
11 August, Meijer/Coca-Cola 300(ESPN 2)........................0.4/485k*
26 August, Motorola Indy 300(ABC Sports).......................1.1/1.287m
2 September, Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix(ABC Sports)........1.1/1.323m
*--Saturday night race
**--tape delay broadcast
^--inaugural event
***--originally scheduled for 14 July; race postponed one day due to rain
****--originally set for broadcast on ESPN-2 at noon; rain delayed until 4 pm & broadcast on ESPN Classic

Avg. ratings/viewership}--with Indy 500 ratings, 1.100/1.321m; ratings w/out Indy 500, 0.887/982k


Champ Car World Series ratings..........................
8 April, Las Vegas Grand Prix(NBC Sports)......................0.8/923k
15 April, Toyota GP of Long Beach(NBC Sports)...............0.6/723k
22 April, LoneStar GP of Houston(ESPN)..........................0.3/298k
10 June, Mazda GP of Houston(ABC Sports).....................0.6/879k
24 June, USBank GP of Cleveland(CBS Sports)................0.6/788k
1 July, Grand Prix of Quebec(ESPN)................................0.2/188k^
8 July, Steelback GP of Toronto(ESPN)............................0.3/336k
22 July, Rexall GP of Edmonton(ESPN)............................0.3/336k
29 July, San Jose Grand Prix(ESPN-2).............................0.3/341k
12 August, Generac Grand Prix @ Road America(ABC).....0.4/357k
26 August, Grand Prix of Belgium(ESPN Classic)..............0.3/254k
2 September, TT Assen Grand Prix(ESPN Classic)............0.3/243k
^--inaugural event

Avg. tv ratings/viewers..............0.417/255k

[mlittle]

It's time to open up the ole' notebook and see what's floating around...........

~~With all the back-and-forth between Michigan and the IRL, will Indycar racing ever return there?
--Best guess....probably; Michigan's one of the historical open-wheel tracks and it's definitely a shame that the IndyCar Series isn't going to be there in 2008......on the other hand, the falut squarely lies with the IRL; MIS wanted them to put the Michigan date back where it had been(mid-to-late July), but the IRL refused to go along since Mid-Ohio already had that date scheduled for 2008...

~~Whose fault was it for the "big one" Sunday at Michigan?
--Wheldon's, without a doubt. Don't believe me.....just ask Danica Patrick; she was right behind Franchitti and literally had a bird's-eye view of Dario and Dan touching wheels, which set the crash in motion. If that's not enough, ask the people over at TracksideOnline; their spotter on the backstretch confirms what Patrick said post-race about the accident.

~~Are there going to be any IPS drivers who will make the jump to the IndyCars' in 2008?
--Right now, the only two that appear set are Hideki Mutoh, who makes his ICS debut at the season finale at Chicagoland for Aguri-Panther Racing(and who likely will replace Kosuke Matsuura for 2008) and Alex Lloyd, who also makes his debut at Chicagoland driving a Roth Racing entry. After that....it ultimately depends on how much sponsorship/money either side(team/driver) brings to the table.

~~If Sam Hornish, Jr. does indeed make the jump to NASCAR in 2008, who do you see taking the #6 entry for Penske's IndyCar effort?
--Ryan Briscoe. He's doing an excellent job for the Captain in the LMP-2 class over in the American LeMans Series and he drove IMO an outstanding race for Penske(albeit in a "satellite" entry for Luzco-Dragon Racing) at the 500 and I think Ganassi did him a disservice in 2005 throwing him into the deep end as a rookie(even with the testing restrictions at the time). Personally, Briscoe reminds me of a young Paul Tracy sans about 35-40 extra lbs. weight, and look where PT's career has gone up to now.

[mlittle]

The late events at Sonoma were not the fault of either Andretti-Green Racing drivers Dario Franchitti or Marco Andretti....instead, the fault lies with the collective brain trust that runs AGR(namely, Michael Andretti, Kim Green and Kyle Moyer) who, through their actions and words, may have not only cost the Scotsman an IndyCar title but possibly a chance to re-sign Franchitti for 2008.......IMO, not only did AGR throw Dario Franchitti under the proverbial bus, they turned around, ran over him again and then backed the bus up over him.

Through lap 69 of the 80-lap race, Franchitti had dominated the Motorola Indy 300 at Infineon Raceway, losing the lead on pitstops as drivers cycled through their respective stops. Watching the race, it was clear that the Scotsman was the class of the field and, by rights, should've walked out of Sonoma with--a) a race win, and b) the points lead heading into Belle Isle. Instead, Franchitti found himself....a) finishing 3rd behind Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, b) 2nd in points, behind Dixon and c) wondering did I do wrong out on track to get thrown under the bus?

How did all this happen? Two reasons.....stupidity and nepotism!

First, the stupidity......on lap 69, Franchitti had briefly lost the lead following the last round of stops on laps 66-68 and was about to reassume the lead......the only thing in the way was AGR teammate Marco Andretti, last year's Sonoma winner, who had assumed the lead for a few laps as everyone's cycling through pitlane. As they were entering the first couple of turns, Marco and Dario touch, sending Marco into the gravel traps exiting turn 2, his race over....and watching the broadcast, you could tell Michael was ticked, as he cussed and slapped the awning down... But Dario didn't emerge unscathed; as a result of the on-track contact, Franchitti's front wing was damaged some and on the next restart, the Scotsman was a sitting duck as both Dixon and Castroneves got past him, relegating him to 2nd. At the very least, AGR should've figured out a way to pit Marco earlier than they did, getting him out of the way of the front-runners(he did run a decent race, but was never a serious factor for the win); at worst, AGR should've gotten on the radio to little ole' Marco and told him to get out of Dario's way(which, of course, according to the Iron Hand of Justice, Brian Barnhart, would've reeked of "team orders" and would be illegal.......like we haven't seen that this year in racing, hmmm? ).

Second, the nepotism........ironically, this is the second year that AGR has been involved in something of this nature. Last year, Marco was leading late but everyone up and down the paddock(including myself) knew that he didn't have the fuel to make it to the end.....cue then-teammate Bryan Herta, who "spun out" at the double-apex Horseshoe hairpin(how in the h--- does anyone spin out in a 20 mph corner is beyond me, but......) bringing out a caution and....lo and behold, Marco wins the race; afterwards, there were cries of nepotism left and right.....this year, the same cries could be heard......unfortunately, it was Franchitti that got the bum's rush from the team. In addition, AGR driver Tony Kanaan was accused by several competitors of driving "slow" around the track in an effort to protect his teammate.......

Afterwards, team co-owner Michael Andretti put the blame for the accident on Franchitti, while the Scotsman was more circumspect, saying that Michael was in a precarious position, but he did take a swipe of sorts, adding that(paraphrased)"Michael should take his 'father's' hat off with regards to Marco more often and wear his 'owner's' hat more; I know Marco was trying to win the race for Andretti-Green Racing, but I'm trying to win a championship for Andretti-Green Racing." (Mod's note....the implication in that quote is....which is more important, a race win or a series championship? )

There was one consolation, though in all this brouhaha......while Michael blew his top after the on-track incident occurred, the Scotsman remained calm throughout....but I suspect Franchitti had to be hurt by what his team's co-owner said after the race. As SpeedTV's resident open-wheel analyst/curmudgeon Robin Miller aptly put it, "Dario got stomped on by his own team."