Commentaries From The Paddock

[mlittle]

2 items of note this week as the IndyCar Series takes the week off....

1--NASCAR fans to see IndyCar racer...Veteran racer Jimmy Kite, who has been doing double duty this year as driver of the #91 Ethanol Hemelgarn Dallara/Toyota in the IRL and as a Craftsman Truck Series driver, will be doing several laps around California Speedway during the Labor Day weekend NASCAR Nextel Cup race there. According to track officials, the demonstration laps will be to give the fans a taste of what to expect on Oct. 16 for the 2005 season finale, the Toyota Indy 400.

2--Chicagoland race to receive new sponsor...IndyCar Series officials, along with series drivers Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and Danica Patrick, unveiled the new name for the Sept. 11 race as the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean. In making the announcement, Old World Industries vice-president of marketing Jeff Stauffer noted that, "As a Chicagoland area company with a long history in motorsports, Old World Industries is proud to be a part of the thrills and excitement that every Chicagoland Speedway race delivers." Old World Industries, based in Northbrook, Ill., is a leader in developing automotive products for consumer use and has sponsored drivers in NA motorsports from Johnny Rutherford back in the 1980's to the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr. in the 1990's. Back in July, the company added Patrick to that list of drivers it has sponsored in its' history, when it announced that they would begin a new advertising campaign featuring the series rookie points leader later this year and early in 2006.

[mlittle]

Unless something screws up their plans, the Indy Racing League is set to announce their 2006 IndyCar Series schedule this weekend at Chicagoland. Here are the confirmed races and/or dates for 2006...

March 26--Homestead
April 2--St. Petersburg
April ?--Motegi, Japan
May 28--Indianapolis
June 4--Watkins Glen
June 10--Texas
June 24--Richmond
July 2--Kansas
July 15--Nashville
July 30--Michigan
Aug. 13--Kentucky
Aug. 27--Infineon
Sept. 10--Chicagoland

Here are the unconfirmed venues....

Fontana--likely to be either mid-April(before Motegi) or mid-Aug.(before Infineon)
Quebec City(new street race)--will have to be slotted away from CC's three races(either May or Aug.)
Milwaukee--probably between Kansas and Nashville OR between Nashville and Michigan
Pikes Peak--no mention of it in their schedule(which makes me wonder if it will be back in 2006; this is interesting because this venue always draws about 30-40K fans per year & it, like Texas, has been around the longest since 1997)

[mlittle]

After spending an oversight stay in a Joliet-area hospital, Target/Ganassi Racing driver Ryan Briscoe was transported to Indianapolis' Methodist Hospital for further examination under the care of Dr. Terry Trammell, said senior IndyCar Series officials. Briscoe was involved in a violent 3-car accident during Sunday's Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 when his car touched wheels with those of Alex Barron, sending Briscoe's car into the turn 3 catchfencing. His injuries consist of a concussion, two broken collarbones, a brusied lung and various arm/leg contusions. It's likely he'll spend most of the week at Methodist for observation and care; the staff there are some of the best medical personnel involved in NA motorsports. With those injuries, he's done for the year. Let's hope for a speedy recovery and good luck for a 2006 campaign.

[mlittle]

You know, it's amazing all the stuff(news, rumors, etc.) that float around the paddock these days. Case in point, the announcement of the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series schedule. While I'm glad they finally got it out of the way, personally, it's the lamest excuse for a schedule that I've seen in the series' history. I can just imagine the conversation between any reporter there and IRL VP of Business Affairs Ken Unger. It might go something like this...

Reporter: So, what has changed between 2004 and 2005?
Unger:Attendance is up 17%, more internet traffic, better TV ratings and trackside merchandising is up 50-75% from last year.(Comment--One reason comes to mind immediately! )
Reporter:What about the 2006 schedule?
Unger:It's one of the most complex and difficult schedules we've ever put together. ( )

What's wrong with the schedule? For starters, no race in America's 2nd-largest media market(Fontana), no race in Phoenix(an AOWR staple since 1964), and no Canadian race. Speaking of Canada....

For weeks the rumor mill was rife with conspiracies btwn. Tony George and Montreal promoter Normand Legault over whether the IRL would supplant ChampCar at the historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve(something that I think would make the great GV roll in his grave if it happened). Well, that went out the window as the track released a statement today stating that they were committed to ChampCar for 2006 and possibly beyond. Yeah, and Michelin...never mind. For the second time this year, George and Co. have tried to slip some top venues out of the hands of Kalhkoven, Forsythe and Gentilozzi(the 3 wise men) and, for the second time this year, George and Co. got nothing.

On the engine front, Toyota, now that they're out of the Atlantic Championship, is now rumored to be looking to buy out the engine contracts of all their teams(Penske, Ganassi, Cheever and Vision). Why? Two reasons:1--Honda's still kicking Toyota's collective rear-end, and 2--It would allow Toyota to concentrate on their Formula 1 and NASCAR efforts. That actually makes sense, which is scary. If it happens, chances are that Ganassi and Cheever would likely be pciked up by Cosworth, while Penske and Vision would begin using either Honda or Ilmor V8's. Speaking of Team Cheever.....

Sources inside the paddock are 70-30 certain that Red Bull, Cheever's sponsor, won't be back in 2006, effectively sinking Eddie Cheever(unless George and Co. bails him out). So, where would Red Bull go?My guess...expect sponsorship offers to be tendered to three drivers:1--RuSport's A.J. Allmendinger; 2--Rahal-Letterman's Buddy Rice, and 3--Rahal-Letterman's Danica Patrick.

On a final note....remember Ganassi's flex-wing debacle at Chicagoland? Well, it appears a former member of Chip's team informed on him to Panther Racing, who then promptly told IRL tech director Kevin Blanch about it. Why Panther? 2 reasons--1)Panther tried it in 2004, and got caught, and 2)Blanch used to work at Panther(until mid-2003), so if anyone could be trusted if that info, he could.

[mlittle]

Eight days after being involved in one of the more violent crashes in the IRL's history, Target/Ganassi Racing's Ryan Briscoe was released from Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis today. He suffered numerous injuries from the wreck, including:1-a major concussion, 2-two broken clavicles, 3-arm, leg and back contusions, 4-a broken foot, and 5-a bruised lung exacerbated by momentarily breathing in a little fire from the wreck. He's resting comfortably at his Indianapolis home, and is not expected to have to undergo any surgeries for the assorted injuries. As a result of his injuries, the team announced last week that they would only field a two-car effort for Watkins Glen and Fontana. Scott Dixon will pilot the #9 Target P/T for both, while Giorgio Pantano will drive the #33 at the Glen, and Jaques Lazier will drive it at Fontana.

[mlittle]

With his win at Chicagoland back on 11 Sept., Englishman Dan Wheldon became the first person to win both the Indy 500 and a series title(in this case, the IRL IndyCar Series) in the same year, since Jacques Villeneuve did so in 1995. Here is the complete list, with sanctioning body listed.

1916:Dario Resta(AAA)
1919:Howdy Wilcox(AAA)
1921:Tommy Milton(AAA)
1922:Jimmy Murphy(AAA)
1925:Peter DePaolo(AAA)
1928:Louis Meyer(AAA)
1930:Billy Arnold(AAA)
1933:Louis Meyer(AAA)
1934:Bill Cummings(AAA)
1935:Kelly Petillo(AAA)
1937:Wilbur Shaw(AAA)
1938:Floyd Roberts(AAA)
1939:Wilbur Shaw(AAA)
1955:Bob Sweikert(USAC)
1959:Rodger Ward(USAC)
1961:A.J. Foyt, Jr.(USAC)
1962:Rodger Ward(USAC)
1964:A.J. Foyt, Jr.(USAC)
1965:Jim Clark(F1/FIA)-see note
1967:A.J. Foyt, Jr(USAC)
1968:Bobby Unser(USAC)
1969:Mario Andretti(USAC)
1970:Al Unser, Sr.(USAC)
1979:Rick Mears(CART)
1980:Johhny Rutherford(CART)
1986:Bobby Rahal(CART)
1989:Emerson Fittipaldi(CART)
1994:Al Unser, Jr.(CART)
1995:Jacques Villeneuve(CART)
2005:Dan Wheldon(IRL)

AAA:American Automobile Association
USAC:United States Auto Club
CART:Championship Auto Racing Teams
IRL:Indy Racing League

NOTE:In 1965, Jim Clark became the only driver to win the Indy 500 and the Formula 1 world driving championship(WDC) in the same year.

[Julian Mayo]

Jim Clarke was right up there with Senna in my humble opinion. To die in a F2 race that he did not have to compete in, was a senseless tragedy.

[Julian Mayo]

Mfer the drivers list is up in the V8s. As near as I can get to total accuracy until AVESCO releases the entry list on their official site

[mlittle]

Yeah, I know, I read it earlier. Thanks for posting it.

[Julian Mayo]

Yeah, I know, I read it earlier. Thanks for posting it.

You wanted to know about the driver pairings, it should bode well for Tags n Marshall next season, in Team Australia now that Marshall can teach Tags something in return

[mlittle]

As promised, for winning the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series championship, Andretti-Green Racing's Tony Kanaan, who nomrmally drives a 2005-spec Dallara/Honda, drove a 2006-spec BAR-Honda 007-01 car(2006-spec chassis with a V10 engine) on Thursday at the Jerez circuit in Spain. The Brazilian was only able to conduct 51 laps total of testing time, which included having to deal with electrical gremlins, two spins and a small visit with a Jerez-tirewall during the session. He did post the 7th-fastest time on the day, a 1:19.114 secs., around 3.3 secs. slower than the time posted by McLaren-Mercedes tester Pedro de la Rosa but was only 1.5 secs. slower than BAR's regular tester, Anthony Davidson. Ironically, TK was faster than Toyota's test driver, Ricardo Zonta, who tested a V8-spec engine for Toyota, and then, according to both speedtv.com and autoracing1.com, proceeded to "ridicule" the V8 for its' seeming lack of power(730-750hp for V8 vs. 900hp for V10).

As for Kanaan....its' back to the States' for some rest, then its' out to Fontana for the final round of the 2005 IRL IndyCar Series season, the Toyota Indy 400 at Calfornia Speedway, Oct. 16th.

[Julian Mayo]

As promised, for winning the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series championship, Andretti-Green Racing's Tony Kanaan, who nomrmally drives a 2005-spec Dallara/Honda, drove a 2006-spec BAR-Honda 007-01 car(2006-spec chassis with a V10 engine) on Thursday at the Jerez circuit in Spain. The Brazilian was only able to conduct 51 laps total of testing time, which included having to deal with electrical gremlins, two spins and a small visit with a Jerez-tirewall during the session. He did post the 7th-fastest time on the day, a 1:19.114 secs., around 3.3 secs. slower than the time posted by McLaren-Mercedes tester Pedro de la Rosa but was only 1.5 secs. slower than BAR's regular tester, Anthony Davidson. Ironically, TK was faster than Toyota's test driver, Ricardo Zonta, who tested a V8-spec engine for Toyota, and then, according to both speedtv.com and autoracing1.com, proceeded to "ridicule" the V8 for its' seeming lack of power(730-750hp for V8 vs. 900hp for V10).

As for Kanaan....its' back to the States' for some rest, then its' out to Fontana for the final round of the 2005 IRL IndyCar Series season, the Toyota Indy 400 at Calfornia Speedway, Oct. 16th.

it would seem about the only thing he didn't have was a BARbque. I also read Zontas comments and noted that he said the thing is easy to get back on line after an indiscretion, or something along those lines. If thats the case, it bodes well for overtaking.

[mlittle]

Here's what Zonta said about the cars, especially in regards to the power reduction due to the new V8 engine....

It is just like a video game. It is dead easy to drive, not physical at all, therefore not a challenge. A little girl could drive that car. It is not technical and you can afford to make mistakes, because you can still make the corner on the line, there is so much time available. I suppose everyone would have this, but it is too boring.

Now, normally I don't agree with much of what the geniuses at ar1.com(autoracing1.com) say, but I'm just wondering.....Is Zonta drinking from the Bernie Ecclestone, "Let's insult women in motorsports" kool-aid glass?

[Ed]

Thanks for the update mliite on Tony Kanaan.

The full interview with Tony Kanaan following his test at Jerez is available here

[Ed]

When asked what he thought of the V8 car Ricardo Zonta said:

Well, just as Olivier Panis said when he drove with the V8 engine for the first time, we have two cylinders less and therefore 20% less power, so every team and every driver is going to find the cars less challenging, because part of the reason for the new engine regulations is to stop speeds getting too high in F1. You hear people talking about the harsher vibrations of a V8 engine and so I was actually pleasantly surprised at how smooth the Toyota is. I think the engine guys have done a good job

Toyota Jerez Test Roundup