Howard in, Franchitti out, Tracy who knows?

For this weekend’s Watkins Glen road course, noted Brit and part time Autosport Radio co-host and Funny Man Jay Howard will finally return to his Day job as the pilot of the #24 Roth Racing Indy Car… To which I can only say about FREAKIN’ time… Except he’s getting’ back in the WRONG car, as he should be haulin’ the freight aboard the #25 Marty “GERITOL” Roth machine… But perhaps “Gentleman” John Andretti has a previous engagement at some ‘lil ‘Ol track named Daytona this weekend?

And speakin’ of Day-toner, Dario “Where’s my pants” Franchitti has lost his Sprint Cup ride at Chip Ganassi/Felix Sabates after a lackluster Rookie season, in which the Cheepster’s team has been fraught with performance issues, having previously fired MAC Montoya’s crew chief and will now slim down to a two car operation… And thus, now there’s just two Open Wheel warriors left from this year’s vaunted Rookie crop of Pat the Carpenter (Patrick Carpentier) Dario Franchitti, Sam “I AM” Hornish Jr. and Jackie V. (Jacques Villeneuve)

As for PT, (Paul Tracy) on Wind Tunnel last weekend, Robin Miller noted how Tony George himself was tryin’ (sorta) to get the Kuh-nuck aboard a third Vision Racing entry for possibly four races this season, beginning at Watkins Glen, which will NOT happen… As I’m sure that Tony is desperate to have a Canadian racing driver OTHER then Mr. Roth as their sole representative prior to Edmonton… And that this is all speculation, but perhaps if adequate sponsorship can be found, Derrick Walker’s gang could fill in as the team’s nucleus, since Vision Racing doesn’t have the extra manpower…

Straight line testing

This is an interesting article about the secretive straight line “Aero” testing the “Big Three” have been doing to potentially gain “The Unfair Advantage” in IndyCars… As reportedly AGR, Ganassi and Penske have been carrying out straight line testing, which has been done in Formula 1 for several years now.

As most recently I recall McLaren doing this on some tiny little Island last year, while the majority of the F1 Constructors have used this laborious practice to evaluate potential aerodynamic gains. Could this be one small reason why the Big Three have won the last 43 of 44 Indy Car races?

For more, see; Straight line testing

SFR update

In regards to the recent query about whether or not Sarah Fisher was still taking donations? (See; Is Sarah Fisher still out there, below) I’ve just received the following reply from SFR…

Donations can be sent to the below address. thanks for the support!!

Best,
Klint

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Klint Briney
Executive Brand Manager
Sarah Fisher Racing, LLC.
4701 Rockville Rd, Suite D
Indianapolis, IN 46222

Thus, if anybody is still willing to part with a portion of their $timulus check, I’d assume you can just send to Sarah Fisher Racing…

Thanxs for the reply Klint, hopefully we’ll see Sarah racing at Kentucky!

ROCK ON!

Is Sarah Fisher still out there?

Recently a comment was left in regards to whether or not Sarah Fisher Racing was still taking donations? As apparently this info has been deleted from her website… Thus I’m unaware of whether or not SFR is still seeking donations, but since I recently saw a story claiming that Sarah Fisher was seeking $635+ dollars from Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the photo-op Sarah did with her in Indiana… I’d assume that SFR is still in the RED?

Also, I believe that Sarah is still planning on attempting to race next at Kentucky Speedway, so keep your fingers crossed!

Wonder what Sarah thinks about Princesses latest calling out for blocking by Scott “Got Milk?” Dixon and Eddie Carpentier callin’ her the new Scott Sharp of the IRL,OUCH!!!

Guess some drivers NEVER forget anything, eh? Like Ryan “The Dude” Hunter Reay getting in a swipe at Marky Mark Andretti about not getting’ the Chrome Horn from passing him in Cornland…

Paul Newman

I still don’t know if this story has been confirmed, but it was disappointing to read My Name is IRL’s story about PL Newman possibly having been diagnosed with terminal cancer. And although I’m certain The Split had a lot to do with Newman staying away from the Brickyard all these years, I swear I heard Jack “BRUT” Arute tell a story about the wily pool hustler being denied entry into Gasoline Alley with a golf kart load of non-Speedway food for his crew as possibly a motive for the legendary actor spuring the Brickyard all these years?

While I certainly hope it isn’t true, perhaps this is what ‘Ol Newman was referring to when they ran the piece where he said he may be watching from above when one of his cars finally wins the Indy 500…

Paul Newman has had better days

Will Princess get her wish?

On Tuesday, I received the following teaser from AZ Bureau Chief M.J. with the subject line reading; “Your Favourite Driver.” To which I can say EFFATICALLY, NOT!!!

Thus, according to early reports by Crash.Net, (Still a very catchy name for the IRL don’t uze think?) Princess Danicker would get her wish and test a Honda F1 racecar in the near future… To which I immediately thought; Oh My God! Does this mean Danica is headed to Formula 1 to replace Rubino? Talk ‘bout your earth Dreams, eh? Or as another potent lyric from the Grand Master, a la the GOD of the Skins, a.k.a. Neil Pert; Did I have the Dream, or did the Dream have me? Or as Larry would say; “Nightmares, Freakin’ Nightmares!”

Which is apparently what the Press GOONS at Honda HQ may be having as Honda F1 Boss Nick Fry has now retracted his “misleading” statements… Yeah, that’s the ticket, I was misquoted by the Australian press who also think their countryman Scott Dixon won this year’s Indy 500…

So, will Princess get her way? Of course I believe it’s all a publicity STUNT, as I’m hard pressed to think of any of the current Formula 1 teams looking to take that large of a gamble on drivers… Besides Honda and perhaps Force India? NAH! NO WAY…

So, with great irony the following Racer magazine appeared in my mailbox… (Photo especially for “Juan ‘O” her biggest supporters… Danny B) Yet, I think that powers to be at RASSCAR are missin’ a phenomenal marketing opportunity, when they could have the Asian giants go head to head when Kyle “Faux Intimidator Shrubb” Busch hopes to test a Toyota F1 chassis in Japan by pitting him against Princess Danicker… Nah, it’ll NEVER happen!

Indiana Fever

Just a few final thoughts towards this year’s 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500, with IMS claiming the “BUZZ” is back in INDY!!! Whale there’s certainly been a buzzin’ over Danicker’s theatrics on Pit lane… Somme-thung ‘bout a Bee in a Bonnet? But I’ll refrain from any further digs towards the Princess for at least the rest of this story…

So you wanna be an Indy Car mechanic? Well it’s NOT all glitz “N glory while your driver potentially pours the milk over his head in victory lane… As one article in the USA Today noted that the KV Racing Technology crew members had been doing 14 hour days straight for several weeks since the unexpected merger became official in late February. As their shop manager said they spent 5,400+ man hours preparing their first two Dallara chassis, as the strain has apparently gotten to some of the crew as three employees have now left the organization. But, all of this hard work seems to have paid off, as I’ve noted previously, KVRT was the highest finishing Champ Car Refugee squad at Indy with Servia 11th and Power 13th.

And not to be outdone, Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita, CA has also been running non-stop the past five months, working employees up to 14 hours a day to build-up enough of their vaunted Fire Breathin’ Eithanol consumin’ Lumps for this years Unified Indy Car World Series… With HPD producing around 93 engines alone for the Memorial Day classic.

HPD started off with 80 engines produced prior to Homestead and is projecting to build a total of 365 engines for the season… As part of the Unification talks incentives was the offer of free $250,000 Honda lumps…

Also, said Open Wheel curmudgeon Robin Miller has noted that with the dyer scarcity of completed Dallara chassis… As several of the Transitioning teams don’t even have spares… We’ll most likely see a dip in the number of entries for this weeks upcoming ‘Ol Milwaukee speedfest on the Milwaukee Mile…

And amazingly USA Today had a total of nine articles printed in their sports section on the Friday before the greatest Spectali in racin,’ which seems pretty impressive to me… While according to the Indy Star, which I believe is a Pro-IMS news rag… The Nielsen Brothers (Inside Joke; As I believe there’s an outfit by that name that sells carpet up here…) Err, Nielsen ratings claim an overnight rating of 5.1 for this year’s Indy 500 vs. the Charlotte 600’s 4.4 rating, with the final tallies being a 4.5 rating for Indy and a 4.7 for Charlotte… While I believe that IMs’s number for last years overnight rating was a 4.8? And although initial reports claimed that the ratings were up this year nationally, they’ve now gone silent on the part about the local Indiana results being down… But, hey, like Danny B always tells me… Nielsen ratings DON’T mean CRAP!

Fisher announces new sponsor

First of all, for everybody who’s donated to Operation Support Sarah… KUDOS! To Y’all, as SFR has divulged that approximately $30,000 has been given by admiring fans across the nation… As Sarah Fisher stated; “It gives me goose bumps,”

SFR announced on Thursday that Text 4 Cars.com will be its new primary sponsor for this Sunday’s race and you can read more about Sarah’s trials as a owner/driver in the following NY Times article: “When Driver’s Sponsor Disappears, Her Resolve Doesn’t”

Countdown to Speedy Saturday

At the tone, in one minute we’ll begin the next IMS Radio Network Broadcast… Get ready to roll tapes, at the next tome will equal 45 seconds…

We’re countin’ down the hours ‘til “Speedy Saturday,” a la “Fast Friday.” And there’s actually been a FULL day of practice this weekend, with 35 cars taking to the track yesterday and another full day of practice expected today, but did I mention that the forecast for Saturday is now THUNDERSTORMS with Sunshine & Showers for Sunday…

Indy live
Last night I listened to Indy Live for the very first time, which was somewhat amusing as it featured five drivers competing in this years Indy 500. First up were the Target Chip Ganassi boyzs and this was a fairly straightforward interview, albeit Scott Dixon got a hearty chuckle out of the audience upon saying that EVERYBODY KNOWS who Danny “SPIKE” Wheldon is… As HE tells everybody and I had him figured out in about one minute…

Next up were the Vision Racing trio and I enjoyed the question of what’s it like driving for AJ Foyt? AJ Foyt IV deferred to Davey Hamilton since he’d driven first for ‘Ol Super Tex back in 1996, before Foyt IV said reluctantly that things had gone pretty sour for him, while Davey could be heard laughing in the background… What do you mean by this, asked the show’s host Mike King? Well, let’s just say it didn’t go too good and fortunately Tony George had the “Vision” to hire me and now my relationship with AJ is much better… Now what do you mean exactly by souring? To which Ed Carpenter broke in saying; What time did you go to bed last night Anthony in a high pitched nagging voice, while Davey sat laughing some more…

And Davey must have supreme faith that his Kingdom Racing deal will lead to something next year as he continued to vocally put down the current qualifying procedure… From no less the Brickyard Crossing’s restaurant; Doesn’t he know that Tony doesn’t like being criticized, eh?

Kicking Barron to the CURB
As previously mentioned, the CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports ride was up for grabs between Alex Barron and Roger_Yasukawa, with Greg Beck saying it was down to whoever’s money showed up first… As Yasukawa managed to get his Yen wire transferred in time to climb aboard the #98 Dallara when practice finally commenced at 5:19PM Wednesday…

Fisher lands new sponsor
Sarah Fisher got some much deserved good news in her never ending quest for sponsorship, by announcing Wednesday that she had just obtained associate sponsorship from IUPUI. (Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis)

“The sponsorship of Sarah Fisher Racing and her No. 67 Honda-powered Dallara is a collaborative effort between the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts, the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, and the IUPUI campus administration.”

Fisher is still hopeful of finding the necessary budget to compete in further races this season and ultimately a full schedule in 2009, while ironically, my latest Speedgear catalog features a picture of the Sarah Fisher model, part of the 2008 Greenlight diecast release with the #67 sporting ResQ on the sidepods… Which obviously is INCORRECT!

And with all of the Energy Drinks companies failing to hold up their end of the bargain, makes you wonder if Tony George is second guessing having Frank’s Energy Drink as the “Offical” Drinks sponsor of Indy…

Cutting it close
As usual, the second week programs are scrambling to get their drivers on track in the nick of time in order to possibly practice before having to hold their breaths for four laps, as Buddy Lazier and Phil Giebler had still NOT been on track at the end of practice Thursday.

As Lazier said earlier to the IndyStar’s intrepid reporters; Cabin & Ballard; (Although I’m still NOT sure Who’s who? As in who’s Batman and who’s the Boy Wonderer?)

“The guys have put a nice car together considering six days ago it was just a pile of pieces."

This makes me wonder just exactly what the gang at “Johnson ‘N Johnson” (Hemelgarn Johnson) have been doing? Or is this just one more example of how thinly stretched the supply of Dallara chassis is?

Toronto gets race
Michael Andretti has added a second race to his portfolio of race promotions with the announcement that Andretti Green Toronto, a newly formed subsidiary of his burgeoning empire has landed the rights to promote the Toronto street race beginning in 2009.

Andretti Green currently promotes the St Petersburg street race. Now all Mikey needs to do is start his own wine company, eh? Nah, he’s busy running two racing teams in the American Le Mans Series along with his four car IRL stable, but then again he’s got the perfect spokes-model…

(Quotes from IndyStar.com)

Rainy Days

Whale, I must say that Speedway, Indiana is beginning to resemble Seattle’s notoriously WET weather patterns a little too much lately… As there has now been a total of 3.5 days WASHED OUT at the Speedway, including Day 2 of qualifying…

Yet, I decided to tune into the IMS Radio Network’s “Happy Hour” Sunday afternoon coverage just to see what they’d have to say, while filling in an hour of air time, as it was nice having interviews with drivers Davey Hamilton and John Andretti,

Davey mentioned that he thought there’d be possibly 37 Drivers ultimately competing for the 33 starting positions come next weekend and it would be tough for him along with the others trying to make the show, since they’d have to split whatever track time they got during this week’s practice (Wed-Fri; 6hrs each day) between Qualifying simulations and Race Day set-ups… And Oh Yeah, it’s likely gonna rain again on Wednesday…

Mike King playfully poked fun at John, who took it all very good naturedly… Saying it was hard to imagine it was his 20th Anniversary of first coming to the Speedway in 1988, since he was ONLY 24yr’s OLD! As he’d started at a very young age and while wrapping up his interview John playfully said he’d try to get his ‘Ol Bod’ outta the way with his walker, as King said take your time getting to the elevator, we’ll have a golf kart waiting for you at the bottom…

But seriously, as John said; “He’s NOT trying to steal anybody’s ride.” As he’d given up contesting Darlington and the All Star shoot-out for a chance at running once again at Indy and had gone to bed Friday night with his tail between his legs so to speak as he felt totally out of place with NO ride… As the Roth deal came together early Saturday morning…


Injury Update
Good News for both Alex Lloyd and Chuck Buckman, as both have been released from Methodist Hospital. Lloyd is expected to return to the wheel of his #16 Ganassi-Rahal/Letterman entry for practice on Wednesday, while Buckman is expected to return to work as Mario Moraes’s Crew Chief…


Pop goes the Driver’s?
While being interviewed, Davey Hamilton mentioned that Phil Giebler and Jeff Simmons had landed rides along with John Andretti for the upcoming Indy 500 race.

Giebler has apparently landed the Playa Del Racing seat, with comments being made to the team having been sold, while Simmons takes over Larry Foyt’s spot in the (#41) second AJ Foyt entry.

Meanwhile Jimmy Kite and Roberto Moreno have been seen sauntering about Gasoline Alley in search of any potential rides, while the #98 Beck Motorsports ride is rumoured to be a toss-up between Alex Barron and Roger Yasukawa. Other possible race car pilots looking for employment are Jacques Lazier, while I’d guess that Stefan Gregoire must be on the grounds? Yet, NO mention of the PJ Bro’s… As in PJ Jones and PJ Chesson, while there’s still NO word on whether or not Derrick Walker will pull an AJ Foyt last minute surprise attempt with left out in the wilderness “Kuh-nuck” Paul Tracy?

Of course my math seems to NOT be matching up with Davey’s as I’ve managed to come up with a total of 38 possible Car/Driver combinations. (Minus Derrick Walker’s LONG SHOT) Yet, perhaps it is indeed only 37 cars as the PDM Racing entry seems to be a complete mystery…


James speaks
IMS Radio Network’s Mark James has gone out on a ledge, predicting that the following four drivers are on the outside looking in towards making this year’s field… Well, actually I DON’T think he’s gone that far out on a ledge… Since James has concluded that Marty Roth, Milka Duno Jaime Camara and Mario Moraes are his picks to most likely NOT make the Big Show… But hey Mr. James, didn’t Marty “Turtle” Roth out qualify both of the Penske Racing cars at Kansas? (Yet Johnny Parsons Jr thinks you’ll need a 222.5mph average to feel comfortable about making the race)


Miller Time
According to SPEED’s Robin Miller, who didn’t seem overly impressed by this weekends lack of action, claiming Pole Day is reserved for the Big Three; Andretti-Green, Ganassi and Penske, nor was he bemused by the need for the multiple qualifying chances to lock-in a paltry eleven cars per day…

Miller noted during The Speed Report that with the current lack of spare Dallara chassis, drivers such as Jacques Lazier, Roberto Moreno, PJ Jones and Paul Tracy may be on the outside looking in during the final weekend of Indianapolis Qualifying as there may simply NOT be enough chassis to go around for desiring competitors…

Obviously we’ll know which 33 cars have made the field by the end of “BOOMP Day,” 6PM this coming Sunday. (Weather permitting, eh?)

Open Wheel notes

Sign of the Times?
I find it hugely embarrassing that in this world ‘O Unification, Sarah Fisher and Paul Tracy are struggling to attract the necessary sponsorship needed to fund quality programs in the Indy Car World Series, while back markers such as Milka Duno and Marty Roth continue to plod along… And not to harp about the IRL bias that still permeates the media, as Sarah Fisher got a nice article about her teams struggles published in the USA Today, but how come NO mention about Mr. Chrome Horn’s travails, eh?

N/H/L crew member killed
How horrible for 63yr old Davey Evans, long time mechanic of Newman Haas Racing to have been STUPIDLY killed in a SENSELESS Bar-room brawl…

Evans, who specialized in engine work, had been a member of the team for the past 23 years and his association with Carl Haas goes back four decades to Lola Cars and the Can Am era. Evans and a few of his mates had gone to the Kazablanca bar for a late evening dinner before being involved in this horrific confrontation in which Evans died from a stroke which was most likely caused by senseless fisticuffs…

Feeling the Heat?
Apparently Ryan “Inferno” Briscoe is feeling a little pressure to perform this Month of May as the Captain seeks to extend his record strangle-hold on the Speedway, as Briscoe claims that almost every discussion he’s had with Roger always has some connotation about the Speedway’s importance interwoven into it… While Helio Castroneves has apparently left his blue suede shoes at home in the closet for the time being… As he forgoes participating in the Dancing with FOOLS 100th Episode extravaganza, telling his ex-dancing partners he was focusing upon his day-job at Indy…

Pearly Vision
As Y’all know, I’ve just returned from the Great White North and having read about Pat Caporali being announced as the new Public Relations guru for the Kingdom Racing team… The thought struck me that I’d just returned from the other Great White North, eh? Not to be cornfuzed with that place with the white fluffy clouds and some sort ‘O mystical entry gates…

This leads me to ASSUME that Davey Hamilton’s Visionary Racing-mobile will obviously be painted white, since after all, white is the preferred Holy colour, eh? As Y’all know ‘dem Good Guys always wear white? As “Juan ‘O” Kingdom (Come) Racing’s goals is to pass along some sort of divinity, claiming they just want to spread the word of Jesus…

The Gecko-man
Italian racing driver Max Papis, whom has previously been touted as Indy’s newest Lizard King… Has claimed how ecstatic he is to be back aboard a really fast race car after having spent the past two years in Sports Cars, proclaiming;

“It was an adrenaline rush.”

"It's fun to be going so fast after a long time away," the son-in-law of two-time Indy winner Emerson Fittipaldi said. "When you haven't done it for a while, you can't believe how these cars stick in the corner. It's like a video game."

Papis expects to solidly place his Rubicon Racing entry in the 92nd running of Indy, making his third start at the Speedway…

When “Super Tex” speaks
Som-thun ‘bout an ‘Ol EF Hutton joke here? As apparently ‘Ol Super Tex has announced that Larry Foyt will NOT be driving his second race car at Indy, although he’s listed as the driver of the #41 AJ Foyt Enterprises entry.

Yet, AJ Foyt claims that Larry “DOESN’T Have that KILLER Instinct!” And that Larry is more important to him as the Team’s manager then getting injured racing once again…

Apparently Larry Foyt who’s broken his back once before has other ideas, as he’s still hopeful of finding the necessary sponsorship to get himself behind the wheel, while AJ claims that if they run a second entry, it’ll be somebody else… And judging by car count they’ll need to run that second entry… Although I certainly hope Al Unser Jr will stay away from another languid run at Indy…

One less seat?
Team owner John Barnes has announced that there will be NO second Panther entry this Month of May, as the team wishes to focus solely upon the struggling Vitor Meira’s chassis. The team has also lured past engineer David Cripps back into the fold after somebody named “Curly” took over his role at Roth Racing…

Run for the Border?
It has been announced that officials from the Mexico City Tourism Board will meet this weekend with Tony George to discuss the possibility of enticing him into adding their city to the 2009 Indy Car World Series…

First Wall Smack
Of course Y’all knew it was gonna happen… As Rookie “Josie Carnuba” (Jaime Camara) was the first driver to sample the Safer Barrier at the Brickyard, upon hitting the wall during practice.

To which apparently Bryan “High Speed Hurdles” Herta text messaged him something about having now earned his Rookie stripe at the Brickyard…

Curry’s new gig
Why do I find this humorous… As the recently ousted Vision Racing Team Manager Larry Curry has landed a new job as Chief Engineer for Roth Racing. Now could Larry please tell Marty to stay the HELL off the track!

Now its time to tune into Fast Fridy, if the weather decides to cooperate, eh?

Visions of Grandeur

I find this announcement a bit ironic, as originally Danny B informed me about Larry “MOE” Curry’s (Where’s Curly, eh?) embezzling of dinero from Edward Carpenter’s title sponsor, who’s just been released from his post, as according to Indystar’s intrepid reporter Kurt Cabin;

“Curry's hiring was controversial given that he went to prison for defrauding Team Menard, a former IndyCar Series team, of $1.5 million from 1994 to 1998.
"Larry has been an asset to the growth and building of Vision Racing," Tony George said in a statement released Friday. "However, after full review of the facts surrounding the disallowance of the team's qualifying runs at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Larry and I agreed that a breach of what amounts to the team's code of conduct had occurred and as team manager he was expected to uphold a very high standard, but in this instance fell short."

Now as we cue-up that ever popular tune ‘O Alanis Morissette; “ISN’T IT IRONIC?” Me thinks Tony has just found himself a convenient way to throw Curry UNDER THE BUS… I mean with Davey Hamilton bringing sponsors of the cloth, was George feeling the heat… (To atone for Larry’s sins?) Or did John Menard have a vision of NOT wanting MOE anywhere’s near his equipment?

And speaking of Davey Hamilton, it has now been confirmed that he will indeed pilot the third Vision Racing entry, as the #22 will carry backing from Hewlett Packard and a ghost of others, while I’ll leave it to you to decide who’s who in the current Vision line-up…

Will the next Driver please step up

C’mon down, you’re the next contestant brave enough to try on the Majic Rings at the Speedway!

Looks like Davey Hamilton’s seat grab for this year’s running of the Indy 500 will most likely hinge upon Tony George’s pallet for running his third racing car with Visionary backing… As the number of remaining open seats just shrank by one with Ron Hemelgarn having signed long time driver Buddy Lazier to pilot the “Johnson ‘N Johnson” mobile…

Lazier, who made his rookie debut in 1991, would become the first IRL driver to taste the milk at Indy in 1996. Last year he drove for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

“I love the Indianapolis 500 and everything about the IndyCar Series,” said Lazier, who finished second in the 500 in 1998 and 2000 and fifth in 2005. “I lie awake at night because I want to be part of it. Ron has given me an opportunity to be part of it. We’ve struggled and we’ve had success together in the past. The two of us have experienced what it’s like to finish 33rd and have a horrible day, and we’ve experienced winning.”
(Source: Speed TV.com)


2008 Indy 500 Open seats
(Car No. /Driver/Entrant)
21 TBA Playa Del Racing
22 (TBA/(D. Hamilton?) Vision Racing
77 TBA Team Penske
83 TBA Panther Racing
91 B. Lazier, Hemelgarn Johnson
98 (TBA/R. Yasukawa?) CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
TBA TBA PDM Racing

Hamilton’s vision?

With the next Comedy stop on the Indy Car calendar being the Brickyard… IMS Radio Broadcast member Davey Hamilton teased us further by Eluding that he hopes to have his Indy deal signed, sealed & delivered sometime this week as Hewlett Packard will once again be a sponsor along with the Holy Spirt ‘O Kingdom-come Racing.

And although Davey didn’t mention any teams, it sounds like from Kurt Cabin’s latest Colum that Hamilton is closing in on a deal to drive Tony George’s third Indy 500 entry as both Marty Roth and Andretti Green Racing have NO plans to field additional entries for the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500.

With Hamilton in the #22 Vision Racing entry(?) will George dust off a fourth chassis to run Paul Tracy? Or will the Kanuck land somewhere else…

Chip ‘N Roger

Perhaps you’ve already heard Sam “I think I can, I think I can stay in the Top 35” Hornish Jr has publicly stated that he will NOT attend this years Indy 500, as he’s a RASSCAR driver now… While the Cheepster recently told the inquiring minds of ESPN that dare ain’t nose ways Dario “Where’s my pants” Franchitti will be stepping into an Indy Car this May.

Thus, if Roger Penske does indeed decide to run his third entry, the #77 car, it’ll have to be somebody else behind the controls… Hmm? Would The Captain help Tony out by letting PT drive for him this May?

And yet, still NO word on where Davey Hamilton will end up, although I’d think Vision Racing would be a logical bet, unless Mikey’s planning to dust off that fifth Dallara chassis…

Marty Motegi

Inquiring Minds want to know if Davey Hamilton will replace team owner Marty Roth at Indy this May…

Kurt Cabin:
“Former IRL regular Davey Hamilton signed Kingdom Racing as his sponsor for next month's Indianapolis 500 but still is looking for a race team.”

UPDATE:
Although I’m still unaware to when the cut-off date is for entries being accepted to the Official IMS Entry list for this year’s running of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing… Currently there’s 39 chassis entered, with 32 drivers nominated, which therefore leaves seven seats available…

(Car No. /Entrant)
21 TBA Playa Del Racing
22 TBA Vision Racing
77 TBA Team Penske 83 TBA Panther Racing 91 TBA Hemelgarn Johnson 98 TBA CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
TBA TBA PDM Racing


SPECULATION:
Although logic would most certainly rule out the number 77 third entry of Team Penske and with Roger Yasukawa contesting Motegi for CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports, I’d assume that he’d get the nod for their Indy entry? Thus this would leave five possibilities available, unless there are to be further last minute additions?

And although I’d still guess that Mr. Chrome Horn will occupy the #22 Vision Racing entry, Danny B has thrown out the suggestion that perhaps Mr. Tracy could end up in the #77? (Could a Monster Panther ride be attractive?)

Thus if the seat remains open, it would seem that one of Davey’s best hopes for a ride would be none other than with Tony George once again, since the Del Pee-Luh car will probably go to one of the Lazier brothers… Although Stefan Gregoire, a.k.a. Stevie George is probably on the short list, while I have no idea who’ll land the “Johnson ‘N Johnson” (Hemelgarn Johnson) and PDM seats…

Yet, I’d guess there are more drivers looking to lock-up seats than chassis currently available… As I’ve noted that Roberto Guerrero; Woah! where in the HELL did that come from? I meant Roberto Moreno is seeking a drive and the PJ Bro’s (PJ Jones, PJ Chesson) whereabouts are currently unknown, likewise, last’ year’s feel good story, Phil Geebler…

While Danny B has also been quick to point out that Derrick Walker had Kent Baker’s last year Whoosh-mobile parked in his workshops prior to the big Open Wheel Unification…

Yet, I’m guessing that 39 cars is the cut-off, since supposedly that’s what Tony George told Honda to ramp-up for as I’m certain there’s only so many 3.5 liter fire breathin’ Ethanol lumps to go around… And you just know that somebody’s gonna wreck there car before the big show! While I’m a wanderin’ who ‘Ol Super Tex will call on his cell phone to come and tease us during “Boomp-Day…”

Open Wheel notes

Otay, while some of this may be old news to Y’all, here’s a little of the latest OWR tidbits I’ve noticed circulating the electronic airwaves…

As previously mentioned, KV Racing Technology has confirmed that Jimmy Vasser will indeed come out of his semi-retirement and race a third KVRT entry in the Champ Car series finale at Long Beach.

Vasser will pilot the #12 with primary sponsorship from Plantronics, who’s joined KVRT for the current season. Ironically the #12 has been Top Jimmy’s long time CART/CCWS car number. Thus, I suppose it’s a good thing it was already taken in the IRL by Tomas Scheckter and therefore NOT available to adorn either Buckshot Wilson or Darrel Rahal Jr’s chassis, eh? Can you imagine Vasser running the #012, Jeff?

And according to Indy Racing Revolution, with the announcement of David Martinez at Forsythe Championship Racing for the CCWS blow-out, plus Vasser’s announcement there’s now a total of eleven confirmed drivers for the event, assuming Paul Tracy will partner Martinez? YIKES!!! That DON’T sound like a very good farewell party to me, but then again perhaps there’ll be a few more Really-Really-Really Big surprise announcements?

And for any of you wondering where Kevin “Boss Hawg” Kalkhoven was during the inaugural Indy Car World Series race at Homestead, according to Robin Miller’s Open Wheel notebook on Speed TV.com;

“Kevin Kalkhoven missed the opening race of the series he helped put together because he’s in a Colorado hospital recovering from a nasty fall on the ski slopes.
The co-owner of Champ Car whose two-car KV Racing entry finished 12th (Oriol Servia) and 25th (Will Power) at Homestead last Saturday night, suffered four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a concussion after taking a tumble in Aspen.
“Kevin is an excellent skier, he’s been doing it for 35 years, and this is the second nasty fall he’s had in the last couple years,” said Dick Eidswick, the former president of Champ Car and a life-long friend of Kalkhoven’s who was skiing with the 63-year-old Aussie.
“He’s hurting pretty good right now but he should be back for Long Beach.”

(Perhaps he should stick to the Bunny slopes, eh?)

Although Zach Brown appearing on Wind Tunnel confirmed Dave Despain’s comment towards Direct TV becoming a major sponsor of the IRL, which was supposedly being announced this past Monday, it’s now official, as Direct TV has become a Premiere sponsor of Indy Car. Thus, Direct TV will join Coca Cola in the bevy of Really Really Really Big sponsorship announcements being made in regards to the groundswell of support for Open Wheel Racing’s unification… HMM? With Coke becoming the official beverage of the IRL, does this mean that Frank’s Energy Drink is off the table?

And don’t forget the brand new F1-style Knock out qualifying format announced just-in-time for St. Pete…

Meanwhile, you may call me a sucker for anything motorsports related, as I continue to painfully suffer thru episode after episode of KRAPY internets broadcasts of Speed Freaks ‘N Autosport Radio… As for reasons unknown, well then again they are being piped thru win-DOUGh’s media player, (Which I guess is ‘Nuff said, eh?) Yet, the myriad of technical difficulties is really becoming overbearing…

Thus I suffered thru the multiple dead space skipping portions of broadcast to listen to Donald Kay live from St. Petersburg, since he had a smorgasbord of personalities stopping by his ‘lil Ol radio broadcast, with such luminaries as; The Mayor of St. Petersburg and some TV News anchor getting first billing with Just Al #43 (Al Unser III) Jay Howard, Luyendyk 2.0 (Arie Luyendyk Jr) Scott Jasek and Davey Hamilton all waiting in the wings.

Jay Howard, who’s the hired gun at Roth Racing is a bit of a quirky interview, as this Englishman seems to not be wishing to suffer FOOLS easily and thus his responses to Don’s questions always seem to have a bit of an edge to them, like uh, DUH! But it was interesting to hear Jay mention that he believes the team is looking good sponsorship-wise from Indy onwards, with a 90%+ certainty that he’ll actually have a primary sponsor adorning the Marty Roth owned chassis sidepods.

And thee guest I was most interested in listening to was Davey Hamilton, who’d previously had to drop his interview while attending to other business dealings when he’d been scheduled to be part of the Terre Haute Trio interview.

Davey talked very briefly about his 23 surgeries to rebuild his feet and how Scott Jasek and Sinden Racing had been most supportive in his comeback, although everybody said you must be KRAZY to want to go racing once again…

And perhaps I either missed the memo, or it was during one of the OVERLY numerous dead spaces during the interview, but I only heard Davey say that he would indeed be back once again at the Speedway this May in a “One-off” effort, upon being asked if he’d try to run Kansas in preparations for the upcoming Indy 500?

No, with the unification and the great premium being currently placed upon the scarcity of Dallara chassis and Honda engines, there’s just NO way we’ll be able to pull it off, so I’m just concentrating on a single race at Indy this May.

But who will he be driving for? Will it be a fourth Vision Racing entry a la last year when he had the highest finish for Tony George, crossing the yard of bricks in ninth place. Yeah, a fourth chassis alongside Paul Tracy perhaps? Naw, I’ve been told that Davey will be driving a third Marty Roth entry… GASP!!! I’m actually gonna have duh root for Roth Racing!

Somebody send Princess a Snickers

So many stories, so little time…

As the majority of the blogosphere seems to be tripping’ over itself in deference to the Princesses latest pity-poo in the USA Today over the IRL’s newly mandated minimum weight limit, thus I’d like to point out the following to Danica as the green flag is set to unfurl in just over 72 hours in Homestead…

As the majority of us Gearhead’s already know, modern Formula 1 racing cars are mid-engine, open cockpit, open wheel single-seaters being primarily constructed out of carbon fibre composites, with the ENTIRE Racing Car, INCLUDING: Engine, Fluids and DRIVER; Weighing ONLY 605kg. (1,334.025lbs) In fact this is the MINIMUM WEIGHT mandated by the FIA.

The majority of today’s Constructor’s chassis are purposely designed underweight in order to allow designers the greatest flexibility of positioning ballast at their discretion to maximize the Centre of Gravity *CG( as low as physically possible inside the chassis’s structure.

And although I don’t feel like hunting for the exact year this design theorem first began in Formula 1, suffice it to say, it has ALWAYS been a key aspect of Grand Prix chassis design, with the practice of lead weight ballasting having occurred for decades.

Careful Danica, have you noticed how ALL of the F1 drivers must be weighed immediately after the conclusion of every Grand Prix and thus we could have those clever IRL marketing goons start publishing driver’s weight’s a la Formula 1 and adding them to the television screens? YIKE’S!!! What’s next in the wurld ‘O Danica mania… The Princess has gained 4lbs… And now she’s doing those dreaded Slim Fast commercials?

And is it fair that Justin “Buckshot” *HMM? Buckshot = lead pellets = weight; PUN intended?) Wilson should be penalized for being the tallest driver on the grid? As I recall last season writing about Justin claiming his lap times were off by three tenth’s of a second vs. arch nemesis Sebastain Bourdais due to his 6’+ frame’s extra weight. And trust me; having met Justin personally a few years ago, he was fit as an Ox with zero body fat!

At 6’ 3 ½” and 185lbs, Justin is at a sizeable disadvantage against the Princess, but in his typical British “Stiff upper lip” fashion, has said nary a word about this subject. NO, I believe it was Robby “Dirtmann” Gourdoun who was the first to cry Mommy about the weight disparity…

Yet, Gourdoun knows a thing or four ‘bout shedding weight, having caused yellow flags by discarding various parts of his racing car’s interior, while tossing your helmet has to be good for at least five pounds… And one may argue that if the Princess kept her undergarments on she may not have to add so much ballast to her Andretti Green mount, eh?

Yet, one of the funniest things I’ve seen in the past was when Scott “Juicyfruit” Pruett was sandwiched in-between Jaguar F1 teammates Mark Webber and Justin Wilson, as Pruett was definitely NOT like the others… Both Jag pilots being in the over six feet tall club… Yet Mark “Dundee” Webber seems to get on just fine in Formula 1, albeit on the largish side of Grand Prix jockeys…

So, as Don Henley sang long ago; GET OVER IT!” PRINCESS! As I personally believe like most out there, this is a GOOD thing, NOT a bad thing! Besides, Paul Tracy will need all the help he can get when he show’s up at the Speedway this May!

And DON’T even get me started on Marty “BACK 40” Roth… Now; “Somebody give me a Cheeseburger!” Err, Justin, send Danica some Quarter Pounders with cheese…

Source;
Justin Wilson’s “Sir-name” glummed from My Name is IRL and you may wish to partake in his nicknaming of ex-CCWS Driver’s?

Stop the presses

SPEED TV and IndyCar. Com will cover the press conference live tomorrow at 12:30PM Eastern Time to officially announce the unification of Open Wheel Racing from Homestead, Florida prior to the IndyCar World Series first 2008 season test…

Some Heads are gonna Roll

With the consolidation of Open Wheel Racing finally underway, just who are the winners (whiner’s) and losers in this horrendously long wasting of ego’s ‘N greenbacks…

As usual, the larger fish tend to eat the minnows in the aquarium, as reports suggest that all of the remaining “Heavy Hitters” (Knuckle Draggers?) in Champ Car will be joining the Indy Racing League, as Brian Barnhart will begin the festivities with an IRL Orientation meeting today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

According to Kurt Cabin, representatives from Conquest Racing, Forsythe Pettit Racing, Newman Haas Lanigan Racing, PKV Racing, Team Minardi USA and Walker Motorsports should hopefully be attending the meeting. Pacific Coast Motorsports, located in California is expected to miss the meeting due to the short notice, but Team Manager Tyler Tadevic of PCM has stated that they intend to be on the Homestead grid (“With bells on”) with a two car entry.

Barnhart is expecting Conquest, Forsythe Pettit, Newman Haas Lanigan and PKV to field two car teams, while Kieth Wiggins And Derrick Walker are set to run one car operations. This leaves just Dale Coyne and Paul Gentlozzi left out of the mix, with a total of seven of the nine CCWS teams making the jump with an estimated 12 cars joining the IRL circus.

While initial reports speculated that PCM would seek refuge in the American Le Mans Series, Tadevic is claiming that Tony George is sweetening the pot for former Champ Car teams to not only join the series, but contest the Long Beach Grand Prix as the CCWS’s farewell party by offering two Dallara tubs for every Panoz entered. Oh, crap! Why is that song Tiny bubbles coming to mind here? Can you say Sayonara Champ Car…

Meanwhile Paul Gentilozzi has apparently thrown in the towel, (HURRAH!) saying he can’t make the numbers work; which he’s also been unable to do with the Trans Am series and the various guises of his Champ Car operation. Let me be the first to wish Gentilozzi Good Ridance!

Yet unfortunately it looks like Dale Coyne, a longtime and staunch supporter of CART/PPG and CCWS is being left out in the cold? While consistently running a shoestring effort, Coyne has never lacked for enthusiasm, along with offering a truckload of talented drivers a place to shine. It would be nice to see Coyne potentially merge, err, join forces with one of the “floundering” single car teams on the IRL side of the ledger, i.e.; Citgo/SAMAX, Dreyer & Reinbold, Sarah Fisher or Panther.

Originally I was going to suggest that AJ Foyt merge operations with Wiggins, who always runs a first rate organization and took two wins last season on its way to winning Rookie of the Year with Robert Doornbos. As the Dutch ex-Formula 1 driver is seriously talented, but I was afraid I’d get decked by Super Tex! And hopefully “Bad Bobby D” (Doornbos) will indeed be the pilot of Team Minardi USA’s single car effort.

And if Dale Coyne doesn’t answer the bell, does this mean Bruno “Whiney Bags” Junqueira will land the second seat at Forsythe Petitt which previously looked set to hire ex-Formula 1 ace Frank Montagny. Psst, hey Booby Ruble, don’t you need a second car to keep up with Ganassi, Penske and N/H/L?

On the plus side, we’ll at last once again have a decent Television package, as we’ll get to dump that atrocious third rate deal CCWS was paying for, while I assume the sport will prosper as we’ll have a single direction for Open Wheel Racing, including quality fields at the Indianapolis 500.

Yet, the losers in this deal seem quite significant. I mean for starters what about all of the race promoters and tracks who’ve lost events: Houston; Laguna Seca; Zolder, Belgium; Jerez, Spain; Cleveland; Mont-Tremblant, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario; Portland; Elkhart Lake; Assen, Holland and Mexico City.

While I can understand the dropping of the European events, I’m sure that Spain is really glad that they decided to join Champ Car this season, eh? And from David Phillips reports last year, the Zolder and Assen tracks are wonderful, proper. Permanent Road Courses which would put many of our vaunted North Americana tracks to shame…

And how can you skip Road America? Or decide to cut ‘N run from major markets such as Cleveland, Houston and Portland? Okay, I know that Portland’s been being lambasted by CCWS over it’s poor attendance figures the last few years, but then again, look at the SORRY show they’ve been forcing us to partake the last five years. Yet, how can Indy Car skip the Pacific Northwest! Guess I’ll need to look into Sears Point, although it’s a real BUGGER for me to access…

And then, what about the Champ Car Atlantics championship, as well as the employees who stayed loyal to CCWS and reported for work everyday at Champ Car HQ in Indianapolis only to receive pink slips for the start of their weekend, not to mention the work forces at Cosworth and Elan Motorsports.

In case you were unaware, the Atlantics is an excellent feeder series and I find it much more palatable then the Indy Pro Series, which is essentially Indy Lights, as in they’ve hired ex-Indy Lights boss Roger Bailey to run it.

Last year the Atlantics regularly showed up with 27 entries featuring some great talent such as James Hinchcliffe, Robert Wichens, John Edwards, Kevin Lacroix, Frank Perera and Rafael Matos just to name a few. Thus, what happens to these teams, who many ironically are also run by Champ Car owners, i.e.; Eric Bachelart, Gerald Forsythe and Derrick Walker. (Hinchcliffe, Lacroix and Wickens are rising Canadian talent, while Edwards is from Little Rock, Arkansas)

Perhaps, although I doubt it’ll happen? Why not have a new and improved Indy Pro Series east and West divisions, which would double the amount of upcoming talent to race in the Indycar World Series, although I’ve seen a story claiming that the Atlantics will indeed continue,just under a different sanctioning body.

Well, at least Paul “Chrome Horn” Tracy will get another shot at winning the Indy 500!

Wind Tunnel

This weekend’s episode of Wind tunnel with Dave Despain will be co-hosted by Robin Miller and feature interviews with Mario andretti and Jacques Villeneuve, focusing upon Friday’s Open Wheel Unification. Check it out this Sunday @ 9PM Eastern…

EMMO, Corvette and Orange juice?

Perhaps you’ve heard the announcement (NO! Not that OWR announcement) that Chevrolet’s Corvette will once again be the official pace car of this year’s Indianapolis 500 for the umpteenth time.

And this year’s pace car pilot will be none other than two time Speedway victor Emerson Fittipaldi, whom perhaps you’ll recall refused to take the ceremonious swig ‘O milk in victory lane. As Emmo who’s hugely involved in Orange juice decided to forgo the $5,000 gratuity check from the Dairy Farmer’s association in order to promote his Brazilian Orange Julius connection.

Adding a twist to this year’s pacing of the field by Chebbie; GM will have not one but two Corvette Z06’s at the head of the field, as Emmo will drive a lime green Corvette modified to run on E85 Ethanol for pace car duties, while a second black ‘N silver Z06 will join in for pre-race festivities to honour the 30th Anniversary of Chebbie’s 1978 pace car…