Tag: IndyCar

Traveling the world without going anywhere. On a weekend on the edge of “Earth Day”, this seems largely appropriate.

It is racing across state, cultural and international lines through the convenience of a wide screen HDTV in the living room. The variety of the countryside and the racing is incredible.

Sports cars rattled the streets of Long Beach, CA., with American Le Mans. On the eastern side of the U.S., Grand-Am was at Road Atlanta. Formula 1 was racing near the Persian Gulf in Bahrain. NASCAR was in the open spaces of Kansas. The NHRA was chasing speed in Charlotte. IndyCar followed up back at Long beach.

That is just a highlight of some of the major series. Racing in the streets. Racing across the ocean. Racing in the wide, open spaces. The diversity of scenery and personalities presented in a blur of the background.

However, as we turn towards what is regarded as “Earth Day”, too many people still look at auto racing with prejudice and scorn. They only see burnt fuel and beer-topped fans. (more…)

IndyCar ran their championship race over the weekend of September 15th.

Did you know? We watched it and it was only then we saw it was the last race of the season. Granted, the NASCAR “Chase” seemed to cover most of the racing news but you would think there would be some kind of fanfare whipping up about the MAVTV 500 at Fontana to close the Indy season.

Honestly, we were flipping channels and came across it. By chance. The 2011 season ended in October. A mid-September closer for the series was a surprise. It simply slipped our radar.

We’ve said it before. The last race of the IndyCar season should be at Indianapolis. Close the championship with the Indy 500. After all, why put the biggest race of the season and the namesake of the series one third deep in the schedule? Everybody knows the Indy 500. Close the season there. Make it a big deal. Let the season build to the Indy finale. That would be big.

But no. Let’s quietly run it out while nobody is paying attention. (more…)

Baltimore was a tight fit, apparently…

The American Le Mans Series comes away from Baltimore with points tight and a few dents to pound out to be pretty for the Virginia debut. Coming into Virginia International Raceway, with only one other race to follow, the points separating 1st and 2nd are not enough to guarantee anyone a comfort zone. All the classes could get shaken up at VIR which means tense racing and a good show for fans.

But first, the shake up at Baltimore…

It didn’t take long. First turn from the start and everyone backs up in a tight bunch leaving several prototypes nose to tail like a stalled train. The streets of Baltimore offered no forgiveness for run off. The course was enclosed by buildings and barricades and in that first turn it was full of bumpers. A few laps and cracked carbon fiber later the racing settled down… a bit. (more…)

No NASCAR Sprint Cup this weekend? Whatever will you do…?

You could watch the Nationwide series race. Some of you will. Maybe not all of it. Maybe long enough to see a spin or crash and blame it on Danica Patrick…

However, you could expand your horizon a bit and watch Formula 1 from Germany and American Le Mans from Canada. You could also catch up with IndyCar, also racing in Canada, and see how they are getting along without Danica… (more…)

Sunday racing was a full day. A wake up with Formula 1 followed by the showcase Indy 500 and close it down with NASCAR at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.

F1 gave us a spin or two and a Kobayashi bunny hop at Monaco. A good start to the day. From Monaco to Indianapolis the racing went up a notch and was matched up in Charlotte with the Coca-Cola 600.

There might have been a phone call. “I’ll do it if you do it!”

We’re referring to Dario Franchitti and Tony Stewart. It is odd that on the same day two defending champions encounter the same incident, and relatively speaking, at the same location. Coming into the pits at Indy, Franchitti is clipped by E.J. Viso and is spun sideways in the pit stall. The extra time and damage check put him to the back of the field. Skip ahead to the Coca-Cola 600 and here comes Tony Stewart to the pit stall only to have Brad Keselowski make the bump sending “Smoke” around facing traffic. (more…)

The starting grid is set following a weekend of practice, qualifying and the “bump day” for the Indianapolis 500. However, the “bump day” could have simply been labeled “Qualifying, The Sequel”. There were 9 spots to fill out the starting grid and 9 teams/cars going for it so there would be no actual “bump” from the race.

The top tier has shaped up as a veteran vs veteran for race teams. The top six qualifiers filling out the first and second rows are from the Penske and Andretti teams. These same teams fill out the top four spots in the points coming to Indy with Penske at 1-2 while Andretti is in at 3-4.

Will Power has dominated with Verizon/Penske Chevrolet bringing 3 wins of the 4 races along for the ride. Team mate Helio Castroneves is 2nd in points winning that 4th giving Penske a season sweep so far. (more…)

Auto Racing, in general, is having a bit of an identity crisis. It is not so much that the fans, or even the general public, do not recognize it. It is more a general feeling that there is no real connection to racing anymore.

Practically everybody can look at the #14 Office Depot Chevy driven by Tony Stewart in NASCAR and recognize it as a “NASCAR” race car. However, present the general public with the #10 Target / Ganassi Racing Honda of Dario Franchitti and the #4 Vodafone McLaren of Lewis Hamilton you will find that few outside of the paddock recognize the difference from IndyCar to Formula 1. Both of those cars, to the “non-racing” public, are likely identified as one or the other.

The “prototypes” of Grand-Am and American Le Mans are beautiful bits of shell and engineering but to the casual observer they are simply “race cars”.

Generally, if you throw a number and a logo on any given car it becomes recognizable as a “race car”. (more…)