Four Great Days

Beginning tomorrow morning, auto racing begins a great weekend of racing. From Formula One to IndyCar to NASCAR, Monaco to Indianapolis to Charlotte, some of the best drivers in the world will be taking part in one of the biggest races for each one of their respective series.

Formula One heads to the principality of Monaco for another year and with the racing we have seen this year, one shouldn't expect a parade around the streets. Last year's racing had an amazing finish between Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, with a late red flag adding to the mix. The most recent Formula One winner, Pastor Maldonado has had a  lot of success at Monaco, winning twice in GP2 and having a total four podium finishes. Ferrari looks as they have made improvements to the car and are ready to be contenders at the remaining races. The two Lotuses of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean have been quick so far in 2012, with Raikkonen scoring podiums in the last two races and Grosjean also ending up on the podium with his teammate at Bahrain two races ago. The Lotus E20 chassis also has accomplished two fastest laps this season, Raikkonen did it at Malaysia and Grosjean picked up his first career fastest lap at Spain two weeks ago. Also, taking place at Monaco this weekend will be the GP2, GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5 Series, two of which will be having American drivers competing. Alexander Rossi and Jake Rosenzweig will be racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 race, while Conor Daly and Ethan Reigel will be running in the GP3 series races. Daly won the sprint race at Spain and is currently second in the GP3 standings.

We all know about Indianapolis. Friday is Carb Day where one can see the final practice for the Indianapolis 500, the Indy Lights Freedom 100 and the pit-stop competition. Over the course of Friday and Saturday one can go see the Hoosier 100, the Little 500 or the Night Before the 500 where you can see USAC's best as well as the Star Mazda and USF2000 series. Of course Sunday is race day and you I will be posting more on the Indianapolis 500 over the next two days.

Then comes Charlotte and the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race. The day-to-night race has produced some dramatic finishes over the past few seasons. Jimmie Johnson is coming off wins in the Southern 500 and the All-Star Race. He currently sits 5th in the standings. Greg Biffle is the points leader, ahead of Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Denny Hamlin. Last years winner Kevin Harvick is 8th in the standings and best finish of 2012 was a 2nd at Phoenix. Not to forget the Nationwide Series race on Saturday afternoon.

There is plenty of racing to watch this weekend, enjoy.