A red eye flight didn't stop me from catching the action this weekend. From fuel strategy at Mid-Ohio to controversial penalties in Austria, here is a run down of what got me thinking.
The Chase is On
With Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s victory at Pocono it guarantees that all you need to make the Chase is a victory. Five races remain and five spots remain reserved for race winners. Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson and Greg Biffle are all winless but are in position to inherit a Chase spot should there be no new winners in the next five races. Other winless drivers on the outside looking in are Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Austin Dillon, Marcos Ambrose and AJ Allmendinger.
With the new Chase format, team orders are almost encouraged despite being harshly denounced after the Michael Waltrip Racing fiasco. If you are Hendrick Motorsports, why wouldn't you do all you can to get Kasey Kahne into the Chase? Same with Roush-Fenway with Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. You know Stewart-Haas is going to do all they can to get Tony Stewart or Danica Patrick a spot. Joe Gibbs Racing should be doing all they can to get Matt Kenseth that safety vest that is a victory. If you thought Richmond last year was controversial, what is going to happen if Jimmie Johnson is leading Kahne with three to go? But you can't blame them if someone decides to run block than go for the win.
Don't hate the players, hate the game. The game is set up for win-and-in. If you already have a win, the incentive to win over your teammate who needs a win doesn't exist, especially when sponsorship dollars are tougher to come by and one victory could keep a company on for another season.
With the next stop on the calendar being Watkins Glen, Ambrose and Allmendinger are looking at possibly do-or-die on their Chase hopes. Both have top tens finishes on short tracks this season but their Chase hopes depend on Watkins Glen. Ambrose's track record at the Glen is outstanding. A third, second, win and win in his first four starts. Ambrose finished thirty-first last year after starting on pole and leading 51 laps. Allmendinger has three top ten finishes in his last three Watkins Glen starts.
Mid-Ohio Renovations
Green-Savoree Promotions bought Mid-Ohio three years ago and while the track has put on some decent races in the DW-12 era, I think the track needs a little expansion.
First, how about making the straightaway between the key hole and turn four the front straightaway? The initial start and all restarts already occur over there and that's where the most people sit. Have the race finish over there. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to build a new pit lane and paddock on the outside of that straightaway but a little more elbow room on the pit lane would be appreciated and a new pit lane would accomplish that.
Moving the pit lane and paddock would displace some campers but the original paddock could become available for track side campers.
Along with moving the pit lane, why not extend the straightaway leading to the key hole? A few drivers such as Josef Newgarden, were able to make passes in the key hole but if you pushed the turn back a little maybe it would encourage more drivers to make a move and increase on track action for the fans.
Finally, why not create a straightaway in Thunder Valley that would by pass corners eleven and create a high speed section from what is now turn nine to the carousel, hopefully leading to more passing? It's just a thought.
Americans in Formula E
The first round of the Formula E is six weeks away and no Americans have landed rides. Marco Andretti, Conor Daly and J.R. Hildebrand were apart of the original Formula E Drivers' Club announced in January but with only three rides remaining, America's hope of a driver in the inaugural all-electric championship is dwindling.
All seventeen drivers announced so far are from the Drivers' Club. Along with the three Americans, other Drivers' Club members currently rideless are Sébastien Bourdais, Marco Bonanomi, Alex Brundle, Adam Carroll, Robert Doornbos, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Giorgio Pantano, Takuma Sato and Oriol Servià.
The remaining three seats belong to Andretti Autosport, who have already named Franck Montangy as their first driver and China Racing with World Touring Car Championship driver Ma Qing Hua the only Chinese driver apart of the Drivers' Club.
I doubt China Racing is going to hire an American driver but Andretti Autosport is another story. Michael Andretti has given more rides to Americans in IndyCar and the Road to Indy than any other car owner. His son may not be likely to land a ride though. The 2014 IndyCar season ends before the 2014-15 Formula E season gets underway but with uncertainty how early the 2015 IndyCar season begins, it looks unlikely Marco will be driving.
Conor Daly has one conflict since the Malaysian round of the Formula E season was pushed to the same weekend as the GP2 final round at Abu Dhabi. Like many drivers in junior formula racing, Daly's future is cloudy beyond this season and Formula E might provide him with some stable footing as well as a lining himself up for a great seat in IndyCar and at least a great one-off at the Indianapolis 500.
J.R. Hildebrand won the 2008 Indy Lights title driving for Andretti and other than two rounds of Bryan Herta and an Indianapolis one-off for Ed Carpenter, has been out of a ride for most of the time since being fired by Panther Racing last May. Hildebrand is the States best hope for a representative on the inaugural Formula E grid. If he doesn't land a ride, just like most major international motorsports series, the Stars and Stripes will be absent.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott Dixon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. but did you know...
Ryan Dalziel swept the Pirelli World Challenge weekend at Mid-Ohio. Lawson Aschenbach swept in the GTS class. Johnny O'Connell has a 82-point lead over Mike Skeen in GT with four races to go. Mark Wilkins remains the leader in GTS over his Kia teammate Nic Jönsson by 143 points. Aschenbach jumped to third in the standings with the sweep, 164 points back.
Jack Harvey swept the Mid-Ohio weekend in Indy Lights for his first two victories in the series. He is now eighteen points back of Gabby Chaves in the championship with three races to go. Zach Veach is third in the championship, twenty-four back of Chaves.
Nicolas Costa and Garrett Grist split the Pro Mazda doubleheader at Mid-Ohio. Spencer Pigot has a fourteen point lead over Scott Hargrove with three races to go.
R.C. Enerson, Jake Eidson and Florian Latorre each won a race during the U.S. F200 triple header at Mid-Ohio. Latorre has a 30-point lead over Eidson and a 33-point lead over Enerson with two races to go.
Marco Wittmann won his third DTM race of 2014 at Red Bull Ring, extending the sophomore's lead to 39 points over Mattias Ekström. Wittmann received some help after front runners for Jaime Green and Robert Wickens were penalized. Green has penalized for going a lap over the limit on the alternate tire compound. Wickens was penalized for an unsafe release from the pit lane into the path of BMW driver Timo Glock, however Mercedes believed Pascal Wehrlein committed the unsafe release.
Jamie Whincup won two of three races at Queensland Raceway with James Courtney taking the Sunday race. With his two wins and some misfortune for Ford driver Mark Winterbottom, Whincup took a fifteen point lead in the championship.
Jari-Matti Latvala won Rally Finland, his third win in 2014. His Volkswagen teammate Sébastien Ogier finished second and remains the World Rally Championship leader with a 44 point edge over Latvala.
José María López swept the WTCC weekend in home country of Argentina. López has a sixty point lead in the championship over Yvan Muller.
Rubens Barrichello won his first career Stock Car Brasil race at Goiânia on Sunday. Átila Abreu leads Thiago Camilo by four points, Júlio Campos by five points and Rubinho by seven points in the championship.
Brad Keselowski won the Nationwide Series race at Iowa and Ausin Dillon won the Truck race at Pocono. Chase Elliott leads teammate Regan Smith by two points in the Nationwide Series and Ryan Blaney leads Johnny Sauter by seven points in the Trucks Series.
Coming Up This Weekend
MotoGP heads to Indianapolis.
NASCAR is at Watkins Glen.
Super GT is at Fuji.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
