Back to an oval for the seventh round of the championship, as the Izod IndyCar Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway. This is the third race of a five consecutive race stretch and the first of three ovals in a row. Last year, two 275 km races were split by Dario Franchitti and Will Power. This year will revert back to one, 550 km race. Texas Motor Speedway is the first mile and a half track for the series since the fatal accident of Dan Wheldon and the first mile and a half track for the new DW12 chassis. As with last weeks Track Walk, lots of big news after Detroit, let's start at the top.
Aero Kits Rejected Again
The IndyCar team owners again voted again to postponed the launch of aero kits for another season. They believe that the extra cost brought on by the aero kits will be too great due to the higher-than-announced price tag for the Dallara DW12 chassis and engine leases. They also feel the racing has been good enough this year that new aero kits are not necessary.
My Take: Many have brought up the teams owners do not run the series anymore. They do not get to decide what is allowed and what is disallowed. I feel that the series should introduce the aero kits next season but you can not force the teams to buy new aero kits. If all the teams want to run the 2012 Dallara aero kit then fine. At least make the aero kits available in case any of the teams want to a new aero kit in 2013.
China On The Fence
The decade past battle with American open-wheel racing racing on mainland Asia is back. ChampCar tried multiple times to race in Ansan, South Korea and Zhuhai, China but never went. Now, IndyCar is struggling to finalize their deal with Qingdao, China. It seems the new mayor of Qingdao does not agree with the August 19 date like the previous mayor did. There are talks to either push China until after Fontana, remove it from the schedule completely and run a new race or work out a deal to get this race run on the scheduled date. August 19 is the day after the American Le Mans series races at Road America and many have Road America as the favorite to be that "plan B" if Qingdao does not happen.
My Take: While many fans do not agree with the China race, I kind of do. It makes financial sense for the series and by racing in Qingdao, the series would make anywhere from an estimated $8-10 million dollars. Removing it from the schedule would be a massive financial blow. A best case scenario could be this: Qingdao gets pushed to September 30th and becomes the final race of the season. This would create a three week gap between Mid-Ohio and Sonoma. IndyCar ends up going to Road America and we have 17 races. Also, could we start Qingdao at 10pm in China? A new night street race in China could then be shown in the late morning in the eastern part of the United States and be a breakfast special for those living on the US Pacific. Another scenario, China gets pushed to September 30th, becomes a non-championship round so the season can end in the United States at Fontana and Road America takes the August 19th date and becomes he 16th points-paying event.
Predicitions
I will predict that Texas will be a duel between Scott Dixon and Marco Andretti for the win. Honda will have a slight advantage again on this oval like they did at Indianapolis but the top 10 will be split even five-to-five. Oriol Servia continues his string of impressive finishes. The series will allow Simona de Silvestro to race until the field catches her and they may even let her race for longer after that if she is a hazard. Graham Rahal gets a well earned top 5. James Hinchcliffe rebounds after a tough break, literally, at Detroit and Josef Newgarden gets a top 10. Sleeper: Ed Carpenter.
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