The second race from the Houston doubleheader will mark IndyCar's one hundredth race since reunification prior to the 2008 season. A lot has changed since then.
Emotions have gone up and down. Tracks have come and gone as have drivers and CEOs. IndyCar has seen some highs and lows since reunification. I don't think the series is how we would have pictured it that late February day when it was announced the IRL and Champ Car would merge but I don't think anyone could have seen what has happened over the last five and a half years.
When the series merged, IndyCar was only on ABC and ESPN. Dario Franchitti was driving a stock car and Sébastien Bourdais was in Formula One. Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden were racing head-to-head in Skip Barber and Minardi was alive and well. Champ Car was scheduled for races Zolder, Jerez and Assen, Cleveland was alive and well as was Portland and Road America. IndyCar had dates at Richmond, Chicagoland and Nashville. No one in IndyCar knew who Randy Bernard was. Milka Duno was coming off a runner up finish in the IRL Rookie of the Year standings. The likes of Darren Manning, Vitor Meira, Buddy Rice and AJ Foyt IV were all full-time fixtures on the grid. Sarah Fisher had yet to become a car owner, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy had yet to become full-time TV personalities, the Atlantic Series was alive and Austin, Texas meant nothing to the motorsports world.
Since then, NBCSN has become IndyCar's home with Leigh Diffey leading the way as the series' voice. Not only is Franchitti not in a stock car any more but Juan Pablo Montoya is on his way back to single-seaters. IndyCar barely leaves the western hemisphere let alone make trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific road trips. Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden are the future of American open-wheel racing. I have no idea where Minardi is. Portland and Road America's absence eats at us everyday, same as Richmond and Chicagoland and everyone misses Phoenix and Michigan. Pocono has returned as has Fontana. The series has two engine manufactures, each turbocharged. Dallara remains the sole chassis supplier but body work is open to be constructed by anyone. Toronto now has two races and the likes of Rubens Barrichello, Jean Alesi, Lucas Luhr, Ho Pin Tung, Stanton Barrett, Takuma Sato and Bryan Clauson have all driven an IndyCar.
Things probably aren't the way we saw them going but that has two meanings. I bet no one saw Pocono or Fontana ever returning to the IndyCar schedule that day in 2008. Yet I am sure no one ever thought it would be pushing over half a decade since IndyCars flew around Road America, dove into turn one at Cleveland and made a trek to the Gold Coast. But I am sure no one picture the racing we have seen over the past two seasons or saw the likes of Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Marco Andretti, Simon Pagenaud and Charlie Kimball all competing up front for wins week in and week out.
We are still dreaming of the day of a series that runs at Phoenix, Road America, Michigan, Cleveland, Watkins Glen and Richmond as well as the current slate of IndyCar races. We dream of a day of peace, togetherness and harmony and the day when the future of the series is secure year in and year out. However, IndyCar is still here. Despite all the hard times and the heart ache and the disappointments. It is still here. Despite all the hell, IndyCar is still here, people are still interested and though you could probably come up with a reason why the series will die sooner rather than later, the series will probably still be around for many more years to come.
Think about it, there is one American open-wheel series. That was a huge step for everyone. No worrying that a driver won't end up in either of the top two American open-wheel series. No worrying that a dozen talented drivers won't be at Indianapolis because there is a street race somewhere during Indianapolis 500 qualifying. No more races going head-to-head on television. IndyCar has been united for over five years. This should be celebrated especially after the hell that was 1996-2007.
Since we are approaching the one hundredth race, I have decided to list my top ten races since reunification.
10. Watkins Glen 2009
In a year that was dominated by Penske and Ganassi, this race made up for it. The same way McLaren dominated the 1988 Formula One season but Ferrari stole the show at Monza, Dale Coyne Racing stole the show at Watkins Glen. The team had never won in their twenty-five year history but Justin Wilson changed all that, spanking the field by leading 47 of 60 laps.
9. Watkins Glen 2008
The year before Wilson's dominance, Penske and Ganassi found a way to take each other out under caution. Ryan Briscoe had led most of the race but Darren Manning found himself in the lead driving for AJ Foyt Racing. Under caution, Scott Dixon spun while running second and Briscoe got in the back of the Kiwi dropping both out of contention with a dozen laps to go. This set up for a Darren Manning-Ryan Hunter-Reay shootout. Hunter-Reay took the lead with nine to go and held off Manning to win. It is the last IndyCar win to date for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
8. Motegi 2009
Ryan Briscoe had the championship won. His name was being stenciled on the trophy but he lost it on cold tires exiting the pit lane. This, along with a Scott Dixon-Dario Franchitti 1-2 finish opened the door for a three-way fight for the title at Homestead where Dario Franchitti went on to win the title in his return season to IndyCar and his first of three consecutive titles. Not to forget mentioning the Newman-Haas entries of Graham Rahal and Oriol Servià gave the Ganassi drivers a fight late.
7. Baltimore 2012
In a race that saw changing weather conditions and a driver going for it all to keep his championship hopes alive, Ryan Hunter-Reay pulled off an impressive victory holding off the charging Ryan Briscoe and Simon Pagenaud. Will Power had all the chances in the world to clinch his first championship but after changing to wet weather tires, Hunter-Reay staying out on slick was a pivotal moment in the championship. Anyone from Power to Takuma Sato to Pagenaud to Briscoe could have won that day but Hunter-Reay held on to win that race and would go on to take the championship at Fontana.
6. São Paulo 2010
The first ever race at São Paulo went from dry to flooded in a matter of laps. Ryan Hunter-Reay had a part time deal with Andretti Autosport and his debut performance for the team was only a sign of the things to come. When the race became wet and was red flagged for track flooding, Hunter-Reay took charged from Dario Franchitti. Late in the race it became a three horse battle between Hunter-Reay, Power and Briscoe. Briscoe put it in the tires with a handful of laps to go creating a two horse fight. Power would get by Hunter-Reay in final corner with four laps to go but, like I said before, this race was just a sign of things to come for Hunter-Reay.
5. Indianapolis 2013
This year's Indianapolis 500 saw a record pace, record amount of lead changes and a popular winner. The amount of lead changes may seem watered down but no one knew who was going to win. Anyone from Ed Carpenter to Marco Andretti to Ryan Hunter-Reay to rookie Carlos Muñoz could have won that day. But Tony Kanaan went for it when he had to and came out on top, finally getting his face put on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
4. Texas 2012
Scott Dixon had this race won before he had a suspension failure end his day and opened the door. Will Power looked to be in perfect position until he blocked Tony Kanaan and was black-flagged. After that, it appeared Graham Rahal was finally going to get his second career win but after brushing the wall coming to the white flag, Justin Wilson was able to get around Rahal and pick up a surprise victory for himself and Dale Coyne while Rahal limped home in second with Ryan Briscoe, James Hinchcliffe, JR Hildebrand and Simon Pagenaud rounding out the drivers to finish on the lead lap.
3. Indianapolis 2012
The first oval race for the DW12 chassis saw Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato charge from mid-pack to create a wild finish. After getting by Tony Kanaan on a late restart, the three Hondas went head-to-head-to-head. Sato made a dive bomb on Dixon to get second with two to go. Heading into turn one on the final lap, Sato made the same move for the lead on Franchitti and this time he ended in the wall as Dario Franchitti picked up his third Indianapolis 500 victory.
2. São Paulo 2013
After a pretty sloppy first act of this race, act two didn't disappoint. Coming off his first career win at Long Beach, Takuma Sato was set to go back-to-back but a hard charging Josef Newgarden was doing his all to get his first career win. After a few questionable moves by Sato to keep Newgarden behind him, James Hinchcliffe got by Newgarden and was all over Sato for four laps. In the final corner of the race Hinchcliffe made an over-under move on Sato to take the lead down the stretch and pick up his second race win of 2013 and second of the Canadian's IndyCar career.
1. Indianapolis 2011
It appeared Ganassi Racing had this race won from early on but the team had problems calculating fuel mileage all month. This bit them in the race as other teams figured out how to hit it perfectly and it opened the door for a who's who of possible winners. At one point, Danica Patrick looked in position to take the win but couldn't make it and then all of sudden Bertrand Baguette and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as a one-off was in a position to steal the show in the centennial Indianapolis 500. Unfortunately for the Belgian, he was not able to stretch his fuel far enough. This put JR Hildebrand in the perfect position to win the Indianapolis 500 in his first career Indianapolis 500. As Hildebrand took the white flag, it seemed guaranteed the Californian was going to do it. As he caught a fuel saving Charlie Kimball in turn four, Hildebrand got into the marbles and slide into the wall. But no one knew who second was, let alone where second was. It appeared Hildebrand was going to win with only two tires intact but out of nowhere Dan Wheldon blew by to win his second Indianapolis 500 in a one-off entry with Bryan Herta Autosport.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Thoughts From The Racing Weekend September 28-29
NASCAR at Dover, MotoGP at Aragón, DTM at Zandvoort, final Grand-Am race at Lime Rock, World Superbike at Laguna Seca and some other thoughts that popped in my head during this busy racing weekend.
1. Jimmie Johnson won at Dover. No real surprise. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. Matt Kenseth finished in seventh and is still the points leader but by eight. Dover should only have one NASCAR race weekend. I wouldn't mind if it's only race was in the Chase either. Actually, besides Charlotte, Talladega and Martinsville, the other seven races in the Chase should be a tracks only Cup race. It would give the fans in those area an "important" race to go to, a track would have the first nine months of the year to promote their Chase race and all the drivers are seeing the track for the first time.
2. Marc Márquez is running away with Racer of the Year. The MotoGP rookie has six wins, has finished on the podium for every race but Mugello where he fell while running second with a handful of laps to go. He is spanking his veteran teammate, he is spanking the defending champion. How depressing it must be for Dani Pedrosa that he has been in MotoGP for eight years as a Honda factory rider and it looks like three different teammates have won title on the same bike he has been on and he has naught. Hell he nearly cost Nicky Hayden the 2006 World Championship.
Speaking of Spaniards, what the hell is in the water in Spain that make them such good bike riders? Spaniards have won 13 of 13 Moto3 races, 9 of 13 Moto2 races and 13 of 14 MotoGP races.
3. Mike Rockenfeller clinched the 2013 DTM title with a second place finish at Zandvoort. Augusto Farfus won the race could not manage to stay within twenty-five points of Rockenfeller. It's Rockenfeller's first DTM title adding it to a résumé that includes overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona and Nürburgring, class victories at Le Mans and Spa 24 Hours and 2008 European Le Mans Series championship. All that before the age of 30.
The race today reminded me how great Zandvoort is. Rumors are DTM maybe not return in 2014 and I hope that is not true. Now DTM takes three weeks off before their season finale at Hockenheim.
4. The final Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series took place at Lime Rock on Saturday and Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli won the race and the final DP championship. Seems like yesterday when the Daytona Prototype was introduced to the world but it was a decade ago. Despite their appearance and lack of shear speed, the Daytona Prototype provided some memorable racing. The one moment that will stick out in my mind was Miller Motorsports Park in 2007. Three teams could've won the title, Alex Gurney/Jon Fogerty, Scott Pruett and Angelelli all entered as possible champions for a 1000km race. It was a hard fought race, Angelelli's title hopes ended in flames and Gurney/Fogerty held off Pruett for their first title by two points. Then there was Montreal 2008. Darren Law runs out of fuel coming to the finish line as Antonio García and Mark Wilkins split him with Wilkins going from third to first to get him and Brian Frisselle their first career victories. I was fortunate enough to see Grand-Am at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2008 and 2009. One in the heat of Labor Day weekend and the other in a non-stop rain storm in early May. Both were enjoyable.
Congratulations to Alessandro Balzan winning the GT title and Jim Norman in GX.
5. World Superbike was at Laguna Seca and sadly I feel most of you reading this didn't even know. Tom Sykes won race one and finished fourth in race two to extend his point lead to twenty-three with two rounds to go. Eugene Laverty won race two at Laguna Seca and has won three of the last four. He finished third in race one and jumped into second in the points pass Sylvain Guitoli who finished fifth in both races. Three Americans participated in the Superbike races. Roger Lee Hayden retired and finished eight, Blake Young finished twelfth in both races and Danny Eslick retired and finished fourteenth. Eslick and Hayden were entered on Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzukis.
6. The Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial Street Circuit in New Jersey has been put on the provisional 2014 Formula One calendar. It has been scheduled for June 1st, one week after the Indianapolis 500 and traditionally the weekend NASCAR races at Dover. Dover and Port Imperial are 163 miles apart. I hope NASCAR either runs the Cup race on Saturday or moves Dover to another date in the season and runs another race that weekend. It would hurt both events if New Jersey and Dover went head-to-head the same day. My suggestion would be to flip Kentucky and Dover so NASCAR can run Saturday night and not hinder Formula One.
But in all honesty, all series should work to make sure these races don't conflict in the future. IndyCar is at Belle Isle that weekend for their doubleheader and I bet that race will end up on ABC like the previous two years and New Jersey will end up on NBC. I cannot imagine anyone getting a good rating if IndyCar is on ABC, Formula One on NBC and NASCAR on Fox.
7. Shocker, a full-time Cup driver won the Nationwide race. Joey Logano got another victory and Sam Hornish, Jr.'s point lead is down to four over Austin Dillon with five races to go. In the Truck Series Timothy Peters won at Las Vegas while Matt Crafton's point lead is forty-one points over James Buescher with five races to go.
8. Been thinking about IndyCar's road course and oval championships. Why not reward those champions with 100 points? It would make them worth something, add a wrinkle to the championship that wouldn't be a Chase and would've liven up this year's championship. For example, Scott Dixon trails Helio Castroneves by forty-nine points but leads the road course championship. Imagine if he were to win the road course championship? He'd likely overtake Castroneves but don't forget the oval championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves are tied but Hunter-Reay owns the tiebreaker with two runner-up finishes to Castroneves' one. Hunter-Reay is only seventy-four makers back. Should he hold on, he could take the championship.
I know many of you will think it would be gimmicky (which most of the time is a way for people say they disagree with something) but would it be? It would be reward a driver or drivers for being the best at a track discipline. It's not resetting the field after a certain amount of races. It isn't setting a starting grid by drivers turning around tires. It's a justifiably earned award. Just because it hasn't been done since the beginning of time doesn't mean it'd be wrong to do. Just a thought.
Think about this, Castroneves could win the title with only one victory this season. Remember when Matt Kenseth won the Winston Cup with one victory? That's how we got the Chase and seeing as how the man currently in charge of IndyCar Mark Miles is willing to try new stuff, why rule out wouldn't consider a Chase format. Would you rather have a Chase or the road course and oval champions being rewarded?
9. Believe it or not, next week there is an IndyCar race. As well as Formula One from Korea, NASCAR from Kansas, American Le Mans at VIR. The racing season is coming to a close and it feels like it started yesterday.
10. One additional thought: Marty Reid has been fired by ESPN. While I have been critical of ABC's IndyCar booth, it tough to hear anyone has been fired but it's part of business and when it has to happen, you have to pull the trigger. I don't know what this will mean for the IndyCar crew going forward but after thinking about it Sunday night, here is what I came up with:
If Reid is gone, maybe it's time to completely shake up ABC's IndyCar booth. A lot of people have been throwing Vince Welch's name to take over for Reid but I said it before, for the Indianapolis 500 and the remaining IndyCar races, ABC should put their best motorsports announcer on the job and that's Allen Bestwick. I know he doesn't have an IndyCar background but if their is anyone who could step in and learn and do the best job possible, it's Bestwick. I like Welch but he should stay on the pit lane. If anything, give Welch lead commentator for most of the Nationwide Series races next year.
As for the rest of the booth, it needs fresh blood. Scott Goodyear has been around for a while but I think he gave over a decade of good work and it's time to go in another direction. Eddie Cheever hasn't been around nearly as long but same thing. Watch a NASCAR broadcast, Bestwick brings out the best of Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. That booth works togethers but if Bestwick were to come to IndyCar he needs guys who are more open and well articulate. I immediately though of Scott Sharp. He's a good speaker, is an IndyCar champion and I think would fit well in a booth.
The other guy I'd call would be Alex Lloyd. It's hurt to believe Lloyd is only 28 and his IndyCar career appears over. It's sad because he is a talented driver and would do well if given the right situation. If you follow Lloyd on Twitter, you know he's not afraid to shy away from making a comment and that is something ABC's booth has needed the last few years. Lloyd has been in an IndyCar recently and that knowledge would only benefit a broadcast.
The one concern I have with both Sharp and Lloyd is they have lacked any booth experience. Townsend Bell would be a great choice if ABC were to get him on loan for a few races but I feel he would rather take and will probably have a one-off ready to go for Indianapolis and won't be thinking about broadcasting that race. The other ABC races, should a loan be manageable, would make sense for Bell. Another driver with some broadcast experience that should be considered is Sam Hornish, Jr. If he doesn't have a Cup ride in 2014, he could do the Indianapolis 500 broadcast. He was insightful on SpeedCenter and really has opened up over his years in racing.
That's just my take. I don't expect a decision to be made on ABC's IndyCar crew until March at the earliest. Just throwing my two cents out.
1. Jimmie Johnson won at Dover. No real surprise. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. Matt Kenseth finished in seventh and is still the points leader but by eight. Dover should only have one NASCAR race weekend. I wouldn't mind if it's only race was in the Chase either. Actually, besides Charlotte, Talladega and Martinsville, the other seven races in the Chase should be a tracks only Cup race. It would give the fans in those area an "important" race to go to, a track would have the first nine months of the year to promote their Chase race and all the drivers are seeing the track for the first time.
2. Marc Márquez is running away with Racer of the Year. The MotoGP rookie has six wins, has finished on the podium for every race but Mugello where he fell while running second with a handful of laps to go. He is spanking his veteran teammate, he is spanking the defending champion. How depressing it must be for Dani Pedrosa that he has been in MotoGP for eight years as a Honda factory rider and it looks like three different teammates have won title on the same bike he has been on and he has naught. Hell he nearly cost Nicky Hayden the 2006 World Championship.
Speaking of Spaniards, what the hell is in the water in Spain that make them such good bike riders? Spaniards have won 13 of 13 Moto3 races, 9 of 13 Moto2 races and 13 of 14 MotoGP races.
3. Mike Rockenfeller clinched the 2013 DTM title with a second place finish at Zandvoort. Augusto Farfus won the race could not manage to stay within twenty-five points of Rockenfeller. It's Rockenfeller's first DTM title adding it to a résumé that includes overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona and Nürburgring, class victories at Le Mans and Spa 24 Hours and 2008 European Le Mans Series championship. All that before the age of 30.
The race today reminded me how great Zandvoort is. Rumors are DTM maybe not return in 2014 and I hope that is not true. Now DTM takes three weeks off before their season finale at Hockenheim.
4. The final Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series took place at Lime Rock on Saturday and Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli won the race and the final DP championship. Seems like yesterday when the Daytona Prototype was introduced to the world but it was a decade ago. Despite their appearance and lack of shear speed, the Daytona Prototype provided some memorable racing. The one moment that will stick out in my mind was Miller Motorsports Park in 2007. Three teams could've won the title, Alex Gurney/Jon Fogerty, Scott Pruett and Angelelli all entered as possible champions for a 1000km race. It was a hard fought race, Angelelli's title hopes ended in flames and Gurney/Fogerty held off Pruett for their first title by two points. Then there was Montreal 2008. Darren Law runs out of fuel coming to the finish line as Antonio García and Mark Wilkins split him with Wilkins going from third to first to get him and Brian Frisselle their first career victories. I was fortunate enough to see Grand-Am at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2008 and 2009. One in the heat of Labor Day weekend and the other in a non-stop rain storm in early May. Both were enjoyable.
Congratulations to Alessandro Balzan winning the GT title and Jim Norman in GX.
5. World Superbike was at Laguna Seca and sadly I feel most of you reading this didn't even know. Tom Sykes won race one and finished fourth in race two to extend his point lead to twenty-three with two rounds to go. Eugene Laverty won race two at Laguna Seca and has won three of the last four. He finished third in race one and jumped into second in the points pass Sylvain Guitoli who finished fifth in both races. Three Americans participated in the Superbike races. Roger Lee Hayden retired and finished eight, Blake Young finished twelfth in both races and Danny Eslick retired and finished fourteenth. Eslick and Hayden were entered on Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzukis.
6. The Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial Street Circuit in New Jersey has been put on the provisional 2014 Formula One calendar. It has been scheduled for June 1st, one week after the Indianapolis 500 and traditionally the weekend NASCAR races at Dover. Dover and Port Imperial are 163 miles apart. I hope NASCAR either runs the Cup race on Saturday or moves Dover to another date in the season and runs another race that weekend. It would hurt both events if New Jersey and Dover went head-to-head the same day. My suggestion would be to flip Kentucky and Dover so NASCAR can run Saturday night and not hinder Formula One.
But in all honesty, all series should work to make sure these races don't conflict in the future. IndyCar is at Belle Isle that weekend for their doubleheader and I bet that race will end up on ABC like the previous two years and New Jersey will end up on NBC. I cannot imagine anyone getting a good rating if IndyCar is on ABC, Formula One on NBC and NASCAR on Fox.
7. Shocker, a full-time Cup driver won the Nationwide race. Joey Logano got another victory and Sam Hornish, Jr.'s point lead is down to four over Austin Dillon with five races to go. In the Truck Series Timothy Peters won at Las Vegas while Matt Crafton's point lead is forty-one points over James Buescher with five races to go.
8. Been thinking about IndyCar's road course and oval championships. Why not reward those champions with 100 points? It would make them worth something, add a wrinkle to the championship that wouldn't be a Chase and would've liven up this year's championship. For example, Scott Dixon trails Helio Castroneves by forty-nine points but leads the road course championship. Imagine if he were to win the road course championship? He'd likely overtake Castroneves but don't forget the oval championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves are tied but Hunter-Reay owns the tiebreaker with two runner-up finishes to Castroneves' one. Hunter-Reay is only seventy-four makers back. Should he hold on, he could take the championship.
I know many of you will think it would be gimmicky (which most of the time is a way for people say they disagree with something) but would it be? It would be reward a driver or drivers for being the best at a track discipline. It's not resetting the field after a certain amount of races. It isn't setting a starting grid by drivers turning around tires. It's a justifiably earned award. Just because it hasn't been done since the beginning of time doesn't mean it'd be wrong to do. Just a thought.
Think about this, Castroneves could win the title with only one victory this season. Remember when Matt Kenseth won the Winston Cup with one victory? That's how we got the Chase and seeing as how the man currently in charge of IndyCar Mark Miles is willing to try new stuff, why rule out wouldn't consider a Chase format. Would you rather have a Chase or the road course and oval champions being rewarded?
9. Believe it or not, next week there is an IndyCar race. As well as Formula One from Korea, NASCAR from Kansas, American Le Mans at VIR. The racing season is coming to a close and it feels like it started yesterday.
10. One additional thought: Marty Reid has been fired by ESPN. While I have been critical of ABC's IndyCar booth, it tough to hear anyone has been fired but it's part of business and when it has to happen, you have to pull the trigger. I don't know what this will mean for the IndyCar crew going forward but after thinking about it Sunday night, here is what I came up with:
If Reid is gone, maybe it's time to completely shake up ABC's IndyCar booth. A lot of people have been throwing Vince Welch's name to take over for Reid but I said it before, for the Indianapolis 500 and the remaining IndyCar races, ABC should put their best motorsports announcer on the job and that's Allen Bestwick. I know he doesn't have an IndyCar background but if their is anyone who could step in and learn and do the best job possible, it's Bestwick. I like Welch but he should stay on the pit lane. If anything, give Welch lead commentator for most of the Nationwide Series races next year.
As for the rest of the booth, it needs fresh blood. Scott Goodyear has been around for a while but I think he gave over a decade of good work and it's time to go in another direction. Eddie Cheever hasn't been around nearly as long but same thing. Watch a NASCAR broadcast, Bestwick brings out the best of Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. That booth works togethers but if Bestwick were to come to IndyCar he needs guys who are more open and well articulate. I immediately though of Scott Sharp. He's a good speaker, is an IndyCar champion and I think would fit well in a booth.
The other guy I'd call would be Alex Lloyd. It's hurt to believe Lloyd is only 28 and his IndyCar career appears over. It's sad because he is a talented driver and would do well if given the right situation. If you follow Lloyd on Twitter, you know he's not afraid to shy away from making a comment and that is something ABC's booth has needed the last few years. Lloyd has been in an IndyCar recently and that knowledge would only benefit a broadcast.
The one concern I have with both Sharp and Lloyd is they have lacked any booth experience. Townsend Bell would be a great choice if ABC were to get him on loan for a few races but I feel he would rather take and will probably have a one-off ready to go for Indianapolis and won't be thinking about broadcasting that race. The other ABC races, should a loan be manageable, would make sense for Bell. Another driver with some broadcast experience that should be considered is Sam Hornish, Jr. If he doesn't have a Cup ride in 2014, he could do the Indianapolis 500 broadcast. He was insightful on SpeedCenter and really has opened up over his years in racing.
That's just my take. I don't expect a decision to be made on ABC's IndyCar crew until March at the earliest. Just throwing my two cents out.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
So I Saw Rush Yesterday
When I first heard the rumors Ron Howard was exploring making a movie based on the 1976 Formula One season and the rivalry of James Hunt and Niki Lauda years ago I thought it was complete bulls***. Why would an American director make a Formula One movie especially if he has no interest in Formula One? I thought it sounded nice but probably was never going to happen.
But it did happen, despite all my previous convictions of why this movie wouldn't. And thank goodness this movie did happen. Arguably an all-star line-up of people behind the scenes with Howard as director, screen writer Peter Morgan who wrote The Queen, Frost/Nixon and The Damned United to name a few and the score composed by Hans Zimmer who résumé includes The Lion King, Gladiator, The Dark Knight and Inception, the film had all the piece off screen to make for a great movie. The on-screen talent did not disappoint either. It wasn't an all-star cast of award winners but it was the right cast. Most have not heard of Daniel Brühl unless they have seen Inglourious Basterds or on an off chance saw Good Bye Lenin! but he nailed the role of Lauda. Chris Hemsworth fits into the role of the playboy James Hunt so well and together the Hemsworth-Brühl combination portrays the rivalry as if the actors themselves hated each other.
The movie develops into the 1976 season. From each starting in Formula Three to Hunt's early days at Hesketh and Lauda's season at BRM. The one underlying theme in the movie and rightfully so is money. Both came from it, both needed it and that is true more now than ever for those in racing. Even as glorious as racing seemed in the 1970s, it was the start of commercialization of F1. Gone are the British racing green Lotus, hello John Player. Big sponsors created the dominant teams, Tyrrell had Elf, McLaren had Marlboro, Brabham had Martini and that is still true today. Hesketh could give Hunt a car capable of running up front on occasion but ultimately money kept Hunt from competing at the top full time with Hesketh. Rush creates a great Formula One trilogy with Grand Prix and Senna, from the simple but dangerous days of the 1960s to Rush and the start of Formula One becoming the money machine in the 1970s to the 1980s and 1990s when Formula One had firmly established it's place on the global stage.
Rush has the feel of both Grand Prix and Senna. Unlike recent racing films, Rush is shot like Grand Prix and Le Mans. You can feel as if you are actually on-board a car riding along. The speed feels real and in this day of everything being computer generated, thank God. The music, when it's not a sampling of some of the great rock from the 1970s, immediately reminded me of Senna. The beautiful instrumental pieces that complement a scene so well. Even some of the flashbacks in Rush will remind you of the flashbacks of Senna's career during his funeral.
Finally, if there is one thing Rush has made me realize is we will never see a movie as well made as Grand Prix ever again. When you watch Rush, forget everything you know about F1, the 1976 season, what each race track looks like and the so on. You may realize Circuit Paul Ricard looks a lot like Brands Hatch. Deal with it. The same is true with some other places but no one would have approved a budget to allow Howard to go to each and every track from the 1976 season. As much as I would have loved to see the actual Watkins Glen and the actual Monza, you mind as well have bought HRT before they closed shop and ran a full season filming a movie based off the HRT teams experience. That's how much it would have of cost.
Grand Prix was filmed at the right time when it was possible to follow the Formula One road show. Not to mention how easier it was, due to the amount of races. Following the F1 across nine rounds, with the first seven occurring in Europe and final two in the US and Mexico is much easier than having to recreate a sixteen race schedule that goes from Brazil to South Africa to the US to Europe for ten rounds, back to North America for Canada and Watkins Glen and then to Japan. Not to forget mentioning most tracks don't look the same way as they did in 1976. Interlagos has changed, Kyalami has drastically changed, Zandvoort is completely different. The only tracks that remotely resemble what they looked like in 1976 are Mosport, Watkins Glen, Brands Hatch, the Nordschleife part of the Nürburgring and maybe Anderstorp and Zolder. Grand Prix benefited from having all of Formula One being on board. Where else can you find a piece of video with Bruce McLaren, Jochen Rindt, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill all in the same room? Grand Prix, in a sense, was real but the results of the 1966 season was fictionalize.
I'm not sure where Rush goes on the list of all-time great racing movies. ESPN/Grantland's Bill Simmons said it was his favorite sports movies in years. I agree with him about that, especially when it comes to recent racing films, but when it comes to the all-time great racing movies it will need some time. Here is what it will come down to: In five years when it's a rainy Saturday in early March or Christmas Day and I need something to fill the time between opening presents and dinner, what racing movie will I grab? As of today, Grand Prix is still on top. Le Mans is second and the rest of the list gets a little bunched up. I think it'd take Rush over Winning but I'm not sure if I'd take it over Senna. If it's Christmas and my nieces are over then Cars will probably be selected and I would oblige (Turbo will not be on the shelf in case you are wondering). If anything, it is a good thing that I have so many options.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
2014 IndyCar Schedule Update #8
A IndyCar race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course will happen in 2014. The board of directors approved the race Thursday afternoon and the race is scheduled to take place in May prior to the Indianapolis 500. It is believed the race weekend will take place May 8-10th, the Saturday before Mother's Day. More details on the race are to be announced Tuesday October 1st.
In other news, the series is monitoring the situation off the Brazil race and is working on alternatives. In an article on Racer.com by Marshall Pruett, it is stated IndyCar "is working on a second option in Brazil if the current event doesn't go forward because the market is very important for us and our partners."
Seeing as how IndyCar will now be running a race on the IMS road course, any Brazilian race would likely happen at another point in the season. The inaugural São Paulo Indy 300 took place in March and since then have either taken place in late-April or early-May.
An interesting comment was made over the future of Fontana on the IndyCar schedule. On Tuesday night's edition of Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, Daily Bulletin sportswriter Louis Brewster reported that Auto Club Speedway track president Gillian Zucker has had no talks with IndyCar over a date change in 2014. Brewster also reported that this year's IndyCar race at Fontana (which will take place five weeks later than in 2012) has sold 8,000 more tickets than the 2012 season finale.
Updated mock 2014 schedule (confirmed dates in bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 16-17th (holding out the possibility of a Saturday night event due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
In other news, the series is monitoring the situation off the Brazil race and is working on alternatives. In an article on Racer.com by Marshall Pruett, it is stated IndyCar "is working on a second option in Brazil if the current event doesn't go forward because the market is very important for us and our partners."
Seeing as how IndyCar will now be running a race on the IMS road course, any Brazilian race would likely happen at another point in the season. The inaugural São Paulo Indy 300 took place in March and since then have either taken place in late-April or early-May.
An interesting comment was made over the future of Fontana on the IndyCar schedule. On Tuesday night's edition of Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, Daily Bulletin sportswriter Louis Brewster reported that Auto Club Speedway track president Gillian Zucker has had no talks with IndyCar over a date change in 2014. Brewster also reported that this year's IndyCar race at Fontana (which will take place five weeks later than in 2012) has sold 8,000 more tickets than the 2012 season finale.
Updated mock 2014 schedule (confirmed dates in bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 16-17th (holding out the possibility of a Saturday night event due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
Though reportedly there have been no talks between Fontana and IndyCar over a date change, all signs are pointing toward one. Still a month gap between Long Beach and the IMS road course race. April 20th is Easter. Could São Paulo, or any Brazilian race for that manner, take places April 27th? Maybe. Should the São Paulo sambadrome circuit return in 2014 and move to the start of the season, the race will have to take place some time before or after February 28-March 4th. That is the weekend of Carnival. Seeing as Carnival has it's own set time, that would point to an IndyCar race after Carnival, if one were to happen at all.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
2014 IndyCar Schedule Update #7
Well we are at the lucky seventh update for the 2014 schedule and it involves everyones favorite track and track president... or maybe not.
Texas Motor Speedway will return as the series and the track have signed a one year deal with the track and will make it eighteen consecutive years at the one and a half mile oval. The twist to this Texas race will be an additional twenty laps, bringing the total race distance to 600km. In 2001, CART was scheduled to run a 600km race at Texas before the race was cancelled after qualifying due to high g-loads were causing vertigo-like symptoms.
The Texas race will be run Saturday June 7th.
Robin Miller reported today that the Houston might be a single race weekend in 2014 with St. Petersburg still become a doubleheader to begin the season. No word yet on Brazil's future. It could end up before St. Petersburg, it could hold it's late-April/early-May date. That race is still up in the air. The board at Indianapolis Motor Speedway still has to approve a IndyCar road course race at the track and a decision on that race should be coming any day now. Miller also reported some talks about possible 2015 races but I will touch on that at a later date.
Mock 2014 schedule (confirmed races are bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 16-17th (holding out the possibility of a Saturday night event due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
Texas Motor Speedway will return as the series and the track have signed a one year deal with the track and will make it eighteen consecutive years at the one and a half mile oval. The twist to this Texas race will be an additional twenty laps, bringing the total race distance to 600km. In 2001, CART was scheduled to run a 600km race at Texas before the race was cancelled after qualifying due to high g-loads were causing vertigo-like symptoms.
The Texas race will be run Saturday June 7th.
Robin Miller reported today that the Houston might be a single race weekend in 2014 with St. Petersburg still become a doubleheader to begin the season. No word yet on Brazil's future. It could end up before St. Petersburg, it could hold it's late-April/early-May date. That race is still up in the air. The board at Indianapolis Motor Speedway still has to approve a IndyCar road course race at the track and a decision on that race should be coming any day now. Miller also reported some talks about possible 2015 races but I will touch on that at a later date.
Mock 2014 schedule (confirmed races are bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 16-17th (holding out the possibility of a Saturday night event due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
No big changes other than I have reduced Houston to either a Saturday night or Sunday single race weekend. I have no idea if Houston will be a night race but it will be in the middle of summer, it has been a night race before and it would make sense not to run that race in the middle of the summer heat and humidity. There is a month long gap between Long Beach and the possible IMS road course race. No new races are being added to the IndyCar schedule, no races are moving. There will likely be a month long gap from Easter until the beginning of a May.
Thoughts From the Racing Weekend September 21-22
Had sometime to digest the racing weekend. From NASCAR to Formula One, World Endurance Championship to USAC, a lot of action took place.
1. Let's start with Formula One at Singapore. Sebastian Vettel put down a dominating performance. Another grand chelem for the German, leading every lap from pole position. Say all you want about him having the best car and he wouldn't be able to do what he has been doing at McLaren. That may be but going through what he has done, it isn't just the car. Scoring a point in race one, in a substitute role for an injured Robert Kubica at Indianapolis. Then going to Scuderia Toro Rosso where neither Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed couldn't score to qualifying in the top ten, running up front and leading the monsoon that was the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix before getting into Mark Webber and ending both their days. Then he received a five spot penalty in qualifying at China, dropping him to 17th. All he did in the race was give STR their best finish in Formula One with a fourth.
In 2008, Vettel was the number two at STR to Sébastien Bourdais. All he would do is outscore his French teammate by thirty-one points (back when points went 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1), scoring in half the races and pulling off a pole and win in another monsoon at Monza. Then the promotion to Red Bull where he picked up the teams first victory and pole... in the rain of course... in China. Three more poles, three more victories and finished second in points to Jenson Button by eleven points. Following year Vettel made an improbably comeback from thirty-four back entering the final five races. He went out to win three, finishing second in another and if his engine didn't go sour late while leading at Korea he would have won the final four rounds. I don't think I need to go on. Vettel may be obnoxious and not a team player but he is arguably the most talent driver in the world, let alone Formula One.
2. Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch are on place to finish 1-2 in every Chase race and look to give Toyota their first NASCAR Sprint Cup title. It has quickly become a three horse battle between the Gibbs drivers and Jimmie Johnson as eighteen points cover the top three and fourth place Carl Edwards thirty-six back of Kenseth. After the headache that was the two weeks prior to New Hampshire, it has gotten better but it won't go away. NAPA is leaving Michael Waltrip Racing, 5-Hour Energy won't make a decision until a later time and Aaron's is staying on board. Truex is free to look for a ride while Bowyer's role remains safe at the team. This won't be end before the season is over
In Nationwide news, Nationwide will be leaving as title sponsor after the 2014 season. Even when a Cup driver isn't entered, a driver ineligible for Nationwide title won... again. Ryan Blaney won his first career race on Saturday night beating Austin Dilon, Truck points leader Matt Crafton and Sam Hornish. Hornish leads Dillon by fifteen with six to go.
3. Audi won again in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval picked up their third victory of 2013 in the first race held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The Toyota of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin had the lead late before having to make their final pit stop. Audi has won each of the five races in the WEC season. Mike Conway, John Martin and Roman Rusinov has won back-to-back rounds as Conway is looking for the Texas hat-trick should he sweep the doubleheader IndyCar weekend at Houston. Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni took the GT points lead, three ahead of Porsche drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz.
Aston Martin swept the GT classes at Austin with Bruno Senna and Frédéric Makowiecki taking GTE Pro and Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart Hall taking their second consecutive GTE Am win.
4. You know, with the NASCAR season ending on November 17th and WEC running Bahrain on November 30th and Toyota has an extra TS030 in the stable and they're rolling it out for Fuji. Why not roll it out for an all-star team of Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and team them with either Kazuki Nakajima or Alexander Wurz. Kyle Busch never tested that Formula One car like he was suppose to. Let's make this happen. The banquet is the following week. Let's see what they can do in an LMP1 car. I am sure there are some regulations that would get in the way but screw regulations.
5. Speaking of regulations... Mark Webber's ten grid spot penalty for getting a ride back to the pit lane is ridiculous. Mansell-Senna, Schumacher-Alesi, Piquet-Arnoux-Alliot-Johannson. Drivers have been giving other drivers lifts back after either running out of petrol or breaking down for years and now it's crime. And the safety violation claim Lewis Hamilton is making, let me get this straight, you can go 180 MPH and avoid hitting other cars and concrete barriers but when you're going 50 MPH you can't avoid a pedestrian? How the hell you are able to overcome the fear of hitting someone to drive on the motorway is beyond me. Maybe that is why you speed? You can't possible think you won't hit anyone when in the triple figures but when driving at a normal commuter's pace you are a moment away from vehicular homicide.
By the way, nice job by Mark Webber, tweeting a photo of steward from the Singapore Grand Prix Derek Warwick getting a ride from Gerhard Berger after the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix. Here is a nice collection of drivers getting rides back to the pit lane. From World Champions to Grand Prix winners, Jackie Stewart to Thierry Boutsen have stuck out their thumbs post race and some of good samaritans to allow a driver to hop on include the likes Jochen Mass, Alan Jones and Alex Zanardi
6. Bobby East has won back-to-back Silver Crown titles while Chris Windom won two at the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora. He won the Silver Crown race in dominating form, leading forty-seven of gift laps. The Sprint car races, couldn't have been any more unpredictable. Daron Clayton looked to win, leading the first twenty-four laps before flipping after banging into the cushion. This gave Tracy Hines the lead and looked well on his way to win after the restart but coming to the checkered flag he flipped in turn four after making contact with the wall, handing Windom the win.
Rico Abreu took the midget car race while points leader Christopher Bell finished second. Hines, East and Dave Darland rounded out the top five. The rookie Bell extended his point lead to seventy-four over Bryan Clauson who retired after leading the first six laps.
7. Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf extended their winning streak in the American Le Mans Series to seven after winning at Austin. Luhr and Graf have already locked up the LMP1 title, the final LMP1 championship as United SportsCar Championship will not permit LMP1 cars from competing. Ryan Briscoe and Scott Tucker took victory over Marino Franchitti, Guy Cosmo and Tucker. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garciá took the GT victory over the Viper of Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer. Dirk Werner and John Edwards finished in third. Kyle Marcelli and Chris Cumming won in PC with Ben Keating and Damien Faulkner winning GTC.
8. Yvan Muller took another World Touring Car Championship, his fourth in six years. Hungarian Norbert Michelisz and Dutchman Tom Coronel split the races one Sunday from Suzuka. This is Muller's fifteenth title. Along with his four WTCC titles, he won the 2003 British Touring Car Championship and was won the Andros Trophy, a French-based ice racing series ten times.
Some 2014 calendar related news:
9. Twenty more laps for the IndyCar race at Texas in 2014. Hopefully this 600km race won't get cancelled like the last one.
10. 2014 WEC and USCC schedules were released at Austin. The WEC calendar is exactly the same except Silverstone and Spa have each been pushed back a week, while Fuji, Shanghai and Bahrain were each push up a week. The inaugural USCC calendar starts in Florida for the 24 Hours of Daytona and Sebring, follow by back-to-back races in California with Prototype and GTLM class heading to Long Beach and all classes running Laguna Seca. Belle Isle remains at it's late May-early June date except all classes but GTLM will compete as the GTLM prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After Le Mans, Watkins Glen, Mosport, Indianapolis and Road America will feature all four classes. VIR will feature two races, one for PC and one for GTLM and GTD. The final two rounds will be Austin and Petit Le Mans. Each class runs eleven races over the twelve weekends.
No problem with WEC, would love to see the series add Monza but it's fine. USCC did the best they could. A little disappointed Mid-Ohio, Barber and Lime Rock aren't on the schedule but I will live.
11. V8 Supercars announced their 2014 schedule and Austin is not on it. A schedule conflict with the X Games has caused the absence but the series looks for that event to return in 2015 and would like to have another round in the States as well as other international expansion. It's going to be a little awkward for Pirelli World Challenge who announced they were going to Austin in May with V8 Supercars. Adelaide opens the 2014 season with the only changes being Winton moving to April with Sydney Motorsports Park being added in August.
In all honesty, I'd like to see IndyCar and V8 Supercars run together at Austin in February or March. Plenty of other nice places for V8 Supercars to go in the US. Road America, Laguna Seca, hell why not run them in May at Indianapolis? Other international rounds, I expect a Japanese round soon rather than later since Nissan is in the series. A European rounds seems like a stretch but with Mercedes currently participating and Volvo entering in 2014, I wouldn't rule it out completely. Especially if the money is there.
1. Let's start with Formula One at Singapore. Sebastian Vettel put down a dominating performance. Another grand chelem for the German, leading every lap from pole position. Say all you want about him having the best car and he wouldn't be able to do what he has been doing at McLaren. That may be but going through what he has done, it isn't just the car. Scoring a point in race one, in a substitute role for an injured Robert Kubica at Indianapolis. Then going to Scuderia Toro Rosso where neither Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed couldn't score to qualifying in the top ten, running up front and leading the monsoon that was the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix before getting into Mark Webber and ending both their days. Then he received a five spot penalty in qualifying at China, dropping him to 17th. All he did in the race was give STR their best finish in Formula One with a fourth.
In 2008, Vettel was the number two at STR to Sébastien Bourdais. All he would do is outscore his French teammate by thirty-one points (back when points went 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1), scoring in half the races and pulling off a pole and win in another monsoon at Monza. Then the promotion to Red Bull where he picked up the teams first victory and pole... in the rain of course... in China. Three more poles, three more victories and finished second in points to Jenson Button by eleven points. Following year Vettel made an improbably comeback from thirty-four back entering the final five races. He went out to win three, finishing second in another and if his engine didn't go sour late while leading at Korea he would have won the final four rounds. I don't think I need to go on. Vettel may be obnoxious and not a team player but he is arguably the most talent driver in the world, let alone Formula One.
2. Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch are on place to finish 1-2 in every Chase race and look to give Toyota their first NASCAR Sprint Cup title. It has quickly become a three horse battle between the Gibbs drivers and Jimmie Johnson as eighteen points cover the top three and fourth place Carl Edwards thirty-six back of Kenseth. After the headache that was the two weeks prior to New Hampshire, it has gotten better but it won't go away. NAPA is leaving Michael Waltrip Racing, 5-Hour Energy won't make a decision until a later time and Aaron's is staying on board. Truex is free to look for a ride while Bowyer's role remains safe at the team. This won't be end before the season is over
In Nationwide news, Nationwide will be leaving as title sponsor after the 2014 season. Even when a Cup driver isn't entered, a driver ineligible for Nationwide title won... again. Ryan Blaney won his first career race on Saturday night beating Austin Dilon, Truck points leader Matt Crafton and Sam Hornish. Hornish leads Dillon by fifteen with six to go.
3. Audi won again in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval picked up their third victory of 2013 in the first race held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The Toyota of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin had the lead late before having to make their final pit stop. Audi has won each of the five races in the WEC season. Mike Conway, John Martin and Roman Rusinov has won back-to-back rounds as Conway is looking for the Texas hat-trick should he sweep the doubleheader IndyCar weekend at Houston. Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni took the GT points lead, three ahead of Porsche drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz.
Aston Martin swept the GT classes at Austin with Bruno Senna and Frédéric Makowiecki taking GTE Pro and Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart Hall taking their second consecutive GTE Am win.
4. You know, with the NASCAR season ending on November 17th and WEC running Bahrain on November 30th and Toyota has an extra TS030 in the stable and they're rolling it out for Fuji. Why not roll it out for an all-star team of Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and team them with either Kazuki Nakajima or Alexander Wurz. Kyle Busch never tested that Formula One car like he was suppose to. Let's make this happen. The banquet is the following week. Let's see what they can do in an LMP1 car. I am sure there are some regulations that would get in the way but screw regulations.
5. Speaking of regulations... Mark Webber's ten grid spot penalty for getting a ride back to the pit lane is ridiculous. Mansell-Senna, Schumacher-Alesi, Piquet-Arnoux-Alliot-Johannson. Drivers have been giving other drivers lifts back after either running out of petrol or breaking down for years and now it's crime. And the safety violation claim Lewis Hamilton is making, let me get this straight, you can go 180 MPH and avoid hitting other cars and concrete barriers but when you're going 50 MPH you can't avoid a pedestrian? How the hell you are able to overcome the fear of hitting someone to drive on the motorway is beyond me. Maybe that is why you speed? You can't possible think you won't hit anyone when in the triple figures but when driving at a normal commuter's pace you are a moment away from vehicular homicide.
By the way, nice job by Mark Webber, tweeting a photo of steward from the Singapore Grand Prix Derek Warwick getting a ride from Gerhard Berger after the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix. Here is a nice collection of drivers getting rides back to the pit lane. From World Champions to Grand Prix winners, Jackie Stewart to Thierry Boutsen have stuck out their thumbs post race and some of good samaritans to allow a driver to hop on include the likes Jochen Mass, Alan Jones and Alex Zanardi
6. Bobby East has won back-to-back Silver Crown titles while Chris Windom won two at the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora. He won the Silver Crown race in dominating form, leading forty-seven of gift laps. The Sprint car races, couldn't have been any more unpredictable. Daron Clayton looked to win, leading the first twenty-four laps before flipping after banging into the cushion. This gave Tracy Hines the lead and looked well on his way to win after the restart but coming to the checkered flag he flipped in turn four after making contact with the wall, handing Windom the win.
Rico Abreu took the midget car race while points leader Christopher Bell finished second. Hines, East and Dave Darland rounded out the top five. The rookie Bell extended his point lead to seventy-four over Bryan Clauson who retired after leading the first six laps.
7. Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf extended their winning streak in the American Le Mans Series to seven after winning at Austin. Luhr and Graf have already locked up the LMP1 title, the final LMP1 championship as United SportsCar Championship will not permit LMP1 cars from competing. Ryan Briscoe and Scott Tucker took victory over Marino Franchitti, Guy Cosmo and Tucker. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garciá took the GT victory over the Viper of Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer. Dirk Werner and John Edwards finished in third. Kyle Marcelli and Chris Cumming won in PC with Ben Keating and Damien Faulkner winning GTC.
8. Yvan Muller took another World Touring Car Championship, his fourth in six years. Hungarian Norbert Michelisz and Dutchman Tom Coronel split the races one Sunday from Suzuka. This is Muller's fifteenth title. Along with his four WTCC titles, he won the 2003 British Touring Car Championship and was won the Andros Trophy, a French-based ice racing series ten times.
Some 2014 calendar related news:
9. Twenty more laps for the IndyCar race at Texas in 2014. Hopefully this 600km race won't get cancelled like the last one.
10. 2014 WEC and USCC schedules were released at Austin. The WEC calendar is exactly the same except Silverstone and Spa have each been pushed back a week, while Fuji, Shanghai and Bahrain were each push up a week. The inaugural USCC calendar starts in Florida for the 24 Hours of Daytona and Sebring, follow by back-to-back races in California with Prototype and GTLM class heading to Long Beach and all classes running Laguna Seca. Belle Isle remains at it's late May-early June date except all classes but GTLM will compete as the GTLM prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After Le Mans, Watkins Glen, Mosport, Indianapolis and Road America will feature all four classes. VIR will feature two races, one for PC and one for GTLM and GTD. The final two rounds will be Austin and Petit Le Mans. Each class runs eleven races over the twelve weekends.
No problem with WEC, would love to see the series add Monza but it's fine. USCC did the best they could. A little disappointed Mid-Ohio, Barber and Lime Rock aren't on the schedule but I will live.
11. V8 Supercars announced their 2014 schedule and Austin is not on it. A schedule conflict with the X Games has caused the absence but the series looks for that event to return in 2015 and would like to have another round in the States as well as other international expansion. It's going to be a little awkward for Pirelli World Challenge who announced they were going to Austin in May with V8 Supercars. Adelaide opens the 2014 season with the only changes being Winton moving to April with Sydney Motorsports Park being added in August.
In all honesty, I'd like to see IndyCar and V8 Supercars run together at Austin in February or March. Plenty of other nice places for V8 Supercars to go in the US. Road America, Laguna Seca, hell why not run them in May at Indianapolis? Other international rounds, I expect a Japanese round soon rather than later since Nissan is in the series. A European rounds seems like a stretch but with Mercedes currently participating and Volvo entering in 2014, I wouldn't rule it out completely. Especially if the money is there.
Friday, September 20, 2013
The Final Weekend of Summer
For those in the northern hemisphere, Sunday is the beginning of Autumn as the days will get shorter and colder. Though summer is ending, racing is in full swing with series hitting tracks around the globe.
Formula One returns to Singapore for their annual race under the city lights. Sebastian Vettel has won two consecutive races in Singapore and leads the World Drivers' Championship by fifty-three points over Fernando Alonso. Vettel won the final two rounds in Europe with Alonso finishing second to him at each Spa and Monza. Alonso is a two-time winner at Singapore with third in the standings Lewis Hamilton the only other driver to have won at Singapore. Keep an eye on Nico Rosberg who has always been fast on street course. His first career podium was at Melbourne in 2008, he finished second in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, has finished second and first the last two years at Monaco including winning from pole this year and two of Rosberg's four fastest laps have come on street courses.
In New Hampshire NASCAR runs their second race of the Chase. Matt Kenseth's win at Chicago over teammate Kyle Busch secured the Wisconsinian's point lead, now eight ahead of Busch. Jimmie Johnson is third ahead of Kevin Harvick. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch are tied for fifth. The final two drivers to be placed in the Chase are seventh and eighth. Jeff Gordon is twenty-four back with Ryan Newman twenty-eight back. Clint Bowyer is tied with Newman while Greg Biffle rounds out the top ten. Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. round out the final three Chase positions. Toyota's have won the last two races at New Hampshire and a total three of the last nine with Chevrolet taking the remaining six. The last Ford to win at Loudon was Greg Biffle in the first race of the 2008 Chase. Jeff Burton has the most Cup wins at New Hampshire with four.
Sam Hornish, Jr. leads the NASCAR Nationwide Series into Kentucky. The Ohioan is up seventeen points on 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon with seven races to go. Regan Smith is third in points despite having the most wins for those eligible for the Nationwide title. Elliott Sadler is fourth ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brian Vickers. Justin Allgaier, Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne (only one of three championship eligible drivers to have won a race in 2013), Kyle Larson and Parker Kligerman round out the top ten. No Cup drivers are entered for Kentucky, giving the championship eligible drivers a great chance for a win in 2013, however, a few Truck drivers will be racing Saturday including points leader Matt Crafton, Ryan Blaney, Jeb Burton and Joey Coulter as they look to spoil the party.
Austin gears up for a sports car filled weekend. The American Le Mans Series debuts at the track on Saturday. Pickett Racing and drivers Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf have already locked up the final LMP1 title. Marino Franchitti leads teammate Scott Tucker by four in LMP2 while Level 5 leads Extreme Speed by fifteen in the team title. Corvette has pulled out to a thirty-one point lead over the Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMWs while the SRT Vipers are only eight back of RLLR. In the driver standings Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner lead teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonia García by two and RLLR driver Dirk Müller by eight. SRT Viper drivers Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens are thirteen back. In PC, Colin Braun leads Mike Guasch by eight and Jonathan Bennett by twelve. CORE Autosport leads PR1/Mathiasen Motorsport by eight. In GTC, Cooper MacNeil and Jeroen Bleekemolen lead Nelson Canache, Jr. and Spencer Pumpelly by six while Flying Lizard Racing Alex Job Racing by eight.
The FIA World Endurance Championship makes it's debut Sunday with a six hour race. Audi is four-for-four in 2013 and has a commanding sixty-one point lead over Toyota. Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval hold a twenty-two point lead over André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer. If the pattern stays true to the first four rounds, it will be McNish, Kristensen and Duval's turn to win at Austin. Former IndyCar drivers Bertrand Baguette and Martin Plowman along with Mexican Ricardo González lead the LMP2 standings by fourteen over their OAK Racing counterparts of Alex Brundle, Olivier Pla and David Heinemeier Hansson. In GT, Aston Martin drivers Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner are up two points on Porsche drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz and five up on the Ferrari pairing of Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni. The points are reversed in the Manufactures' championship. Ferrari is up four on Porsche while Aston Martin are fifteen back. In GTE AM, 2010 Indy Lights champion Jean-Karl Vernay and Raymond Narac lead Jamie Campbell-Walker and Stuart Hall by six points.
The Four-Crown Nationals take place this weekend at Eldora Speedway and the USAC Silver Crown title is on the line. Bobby East leads Jerry Coons, Jr. by five entering the final race of 2013. Bryan Clauson leads Dave Darland by five in the National Sprint Car Championship. Since the beginning of August, Darland has won four of nine races while Clauson has only won two in that same time frame. Brady Bacon is third, fifty-six back. After Eldora there will be five races to go in the Sprint Car season. Rookie Christopher Bell leads Clauson by thirty-seven in the National Midget Dirt Championship. Bell has four Midget wins in 2013 while Clauson only has three including the most recent Dirt Midget race at Angell Park Speedway. After Eldora the National Midget Dirt Championship will have seven races to go.
Toomas Heikkinen looks to clinch the Global Rallycross Championship at the Dirt Track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday. He has won five consecutive rounds.
GP2 is also in Singapore for what is their penultimate round of 2013. Swiss Fabio Leimer leads British driver Sam Bird by six and Monegasque Stefano Coletti by twenty-four. Eleven drivers are still mathematically eligible for the title including American Alexander Rossi but he would have to score maximum points in the final two weekend with Leimer going scoreless in the final two rounds and Bird scoring no more than six points in the final two rounds to win on a tiebreaker.
Formula One returns to Singapore for their annual race under the city lights. Sebastian Vettel has won two consecutive races in Singapore and leads the World Drivers' Championship by fifty-three points over Fernando Alonso. Vettel won the final two rounds in Europe with Alonso finishing second to him at each Spa and Monza. Alonso is a two-time winner at Singapore with third in the standings Lewis Hamilton the only other driver to have won at Singapore. Keep an eye on Nico Rosberg who has always been fast on street course. His first career podium was at Melbourne in 2008, he finished second in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, has finished second and first the last two years at Monaco including winning from pole this year and two of Rosberg's four fastest laps have come on street courses.
In New Hampshire NASCAR runs their second race of the Chase. Matt Kenseth's win at Chicago over teammate Kyle Busch secured the Wisconsinian's point lead, now eight ahead of Busch. Jimmie Johnson is third ahead of Kevin Harvick. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch are tied for fifth. The final two drivers to be placed in the Chase are seventh and eighth. Jeff Gordon is twenty-four back with Ryan Newman twenty-eight back. Clint Bowyer is tied with Newman while Greg Biffle rounds out the top ten. Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. round out the final three Chase positions. Toyota's have won the last two races at New Hampshire and a total three of the last nine with Chevrolet taking the remaining six. The last Ford to win at Loudon was Greg Biffle in the first race of the 2008 Chase. Jeff Burton has the most Cup wins at New Hampshire with four.
Sam Hornish, Jr. leads the NASCAR Nationwide Series into Kentucky. The Ohioan is up seventeen points on 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon with seven races to go. Regan Smith is third in points despite having the most wins for those eligible for the Nationwide title. Elliott Sadler is fourth ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brian Vickers. Justin Allgaier, Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne (only one of three championship eligible drivers to have won a race in 2013), Kyle Larson and Parker Kligerman round out the top ten. No Cup drivers are entered for Kentucky, giving the championship eligible drivers a great chance for a win in 2013, however, a few Truck drivers will be racing Saturday including points leader Matt Crafton, Ryan Blaney, Jeb Burton and Joey Coulter as they look to spoil the party.
Austin gears up for a sports car filled weekend. The American Le Mans Series debuts at the track on Saturday. Pickett Racing and drivers Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf have already locked up the final LMP1 title. Marino Franchitti leads teammate Scott Tucker by four in LMP2 while Level 5 leads Extreme Speed by fifteen in the team title. Corvette has pulled out to a thirty-one point lead over the Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMWs while the SRT Vipers are only eight back of RLLR. In the driver standings Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner lead teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonia García by two and RLLR driver Dirk Müller by eight. SRT Viper drivers Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens are thirteen back. In PC, Colin Braun leads Mike Guasch by eight and Jonathan Bennett by twelve. CORE Autosport leads PR1/Mathiasen Motorsport by eight. In GTC, Cooper MacNeil and Jeroen Bleekemolen lead Nelson Canache, Jr. and Spencer Pumpelly by six while Flying Lizard Racing Alex Job Racing by eight.
The FIA World Endurance Championship makes it's debut Sunday with a six hour race. Audi is four-for-four in 2013 and has a commanding sixty-one point lead over Toyota. Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval hold a twenty-two point lead over André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer. If the pattern stays true to the first four rounds, it will be McNish, Kristensen and Duval's turn to win at Austin. Former IndyCar drivers Bertrand Baguette and Martin Plowman along with Mexican Ricardo González lead the LMP2 standings by fourteen over their OAK Racing counterparts of Alex Brundle, Olivier Pla and David Heinemeier Hansson. In GT, Aston Martin drivers Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner are up two points on Porsche drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz and five up on the Ferrari pairing of Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni. The points are reversed in the Manufactures' championship. Ferrari is up four on Porsche while Aston Martin are fifteen back. In GTE AM, 2010 Indy Lights champion Jean-Karl Vernay and Raymond Narac lead Jamie Campbell-Walker and Stuart Hall by six points.
The Four-Crown Nationals take place this weekend at Eldora Speedway and the USAC Silver Crown title is on the line. Bobby East leads Jerry Coons, Jr. by five entering the final race of 2013. Bryan Clauson leads Dave Darland by five in the National Sprint Car Championship. Since the beginning of August, Darland has won four of nine races while Clauson has only won two in that same time frame. Brady Bacon is third, fifty-six back. After Eldora there will be five races to go in the Sprint Car season. Rookie Christopher Bell leads Clauson by thirty-seven in the National Midget Dirt Championship. Bell has four Midget wins in 2013 while Clauson only has three including the most recent Dirt Midget race at Angell Park Speedway. After Eldora the National Midget Dirt Championship will have seven races to go.
Toomas Heikkinen looks to clinch the Global Rallycross Championship at the Dirt Track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday. He has won five consecutive rounds.
GP2 is also in Singapore for what is their penultimate round of 2013. Swiss Fabio Leimer leads British driver Sam Bird by six and Monegasque Stefano Coletti by twenty-four. Eleven drivers are still mathematically eligible for the title including American Alexander Rossi but he would have to score maximum points in the final two weekend with Leimer going scoreless in the final two rounds and Bird scoring no more than six points in the final two rounds to win on a tiebreaker.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
2014 IndyCar Silly Season Guide
Seeing as I have done a lot of talking about the 2014 IndyCar schedule, it seems right to start talking about IndyCar silly season and the first major domino fell out of nowhere yesterday.
By now you should know Juan Pablo Montoya will be returning to IndyCar and will join Will Power and Helio Castroneves at Penske Racing. Nearly fourteen years after running his final American open-wheel race and over seven years since his last time behind the wheel of any open-wheel car, Montoya will return at the age of 38 after seven seasons driving for Penske's main rival Chip Ganassi in NASCAR. Montoya tallied two Cup wins, a Nationwide win and three 24 Hours of Daytona victories since he left McLaren in the middle of 2006.
With three sured up at Penske, it appears Andretti Autosport will have four cars again in 2014 with a possible fifth, two are almost guaranteed but their are three other drivers vying for the final two seats. Both current Andretti Autosport IndyCar drivers James Hinchcliffe and EJ Viso are in contention with the Colombian, 2013 Indianapolis 500 runner-up, 2013 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year and currently second in the Indy Lights points Carlos Muñoz strongly likely to getting promoted for 2014. That leaves Hinchcliffe and GoDaddy, if they decided to a new deal, and Viso and PDVSA vying for the final Andretti Autosport seat.
With that said, Hinchcliffe has been linked to moving to Ganassi Racing in 2014 and joining the likes of champions and fellow race winners Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Charlie Kimball. One driver possibly still linked to the fourth Ganassi seat is 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan. However, a Brazilian report after Baltimore said Kanaan has talked to Andretti, Sarah Fisher, Sam Schmidt and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing about rides for 2014. Fisher stated in early August the team's goal was to secure funding for Josef Newgarden in 2014, who is under contract for next year, but did not rule out a second car.
Ed Carpenter recently said in an interview with Racer.com he feels like his team is making progress toward have a second car in 2014 but wouldn't put a percentage on it. Panther Racing's #4 National Guard Chevrolet appears to be likely driven by either Ryan Briscoe or Oriol Servià, who have split the car since JR Hildebrand was fired after Indianapolis. Panther reportedly had made up their mind on a driver for 2014 at Sonoma but has yet to make that known to the public.
Speaking of Hildebrand, he and Italian Luca Filippi are splitting the Barracuda Racing/Bryan Herta Autosport #98 Honda for the final two weekend of the IndyCar season and these two drivers appear to be the leading candidates to fill that seat in 2014. Marshall Pruett has also linked Kanaan to the seat owned by his former teammate. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will probably keep Graham Rahal for 2014 but James Jakes is exploring his options for 2014. Jack Hawksworth tested for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing today at Sebring and it currently fourth in the Indy Light standings, eleven back with two races to go.
Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports appear to be keeping both Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Vautier in 2014 but the wild card could be Indy Lights points leader Sage Karam and third in the Indy Lights championship Gabby Chaves. Should either driver win the title and get the scholarship to move to the next level, the question would be where would these drivers end up? Karam is eighteen years old while Chaves is twenty. Both could spend another year in Lights despite if they win the title this year.
Sébastien Bourdais could return to Dragon Racing next year but is also keeping his options for 2014. Sebastian Saavedra's place at the team has not been determined. Justin Wilson has a contract with Dale Coyne for 2014 and, shocker, the second seat at Coyne has no firm plans for 2014 as of now. Takuma Sato appears to be set to return to AJ Foyt Racing but despite picking up the teams first win in over a decade but could his poor results since his second place at São Paulo put his future in jeopardy?
Finally there is KV Racing Technology. The team struggled to find funding for Tony Kanaan in 2013 and despite winning the Indianapolis 500, the team still needs Kanaan to find money if he were to return next year. Simona de Silvestro's plans are not confirmed for 2014 either. She and Entergy have had a sponsorship relationship for three years now and their has been no major news on whether they would continue their relationship after this season.
Pickett Racing tested the IndyCar waters at Sonoma and the team has serious interest in moving full-time to IndyCar in 2014 since the LMP1 class will not be included in the inaugural season for the United SportsCar Championship next year. Lucas Luhr appears to be the top candidate should Pickett Racing move to IndyCar in 2014.
Engine deals also have to be renewed for 2014. As of now, the only team to announce their 2014 engine plans is Schmidt who will continue their partnership with Honda. It appears Penske and Andretti will continue with Chevrolet but that has yet to be confirmed. Ganassi expressed dissatisfaction with Honda earlier this season but since than the team has since gone on to pick up four victories and all three drivers are three drivers are in the top ten in points.
While we're at it, though it is far away, we mind as well look at Indianapolis 500 one-offs for 2014. AJ Allmendinger said there's definitely a chance he could run the Coca-Cola 600-Indianapolis 500 double in 2014 though he signed to drive for JTG Daugherty Racing full-time in NASCAR. Kurt Busch will not be running the Fontana IndyCar season finale but it has not been entirely ruled out he could compete for Andretti Autosport at Indianapolis in 2014. Conor Daly made his Indianapolis 500 debut this year and depending on where he lands in Europe next year, he could make a return for his second Indianapolis 500 appearance. Townsend Bell always seems to find a ride. Pippa Mann has found a ride the last couple of years. Katherine Legge was impressive considering she got into a car for the first time on bump day and got the car in the field. Buddy Lazier owns a DW12 chassis and was respectable for this first time in the new chassis and first time in an IndyCar in four years. Then there is Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Though they are no longer full-time, the report all along has been they have had a deal for the 2014 Indianapolis 500 with a sponsor. We will have to wait and see.
And then there is always the chance of new drivers coming to IndyCar from international series. Felipe Massa is in his final season with Ferrari in Formula One. Should he not find a ride in Formula One, who is to say IndyCar wouldn't be an option? Narain Karthikeyan has expressed interest in IndyCar before. There are plenty of drivers in Europe in that rut of not having enough money for Formula One but being too talented to stay in GP2, Formula Renault 3.5 or GP3 another season.
A mock 2014 driver line-up:
Penske (3 Confirmed, 1 possible one-off at Indianapolis)
#2 Juan Pablo Montoya
#3 Helio Castroneves
#12 Will Power
Possible Indianapolis one-off for AJ Allmendinger.
Andretti Autosport (2 Confirmed, 2 more likely, possible fifth full-time/Indianapolis one-off)
#25 Marco Andretti
#1/28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
Possible full-timers James Hinchcliffe, EJ Viso and/or Carlos Muñoz. Possible one-off for Kurt Busch.
Ganassi Racing (3 Confirmed, 1 more possible full-time)
#9 Scott Dixon
#10 Dario Franchitti
#83 Charlie Kimball
Possible full-time entry for Hinchcliffe or Tony Kanaan.
Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Racing (2 Confirmed)
#55 Tristan Vautier
#77 Simon Pagenaud
Panther Racing (1 Confirmed)
#4 Either Ryan Briscoe or Oriol Servià.
Ed Carpenter Racing (1 Confirmed, possible second full-time entry)
#20 Ed Carpenter
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (1 Confirmed, second full-time entry possible)
#67 Josef Newgarden
Barracuda Racing/Bryan Herta Autosport (1 Confirmed)
#98 Either JR Hildebrand or Luca Filippi with a possibility of Tony Kanaan.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (1 Confirmed, second full-time entry likely)
#15 Graham Rahal
#16 James Jakes unless he find another opportunity.
Dragon Racing (None confirmed at this point but possibility could retain their two drivers)
#6 Sebastián Saavedra
#7 Sébastien Bourdais
AJ Foyt Racing (1 Confirmed)
#14 Takuma Sato
Dale Coyne Racing (1 Confirmed, second full-time entry highly likely)
#18 Unknown. Has had five different drivers in 2013 (Ana Beatriz, Mike Conway, Pippa Mann, James Davison and Stefan Wilson).
#19 Justin Wilson
KV Racing Technology (None confirmed. Possible to keep de Silvestro, less likely to keep Kanaan)
#11 Tony Kanaan but likely another driver or will not be on the grid in 2014.
#78 Simona de Silvestro.
Pickett Racing (Not confirmed. Chances are fair team moves to IndyCar in 2014)
#97 Lucas Luhr.
By now you should know Juan Pablo Montoya will be returning to IndyCar and will join Will Power and Helio Castroneves at Penske Racing. Nearly fourteen years after running his final American open-wheel race and over seven years since his last time behind the wheel of any open-wheel car, Montoya will return at the age of 38 after seven seasons driving for Penske's main rival Chip Ganassi in NASCAR. Montoya tallied two Cup wins, a Nationwide win and three 24 Hours of Daytona victories since he left McLaren in the middle of 2006.
With three sured up at Penske, it appears Andretti Autosport will have four cars again in 2014 with a possible fifth, two are almost guaranteed but their are three other drivers vying for the final two seats. Both current Andretti Autosport IndyCar drivers James Hinchcliffe and EJ Viso are in contention with the Colombian, 2013 Indianapolis 500 runner-up, 2013 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year and currently second in the Indy Lights points Carlos Muñoz strongly likely to getting promoted for 2014. That leaves Hinchcliffe and GoDaddy, if they decided to a new deal, and Viso and PDVSA vying for the final Andretti Autosport seat.
With that said, Hinchcliffe has been linked to moving to Ganassi Racing in 2014 and joining the likes of champions and fellow race winners Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Charlie Kimball. One driver possibly still linked to the fourth Ganassi seat is 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan. However, a Brazilian report after Baltimore said Kanaan has talked to Andretti, Sarah Fisher, Sam Schmidt and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing about rides for 2014. Fisher stated in early August the team's goal was to secure funding for Josef Newgarden in 2014, who is under contract for next year, but did not rule out a second car.
Ed Carpenter recently said in an interview with Racer.com he feels like his team is making progress toward have a second car in 2014 but wouldn't put a percentage on it. Panther Racing's #4 National Guard Chevrolet appears to be likely driven by either Ryan Briscoe or Oriol Servià, who have split the car since JR Hildebrand was fired after Indianapolis. Panther reportedly had made up their mind on a driver for 2014 at Sonoma but has yet to make that known to the public.
Speaking of Hildebrand, he and Italian Luca Filippi are splitting the Barracuda Racing/Bryan Herta Autosport #98 Honda for the final two weekend of the IndyCar season and these two drivers appear to be the leading candidates to fill that seat in 2014. Marshall Pruett has also linked Kanaan to the seat owned by his former teammate. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will probably keep Graham Rahal for 2014 but James Jakes is exploring his options for 2014. Jack Hawksworth tested for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing today at Sebring and it currently fourth in the Indy Light standings, eleven back with two races to go.
Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports appear to be keeping both Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Vautier in 2014 but the wild card could be Indy Lights points leader Sage Karam and third in the Indy Lights championship Gabby Chaves. Should either driver win the title and get the scholarship to move to the next level, the question would be where would these drivers end up? Karam is eighteen years old while Chaves is twenty. Both could spend another year in Lights despite if they win the title this year.
Sébastien Bourdais could return to Dragon Racing next year but is also keeping his options for 2014. Sebastian Saavedra's place at the team has not been determined. Justin Wilson has a contract with Dale Coyne for 2014 and, shocker, the second seat at Coyne has no firm plans for 2014 as of now. Takuma Sato appears to be set to return to AJ Foyt Racing but despite picking up the teams first win in over a decade but could his poor results since his second place at São Paulo put his future in jeopardy?
Finally there is KV Racing Technology. The team struggled to find funding for Tony Kanaan in 2013 and despite winning the Indianapolis 500, the team still needs Kanaan to find money if he were to return next year. Simona de Silvestro's plans are not confirmed for 2014 either. She and Entergy have had a sponsorship relationship for three years now and their has been no major news on whether they would continue their relationship after this season.
Pickett Racing tested the IndyCar waters at Sonoma and the team has serious interest in moving full-time to IndyCar in 2014 since the LMP1 class will not be included in the inaugural season for the United SportsCar Championship next year. Lucas Luhr appears to be the top candidate should Pickett Racing move to IndyCar in 2014.
Engine deals also have to be renewed for 2014. As of now, the only team to announce their 2014 engine plans is Schmidt who will continue their partnership with Honda. It appears Penske and Andretti will continue with Chevrolet but that has yet to be confirmed. Ganassi expressed dissatisfaction with Honda earlier this season but since than the team has since gone on to pick up four victories and all three drivers are three drivers are in the top ten in points.
While we're at it, though it is far away, we mind as well look at Indianapolis 500 one-offs for 2014. AJ Allmendinger said there's definitely a chance he could run the Coca-Cola 600-Indianapolis 500 double in 2014 though he signed to drive for JTG Daugherty Racing full-time in NASCAR. Kurt Busch will not be running the Fontana IndyCar season finale but it has not been entirely ruled out he could compete for Andretti Autosport at Indianapolis in 2014. Conor Daly made his Indianapolis 500 debut this year and depending on where he lands in Europe next year, he could make a return for his second Indianapolis 500 appearance. Townsend Bell always seems to find a ride. Pippa Mann has found a ride the last couple of years. Katherine Legge was impressive considering she got into a car for the first time on bump day and got the car in the field. Buddy Lazier owns a DW12 chassis and was respectable for this first time in the new chassis and first time in an IndyCar in four years. Then there is Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Though they are no longer full-time, the report all along has been they have had a deal for the 2014 Indianapolis 500 with a sponsor. We will have to wait and see.
And then there is always the chance of new drivers coming to IndyCar from international series. Felipe Massa is in his final season with Ferrari in Formula One. Should he not find a ride in Formula One, who is to say IndyCar wouldn't be an option? Narain Karthikeyan has expressed interest in IndyCar before. There are plenty of drivers in Europe in that rut of not having enough money for Formula One but being too talented to stay in GP2, Formula Renault 3.5 or GP3 another season.
A mock 2014 driver line-up:
Penske (3 Confirmed, 1 possible one-off at Indianapolis)
#2 Juan Pablo Montoya
#3 Helio Castroneves
#12 Will Power
Possible Indianapolis one-off for AJ Allmendinger.
Andretti Autosport (2 Confirmed, 2 more likely, possible fifth full-time/Indianapolis one-off)
#25 Marco Andretti
#1/28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
Possible full-timers James Hinchcliffe, EJ Viso and/or Carlos Muñoz. Possible one-off for Kurt Busch.
Ganassi Racing (3 Confirmed, 1 more possible full-time)
#9 Scott Dixon
#10 Dario Franchitti
#83 Charlie Kimball
Possible full-time entry for Hinchcliffe or Tony Kanaan.
Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Racing (2 Confirmed)
#55 Tristan Vautier
#77 Simon Pagenaud
Panther Racing (1 Confirmed)
#4 Either Ryan Briscoe or Oriol Servià.
Ed Carpenter Racing (1 Confirmed, possible second full-time entry)
#20 Ed Carpenter
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (1 Confirmed, second full-time entry possible)
#67 Josef Newgarden
Barracuda Racing/Bryan Herta Autosport (1 Confirmed)
#98 Either JR Hildebrand or Luca Filippi with a possibility of Tony Kanaan.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (1 Confirmed, second full-time entry likely)
#15 Graham Rahal
#16 James Jakes unless he find another opportunity.
Dragon Racing (None confirmed at this point but possibility could retain their two drivers)
#6 Sebastián Saavedra
#7 Sébastien Bourdais
AJ Foyt Racing (1 Confirmed)
#14 Takuma Sato
Dale Coyne Racing (1 Confirmed, second full-time entry highly likely)
#18 Unknown. Has had five different drivers in 2013 (Ana Beatriz, Mike Conway, Pippa Mann, James Davison and Stefan Wilson).
#19 Justin Wilson
KV Racing Technology (None confirmed. Possible to keep de Silvestro, less likely to keep Kanaan)
#11 Tony Kanaan but likely another driver or will not be on the grid in 2014.
#78 Simona de Silvestro.
Pickett Racing (Not confirmed. Chances are fair team moves to IndyCar in 2014)
#97 Lucas Luhr.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Racing's Penultimate Weekend of Summer and Winter
We are coming down the stretch for summer here in the Northern Hemisphere (congratulations Southern Hemisphere as your winter comes to an end and spring begins). Racing is in full swing across the globe for the Windy City to Melbourne, Misano to the former German Democratic Republic.
NASCAR has already run one race at Chicagoland Speedway with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski dominating the Camping World Truck Series race with Busch picking up his fourth Truck win this season. The big news from Chicago is the addition of Jeff Gordon to the Chase after the events of Richmond last Saturday night. This year will set the record for most drivers to compete in the Chase with thirteen. Chase driver Joey Logano won pole position for tomorrow's Sprint Cup Series racing. His teammate and defending champion Brad Keselowski starts second. Juan Pablo Montoya starts third ahead of Chase driver Kasey Kahne and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Chase drivers Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth rounding out the top ten. The rest of Chase drivers will start as follows: Kyle Busch twelfth, Kurt Busch sixteenth, Kevin Harvick seventeenth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. eighteenth, Ryan Newman twentieth and Clint Bowyer twenty-fourth. Since Chicagoland became the opening race of the Chase in 2011, the winner at Chicagoland has always gone on to win the Sprint Cup title.
In the Nationwide Series, Sam Hornish, Jr. leads Austin Dillion by sixteen points with Regan Smith in third twenty-six back, Elliott Sadler twenty-eight back and Justin Allgaier, who will be making his Cup Series debut this weekend, fifth, fifty-two markers back of Hornish. Hornish has two IndyCar wins at Chicagoland while Allgaier and Sadler each have a Nationwide Series win at Chicagoland.
In Melbourne, the V8 Supercars will run the Sandown 500 tomorrow, the first of three endurance races for the series. Will Davison and co-driver Steve Owen will be on pole position after Davison defeated championship rival Jamie Whincup in the second qualifying heat. Whincup leads Davison leads by fifty-five points with nine races to go. Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes will start third ahead of Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert. David Reynolds and James Courtney will start sixth and seventh ahead of the highest starting Mercedes of Tim Slade. Scott McLaughlin and Todd Kelly round out the top ten. Since this is an endurance race, each V8 Supercar regular has a co-driver. IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe will be teamed with Russell Ingall and start sixteenth. Class winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Marc Lieb and Jeroen Bleekemolen are teamed with Tekmo Autosport drivers Jonathon Webb and Shane Van Gisbergen respectively. Van Gisbergen/Bleekmolen will start fourteen with Webb/Lieb starting twenty-third.
MotoGP returns to Misano and Marc Márquez returns to his dominating ways. The Spaniard has been quickest in all three practices so far and has been directly ahead of his factory Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa in each one. Jorge Lorenzo was third ahead of his factory Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi in fourth. Italian Andrea Dovizioso gave his home Italian crowd a reason to cheer being fifth quickest on his Ducati. The next three riders on the time chart are customer bikes, the two Hondas of Álvaro Bautista and Stefan Brandl and the Pramac Ducati of Andrea Iannone. Nicky Hayden was ninth with CRT rider Aleix Espargaró in tenth. The Tech 3 Yamahas of Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith were both outside the top ten and will have to participate in the first qualifying session later today and have to advance to Q2 to have any shot at pole.
Márquez has won the last three years at Misano in the 125cc and 250cc/Moto2 classes. Jorge Lorenzo has won the last two MotoGP races at Misano. All but one Misano MotoGP winner since the track returned to the MotoGP calendar in 2007 will be competing this weekend. Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi will be competing while 2007 Misano winner Casey Stoner is enjoying retirement.
Mike Rockenfeller looks to extend his Deustche Tourenwagen Masters points lead and possibly clinch the DTM title this weekend and after being fastest in first practice at Oschersleben, he looks to be in a good position to do so. The Audi driver leads Mercedes driver Christian Vietoris by thirty-five points and should he exit Oschersleben with a fifty point lead or more, he will be DTM champion for 2013. BMW driver Dirk Werner was second in practice. Werner's best finish this season was a second at the opening round at Hockenheim. Double DTM champion Timo Scheider was third. Scheider was pole-sitter for the opening round at Hockenheim but hasn't finished on the podium since Lausitz 2011 and hasn't won since Adria 2010. Frenchman Adrien Tambay was fourth and has scored points in the last two races. Portugal's Felipe Albuquerque was fifth and is the lone driver on the DTM grid to have yet to score a point in 2013. Gary Paffett was the top Mercedes driver in sixth.
Rockenfeller's championship rival Vietoris was last on the time chart with third in points, Canadian Robert Wickens was eighth in the session. Other notable drivers: Canadian and defending DTM champion Bruno Spengler was eleventh, 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomczyk was twelfth ahead of Timo Glock, Mattias Ekström was sixteenth with American Joey Hand nineteenth.
NASCAR has already run one race at Chicagoland Speedway with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski dominating the Camping World Truck Series race with Busch picking up his fourth Truck win this season. The big news from Chicago is the addition of Jeff Gordon to the Chase after the events of Richmond last Saturday night. This year will set the record for most drivers to compete in the Chase with thirteen. Chase driver Joey Logano won pole position for tomorrow's Sprint Cup Series racing. His teammate and defending champion Brad Keselowski starts second. Juan Pablo Montoya starts third ahead of Chase driver Kasey Kahne and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Chase drivers Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth rounding out the top ten. The rest of Chase drivers will start as follows: Kyle Busch twelfth, Kurt Busch sixteenth, Kevin Harvick seventeenth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. eighteenth, Ryan Newman twentieth and Clint Bowyer twenty-fourth. Since Chicagoland became the opening race of the Chase in 2011, the winner at Chicagoland has always gone on to win the Sprint Cup title.
In the Nationwide Series, Sam Hornish, Jr. leads Austin Dillion by sixteen points with Regan Smith in third twenty-six back, Elliott Sadler twenty-eight back and Justin Allgaier, who will be making his Cup Series debut this weekend, fifth, fifty-two markers back of Hornish. Hornish has two IndyCar wins at Chicagoland while Allgaier and Sadler each have a Nationwide Series win at Chicagoland.
In Melbourne, the V8 Supercars will run the Sandown 500 tomorrow, the first of three endurance races for the series. Will Davison and co-driver Steve Owen will be on pole position after Davison defeated championship rival Jamie Whincup in the second qualifying heat. Whincup leads Davison leads by fifty-five points with nine races to go. Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes will start third ahead of Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert. David Reynolds and James Courtney will start sixth and seventh ahead of the highest starting Mercedes of Tim Slade. Scott McLaughlin and Todd Kelly round out the top ten. Since this is an endurance race, each V8 Supercar regular has a co-driver. IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe will be teamed with Russell Ingall and start sixteenth. Class winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Marc Lieb and Jeroen Bleekemolen are teamed with Tekmo Autosport drivers Jonathon Webb and Shane Van Gisbergen respectively. Van Gisbergen/Bleekmolen will start fourteen with Webb/Lieb starting twenty-third.
MotoGP returns to Misano and Marc Márquez returns to his dominating ways. The Spaniard has been quickest in all three practices so far and has been directly ahead of his factory Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa in each one. Jorge Lorenzo was third ahead of his factory Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi in fourth. Italian Andrea Dovizioso gave his home Italian crowd a reason to cheer being fifth quickest on his Ducati. The next three riders on the time chart are customer bikes, the two Hondas of Álvaro Bautista and Stefan Brandl and the Pramac Ducati of Andrea Iannone. Nicky Hayden was ninth with CRT rider Aleix Espargaró in tenth. The Tech 3 Yamahas of Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith were both outside the top ten and will have to participate in the first qualifying session later today and have to advance to Q2 to have any shot at pole.
Márquez has won the last three years at Misano in the 125cc and 250cc/Moto2 classes. Jorge Lorenzo has won the last two MotoGP races at Misano. All but one Misano MotoGP winner since the track returned to the MotoGP calendar in 2007 will be competing this weekend. Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi will be competing while 2007 Misano winner Casey Stoner is enjoying retirement.
Mike Rockenfeller looks to extend his Deustche Tourenwagen Masters points lead and possibly clinch the DTM title this weekend and after being fastest in first practice at Oschersleben, he looks to be in a good position to do so. The Audi driver leads Mercedes driver Christian Vietoris by thirty-five points and should he exit Oschersleben with a fifty point lead or more, he will be DTM champion for 2013. BMW driver Dirk Werner was second in practice. Werner's best finish this season was a second at the opening round at Hockenheim. Double DTM champion Timo Scheider was third. Scheider was pole-sitter for the opening round at Hockenheim but hasn't finished on the podium since Lausitz 2011 and hasn't won since Adria 2010. Frenchman Adrien Tambay was fourth and has scored points in the last two races. Portugal's Felipe Albuquerque was fifth and is the lone driver on the DTM grid to have yet to score a point in 2013. Gary Paffett was the top Mercedes driver in sixth.
Rockenfeller's championship rival Vietoris was last on the time chart with third in points, Canadian Robert Wickens was eighth in the session. Other notable drivers: Canadian and defending DTM champion Bruno Spengler was eleventh, 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomczyk was twelfth ahead of Timo Glock, Mattias Ekström was sixteenth with American Joey Hand nineteenth.
Friday, September 13, 2013
2014 IndyCar Schedule Update #6
It's a hat trick. Third consecutive day with an IndyCar schedule update for 2014 and this one is not positive at all.
Baltimore will not be on either the 2014 or 2015 schedule after having to vacate their Labor Day weekend date due to conflicts with a Navy-Ohio State college football game next year and American Legion conference in 2015. This is a terrible blow for IndyCar as this looks to be the second race IndyCar will not retain from 2013, something the series has struggled to do over the past decade. Should the IMS road course race be added to the schedule, it will make up for one of the dropped race weekends but the net change of race weekends looks to be negative for another season.
Reportedly there was talking of hosting the Baltimore race in June, however the hang up was the conflict with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and, though not mentioned, IndyCar already hectic June.
With Baltimore out of the question, here is the a mock 2014 schedule (confirmed dates are bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 15-16th or 16-17th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
Baltimore will not be on either the 2014 or 2015 schedule after having to vacate their Labor Day weekend date due to conflicts with a Navy-Ohio State college football game next year and American Legion conference in 2015. This is a terrible blow for IndyCar as this looks to be the second race IndyCar will not retain from 2013, something the series has struggled to do over the past decade. Should the IMS road course race be added to the schedule, it will make up for one of the dropped race weekends but the net change of race weekends looks to be negative for another season.
Reportedly there was talking of hosting the Baltimore race in June, however the hang up was the conflict with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and, though not mentioned, IndyCar already hectic June.
With Baltimore out of the question, here is the a mock 2014 schedule (confirmed dates are bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 15-16th or 16-17th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
I had been putting Baltimore in either early-May or mid-August, depending on where Houston fell. This schedule features a month long break from Long Beach to the rumored IMS road course race. Should São Paulo remain on the schedule and keep their late-April, early-May date, it could solve that problem. However, until São Paulo is confirmed to return, it looks like 2014 will feature one less race weekend (15) and the same amount of races (19) as 2013.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
2014 IndyCar Schedule Update #5
Just one day after making more speculations on the 2014 IndyCar schedule, we finally get a significant shoe to fall and multiple dates confirmed.
Thanks to Pirelli World Challenge releasing part of their schedule, we know the following dates:
St. Petersburg March 28-30.
Long Beach April 11-13.
Belle Isle May 30-June 1.
Toronto July 18-20.
Mid-Ohio August 1-3.
So Belle Isle won't be Labor Day and probably will be prototypes only for United SportsCar Racing, Toronto will not be the weekend of the World Cup Final (thank God) and Houston will not be the weekend I suggested in July. Could Houston fit into June when Robin Miller suggested, though the conflict with Texas Motor Speedway?
With the release today, here is a mock IndyCar schedule (confirmed are bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Houston: June 27-28th or 28-29th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Baltimore: August 17th.
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
I just can't see Houston in June. Late July between Toronto and Mid-Ohio? Maybe but back-to-back doubleheaders would be difficult for the teams but moving that race to August would be just as difficult. Running five consecutive weekends to end the year with a doubleheader in the middle, not easy but seeing as how the series could be off September 2014 to February 2015, it may work itself out. The Baltimore Orioles are on the road May 1-4th, so could Baltimore move to the spring and fill the month gap between Long Beach and the possible IMS road course and Houston slot into August? Even if the IMS road course doesn't happen, a race will be needed to fill an even larger gap of Long Beach to the Indianapolis 500. I can't see Houston move to the first weekend in May due to it being only a month before Texas and because the Offshore Technology Conference takes place at Reliant Park May 5-8th.
As for São Paulo, Mark Miles believes it is still on, Brazilian media is reporting it is off and Tony Kanaan is going to meet the mayor of São Paulo about the races future. Could it move to the middle of March? Carnival takes place February 28-March 4th in 2014 and the sambadrome will be needed for parades.
There is still no reports on new races for 2014.
So here's another look at the schedule if Baltimore moves to May and Houston to August:
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
Baltimore: May 3rd.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 15-16th or 16-17th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
The good news is we are getting closer and closer to a finalized schedule for 2014 and today was a step in the right direction.
Thanks to Pirelli World Challenge releasing part of their schedule, we know the following dates:
St. Petersburg March 28-30.
Long Beach April 11-13.
Belle Isle May 30-June 1.
Toronto July 18-20.
Mid-Ohio August 1-3.
So Belle Isle won't be Labor Day and probably will be prototypes only for United SportsCar Racing, Toronto will not be the weekend of the World Cup Final (thank God) and Houston will not be the weekend I suggested in July. Could Houston fit into June when Robin Miller suggested, though the conflict with Texas Motor Speedway?
With the release today, here is a mock IndyCar schedule (confirmed are bold):
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Houston: June 27-28th or 28-29th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Baltimore: August 17th.
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
I just can't see Houston in June. Late July between Toronto and Mid-Ohio? Maybe but back-to-back doubleheaders would be difficult for the teams but moving that race to August would be just as difficult. Running five consecutive weekends to end the year with a doubleheader in the middle, not easy but seeing as how the series could be off September 2014 to February 2015, it may work itself out. The Baltimore Orioles are on the road May 1-4th, so could Baltimore move to the spring and fill the month gap between Long Beach and the possible IMS road course and Houston slot into August? Even if the IMS road course doesn't happen, a race will be needed to fill an even larger gap of Long Beach to the Indianapolis 500. I can't see Houston move to the first weekend in May due to it being only a month before Texas and because the Offshore Technology Conference takes place at Reliant Park May 5-8th.
As for São Paulo, Mark Miles believes it is still on, Brazilian media is reporting it is off and Tony Kanaan is going to meet the mayor of São Paulo about the races future. Could it move to the middle of March? Carnival takes place February 28-March 4th in 2014 and the sambadrome will be needed for parades.
There is still no reports on new races for 2014.
So here's another look at the schedule if Baltimore moves to May and Houston to August:
St. Petersburg: March 28-30th.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
Baltimore: May 3rd.
IMS road course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25.
Belle Isle: May 30-June 1st.
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th.
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th
Toronto: July 19-20th.
Mid-Ohio: August 1-3rd.
Houston: August 15-16th or 16-17th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Sonoma August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
The good news is we are getting closer and closer to a finalized schedule for 2014 and today was a step in the right direction.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
2014 IndyCar Schedule Update #4
No confirmed news but some more speculations on the 2014 IndyCar schedule.
1. Remember that date I threw out for Baltimore? April 27? Well that will not be the date for Baltimore because the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play home that weekend. The Orioles are on the road for the May 2-4 weekend, the week before the proposed IMS road course race. The Orioles are also on road July 14-28, which includes two weekend that IndyCar were off for in 2013, one of which is usually NASCAR's off weekend in the summer and the other being the Brickyard 400. So if the race moves to July in 2014, the 18-20th is more likely. One other extended road trip for the Orioles is August 15-24th, which would be the week before Sonoma. I had been putting Houston on the August 15-17th weekend but more on that in a moment. Realize Baltimore could also be on the USCR by the date is a factor. The weekend of August 15-17th in 2014 is the same weekend Grand-Am went to Kansas this year and Kansas seems likely to be on the USCR schedule although the date has not been confirmed.
2. While I have been putting Houston in August and preferably a Friday-Saturday night doubleheader, Robin Miller said in his weekly Mailbag on Racer.com that he expects Houston to be in June 2014. With that being said, it adds another wrinkle to IndyCar's busiest month and considering Texas Motor Speedway's race is the second weekend in June, I would be a little surprised to see Houston move to June, unless Texas either moves from it's traditional June date or God forbid it fall off the schedule all together.
3. Iowa Speedway is having some CEO/financial problems but despite all that, they are talking about having an IndyCar/NASCAR Camping World Truck Series doubleheader in 2014. Iowa Speedway's main problem is it is over-saturated with races. Look at their schedule in 2013: Nationwide early-June, IndyCar mid/late-June, Trucks mid-July, Nationwide early-August and Trucks just ran last Sunday. They need to combine a race weekend (whether it be IndyCar and Trucks, Trucks and Nationwide or IndyCar and Nationwide) and get rid of a Nationwide and Truck races (Iowa really needs a Cup race. Regardless of how many people the place sits they should have a Cup race. Give them Dover's second date because Dover doesn't draw enough to have two events).
That aside, the question is does the Truck series move to the IndyCar weekend or does IndyCar move to the Truck weekend or do they both move to a new date? The Trucks were off the weekend IndyCar raced at Iowa in 2013. This year the July Truck race was the same day as the second Toronto IndyCar race. Could that race move back a week to NASCAR Cup Series summer break and have IndyCar join them? The problem with moving that race back would be pushing it to only four or five days before the Eldora Truck race and the teams may need more time than that to get ready for that event.
4. John Dagys of Sportscar365.net is reporting the Belle Isle weekend will hold serve and return to the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 with USCR being prototypes only and will be schedule the same weekend as the Le Mans test day. Last week on Radio Le Mans Midweek Motorsport there were speculations Belle Isle would move to Labor Day weekend. Nothing has been officially confirmed on Belle Isle's place in 2014.
With all that taken to account, here is a mock 2014 IndyCar schedule:
St. Petersburg: March 22-23rd.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS Road Course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25th.
Belle Isle: May 31-June 1st
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th (unless Belle Isle moves and they take the week after Indianapolis).
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th.
Toronto: July 12-13th.
Houston: July 18-19th or 19th-20th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Mid-Ohio: August 3rd.
Baltimore: August 17th.
Sonoma: August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
A few concerns: 1. The month off from Long Beach to the IMS road course. I have to believe there will be a race to fill that gap. April 20th is Easter so there will be no race that weekend. April 27th and May 3rd are open. There has been no news, good or bad about São Paulo but should that race continue, those were the weekends the São Paulo race have occupied since 2011.
2. If IndyCar and the Truck Series were to run a doubleheader at Iowa and the Nationwide Series keep their early June date, I see Iowa moving to July, the weekend I currently have Houston at. If you look at the Reliant Park event calendar, the weekends open in 2014 include April 25-27th, June 27-29th, multiple weekends in July including the 18-20th and August 8-10th and 15-17th. Granted more events could be added to that calendar and there could be events scheduled for those weekends and they have yet to be announced. Shell sponsors a PGA golf tournament in April and many think they want to keep the tournament and IndyCar race apart on the schedule so April appears to be off the board. There is a June date but like I said, can't see that race is in June unless Texas Motor Speedway moves or falls off the schedule. July is interesting depending on what happens with the Iowa race. If the Iowa race stays in June, I could see Houston the weekend NASCAR is off but that could be back-to-back weeks of doubleheaders for the teams. Talk about a brutal summer for the teams.
As of now, this is the best idea I've got of the 2014 IndyCar schedule and we'll just have to continue to wait and see.
1. Remember that date I threw out for Baltimore? April 27? Well that will not be the date for Baltimore because the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play home that weekend. The Orioles are on the road for the May 2-4 weekend, the week before the proposed IMS road course race. The Orioles are also on road July 14-28, which includes two weekend that IndyCar were off for in 2013, one of which is usually NASCAR's off weekend in the summer and the other being the Brickyard 400. So if the race moves to July in 2014, the 18-20th is more likely. One other extended road trip for the Orioles is August 15-24th, which would be the week before Sonoma. I had been putting Houston on the August 15-17th weekend but more on that in a moment. Realize Baltimore could also be on the USCR by the date is a factor. The weekend of August 15-17th in 2014 is the same weekend Grand-Am went to Kansas this year and Kansas seems likely to be on the USCR schedule although the date has not been confirmed.
2. While I have been putting Houston in August and preferably a Friday-Saturday night doubleheader, Robin Miller said in his weekly Mailbag on Racer.com that he expects Houston to be in June 2014. With that being said, it adds another wrinkle to IndyCar's busiest month and considering Texas Motor Speedway's race is the second weekend in June, I would be a little surprised to see Houston move to June, unless Texas either moves from it's traditional June date or God forbid it fall off the schedule all together.
3. Iowa Speedway is having some CEO/financial problems but despite all that, they are talking about having an IndyCar/NASCAR Camping World Truck Series doubleheader in 2014. Iowa Speedway's main problem is it is over-saturated with races. Look at their schedule in 2013: Nationwide early-June, IndyCar mid/late-June, Trucks mid-July, Nationwide early-August and Trucks just ran last Sunday. They need to combine a race weekend (whether it be IndyCar and Trucks, Trucks and Nationwide or IndyCar and Nationwide) and get rid of a Nationwide and Truck races (Iowa really needs a Cup race. Regardless of how many people the place sits they should have a Cup race. Give them Dover's second date because Dover doesn't draw enough to have two events).
That aside, the question is does the Truck series move to the IndyCar weekend or does IndyCar move to the Truck weekend or do they both move to a new date? The Trucks were off the weekend IndyCar raced at Iowa in 2013. This year the July Truck race was the same day as the second Toronto IndyCar race. Could that race move back a week to NASCAR Cup Series summer break and have IndyCar join them? The problem with moving that race back would be pushing it to only four or five days before the Eldora Truck race and the teams may need more time than that to get ready for that event.
4. John Dagys of Sportscar365.net is reporting the Belle Isle weekend will hold serve and return to the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 with USCR being prototypes only and will be schedule the same weekend as the Le Mans test day. Last week on Radio Le Mans Midweek Motorsport there were speculations Belle Isle would move to Labor Day weekend. Nothing has been officially confirmed on Belle Isle's place in 2014.
With all that taken to account, here is a mock 2014 IndyCar schedule:
St. Petersburg: March 22-23rd.
Barber: April 6th.
Long Beach: April 13th.
IMS Road Course: May 10th.
Indianapolis 500: May 25th.
Belle Isle: May 31-June 1st
Texas: June 7th.
Milwaukee: June 14th (unless Belle Isle moves and they take the week after Indianapolis).
Iowa: June 22nd.
Pocono: July 6th.
Toronto: July 12-13th.
Houston: July 18-19th or 19th-20th (holding out the possibility of night events due to summer heat).
Mid-Ohio: August 3rd.
Baltimore: August 17th.
Sonoma: August 24th.
Fontana: August 30-31 or September 1st (depends if it is a Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday or Monday night).
A few concerns: 1. The month off from Long Beach to the IMS road course. I have to believe there will be a race to fill that gap. April 20th is Easter so there will be no race that weekend. April 27th and May 3rd are open. There has been no news, good or bad about São Paulo but should that race continue, those were the weekends the São Paulo race have occupied since 2011.
2. If IndyCar and the Truck Series were to run a doubleheader at Iowa and the Nationwide Series keep their early June date, I see Iowa moving to July, the weekend I currently have Houston at. If you look at the Reliant Park event calendar, the weekends open in 2014 include April 25-27th, June 27-29th, multiple weekends in July including the 18-20th and August 8-10th and 15-17th. Granted more events could be added to that calendar and there could be events scheduled for those weekends and they have yet to be announced. Shell sponsors a PGA golf tournament in April and many think they want to keep the tournament and IndyCar race apart on the schedule so April appears to be off the board. There is a June date but like I said, can't see that race is in June unless Texas Motor Speedway moves or falls off the schedule. July is interesting depending on what happens with the Iowa race. If the Iowa race stays in June, I could see Houston the weekend NASCAR is off but that could be back-to-back weeks of doubleheaders for the teams. Talk about a brutal summer for the teams.
As of now, this is the best idea I've got of the 2014 IndyCar schedule and we'll just have to continue to wait and see.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
NASCAR Got It Right But Not Entirely
Last night, NASCAR announced penalties for Michael Waltrip Racing in connection to team orders leading to a deliberate spin by Clint Bowyer to cause a caution. Drivers Bowyer, Martin Truex, Jr. and Brian Vickers were all docked 50 drivers points, general manager Ty Norris has been suspended indefinitely and Michael Waltrip Racing was fined $300,000.
I applaud NASCAR for taking action but the penalties did not fairly disciplined the perpetrator. The penalties apply to the points after Richmond, not the Chase. So the points after Richmond saw Carl Edwards leading Jimmie Johnson by one point with Clint Bowyer in third with with Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Joey Logano rounding out the top five. Jeff Gordon was eleventh, a point behind Logano with Truex and Ryan Newman tied for twelfth and the final wild card with Truex holding the tiebreaker. Kasey Kahne clinched a wild card entering Richmond.
The 50 point penalties dropped Bowyer from third to seventh while Truex fell from tied for twelfth and out of a tie for the final wild card with Newman to seventeenth. Now reset the points for the Chase standings and Bowyer is at 2000 points, fifteen back of points leader Kenseth, the same gap there would have been if no penalty was given at all, Newman makes the Chase and Truex goes from fifteen back to Kenseth to 1,324 points back of Kenseth and out of championship contention.
NASCAR missed it. Bowyer's actions put the safety of himself and other competitors endanger and he virtually received no penalty. He is still only fifteen back of Kenseth and could end up champion at Homestead in November. Meanwhile, Truex, who very well could of had no knowledge of what Bowyer had done and what the plan was, gets knocked out of the Chase despite racing hard for the final wild card position the whole night. If NASCAR is going penalize Truex enough points to drop him out of the Chase and he did nothing wrong, Bowyer should have gotten the same punishment, if not a more severe punishment. Had NASCAR penalized the drivers 100 points, Bowyer drops from third to thirteenth and out of the Chase, while Truex would have fallen to twentieth. Jeff Gordon, who was just as much screwed out of a Chase spot by Bowyer's actions as Newman was, would have gotten the tenth and final spot and Newman would still have received the final wild card.
Imagine if in 1997, instead of excluding Michael Schumacher for trying to deliberately take out Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez, guaranteeing him the World Drivers' Championship, they excluded his Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine because that would have taught them a lesson. By the way, Irvine finished 7th in the World Drivers' Championship with twenty-four points. Yeah, that would have taught Schumacher and everyone else a lesson for sure.
Don't get me wrong, I am ok with team orders and I see nothing wrong with what Brian Vickers did. He safely pulled off the race track and went a lap down, assuring his teammate Truex would finish ahead of him and earned an extra point. How is that any different than a teammate allowing another teammate by to lead a lap? Or what if Vickers was twelfth and Truex was thirteenth and Truex needed to finish twelfth to get the final wild card and Vickers let him by? Nothing wrong with that. I've been calling for Penske Racing to let Sam Hornish, Jr. win races because it makes no sense for him to finish second to Joey Logano or Brad Keselowski who are not eligible for the Nationwide Series championship. Clint Bowyer's actions took team orders too far and him and all of Michael Waltrip Racing deserve to be penalized.
I am glad NASCAR did something and not turn their heads and act as if nothing wrong happened. However, they failed to punished the one who caused this whole situation. Bowyer doesn't spin, we don't have an investigation, we don't have an 8:15 p.m. announcement on a Monday night and we don't have post after post, article after article about what transpired with seven laps to go at Richmond.
Bowyer can still win the championship and he's no farther back than he would have been if their was no penalty at all. Meanwhile, Truex is out of the championship hunt for what his teammate did. Talk about taking the fall for a teammate. Truex is taking the brute of the punishment he did not earn.
I applaud NASCAR for taking action but the penalties did not fairly disciplined the perpetrator. The penalties apply to the points after Richmond, not the Chase. So the points after Richmond saw Carl Edwards leading Jimmie Johnson by one point with Clint Bowyer in third with with Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Joey Logano rounding out the top five. Jeff Gordon was eleventh, a point behind Logano with Truex and Ryan Newman tied for twelfth and the final wild card with Truex holding the tiebreaker. Kasey Kahne clinched a wild card entering Richmond.
The 50 point penalties dropped Bowyer from third to seventh while Truex fell from tied for twelfth and out of a tie for the final wild card with Newman to seventeenth. Now reset the points for the Chase standings and Bowyer is at 2000 points, fifteen back of points leader Kenseth, the same gap there would have been if no penalty was given at all, Newman makes the Chase and Truex goes from fifteen back to Kenseth to 1,324 points back of Kenseth and out of championship contention.
NASCAR missed it. Bowyer's actions put the safety of himself and other competitors endanger and he virtually received no penalty. He is still only fifteen back of Kenseth and could end up champion at Homestead in November. Meanwhile, Truex, who very well could of had no knowledge of what Bowyer had done and what the plan was, gets knocked out of the Chase despite racing hard for the final wild card position the whole night. If NASCAR is going penalize Truex enough points to drop him out of the Chase and he did nothing wrong, Bowyer should have gotten the same punishment, if not a more severe punishment. Had NASCAR penalized the drivers 100 points, Bowyer drops from third to thirteenth and out of the Chase, while Truex would have fallen to twentieth. Jeff Gordon, who was just as much screwed out of a Chase spot by Bowyer's actions as Newman was, would have gotten the tenth and final spot and Newman would still have received the final wild card.
Imagine if in 1997, instead of excluding Michael Schumacher for trying to deliberately take out Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez, guaranteeing him the World Drivers' Championship, they excluded his Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine because that would have taught them a lesson. By the way, Irvine finished 7th in the World Drivers' Championship with twenty-four points. Yeah, that would have taught Schumacher and everyone else a lesson for sure.
Don't get me wrong, I am ok with team orders and I see nothing wrong with what Brian Vickers did. He safely pulled off the race track and went a lap down, assuring his teammate Truex would finish ahead of him and earned an extra point. How is that any different than a teammate allowing another teammate by to lead a lap? Or what if Vickers was twelfth and Truex was thirteenth and Truex needed to finish twelfth to get the final wild card and Vickers let him by? Nothing wrong with that. I've been calling for Penske Racing to let Sam Hornish, Jr. win races because it makes no sense for him to finish second to Joey Logano or Brad Keselowski who are not eligible for the Nationwide Series championship. Clint Bowyer's actions took team orders too far and him and all of Michael Waltrip Racing deserve to be penalized.
I am glad NASCAR did something and not turn their heads and act as if nothing wrong happened. However, they failed to punished the one who caused this whole situation. Bowyer doesn't spin, we don't have an investigation, we don't have an 8:15 p.m. announcement on a Monday night and we don't have post after post, article after article about what transpired with seven laps to go at Richmond.
Bowyer can still win the championship and he's no farther back than he would have been if their was no penalty at all. Meanwhile, Truex is out of the championship hunt for what his teammate did. Talk about taking the fall for a teammate. Truex is taking the brute of the punishment he did not earn.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Responding to Richmond
In what had to be the most frantic Chase-deciding race Richmond International Raceway has ever produced, a dark cloud of team orders hangs over the final spot in the Chase. Let me be clear when I say I have no problem with team orders but it is how far they are taken.
Were they taken too far Saturday night by Michael Waltrip Racing? Let's look at the evidence:
Ryan Newman is leading the race with seven laps remaining. He wins, he is in the Chase. At that time, Jeff Gordon was in the 10th position in points. Joey Logano was eleventh and would have lost the second wild card position had Newman won. Clint Bowyer spins and brings out a caution. The field pits, Newman is no longer the leader, Logano is waved around. When the checkered flag flew Logano moved up to tenth, Gordon down to eleventh and Martin Truex, Jr. was holding the second wild card position on a tiebreaker over Ryan Newman who finished third.
Let's dive in a little deeper. Why would over Clint Bowyer's radio "the 39 is going to win" be said? And why did they say "going to win?" They didn't say the 39 is leading but "going to win." Do they always tell Bowyer who is going to win in the final laps? Do they frequently ask Bowyer whether his arms hurt during the later stages of a race? Do they always ask Bowyer if it's hot in the car? Of course it's hot. It's a race car. When during a race is the cockpit cold?
The question is did Bowyer spin on purpose? And if it were only a flat tire, why didn't the crew change it and get him right back out on track? Why did he sit in the pits for an additional two laps? Then there is Brian Vickers late pit stop that put him a lap down. His crew chief Ty Norris called him in saying, "You've got to pit this time. We need that 1 point." What did he mean "we need that 1 point?" Pitting would give up track position and lose points. If anything, if they need that 1 point then wouldn't Norris be telling Vickers to make a pass for position?
Now here is where team orders get blurry. I am ok with a team telling a driver to fall back and let his teammate by for points. I actually questioned why Penske Racing was letting Logano and Keselowski win Nationwide races while Sam Hornish, Jr. would finish second and lose potential points that could decide the championship. That is a harmless. It's just like when drivers let another driver by to lead a lap for a bonus point. Sometimes it's a team order. Other times a driver realizes his teammate is behind him and let's him by to get the bonus point.
But it's taking team orders to the point when you are telling a driver to stop or spun on track for a caution that is a problem that must be nipped in the bud immediately. It is no better than a player taking a dive towards the end of a soccer match to waste time. Actually it's far worse. Telling a car to spin or stop put many drivers in danger. Imagine if Bowyer had spun and been t-boned by another driver. You are not only putting Bowyer at risk for injury but fellow competitors. When a player dives in any sport, they're just wasting time. For example: A wide receiver can't stomp on the leg of a cornerback causing him to go down and need medical attention and stop the clock without some type of penalty, whether it be unnecessary roughness and a fifteen yard penalty or fifteen yards and an ejection. Why should a driver spinning on purpose be let off the hook?
When the spin happened, I didn't even think about it and didn't think it was to benefit Truex. The same way I didn't think Nelson Piquet, Jr. (who ironically happens to drive in the NASCAR Nationwide Series) spun in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to benefit then-teammate Fernando Alonso. But, just as the Piquet incident, once you hear the radio transmissions from not only Bowyer but Vickers and you have to raise a red flag.
Going off the Renault incident, the FIA came down hard on the team. Renault was given a two-year suspended disqualification from Formula One pending any further rules violations. Then-team principal and chief engineer Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were banned from the sport, however these bans were later overturned by French courts and Symonds is currently back in Formula One as chief technical officer at Williams F1.
With NASCAR currently investigating the spin, the question is will they punish Michael Waltrip Racing? NASCAR has not been known to making heavy-handed penalties such as the ones given to Renault after Singapore. Sure they have penalized Chad Knaus almost religiously when the #48 car has failed an inspection with points and money but their history of banning drivers for actions on track is spotty. Kyle Busch was sat down for a Cup and Nationwide race in 2011 when he wrecked Ron Hornaday, Jr. under caution during a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Texas Motor Speedway. Ted Musgrave was suspended in 2007 for hitting the truck of Kelly Bires under caution. But remember when Jeff Gordon deliberately spun Clint Bowyer head first into the wall and happened to collect innocent bystanders Joey Logano and Aric Almirola last November? No ban.
Would any punishment go further than the drivers? Could it be a whole team penalty? In 2005, BAR Honda were banned disqualified from the San Marino Grand Prix and banned from the next two for hidden fuel compartments that used fuel as ballast, which is against regulations. Could Michael Waltrip Racing as a whole be sat for a race or two? And more importantly, would a penalty change the Chase status or either or both Michael Waltrip Racing drivers in what would be a truly radical and revolutionary penalty handed down by NASCAR?
There are a few ways this could have been avoided. First, Clint Bowyer at one point during the Richmond race was leading the points. If NASCAR gave say a 26-point bonus to the driver to who was leading the points after the "regular season" in addition to the bonus points for winning races during the "regular season," would Bowyer have fallen back and gotten himself into this mess? Wouldn't he go after the regular season championship bonus?
What if in-car radios were banned and drivers had to rely on pit boards and their mirrors? It would be a step backward for racing if that were to happen not only in in-car communicate but safety but if drivers are already spinning on purpose, maybe we have already taken a step back in terms of safety and getting rid of in-car radios wouldn't be that big of a deal.
NASCAR finds themselves in a precarious situation and if they were to issue any penalty that affects the Chase, they have to act quick as Chicago is one week away.
Were they taken too far Saturday night by Michael Waltrip Racing? Let's look at the evidence:
Ryan Newman is leading the race with seven laps remaining. He wins, he is in the Chase. At that time, Jeff Gordon was in the 10th position in points. Joey Logano was eleventh and would have lost the second wild card position had Newman won. Clint Bowyer spins and brings out a caution. The field pits, Newman is no longer the leader, Logano is waved around. When the checkered flag flew Logano moved up to tenth, Gordon down to eleventh and Martin Truex, Jr. was holding the second wild card position on a tiebreaker over Ryan Newman who finished third.
Let's dive in a little deeper. Why would over Clint Bowyer's radio "the 39 is going to win" be said? And why did they say "going to win?" They didn't say the 39 is leading but "going to win." Do they always tell Bowyer who is going to win in the final laps? Do they frequently ask Bowyer whether his arms hurt during the later stages of a race? Do they always ask Bowyer if it's hot in the car? Of course it's hot. It's a race car. When during a race is the cockpit cold?
The question is did Bowyer spin on purpose? And if it were only a flat tire, why didn't the crew change it and get him right back out on track? Why did he sit in the pits for an additional two laps? Then there is Brian Vickers late pit stop that put him a lap down. His crew chief Ty Norris called him in saying, "You've got to pit this time. We need that 1 point." What did he mean "we need that 1 point?" Pitting would give up track position and lose points. If anything, if they need that 1 point then wouldn't Norris be telling Vickers to make a pass for position?
Now here is where team orders get blurry. I am ok with a team telling a driver to fall back and let his teammate by for points. I actually questioned why Penske Racing was letting Logano and Keselowski win Nationwide races while Sam Hornish, Jr. would finish second and lose potential points that could decide the championship. That is a harmless. It's just like when drivers let another driver by to lead a lap for a bonus point. Sometimes it's a team order. Other times a driver realizes his teammate is behind him and let's him by to get the bonus point.
But it's taking team orders to the point when you are telling a driver to stop or spun on track for a caution that is a problem that must be nipped in the bud immediately. It is no better than a player taking a dive towards the end of a soccer match to waste time. Actually it's far worse. Telling a car to spin or stop put many drivers in danger. Imagine if Bowyer had spun and been t-boned by another driver. You are not only putting Bowyer at risk for injury but fellow competitors. When a player dives in any sport, they're just wasting time. For example: A wide receiver can't stomp on the leg of a cornerback causing him to go down and need medical attention and stop the clock without some type of penalty, whether it be unnecessary roughness and a fifteen yard penalty or fifteen yards and an ejection. Why should a driver spinning on purpose be let off the hook?
When the spin happened, I didn't even think about it and didn't think it was to benefit Truex. The same way I didn't think Nelson Piquet, Jr. (who ironically happens to drive in the NASCAR Nationwide Series) spun in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to benefit then-teammate Fernando Alonso. But, just as the Piquet incident, once you hear the radio transmissions from not only Bowyer but Vickers and you have to raise a red flag.
Going off the Renault incident, the FIA came down hard on the team. Renault was given a two-year suspended disqualification from Formula One pending any further rules violations. Then-team principal and chief engineer Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were banned from the sport, however these bans were later overturned by French courts and Symonds is currently back in Formula One as chief technical officer at Williams F1.
With NASCAR currently investigating the spin, the question is will they punish Michael Waltrip Racing? NASCAR has not been known to making heavy-handed penalties such as the ones given to Renault after Singapore. Sure they have penalized Chad Knaus almost religiously when the #48 car has failed an inspection with points and money but their history of banning drivers for actions on track is spotty. Kyle Busch was sat down for a Cup and Nationwide race in 2011 when he wrecked Ron Hornaday, Jr. under caution during a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Texas Motor Speedway. Ted Musgrave was suspended in 2007 for hitting the truck of Kelly Bires under caution. But remember when Jeff Gordon deliberately spun Clint Bowyer head first into the wall and happened to collect innocent bystanders Joey Logano and Aric Almirola last November? No ban.
Would any punishment go further than the drivers? Could it be a whole team penalty? In 2005, BAR Honda were banned disqualified from the San Marino Grand Prix and banned from the next two for hidden fuel compartments that used fuel as ballast, which is against regulations. Could Michael Waltrip Racing as a whole be sat for a race or two? And more importantly, would a penalty change the Chase status or either or both Michael Waltrip Racing drivers in what would be a truly radical and revolutionary penalty handed down by NASCAR?
There are a few ways this could have been avoided. First, Clint Bowyer at one point during the Richmond race was leading the points. If NASCAR gave say a 26-point bonus to the driver to who was leading the points after the "regular season" in addition to the bonus points for winning races during the "regular season," would Bowyer have fallen back and gotten himself into this mess? Wouldn't he go after the regular season championship bonus?
What if in-car radios were banned and drivers had to rely on pit boards and their mirrors? It would be a step backward for racing if that were to happen not only in in-car communicate but safety but if drivers are already spinning on purpose, maybe we have already taken a step back in terms of safety and getting rid of in-car radios wouldn't be that big of a deal.
NASCAR finds themselves in a precarious situation and if they were to issue any penalty that affects the Chase, they have to act quick as Chicago is one week away.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
2014 USCR Schedule Preview
Seeing as I have taken the time to look at the 2014 IndyCar schedule and make predictions of when and where the top American open-wheel series will race, and seeing as some of those IndyCar dates could also feature USCR, I should do the same for the top American sports car series.
According to Racer Magazine's Marshall Pruett, the inaugural USCR calendar is days away from being announced and should feature eleven events. The main events from Grand-Am and ALMS such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, Sebring, Petit Le Mans and Watkins Glen have all been viewed as givens for 2014 with the remaining races falling into place. We know the 24 Hours of Daytona will be January 25-26. Sebring will fall around St. Patrick's Day. Petit is going to be a October date. Watkins Glen is a the beginning of the summer. That's what you can build around.
Grand-Am and ALMS shared a weekend at Road America this August, though nothing has been confirmed, I don't see why USCR couldn't return to Road America in August. Both series go to Laguna Seca, that should stay put but will it take ALMS' May date or Grand-Am's September date? What about Austin? Grand-Am went in March. ALMS is going in a fortnight as an undercard to FIA World Endurance Championship. I don't see why you wouldn't run with WEC again in 2014. The only question is does WEC keep their September date paired with São Paulo so WEC teams only make one trip across the Atlantic or do they move it to March to open their season? I think the former is more likely than the latter but that's me.
There are a lot of questions over Belle Isle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Mosport, Kansas, Mid-Ohio and Lime Rock Park.
As noted in the latest 2014 IndyCar schedule update, Radio Le Mans John Hindhaugh said Belle Isle could move to Labor Day weekend and be an IndyCar/USCR doubleheader. Belle Isle hosted IndyCar and ALMS on Labor Day weekend in 2007 and 2008 but knowing IndyCar wants to end their season by Labor Day, I just don't see Belle Isle being IndyCar's choice for a season finale. I do see the Belle Isle race weekend moving. The 2013 date clashed with the Le Mans test day, something USCR probably wants to avoid seeing as top teams such as Corvette and SRT Viper will likely have to participate in that test as well as other top USCR drivers. Seeing as how I couldn't see it staying in early June but I couldn't see it being Labor Day weekend, I moved it the middle of July.
Moving Belle Isle to July raises other questions. Mid-July featured Mosport for ALMS and Indianapolis for Grand-Am in 2013. The Indianapolis date could move. There is the possibility USCR leaves the NASCAR weekend at Indianapolis to join IndyCar if they should run a IMS road course race the second weekend in May. Running USCR with IndyCar in May would all but confirm Laguna Seca being held in September as the 2014 IMS IndyCar road course date is the same weekend ALMS has run at Laguna Seca the past few years.
Mosport has not been confirmed for 2014 and could be squeezed out of July if Belle Isle were to move to July and Indianapolis stay in the summer. ALMS ran Mosport at the of end August for many years and seeing as how the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series went to the track Labor Day weekend this year and how I am not putting Belle Isle Labor Day weekend in 2014 and the people who own the Truck series owns USCR, it wouldn't be the craziest thing ever to see Mosport move to Labor Day weekend.
If Belle Isle were to move to July and Indianapolis stay in July those races likely would be held back-to-back weeks with Mosport moving (if it even gets on the schedule at all) back at least a month.
Baltimore needs a date but talks are sports cars are likely to return in 2014. I moved Baltimore to April in the latest IndyCar schedule update because it would get the race out of the heat of the summer and fill a month long gap for IndyCar in the spring. It would also fill a month long gap for USCR and have three consecutive race weekends of IndyCar and USCR sharing the bill which isn't the worst thing in the world.
So quick recap of where we stand as of now:
Daytona: January 24-25th.
Sebring: March 15th.
Long Beach: April 12th.
Baltimore: April 26th.
Indianapolis: May 10th (Should the race join IndyCar).
Watkins Glen: June 29th.
Belle Isle: July 19th (Possibly Mosport is Belle Isle stays in June or moves to Labor Day).
(Indianapolis: July 25th if it stays in the summer).
Road America: August 10th.
Mosport: August 30th (If it happens at all or Belle Isle isn't moved to Labor Day weekend).
Petit Le Mans: October 18th.
As I said before, if Indianapolis moves to May, Laguna Seca will all but be officially a September date, which happens to be this weekend. Should USCR continue to run Austin and race the same weekend as WEC and that date holds serve in 2014, that race would take place a fortnight later. The real question is Kansas. It looks like it's going to happen, mostly because it's a International Speedway Corporation track and ISC and USCR are owned by the same people. Does Kansas return to it's August date it ran this year? I don't see why not. ALMS CEO and USCR COO Scott Atherton made it known that USCR's goal is to establish it's own identity. I don't see Kansas being run with either NASCAR weekend at Kansas and the Saturday night road course race Grand-Am had this year, while not the most exciting race in the world, was a pretty cool sight and if Kansas were to return, I'd like to see the Saturday night race return as well.
With all that squared away, the calendar would looks like this:
Daytona: January 24-25th.
Sebring: March 15th.
Long Beach: April 12th.
Baltimore: April 26th.
Indianapolis: May 10th (Should the race join IndyCar).
Watkins Glen: June 29th.
Belle Isle: July 19th (Possibly Mosport is Belle Isle stays in June or moves to Labor Day).
(Indianapolis: July 25th if it stays in the summer).
Road America: August 10th.
Kansas: August 16th.
Mosport: August 30th (If it happens at all or Belle Isle isn't moved to Labor Day weekend).
Laguna Seca: September 7th.
Austin: September 20th
Petit Le Mans: October 18th.
There is one major problem with this calendar. There are thirteen dates and Marshall Pruett said there will only be eleven. I honestly believe Mosport gets left off. It's unfortunate for a great Canadian fan base but, just like IndyCar reunification and their failure to get Toronto on the 2008 calendar, Mosport will get the same short end of the stick from USCR. With that one off the calendar, I'll be honest, I can't see another getting dropped. All seem to have strong support of being on the 2014 calendar. I think there will be twelve rounds.
Now what about the likes of Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Barber and Mosport. I see Lime Rock and Mosport getting Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge races. It's a good alternative to not getting a USCR event and who knows, maybe they are on the 2015 USCR schedule. As for Mid-Ohio and Barber, I think they could get a Continental Tire Sports Car races but that series isn't going to have a bunch of standalone events. They are still going to run with USCR at probably all but the street course races. That's nine events, add Lime Rock and Mosport and CTSCC is running out of room. Could CTSCC run with IndyCar or NASCAR at Mid-Ohio and IndyCar at Barber? Possibly. We'll have to wait and see.
Let's finalize the 2014 USCR schedule. After going through the above, here is what I got:
Daytona: January 24-25th.
Sebring: March 15th.
Long Beach: April 12th.
Baltimore: April 26th.
Indianapolis: May 10th (Should the race join IndyCar).
Watkins Glen: June 29th.
Belle Isle: July 19th.
(Indianapolis: July 25th if it stays in the summer).
Road America: August 10th.
Kansas: August 16th.
(Belle Isle: August 30th should it move to Labor Day).
Laguna Seca: September 7th.
Austin: September 20th
Petit Le Mans: October 18th.
There is the gap due to Le Mans but that is acceptable and the 24 Hours of Le Mans makes up for it. There is a fair amount of spacing during the summer, especially if USCR moves Indianapolis to May. The only other conflict I see is Kansas. I have been holding out the possibility the Houston IndyCar doubleheader will be Friday and Saturday night so the races aren't held in the brutal afternoon heat and humidity and Houston could fall the same weekend as USCR at Kansas. I would like all motorsport series, especially the ones in the United States, to have open dialogue with one another and avoid scheduling races head-to-head on the same day and spreading races out. If (and it's a pretty big if) Kansas and Houston are the same Saturday night that benefits no one. Kansas however cannot simply slide back to the following Saturday night because that Saturday night the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Bristol. That would be even worse. Could Kansas be the Friday night or Sunday night Houston weekend or the Sunday night after Bristol? Maybe but I don't think a Friday or Sunday night event would get as well of a draw or TV rating as a Saturday night race. However, until Houston is officially announced to be in August and is officially announced as a night event, this will not be problem.
The good news is all the speculation of what the inaugural USCR season will looks like could end in a matter of days. Exciting times these are for sports car racing.
According to Racer Magazine's Marshall Pruett, the inaugural USCR calendar is days away from being announced and should feature eleven events. The main events from Grand-Am and ALMS such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, Sebring, Petit Le Mans and Watkins Glen have all been viewed as givens for 2014 with the remaining races falling into place. We know the 24 Hours of Daytona will be January 25-26. Sebring will fall around St. Patrick's Day. Petit is going to be a October date. Watkins Glen is a the beginning of the summer. That's what you can build around.
Grand-Am and ALMS shared a weekend at Road America this August, though nothing has been confirmed, I don't see why USCR couldn't return to Road America in August. Both series go to Laguna Seca, that should stay put but will it take ALMS' May date or Grand-Am's September date? What about Austin? Grand-Am went in March. ALMS is going in a fortnight as an undercard to FIA World Endurance Championship. I don't see why you wouldn't run with WEC again in 2014. The only question is does WEC keep their September date paired with São Paulo so WEC teams only make one trip across the Atlantic or do they move it to March to open their season? I think the former is more likely than the latter but that's me.
There are a lot of questions over Belle Isle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Mosport, Kansas, Mid-Ohio and Lime Rock Park.
As noted in the latest 2014 IndyCar schedule update, Radio Le Mans John Hindhaugh said Belle Isle could move to Labor Day weekend and be an IndyCar/USCR doubleheader. Belle Isle hosted IndyCar and ALMS on Labor Day weekend in 2007 and 2008 but knowing IndyCar wants to end their season by Labor Day, I just don't see Belle Isle being IndyCar's choice for a season finale. I do see the Belle Isle race weekend moving. The 2013 date clashed with the Le Mans test day, something USCR probably wants to avoid seeing as top teams such as Corvette and SRT Viper will likely have to participate in that test as well as other top USCR drivers. Seeing as how I couldn't see it staying in early June but I couldn't see it being Labor Day weekend, I moved it the middle of July.
Moving Belle Isle to July raises other questions. Mid-July featured Mosport for ALMS and Indianapolis for Grand-Am in 2013. The Indianapolis date could move. There is the possibility USCR leaves the NASCAR weekend at Indianapolis to join IndyCar if they should run a IMS road course race the second weekend in May. Running USCR with IndyCar in May would all but confirm Laguna Seca being held in September as the 2014 IMS IndyCar road course date is the same weekend ALMS has run at Laguna Seca the past few years.
Mosport has not been confirmed for 2014 and could be squeezed out of July if Belle Isle were to move to July and Indianapolis stay in the summer. ALMS ran Mosport at the of end August for many years and seeing as how the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series went to the track Labor Day weekend this year and how I am not putting Belle Isle Labor Day weekend in 2014 and the people who own the Truck series owns USCR, it wouldn't be the craziest thing ever to see Mosport move to Labor Day weekend.
If Belle Isle were to move to July and Indianapolis stay in July those races likely would be held back-to-back weeks with Mosport moving (if it even gets on the schedule at all) back at least a month.
Baltimore needs a date but talks are sports cars are likely to return in 2014. I moved Baltimore to April in the latest IndyCar schedule update because it would get the race out of the heat of the summer and fill a month long gap for IndyCar in the spring. It would also fill a month long gap for USCR and have three consecutive race weekends of IndyCar and USCR sharing the bill which isn't the worst thing in the world.
So quick recap of where we stand as of now:
Daytona: January 24-25th.
Sebring: March 15th.
Long Beach: April 12th.
Baltimore: April 26th.
Indianapolis: May 10th (Should the race join IndyCar).
Watkins Glen: June 29th.
Belle Isle: July 19th (Possibly Mosport is Belle Isle stays in June or moves to Labor Day).
(Indianapolis: July 25th if it stays in the summer).
Road America: August 10th.
Mosport: August 30th (If it happens at all or Belle Isle isn't moved to Labor Day weekend).
Petit Le Mans: October 18th.
As I said before, if Indianapolis moves to May, Laguna Seca will all but be officially a September date, which happens to be this weekend. Should USCR continue to run Austin and race the same weekend as WEC and that date holds serve in 2014, that race would take place a fortnight later. The real question is Kansas. It looks like it's going to happen, mostly because it's a International Speedway Corporation track and ISC and USCR are owned by the same people. Does Kansas return to it's August date it ran this year? I don't see why not. ALMS CEO and USCR COO Scott Atherton made it known that USCR's goal is to establish it's own identity. I don't see Kansas being run with either NASCAR weekend at Kansas and the Saturday night road course race Grand-Am had this year, while not the most exciting race in the world, was a pretty cool sight and if Kansas were to return, I'd like to see the Saturday night race return as well.
With all that squared away, the calendar would looks like this:
Daytona: January 24-25th.
Sebring: March 15th.
Long Beach: April 12th.
Baltimore: April 26th.
Indianapolis: May 10th (Should the race join IndyCar).
Watkins Glen: June 29th.
Belle Isle: July 19th (Possibly Mosport is Belle Isle stays in June or moves to Labor Day).
(Indianapolis: July 25th if it stays in the summer).
Road America: August 10th.
Kansas: August 16th.
Mosport: August 30th (If it happens at all or Belle Isle isn't moved to Labor Day weekend).
Laguna Seca: September 7th.
Austin: September 20th
Petit Le Mans: October 18th.
There is one major problem with this calendar. There are thirteen dates and Marshall Pruett said there will only be eleven. I honestly believe Mosport gets left off. It's unfortunate for a great Canadian fan base but, just like IndyCar reunification and their failure to get Toronto on the 2008 calendar, Mosport will get the same short end of the stick from USCR. With that one off the calendar, I'll be honest, I can't see another getting dropped. All seem to have strong support of being on the 2014 calendar. I think there will be twelve rounds.
Now what about the likes of Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Barber and Mosport. I see Lime Rock and Mosport getting Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge races. It's a good alternative to not getting a USCR event and who knows, maybe they are on the 2015 USCR schedule. As for Mid-Ohio and Barber, I think they could get a Continental Tire Sports Car races but that series isn't going to have a bunch of standalone events. They are still going to run with USCR at probably all but the street course races. That's nine events, add Lime Rock and Mosport and CTSCC is running out of room. Could CTSCC run with IndyCar or NASCAR at Mid-Ohio and IndyCar at Barber? Possibly. We'll have to wait and see.
Let's finalize the 2014 USCR schedule. After going through the above, here is what I got:
Daytona: January 24-25th.
Sebring: March 15th.
Long Beach: April 12th.
Baltimore: April 26th.
Indianapolis: May 10th (Should the race join IndyCar).
Watkins Glen: June 29th.
Belle Isle: July 19th.
(Indianapolis: July 25th if it stays in the summer).
Road America: August 10th.
Kansas: August 16th.
(Belle Isle: August 30th should it move to Labor Day).
Laguna Seca: September 7th.
Austin: September 20th
Petit Le Mans: October 18th.
There is the gap due to Le Mans but that is acceptable and the 24 Hours of Le Mans makes up for it. There is a fair amount of spacing during the summer, especially if USCR moves Indianapolis to May. The only other conflict I see is Kansas. I have been holding out the possibility the Houston IndyCar doubleheader will be Friday and Saturday night so the races aren't held in the brutal afternoon heat and humidity and Houston could fall the same weekend as USCR at Kansas. I would like all motorsport series, especially the ones in the United States, to have open dialogue with one another and avoid scheduling races head-to-head on the same day and spreading races out. If (and it's a pretty big if) Kansas and Houston are the same Saturday night that benefits no one. Kansas however cannot simply slide back to the following Saturday night because that Saturday night the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Bristol. That would be even worse. Could Kansas be the Friday night or Sunday night Houston weekend or the Sunday night after Bristol? Maybe but I don't think a Friday or Sunday night event would get as well of a draw or TV rating as a Saturday night race. However, until Houston is officially announced to be in August and is officially announced as a night event, this will not be problem.
The good news is all the speculation of what the inaugural USCR season will looks like could end in a matter of days. Exciting times these are for sports car racing.
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