Morning Warm-Up: Toronto 2014 Race Two

Sébastien Bourdais and Will Power will lead the field to the green in race one Sunday morning

After a rained out Saturday race, Sunday will feature two, 65-lap or 80-minute races. The grid for race one will be set by the qualifying times set Saturday with race two being set by entrant points entering the weekend. Race one will feature an initial rolling start while race two will feature an initial standing start.

Sébastien Bourdais will start on pole position for race one. It is his first pole position since Assen in 2007. Seventeen of the Frenchman's thirty-one victories have come from pole position. Will Power will start second despite an accident on the parade laps on Saturday. Had the race gone green on Saturday, Power would have had to start from the back of the grid. Third place will be Hélio Castroneves. The Brazilian has a nine point lead over his Penske teammate Power in the championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay will start fourth. He won at Toronto from sixth on the grid in 2012.

Simon Pagenaud starts fifth despite an accident in the Firestone Fast Six session on Saturday. Next to him will be Tony Kanaan. Kanaan's last road/street course victory was Belle Isle in 2007. Luca Filippi qualified seventh for his first career start at Toronto next to Justin Wilson. Twice has the winner come from row four at Toronto. Will Power won from seventh in 2007 and Al Unser, Jr. won from eighth in 1990. James Hinchcliffe starts ninth for the first race in his home town. Ryan Briscoe rounds out the top ten. Briscoe had an accident on the parade laps yesterday but will keep his grid position.

Juan Pablo Montoya will start eleventh despite an electrical issue that nearly sent the Colombian to the back of the grid on Saturday. Scott Dixon rolls off from twelve. Only once has the winner come from outside the top ten at Toronto. That was Michael Andretti in 2001 who started thirteenth. Josef Newgarden starts thirteenth in race one with fellow American and Honda driver Graham Rahal in fourteenth. Takuma Sato rounds out the top fifteen with Mike Conway joining him on row eight.

Rookies Carlos Muñoz and Jack Hawksworth make up row nine. Sebastián Saavedra and Charlie Kimball round out the top twenty. Carlos Huertas and Mikhail Aleshin make up another all-rookie row on row eleven with Marco Andretti rounding out the field in twenty-third.

Race one coverage will start at 10:30 a.m. ET on CNBC after the broadcast of the Formula One German Grand Prix from the Hockenheimring.

Three thoughts heading into this unique day for IndyCar:

1. Survive race one! You don't want to wad a car up in race one to the point it can't start race two. That could be the death blow for a championships run.

2. Time! Race one will probably begin almost immediately, which means green around 10:35 a.m., race is limited to 80 minutes, so the race will be over by 11:55 a.m. at the latest. That will give the teams about four hours and twenty minutes between the checkered flag for race one and the lights going out for race two. If there is any crash damage, there is the time frame the teams have to work in. If there is an engine failure, there is the time frame the teams have to work in. It will be helter skelter in the paddock between races.

3. Fuel Strategy! Today is Dale Coyne's Christmas. He has mastered the timed race format more than anyone else in the paddock. The question is can teams stretch these races to be one stoppers? If so, Carlos Huertas very well could pass Graham Rahal on the all-time win list this afternoon.

A few fun facts due to revisionist history and clarifications:

First time there are two IndyCar races on the same day since June 11, 2011 when Texas Motor Speedway hosted the Firestone Twin 275s. Dario Franchitti and Will Power won that night.

First time there are two full points-paying IndyCar races on the same day since June 28, 1981 when Atlanta Motor Speedway hosted the Kraco Twins 125s. Rick Mears won both races.

First time there are two full points-paying road/street course IndyCar races on the same day since October 19, 1969 when Pacific Raceways hosted the Dan Gurney 200. Mario Andretti and Al Unser split that day.

Once again, race one coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. ET on CNBC, immediately after the Formula One German Grand Prix. Race two coverage will be at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN and will feature an initial standing start.

Update 1:58 p.m. ET
For race two, coverage will start at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Hélio Castroneves will start first on virtue of driving the entrant points leading entry. His teammate Will Power makes it an all-Penske front row. Honda drivers Simon Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay will start on row two. Colombians Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Muñoz start on row three. Scott Dixon  will start seventh ahead of Marco Andretti in eighth. Tony Kanaan and race one winner Sébastien Bourdais.

Mike Conway and Ryan Briscoe will start on row six. James Hinchcliffe will be joined by Mikhail Aleshin on row seven. Justin Wilson will start fifteenth with Charlie Kimball sixteenth. Josef Newgarden and Jack Hawksworth comprise row nine for race two. Graham Rahal and Carlos Huertas will start nineteenth and twentieth respectively. Sebastián Saavedra, Takuma Sato and Luca Filippi will round out the grid for race two.

First Impressions: Toronto 2014, The Rain Out

Mother Nature won on Saturday as only parade laps were completed by IndyCar. Two races scheduled for Sunday

1. I'm starting on a negative. Racer.com's Marshall Pruett tweeted two photos of the barriers and fences from Toronto. Both of fences not mounted into the barriers.

Are you kidding me, IndyCar? You approved this course for a race? Multiple people should be fired, not just from IndyCar's office but from race promoters' Green Savoree Promotions. This is as half-ass and cutting corners as you can get and someone should have their head served on a silver platter. But this seems to be the standard for IndyCar on street courses. From the bumpy and poorly draining parking lot in Houston to the train tracks in Baltimore to the track falling apart at Belle Isle, if you have a paycheck IndyCar will take it, don't worry about track conditions. Meanwhile, premium road courses that are up to safety standards such as Austin, Road America and Watkins Glen are on the sidelines because of business reasons? Are you kidding me?

The standard has to change. This garbage preparation by street courses has to change. There is no excuse to be going to these venues when there are better, safer ones out there for drivers, fans, crews and marshals and if the business model doesn't work then bust your butt to make it feasible. I'd rather IndyCar struggle to make a dime at Road America, Austin, Watkins Glen and Laguna Seca than accept allowances like a spoiled 16-year old at a below satisfactory street course.

Thanks to the rain, the track has additional time to fix what they neglected to begin with. They better make it right.

2. I still think if they had started the race on time, the wet surface would not have been as much of a problem as we think it would have been. There are always going to be visibility issues during a wet races. I think once the cars got going at speed, the racing line would have dried out a bit. It was unfortunate today was cancelled.

3. Just to get you thinking: Had Will Power not spun, we would have gone green. That's how close we were to seeing a race today. Now I am not sure how long it would have stayed green but what could have been.

4. Speaking of Will Power, he stuffs it into the fence, Ryan Briscoe walled it and Juan Pablo Montoya had electrically problems. All were going to start from the rear of the field after their crews worked on their cars. The race is rained out and now all three are getting their grid positions back. I've not been one to harp on IndyCar race control and say they are making rules as they go but this is clearly neglecting the rulebook the have. You can't say these drivers are starting from the rear of the field and then change your mind. Stick by your guns regardless of who the car owners are. They broke the rules and have to serve the consequences. Pandora's box is open. Why should anyone follow the rulebook when the punishment is not being carried out? Get a back bone IndyCar and tell Power, Briscoe, Montoya, Penske and Ganassi they are starting from the back and that is final.

5. Tomorrow, two, 65-lap races (or 80-minutes, whichever comes first). One beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET based on the qualifying times from Saturday. The other beginning at 4:15 p.m. and will be set by entrant points. Both apparently live on NBCSN. The second race will feature a standing start. I didn't think they'd be able to get two long race distances in. To be honest, I would have settled for two, one-hour sprints. I expect many drivers to be tired tomorrow. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

6. IndyCar gets a bad rap and sometimes times they screw up but they are trying to make this right by running two races tomorrow. I think today, with the rain, the hesitating to pull the trigger on the green flag and fluctuation in policing the rulebook wasn't pretty but instead of canceling a race and screwing fans over who had tickets to Saturday-only, they are still going to try and get two races in tomorrow and are honoring Saturday-only tickets on Sunday. What else do you want them to do? Weather sometimes throws a monkey wrench into the equation and you got to roll with the punches.

Morning Warm-Up: Toronto 2014 Race One

Simon Pagenuad is fourth in the championship, 50 points back of Hélio Castroneves

The thirteenth round of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season is scheduled for 85 laps around the streets of Toronto. Simon Pagenaud was fastest on Friday and the Frenchman is looking for a personal single-season best third victory in 2014.  Pagenaud laid down a 1:00.0084 second lap during second practice. His best Toronto finish was fourth in 2007. Second fastest on Friday was Hélio Castroneves, just 0.0134 seconds back of Pagenaud. The Brazilian had his Friday cut short after a battery issue in second practice.

Scott Dixon was third fastest. The New Zealander is looking for his first victory of 2014 and third consecutive at Exhibition Place. Will Power trails his Penske teammate Castroneves by nine points in the championship. Power has failed to finish better than fifteenth at Toronto since winning the race in 2010. James Hinchcliffe is looking for his first victory in his hometown. The local boy finished eighth in race one last year, his best IndyCar finish at home.

Sébastien Bourdais has eight top tens in nine Toronto starts but the Frenchman is looking for his first victory since the final Champ Car race of the 2007 season in Mexico City. Juan Pablo Montoya make his first appearance at Toronto since 2000. Montoya has two retirements due to accidents in his two Toronto starts. Ryan Hunter-Reay is coming off victory at Iowa and finds himself in striking distance of the championship lead, 32 back of Castroneves. He is looking for his second Toronto victory after winning in 2012 en route to the IndyCar championship.

Ryan Briscoe had a mechanical failure end his Friday prematurely. Briscoe suffered a wrist injury in race one last year, forcing him out of the car for race two. He was substituted by Carlos Muñoz for race two who went on to finish seventeenth after only getting a brief warm-up session in the car. Justin Wilson has one Toronto victory to his credit. The Brit's lone top five in 2014 was a fourth place finish in Belle Isle 1. Takuma Sato finish ninth at Toronto in 2012 but has finish twentieth or worse in his other  four starts along Lake Ontario.

Josef Newgarden was fastest in the first practice on Friday. His best finish at Toronto is eleventh, which came in race two last year. Charlie Kimball's first career podium came at Toronto in 2012. He has finished twenty-first in his odd-numbered starts at Toronto with his second place and sixth place finishes coming on his even-numbered Toronto starts. Jack Hawksworth won last year's Toronto Indy Lights race. Only two driver have won in Indy Lights/Formula Atlantics and IndyCar at Toronto. The first was Paul Tracy who won in Indy Lights in 1990 and in IndyCar in 1993 and 2003. AJ Allmendinger won the Atlantics race at Toronto in 2003 and Champ Car race in 2006.

Graham Rahal finished fifth at Toronto in 2010 but has averaged a sixteenth place finish in his other five starts at Exhibition Place. Rahal was sixteenth fastest in second practice. Marco Andretti has gained on average 7.833 positions from his starting position in six Toronto starts. Andretti's average finish at Toronto is 8.166. Sebastián Saavedra won at Toronto in 2009 driving Indy Lights. Saturday will mark his fourth IndyCar start at Toronto. Tony Kanaan has retired from six of his ten starts at Toronto. He finished fifth in race one last year and fourth in 2012.

Mikhail Aleshin makes his first appearance at Toronto. The Russian was twentieth in second practice. Also making his first appearance at Toronto is Luca Filippi. The Italian is looking to join his fellow countrymen Fabrizio Barbazza and Alex Zanardi as winners at Exhibition Place. Barbazza won the inaugural American Racing Series (the predecessor to Indy Lights) race in 1986 and Zanardi won the Indy Toronto in 1998 on his way to his second consecutive CART title. Mike Conway finished seventh in both Toronto races last year. Conway finished third at Toronto in 2012 after two twenty-second place finishes in his first two Toronto starts. Conway was twenty-second fastest in second practice. Carlos Huertas makes it three drivers making their Toronto debuts. Huertas won on his Houston debut three weeks ago.

The field was covered by 1.2583 seconds in second practice. Race one is scheduled to feature a standing start. Qualifying for Toronto 1 takes place at 10:00 a.m. ET. NBCSN's coverage of the first Honda Indy Toronto begins at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 3:55 p.m. ET.

Newgarden Fastest in First Toronto Practice

Second last Saturday night in Iowa and fastest in the first session from the streets of Toronto, Josef Newgarden put the #67 Sarah Fisher-Hartman Racing Honda at the top of the timesheet on the final lap. The Tennessee-native ran a 1:00.2385 second lap, just over two-tenths faster than two-time Toronto winner Will Power. The Australian's fastest lap was also his last lap of the session.

Hometown boy James Hinchcliffe was third, 0.3343 seconds back of Newgarden. Hinchcliffe's best career finish at his home race was third in the 2009 Indy Lights race. His best career IndyCar finish at Exhibition Place is eighth which came in race one last year. Hélio Castroneves made it two Penskes in the top five in fourth while Carlos Muñoz made it two Andrettis and three Hondas in the top five in fifth, 0.4129 seconds back of Newgarden.

Simon Pagenaud was sixth fastest, sandwiched between possible teammates in 2015 with Marco Andretti seventh fastest. Ryan Briscoe was eighth with his Ganassi teammate Tony Kanaan just 0.0348 seconds behind him in ninth. Graham Rahal rounded out the top ten, 0.0021 seconds off Kanaan. Honda had six cars in the top ten.

Winner of the 2004 Honda Indy Toronto, Sébastien Bourdais was eleventh. Mike Conway was twelfth as he gets back behind the wheel of the #20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet. Winner of the 2005 Honda Indy Toronto, Justin Wilson was thirteenth with the 2012 Toronto winner and most recent IndyCar winner Ryan Hunter-Reay in fourteenth. Hunter-Reay trailed Newgarden by 0.9451 seconds.

Mikhail Aleshin rounded out the top fifteen, just 1.0006 seconds off Newgarden. Defending IndyCar winner and defending Toronto winner Scott Dixon was sixteenth. Sebastián Saavedra ran a session high 25 laps and was seventeenth quickest and was sandwiched between Ganassi drivers with Charlie Kimball eighteenth quickest. Juan Pablo Montoya was nineteenth in his first session in Toronto in fourteen years. Jack Hawksworth capped off the top twenty with 1.0665 seconds separating the Brit from Newgarden.

Takuma Sato, Luca Filippi, who returns in the #16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, and Carlos Huertas rounded out the twenty-three car session with 1.7911 seconds covering the field.

Second practice will take place at 1:55 p.m. ET.

Track Walk: Toronto 2014

The Princes' Gates Provide the Backdrop for rounds 13 and 14 of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Season

The final doubleheader and final street course of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hélio Castroneves took the championship lead away from his Team Penske teammate Will Power at Iowa. The Brazilian leads the championship by 9 points with Power in second. Race one this weekend will feature a standing start while race two will feature a rolling start.

Coverage
Time: Coverage for both Saturday and Sunday races begins at 3:00 p.m. ET. Green flag is at 3:55 p.m. ET both days.
TV Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Bob Varsha (Leigh Diffey is on Formula One duty), Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell, Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Marty Snider and Robin Miller.

Three To Look Out For
Scott Dixon swept the weekend last year at Toronto, catapulting the New Zealander into the catbird seat for the 2013 championship. The Kiwi has six top fives in eight Toronto starts while averaging a starting position of 5.75.

Sébastien Bourdais turned around his season last year at Toronto with two podiums. The Frenchman won at Exhibition Place in 2004 and has eight top tens in nine Toronto starts. His average starting position at Toronto is 3.55 with three pole positions.

Justin Wilson has six top tens in ten Toronto starts, including a win in 2005. Wilson has started from pole on two occasions and his average starting position is 5.1.

Toronto Turn Arounds
While Penske drivers Castroneves, Power and Juan Pablo Montoya occupy three of the top four in the championship, Toronto has been more of a headache for these drivers than a points grab. Castroneves finished sixth and second last year at Exhibition Place but the Brazilian's average finish is 14.5 in ten starts in The Queen City with that podium being Castroneves' the lone top five at Toronto.

Power has two victories at Toronto but ever since winning in 2010, the Australians best finish is fifteenth in four Toronto starts, failing to finish on the lead lap each time. He has averaged a starting position of 5.25 in those four starts.

Montoya has only made two starts at Toronto with his last coming in 2000. He started eighth and fourth those years with both ending in accidents. He finished twenty-second in 1999 after contact with Michel Jourdain, Jr. and twenty-fourth in 2000 after a lap one accident with Dario Franchitti.

James Hinchcliffe has never faired well in his home town. In four starts, the Toronto-native averages a starting position of fourteenth and averages a finish of 16.25 with one top ten.

Tony Kanaan's track record at Exhibition Place is nothing to brag about. While he has three top fives and four top tens in ten starts, Kanaan average Toronto finish is 14.6 with three seventeenth place finishes and three finishes outside the top twenty.

Indy Lights
Gabby Chaves has won back-to-back races after winning the Pocono race nearly two weeks ago. The Colombian has an 11-point lead over Zach Veach. Jack Harvey is third in the championship with Matthew Brabham and Luiz Razia rounding out the top five. Last year, Jack Hawksworth won the Toronto Indy Lights race with Peter Dempsey and Gabby Chaves rounding out the podium. Zach Veach finished seventh. Matthew Brabham swept the Pro Mazda weekend at Toronto last year.

Indy Lights will run prior to the Sunday IndyCar race at 10:45 a.m. ET.

U.S. F2000
For the first time since the Night Before the 500, U.S. F2000 is back on track for their own doubleheader at Toronto. R.C. Enerson leads Florian Latorre by nine points with Jake Eidson, Victor Franzoni and Aaron Telitz rounding out the top five. Telitz won the last race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Last year, Neil Alberico and Danilo Estrela split the U.S. F2000 weekend at Exhibition Place.

U.S. F2000 will race Saturday at 6:15 p.m. ET and Sunday at 9:05 a.m. ET.

Pirelli World Challenge
After a month off, Pirelli World Challenge will run a doubleheader at Exhibition Place. Johnny O'Connell leads by 118 points over Mike Skeen who swept the PWC doubleheader at Road America in June. Andrew Palmer is 134 points back of O'Connell in third with O'Connell's Cadillac teammate Andy Pilgram in fourth trailing by 142 points. Anthony Lazzaro rounds out the top five, 199 points back.

The Dyson Bentley Continental GT3 returns with Butch Leitzinger behind the wheel. Leitzinger finished sixth and fourth at Road American on the Bentley's PWC debut. Two GTLM drivers will be on the PWC grid this weekend. Dodge Viper driver Canadian Kuno Wittmer will drive a Viper in his home race while Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy will make his PWC debut in a Porsche GT3R.

Nic Jönsson leads the GTS championship after sweeping the weekend at Road America by one point over fellow Kia driver and Canadian Mark Wilkins. Porsche driver Jack Baldwin is third in GTS, 105 back of Jönsson. Dean Martin is fourth, 127 back.

PWC will race at 11:25 a.m. ET on Saturday and 12:15 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Fun Facts
Saturday's race will be the first on July 19th since 2003 when Gil de Ferran won at Nashville. This will be the fourth Toronto race to occur on July 19th. Emerson Fittipaldi (1987), Michael Andretti (1992) and Alex Zanardi (1998) were the winners on those three occasions.

Sunday's race will be the first on July 20th since 2008 when Ryan Briscoe won at Mid-Ohio. This will be the third Toronto race to occur on July 20th. Bobby Rahal (1986) and Mark Blundell (1997) were the winners on those two occasions.

The pole sitter has won at Toronto on six occasions, the most recent being Scott Dixon in race two last year. Second and third have produced the most Toronto, each at seven. The most recent winner to start second was Will Power in 2010 and most recent winner to start third was Dario Franchitti in 2011.

Only once has a Toronto winner come from outside the top ten. That was Michael Andretti in 2001. He started thirteenth.

No Toronto winner has ever started from the fourth position. Four times has the runner-up came from fourth (Danny Sullivan 1987, Kenny Bräck 2002, Oriol Servià 2005 and Paul Tracy 2006).

Twice has Toronto produced a first time winner. Adrián Fernández picked up his first career win at Exhibition Place in 1996 and Justin Wilson replicated the feat in 2005. Both started third on their way to victory.

Mike Conway's average finish through eight starts is 14 and average starting position is 14.5.

Will Power needs to leads 143 laps to become the twenty-first driver to join the 2,500 laps led club.

Juan Pablo Montoya needs to lead 152 laps to become the twenty-third driver to join the 2,000 laps led club.

Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to become the twenty-seventh driver to join the 1,500 laps led club.

Remember more facts can always be found at the Telemetry Center.

Predictions
It will be an all-French weekend as Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais split the weekend. Ryan Hunter-Reay scores one podium this weekend. James Hinchcliffe gets one top five and two top tens. Justin Wilson gets a podium. Juan Pablo Montoya fails to get a top ten this weekend. Luca Filippi finishes ahead of Graham Rahal in both races and gets at least one top ten. Takuma Sato fails to finish on the lead lap in both race. Mike Conway gets his first top ten since his Long Beach victory. Sleeper: Marco Andretti.

Scripting IndyCar Silly Season

With the season ending before the month of September begins, IndyCar needs to hire a few individuals from Hollywood to come up with story lines that will draw eyeballs despite the atrociously long break. IndyCar needs to script silly season.

This offseason is a shot for IndyCar to systematically break news. How many times has IndyCar announced something on a Friday at 7:30 p.m? Instead of burying news in the weekends when it will be forgotten before it is ever known, break news midweek in the middle of the afternoon when there is an opportunity to maybe get noticed on the Richter Scale.

The NBA has done a great job of hijacking the airwaves when the first game of the season is four months away. IndyCar won't reach that level and you really don't want to reach that level (because it is absurdly over the top and feels like an agenda is being crammed down your throat). You want to stay in the public eye, which IndyCar is rarely in unless a driver is injured, fatally injured, a fan is injured, you get the picture. IndyCar is almost never in the spotlight anything related to the on-track action, which is arguably the best in the world. This could be the chance though by shaking up the pot.

Shall we start writing the story?

Let's start with the Simon Pagenaud to Andretti Autosport rumors. I like Pagenaud at Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports. SPHM is legitimately a contender with Pagenaud challenging the big boys of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti but I think him leave to a known championship winner sets up for a great story. Don't have him jumped into a fifth car though. He is going to replace somebody. It won't be Carlos Muñoz. No one would give a damn if Muñoz lost a ride. It won't be James Hinchcliffe. As much as we think Hinchcliffe is a big deal, other than in Canada his loss would barely make a blip on the Ricther Scale. It won't be Ryan Hunter-Reay. While it would be noticeable if the defending Indianapolis 500 winner and possibly two-time IndyCar champions was fired, Hunter-Reay has busted his butt after being screw out of more rides than any driver currently in the paddock. He deserves his job security.

That's leave Marco Andretti. Think about Andretti losing his ride. It is IndyCar's equivalent of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. leaving DEI. Earnhardt, Jr. wasn't winning when he left the team his father created. Andretti currently isn't winning for the team his father controls (although he is in a lot better of a position than Earnhardt Jr. in 2007). The Andretti names is noticeable and having daddy show you the door will get some heads to pop up. Here is a kid that is no longer on the gravy train and going to have to get rich on his own or get busted. That's the storyline you want. The choice of water over blood. Bye bye Marco, hello Pagenaud!

Don't worry Marco, it ends well for you. We need Marco Andretti in IndyCar. He need the Andretti name. He will land at the vacant seat at SPHM. It creates the revenge factor. Son getting back at father. Team getting back at former driver who left for greener pastures. SPHM isn't a bad team for Andretti to head to. It will be a change of scenery but might be for the better. And it sets up the family reunion story line about five to six years down the road.

Next story line.

In true, blue Ganassi form, the same way he showed Maurício Gugelmin, Bryan Herta and Tomas Scheckter the curb after one season, Ganassi sends Tony Kanaan packing. Let's face it, Kanaan is done being a top tier driver. We are seeing that by him being smoked by Juan Pablo Montoya who was gone from IndyCar for 13 years. He can get a win but he isn't going to be contending for championships. Enter Sage Karam. The Pennsylvania Phenom. The future. The guy who went from 31st to 9th on Indianapolis 500 debut. This is the opportunity Karam deserves and IndyCar needs a young American in a top seat. He will be 20 years oldwhen the 2015 season begins and could become the face associated with the #10 car for a whole generation which is something IndyCar needs long term.

What would be a nice story line for Kanaan? How about landing at Bryan Herta Autosport to team with Jack Hawksworth? He would be pairing with his former teammate at a team another one of his former teammates won the Indianapolis 500 for. Plus, longterm in mind, Kanaan could head to BHA and become a mentor for Hawksworth and another mentor for Bryan's son Colton as he is on his way to IndyCar through the Road to Indy. It wouldn't hurt to get a young driver a Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar champion to oversee his progression up the ladder.

Ganassi isn't the only big teams shaking things up. Will Power is bound to lose another championship. I am sure The Captain is getting tired of that. Year after year, all the speed in the world but no trophy to show for it. Should that be the case, why not write in a shake up? Penske shows Power the door. He sees the speed Josef Newgarden has shown and gives him a prime seat with a prime sponsor while paying Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing handsomely, insuring their future for years to come. Will Power reunites with KV Racing and forms a formidable pairing with Sébastien Bourdais. With the healthy pay day from Penske, SFHR jumps ship to Chevrolet and with help from their old friend Ed Carpenter gets JR Hildebrand back into IndyCar full-time.

Finally, IndyCar needs to make a splash. They need to sign someone from outside IndyCar and bring them in the same way David Beckham came to MLS. I'm not exactly sure who that will or should be but it wouldn't hurt IndyCar if they did it. Sign a driver for four to five years to go head-to-head with IndyCar's best and make a few visits to IndyCar's markets. I don't care who it is or where they are from. Snag Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray or Marcos Ambrose from NASCAR. See if you can get Jenson Button or Nico Hülkenberg from Formula One. Adding talent to the series is never a bad thing and if they already have a healthy fan base behind them, all the better.

To recap, IndyCar should script spicing it up. Get drivers moving around. Burn some bridges. Give some drivers opportunities they've yet to have and bring in some new, experienced blood for everyone to keep an eye on. The same old, same old driver line ups year after year isn't interesting. Shake it up. People want something to look forward to and shuffling the deck would do that.

Musings From the Weekend: Germany Celebrates

The party has ended and the Germans are the last to leave. The World Cup isn't the only thing that has come to an end this weekend. We will touch on that in a bit as IndyCar ran under the lights in Iowa, MotoGP had a frantic, rush hour traffic start, World Superbike was Stateside, IMSA was Province-side but we start with NASCAR and a final hurrah.

Good Bye Turner
Today's NASCAR race from Loudon, won by Brad Keselowski, ended a 32-year run for the national stock car series on Turner Sports. A lot of people bust on NASCAR coverage and some of it is understandable but it's sad to see a relationship like this end. For me, though it wasn't long ago, I think back to a booth that featured Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach. Bestwick was and still is arguably in the top five best motorsports lead commentators in the United States. Parsons was a classic. His insight and excitement boosted any broadcast. It's hard to believe he has been gone for seven years. I'm sure he is in the booth at that Great Racetrack in the Sky. Then there is Dallenbach. He is still up to his old tricks, lightening the mood but calling it like it is.

Bestwick got to call the Indianapolis 500 for the first time this year and with NASCAR leaving ESPN, it appears he will stay on with ESPN until his contract expires which could mean many more Indianapolis 500s in his future. Dallenbach is already under contract with NBC covering IndyCar, although he might be squeezed out with the success of the Leigh Diffey, Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell trio. Maybe he will land a spot in the NBC Nationwide Series booth. Adam Alexander did a great job as lead commentator. He'll still be at Fox Sports 1. Lindsay Czarniak got a shot doing NASCAR coverage with TNT and used it to springboard her into a position to be one of the top SportsCenter anchors and now she hosts the pre-race coverage for the Indianapolis 500.

TNT might not have been the best but it did provide us with their "wide-open coverage" of the July Daytona race which saw less commercials and more action and something no other network has tried to replicate. All things must pass and NASCAR and Turner will go their separate ways. Congratulations on 32 years and here is to a bright future for both.

Improving Paddock Access
I was thinking about this last week after attending the Pocono 500. During the race, I believe there was no way to get from the grandstand side to the paddock just to meander around. The one positive attending a road or street courses is you get walk around from corner to corner and no oval has been able to provide that same kind of experience. Pocono has a tunnel that goes under the track and it is reasonable to understand why they close it an hour before the green flag and during the race. It is a safety concern and God forbid something goes wrong. But what about a walkover bridge? Cars can get airborne but I am sure you could make it high enough to avoid any horror movie scene.

I think improving paddock access during the race, along with working on the lack of on track action for IndyCar oval events is essential. Apparently the cheapest ticket to Saturday night's Iowa IndyCar race was $60 and all you got was IndyCar. No Indy Lights, no Pro Mazda, no U.S. F2000 or USAC. I know the Truck Series ran at Iowa on Friday night but there were plenty of hours wasted on Saturday. Bring in Indy Lights and/or Pro Mazda and have them run a one-day show. Sure Indy Lights has 8 cars but it would be better than nothing. People need more bang for their buck these days and $60 to get in to see IndyCar-only is steep. Hell general admission for the Indianapolis 500 is only $40, so where does Iowa get off? The Iowa price should be cut in half or support series should be added to justify the price of the tickets.

IndyCar Schedule Idea Part II
Remember when I was throwing ideas at the wall for the 2015 IndyCar schedule?

Originally I suggested pushing both Pocono and Iowa back a week in hopes of improving Pocono attendance. On second thought, keep Iowa where it is and move Pocono to the week after Iowa on the traditional July off weekend for NASCAR. While the odds maybe slim, it would improve whatever chance there is of the likes of Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski or someone else jumping behind the wheel of an IndyCar and using it as extra practice for any potential Indianapolis 500-Coca Cola 600 double the following year. It's just an idea and I am sure Pocono could see if they could talk a driver or two into trying it. The one flaw with the idea is it would shrink the gap from the IndyCar race and second Cup race to two weeks. Unless that second Cup races can be pushed back or knocked off the schedule, the move makes no sense for IndyCar or the track.

Márquez Goes 9-for-9
After almost three quarters of the field came in on the warm-up lap to switch to the dry weather bikes and had to start at the end of the pit lane like rush hour traffic at a stop light in Bangkok, Marc Márquez came from behind to win the German Grand Prix and make it nine consecutive victories in 2014. German Stefan Bradl benefited from staying on his wet weather bike at the start but ultimately fell like a rock and finished out of the points. Márquez faced an early challenge from his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa but pulled away toward the end of the race. The Yamaha teammates of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finish third and fourth.

Márquez has had won every which way in 2014. He has gone out and dominated, fallen back and had to work his way to the front, gotten into back-and-forth battles as a race draws near and now has started from the pit lane but found at way to the top of the podium and we still have the whole second half of the MotoGP season to see if Márquez can continue this success. Next round is at Indianapolis on August 10.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marc Márquez and Brad Keselowski but did you know...

Marco Melandri and Tom Sykes split the World Superbike weekend at Laguna Seca.

Dominique Aegerter and Jack Miller won in Moto2 and Moto3 respectively at the Sachsenring.

In IMSA, the #42 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan of Gustavo Yacamán and Olivier Pla won overall at Mosport. Jan Magnussen and Antonio García won in GTLM, their fourth consecutive GTLM victory. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating won in GTD, giving the Viper GT3-R it's first victory and making it five different winners in six GTD races so far this season.

Maxime Martin won his first career DTM race at Moscow.

Kazuki Nakajima won the Super Formula race at Fuji and in doing so took the championship lead.

Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar heads to Toronto, the final doubleheader and street course of the season.
Indy Lights, U.S. F2000 and Pirelli World Challenge join IndyCar at Toronto.
Formula One is at the Hockenheimring for the German Grand Prix.
European Le Mans Series is at Red Bull Ring.
Asian Le Mans Series kicks off it's season at the Inje Speedium.
Super GT is at Sportsland SUGO.
The Cup series is off but the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Chicagoland.