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Tag: IndyCar

  • Congrats to Boywer, But There Were Better Races

    Congrats to Boywer, But There Were Better Races

    [media-credit name=”SpeedwayMedia.com” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]I almost hate to write what I am about to put on this site. It’s blasphemy in many ways, but I don’t think I am the only one who feels this way. Saturday was a great racing day. We saw what I consider great racing. After the Nationwide Series race at Road America where the story lines were so great and the racing was so great, I moved over to NBC when it finally quit raining, to watch a real IndyCar race. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t watch that series much, but there was nothing else to do, so I watched. I learned a lot.

    Like the Nationwide Series race, the race at Kansas was good. There was lots of action and though they didn’t have fenders.  These drivers wanted to win and when that happens, you get some dust-ups. In that series that’s a dangerous proposition, but it didn’t seem to matter. Points be damned, they were going for the win or the good finish. Then Sunday came and we saw a completely different philosophy.

    I’ll just say that the Chase has always been one of those ideas that I not only don’t agree with it, but one that goes against everything I believe about racing.  It’s a system that tries to emulate stick and ball sports and that is foreign to me. That said, so much was said about certain drivers “who just wanted to finish in the Top-15 or Top-20” in this race.  It was if they were trying to avoid the bad finish.  The only problem was that these were the stars—point leader Matt Kenseth and others.  How fun is that? No such talk at Road America and Kansas.

    The Road America Nationwide race was wide open on the four-mile course and the racing was good. The race at Kansas was “Little Bristol,” with drivers going for it.  As strange as it may seem, the open wheel circuit might have another fan. Forgive me.

    What we saw was three drivers who weren’t at the top of the standings going for it at Sonoma. Clint Bowyer was on point all day, Kurt Busch was driving for pride, and Martin Truex, Jr. just wanted to win a race. In the meantime, Jimmie Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle, and others just wanted to get out of there with little damage. The almighty points got in the way.

    Bravo, Clint Bowyer!  No one deserves success as much as he does.  He’s a great driver and goes for it in every race.  I love it.  So much pressure is on these drivers to make the Chase that those in contention are so timid in the races leading up to the final ten that we don’t see the kind of action we should see.

    The mantra seems to be, “Let’s get through this and hopefully we’ll still hold our points position.”  For a guy like Kenseth, who doesn’t have sponsorship for the full season (how in the name of all that’s holy can some backmarkers get full sponsorship and a former champ has to struggle to make every race financially?) it’s called survival.  No wonder he’s supposedly looking at Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske for a ride next season. You have to do what you have to do.

    It doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. In today’s Cup race, I saw so much give and take that it made me sick. I’ll be the first to admit that I hate road racing. These cars are not suited for a road course and for some reason we continue to run there.

    Regardless it’s going to always be a part of the schedule. It just seems that all the racing is controlled by the almighty points system and the sponsor’s pressure to make the Chase.  It’s a flawed system, but what we have.  Maybe someone will wake up in the future.

  • Will Power Fractures Vertebrae In Crash

    Will Power Fractures Vertebrae In Crash

    [media-credit id=72 align=”alignright” width=”102″][/media-credit]On October 16, Will Power was involved in the same 15 car pileup that killed fellow driver Dan Wheldon. News reports Will Power fractured his back in the wreck. The 30 year old IndyCar driver from Australia, was treated and released from Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s  infield care center but he kept having back pains.

    Power was then diagnosed with compression fracture to his thoracic vertebrae, one off from the vertebrae he injured in 2009 at Sonoma. The thoracic vertebrae is located in the middle of your back between the lumber and  the cervical vertebrae’s. A fracture to the thoracic vertebrae can cause extreme pain and paralysis.

    With 5 months until the 2012 IndyCar season begins, Doctor Terry Trammell says with rest and rehab, Power should be able to recover.

  • IndyCar Needs a Change in Safety, Sooner Than Later

    IndyCar Needs a Change in Safety, Sooner Than Later

    “It’s incredible that no more than just one driver was hurt,” Mario Andretti said Monday on CNN. “Dan’s situation was a very freakish thing where his car flew right up into the catch fencing. The track is very well equipped, it is one of a few tracks to have SAFER walls all the way around, but he just missed the top of it. It was so unfortunate.”

    The IZOD IndyCar Series veteran added that there needs to be nothing done. This coming after an accident that happened at Las Vegas Motor Speedway sending three cars airborne, taking out another 12 cars and killing Dan Wheldon.

    However, even before the race started, there was concerns from the drivers about the type of racing that was about to take place.

    Will Power, who was one of the cars that went airborne, told his father Bob before the race that somebody was going to get killed out there, as according to Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

    “All it takes is one mistake by one driver and it could be huge consequences,” Ryan Hunter-Reay had said before the race. “This should be a nail-biter for the fans, and it’s going to be insane for the drivers.

    “To be in the middle of the field might not be the best situation early on,” Paul Tracy had added. “There is the potential for a big wreck, so we hope to stay out of that.”

    IndyCar’s website had it predicted it would be a wild race with James Hinchcliffe saying in a video that, “The hot spot is every inch of the 1.5 miles. It’s such a grippy track. A place like Kentucky there are bumps and the cars move around a little bit. Here, they aren’t doing that and we are race car drivers and will take every inch that we are given and you have just eliminated the entire margin. The racing is so close and when something goes around it can really go wrong.”

    As predicted, the race was crazy early on and as a result, the unthinkable happened. Two wheels touched between cars, which sent Hinchcliffe flying. Drivers behind tried to react and avoid harm but couldn’t, making contact, sending Wheldon and Power both flying from the bottom of the track to the outside wall. Wheldon’s car missed the outside retaining wall, as the top of the cockpit with the driver is exposed hit the catchfence. As a result, Wheldon was pronounced dead two hours later due to head injuries.

    The drivers knew right away that it was ugly and what had been hinted of before the race just driving through the debris.

    “It was just a chain reaction, and everybody slowed down, got bunched up again and there were more crashes that started behind it,” Scott Dixon told Sports Illustrated. “It’s unfortunate because everybody knew it was going to happen. You could see it from Lap 2 people were driving nuts. It doesn’t even matter the speeds – you can’t touch with these cars.”

    “It was like a movie scene which they try to make as gnarly as possible,” Danica Patrick, who was running her last IndyCar race before moving to NASCAR, said. “It was debris everywhere across the whole track. You could smell the smoke. You could see the billowing smoke on the back straight from the car. There was a chunk of fire that we were driving around. You could see cars scattered.”

    This wasn’t a surprise at all to anybody as the warnings were there before the race even started. Many drivers had warned series officials, including this year’s champion Dario Franchitti.

    “You know I love hard racing, but that to me is not really what it’s about,” he said after the accident. “I said before we even tested here that this was not a suitable track for us, and we’ve seen it today. You can’t get away from anybody. There’s no way to differentiate yourself as a car or a driver. People get frustrated and go four-wide and you saw what happened.”

    For NASCAR, the track is fine as if they rub fenders, it’s just known as minor contact and everybody can continue. Though for IndyCar, there are no fenders there so they rub wheels. The rubbing of wheels creates a dangerous situation as the touch sends another car wrecking, and probably after taking flight.

    As Tracy noted on CNN, “The IndyCars now, they spec the cars to where they want cars to run a bit more in the pack like NASCAR, and these cars are not designed to run and bang wheels with each other at 220mph. Our wheels are exposed, NASCAR are closed body cars like street cars, so once you have two cars touch each other, you don’t have any control of what can happen.”

    The current aerodynamics brings forth the pack racing and with speeds exceeding 220 mph, drivers don’t have the time to react. If they do react, due to being in a freight train format, the person behind them may not. As many have repeated, the increased field size of Las Vegas from a normal field under 20 cars to 34 cars increased the risk.

    If IndyCar wants to keep with the current aerodynamics, the oval pack racing that is seen needs to go. However, this doesn’t mean to remove all oval tracks, like Iowa and Indy, should not be removed as they’re not as fast and you see drivers have the ability to get spread out.

    The dismissal of oval tracks is just a start, though. Wheldon’s death was more due to the open cockpit contact with the catch fence.

    One suggestion is closed cockpits as Ryan Briscoe tweeted, “I’d like to see future IndyCar/Open Wheelers with closed cockpits one day, like modern Le Mans LMP1 cars have today.” The only problem would be debris and dirt making it hard to see, however a simple solution of tear-offs could solve that.

    The other solution is maybe to look at changing the catch fence design.

    “Even with the new technologies that have come about in the last 10 years, nothing has changed when it comes to the catch fencing,”Tracy explained to Sirius Speedway. “We saw it with Carl Edwards at Talladega, and we saw it again Sunday with Dan. When cars get into the fencing, it acts like a spider web. It grabs them and tears them to pieces.”

    Whether you take suggestions given or others come about, change is needed. Dan Wheldon dying along with Will Power suffering back pain, J.R. Hildebrand suffering from a severely-bruised sternum and Pippa Mann with a severely burned finger is too much. A repeat of what happened would be horrendous as images and descriptions of Sunday already go too far.

    “It was like driving through a war zone,” Briscoe said after the wreck. “We all predicted something like this would happen.”

    That prediction factor is what haunts IndyCar racing now because as more people learn the details, they seem to find themselves blaming IndyCar’s head brass. For them instead of IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard taking care of a problem, they see an image of him liking the style of racing.

    “I was watching practice and it was unbelievable,” Bernard told Sports Illustrated after practice. “Three wide at more than 220mph.”

    Once again, practice on Thursday showed more warnings, yet nothing done. That’s how the situation is read. That’s why you may see big names leave IndyCar.

    “I’ve warned him to give up for awhile,” F1 Champion Jody Shecter said of son Tomas. “Hopefully this will knock some sense into him and realize there is more to life. It really isn’t worth it.”

    Tracy says he’s reconsidering after seeing Wheldon die before his eyes and after hearing concerns from his family.

    Power, who broke his back at Infinion Raceway, a road course, in 2009 “has taken time off to collect his thoughts and reconsider his future” as per Australia’s Daily Telegraph. His father, Bob, said he’d be okay with a change.

    “It wouldn’t worry me if he walked away and tried something else,” Bob Power said. “I would like him to have a go at Formula 1 or something like that, because it is a hell of a lot safer than running around ovals in IndyCar. I would much rather him run on road circuits because ovals are a worry.”

    The concern was there from the start and are still there. Easily people are going to blame the head brass as stated, but there’s of course another side to the coin.

    In 2000, the drivers chose to boycott the race at Texas Motor Speedway due to concerns after feeling dizziness in practice.

    Many could question why they didn’t choose to boycott this race. Was it due to fears of what might have been said if they did? If so, does that overcome the fear of risk and safety? Easily nope, so many should also look to the drivers as to why they still ran the race.

    Looking back at Las Vegas no matter the opinion of what happened and how, only hope of change for the future can help us in looking back at what happened.

    “This is a huge tragedy for IndyCar but I hope that out of the tragedy comes some good in terms of improving more in safety,” Tracy said. “Like when Greg Moore died and Dale Earnhardt Sr., and now Dan Wheldon. The innovations that came out from that in terms of improving driver safety need to be kicked up a notch. We hope that is what will happen.”

  • The Flags at Half Mast in the Fourth Turn

    The Flags at Half Mast in the Fourth Turn

    In the process of writing this column about Charlotte and the 5th Chase race the unthinkable happened. The world of motorsports lost a champion and a hero. Somehow, the hush from the TV and the change in tone from Eddie Cheever made the reality of the situation very clear. Marty Reid stumbled over his words. The safety workers on the track had that familiar rush and desperation in their movements. I was taken back to a memory that is still too fresh to revisit. Daytona 2001. But this can’t be happening we have made all these changes. We have stepped up safety and safety management. How can we be looking at the same kind of tragedy?

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]In the process of following motorsports our lines tend to blur. We forget different series different rules. We forget that as much as we may complain and moan about NASCAR’s rules and rulings, they are at the very top of the game in safety. But NASCAR is not safe either. 200 mph in a 3600 lb car that hits an unmovable concrete wall safer barrier or not, and hits it at the right angle, hans device or not, and tragedy can and will result.

    Many NASCAR fans seem to forget this as they cheer loudly when drivers that are not their favorite wreck or are involved in a wreck. Saturday night was a good example. Jimmie Johnson hit the wall at 189 mph dead head on hard enough to lift the car off the ground. Please note the safer barrier didn’t break. It gave as it is suppose to but it didn’t break. What broke was an extremely well built piece of machinery. Although Jimmie climbed out and walked away, the in car camera told the story far better. He continued to slump in the seat and drop his head. He sat slumped forward in the drivers seat for a short time before letting the net down and climbing from the car. He was dazed and seemed turned around as he was lead to the ambulance. Although he was checked and released from the infield care center, Johnson was pale and shook up when he gave his interview.

    The cheers from the stands were gross and tactless. They illustrated not passion for the sport or a driver but ignorance on the part of those who were blind enough not to see how close our sport came to losing a young vibrant champion and hero. After having been there at the loss of too many of my heroes I was sickened and disgusted at the display. How could they not remember Daytona in 2001? How could they not remember New Hampshire in 2000? For God’s sake how could they not remember the waiting for days after Michigan in 1994? The waiting and not knowing for word on Ernie Irvan. How could they possibly behave like this? My answer came from a source that often supplies my answers, because they weren’t there. Because they are too ignorant to understand that these guys can be gone in the blink of an eye. Because many though they claim to be life long fans of the sport were not fans in 2001 or were not old enough to grasp what happened. To them the names Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Steve Irwin and Adam Petty are historical. They weren’t there. They don’t understand the loss of a hero and a champion.

    IndyCar fans had been spared the loss of a hero since 2006. Sheltered much like NASCAR fans with the reassurances of the sanctioning body that the cars were safe. The tracks were safe. The drivers and fans were safe. A misconception that NASCAR and IndyCar promoted and encouraged. But it’s still a misconception. A dangerous lulling into complacent behavior and lack of concern on the part of fans and drivers a like.

    Drivers who allow their tempers to control their behavior and use a 3600 lb car as a weapon have bought into that complacency. Fans who cheer when a driver hits the wall have bought into that complacency. People regardless of who they are or what form of motorsports they follow who believe that the sport is safe are niave and unfortunately stupid.

    NASCAR was fortunate, our champion is sore and bruised but he will race again at Talladega. IndyCar was not so fortunate and they mourn the loss of one of their champions in Dan Wheldon. It is time for those of us who buy tickets and t-shirts to say to our sanctioning bodies lets look at it again. Are we truly doing everything we can do to keep our heroes safe? In NASCAR is a car with no down force and too high of a center of gravity the best we can do? Is the risk at Talladega worth it? If we are going to spend millions of dollars on something shouldn’t it be making the cars race able around other cars? And shouldn’t the drivers be the ones to tell us that the cars are race able since they drive them? IndyCar needs to take responsibility and make conscious decisions about the type of tracks they race on and what does and doesn’t constitute safe race conditions.

    It’s much to soon to point fingers and find blame. We may never know who is to blame. In truth it doesn’t matter who is to blame the price is the same. The time is here to give thanks for the good fortune of one young champion and ask for the blessings and love and comfort for the family of another. The time is here to examine our behavior and our actions and ask ourselves, how would I have felt if the out come was different in Charlotte? Allow me to be the source of that answer, It hurts people It hurts like hell.

    ~~~~~ **** ~~~~~

    Congratulations to Carl Edwards on his NNS win at Charlotte. Even with a wrecked car Carl showed that although Ducks prefer to swim they have wings and can fly.

    Congratulations to Ron Hornaday on his 51st win. More and more I am convinced that the Camping World Truck series will be a lesser place without Ron Hornaday on the track.

    Congratulations to Matt Kenseth on his victory in the Sprint Cup Series.

    It is with a heavy and sad heart that I wish Susie Wheldon and her sons all of the strength and support and love that the world can offer her.  Thoughts and prayers are with you.

    Also thoughts and prayers and sympathies to the family of Off-road Champion Rick Huseman and his brother Jeff  who died in a plane crash this afternoon in Barstow.

    At times like these this means perhaps more than I intend for it to mean every week. To all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Dario Franchitti and Will Power Lead IZOD IndyCar Practices at Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti and Will Power Lead IZOD IndyCar Practices at Honda Indy Toronto

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”150″][/media-credit]In preparation for the Honda Indy on July 10th, the IZOD IndyCar Series hit to the streets of Toronto for a pair of practices.

    In the first practice, it was Dario Franchitti leading the way with an average speed of 102.619 and was followed by Penske Racing driver Helio Castroneves with a speed of 102.51.

    “Overall, it was a good day for the Penske Truck Rental team,” Castroneves said. “Right off the bat, the car had good balance and good speed here in Toronto. We didn’t put on new tires at the end of the last practice – I wanted to, but my new strategist (John Erickson) is already working on trying something different so I listened to him! I love the yellow car and the yellow suit of Penske Truck Rental. It reminds me of Dancing With the Stars. Let’s hope we have the same kind of result this weekend.”

    Team Penske put Erickson in place as the strategist for Castroneves for the first time this weekend in Toronto. Erickson was working with Will Power, who will now be teamed up with Tim Cindric. Finally, Clive Howell will continue to focus on his duties as team general manager.

    Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top three at an average speed of 102.458mph.

    “We were third-quick in the first session, so we had a good morning – and I think we were having a good afternoon,” he said. “The DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop car was feeling pretty good; we were in the top five until we decided not to take new tires like most of the top 10 did. But, we’ll just save those for tomorrow and hopefully it will pay off for us.”

    Justin Wilson and Power was fourth and fifth, followed by Scott Dixon was sixth, followed by Alex Tagliani, Takumo Sato, Tony Kanaan and Mike Conway. James Hinchcliffe, who calls the Honda Indy his hometown race, was the quickest rookie in 11th.

    The first practice saw no on track incidents.

    In the second practice, Power led the way with an average speed of 104.330.

    “The Verizon car is good, but we are still not quick enough,” he said. “We put tires on there at the end of the second practice and no one else did. We are just a bit off the pace. We still have a few things in mind to improve the car. It is great to be in Toronto, though, and relaly good to see all the fans.”

    He was followed by Ganassi Racing driver Dixon with a speed of 104.145 as the top 15 cars were quicker than Franchitti’s first session quickest lap.

    “It’s definitely cool to be back at a street course, especially Toronto,” he said. “It’s a fun circuit. It’s definitely different than the last four races with all left hand turns and now coming back to a bumpy circuit. The track seems to be a little bumpier, especially going into turn 1 and maybe down the back straight as well. It’s created a few new issues that we haven’t had before. The times actually seem surprisingly quicker. Even on the primary tires, we only seems to be five-tenths off the quick times of the options.”

    Franchitti was third in the session, followed by Hinchcliffe and Kanaan. Wilson was sixth, followed by Oriol Servia, Ryan Briscoe, Castroneves and Danica Patrick.

    The second practice saw two full course yellows. The first was eight minutes into the session when Tagliani spun mid corner in turn 8, making contact with the outside retaining wall. He was then struck by Graham Rahal, briefly lifting the car off the ground. Due to the wreck, Tagliani suffered rear wing damage while Rahal had front wing damage. The second incident was when Sebastian Bourdais stopped on course in turn 8. After being re-fired by the Holmatro Safety Team, he was able to make it back to pit lane. There was also local caution, which saw Ana Beatriz spin in turn 2.

    Qualifying will take place Saturday afternoon at 12:50pm EST, with the race taking place on Sunday July 10th at 2pm ET.

  • Dario Franchitti Takes IZOD IndyCar Series Points Lead into the Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti Takes IZOD IndyCar Series Points Lead into the Honda Indy Toronto

    This season so far for Dario Franchitti has gone great, even despite the bad luck that he had at Indianapolis. Going into the Honda Indy in Toronto, Franchitti sits first in points, 20 points ahead of Will Power with three wins this year. The Ganassi Racing driver from Scotland is ready to do battle on the Exhibition Place temporary-street course, where he won in 2009 and finished second last year to Power.

    [media-credit name=”hondaindytoronto.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Before the cars took the track on Friday for practice, Franchitti answered some questions about the season so far and more.

    Ashley McCubbin: How’d you originally get with Chip?

    Dario Franchitti: Well, Chip and I talked for a number of years about doing a deal, going back as far as 2001. We never got anything down, until we started talking about the deal in NASCAR with him back in 2007. Luckily for me, that didn’t happen. Then after winning the 500 and the championship in 2007, he asked me to come run with him in Nationwide, which I did for six months. That didn’t go according to plan, so he asked me at that point to come and drive for him for the IndyCar team so that was a very fortunate situation for me to go away from IndyCar Series and come back with Team Target.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts on the season?

    DF: The season is in a lot way has been good with the three wins so far and with the championship lead, [but still as a team, we’re looking at Indianapolis; we’re still upset with the missed opportunity. I felt that myself, Scott or I should’ve won that. Indy was quite a tough one this year.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts on having the points lead this early?

    DF: Its nice to have the points total, but having the points lead at the end of the season is what counts. We have done well like I said, but we gotta keep scoring those points and keeping winning those races for me. Right now, its about trying to win whatever race we’re doing and then the points will take care of themselves.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts heading into Toronto?

    DF: Toronto’s a difficult track, there’s no doubt it’s a challenge. It’s very bumpy, which is part of the charm of the place, very narrow, the brakes are punished pretty hard and its got the new restarts for the first time. It’s going to be an interesting weekend. I love coming to race in Canada. Hopefully I can have a good result here.

    AM: Having driven the Rolex Sports Cars and in NASCAR, what are some of the biggest differences that you’ve seen in comparison to the IndyCar?

    DF: Well, IndyCar is a different. I’ve driven the Champ Cars of the late generation to the current IndyCar, then the American Lemans Series Grand Am, then NASCAR. The way I would explain it is the IndyCar is one extreme of performance with acceleration and power-wise, the Grand-Am is somewhere in the middle, and then you have the dirt car, with lots of power and no grip. Each one is a little different, requires a different driving style and also skills, so that’s why you see some guys are good in one form of racing, but not another.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts on the new IndyCar coming in 2012?

    DF: Well, the new car is very new right now because we’re seeing some examples, which are very much concept cars. Nobody has really seen what they’re actually going to look like so we’re waiting to see what they’re going to come up with. I’m very excited that we’re going to have multiple engine manufactures next year with Chevy, Lotus and certainly Honda. I’d like to see the body kit as well. I think the car is going to be great for the series. This car has been great, but to have something new, we’re all excited about it.

    AM: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in racing?

    DF: I think you learn something in racing every week. It’s just like life; I think you learn something new in life everyday. I think you’re on an accelerated course in racing. It’s just like normal life, but more in the extreme sense so there’s not just one thing. There’s probably a lot of things I’ve learned.

    AM: What’s your most memorable win?

    DF: I think one of the wins at Indianapolis is got to be pretty memorable. I think the first one at Indy was really special, but the second one felt really good too.

  • Alex Tagliani Wins Peak Performance Pole Award For Firestone Twin 275s at Texas

    Alex Tagliani Wins Peak Performance Pole Award For Firestone Twin 275s at Texas

    After winning the pole for the Indianapolis 500, Alex Tagliani makes it two in a row as he won the PEAK Performance Award Pole Award for the Firstone Twin 275s on June 11th at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “It’s a tribute to how much effort and how much love the guys put in the car,” he said. “I watched them work the last two weeks and they worked harder than when they brought the car to Indianapolis. That’s what a team does. We’re going to continue to work hard and bring fast cars to the track. Being fast on an oval is great, but I won’t be happy until I can stick it to Will (Power) and the Penske cars on a road course that’s my next goal.”

    Tagliani qualified his No. 77 Bowers and Wilkins cars for Sam Schmidt Motorsports at a speed of 215.186mph.

    Defending champion Dario Franchitti will start second (214.801), followed by Will Power.

    “It was a good run out there Verizon car,” Power said. “I was flat and on the white line for both laps. We have some work to do tonight in practice to find a good race trim, but we should be good. We get two shots at it tomorrow and I’m definitely ready to race.”

    Takumo Sato and Ed Carpenter rounded out the top five.

    “It was fantastic, very exciting,” Sato said. “The car was balanced and really felt good.  After morning practice we were confident that we could have a good qualifying and after watching TK’s (Tony Kanaan’s) run I was even more confident.  Now we really need to concentrate on getting a good car for the race which is a very different car from qualifying.”

    “It’s been a good day for the Dollar General team,” Carpenter said. “I feel good about our car. We seem to have good speed. I wasn’t sure where we were going to end up, but it seems like everyone ran quicker during qualifying than we did in practice. I’m happy with our qualifying effort, but I always want to be faster. Either way we have a good starting spot for tomorrow night, and I think we have something for them.”

    Wade Cunningham qualified eighth in his IZOD IndyCar Series debut.

    “We bolted new tires on and tried to adjust the balance a little bit,” he said. “Time is quite tight in the session, so we didn’t have time to do everything we wanted. So really for us going into qualifying was like a bit of the unknown. We have a teammate who is on pole, and we knew what they were doing. But again, we didn’t want to make any hiccups that would penalize ourselves by making mistakes. We didn’t go as far as Alex did in qualifying set-up. So there’s a little bit of speed there and, also, I made a little mistake on my gearing entering the green flag which cost us a bit of time as well.”

    The Firestone Twin 275s consists of two 114-lap races back-to-back with the first one taking the green flag at 7:45pm CT on Saturday June 11th and the second race will follow an hour after the first race is completed.

    The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 8 p.m. (ET) by VERSUS. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM channel 94 and www.indycar.com. Live timing and scoring reports from the Firestone Twin 275s are available on the Internet at www.indycar.com.

  • Matty’s Picks – Vol. 4 – STP 400 at Kansas Speedway

    Matty’s Picks – Vol. 4 – STP 400 at Kansas Speedway

    Matty’s Picks

    Vol. 4 – Kansas – June 5, 2011

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to a track that I hate to say, but I have very limited knowledge about. I sent out a Tweet this morning looking for some help with making my picks for this week’s STP 400, and unfortunately got no help.

    After a couple of absolutely amazing finishes last week, I am fairly excited to see what this week will bring.

    Last Week’s Recap

    For last week’s Coke 600, I was on the Roush Fenway bandwagon that dominated the All-Star Race the week before. As my Dark Horse, I rode the Sprint Showdown winner, David Ragan to another Top 5 pick for myself. Ragan came in second following a pit on lap 397 for four tires and fuel, after receiving the free pass just a lap prior.

    Ragan was running well all night, and as it turned out, ended up on the right end of the pit strategy gamble. The fresh tires and fuel made the difference in the end, as it did for race-winner Kevin Harvick and last-lap loser Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kudos to me for winning the pit-strategy pick of the week, and Kudos to Ragan for a career best second place finish.

    After starting 3rd on Sunday Night, my Winner pick, Carl Edwards looked like the favorite to win. He jumped out front while the sun shined, and slowly moved backwards as darkness fell in Charlotte. Edwards lead 61 laps while the sun was up, but failed to reach the point in the last half of the race. Edwards finished right in line with his other two Roush Fenway teammates who found the front for numerous laps on Sunday – Biffle in 13th, Kenseth in 14th, Edwards in 16th. No points for me on the back to back backflips.

    As for the bonus pick last week, the 100th Annual Indianapolis 500 was another race that came down to who could stay on track the longest. I didn’t think we could see two heartbreak finishes in the same day, but last Sunday proved me wrong again. I won’t bore you with the details that you all know about already so… I picked Dario Franchitti who lead 51 laps Sunday afternoon, had to pit late and finished the race in 12th as the last car on the lead lap. No double points for me for the bonus pick.

    STP 400 Picks

    Against by better judgment, I’m off the Roush Fenway bandwagon for this week. My winner pick this week already has a win this year, and swept the first two races at Kansas. Jeff Gordon is my Winner pick for this week. As I write this column, he is currently 4th on the speed chart. On top of the two wins, he has seven Top 5’s and eight Top 10’s at Kansas, with an average finishing position of 8.5. I think Gordon is a sure-fire Top 10 for this week.

    I did do a bit of research for this week, and found out that the winner of the past two races at Kansas have come from the 5th starting spot on Sunday afternoon. Since qualifying isn’t until tomorrow for the Sprint Cup Series, I do not have the luxury of jumping on the 5th starting spot superstition.

    Dark Horse Pick

    As for my dark horse this week, I am going with a guy that impressed me over the two weeks at Charlotte. A.J. Allmendinger has put his Ford Fusion towards the front countless times this season. At a track where the asphalt is beginning to wear (resurfacing is an item of discussion at Kansas), starting positions are critical. Allmendinger has started 2nd, 2nd, and 7th in the past three points races. He is a driver who knows how to lay down a qualifying lap, and on top of that has two Top 10’s at Kansas during his Sprint Cup career.

    I’m looking forward to learning more about Kansas Speedway throughout the weekend and am looking for a solid couple of picks this week.

    As always, please lend me some advice with my picks for next week via email; riotwvu@yahoo.com or you can always send me comments via Twitter @ML_B_lo

    Until Next Time….You stay classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Indianapolis 500: Helio Castroneves Tops The Speed Chart on Friday

    While Penske Racing driver Will Power led Thursday’s session, it was his teammate Helio Castroneves taking the top spot today with a speed of 228.611mph on the day before pole qualifying.

    “Anything is possible,” Castroneves said. “Right now Shell V-Power is working really well in not only the race setup but also the qualifying setup. Qualifying tomorrow will be very tight. I can see that my teammates will be strong ones, and there are other guys doing fast times out there, too. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Fast Nine. I think we will see speeds in the 228 range tomorrow. It is going to be similar weather as today, but if it is a little bit humid, we may lose a little bit of power. I think everybody has something more.

    “Today was a fast Friday. Everybody started laying out the wings and going fast. I’m very happy with my boys with the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra car. It was very smooth, especially in the race trim, so I was very happy. We did a lot of laps today, and I wanted to make sure I was happy with the race car. It will probably be the last chance before we go into the race to run in those kinds of conditions. All of my boys were on the same page. As soon as we felt happy with the race trim, race setup, we decided to change and go for it. We had some moments out there. I’ve got to keep moving forward and have a good lap out there tomorrow and have a good day for the entire Team Penske.”

    If Castroneves can pull off the pole, it’d be his third Indianapolis 500 pole in a row.

    “Just starting pole position would mean a lot,” he said.” This place is fantastic. It’s awesome and tough. It would be great. Records are made to be broke, so I’m not going to focus on that. I’m going to focus on what I need to make it work so we can put the Shell V-Power in the number one spot.”

    Alex Tagliani kept up in the charts as he was second fastest at 228.327mph.

    “Our team continues to rise every weekend,” Tagliani said. “When we are in the window when we roll off the truck, we have a great group of people who make it easy to fine-tune the car. Being a one-car team, when we are off the window, it’s not easy, but this week, the car has been strong. With a few aerodynamic changes from last year, the car has been very consistent. It’s been nice just to fine-tune and not reinvent the wheel on our setup. I need to take my hat off to the guys. They have been very meticulous in preparing the car and on a track with high speed like this, it’s crucial. As a driver, you need to be comfortable in the car, and you need to drive it well, but you need to have the car, but if you don’t there’s nothing you can do.”

    Tagliani feels that he has a little bit left to give Castroneves a run for his money.

    “We have a couple of things left,” he said. “I think we were conservative this afternoon. We made some changes on the car without pushing the limits aerodynamically. I think it’s going be very difficult to do a 228.3 (mph), but it will have to be up there for a one lap go. It’s all about how consistent you can be and what’s your draw. We feel that we are strong, but on the charts, there are a lot of cars that are strong. It’s very difficult to have a good read. We ran very few laps this week, and we tried to run by ourselves to evaluate the right gearing and right downforce and make the right call on ride heights and all of that. I think we can go to bed tonight feeling we have a strong car, but the Ganassis and Penskes look tough. Hopefully when we pull everything out that we think we can, we’ll be right there with them.”

    Scott Dixon, meanwhile, was third (228.181) while Castroneves’ teammate Briscoe was fourth at 228.029.

    “We worked a lot on race setup, and we concentrated the last few hours today on speed,” Dixon said. “I think we’re looking good for tomorrow, and you should see the usual suspects coming to the top soon.”

    “Today was a good day for the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske crew,” Briscoe said. “We completed a lot of laps. We mostly ran race setups, which we needed after all the time we lost earlier in the week. We trimmed out the car at the end of the day and got good speed out of the car, but we haven’t found the limit yet. I’m happy where we finished the day, and we’re excited about tomorrow. It should be a really good day on Saturday for Team Penske.”

    Bertrand Baguette rounded out the top five with a speed of 228.028mph.

    Simona de Silvestro was at the track on hand after her accident yesterday, though has not been cleared to drive after suffering second-degree burns on her right hand and superficial burns on her left hand.

    “Something broke on the rear suspension, and when that happens, you’re just a passenger,” she said. “You can’t really do anything about it, especially when you’re going about 220 mph. I hit the wall and it took forever to land, it seemed, and then it started getting pretty hot out there (because of flames). It was pretty shocking, actually, especially to be on fire. It’s kind of weird because the fuel is splashing on you and you don’t really know what to do. A lot of things go through your head, but you want to get out of the car as quickly as possible. Everyone is working hard to get me back in the car, and I think it’s important for me to get back in the car quickly.

    “It just shows how safe the car is. I don’t think a crash like that in any other car I would be standing here. When I got out of the car, I couldn’t believe it because it was so crazy being along for the ride and being on fire – again. I was pretty shocked, but it was nice to be standing. I don’t think I was a good patient in the infield medical center because I was in a lot of pain and I was screaming for water to cool my hands down. They took good care of me and then we went to the hospital, where they said it was second-degree burns. We took the bandages off (this morning) and they were really blistered, and tonight we’re going to check them again and see what they say. They don’t look pretty, so I don’t want to look. I can say I’m pretty lucky to be here.

    “It is my goal to get back in the car as quickly as I can. It will be (INDYCAR’s medical team) decision and also mine because it’s pretty shocking. I can move my hands, but it is pretty tight because it pulls the skin. We’ll get some gloves that can fit.”

    The day will start tomorrow with a brief practice from 8a.m.-10a.m., followed by qualifying at 11a.m.

    During qualifying tomorrow, the top 24 spots in the 33-car field will be available during the traditional four-lap attempts from 11 a.m.-4p.m. with each car having up to three attempts and bumping will begin when the 24 spots are filled. The times from the top nine drivers will be erased at 4pm, though those drivers are guaranteed to start no worse than ninth. Those nine drivers, dubbed the “Fast Nine”, will be required to make at least one four-lap qualifying attempt from 4:30-6pm to set their exact starting spot on the grid.

    On May 22nd, positions 25-33 will be available on Armed Forces/Bump Day as bumping will begin once 33 cars are qualified.

  • Indianapolis 500 Thursday Practice: Power Tops Chart, de Silvestro Wrecks Hard

    IZOD IndyCar Series Points Leader Will Power topped the charts today with a speed of 227.778 (mph) for the fastest lap of the day and the month so far.

    “I don’t think the speeds are very representative of where anyone is at,” Power said. “You go out and happen to get a really good tow, and you get a big number. That’s what happened at the end. Verizon Team Penske worked on race setup most of the day. I was very comfortable following cars. We haven’t changed much from last year. We had good cars last year and need to rub on them a little bit, and that will do the trick.”

    With the shortened practice time, teams are having to change their strategy.

    “I think tomorrow, early on, we’ll be working on race stuff, and then we’ll start trimming out for qualifying,” Power continued. “We’ll be working on the car. I think it’s pretty important to focus on the race. You could spend a lot of time screwing around with qualifying things, and then it’ll be different conditions the next day. We have to have a good car in the race. That’s what we’ll be focusing on.”

    Alex Tagliani remained near the top of the time sheet as he ranked second with a quick lap of 227.652.

    “We did well today,” Tagliani said. “We learned a lot. We had good track position, and we weren’t in a lot of traffic. That lap (227.652 mph), I was behind Dario Franchitti, so I had a bit of a tow. But it shows that the car is quick and capable of doing it. I think we still have more to come. We just need to make sure that when it comes time to do it, we have the right balance.”

    Tagliani feels that he has a good shot for the pole.

    “The way the car is running right now, for sure it is,” Tagliani added. “I think we would be foolish to think that we couldn’t do it. But the truth is that Penske and Ganassi have really good cars, and they know their way around this place. They have 10 times more experience than us. I’m sure by qualifying they’re going to do something amazing to their cars, and all of a sudden they’re going to be up to the top and we’re going to end up fighting with them. But if that happens, that’s OK. We should be proud that guys like Roger and Chip are looking at us, going, ‘Why are those guys so quick?’ That’s kind of our mindset right now.”

    Power’s Penkse Racing teammate Briscoe was third with 227.217.

    “It was a very good day, overall,” Briscoe said. “We worked on the race setup on the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske car, and I worked a lot with my teammates on track. We made a ton of changes throughout the day, and we were very productive. We trimmed out the car at the end of the session and focused a bit more on speed. All in all, it was a very productive day.”

    Three time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves was fourth (226.927).

    “It was certainly a good and full day for the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team,” Castroneves said. “We ran a lot of laps and all of them were really about race setup. My teammates, Will and Ryan, did some qualifying runs so we know what we need to do there, but we really just focused on getting our car right for the race. Tomorrow will be all about speed for us. It’s going to be fun!”

    Townsend Bell rounded out the top five with a speed of 226.741mph.

    “We did a good amount of running,” Bell said. “It was good to get out with the Herbalife car after the rain the last two days. We learned a lot and tried several things that were on our list. We’ve very comfortable.”

    The sesson did not go without incident as Simona de Silvestro made heavy contact with the outside wall, before going airborne and catching fire. She was transported to Methodist Hospital to be treated for burns to her hands and released.

    Team owner Keith Wiggins stated that the car de Silvestro was damaged beyond the repair as they’ll have to go to a back-up car.

    “We can build a good car, but it probably won’t be as good as the original car because that was built specifically for here,” Wiggins said. “There are a lot of specialties about building a car for here, and we only had one of those built because that is all our resources will allow. So the question is will this car be as quick as the other one? That’s the challenge.”