Racing Of The United States Variety

[JHS 1]

I thought Mark Martin used the 5? Or is he not racing in the All-Star race?

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Martin is using the 25 in the All-Star race.

Hendrick Motorsports own the numbers 5, 24, 25, 48, and 88, and since the All-Star race is different, switching numbers isn't a big deal (if you do that in a points-paying race with qualifying etc, you switch the owners' points such that Johnson would have Martin's and Martin would have Johnson's, which wouldn't matter as both are locked in, but last year we saw Front Row do that with Kevin Conway as he was their only sponsored driver, so when he fell out of the top 35, they switched his number until he dropped that one out and the sponsor failed to pay and...you know the rest. )

All-Star race is pretty silly anyway. I find the Sprint Open to almost be more exciting in that it guarantees an odd driver wins.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

FRIDAY NIGHT KIMI MAKES HIS TRUCK DEBUT IN THE #15 PERKY JERKY TOYOTA.

That is all.

[JHS 1]

FRIDAY NIGHT KIMI MAKES HIS TRUCK DEBUT IN THE #15 PERKY JERKY TOYOTA.

That is all.

That is the most epic name for a sponsor I've ever heard. I may watch it just for that.

[JHS 1]

Kimi's livery. Don't know if you've seen this already Eric, but I certainly hadn't.

Also, heard that the race is on at 1am UK time (is that right? ) if so, I won't be able to see that. I think I'll be doing what Kimi does best - sleeping.

[Rainmaster 7]

Kimi's livery. Don't know if you've seen this already Eric, but I certainly hadn't.

Also, heard that the race is on at 1am UK time (is that right? ) if so, I won't be able to see that. I think I'll be doing what Kimi does best - sleeping.

It's right. If you have the luxury of Sky TV, it's on channel 433 - Premier Sports.

[JHS 1]

No, I don't have Sky or anything like that. I normally watch NASCAR races through Justin.tv and that's the way I planned to watch this before hearing what time it was on. I dunno, I'll see how I feel. Will probably see some of it via YouTube if he crashes out anyway.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

He has to qualify first if he wants to crash out. There are six entries going home, so it's quite possible he could be one of them.

[JHS 1]

Good point, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

A lot of entries withdrew, so only two trucks will go home. Pretty sure Kimi will make the field unless he crashes on his qualifying run.

All-Star Race stuff...the top two finishers in the Showdown will advance as well as the winner of the Fan Vote, who will most obviously be Dale Earnhardt, Jr. If Junior finishes P1 or P2, they take the runner-up in the Fan vote (and if they both finish P1 and P2, P3 in the Fan Vote goes).

The Showdown will be the better race. Why? Because the winner will be someone who hasn't won a race in over a year. Check out the entry list. I suspect Paul Menard has the best shot of them all, but with no points, we can see some fireworks.

Trevor Bayne will sit out another weekend; 21 has withdrawn from the All-Star and the 16 has withdrawn from the Nationwide race in Iowa. The withdrawal in Nationwide means the 16 is no longer locked in to any races this year, and will have to qualify on time for all of them (which shouldn't be a problem really). However, I find it really odd they'd forfeit it when they could just put anyone in, run one lap, and park it if they had to. It just makes me wonder if they aren't planning on Trevor being back for a long time, though I don't want to speculate on that.

[Caesar 0]

oooo, helio, helio. i wish alonso jumped on charlie whiting last year in valencia like helio did here on marshalls. watch video at 4:40seclink

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Kimi qualified P31. Teammate Kyle Busch was P6. About expected. Running P16 now. Better than expected.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

I hope our resident future journalist will appreciate this article:

http://insiderracingnews.com/Writers/BB/032011.html

Absolutely hilarious. The content, the grammar, the part about free food...classic!

[HandyNZL 1]

I guess being 20 years older than you meant I missed the joke....I found it drab, poorly constructed, and the author sounded weak in her knowledge of either sport....and in the middle of it whinged about the food she was or wasn't getting.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

I guess being 20 years older than you meant I missed the joke....I found it drab, poorly constructed, and the author sounded weak in her knowledge of either sport....and in the middle of it whinged about the food she was or wasn't getting.

You didn't miss the joke at all.

The joke was how that crap got published. It has to be the worst article I've read...ever. It was hilarious to think a middle-aged woman wrote that and it found its way on a website that wasn't her own; and to think she got media credentials to attend the race. That's the joke, so you didn't miss anything.

[HandyNZL 1]

I guess being 20 years older than you I put my tongue in the wrong cheek for you to understand????

Hey...anyone can get media accreditation....I've got them before, and not a pen or tape recorder in sight

[JHS 1]

I hope our resident future journalist will appreciate this article:

http://insiderracing.../BB/032011.html

Absolutely hilarious. The content, the grammar, the part about free food...classic!

Wow. Same standard of a 10 year old's writing.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Looks like Danica's next move is full-time Nationwide in 2012 with a few Sprint Cup races and then Sprint Cup full-time in 2013. Indy 500 on the side.

Good for her, though I have a hard time seeing her ready for Sprint Cup anytime 2012-2013, personally. But I understand the move and I do wish her well.

The question then becomes...who is the next face of the IZOD IndyCar Series? Like her or not, Danica has been a huge part of the promotion of the sport, and caused a surge in interest back in 2005. She's the most popular driver and while her on-camera persona can vary, she's really great with young fans. Always has time for them and that's really big, in my opinion. I know the trend in who Bernard's putting out there, but it will be interesting to see who the public take to.

In another news, Dan Wheldon will fill-in for Wally Dallenbach during VERSUS' coverage of the Firestone Twin 275s. He'll be a good commentator, I suspect. Dallenbach has a conflict that weekend, as he is also the color commentator for NASCAR on TNT.

[HandyNZL 1]

Well, at least she's made the decision, and now her racing will be the better for it. Driving both has negatively impacted on her form in Indy and NASCAR.

New face? Maybe Simona or Ana if they are going for a bit of sex appeal...though I think Simona wouldn't have a bar of it. She's a real racer. That's not to say Danica isn't (her fiery outbursts prove otherwise), she was just more than happy to sell a pound of flesh to gain her ground when her results didn't. Simona actually does get the results, and her respect must be pretty high in the paddock.

But then you have guys like Will Power, Hunter-Rayray and guys of that age...

Or, you could make the car the centerpiece. Who said the face had to be human. If the aerokit is anything like the ones mocked up thus far, then Indy has a very unique concept - one worth promoting. I'm quite keen on seeing these new cars to be honest. They look modern, yet still have the DNA of yesterdays (ie 1990-2010) open wheelers.

F1 better watch itself, when you think about it....all up in arms over ground effects, and 4-cyl engines and the like....the cars that F1 are running don't look modern when put side by side with those Dallara's.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Trevor Bayne was supposed to return this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 and Top Gear 300 races in Charlotte, but will postpone his return once more to next weekend when Cup is at MIS and Nationwide is in Chicago. Really bizarre saga and I just feel as though something is being withheld. I really doubt the Mayo Clinic said "we don't know what's wrong" and then sent him to go test a stock car. It's not our business to know what's wrong if something is, I'll give them that, but there's no way he'd go undiagnosed with conditions so severe that he's still out of the car weeks after being released. I can't believe, or at least wouldn't want to believe, that a team of doctors would say "too hard" and give up if there were serious symptoms, and I can't believe there aren't serious symptoms since he hasn't raced in a very long time.

Whatever it is, I hope he's well soon, and back racing.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

We know Penske are a big Chevrolet team in 2012. Building the engines themselves, in fact.

Looks like Ganassi, who field a Chevrolet NASCAR team and have a Chevrolet NASCAR engine program of their own, will use the Honda in the next era.

I'd say we have ourselves a race now.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Ganassi/Honda tie-up is confirmed. Last time Ganassi were the big Honda team, well, I hope I don't need to remind you. The post-split pre-2003 CART era was the best racing-wise, and if you missed it, you better get on YouTube. Still think the Chevrolet is going to be the best engine, but I'm so glad the top teams are going in different directions. Big Lotus team will likely be KVRT.

In 2013, we will get a fourth engine from Cosworth. FIAT will brand it; some say it will be an Alfa Romeo, some say it will be a Dodge. FIAT are so clueless in their administration of Chrysler etc, so it doesn't surprise me that they are choosing two brands that don't really fit the bill. The Dodge brand works well in NASCAR, so I don't know why you'd need it in Indy, too, when that image just isn't there. Alfa? Are they even going to sell those here? And if they do, how long before the cease North American operations? Two years? I'd badge them Chrysler knowing IndyCar's demographics. It just seems like the right fit and not anything awkward or forced like a Dodge.

But a fourth engine is a fourth engine, so I'll take it. Now they just need to realize turbo engines don't require an airbox, and the airbox just looks ugly, so let's streamline those puppies and go racing...

[HandyNZL 1]

Brand it Dodge to pull over some NASCAR viewers???

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. runs out of fuel, Kevin Harvick wins.

Heartbreak not once but twice for the National Guard cars on Memorial Day weekend. Damn.

After an eighth place run that included some brave overtakes (four-wide on the high side once), Tomas Scheckter and Team REDLINE will add Texas to their schedule. Reminder that there will be two races in Texas, not one, both 275 kilometers in length. Half points for each, though I believe they are rounding when appropriate. No podium at Texas, either, just two winners. The first race is set by qualifying. The second? By random draw. Going to be a lot of fun at one of the greatest tracks for IndyCar racing.

Dan Wheldon was scheduled to be in the booth for VERSUS as a driver analyst. We'll see if that changes now that he is a two-time Indianapolis 500 champion.

Lotus will name their big team soon. Then sign-ups for engines will go into full force. I guess all the suppliers have an anchor team; it's not a factory/works team by any means, as everyone will get the same exact stuff, but I assume the anchor team is going to be somewhat involved in development of engines/aerokits. That was unclear, but again, not a works team.

And then there's this: http://www.auto123.c...ar?artid=131819

Indy's greatest aligned with NASCAR's greatest is definitely interesting, if not scary for the amount of resources they'd have behind them. I'll call B.S. on the Simona stuff in the article, though. I have a gut feeling Penske will replace at least one driver at the end of the year, but I don't think he'll replace him with the Swiss Missile. A Hendrick car as a satellite to Team Penske...hmm...and there's always talking of Tony Stewart Racing. Stewart drives Hendrick stuff through his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing, in Cup. Interesting to have Chevrolet involved...all Lotus have given us to chew on are Jean Alesi rumors. Color me thrilled.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

I wonder, too, if we'll see any personnel changes at Texas. Penske had some major pit gaffes and I know he won't do it, but Clive Howell really did a good job messing Power's title run up last year, and it's his responsibility to get on the radio and say "don't go" when the tire changer has his hand up. He didn't do that.

Hildebrand's spotter, too. Told him "you have to go...Wheldon's coming." Not saying J.R. shouldn't have known better than to go flat through the marbles, but I think he felt a lot more pressure than he needed to get around Kimball right there.

And then there's someone at Ganassi who ran both Target cars out of fuel in both the race and in qualifying. I don't know if they were having fuel pick-up issues or what, but if it was a human error in any of the four instances where someone ran dry...well, good luck to that individual.

No word yet on Bertrand Baguette's status, either. He wants to run more, and he had a great run this month ending in a career best finish of seventh after leading late. I'd wonder if he could get a few more races. He's a very capable oval racer, it seems, with his only two top tens on ovals. Not the most important guy to have in the sport by any means, but he has some funding and he has some talent.

I also wonder if his team, RLL Racing, will return full-time with the new car in 2012. They had a good month. I'm sure Bryan Herta Autosport are looking at it, and Sam Schmidt Motorsports could be looking at a second car full-time (the 99 will run more with Cunningham and Katherine Legge this year; could have Townsend Bell at Las Vegas).

Then there's Ho-Pin Tung...he was really, really steady at Indy, faster than the much-more-hyped Speed. Nice guy, too.

Pippa Mann did alright for her first race. Figured she was a lock to FTQ, personally, but she kept it out of trouble for the most part and got an okay result.

Sponsor-wise, we saw CDW, Sports Illustrated, Mouser, Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka, Henkel, and a few others for this race. If ratings are high enough, I'd hope to see some of them return for more. I know Fuzzy's wanted to do a lot of the oval races with Ed, and will be on his helmet for them as they were at Indy.

Standings after Indy, with things of great interest bolded:

1. Will Power

2. Dario Franchitti

3. Oriol Servià

4. Tony Kanaan

5. Scott Dixon

6. Graham Rahal

7. Ryan Briscoe

8. J.R. Hildebrand

9. Alex Tagliani

10. Mike Conway

11. Vitor Meira

12. Marco Andretti

13. Takuma Sato

14. Simona de Silvestro

15. Danica Patrick

16. Justin Wilson

17. Hélio Castroneves

18. James Hinchcliffe

19. Charlie Kimball

20. Ryan Hunter-Reay

21. Raphael Matos

22. E.J Viso

23. Sebastián Saavedra

24. Dan Wheldon

25. Ana Beatriz

26. James Jakes

27. Sébastien Bourdais

28. Bertrand Baguette

29. Tomas Scheckter

30. Paul Tracy

31. Ed Carpenter

32. Simon Pagenaud

33. Townsend Bell

34. Buddy Rice

35. John Andretti

36. Davey Hamilton

37. Alex Lloyd

38. Pippa Mann

39. Jay Howard

40. Bruno Junqueira (received 4 points for qualifying)