Racing Of The United States Variety

[JHS 1]

That's Briscoe gone. Silly move by Hunter-Reay.

[JHS 1]

Hunter-Reay penalty, Patrick up to 3rd after taking no tyres in the pits.

[JHS 1]

Haha one thing I am liking about Indycar is the drivers call a spade a spade. No hidden emotions at other drivers.

Damn. Wilson gone now, my other favourite.

[JHS 1]

Not liking how many lengthy cautions there are, disruptes the flow of the race. But man these two wide restarts are exciting!

[JHS 1]

Charlie Kimball running 10th. That's a great story. Hopefully he can keep it that way.

Meanwhile Danica slips further and further back.

[JHS 1]

Hunter-Reay learns his lessons and passes Danica cleanly in the place he took Briscoe out. She's a moving chicane now with so many cars lining up to pass her, haha.

[JHS 1]

Power slowly pulling away from Dixon. I think he has this one in the bag.

[JHS 1]

Power wins, Dixon second, Franchitti completes the podium.

Good race, I enjoyed it. Too many cautions again, but some great action and some tasty overtakes.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Not a bad race at all.

I'll begin with the television coverage: huge improvement! The new commentary team and producers on VERSUS did a great job making this fun to watch today. Well done there.

William Power was playing in his own league today. I was hoping Scott Dixon could get his nose in there at the end, but Power had more pushes-to-pass left, and Dixon just had to give in. It's going to be a fun battle all season between Power and Franchitti for the title. Two great guys, too, so I'm glad to see that.

Barber's such a nice course. It's a natural terrain road course that you can actually overtake on. Really enjoyed some of the battles we saw today.

Oriol Servià deserves some credit for holding of Tony Kanaan in the last run. He had a huge lock-up and should have lost it, but he ran just enough of an ambiguous line to box Tony in without actually blocking. It's a huge result for him and for Newman/Haas, and it's exactly what a lot of us who watched him in Champ Car, as well as in 2008 with KV, expected from him. Hinchcliffe is going to beneft big-time from partnering with this guy, and, on that note, tough day for Hinch. He impressed a lot in testing and again all weekend, and he's driven plenty of laps at Long Beach, so I think he'll continue to improve. Good to see VERSUS giving him some air-time in the pre-race, too. He's a big personality for the sport and I'm glad he talked it out with Viso.

Viso, by the way, is more of a hazard than his countrywoman Milka. She's just slow; he's spinning all over the place. Every session. It's not always his fault; the deal today was just racing, but he puts himself in bad places for that to happen. He stopped being fun-to-watch years ago; now I just wait for him to retire so the rate of yellows slows down.

Not sure what the strategy for Danica was all about. The Hunter-Reay/Briscoe contact played out perfectly for her; since everyone pitted, she would have kept the position (P7) she had gotten from the three-stopper cycling differently from the typical two and been able to hold that or perhaps advance. The team got greedy and it cost them. I will give Danica some credit, and that's rare for me, but I think she drove really respectfully at the end. She knew she was slower, she knew she was locking it up, and she just stayed out of everyone's way and let people through. I'll give her that. And that car had to be an absolute pig to drive; should she have adjusted her driving a bit for that? Yes, but her team should be familiar with her by now (she's in her fourth year with them), and they should know that she's not the kind of driver who is going to do well on a super-stint of tires, and all things considered, had they taken tires, they would have had a top ten out of a twentieth-place weekend.

On the other hand, I wonder if they didn't want to be P7 around Kanaan, de Silvestro, Meira, etc., for fears that those aggressive drivers might cause some fireworks on the double-file restart. It's clear that Danica's just not as comfortable two-wide and she's really uncertain on the restarts.

Marco Andretti made the most of a rocky weekend for his team to get fourth. Solidly done.

Kanaan, too, made big improvements through the weekend. P24 to P6 is a hell of a drive, strategy or not. Absolutely goes for it every lap, and actually has the talent to do that (unlike at least one of his teammates; Sato's better than Viso but still making some silly errors).

Simonamania continues! P9 is really a good result for them, especially after a few run-ins. Not her best drive, but it's still good to see her results improving from last year even without her same engineer. She was pretty uncomfortable at Barber last year, so to be a top ten runner today is really impressive. I think we'll see a lot more good runs from her as the season goes on, and I think she's a great example that you have to give rookies time with these cars. INDYCARs are so different from any other formula car (and then you throw in the ovals...), and she's shown she can learn. I think the same will apply to Kimball, Hinchcliffe, and Hildebrand over the next two seasons. The performances in FILS/Atlantics do mean something; they just take a year to translate.

Speaking of Kimball, I'm thrilled to see him in tenth. He's a really intelligent driver and knows a lot about the cars, even for a rookie. He has a golden opportunity and I think by season's end we're going to see a lot of that green and orange car.

Simon Pagenaud steps right in, looks terrible, and by Sunday he's back to the Pagenaud we've seen in ALMS, CCWS, and Atlantics. Great drive to salvage something for Dreyer & Reinbold after Wilson (who, by the way, is one hell of a trooper) ran into some trouble.

On to Long Beach next weekend. Should be a good one!

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Power wins, Dixon second, Franchitti completes the podium.

Good race, I enjoyed it. Too many cautions again, but some great action and some tasty overtakes.

Glad you liked it. The cautions situation is tough; for example, the Wilson/Matos wreck they were going to stay green, but Wilson couldn't get out of his car, so they couldn't move it. Had it been someone who wasn't 6'3" and with a broken wrist, I suspect we would have stayed green then.

Regardless, I don't mind the cautions too much because they really made the strategy interesting in that the cars on the three-stopped got really lucky and were able to fight up there in the top ten for the final stint, and I love those two-wide restarts.

Definitely some great overtaking.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Noooooooooooooooooooooo. INDYCAR is considering abandoning the double-file restart for Long Beach only (and then it would be back at São Paulo, Indy, etc).

Just because Hélio Castroneves isn't much of a driver outside of the 500 doesn't mean they should run a single-file snoozer at Long Beach. They start every race double-file, I don't know why they can't restart them like that. If the team owners have a problem with the crash damage, well, tell Hélio your driver(s) to be less aggressive.

Now suck it up, enjoy it (like Simona; she got a tough break on a double-file restart yesterday when Hélio forced her up into Viso, taking out Hinchcliffe and forcing her back a ways, but she still loves the double-file restarts and isn't going to complain that two guys were trying to overtake her on the start, which they had every right to do; as suspect as Hélio and Viso's driving can be at times, it was alright this time...if you had to assign fault, Hélio takes most blame, Simona and Viso equally less blame, HInchcliffe none), and let's go racing!

[HandyNZL 1]

Double line starts is no different to the actual start of the race...the pussies.

Anyway, I liked the comment from one of the commentators that "there wasn't enough hate out there" regarding the double line starts...I thought that was quite funny.

I see JHS is almost a convert?????

Now why is it, that Inycar doesn't need flappy wings and KERS to have overtaking??????

[JHS 1]

I see JHS is almost a convert?????

Ah, I've been called worst things in my time.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Now why is it, that Inycar doesn't need flappy wings and KERS to have overtaking??????

You know the answer to your own question, and you know there are plenty of "aids" in all sports.

Besides, INDYCAR and F1 really can't be compared. Two entirely different things; none better than the other, but I never really saw any connection between the two. Both open-wheel, sure, but completely unrelated in the same way you wouldn't call open-wheel sprint cars anything comparable to F1, or ice hockey comparable to golf. Just totally different by nature, and while I know which one I personally enjoy more, I wouldn't ever want to model either after the other in any way.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

http://petersmotorsports.com/ralphs-lbgp-praxair-persp.png

Paul Tracy's car for Long Beach.

[HandyNZL 1]

Good on ya Eric, you picked up on my rhetorical question.

You're right about them being chalk and cheese...both have there pros and cons.

The old man and I were talking about Scott Dixon the other night, not long after the commentators were talking about his fuel mileage...I commented that that would be a good trait in F1 today, as he could easily run 10kg or more less fuel than the next guy....to wit I also commented that he probably enjoys IRL, no need to go anywhere else, has made enough money to be happy etc...and pops added the he doesn't have to fly all over the world either...he can have a home near Indy, as he does, and fly out on the Thursday or whatever, and be home Sunday night for a snog and cuddle with that hottie wife of his.

Like you, I don't snob one for the other (F1/IRL etc)...just tintops coz open wheelers rule!

[HandyNZL 1]

http://petersmotorsp...axair-persp.png

Paul Tracy's car for Long Beach.

oooo...I feel a chubby coming on...thats one clean looking car.

[HandyNZL 1]

Where do you get all the car renderings you've posted over the years, Eric?

[lewisthegreat2 0]

NASCAR overload!

Talladega is this weekend. Make all efforts to watch. It will be CRAZY and it always comes down to the last few feet to decide the winner.

And it's fast. If you get right down to it, they main reason we all watch racing has to do with speed.

Probably going to see a lot of the two-car drafting stuff from Daytona, which wasn't bad at all, and could yield another surprise winner. Key for the Chase to not get caught up in somebody else's mess, too.

STP is returning to NASCAR sponsorship after a long absence. The STP 400 at Kansas will be the same weekend as the STP 300 in Chicagoland; more importantly, A.J. Allmendinger will run this livery:

That'll look good on a COT, I think.

Steve Park returns to Tommy Baldwin Racing after a P13 at Daytona last July. He'll be in the 35 and they will run the full distance. Park, as mentioned last July, is a really nice guy (one of first NASCAR drivers I ever met) and was on the verge of breaking out in stock car racing when he had a freak accident under caution at Darlington that led to massive head injuries. He's had a tough time putting his career back together in the ten years that have passed (returning to Cup only to fall back to Truck and then K&N Pro), so I always enjoy his occasional starts. His teammate, Dave Blaney, ran well at Daytona, so you never know...

Not a big Paul Menard fan, but I have to mention how incredible of a start to the season he's had. His father, John, has a net worth of $7,300,000,000; Menard's basically gotten this far on Daddy's money. Yet he's turned out to have real talent. Next time someone screams about how terrible ride-buyers are, well...sometimes it's the only way for a talented driver to get in, and with time, they can prove themselves.

Greg Biffle has signed an extension with Roush-Fenway Racing.

Juan Pablo Montoya gets Oreo colors for Talladega. This means we might possibly see an Oreo INDYCAR for a certain Mr. Franchitti, which is cool, because the Oreo cars always look really nice.

Where do you get all the car renderings you've posted over the years, Eric?

Honestly, every single one comes from a different website. I find most of them on other forums.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/42311-p1-in-practice-gets-first-choice/

Qualifying for the roadies has been revised. I liked the old way, and I like the new way. This is more "fair," random draw was more "exciting."

[lewisthegreat2 0]

27 cars for Long Beach. Ana Beatriz is supposed to return; Paul Tracy brings out the Ralph's Special with Dragon.

http://www.indycar.com:8080/var/assets/LongBeachSpotter_WEB2.pdf

Still no clarification on that "26-car limit" stuff. I guess 27 will race, but only 26 will get paid. However, only 5 actually get paid; the top 22 in points get TEAM money. So I'm so confused. Maybe P27 doesn't count toward TEAM points; I don't know. Either way, we'll let 27 cars loose at Long Beach, so works for me.

[HandyNZL 1]

Works for me too Eric. Just imagine an F1 grid with 27 cars....oh, that's right...that'll never happen again.

Re the renders, what you're really saying is you're a plagiarizing bunny rabbit that is also a forum whore slutting your way between them all....for shame, boy....for.....shame.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Works for me too Eric. Just imagine an F1 grid with 27 cars....oh, that's right...that'll never happen again.

Re the renders, what you're really saying is you're a plagiarizing bunny rabbit that is also a forum whore slutting your way between them all....for shame, boy....for.....shame.

I'd rather imagine F1 with more than one competitive car, personally.

The second line of your post is 100% correct. When I hit enough posts to change my display name here and on some of the others, I'm going to standardize it so I'm easily identifiable on all forums (what that standard username will be, however, is beyond me. Wang Chung is a leading contender, if only because everyone thinks it means something it doesn't...)

Getting back to plagiarism:

Sweet mother of Derrike Cope that's a nice livery.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Speaking of stock cars, Milka Duno paced final practice for the ARCA race at Daytona in her CITGO Supergard (yes, "gard" and not "guard") Toyota Camry. I LOL'd.

On the subject of Milka, she will not race in INDYCAR at all this season. Between the 105% rule and Randy banning her from road courses, it wasn't meant to be. I'd much rather she cause the big one in a fourth-tier stock car series at lower speeds and with more sheet metal around the driver, though her countryman E.J. Viso is much more of a hazard than she ever was. Ignoring her political activism, she was really one of the nicer people in the sport, but I can't say anyone's going to miss her. There are 27 cars and we still have deserving guys on the sidelines, so the fact she's not filling one of the seats is quite nice.

Big Dubya paced first practice from the LBC, with defending race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay right behind (.190s). Scott Dixon!, Bad a## Wilson, and Ryan Briscoe rounded out the top five (Briscoe subsequently put it into the tires). Conway, Tagliani, Castroneves, Rahal, and Kanaan the rest of the top ten, which means Ashley's Gentleman Driver (I suspect the term means something different to her than to us) Dario Franchitti was a lowly eleventh! If Dubya's any good on ovals this year (and he will be), Franchitti has to bring a little more than that (but then again, we talkin bout practice, not a game, not a game, we talkin bout practice).

Other notables: Sébastien Bourdais was P12, Paul Tracy P15 on return, Chuck P19, 2008 Long Beach Atlantics race winner Simona de Silvestro a terrible P22, James Hinchcliffe setting the world on fire (literally; lasted 8 laps before it caught flame) in P24, and Danica in P25.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Practice two is live!

Paul Tracy wadded up the Ralphs Special and is done for the day. They will repair it and continue, but a tough return to the sport for Jay Penske and Paul Tracy, a union that Roger Penske described as the "two people who gave [him] the most trouble getting together."

Green again after the Tracy wreck.

Hunter-Reay leads Briscoe and Dubya. Hinchcliffe has recovered nicely to a stout tenth. Twenty and change left in this one.