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Massa

2013 Indianapolis Racing League

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I thought it was a pretty good race, though I'll spare you my thoughts on how Beaux Barfield conducts safety cars because I've torn him apart enough times on the Internet to make it clear that I want him out. Thankfully, the drivers drove well enough to not give Barfield even the tiniest thing to turn into a caution, so kudos to them.

It's a nice track, and there was some good racing. Power's two-stop strategy was the greatest thing that could have happened today, simply because it held Hunter-Reay up enough to keep it close in the final stint. Had he not pulled a Fisichella so well, I'd assume Hunter-Reay would've had a literal 11 second lead to start the last portion there. Best car of the race, so it's no surprise they won. I had hoped traffic (or anything else) would have allowed Dixon to get even closer, but hey, that's how it goes. I was surprised Dixon never used his final push-to-pass, assuming the numbers on the TV were correct.

Move of the race was Kimball on Power, obviously, though I do think Power had some sort of issue, so it wasn't an even strength overtake. Still, goals on the power play can be pretty, and so too can be overtakes on a weaker car (if they were all equal, they never would pass, now would they?). It was an excellent move. Hunter-Reay's NASCAR move into Castroneves wasn't impressive (it wasn't bad enough to warrant steward intervention, but I think that was more luck than anything. Not very much in control there), but his actual pass for the lead was nice. Smoking the tires, 15 to go, overtake to change the course of the race. I'll give him credit for that one; nice.

Could this be a title year for Dixon? His teammate's all but out of the way, and we know he's capable.

Bourdais...man, he's lost something. Bad car, yeah, but he's not driven it the way he used to be able to. Big-time gaffe trying to pass Vautier, who unfortunately couldn't keep the pace he had earlier. Still, a good day for Schmidt Peterson, with Pagenaud rebounding from St. Petersburg. The DW12 looks better in those Schmidt liveries, I think. Something about the layout of the design (though the Bourdais car is sharp, too).

Whatever Firestone has done to the tires, it's a lot better now. Really setting up more strategy and more overtaking, and I appreciate that. In a series with cars that have so few variables, being tightly controlled as they are for cost reasons, you need something to be opened up to help mix things around. The tires are doing that.

Another two weeks and they're in Long Beach for round three. They haven't lost me yet. ;)

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Fun fact: A.J. Allmendinger is not considered a rookie due to his Champ Car experience. However, Simon Pagenaud, Katherine Legge, etc. were considered rookies. Immaterial, but confusing.

How about an update on the Indianapolis 500 entry list? It's getting closer. Will we have a Bump Day, a Fill Day, a subsequent Buy Day (this is the main reason I just can't accept Hunter-Reay as champion...he earned it, yeah, but man...there's just a difference in integrity with him and Michael Andretti versus Roger Penske and Fittipaldi/Unser. There were plenty of opportunities in 1995 for Penske to buy his two drivers into the race after they failed to qualify. Penske refused to do it. They failed to qualify as a team in competition, so they did not race. I realize Hunter-Reay's program would have dissolved had he not been in the 500, and obviously, Penske's would not have. Still, I hated it. After how thrilling Bump Day was...I hated that. I just can't respect Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport, or A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Someone in those three parties should have stopped it. Anyway...), or No Fill Day at all (below 33)?

I'd assume they hit 33, but I wouldn't expect anything more beyond that. The engine supply issue seems to be a big obstacle for one-off teams. Honda and Chevrolet appear to be reluctant to give engines to something like that, and are more comfortable adding an extra car for an established team (i.e. RLL, Ganassi, etc).

So, we have 25 full-time entries plus:

Team Penske #2 (Allmendinger)

A.J. Foyt Enterprises #41 (Daly)

Andretti Autosport #26 (Muñoz)

RLL Racing #17 (Jourdain)

Chip Ganassi Racing #X (Briscoe)

That makes 30 confirmed so far. A few guys are known to be working on programs (Townsend Bell, John Andretti), so we'll see if they can be part of the additions to get to 33. I'd love to see something surprising...a different team, a different driver, whatever. It'd be cool to have a one-off kind of deal, especially a last-minute one.

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Not only will NBC Sports stream tons of NHL games and Formula One sessions, IndyCar Series racing on NBCSN will also be available!

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51505090/ns/sports-other_sports/

Comcast, Cablevision, Sudden Link, and FiOs subscribers can use the service, so it's not a help to international viewers, but certainly an improvement to have free streaming.

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Also, some Indy 500 stuff:

Ryan Briscoe has been confirmed at Ganassi in the #8.

Townsend Bell and Pippa Mann are trying to get a second Ed Carpenter Racing car for the 500. Mann is also connected to Dale Coyne Racing.

Jay Howard might be in a third car for Schmidt Peterson Racing.

One of the former Lotus cars might be driven by Jaques Lazier. I don't know which team; it sounds like it's the Fan Force United chassis, but not the Fan Force United team. Buddy Lazier was a driver coach with Fan Force United last year, so I guess the connection to that particular chassis would be through that.

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/2013/04/12/april-12-on-jaques-lazier-and-charlie-kimball/

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Cavin said Jaques Lazier, but some are saying the guy with the ex-Fan Force United chassis is actually 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Lazier. Buddy Lazier is 45 years old. He won in 1996 (obviously) and was second in 1998 and 2000 (his IRL championship year). He also had a fifth place in 2005, having last raced in 2008 (failed to qualify in 2009). There's no denying that Lazier was one of the best at IMS in his era, but it's hard to say if his era has passed or not. Lazier would try to bring the car to an existing team, and I think the preference would be a Chevrolet engine (apparently, it is cheaper to convert an ex-Lotus chassis to run a Chevrolet than it is to run a Honda. I assume that has to do with Chevrolet being a twin turbo and Honda being a single, but that's an assumption, and assumptions are horrible).

Another driver from the past, John Andretti, would like to race this year as well. Off the top of my head, John was born in 1963, so he's turning 50 one of these days if he hasn't already. Andretti's raced in NASCAR, IMSA GTP, CART and IndyCar, and the NHRA top fuel drag racers. Versatile in terms of scope, but not so much in terms of results. He did have a win in CART, I think, and a pair of wins in what is now Sprint Cup. I could be a good person and check those facts before stating them, but I'm just doing this from memory.

Al Unser, for what it's worth, won his fourth Indy 500 in 1987. He was 47 years old (five days shy of 48). His last 500 came in 1993, leading laps at 53 years of age. In 1992, he had finished third, and in 1994, he failed to make the race. Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt also had success late into their careers, and both retired at much higher ages than we see at present. Still, those were different eras (faster eras, actually, if that's even relevant), and they had some continuity (i.e. not a bunch of years off).

Whatever, let them all try. Fastest 33 will start the race, and if that can include Lazier and/or Andretti, cool. The entry list should be diverse by all measures. A couple of Speedway favorites with a few more years of life behind them are welcome, though the Indy 500 one-off to look out for is a young driver by the name of Carlos Muñoz. I promise.

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IndyCar heads to Long Beach amidst rumors of Zak Brown (always pegged as a Bernie Ecclestone replacement and never given enough blame for the Gene Simmons "I Am Indy" stuff) becoming the IndyCar CEO, rumors of aerokits in 2014, rumors of Audi being interested, rumors of a season finale in 2014 on the IMS road course with the season ending before the NFL one begins, and rumors that the racing's been pretty damn exciting this year.

ALMS partners for a Saturday race shown on U.S. TV Sunday. Brian Till calls both, as Leigh Diffey will be doing Bahrain. I always thought Brian Till should sign off with "I'm Brian, Till we meet again."

A lot of people probably think I should just sign off period with all the horrible things I type. :P

Chevrolet 2 - 0 Honda so far, but Honda looked better in Birmingham. Come on, Honda!

Back to a street course means tires might play a bigger role, though St. Petersburg has the changing surfaces (concrete for the airport run) that Long Beach doesn't. Might also mean we won't be treated to the green runs we had at Barber, but who knows?

When I think of Long Beach, I think of this:

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Apparently, IndyCar's schedule is going to get an overhaul by 2015.

It sounds like they will end it in August, before the NFL season starts. Perhaps on the IMS road course.

It would also begin sooner in the year, and a non-championship international series would run a handful of races to fill the off-season gap.

Hmm. International series does sound interesting. A lot of nice FIA Grade II tracks in the world that can't be used by a lot of the other series. F1, obviously, requires Grade I, and many of the other series run in support of F1, so they only go to those places. Plus, the WEC seems to only run Grade I tracks, despite their ability to race on Grade II ones. So, that'd be kind of cool, if we got to see IndyCar go to some neat places.

The question would then have to be why it isn't part of the main championship, but I guess the cost would be a burden to many of the smaller teams. It'd be great if an international series opened the door to Eurasian teams, or any other teams, who would also bring their cars over to Indianapolis in May for a time trial. A little like Le Mans getting entries from the European, American, and Asian Le Mans Series in addition to the WEC.

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Apparently, IndyCar's schedule is going to get an overhaul by 2015.

It sounds like they will end it in August, before the NFL season starts. Perhaps on the IMS road course.

It would also begin sooner in the year, and a non-championship international series would run a handful of races to fill the off-season gap.

Hmm. International series does sound interesting. A lot of nice FIA Grade II tracks in the world that can't be used by a lot of the other series. F1, obviously, requires Grade I, and many of the other series run in support of F1, so they only go to those places. Plus, the WEC seems to only run Grade I tracks, despite their ability to race on Grade II ones. So, that'd be kind of cool, if we got to see IndyCar go to some neat places.

The question would then have to be why it isn't part of the main championship, but I guess the cost would be a burden to many of the smaller teams. It'd be great if an international series opened the door to Eurasian teams, or any other teams, who would also bring their cars over to Indianapolis in May for a time trial. A little like Le Mans getting entries from the European, American, and Asian Le Mans Series in addition to the WEC.

Ohhhh...they could come to Cromwell at the Highlands Motorsport Park...fantastic new track here in NZ:

open-17.jpg

open-25.jpg

open-10.jpg

Track-March-13.jpg

Highlands-Track-map-Sept-2012-300.jpg

Can't wait to race there next Easter. Hoping like heck that Tony Quinn lets us run on the full 4.8km configuration...I'll be grinning from ear to ear and then some!!

Dixon needs to stop starting at the back, the plonker.... :P

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Not only will NBC Sports stream tons of NHL games and Formula One sessions, IndyCar Series racing on NBCSN will also be available!

http://nbcsports.msn...s-other_sports/

Comcast, Cablevision, Sudden Link, and FiOs subscribers can use the service, so it's not a help to international viewers, but certainly an improvement to have free streaming.

International coverage is a bit of a train-wreck :( UK rights are via ESPN which would cost me £150 (that's about $17 quintillion :) ), which is not worth it for the handful of races, esp. as coverage is not guaranteed beyond July and many of them are highlights only :(

Got all excited when someone called Iam1ndy started loading recordings of races onto Youtube.... not surprisingly, after two races "this channel has closed"... <sigh>

Answers on a postcard please

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Looks like some amateur video channel thing...You Boob or Your Toob or something...never heard of it before in these parts. Lots of crackheads talking monologues about holes in bagels or some such it appears...

In other words, it works....

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The first two races (and presumably all subsequent ones, based on 2012) are uploaded here:

http://www.youtube.c...s/videos?view=0

I'm not sure if they block access to those outside the U.S., though. Worth a try.

Thanks Eric, had a look but they are only highlights and not full race.

Indycar really needs to sort out their TV rights! :(

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Looks like some amateur video channel thing...You Boob or Your Toob or something...never heard of it before in these parts. Lots of crackheads talking monologues about holes in bagels or some such it appears...

In other words, it works....

Eh? What you say? Boob Tube or something? Nah, it will never catch on :D

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Thanks Eric, had a look but they are only highlights and not full race.

Indycar really needs to sort out their TV rights! sad.png

You're right; the full Long Beach race isn't up yet.

However, the channel does have the full St. Petersburg race:

And the full Alabama race:

I'm not sure how long it will take for them to get Long Beach up there.

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You're right; the full Long Beach race isn't up yet.

However, the channel does have the full St. Petersburg race:

And the full Alabama race:

I'm not sure how long it will take for them to get Long Beach up there.

Thanks, tried, says not useable in UK :(

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31 entries for the 500 now as Pippa Mann is confirmed for a third Dale Coyne car.

Bryan Clauson may or may not be close to a deal with a team that is or is not KV. He, Kanaan, and de Silvestro were all crowd favorites at Indy last year, so that'd be a popular team.

You get a pair of Laziers, and now you have a full 33. Throw in John Andretti and we have bumping. Could see Townsend Bell make it 35 with someone. That wouldn't be so bad, now would it?

And there's another big rumor out there that the "bumpers" (or pods, or whatever) are going to be dropped very soon, while aerokits may or may not be in the wind tunnel already for 2014. Please, please, please. Let's take this to the next level!

São Paulo this weekend for those looking to watch a motor car race.

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Kurt Busch will test for Andretti Autosport on May 9th at the Indianapolis 500.

No, really.

Busch will also be testing a Holden Commodore V8 Supercar as part of a ride-swap event at the Circuit of the Americas.

In the past, Busch drove a Rahal Letterman Champ Car as part of a Ford event.

Busch has also raced in the NHRA (top-level drag racing).

A true racer, I suppose.

Another true racer?

Try Simon Pagenaud. He'll be entering Pikes Peak with Honda to add to an already diverse résumé.

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What a finish to that race! Joined half way through because of the BTCC and doing stuff for a site I write for, but loved those last few laps. Some of the finest racing I've seen in quite a while. Hopefully someone puts it on YouTube soon. :P

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How about that São Paulo Indy race?

There was some great stuff in that one, a lot of strategy, a lot of passing, pretty cool.

And then that finish. Those final ten laps or so with Newgarden and Sato, only for Hinchcliffe to catch up and steal it in the final corner!

Plus, you had Newgarden making it three-wide for the lead, which was interesting...he had a great race. I'm impressed.

Unloved will be Servià's sideways, dirt-tracking move on Newgarden to take fourth, and almost third, in the final corner. It was missed because the lead change was more important.

Man, Hinchcliffe and Sato had a great battle. I am very impressed with how Hinchcliffe made that one happen. That was very exciting!

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