The Other Side

2011 Silly Season Update

2010-12-16T12:14:00.006-05:00

So with Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball joining Chip Ganassi Racing, and JR Hildebrand joining Panther this week as well, I figure it is time to post a new Silly Season update with rumors and possibilities for the upcoming season.CONFIRMED IN BOLDHIGHLY LIKELY IN PLAIN TEXTRUMORED IN ORANGEDe Ferran Dragon Racing#2 - Tony Kanaan - Full Season#21 - Davey Hamilton - Indy + 2 or 3 races - HPThe

Engine Announcement Friday

2010-11-10T19:10:00.004-05:00

The Izod Indycar Series has announced a press conference regarding manufacturer competition for 2012, at the IMS museum.It is fair to say that this is the Chevy to Indy 2012 announcement, unless something new has come up, or Ford or FIAT has beaten Chevy to the punch and will announce something instead.Keep your calendar's open on Friday, I'm not sure if it will be shown via the web, or if it is

More on engines

2010-11-10T09:16:00.004-05:00

Marshall Pruett just posted a new article in reference to the 2012 Engine Manufacturers. It references more then just the GM rumors, this time, he includes FIAT, Cosworth, Ford as well as the previously mentioned GM engine possibilities. However, he has not confirmed or denied anything, simply playing a torturing game of "True or False".Read the article here... Marshall Pruett's SPEEDTV.com

GM to Indycar?

2010-11-08T09:34:00.004-05:00

Well, rumors popped out over the weekend that GM is preparing to announce it's return to Izod Indycar Racing by building a Twin-Turbo V6 for the 2012 engine regulations. The original article popped up on Autoextremist.com, then subsequent articles and rumors appeared on Speedtv.com, Indystar.com, autoracing1.com, and Autoweek. Most of the articles discussing the original Autoextremist.com news

What Didn't Chicagoland Have?

2010-08-29T18:41:00.003-04:00

Well, last night I got to watch the Chicagoland Izod Indycar Series race from start to finish, and was I ever lucky I had an empty schedule for it. For the first time in a while, I did not have to work, play, drive, sleep, or anything of that nature that would make me miss part or all of a race.I am not one to really enjoy the "foot to the floor" ovals as I feel they don't really take a whole lot

Big Week For IICS

2010-07-10T11:07:00.007-04:00

This upcoming week is going to be filled with a lot of suspense, news, and excitement for the Izod Indycar Series and it's IRL family.It is safe to say that the future landscape of Indycar will be determined on Wednesday, July 14th when the ICONIC committee releases it's chassis plans for 2012 and beyond. However, no one is quite sure exactly what is going to be announced, and Randy Bernard has

Texas Firestone 550K Thoughts

2010-06-07T11:46:00.004-04:00

There is something about Indycar at Texas Motor Speedway that just spells out excitement. Between the promotional skills of Eddie Gossage, the skill of the Izod Indycar Drivers, racing under the lights, and the wheel to wheel action, Texas is a must see each year, and very rarely does it dissapoint (2009 is the exception).The race Saturday night saw 11 lead changes, multiple challenges for the

Indy 500 is Over, Slackin' is Over

2010-06-04T12:19:00.006-04:00

Yea, I know, I've been slackin' at this blog. Now that the Indy 500 is over, some things have caught my attention. This blog is slightly time consuming in the long run, but a couple of things have brought me to post this today, a couple things that make you think, not on a massive level, but a couple of things that make you appreciate the opportunity you have.First of all, Jeff Iannucci over at

Kansas = FAIL

2010-05-01T16:21:00.002-04:00

Lets face facts, if you just watched the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300, you wasted about 2.5 hours of your Saturday, about 1.5 hours of it was commercials. It just wasn't entertaining, and I'm not the only one who felt that way. About the 65,000 empty seats tells you a bunch of people knew it wasn't worth spending money on.It's time for this race to go the way of Nashville and Richmond in recent

Indy 500 Silly Season Update

2010-04-12T09:47:00.004-04:00

Confirmed (33)Andretti Autosport #7 - Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com#11 - Tony Kanaan - 7/11#26 - Marco Andretti - Venom Energy Drink#37 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Izod#43 - John Andretti - Window World (Richard Petty part car owner)Team Penske#3 - Helio Castroneves - Team Penske#6 - Ryan Briscoe - Team Penske#12 - Will Power - Verizon WirelessTarget Chip Ganassi Racing#9 - Scott Dixon - Target#10

Panther Enters Carpenter for Indy

2010-04-08T12:09:00.002-04:00

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (April 7, 2010) – Panther Racing announced today it has partnered with Vision Racing and will enter Ed Carpenter in the No. 20 Dallara Honda during next month’s 94th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The collaboration between the two IZOD IndyCar Series teams will pair Carpenter with full-time Panther driver Dan Wheldon, pilot of the No. 4 National Guard Panther

Bartender Rumors #8

2010-04-05T10:52:00.003-04:00

The Bartender is back and has some rumors for all of you to digest once again. Actually, it is more I finally had the time to get out there while he was around, but I finally have done it. I'll try to make this more of a constant thing now that we are in season again.- Junior Strous should end up at HVM during May as that was the main reason he withdrew from his contract with Moore Racing in the

Swift #66

2010-04-02T00:04:00.006-04:00

I haven't put much talk into the chassis debate coming up as everyone and their mother has beaten the topic to death. However, with the release of Swift's new #66 concept, I felt the need to share with everyone.This car is freakin' fantastic!It may be evolutionary as opposed to revolutionary, but boy could I see a bunch of those cars tearing it up at TMS or IMS or Long Beach with the Lola concept

94th Indy 500 Silly Season

2010-03-31T20:36:00.007-04:00

The Indianapolis 500 Mile Race is 60 days away. Time to do a run down of what we know.ConfirmedAndretti Autosport (32)#7 - Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com#11 - Tony Kanaan - 7/11#26 - Marco Andretti - Venom Energy Drink#37 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Izod#43 - John Andretti - Window World (Richard Petty part car owner)Team Penske#3 - Helio Castroneves - Team Penske#6 - Ryan Briscoe - Team Penske#12 - Will

Andretti to Andretti

2010-03-31T11:41:00.006-04:00

John Andretti will be returning to Indy this year in the #43 machine in a joint venture between Richard Petty and Andretti Autosport.Last year J. Andretti and R. Petty competed as driver and owner respectively in conjunction with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. They started 28th (Andretti's lowest qualifying position ever at Indy) and finished 19th.As a prelude to Indy, John Andretti will also be

Bag It

2010-03-23T21:58:00.004-04:00

For those of you complaining about the recent announcement that Bertrand Baguette will be running full time beginning at Barber in Alabama, time to stop. The European horse that traveled across the ocean you keep beating is now dead.We get it already, you don't like that Bertrand Baguette from Belgium will be running the Izod Indycar Series when others like Paul Tracy, Buddy Rice, Graham Rahal,

Franchitti On Point, Tagliani Surprises

2010-03-14T10:52:00.005-04:00

Well, turns out the lack of practice on a green circuit in Sao Paolo, the silly season musical chairs, and the overall talent level of the Izod Indycar drivers has produced some good results for fans during qualifying for the first race of the 2010 season. After the track grinding was completed overnight, drivers reported no issues with the previously slick Sambodrome section of the track.

Fantasy Racing @ The Other Side

2010-03-02T19:36:00.005-05:00

Well, my first Indycar Nation Fantasy League is online and open to anyone who cares to join. The league is password protected.League Name: The Other Side 2010Password: RahalI encourage all my loyal readers to join in for the fun and invite any of your friends to join in and follow along. After each race weekend, I'll make sure I post the updated standings on the blog and do a quick little write

Lotus Engines to Indy?

2010-03-02T13:50:00.003-05:00

Rumors are swirling that Lotus Group is looking to join the Indycar Series in 2010 as a way to promote the Lotus brand. James Rossiter is supposedly being backed by Lotus in 2010 at KVRT as a Team Lotus USA/KVRT car. James tested at Barber with KVRT and ran around the middle of the pack.However, this story keeps evolving. Today Autocar is reporting that Lotus has confirmed they will be returning

Indycar.com

2010-03-01T21:59:00.004-05:00

Well, I just got in from Volleyball and noticed the Indycar.com website is up. I haven't seen any other blog posts about this on other blogs so I'm not really sure how up to date I am.Anyways, it's a nice upgrade I think. I prefer the white/gray background to the old one. Gives it better contrast in my opinion.Here I am acting like I know what makes a good website. Seems easy to navigate though,

The BAT Project

2010-02-23T08:54:00.003-05:00

No, this isn't about the wonderful game BAT Racer which has recently been dumbed down to avoid copyright infringements.This is about Bruce Ashmore, Alan Mertens and Tim Wardrop and their plans to submit their own chassis design to the Indy Racing League for inclusion in the 2012 plans.Have to give credit to Shane Rogers who must had stumbled across this article on racecar-engineering.com in

Here Come The Announcements

2010-02-22T14:45:00.008-05:00

With the Barber test starting tomorrow, driver announcements are in abundance when it comes to the 2010 Izod Indycar Season.Let's see what has happened recently. KVRT announced that they signed Takuma Sato to drive one of their Dallara's in 2010. Today, KVRT announced one of the worst kept secrets in the IRL, that they would be running E.J. Viso in 2010 with PDVSA, Herbalife, CANTV and SBA

Romancini to Conquest

2010-02-21T22:49:00.004-05:00

It seems Conquest wanted to prove me wrong. I wrote earlier today that we shouldn't expect them for a full season.Tomorrow, Conquest will make me look bad (although I'm quite happy they will do so) when they announce that Mario Romancini will run the 2010 Izod Indycar Series under the Conquest banner.Mario competed in Firestone Indy Lights competition last season for RLR/Andersen Racing and

It's Silly Season Time

2010-02-21T11:06:00.006-05:00