Texas Firestone 550K Thoughts

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 lead, and slicin' and dicin' from 6th through 20th for most of the race. Anyone who complained about Texas last year (everyone) and Kansas this year (me) could not complain about the 550K this year. This race had drama, suspense, danger, and excitement all bundled up into one.

But can someone explain why Ryan Briscoe decided to ruin the Izod Indycars potential big night? Texas is one of the highest rated races asides from Indy the entire year, and is about as red, white, and blue as you can get in the USA. What a night for an American (specifically named Ryan, Marco, or Danica) to pull out a big "W" in Texas. With Danica and Marco in the running, as much as it pains me to say this, having a Danica/Marco 1-2 finish would had been a huge night for the series and Versus.

On a side note, did anyone else notice the roar from the crowd when Danica flew past Briscoe on his out lap? I guess they still like her in Texas.

However, it was good to see Briscoe bounce back from his Indy mistake and show the Captain he should no be replaced by a certain Graham Rahal. Briscoe was in contention all night and pulled away at the end, proving the Penske clan (along with Target Chip Ganassi) still has the best equipment, no matter how close Andretti Autosport gets.

I don't really want to get into the safety team screw up as it has been covered everywhere else already, instead, I'll simply link you to 16th and Georgetown's article on the matter. He did a great job explaining the situation, much better than I can do.

Back to racing matters, how about Alex Lloyd?! 3rd or 4th at Indy (depending on who you ask) and now an 8th place finish at TMS! Can I just remind everyone that Alex is no longer running for Chip Ganassi, but is instead running for Dale Coyne Racing. No offense to Dale, but his chances of putting in good performances occur on the twisty road courses where driver skills take precedence over aero. For Alex and Dale to be running in the top ten on ovals is a big step up for them, and I'm very happy to see it happen. Now, imagine if they were running a competent driver in the second car?

Next up on the radar for the Izod Indycar Series is the Iowa Corn Indy 250. That track has taken some time to get racey since they started going there, but it is by no means a boring race track. The 7/8 mile super-speedway as some drivers call it makes for a different view on short track racing, and usually provides tight finishes, and Hideki Mutoh sightings near the front.

As for the Texas Firestone 550K, I will give it 8.5 Robbie Knievel jumps out of 10.

The Day Is Here

Boy, the IRL is good at keeping secrets aren't they? I mean todays announcement could be anything from the sale of IMS to the announcement of new cars for the Indycar Series and FIL.

Obviously, if we are told anything except for the title sponsor announcement today when the IRL officials gather at IMS, I think there will be a revolt. Robin Miller, Curt Cavin, and anyone with a brother who has an uncle working on an IRL team somehow has some inside info on the Izod deal worth approximately $10,000,000, of which, will be split among the teams, the series, marketing, and finding Ryan Hunter-Reay a real ride (Hooray!).

This is all good news, and it is pretty obvious it is going to happen today around 2:00pm. I'm hoping, somewhere in there, is a hidden announcement about Brazil. If that happens, I'll fall off my seat and finally breath easily.

So where does RHR land? According to both Cavin and Miller, he will join Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, and Marco Andretti at Team Michael Andretti Green Motorsports Racing. Miller says that 7 digits of the Izod title sponsorship is geared towards sponsoring RHR in a real ride (sorry AJ, you just don't count anymore), and Cavin is saying RHR is keeping his mouth shut seeing how he has signed a non-disclosure agreement with whatever team it is.

So, let's look at the big picture here. In 2010, we will have Izod sponsorship for the "Izod Indycar Series". Add to that, that we will most likely see Izod on the car of RHR in 2010 in a major way. We should also see HER Energy in 2010 at NHL Racing with Alex Lloyd behind the wheel. Don't forget about the APEX Brazil money we should see coming into the series if we get a race finally confirmed in Brazil.

All in all, 2010 is shaping up to look alright. I mean, considering most people think the sky is falling, I think we will do alright.

Let Danica Go To Nascab

I know, I ripped into Danica earlier this summer on the blog, and I got a good amount of heat for doing it. People couldn't believe I was ripping a strip off of the IRL's princess, oh well, these things happen. And if I ever feel the need to do it again, I probably will.

However, I will admit one thing, she has done rather well since then, staying in 5th place, even after a bunch of road courses which are her weak point. Even I have to give her credit. Being the best of the rest, atleast in terms of points, is a great accomplishment. Who knows, if she was in a Ganassi or Penske car, she could be near the top of the points standings and battling for a championship with two races to go.

So yes, I just gave her some props for her good runs. Bookmark this posting because it won't happen all that often.

Being an IRL blogger, I'm well aware that she is our biggest ticket in 2009, and probably will be for about 2 or 3 years along as she sticks around for a while. She brings in big ratings, is our biggest known driver, and her car consistently has the highest ROI in the end of season ratings.

If she happened to dissapear from the IRL and Indycar Series, it would hurt. But the latest rumors going around, specificially, Danica sticking with the IRL while doing a few ARCA, Trucker Series, and Busch League races for Tony Stewart's team could turn into a positive overall for the IRL.

Obviously, if she does run a few races in tin tops (which in my opinion, is a terrible career move for her, because she will most likely fail miserably), it most likely points towards her departure for Nascab in 2011 or 2012.

However, any fans she gains over there could follow her over to the Indycar Series race on ABC and Versus. Hell, if she is able to battle for the points title in 2010 in the ICS, as well as run competitively in some tin tops, she might even get some rednecks to tune in for the points race simply to follow her, and to see how Nascab's princess is doing. If these people happen to tune into Chicagoland and see the fabulous 3 wide racing these heroes put on in a few weeks ago, then maybe these Nascrap fans stick around to watch a little more often.

These additional fans might help turn Graham Rahal, Alex Lloyd, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tomas Scheckter and Ed Carpenter into more mainstream guys. Nascab fans know how to get behind a driver, and maybe they can do the same and teach some ICS fans to do the same.

Overall, Danica going to race in the various Nascrap series basically gives the IRL free advertising with potential for very high return on investment.

Thus, let her race tin tops. Whether she decides to leave full time for the taxi's or not, she will be doing the IRL a favor while trying them out.

The Other Side - Poll of the Week

Well, Bump Day has come and gone, and so has the last poll. The amount of cars bumped on Bump Day has always been a hot topic since the split, usually due to the lack of cars being bumped. However, since bimergification the number of cars trying to bump their way into the field has been high enough we have seen some bumping. Drama ensued near the end of the day with drivers pushing to get into the show. When 6:00pm on sunday rolled around, 3 cars were left off the starting grid, including Alex Tagliani, Stanton Barrett, and Buddy Lazier.

Now, this is the first Weekly Poll you folk have gotten right. Congratulations, and go ahead and gives yourselves a pat on the back. Mind you a minority of you chose the correct answer, I'll still give it to you since you picked it more then any other one answer. I think anyone that picked 5+ cars was just hoping a whole lot, though it was possible.

This weeks question is as follows.

"Which stable will the 93rd Indy 500 Champion come from?"

Mind you, for practical reasons, Alex Lloyd's pink sensation car will be lumped in with Target Chip Ganassi for this poll.

Have some fun with it, and let me know who you think will win by voting, then tell me why in the comments section. I'd love to hear your reasons.

The Other Side - Poll of the Week

Alright, well last week, I asked which One-Off driver would qualify the highest for the big show, and, well, most of you were wrong. I picked Alex Lloyd, along with one other person. And to think, I'm last place in the UOWWB Indycar Fantasy league, someone must be cheating.

A whole bunch of you chose PT and Scott Sharp, which weren't bad ideas, except PT had a rough time of it on Pole Day, while Scott Sharps crew were probably liquored up from all that Patron and maybe Mr. Sharp himself was as well. Who knows, but, maybe that attributed to Scott's crash?

Anyways, Pink Lloyd took the show grabbing the last spot on pole day sitting 11th. Hopefully we'll have better luck guessing this weeks answer.

How many cars will be bumped on bump day?

Scroll down a bit, and on the right you'll see the poll. Make sure you vote this week, there could be a prize awarded?

Pink Lloyd or Pink Panther?

Kaaveh Akbari, Director of PR for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, got a bit of a surprise yesterday just before he left for home. After qualifying on the first day, bumping into the first 11 near the last minute, Pink Lloyd must had been feeling pretty good. He was qualified for his second Indy 500 and had some time to relax without worrying if he'd be in the field. Apparently, this is how he relax's.




Well, safe to say, Mr. Akbari was none to pleased. As you can tell from the youtube clip, he plans on getting back at the "Her" driver. I suggested buying some pink lingerie and replacing his firesuit with the lingerie, but I don't know how that would go down. Leave your ideas to get back at the Pink Panther in the comments section and I'll pass the best ones along to D&R's PR man, and see if we can have a bit of fun.

Sam Schmidt is Thinkin'

Sam Schmidt might be one of the surprises of May. If you haven't heard, Indycar.com is reporting they will run Alex Lloyd in association with Chip Ganassi in the 93th Indianapolis 500.

Lloyd is the 2007 FIL champion and signed a contract with TCGR over the following winter. He ran a bunch of Grand-Am in '08 and did the I500 with RLR in association with TCGR, but has been out of an ICS car since May 2008. None the less, Lloyd is a very talented driver with experience at the Brickyard in a top flight organization like RLR.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports will most likely run Alex Lloyd in a car supplied by Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Odds are that car will have all the bits and pieces on it that the average TCGR car would have. So, Sam Schmidt will turn up to the 500 with probably it's best chance of competing near the front of the event due to the partnership only a mad man could dream up. Sam Schmidt has to be considered a dark horse to actually win the main event when in years past he would be a dark horse to qualify for the show.

Obviously, the odds are very long for him to win, but if you ask Sam Schmidt, I would bet he would say this is the best opportunity they've had in years. He has just been handed a good young driver, a top notch car, and has a crew that has experience at the 500 (they have either run a car under the Sam Schmidt banner or in association with another team the last few years).

Sam Schmidt just entered the realm of Big 3, atleast for one race. Bet you didn't think that would happen did you?