What Didn't Chicagoland Have?

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 of talent to drive, but one thing I will say is that they take balls (you girls have them too Sarah, Simona, Ana, Danica, and even Milka). That racing was definitely some of the closest we've seen all season, and I'd venture some of the closest of the last 3 or so years at Chicagoland. The number of cars on track was great to see and provided alot of excitement for the fans. A crowded track makes for a good oval race, and hopefully the people in charge will drop these silly regulations that only allow "x" amount of cars on tracks. Instead of simply changing them when more cars show up, just demolish the regulations instead, and avoid tracks that are short on pit stalls.

Chicagoland had the drama and storylines to go with the close competition. Will Power's lack of fuel (DOH!) and the point race tightening was definitely the main storyline of the final 20 laps or so, but what about Sarah Fisher running up front and getting Dollar General some good air time? How about seeing Marco Andretti smile for once after running a strong 3rd place finish after 200 good laps of racing? How about finding out Will Power can actually run ovals? Or what of KV Racing knocking 2/3 of their own team out of the race in the pits? Graham Rahal running top ten all day in his first 1.5 mile track since last season? Dan Wheldon putting the National Guard car on display in second place?

If you did not catch the race last night, you missed probably one of the most exciting races this season, and Kentucky seems to look about the same as 26 cars are looking to take the grid there.

I guess the only thing Chicagoland didn't have last night was, well, fans...

Big Week For IICS

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 done a good job of keeping this as hush hush as possible to create a big splash in the marketplace.

I think it is hard not to be excited by the upcoming announcement as it will possibly mean the end to the current Dallara (Curt Cavin believes the current machine will be grand-fathered in somehow while some others believe it will move to the FIL series). No matter what is announced, we can all take pride in knowing there will be something different than the current Dallara on track sometime after 2012.

To be honest, I think it's safe to say we will see multiple chassis manufacturer's involved with this announcement. Whether company names are dropped on Wednesday or not, Randy Bernard and his entire ICONIC committee understand the importance of multiple chassis' as well as multiple engines. The main question is how will they police the various options, and that is something we'll have to wait for as I don't think anyone outside of that group of 7 have any clue.

Then a couple of days after the announcement, the Izod Indycar Series hits the streets of Toronto for my home race, and boy, am I excited. What I considered one of the most exciting races last season on television is a race that this year it finally looks like my schedule will allow me to get to the event for race day (providing we sweep our second round playoff series in 3 games).

There looks to be a good car count, and PT is back in the fold again for this event with KVRT, the team that gave him a potentially winning setup last year until he was punted into the wall by an unnamed driver in these parts.

Promotion for the event has been upped this year which can mean only good things. More butts in the seats and means more attention for Izod and the series.

Add in the fact we have a pretty good title chase brewing in the overall standings (you can just hand Will Power the Mario Andretti Trophy right now for the road courses), and you get a pretty good vibe heading into the Honda Indy Toronto weekend which is shaping up to be a blast.

It's a good week to be a fan of Izod and the Izod Indycar Series, time to embrace it.