Edmonton Rexall Indy 2010

The city of Edmonton has confirmed that it will run the 2010 Rexall Edmonton Indy despite large financial losses in the first two years of the event under IRL sanctioning.

Edmonton City Council has voted unanimously to run the race in 2010 to fulfill it's contractual obligation to the Indy Racing League. Mayor of Edmonton Stephen Mandel has even gone so far as to say that losses are expected to be less then 2009 citing poor sponsorship and luxury box sales that will be remedied in 2010.

"Every councillor realizes that we can't be a city that doesn't honour our commitments," said Coun. Kim Krushell. "Yes, we're moving forward with 2010. Are we happy about losing dollars? No."

Will Power won the 2009 version of the race for Penske Racing, leading from start to finish.

I'm happy to see the race return. Seeing Edmonton pay the fees to cancel the race would leave a blackeye on the IRL and would hurt all the good vibes we have going on right now. On top of that, I think we do not have enough races north of the border (ahem, Montreal or Vancouver, Vancouver would fill in the Northwest nicely).

Conquest News

Well, according to TSN in Canada, "The Fireball from Montreal" Alex Tagliani is close to securing a ride with Conquest for atleast 16 of the 17 races this season. The 35 year-old is in Edmonton to promote the start of ticket sales for this years Rexall Edmonton Indy. Apparently included in his trip to Edmonton is a presentation to a potential group of local sponsors both involved and not involved with the race.

Apparently, a deal isn't happening for a few weeks, so St. Pete's is not likely, but he would be full time at Long Beach and beyond if it all came together. St. Pete's isn't out of the equation, but he would be pushing it.

I think Tags would be a welcome addition to the series. He is Canadian, he is a veteran of AOWR, he is a skilled driver who can handle an ICS car well, and his wife is smokin' hot.

And in regards to Conquest, in the same article, TSN states that "Conquest has confirmed Jaime Camara as its lone entry for 2009 but hopes to add Tagliani if enough sponsorship can be found."

Now, maybe I'm in the dark on this one, but I haven't heard anything about the guy who owned Richmond last year confirming his drive with Conquest, or the team confirming they would enter him for the season. Since they seemed to be speaking with Tags for the article, perhaps he told them Camara was a done deal? However, I'm still a bit suspicious about him/Conquest, but hopeful. A team of Camara and Tags at Conquest would be a relatively strong driver lineup. Tags would be a little bit rusty on ovals, but strong on road courses while Camara would be strong on ovals until Tags caught up. Mind you, maybe Tags isn't too rusty since he ran Chicagoland and had a decent race.

On a side note, seems like the Edmonton Indy weekend will be filled up pretty well with the ICS being supported by the Nascab Canadian Tire Series (actually decent racing, considering the sanctioning body) , the Firestone Indy Lights, and the Northern Alberta Sports Car Club. It should be a good weekend for those in attendance.