Exciting is in the eye of the beholder

First of all, after my lack of posting for a while, I must apologize. I've been relatively busy and this blog was shoved to the back burner, and for that I'm sorry. I know there are a few people that regularily read this blog and hopefully it wasn't too much for you to have to do without for a while.

Next thing on my to do list is to congratulate Dario Franchitti on a strong run to the 2009 IRL Indycar Championship. Dario was consistently fast and made the fewest mistakes of all the championship contenders, and subsequently won the championship because of it. Of course, there was some luck sprinkled in there at times (ie: the finale at Homestead).

Many of the forums I've visited the last few days seem to have arguments regarding the excitement level of the finale. I've seen posters saying this race was on par with the '09 Richmond debacle while some posters talk about the race being one of the more exciting races of the year for various reasons.

First of all, I think that if you are one of the people upset that most of the field was one or two laps down by about midway through the race, maybe Nascab is better for you? I mean, Nascab is the series that throws debris cautions to keep a number of cars on the lead lap. They are the series that pushes pack racing down our throats (and I know, we had Chicagoland, but I don't think that pack racing was the planned).

At Homestead, we saw the three fastest cars on the track show in a class of their own. They were the best on saturday, and they deserved to be that far ahead of the rest of the field. Look at any of the Indianapolis 500's from 1980 to 1990. They had a large number of cars laps down at the finish, hell in 1984, Rick Mears put the rest of the field 2 laps down on his way to the victory.

Briscoe and Dixon battled for the lead most of the race, with the 2 points for the most laps led a very important factor in determining the championship winner. I'm not sure if you noticed how loose Briscoe was running, he was all over the track. Any lap he could had lost it, and thrown the championship away. But, I was on the edge of my bed (yea, I couldnt watch the race live, because I'm Canadian, and I lost the online feed with about 40 laps to go... But I did get to see the end of the race on tape delay) hoping Briscoe wouldn't lose the little bit of grip he had.

And watching the battle for the lead was fun to watch, any given lap for a while, Dixon or Briscoe would pull ahead. Drafting down both straights and pulling alongside in the corners side by side, with the cars dancing around underneath them. Then knowing Dario was there if anyone made a mistake.

Versus did an awesome job of showing the battle for the championship and playing it up very well. I know listening to the race later on that night I was still excited even though I knew who won the race already. They played up the fuel mileage on Dario's part vs. Briscoe and Dixon running full out very well. Seeing which strategy would end up on the top step of the podium and with the winner's trophy in hand was fun to see play out.

Dario was a deserving winner and definately deserved the championship, as did the other two candidates. But knowing Dario ended up with the title keeps a smile on my face and is a very good story heading into 2010.

Bartender Rumors #6

I headed down to the bar tonight for a pint and a chat. Figured after a nice long weekend, drinking on a tuesday would be a positive. Turns out I was too early for our favorite bartender, so I had to sit around an hour or so, gave me time to enjoy beer.

Anyways, when he did show up, he was lively and entertaining. I had shown up with a few questions in hand from some tweeps on Twitter. I got those questions answered and got a couple other tidbits for your enjoyment.

@indy44 wanted to know what the bartender thought about his theory in regards to the 2009/2010 silly season. "Dixon to De Ferran, Danica to Ganassi & AGR running 2 car team with TK and Marco".

• He's not totally sure what is happening. Dixon all depends on the contract option, which no one seems to know if it is Dixon's option to return to TCGR in 2010, or Ganassi's option on Dixon for 2010. He says if Dixon can get out of the contract in 2010, Scott will be at De Ferran Motorsports asap. He says AGR runs three cars for Danica, Marco, and TK.

@PlanetIRLdotcom asked about where Dan Wheldon would end up in 2010.

• He said he had heard a possibility where Wheldon ends up at De Ferran Motorsports to team with Simon Pagenaud, but it is nothing substantial right now. Dan wants to go back to AGR, but they don't have an interest in him apparently. Dan will have to wait and see how the cookie crumbles.

For future reference, I will always post on my twitter page within a day of when I head to the bar, so if you have questions for him, just tweet me.

He also had this to say.

• He still expects Takuma Sato to be in a car at Homestead. Apparently Honda didn't want to break him in on ovals in front of his home crowd in case he had a bad outing.
• He said AGR is the only good team that wants to put up with Danica running both Nascab and ICS.
• He says to expect big things from HVM in 2010. Doornbos signed on with them for the rest of 2009 and all of 2010 because he was promised big improvements from his funding for the HVM Dallara's.
• J.R. Hildebrand to Panther? Jonathan Bomarito to Coyne?

That's all for tonight, I'll be visiting him on Friday night after the local Ribfest. Should be a good night, and I'll have something for you guys on saturday or sunday.

The Dixon Chronicles

For anyone who believes in the 2010 Dixon to De Ferran rumors, you just got a little bit more news to nibble on. For those of you who don't believe he is going anywhere in 2010, well, keep reading for my sake.

SpeedTV is reporting that Dixon will be joining the young, and possibly ICS bound, Simon Pagenaud along with team owner Gil de Ferran behind the wheel of the race-winning #66 XM Radio de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a prototype for Petit Le Mans.

This will be Scott's third time in a De Ferran Motorsports prepared prototype, and if rumors are true, he could be in a De Ferran Motorsports prepared Dallara in 2010 full-time. Leaving arguably the top Indycar team over the past 2 seasons and moving to a start up Indycar team (however, most likely backed by Honda) wouldn't seem the best career move, especially for a recent Champion. We've all seen what happened to Jacques Villeneuve's F1 career and his BAR fiasco.

However, there were strong rumors about Dixon being frustrated or upset over the summer that included everything from having a teammate that can compete with him (Franchitti) to Danica Patrick running a third Ganassi car. Robin Miller first broke the news of a possible Dixon to de Ferran, and Miller hasn't been too far off lately.

Oh, and there is something about an option for 2010 in Dixon's contract, yet, no one seems to know if it is Dixon's option or TCGR's option on Dixon. Obviously, if it is Ganassi's option, this could all be a moot point.

Of course, I'm sure de Ferran is doing everything he can to woo over the 29 year old Dixon. Start a new team with Honda and Apex-Brazil backing, then sign a two-time (possibly three time) champion in your first season would be a pretty big step towards becoming competitive from the get go. And who better to have Simon Pagenaud learn off of then the Iceman?

Anyways, make of it what you will. Most of this stuff is probably blown out of proportion in the first place, but, it's fun to speculate. Atleast Dixon running in Petit Le Mans is a sure thing, the rest of it, not so much.

The Old Switcheroo - UOWWB Weekly Question

This weeks weekly UOWWB question is in regards to the current F1 World Champion and current Indy 500 winner and ICS Champion.

If Lewis Hamilton and Scott Dixon switched places for the 2009 season, how would
each driver fare in the other's league? Who would be more successful in 2009?

I guess to answer this question, we'll go through a bunch of different circumstances to each ride.

Now, you have to take into consideration where you think Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes is aerodynamically this year compared to where they were in '08. With the new regulations, that could definately affect Scott Dixon's ability to win the 2009 F1 World Drivers Championship, while you have to assume that Ganassi would still have the top cars in 2009 with the lack of development available to teams.

Advantage Hamilton

The tracks that each driver would be driving on would be a huge change. Dixon would be going from the tight turns of street circuits and the long sweeping pedal-to-the-floor ovals to the winding historic tracks in Europe and the new Tilke tracks that have been designed to create good racing and challenge the drivers. Hamilton would be going from these long european tracks to the IRL tracks. I would think the transition from road courses and street courses in N.A. to road courses and street courses in the F1 world would be easier for Dixon since Hamilton would also have to learn how to run ovals flat out, and he would need some time to determine if he had the balls to do it.

Advantage Dixon

Again, I think the atmosphere would be difficult for Hamilton to overcome since he would be going from a place where he is barely seen on race weekends by fans to a place where he would be swarmed in the paddock area by media and fans alike. Also, the added pressure of being the first black driver to contend for the championship would attract even more media attention to Lewis. As much as I think Dixon likes the fans and enjoys the atmosphere of the IRL weekends, the switch to a nice relaxing weekend in the F1 paddock where you only need to be out in the public for practice, qualifying and racing would be easier to do then to move into America where the atmosphere is much more intense, media wise.

Advantage Dixon

Dixon has sat in an F1 car before, and tested for Williams-BMW in 2004 after his first ICS championship. Lewis Hamilton has not run a Dallara Indycar before, and I doubt he has run the amount of different cars Dixon has run over the years so I have to give the experience edge to Dixon in acclimating to new cars.

Advantage Dixon

Year after year, Ganassi and Penske and AGR are the top three teams in F1, and lately, AGR seems to have fallen off the pace leaving just 2 Ganassi drivers and 2 Penske drivers to compete for the crown. In 2008, F1 saw more winners then usual, and it seemed as though more teams were able to compete at the top echelon with Renault, Ferrari, BMW, McLaren and even the baby Red Bulls. I think Hamilton has less competition in the ICS then Dixon does in F1.

Advantage Hamilton

The hardest thing to judge is raw talent. Who is the better driver in the exact same equipment day after day? They have both proven to be at the top of the class in their respective divisions, but, will we ever know who is a better driver? I don't think we can answer that unless we see both in the same car on any given weekend.

Draw

I assume both Hamilton and Dixon would be extremely competitive in the opposite series. But I think Dixon would have the better season since he would not need time to adapt to a new form of track whereas Hamilton would have to learn the ovals in his first year which could cost him a few points in the first few oval races.

If this question asked who would have a better career in eachothers series, I would give the nod to Hamilton due to his age and his time to learn and improve in America. But I think I have to give this one to Dixon. I think he would definately have the better season in 2009 if he were in a Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes F1 car.

Winner, and still Indy 500 and ICS Champion, Scott Dixon