Must-see newcomer: Rubens Barrichello with KV Racing Technology. He is the most experienced Formula One driver in history (325 starts in 19 seasons), which means he knows a lot about developing a new car. He has been fast in every IndyCar test.
Must-see change: On road courses and street circuits, drivers again will be able to defend their position so long as they don’t compromise safety. That will lead either to fewer passes or more crashes — probably both.
Must-see switches: Several former race winners have changed teams, including Justin Wilson (now at Dale Coyne Racing), Mike Conway (A.J. Foyt Racing), Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing), Oriol Servia (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) and Sebastien Bourdais (Dragon Racing). Last year’s top rookie, James Hinchcliffe, hasn’t won a race, but he’s positioned to do so at Andretti Autosport.
Must-see at Indy: Having three manufacturers (Chevrolet, Lotus and Honda) will increase the drama. Helio Castroneves will have a good shot to win his fourth 500. Dario Franchitti seeks his third.
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Memorable Quote: “I guess it’s close but no cigar.” Dario Franchitti in 2007 referring to the Nashville Speedway custom of giving a Gibson ‘axe’ guitar to all the track winners after finishing 2nd at the track.
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In looking at my own list of Indy’s “Never Made It”, TNG finds it hard to believe that the following drivers failed to make the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, even once during the last 15 years: Chris Amon, Scott Atchison, Mark Alderson, Kevin Bartlett, Rollie Beale, Jon Beekhuis, Merle Bettenhausen, Dave Blaney, Jeff Bloom, Bob Bondurant, Lee Brayton, Norm Brown, Steve Butler, Buddy Cagle, Price Cobb, Dale Coyne, Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Dave Darland, John De Vries, Doug Didero, Mario Dominguez, Jay Drake, Dan Drinan, Bob East, Tony Elliott, Brandon Erwin, Cy Fairchild, Frank Freon, Bob Frey, Todd Gibson, Memo Gidley, Charlie Glotzbach, Michael Greenfield, Chuck Gurney, Ken Hamilton, Johnny Herbert, Doug Heveron, Gary Irvin, Bruce Jacobi, Ronnie Johncox, Dee Jones, Anthony Lazarro, Ralph Liguori, Mike McGreevy, Don Meacham, Casey Mears, Eddie Miller, Jerry Miller, Mike Nish, Carlos Pairetti, Teddy Pilette, Michael Roe, Steve Saleen, Kenny Schrader, Ron Schuman, Billy Scott, Guy Smith, Mark Smith, “Gig” Stephens, Sammy Swindell, Bill Tempero, Brian Tyler, LeRoy Van Conett, Rob Wilson, Jeff Wood, and about two dozen other lesser-known names.
This also causes me to wonder if there’s ever been a year-by-year listing of Indianapolis 500 drivers entitled “Who’s on the Bubble?” and another of “Slowest Qualifier to Make the Field” each year. In all the Indy 500 records TNG has studied, none in that category that have ever been seen by these eyes. It would be interesting.
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Columbus, IN’s Greg Littleton, author of the book The Roadsters of Indianapolis…Glory Days- 1952-1966, writes about another hard-luck Indy racer:
Ralph Liguori first tried in 1959 driving an ugly,jubuliantjub underpowered F1 Maserati sponsored by an ice cream company (Eldorado). He also made some laps in the #41 Sumar car which several drivers did that year unsuccessfully.
He tried again in 1961 & 62 with poor results.
Then, in 1963 he thought he had a good shot at making the race. He was assigned the Schultz Fueling #3 (carrying #3 because 1962′s super rookie Jim McElreath had finished 3rd in the National standings for that team in ’62). The car was on its seventh year but had run great the year before and had a successful crew (Ollie Prather). Late on the 4th day of qualifications in ’63, Ralph bumped Masten Gregory. Thinking he had finally made the 500 he rolled into the pits standing in the cockpit, jubilantly waving to the appreciative crowd. I remember watching it on local TV, and was excited for someone who cared so much to be “in” the 500.
However, a few minutes later Ralph was bumped by Len Sutton who also was bumped leaving Ralph 35th fastest.
Fogarty competed in the Barber Dodge Pro Series from 1996 until 2000, finishing series runner-up twice. Following a year where he was injured in Indy Lights in 2001, he moved into Toyota Atlantic in 2002 and edged Michael Valiante for the series championship after two wins. He was unsuccessful in a bid to find a Champ Car ride for 2003 and came back to foster rookie Danica Patrick‘s growth the last two races, whereupon she scored her best result of 2nd in Miami while he posted a pair of 4ths.
In 2004 he returned to full-time Atlantic competition and won another title, this time beating Ryan Dalziel, winninmg six times in 12 races. After an unsuccessful search for a Champ Car ride, Fogarty moved into sports car racing, driving a Porsche 911 in the GT class of the American Le Mans Series. In April 2006, Fogarty moved to the Grand-Am series, driving the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley with Alex Gurney. The pairing combined for a series-record seven wins and ten poles in 2007, with Fogarty claiming a series-record eight of those. Again driving a Pontiac Riley, Fogarty and Gurney finished the 2008 season in second place.
He again won the 2009 Rolex Series championship, taking eleven out of 12 top seven finishes.
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Curt Cavin reports on the IndyCar Series’ activities at St. Pete:
Sebastien Bourdais might have been the happiest IndyCar driver Friday, and he was 19th on the speed chart. At least his car was running.In the days leading up to the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Bourdais’ team didn’t have an engine with which to work. Dragon Racing is part of the Lotus group trying for the first time to compete with Honda and Chevrolet. Kindly put, Lotus’ development has been slow and a deal with Jay Penske’s team came together late. That’s why Bourdais’ crew was installing its engine at 3 a.m. Friday.
“Honestly, if you had told me that we would run two sessions with no problems, I would have signed (up for that) straight away,” Bourdais said. “We’re near the top of the Lotus teams, pretty much.” That isn’t saying much, as Simona De Silvestro led the Lotus camp in 16th. Lotus remains considerably behind the Chevrolets led by Team Penske and the Hondas of Ganassi Racing, but at least it’s here to play the underdog role.
Will Power of Team Penske led the 26 drivers with a lap of 1 minute, 02.0077 seconds on the 1.8-mile downtown street circuit. The Chevrolet driver owns the track’s qualifying record at 1:01.6026 set in 2010.
The first car of Lotus, a small British company, didn’t reach the track until mid-January, several months behind its new rivals. Lotus also failed to meet the 40-percent-of-the-field requirement set by IndyCar, forcing Chevrolet and Honda to increase their programs. There are only five Lotus cars here. Bourdais and Dragon teammate Katherine Legge, a series rookie, had to share a car for the few hours the team tested earlier this month. They have to be careful here, too.
No one has confirmed how many Lotus engines are useable, but Penske said Bourdais’ car has a rebuilt one from Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. It’s believed there are no spares for this race. “It’s not a big number,” team owner Bryan Herta said of the Lotus allotment. “It’s certainly not a comfortable number.”
Meanwhile, Simon Pagenaud’s Honda-powered car of Schmidt Hamilton Racing had an issue in Friday’s second practice and the team changed engines. Honda and Chevrolet seem to have plenty of spares. However, because it was an unauthorized change, Pagenaud’s car will start Sunday’s race 10 positions behind where it qualifies today.
Aside from the Lotus concern, things went relatively smoothly Friday for IndyCar. CEO Randy Bernard purposefully kept his schedule open so he could see the action from several grandstands, and he said fans were receptive to the changes that have overhauled the sport.
The V6 engines are turbocharged, producing a softer and sweeter sound. The change in chassis design has created smoother angles for sponsor decals to be displayed. Even the drivers have changed.
To Nascar went Danica Patrick, replaced at Andretti Autosport by James Hinchcliffe, who in addition to being deemed the sport’s next sex symbol — he joked he’s not comfortable with that tag — was fastest among drivers not on the Penske or Ganassi teams. He was seventh.
Rubens Barrichello was an unhappy newcomer. A gearbox issue limited him to eight laps in Friday’s morning session, which means he’s behind. He finished the day 23rd. “I spent the afternoon session learning the track while everyone else was improving their cars,” the Brazilian said. “I was playing catch-up big time, that’s for sure.”
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Helio Castroneves accepted the 2011 IndyCar Favorite Driver award Friday on behalf of Dan Wheldon, the Indianapolis 500 winner who resided in St. Petersburg.
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The resumption of the Grand Prix of Houston at Reliant Park could be announced Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle reported, but IndyCar officials said no contract has been signed. If a deal is reached, Shell would be title sponsor of what likely would be a fall race.