What have you been smoking? Your deal for Scott Dixon sounds like it came straight from the CART or F-1 rule book. The question should be: Why aren’t they going after Bo-Bo’s hide like they did with Brian Barnhart? The officiating in the series smacks of amateur racing. Let’s get an official from Gas City or Putnamville.
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I agree with you on making amends with the Ganassi team. The officials eagerly hand out penalties on the least bit of infraction, so why not also compensate when they make an error?
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Dixie should be compensated some way but not sure how. Your suggestion sounds as good as any.
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Wonder what Chip Ganassi thought about this whole mess?
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Go Dixon ! You’ve been wronged but the racing gods are on your side. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A call is a call and it is official whether or not it is a good call. Take basketball for example. There have been plenty of games that were decided by a bad call by the officials. The game in question is not replayed nor is the losing team given an advantage at the next game or games. The race control mistake is a fact. Lets move on.
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Toledo, OH’s Bill Shunk has more:
“As a spectator who took pictures of the restarts @ Milwaukee, I told my wife at that moment the aborted restart WAS due to Dixon taking such an early jump on the field and he might get penalized, just like at the local short tracks. Without a radio, I had no idea what other reason IndyCar used for aborting that particular restart.
For a ‘compensation’ for the unearned penalty, I liken it to a speeding ticket. Every so many years I receive a ticket but I don’t get caught all of the other times I am above the limit. Dixon received an unearned penalty but just maybe there were times when the #9 deserved a penalty over the years but never received the consequence. All things seem to even out over time. Let’s just race in Iowa!”
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The St. Petersburg, FL City Council voted unanimously June 21 to extend the race agreement with Green Savoree St. Petersburg, owners of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, until 2017. Helio Castroneves won the eighth IZOD IndyCar Series edition of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March.
“We very much appreciate the continued support of the City of St. Petersburg City Council, Mayor Bill Foster and his staff,” said Tim Ramsberger, Vice President and General Manager for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “We enjoy and value a tremendous partnership with the City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and sponsors and will continue our efforts to stage a quality international sporting event showcasing our community to the world.”
The 2013 race weekend is March 22-24, and tickets on sale in November. For more information, visit www.gpstpete.com.
“St. Petersburg hosts many events, but none heightens our city’s visibility as much as the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg,” Foster said. “Each year, we welcome more than 150,000 race fans from nearly every state in the country, Canada, South America, Japan and Europe. The race also brings beautiful images of our city to 180 million homes in 171 countries around the globe. That’s exposure we can’t buy.”
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Curt Cavin, the Indianapolis Star’s racing reporter, contributed the following articles (to the next starred divider line):
Dario Franchitti won an IndyCar pole Friday night at Iowa Speedway in a different manner. He did it in a heat race. IndyCar officials created a unique three-heat format to establish the starting lineup for tonight’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 (9:30, NBC Sports). Designed to celebrate the history of short-track racing, the 30-lap heats also were safe and interesting.
In the final heat that established the first eight starting positions for tonight’s race, Franchitti passed the day’s quickest driver, Marco Andretti, on Lap 8 to earn his 32nd career pole. Franchitti is a two-time race winner here. Helio Castroneves finished second with Andretti, last year’s race winner who turned a lap of 186.041 mph in practice, finished third. James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Briscoe, Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Scott Dixon rounded out the pole-deciding heat.
The other two heats, also spanning 30 laps, set the rest of the lineup for the race. Graham Rahal won the first by 6.2 seconds over rookie Josef Newgarden, leading every lap. But Rahal won’t get to keep the No. 10 starting position because he has to incur a 10-position penalty for his team changing an engine.
Tony Kanaan, the 2010 race winner, won the second heat with outside passes of Rubens Barrichello and Alex Tagliani. Kanaan beat Tagliani to the finish by 3.1 seconds, but he, too, will start 10 spots farther back due to an engine change.
Heat groupings were determined by performance in the afternoon’s second practice that included all 25 drivers. Rahal didn’t enjoy the mad rush to get ideal track conditions. “Everyone was blocking each other and everyone was going out of the pits in the way,” he said. “It was a little dangerous. If we do it (again), they should split us into two groups.”
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Today would have been Dan Wheldon‘s 34th birthday. His friends not only remembered, they found it appropriate to be at this track. Wheldon won here in 2008, donating his prize money to the Iowa Red Cross flood victims.
“Specifically, this racetrack, I mean, he was extremely good (on),” Tony Kanaan said. “What a sweet coincidence that we ended up having a race weekend on his birthday, especially one of the places he liked the most. Hopefully it can make him proud.”
Another sweet coincidence: City council members in his adopted hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla., announced Friday a five-year extension of the IndyCar event, through 2017. (See article above.)
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Sam Schmidt was at the center of Friday’s team picture celebrating 50 Firestone Indy Lights wins. Indianapolis-based Sam Schmidt Motorsports won its first Lights race with Thiago Medeiros in 2004 and its most recent with Tristan Vautier last week at Milwaukee. The team also has won five series championships. Vautier has the pole for today’s race. Schmidt said his two proudest moments were winning a record eight races with Alex Lloyd in 2008 and seven of the nine Freedom 100s at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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As permitted by IndyCar rules, Lotus has submitted a plan to improve its engine, although Will Phillips, IndyCar’s vice president of technology, said details are still being finalized. The modifications, which include help from an unidentified outside source, figure to be in place by the July 8 race in Toronto, Phillips said.
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Ganassi Racing will field Juan Montoya and Jamie McMurray instead of Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon in next month’s inaugural Grand Am sports car race at IMS.
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IndyCar’s season rolls to its second half tonight with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. Eight races down, eight to go — if series officials can land a site for the 16th race. The midpoint offers the opportunity to decide if glasses are half full or half empty. Some teams are both. All want more.
IndyCar is at the same evaluation point. Among its highlights are a new car and engine package that has raced much better than anticipated. The lowlights are the Lotus program and cancellation of the China race. Even IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard gets mixed reviews. Yes, he quieted those he said wanted him fired, but using Twitter to do so exposed the extent of the bickering.
As for races, there have been memorable ones (at Barber Motorsports Park, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway) and forgettable ones (the asphalt coming loose at the Belle Isle circuit in Detroit).
The Star’s annual report card grades the first half of the season:
**Grade: A
Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports: Sam Schmidt considered leaving the sport after the deaths last season of team manager Chris Griffis and driver Dan Wheldon, but the single-car team has bounced back with a series newcomer (Simon Pagenaud) who is sixth in points and on the verge of winning his first race.
**Grade: B
Andretti Autosport: Danica Patrick’s replacement (James Hinchcliffe) is second in points and Ryan Hunter-Reay is fourth with the Milwaukee win. Ana Beatriz and Sebastian Saavedra looked good at Indy. Down side is that Marco Andretti’s program is 18th.
Dale Coyne Racing: Much of the paddock is still furious that Justin Wilson got to keep the Texas race win with a car that didn’t pass technical inspection, but Wilson and James Jakes have raced much better with Bill Pappas and John Dick on the engineering staff.
Ganassi Racing: Dario Franchitti is a disappointing seventh in the standings, but he’s got the Indy win, his third. Scott Dixon won Detroit and is third in points. Graham Rahal should have won Texas and runs better with each week.
Panther DRR: Choosing Lotus got the team off to a slow start, but Oriol Servia has three top-five finishes in four races with Chevrolet.
Team Penske: It feels like Roger Penske’s group is in a slump, but that’s because it won the season’s first four races. Will Power, the points leader, is poised to win his first season title.
**Grade: C
Bryan Herta Autosport: Alex Tagliani is working a string of three straight top-10 finishes (with a pole at Texas) since trading a Lotus for a Honda.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Takuma Sato has finished 17th or worse in six races, but his grade is pulled up by the fact he was one successful pass from winning the 500.
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing: The small team recovered from getting its Honda late to bring two impressive rookies to Indy, but they finished 25th and 30th. Indy Lights champion Josef Newgarden has legitimized his place in IndyCar by racing well; now he needs better results. He’s 23rd in points.
**Grade: D
A.J. Foyt Racing: Only a couple of strong runs for Mike Conway’s car, and Wade Cunningham lasted only 42 laps at Indy before mechanical failure ended his race.
Dragon Racing: Slow to get out of its Lotus deal, the reorganized team has only one Chevrolet to share between Sebastien Bourdais and series newcomer Katherine Legge.
Ed Carpenter Racing: Yes, this is a first-year team with only one driver, but the staff led by Derrick Walker missed its chance to be competitive at Indy.
Panther Racing: JR Hildebrand has a pair of fifth-place finishes (Long Beach and Texas), but the rest of his season has been too quiet.
**Grade: F
KV Racing Technology: Indy wasn’t so bad, with Tony Kanaan finishing third and Rubens Barrichello the top rookie. But this team has too many resources to be this uncompetitive. Barrichello’s car didn’t even get off the grid at Texas and completed only 11 laps at Detroit.
HVM Racing: Last team standing with Lotus. This is clearly not Simona De Silvestra’s fault.
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Curt Cavin’s Best 5 Moments
1. Race winner Helio Castroneves capping a weekend of honoring Dan Wheldon in St. Petersburg, Fla., by climbing a fence to pat a street sign bearing Wheldon’s name.
2. Takuma Sato’s last-lap attempt to pass Dario Franchitti in a bid to pull off a major Indianapolis 500 upset.
3. IndyCar’s new equipment package delivering one of the most entertaining road course races at Barber Motorsports Park.
4. Justin Wilson sliding as he passed Graham Rahal’s damaged car with less than two laps left to win at Texas Motor Speedway.
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay giving team owner Michael Andretti a win in the Milwaukee race that Andretti’s promotion company helped save.
Curt Cavin’s Worst 5 Moments
1. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard using a Twitter post to say a team owner was trying to get him fired.
2. Belle Isle street circuit coming apart mid-race, leading to James Hinchcliffe’s crash and a two-hour delay for repairs.
3. Justin Wilson’s winning car at Texas failing technical inspection.
4. Inaugural race in Qingdao, China, being cancelled, leaving IndyCar with only 15 races.
5. Scott Dixon wrongly penalized for jumping a restart at Milwaukee.
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As you might remember, TNG is leaving on vacation early tomorrow and will be back just in time for the June 30th Race Chaser luncheon. See you then, race fans.