2006 Commentaries from the Paddock

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With the start of the new season, it's time to open a new thread, for the 2006 Commentaries from the Paddock. Right now, there are a couple of questions floating through the jumbled crevices of my mind as the season beckons, and so, here they are.....

1}Who will win the 2006 title? Of the teams set to compete, it looks at the moment like it will be a 3-team fight between the 4-car behemoth a/k/a Andretti-Green Racing, the 3-car stable of Rahal-Letterman Racing and an improved 2-car Marlboro-Team Penske team. But are there any surprises lurking w/in their midst? With Wheldon's departure to Target/Ganassi Racing, can AGR's 2004 titleist, Tony Kanaan, step up and lead? Will we see them take a third series title, or could we see one of Penske's racers take that team's first IRL crown? Could we see a lady take the checkers this year, and lead her team back to the promised land of success/ Well, that's why they run the races, everyone!

2}Will the old bulls reemerge to reclaim old glory? When Scott Sharp won at Kentucky last year, it was refreshing to see the old veteran, battered by nearly two years of being in the wilderness, back in victory lane. Can he stake a claim to the top of mountain? Or will we see the Chipster return to the glory days of the mid/late-1990's, when his CART series team could do no wrong, and racers like Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya ruled the roost?

3}Who will succed Patrick as top of the rookie class? Right now, that question is as unanswered as it was for most of 2005. All I can say is, if this were a boxing match, it would be a certain undercard fight, presaging the fights at the top of the bill.

4}Can Honda supply all the IRL teams in 2006? Unquestionably, the answer is yes. If anything, Honda Performance Division(HPD) will work overtime in 2006 to ensure that answer.

All I know about the season is that.......like that song from the 80's synth-pop group Asia, "Only Time Will Tell."

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With the IRL IndyCar Series' first test session in the books and in the proverbial rearview-mirror, where there any lessons to be gleaned from the 2-day session?

1}What will the car count be?? Over the history of the IRL, the car count has varied from a high of 25-27 cars to the current no. from 20-22(excluding 33 at Indy). However, there is a slight chance of a sub-20 ct. grid for Homestead come late March. How? Well, for starters, Panther Racing, Team Cheever and Dreyer/Reinbold weren't at the PIR session, and those three teams last years counted for 5 of the 20-22 car grid. Since Panther's all but history, Cheever can't find a sponsor who'll cover one car, much less two cars, and D/R's still looking for a driver to replace the hapless Roger Yasukawa, they're on the outside looking in. As for the Brickyard........for the first time in the modern-era of AOWR, there is the distinct possibility that a sub-33 car grid may arrive Memorial Day Sunday.

2}How'd the single-engine formula work? Well, just take one look at the new 2-car Vision Racing stable. Last year, the first-year team struggled to survive, essentially being nothing more than a field-filling team. This year, w/the Honda engine powering the cars and newly acquired Tomas Scheckter assisting them, they placed 7th and 8th on the combined charts, ahead of both Aguri-Fernandez and Rahal-Letterman Racing's drivers.

3}Who looks to be on the up-and-up? Based on the testing times, two things are apparent:1--Andretti-Green's days of near Ferrari-like dominance in the IndyCar Series could be numbered, and 2--Target/Ganassi Racing may be on the return slope to better times. Both Wheldon and Dixon topped the charts at the test's end, and the switch from Panoz to Dallara chassis' only further helped them.

4}The kid's competitive. When AGR announced that Marco Andretti would be driving in the IndyCar Series this year, most amateur and professional scribes were wary of the decision, since Marco has only raced in the various feeder series' for about two years or so. Well, based on the lap charts, he showed he can indeed handle the demands of a 650-hp IndyCar. His times were competitive, consistent and not far off the leaders. It should be an interesting rookie campaign for him.

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When Honda agreed to supply all the teams of the IRL IndyCar Series with Honda H-16R Indy V-8 engines, one question was paramount.....will the engine distribution be as fair as possible? IRL President Brian Barnhart and HPD President Robert Clarke both concur with that view....

Brian Banhart, President, Indy Racing League:

It's clear Honda is committed to working with the league as a partner to continue building value in the IndyCar Series. As we look ahead to the 2006 season, there will be minimal changes to the technical specifications of the Honda Racing Indy V-8, and that is a tribute to the specs we have now. The reliability and performance we have witnessed has been outstanding.

Robert Clarke, President, Honda Performance Division:

All teams will have exactly the same program. We've outlined a program where basically the engines will be serviced at both HPD and Ilmor. Those engines will be shipped and held as a pool of engines. The IRL will basically, from a list of engines that are in the pool, select engines and randomly provide them to the teams. There's no chance of (any) partial treatment.

What are they saying? In essence, it is this: by providing all the teams with equal treatment and availability for the engines, it is expected to increase competition and hopefully produce a tighter, closer championship. It won't the first time a major AOWR has done this; the rival ChampCar series has been a spec series(w/Ford-Cosworth and Lola) since 2003. Here are some of the basic parameters of the IRL's engine program with Honda.....

1}Teams will receive spec ECU systems from the IRL technical office, and will be barred from changing ECU specs.

2}The engine fuel settings will remain the same; there are 7 settings, from full lean(#1) to full rich(#7), with a #8 setting(the overtake button). Using the 8 setting gives the engine its' max revs and fuel, with an accordant penalty in fuel usage.

3}Teams are prohibited from doing their own dyno tests; only HPD at its' two facilities, in Santa Clarita, Ca.(HPD) and Plymouth, Mich.(Ilmor) will be allowed to run dyno tests.

4}Teams will receive their engines from Honda at random from either HPD or Ilmor; IRL officials will randomly select the engines for each team.

5}The estimated engine mileage between rebuilds for each H-16R Indy engine will be around 1100 miles(this is assuming the distances covered in practice and qualifying for each race are counted...).

6}Will the new methanol/ethanol mix this year and the 100% ethanol fuel for 2007 adversely effect the engines? If the recent test in Phoenix was any indication, no. Four teams posted speeds faster than the 2005 race's pole speed.

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It is a safe bet that of all the relationships a racecar driver will develop in his or her career, the most important on-track one is that between them and their engineer. It is vital that the driver be able to communicate what is happening with the car to the engineer, and it is equally important that the engineer translate that information into a working solution to improve the car, and the driver's, chances for victory. Just ask Andretti-Green Racing's Bryan Herta, who has worked w/engineer Martin Pare since arriving to the team in 2004:

I think, next to my family, my relationship with my engineer is probably my most important relationship. I have to be able to communicate with him very clearly what the car is doing, and he has to understand me to make the right changes and make the car do what I want it to do. When a driver and engineer have a really good relationship, you can use so few words to communicate it. You almost know what the other is thinking.

Sometimes, in the course of a career, drivers are required to reacquaint themselves with an engineer. Take current IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon, who while having to adjust to being with a new team, at least has a familiar face in the paddock, engineer Andy Brown, who was Wheldon's engineer when the Brit first raced in the IRL back in late 2002 for Panther Racing.

I worked with Andy at Panther to a lesser extent than I am now. But what I took from that is how hugely talented he is. As far as engineers go, he's one of the best in (the) business. When you have that must trust and confidence in somebody, it makes you feel good about going into (a) new situation.

Of course, like Wheldon's ex-teammate Herta, drivers sometimes are fortunate enough to be able to work with an engineer for a long time. Take 2005 IndyCar Series rookie-of-the-year Danica Patrick and engineer Ray Leto. When Patrick began racing in the then-Toyota Atlantic Championship in 2003, Leto served as an asst. engineer on her Atlantics team. When Patrick made the jump up to the IndyCar Series in 2005, Leto followed suit, being assigned as her engineer. It's still a work-in-progress, but the pair are quick learners. Just ask Patrick:

It takes time to get on the same wavelength, but I think we clicked early on and the results speak for themselves. Our personalities compliment each other, so it wasn't that long into (the) relationship when I felt comfortable working with him (as an engineer). We're getting better at understanding each other, and the more we work together we'll get better and better.

Regardless of the relationship between driver and engineer, nothing helps more than experience, and the results will show on the track, race after race. At most IRL venues, the track setups almost dictate what the results are. Drivers will have problems negotiating the tight bullrings of Richmond or Milwaukee, the superspeedways of Michigan or Indy or the twisting corners of Infineon and the Glen without the assistance of a top-notch engineer. Just think about these words of wisdom from Patrick when asked about the subject.....

If the car is off there is only so much a driver can do. A driver alone can't carry a car. The difference between an unbeatable car and a car that will keep you awake at night can often be quite small. Our engineer is the person who will help us find the light switch in the dark and when they flip that switch everything comes into focus.

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The consensus among AOWR scribes has been......if you didn't have a Honda powerplant, you didn't have a prayer of winning. Honda-powered drivers won 26 of 33 wins(as opposed to 6 for Toyota and 1 for Chevy), led 70+ pct. of the laps, won the Indy 500 in 2004-2005 and 2 consecutive IRL championships. Just ask 2003 series champion Scott Dixon, who was one of the unfortunate TRD-powered drivers.

To be honest, it wasn't a fair fight. But now that everyone has the same engine it should really be a war.

With Honda as dominant as they were, both Toyota and Chevy bowed out of the series, leaving HPD in the proverbial lurch.....thankfully, it wasn't long. Although HPD craves competition, they decided it was in their interests to become the IRL's version of Cosworth in ChampCar....a spec engine supplier. Now, the playing field is level, engine-wise, meaning that Andretti-Green Racing's days as the series' dominant team(similar to Ferrari's dominance of F1 until last year) are probably over. The question is......who will benefit?

First guess......likely two teams, Marlboro-Team Penske and Target/Ganassi Racing. Although they were TRD-supplied in 2004 and 2005, back in CART's halcyon days, these teams ruled the roost there, winning six series titles(Ganassi, 1996-1999 and Penske, 2000-2001) before jumping ship. Both teams field solid drivers(Hornish, Jr. and Castroneves for MTP, Dixon and Wheldon for TGR) and with the new Honda engines behind them, expect these four to challenge AGR race after race.

Another team that should rebound from an admittedly snakebit season is Ohio-based Rahal-Letterman Racing. In 2004, Buddy Rice won three races(including Indy) and challenged for the series title vs. Wheldon and 2004 champ Tony Kanaan. Last year, he missed Indy due to injury, had just one podium and finished a dismal 15th in points. Just ask him......

I was never happier to see a season end. I was really frustrated by the tough run of luck we had last season, but a few months away from the grind, and I am ready to go. I feel like we can return to the form that made us a championship contender in 2004.

Meanwhile, his teammate, 2005 rookie-fo-the-year Danica Patrick, adapted to the rigors of an oval-based schedule, capturing three poles(Kansas, Kentucky and Chicagoland), finishing 4th at Motegi and Indy(highest finish there for a woman), while also leading 19 laps at the Brickyard as well. When asked about her expectations for '06....

When I look back at last season, it is hard to not get excited for this year. We had a great season, winning three pole positions and leading several races. I asked myself what is the next step, and logically, I know it is winning races. All I can say is that nobody wants me to win more than I do.

Going into the season opener, everyone asked........what will the car count be at Homestead? While everyone was guessing 16, I though there might just be 20 cars....and, for once, I was right(at that's what the series' entry list for Homestead is saying.... ) Granted, there are new faces in new places, as Wheldon headed over to Ganassi this year, and Scheckter found a new home w/Vision Racing and Vitor Meira, who was Rahal-Letterman's best driver for 2005, finds himself in Scheckter's ole' stomping grounds, a/k/a Panther Racing.

While there are many more questions that could be answered, I think these will suffice. Now, sit back, buckle up, and enjoy the 2006 IndyCar Series season!!!

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Prior to 10:03 am, 26 March 2006, there was an air of optimism swirling around the paddock, just 5+ hrs. before the start of the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series season. Cars were just beginning to take to the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway, beginning what normally is a final warm-up on raceday, a chance to tweak the cars and get a feel for the track on raceday. Then....as soon as one could snap their fingers, tragedy struck. After spinning btwn. 1-2, the #20 driven by third-year driver Ed Carpenter began to slowly slide into the racing line; several cars avoided him as the caution lights began to flash around the track. Five cars passed by.....then, without warning, the #17, driven by rookie driver Paul Dana, slammed into the #20....and two hours later, he was gone.

Looking at what happened, it's easy to forget where Dana, a St. Louis, Mo. native, had gotten through to get to this point. After graduating from the Medill School of Journalism @ Northwestern University with a degree in motorsports journalism, Dana began a short career as a writer, publishing for magazines as diverse as Autoweek, Sports Illustrated and Maxim before the racing "bug" bit him. Soon after, he began racing in late-1996 in the Bridgestone Racing Championship Series, where he not only was a racer but also worked as a mechanic, driver coach and racing instructor. In 2 seasons there, he picked up two victories and several top-5 finishes, moving up to the Barber Dodge Pro Series, winning several races in the Pro Series-Southern Region and earning tests with Eric Bachelart's Conquest Racing and Gerry Forsythe's Player's/Forsythe Indy Lights teams.

While he failed to secure an Indy Lights ride for 1999, it didn't deter Dana. Instead, he headed to the SCCA-Formula Ford 1600 series, launching pad for some of the IRL's current top drivers, such as Sam Hornish, Jr., Buddy Rice and Dan Wheldon. After a year or so there, he raced for Walko Racing in the FF-2000 series, all the while working his way up the ladder. And, then, in 2003, he got his chance.

Signing with Ron Hemelgarn's Indy Pro Series team, Dana drove in the IPS for 2 seasons, where he finished 9th and 2nd in 2003-2004, winning at the Milwaukee Mile and winning the pole at the same track that would claim his life. In 2005, Dana graduated from Hemelgarn's "B" team to his "A" team, being tapped to drive the #91 Ethanol car, the same one that predecesor Buddy Lazier had driven to a series title back in 2000. His rookie campaign, though, ended three races in, when he fractured two vertebrae following a practice crash in the run-up to the 89th Indy 500. After undergoing months of intensive rehab and countless workouts to strengthen his back and prepare for 2006, when....the break any promising driver wants came to him. Just weeks before Sunday's race, he was signed by Rahal-Letterman Racing to drive the #17, w/Ethanol-backing , replacing veteran Vitor Meira. By all accounts, it was the happiest period in his life; he was with a top-shelf team, he had his best qualifying effort ever, and.........and we will never, ever, know what might have been.

His truly was a life cut tragically short. Memorial services for Paul Dana are scheduled for 5:15 PM at the Mahaffey Theatre, St. Petersburg, Fla. March 30th. He leaves behind a wife, Tonya; Dana would have turned 31 a little more than three weeks from Sunday. Out thoughts and our prayers go to his family and friends.

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I think Dan will win but I voted for Dario

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These are not the circumstances that I would like this opportunity to come about, but Paul had the same dreams as me. Like him, this is what I've worked so long for. I just want to do my very best to promote the cause that Paul worked so hard for and do the best job that I can in the car for Team Ethanol.

With those words, veteran Indy Pro Series driver Jeff Simmons begins a new chapter in his racing career, as Rahal-Letterman Racing has tapped the 29-yr. old Connecticut native to drive the #17 Ethanol Panoz/Honda, replacing the late Paul Dana in the team's three-car lienup. Team co-owner Bobby Rahal, in making the announcement today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said that Simmons, who has seven IPS wins and 2 IPS runner-up finishes in the first four IPS seasons(2003 and 2005), was at the top of a short list of drivers. Said the 1986 Indy 500 and 3-time CART series champion,

Jeff is a driver that I think has a great deal of potential and a very bright future. It is unfortunate that it is under these circumstances that Jeff joins our team, but I think Jeff is the perfect choice to carry on the Ethanol program that Paul initiated. Jeff has paid his dues and worked his way up through the ladder system. This is an opportunity he has earned both on and off the track and I look forward to working with Jeff and the Ethanol group.

Echoing those sentiments was David Vander Griend, president of ICM, one of the several companies that worked to secure the Ethanol sponsorship prior to the season-opener at Homestead.

Through Paul Dana's determination, ethanol became the fuel of choice for the Indy Racing League. The best ribute to his legacy is to continue promoting ethanol through racing. We are excited about the future of our new partnership with Jeff Simmons and with Rahal-Letterman Racing.

Simmons will join his teammates, Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick, in tomorrow's open test at Indy, and will begin his first full IndyCar Series season with the upcoming race in Motegi, japan, on April 22.

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Today was Media Day at the Indianapolis 500, and several stories emerged from all the hoopla and fanfare that accompanies the yearly event at the speedway. Besides the major news item of the day(read the posting immediately before this one), there were a few other items of note.....

1}Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will be piloting the 2006 Indy 500 official pacecar to began "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", and, as the Texan put it, it didn't take long to convince him. When IMS officials asked him whether he wanted to drive a 2006-model Corvette Z06 to start the race, he said, "Are you kidding? Of course!" On the lighter side, when he was talking about his trip to the Speedway, he quipped, "I got three speeding tickets on the way over, so I'm looking at who to give those to so I can get reimbursed."

2}The comedy circus o/k/a Andretti-Green Racing......At first, the press conference centered around the new colors that Dario Franchitti's racecar will have; the #27 D/H will carry the colors of Canadian Club whiskey, then the focus turned to Michael Andretti's return to the 500....and then, it went comical. Michael started by saying, "We've brought on Marco, which for me is very exciting. It's been very good for the team to bring on fresh blood in here for the guys to pick on. And then you've got the old man returning as well," to which Franchitti chimed in, "More fresh blood to pick on." Michael looked over and said, "I'm still off-limits, though." Then, pointing over to Marco, added, "He's not, though." , to which Bryan Herta joked, "Mike keeps thinking he's off-limits." Franchitti: "I don't know where he got that idea." Added Tony Kanaan: "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard."

After a short pause, Herta talked about a recent visit he and Kanaan made to Marco's new digs in downtown Indy, and it went something like this......

BH: Tony and I stayed with Marco last night in our house....
TK: Our house.
BH: Our other house.
TK: I have to say there's only two beds in the house, so you guys can guess who slept on the couch......
BH: So, I'd left my razor on the bus. I got here this morning and I asked Marco, "Can I borrow your razor?" And he looked at me like....
TK: What kind of question is that?
BH: I had to ask Dario for one.
Marco: What razor?

As for the drivers, at least 15-20 will be participating in an open test at the Speedway tomorrow afternoon. As always, I'll have a summary of the day's events.

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Long Title: Organization 101 or How to ship everything to Japan and back in the fastest manner possible.......


For Indy Racing League transport operations chief Chad Head, it's not simply getting from here(Indy) to there(Motegi) that concerns him. It's the logistics of doing so. As the IRL IndyCar Series prepares for its' yearly trip to Japan for the upcoming Bridgestone Indy Japan 300, it's Head's responsibility to ensure that all the logistics work, the paparework and all the minute details are taken care of. Everything from team and series manifests, customs clearances and, yes, time zones(13 hrs. difference........11:30 PM, Friday, April 21 Indy-time==1:30 PM, Saturday, April 22 in Motegi).

As Head, who previously worked for CART the five years they traveled to Japan(1998-2002), it is essential that everything is correct...."Manifests for customs in Motegi have to be very precise, so we have to make sure (that) all the Is' are dotted and Ts' crossed." Just loading all the equipment takes skill and precision. All the teams assemble at Indianapolis Intl. Airport with all the racecars and equipment they will need for the race weekend, where they're loaded onto three Nippon Cargo Airlines 747's for the trans-Pacific flight(including a maintenance stop in Anchorage, Alaska) to Narita Airport in Tokyo. There, the containers are loaded onto transporters for the three-hour trip north to the Twin Ring Motegi. As for customs checks.....

"We're in a bonded area at the racetrack, so when we leave (Indy) we clear U.S. customs and when we arrive at the track we clear Japanese customs," says John Lewis, IRL Vice President of Operations, who assists Head with customs issues. "Everything goes back to Japanese customs in the same configuration that it cleared customs here. Everything that came must go; it will go out the same way it came in."

Fortunately, the teams will get a break compared to last year; it normally takes about 10-14 days for the series teams' to clear U.S. customs upon returning to Indy; this year, it's expected that the teams' cargo containers will clear customs in 7-12 days......giving the teams at least one full week before the teams head to the Brickyard to begin the month of May and the runup to "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

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In the 89 runnings of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", there have been some interesting, weird, and downright bizarre finishes/events to occur, and here are just a few of the best(or the worst..... )


1937: In the 25th Indianapolis 500, Wilbur Shaw was leading by more than a lap when he suddenly brings the car into pitlane; the car was losing oil fast! In the confusion, competitor Ralph Hepburn managed to unlap himself and began to catch up to Shaw. As the last lap began, the pair began a literal drag-race around the Brickyard, only to see Shaw win by 2.16 seconds, a mark which would stand for 45 years.

1961: Late in the running, drivers Eddie Sachs and A.J. Foyt, Jr. were battling in one of the better late-race duels of the past 40+ years when, all of a sudden, Sachs peels off into pitlane. The reason......he had driven the tires into the threads, and he was concerned the tires would blow apart. He needn't have worried; post-race analysis showed his tires wouldv'e made it to the end. As for Foyt.....he went on to win the 1961 Indy 500.

1966: When the race began, a massive pile-up eliminates 11 of the 33 starters; at race's end, only 7 cars were still running. Everyone thought Jackie Stewart would end, but his day ended on lap 190 w/oil pressure failure. In the end, Graham Hill won, and it would be 39 years before another Englishman, Dan Wheldon, would win the Indy 500.

1967: Remeber the turbine car? Andy Granatelli brought one to the Brickyard, with Parnelli Jones at the wheel, and that car checked out on the field......until lap 197. As Granatelli and his crew were preparing to go to Victory Lane, a $6 bearing in the turbine failed, ending Jones' day. As eventual winner A.J. Foyt, Jr. exited his way out of turn 4, a five-car pileup threatened to ruin his day. No problem for "SuperTex", though, as he weaved his way around the wreckage, and crossed the finish line to collect his third 500. As for the turbine car......USAC officials banned it in 1969.

But the most bizarre and most controversial finish in the history of the Indianapolis 500 (IMHO) was......

2002: All race long, it had been a 2-car battle between CART's Team Green, led by Canadian Paul Tracy, and the IRL's Marlboro-Team Penske, led by 2001 winner Helio Castroneves, and they had bettled lap...after lap....after lap...Going into turn 3 on lap 199, Tracy began to pass Castroneves for the lead, and it looked like he had passed him.....or so everyone thought. Just as PT edged in front of Spiderman, back in turn 2, the cars of Buddy Lazier and Laurent Redon had crashed, bringing out the yellow flag and yellow lights. Everyone at first(including Team Green officials) thought Tracy was the leader, but IRL officials gave the lead to Castroneves, who went on to win. Why? IRL rules are that, once the yellow goes out, that racing ceases immediately, and that the on-track order is frozen back to the last scoring pylon. As a result, when race control checked the scoring pylon entering turn 3, it showed Castroneves in the lead, and Tracy second. Tracy and Team Green co-owner Kim Green filed an immediate, post-race appeal to chief steward(and then series vice-president Brian Barnhart) which was heard the following day....and just as promptly, denied. They then filed an appeal to series president Tony George, who after hearing all the evidence, denied their appeal as well. Personally, I still think Tracy won the 86th running of the 500, but then again......to this day, PT still believes he won.

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Now that there's some free time before Sunday's race, here are a bunch of observations, musings, and thoughts, and viewpoints from a 1997 graduate of that august institution of higher learning, UNC-Charlotte and a member in good standing of NewsOnF1's F1 Idiots Bar.......

1}Last Saturday's attendance for Pole Day was probably the best attendance the Speedway has had since the split, but, as expected, was not the 20,000 that the local media said were there(in reality, it was around 11,500). Granted, it was a far cry from the 40,000+ back in 1995, but everyone in the stands still cheered everyone on.

2}Now, most everyone knows that I think of Tony George in the same regards as I do most rattlesnakes..... , but for once, I have to admit that TG was right when in 1999 he shortened qualifying to one weekend(Pole Day on Sat., Bump Day on Sunday). Unless we get a merger of the two series and can have 40+ cars competing for 33 spots, one weekend of qualifying is all you need.

3}Listening to one of the IMS Radio Network's call-in shows from Mo's Steakhouse(where the call-in show originates during the month of May), someone suggested that Stephan Gregoire's car might not be safe at speed? My thought......from what, rust?

4}Not since 1993 has there been as wide a gap in qualifying speeds btwn. P1(Hornish, Jr.) and P33(Medieros).

5}This year's 500 lineup includes: A: two drivers who've never started an IRL race, B: one former 500 winner who hasn't driven an IRL car since 2002; C: one driver who's not competed in the IRL since 2001, and D: three other drivers who have a combined SIX starts in IRL competitors. All this, IMHO, adds up to......E: A Disaster Waiting to Happen!

6}If Tony George and Kevin Kalkhoven can't agree to unify for 2007, talk out of ChampCar HQ's is that chances are better than 50-50 that they'll clear the month of May for the Indy 500(as they did earlier this decade), and lease cars/engines for Bourdais, Tracy, Junquiera, Allmendinger, Wilson, Tagliani, Dominguez, Ranger, Power, Zwolsman, Servia, and Legge, which would be good for three reasons: 1-ChampCar might be able to find more sponsors, 2-TG would have good very drivers from outside the IRL to compete at Indy, and 3-the fans would enjoy it.

7}Memo to all the Danica Patrick naysayers....the mark of a good racer is to be able to put together four laps at speed, under the clock, at Indy....which is precisely what she did. Granted, she starts 10th and is fastest of the 10 Panoz starters, but if the circumstances fall a certain way...

8}Over the weekend, the Speedway Oldtimers Club recently honored legendary racer Parnelli Jones for breaking the 150 mph barrier at the Brickyard. Considering ole' Parnelli's still in good shape physically, they might've drafted him to race at the 500 this year.

9}Honesty at work.....one reporter at Indy over the weekend asked Target/Ganassi's Scott Dixon whether the 500 would be won by either Ganassi or Penske's duo of drivers. The Kiwi's answer........"H--- yes!"

10}The annual Brillance Award goes to Vision Racing's Larry Curry, for pulling Townsend Bell's first qual. attempt(16th) and sending him out for a second attempt(15th). Takes a lot of brains to do that, hmm, Larry?

11}There's been a very prominent missing face from the Brickyard this year, Rahal-Letterman Racing's VP of Operations, Scott Roembke, who's been in and out of the hospital over the past few months. From the NA desk, let's wish Scott a full recovery and here's hoping we see him in the IndyCar paddock soon!!

12}Memo to the Indianapolis Star, the Indiana State Police, and other PR officials....please don't say there'll be nearly 400,000 at the Brickyard Memorial Day Sunday for the 500. Last year, for all the excitement, the crowds barely topped 300,000 and for the first time in a long time, I actually saw empty seats in the pitstands behind pitlane.

Anyway, good luck to all the competitors Sunday in the 90th Indianapolis 500!!!!

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Of all the questions that are asked about the Indianapolis 500, two come to mind immediately.....who's going to win?, and what circumstances will prevent others from winning?

Take tomorrow's polesitter, Marlboro-Team Penske's Sam Hornish, Jr. Well regarded for his oval-track prowess and a 2-time IndyCar Series champion, it's hard to fathom that "Silent Sam" in 6 previous visits to the Brickyard, has never finished higher than 14th(2001). Or take the Andrettis'(Mario, Michael, etc); they're a combined 1-53 in Indy visits. Or look at the two best overall talents in the IRL, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan; they're a combined 0-7 at Indy.

On the flipside, it didn't take long for Helio Castroneves(2 Indy 500 wins in 5 visits), Buddy Rice(1 win in 2 visits) or Dan Wheldon(1 win in three visits). How have they mastered the 2.5-mile patch of Indiana blacktop when they counterparts haven't? The answer.......oh, try about 300,000 of them(the expected attendance figures given by the Speedway last week). And that, in a sense is what makes "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" what it is.....a track that can instantly magnify one's successes or failures. To be called an Indy 500 winner instantly vaults a driver into the ranks of the immortals.....men like Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Jim Rathmann, A.J. Foyt, Jr., Parnelli Jones, among others.

But how do they reach the checkers and etch their names into history? AGR's Tony Kanaan was asked that, and he replied,

The fastest car doesn't win this race all the time. The cars that win this race aren't the fastest, but they are in position at the end. Those drivers were smart enough not to worry about just speed. They realized they weren't going to be able to top some of the crazy speeds that were being reached in qualifying, but they worked on the race setup, put together a consistent car, and had a clean race.

Another factor to consider is the track itself. All month long, drivers and teams have dealt with weather in the 60-70 degree(F) range, but all their setups went out the window Friday, when temps reached the upper 70's and the humidity topped 40%(forecasts Sunday call for temps in the high 80's with lots of humidity.). What will that weather tomorrow do to the track? Chances are it will become a greasy, slippery, glass-smooth track, especially after lots of rubber are laid down on the racing line.

But when's it all said and done, what do you need to win the 500? Five factors: 1=speed, 2=skill, 3=lightning-quick pit stops, 4=sound strategy, and 5=dumb luck. With those in mind, here are my picks to win "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing".........

The favorites..........if I had to pick anyone on a blind draw, it would be either Penske(Hornish, Jr. and Castroneves) or Ganassi(Wheldon or Dixon). The four of them have been the fastest drivers all month long, and they'll start P1, P2, P3 and P4.

The solid contenders..............if the first four falter, then any of the next few will come to the fore; Andretti-Green Racing's Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti, Panther Racing's Vitor Meira(runner-up in 2005) and Vision Racing's Tomas Scheckter.

The dark horses.........If the circumstances fall the way they always do at the Brickyard, then any of the drivers in this group could sneak through to drink the milk at race's end; AGR's Marco Andretti, Michael Andretti, and Bryan Herta, Vision's Ed Carpenter and Townsend Bell, Rahal-Letterman's Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice, and Aguri-Fernandez Racing's Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsurra.

[mlittle]

Unless you've either been in a deep sleep this past week, or trying to avoid playing phone tag with friends/family over the weekend( ), then you've no doubt heard the various rumors/news stories about where Danica Patrick will be racing in 2007.....will it be in open-wheels or NASCAR?, which team will it be, and so on.... Let's take a deep breath, and examine all the various possiblities, starting with the question of where she'll be at next year.

~~IRL, or NASCAR? During all the post-race interviews following Saturday night's Firestone Indy 200, Patrick all but confirmed that she will be back in the IndyCar Series in 2007, but she did concede that NASCAR is an option. Well, duh......for any young American racer, it is an option; has been for years. But all the NASCAR talk wasn't, IMHO, mere chatter....in this day and age, no team makes idle talk about signing drivers without having the moxie & money to back up the talk. Now, let's assume that, for the sake of argument, Patrick stays in the IRL in 2007. Where will she land?

~~Option #1: A top-tier team. Doubt it; both Marlboro-Team Penske and Target/Ganassi Racing appear to have their driver lineups locked up for the 2007 season, but it is no secret in the IndyCar paddock that the Captain(Penske) and the Chipster(Ganassi) have been impressed with Patrick ever since her first IRL race back in Homestead in 2005. But.....unless the series ponies up enough money to convince either of them to run a third car, this avenue appears blocked.

~~Option #2: Remain with Rahal-Letterman Racing. Back in 2004, when Bobby Rahal announced that he was moving his team to the IRL from ChampCar, every top-end team there did everything but throw the kitchen sink in trying to convince Patrick to stay; loyalty to her mentor kept Danica from going. Loyalty only goes so far, though....although she is the lead driver in the team this year, RLR has struggled....a lot, and that always can cause a driver a cast a wistful eye elsewhere. Sponsors will play a role, as well........although Ethanol has a long-term contract for one car w/RLR(thanks to the late Paul Dana), Argent Mortgage doesn't, and they're still quiet on whether they will field one or two cars next year. Plus, that sponsorship is Patrick's, not the team's, so where she goes, they will go.

~~Option #3: Andretti-Green Racing. Now, if Option #1 falls, and option #2 isn't in the cards, then this actually makes sense. Just as they were rivals in CART, it is also no secret in the IRL paddock that Michael Andretti would like nothing more than to sign the series' most popular driver to his team's stable for 2007(and if ar1.com is to be believed, he already has. Their rumors page is reporting that Patrick has indeed signed a new contract, moving from RLR to AGR for 2007..... ). Unlike Penske and Ganassi, Andretti-Green may have at least one seat open for her, as both Bryan Herta and Dario Franchitti's contracts' expire this year. If one of them should bolt.......Patrick, if she became a free agent in the '06-'07 off-season, would be at the top of a short list for those seats.

So what do I think will happen? Normally, I'd add my two cents into this, but I'll let the individual players in this settle everything out; it's sometimes better to passively watch than guess and wonder what will happen.

[mlittle]

Question: Who currently holds the record for the highest finish by a female driver in the modern era of NA open-wheel racing?

Answer: It's not who you think.......the answer is Sarah Fisher, who finished 2nd at Homestead in 2001. And speaking of Fisher.........

When the IndyCar Series lines up next weekend at Kentucky Speedway for the Meijer/Coca-Cola Indy 300, there will be two women on the grid, as Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced earlier today that Fisher, who drove for the team in 2002 and 2003, will drive the #5 RollCoater/ESCORT Radar/Laser Warning Dallara/Honda. In making the announcement, DRR co-owner Robbie Buhl stated,

It's very exciting to have Sarah back in the car at Kentucky. We believe that its' a very good track for her, and with the momentum that the team has been building, a good result is what we are looking for. It's always a pleasure working with Sarah, and this time will be no different.

In 48 IndyCar Series starts, Fisher, who hails from Commercial Point, Ohio, has 7 top-10 finishes and has been running at the finish of 27 races. She also holds the two highest finishes for a female driver in the series, set when Fisher raced for Derrick Walker and Walker Racing's IRL team, a 2nd at Homestead in 2001, and a 3rd at Kentucky back in her rookie season of 2000. Fisher also earned her only pole position in those starts at Kentucky, where she also set the fastest qual. speed back in 2002. Her most recent start was a one-off for Kelley Racing in the 88th Indianapolis 500 back in 2004. Ironically, Fisher wasn't with the team when the announcement was made earlier today; she was attending an autoracing function hosted by Lyn St. James in Indianapolis. When asked to comment by reporters there, Fisher said the following,

I am really looking forward to the opportunity to compete in an IndyCar. It's been some time and there is a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully, it will be like riding a bike, but I am sure that that there will be challenges (that) we'll have to figure out how to hurdle. This weekend is all about getting back on the bike. It's a personal goal of mine to at least run in the top 10. I want to be there at the end and racing as hard as I did before, and that in itself will achieve results.

When asked about the fact that there will be two women racing at Kentucky next weekend(the other being Rahal-Letterman Racing's Danica Patrick), Fisher remarked,

I'm here to race against everyone. I'm here to do the best that I can and ultimately get back up to the level of IndyCars that put me up front. Every driver out there has the same goal and drive that I have and that is to win. Danica and I are two individuals out there competing in a man's world, whether it's in stock cars or IndyCars. I don't look at her any differently than all the other drivers. We are different people who want to achieve the same result.

Finally, when asked about returning to the series at Kentucky, she had this to say......

Kentucky has some amazing memories for me. Not only the track record, the pole, the podium, but the people. There are some special people in that area of the country. Friends, family, they all enjoy being at Kentucky. From what I remember, Kentucky is a very bumpy track. But, the line shouldn't have changed much from before. We'll just have to see and hopefully get over those issues early.

She concluded with this.....

I miss my fans so much--you have no idea. I think I appreciate them more than I ever did. Two years later and I still have people that remember my past experiences more than I do. It is a life-changing experience to realize that you impact people and how much responsibility that is and what a good person you need to be for these people to look up to.

In rejoining the team for Kentucky, Fisher will be the fourth driver to compete for DRR in 2006; Buddy Lazier has competed in 8 events, Al Unser, Jr. drove a second entry at the 90th Indy 500, and Ryan Briscoe has two starts for the team; Briscoe is also set to drive at Infineon later this month.