ChampCar Commentaries

All about the Champ Car World Series (CCWS)

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ChampCar Commentaries

Post by mlittle » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:40 am

With the success of the commentaries thread over on the IRL forum, I thought I'd create a separate thread for CCWS commentaries. First topic--the resounding success of ChampCar's first visit to the heart of Alberta, Edmonton.

With an estimated crowd of over 200,000+ people for the three-day "festival of speed" as some in the paddock call these events(80 thousand+ on race-day), it's a near-certainty this race will be back. Why?

1--The combination of close-up views of the race and broader views as well. If you were sitting along the north grandstands, you got an excellent view of Finning Intl. Raceway's "technical" section btwn. turns 3-6; if you were in the numerous VIP suites at the track, you got a close view of the horseshoe turn(11-12). Also, most of the stands offered broad views of the racing surface, which is rare for any non-oval track.

2--The challenging track itself. Some of the drivers after Friday's qual. session said it was the toughest place they'd been to. Add the tightness of the track, especially in turn 7 and turns 11-12 where just a slight bobble through wither got you a close-up view of the concrete wall. Just ask Allmendinger about that.

3--The track layout itself has something in common with 2 other street courses in North America: Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport and St. Petersburg's Alfred Whitted Field. All three are hybrid tracks with elements of natural-terrain road courses, temp. road courses, tight, street-circuit areas and(for the most part) grandstands situated just so that the bulk of the racing surface can be seen. Cleveland's problem is one of grandstand location--FAA restrictions prohibit ChampCar from placing grandstands along the fast "switchback" corners on the lakeside half of the circuit, while St. Pete's grandstands restrict fans to mainly view of the 11-12 chicane, the turn 13 hairpin, the front/pit-straights and the fast turn 1-2 combo. Maybe they could learn something from Edmonton.

You know, the race Sunday in Edmonton was very nostalgic for race-fans in one unique way. Back in the 1950's, sports car and grand prix enthusists were reviving moribund airfields such as Sebring, Riverside(in the U.S.), Silverstone and Goodwood(in the UK) and elsewhere. Perhaps the next revival of this type has arrived. I surely hope so...cause' Edmonton was one h--- of a race, one I soon won't forget(kinda like Indy this year!).
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Post by Julian Mayo » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:51 am

Thanks for that Mfer.
Just to give you an idea of V8 supercar popularity, now that you are committed to the series, with our miniscule population Bathurst crowds exceed 200,000. It will be more when the race returns to the Holiday weekend. If you come to Surfers via Sydney, "Therapy" will happily take you for a couple of laps, and you will see why many international drivers rate it as THE greatest race track in the world. ( Just don't eat lunch til afterwards.)
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Post by mlittle » Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:09 am

You know, julian, I don't know where I read this one item(I think it was autoracing1.com :?: )but here's something of interest...It was in the rumors section of the site, but apparently Walker Racing/Team Australia's 2 racers, Alex Tagliani and Marcus Marshall, are trying to set up a ride for the Bathurst 1000 w/one of the V8 teams, WPS Racing, which ironically is owned by Craig Gore, if I'm not mistaken, who(in another irony) is also one of the co-owners of the Walker Racing team.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:11 pm

mlittle wrote:You know, julian, I don't know where I read this one item(I think it was autoracing1.com :?: )but here's something of interest...It was in the rumors section of the site, but apparently Walker Racing/Team Australia's 2 racers, Alex Tagliani and Marcus Marshall, are trying to set up a ride for the Bathurst 1000 w/one of the V8 teams, WPS Racing, which ironically is owned by Craig Gore, if I'm not mistaken, who(in another irony) is also one of the co-owners of the Walker Racing team.
Yep to all of the above, and Scotty Dixon is strongly rumoured to be coming out to race with Team Kiwi.
Incidentally Gore has a reputation here for being atake no prisoners sort of guy (aka Loudmouth). Does he behave himself there ?
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Post by mlittle » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:19 pm

From what I've heard, he does. As far I know, he and the other co-owners(except Walker) run the day-to-day affairs of the team, but Derrick runs the team come race weekends. The only reason Walker brought in Gore and the others(unless I'm mistaken) is that he lost Cummins, his 2004 sponsor, and the Aussie Vineyards sponsorship came about very late before Long Beach this year.

As far as being a loudmouth...naw, he couldn't beat Paul Tracy for that honor. Incidentally, ChampCar's "enfante terrible"{problem child} had a nice quote for Sebastien Bourdais about his success after the race.
Quote:"He must have a golden horseshoe up his rear to drive mistake-free today." Funny thing is, julian..a year or two yrs. ago, PT would've used another word instead of rear.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:27 pm

mlittle wrote:From what I've heard, he does. As far I know, he and the other co-owners(except Walker) run the day-to-day affairs of the team, but Derrick runs the team come race weekends. The only reason Walker brought in Gore and the others(unless I'm mistaken) is that he lost Cummins, his 2004 sponsor, and the Aussie Vineyards sponsorship came about very late before Long Beach this year.

As far as being a loudmouth...naw, he couldn't beat Paul Tracy for that honor. Incidentally, ChampCar's "enfante terrible"{problem child} had a nice quote for Sebastien Bourdais about his success after the race.
Quote:"He must have a golden horseshoe up his rear to drive mistake-free today." Funny thing is, julian..a year or two yrs. ago, PT would've used another word instead of rear.
From what I have seen and heard Tracy does back up his mouth with ability, though.
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Post by mlittle » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:30 pm

He does, julian. Tracy's one of the best out there. He's driven for some of the better teams in ChampCar's history--Team Penske, Newman-Haas, Team Green, and now Forsythe. He learned from the best, too...racers like Emerson Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, Michael Andretti, Al Unser, Jr., just to name a few.
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Reflections on a Classic--Cleveland 1988

Post by mlittle » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:31 pm

Now I got the idea for this posting from the recent ChampCar races in Edmonton, in which we saw two of the series' young guns---Sebastien Bourdais in the main feature, and Katherine Legge in the Toyota Atlantics race earlier that day, win hard-fought, nail-biter victories in each race. Since the race was held on the grounds of Edmonton's Centre City Airport, it brought back memories of one of the series' classic races--the 1988 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix. Here, then, for your reading enjoyment, is a return to a series' classic.

Back in 1988, the series(then known as the PPG/CART IndyCar World Series) made it's annual stop to the Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport for the 4th of July weekend, and leading the points fight at the time were 3 of the series' old veterans--steely-eyed racers such as Mario Andretti, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal, and Rick Mears who fought, like their young contempories last Sunday, a hard-as-nails street fight on the temp. road course that was as tough as the racers themselves. The race itself was an 80-lap slugfest that tested the drivers, the machines, and the course itself. There was one major difference, though, between the course then and today--there was a chicane just past the start-finish line that lessened the "bite" of the infamous funnel(turn 3 then) that usually saw a lot of carnage as drivers took each other out trying to get through(just like now).

The race began with Penske's Danny Sullivan having qualified on the point nearly 1 sec. ahead of teammate Rick Mears, while Mario and Bobby were just behind in third and fourth. At the drop of the green Sullivan took off and got the early lead over the other three, but soon Andretti and Rahal caught up to him while Mears would soon retire w/a broken gearbox. After the first round of pitstops Sullivan soon had an 11-sec. advantage over the other two, and at first glance it looked like Sullivan would run away with the win. Guess again...

His lead went to ashes w/a full-course caution around lap 24, and like Edmonton sunday, the race was joined. While Sullivan got the jump on his challengers, Rahal pulled a slick-as-nails pass on Mario at the last chicane, then held his line going past the start line into the then 1-2 chicane and through the funnel turn to take second. Once past, Ohio's favorite son proceeded to chase down Sullivan, whose car was just starting to turn loose on him. Then, just like Legge would use a backmarker to pass fellow Atlantics racer Charles Zwolsman and take the point last Sunday, Rahal flew past Sullivan who had to dodge a backmarker or else go grass-cutting through an infield area on the backhalf of the course.

However, Rahal wouldn't lead for long, following the second(and final) round of stops; it turned out Mario had stayed out a few laps longer and used the time to build a lead of his own. It didn't last, though. Rahal soon got on Mario's tail and, like two ace fighter pilots dueling it out in the air, the pair proceeded to fight, corner for corner, lap-for-lap, even though the track soon became a factor, as the cars would lose grip in certain parts. Even though Rahal would make several attempts to take the point, Mario would hold his line(and the lead)...until lap 64. Mario slid just a bit going into the start-finish straight, and it became a three-way drag race btwn. Andretti, Rahal and Sullivan into the chicane and then, into the funnel. The trio would fight like this for a couple of laps, Rahal taking the point, giving not one inch to the other two as they proceed through the switchbach chicane(turn 4-5). Finally, Mario took the lead exiting turn 5, and after several chances by Rahal and Sullivan to re-take the lead failed, barely managed to hold on for the victory, winning by less than 0.9 secs over Rahal. Sullivan was about the same distance behind Bobby. Only one other driver was on the lead lap, such was the torrid pace, and that was another series legend--Al Unser, Jr.

Looking back, it's hard to believe that these three fought such an epic battle--after all, Mario was 48 yrs. old.(a former F1 WDC and CART titleist), Bobby was 35 yrs. old(the then 2-time series champion) and Danny was 38 yrs. old(and the one who would win that yr). Now, I mention this race because the two races in Edmonton(the CCWS and Atlantics races) had exactly the same exciting action, the same nail-biting finishes, and it showed not just the return of a series champion to victory lane, but, quite possibly, the first hints of a possible legend in the making. Sunday's races in Edmonton won't soon be forgotten, and could become as legendary as that 4th of July slugfest in Cleveland.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:29 pm

I think I saw a delayed telecast of that race, it rings a lot of bells. Rahahl was a bit of a favourite of mine, struck me as a gentleman. The Unsers seemed a tad brash.
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:38 pm

Good posting. Rahal could be a tough-as-nails racer on track, but at that time(late 1980s-early 1990s), they were all like that. Sullivan, Mears, the Andrettis, the Unsers...there were a lot of on-track slugfests from Cleveland to Portland, Laguna Seca to Indy(when Indy was THE race back in the old days).

Now, as to the Unsers....(Big) Al Unser, Sr. was still pulling his weight around back then, but his son, (Little) Al Unser, Jr. could also race w/the best of them. So could Michael (Andretti), Emerson Fittipaldi, and a couple of others. It was, quite simply, julian, a great time to be an open-wheel fan here in the States'. Shame the split had to fracture the sport as it has. For your sake, and the sake of all F1 fans, I hope that what happened here back in the mid-1990 never happens to Formula One.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:58 pm

Saw Unser Jr do a big dummy spit once, and he kind of lost me after that. Used to enjoy seeing him beaten :lol:
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sun Jul 24, 2005 1:53 pm

mlittle wrote:He does, julian. Tracy's one of the best out there. He's driven for some of the better teams in ChampCar's history--Team Penske, Newman-Haas, Team Green, and now Forsythe. He learned from the best, too...racers like Emerson Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, Michael Andretti, Al Unser, Jr., just to name a few.
Tracy and Bordaix (can't remember how to spell his name} seem to have a history of not giving each other racing room over the last few years. Whats the general perception of who is good guy, who is bad guy ? RPM,( a tv show)
just showed them making contact a number a number of times.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:03 pm

If you could categorize them as good guy-bad guy, SeaBass(Bourdais) would be the good guy, and PT(Tracy) would be the bad guy. They're both great racers, but Tracy's really mellowed as a driver the past few years. Here's an example....at the ChampCar race last year in Denver, Bourdais passed Tracy going into the last turn on the street circuit there and 'pinched' Tracy as they headed down the front-straight. In past yrs. PT would've given Bourdais the "chrome horn" the next lap(and possibly risked putting both of them out of the race) but he didn't, and it wasn't because he had nothing for SeaBass. They were 1-2 in the pts. at the time, and Tracy wanted to beat Bourdais cleanly on the track.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:17 pm

mlittle wrote:If you could categorize them as good guy-bad guy, SeaBass(Bourdais) would be the good guy, and PT(Tracy) would be the bad guy. They're both great racers, but Tracy's really mellowed as a driver the past few years. Here's an example....at the ChampCar race last year in Denver, Bourdais passed Tracy going into the last turn on the street circuit there and 'pinched' Tracy as they headed down the front-straight. In past yrs. PT would've given Bourdais the "chrome horn" the next lap(and possibly risked putting both of them out of the race) but he didn't, and it wasn't because he had nothing for SeaBass. They were 1-2 in the pts. at the time, and Tracy wanted to beat Bourdais cleanly on the track.
Interesting that Tracy gets the bad guy tag.,From what I saw, starting with Surfers a few years ago, Bourdais seemed to crowd him in every incident, including taking Tracy's front wing off as they left the pits.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:24 pm

Yeah, Tracy gets the bad guy tag anytime he and Bourdais seem to tangle. Part of it stems from the fact that, other than being a few years younger than ChampCar's elder statesman, Jimmy Vasser, PT would be in that position, so anytime he 'leans' on another driver on-track, he's going to look like the bad guy, even if it's not his fault. Part of it, though, is Tracy's on-track presence; like many of the great ones before him, just knowing that somewhere on track is Tracy can be enough to unnerve many a driver....Bourdais's one of the few that isn't rattled by it, and its' one of the reasons this is ChampCar's biggest current rivalry --they both drive for great teams, and neither will give on the track(even if it causes problems for both).
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