Round 14--Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix

[mlittle]

Back in early April, the Indy Racing League began making right-turns at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, with the series' first non-oval race. After 13 rounds of what has been a very interesting, and adrenalin-filled season, the series heads west out of the Rocky Mts. to the wine country of Northern California, to Sonoma, Ca. for the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix. The 12-turn, 2.3-mile road course last saw Indy-style racing back in 1970, when Dan Gurney won the USAC IndyCar 150 agst. a field including the likes of Al Unser, Sr., Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Jr., and others. The question revolving around the race this year is...who will come out victorious at Infineon Raceway? Will we see one of the able veterans, like Scott Sharp, Tony Kanaan, Bryan Herta, or Sam Hornish, Jr, come out on top, or will Dan Wheldon continue his near-unassailable charge towards the title? Will we see one of the series' "young guns", like Vitor Meira or Tomas Scheckter, take the reins this weekend? Or could one of the three rookies this year take the win, and add his or her name to the winners' list this year? The way this year's been, anything is distinctly possible...

Here's some of the mid-week storylines flowing around the track for this week's race...

1}Is everyone in top physical shape? Unlike the first 13 races this year(including the street race at St. Pete.), Infineon will challenge the drivers' conditioning all race long. With 200-ft. elevation changes, several quick left-right turns(1-2 and 3-4) plus a redesigned "esses" section on the back half of the course, and any driver not in peak fitness will have a very long day.

2}Advantage Franchitti and Patrick? Unlike the other 20 drivers whose experience at Infineon consists of the mid-April open test session, series drivers Dario Franchitti and Danica Patrick will be making their third stop at Infineon. Back in Oct. 2004, the two spent several hours there doing acclimation tests for the IRL, in order to check whether the series' cars could withstand the strains of the challenging road course. By all accounts, the test was a big success, and the data gleaned frfom the test will help the series determine what changes need to made for next year. Whether it translates' into success this weekend for their respective teams is anyone's guess.

3}Any battles left to fight? Let's see...drivers' title, Wheldon's to lose. Engine award....Honda clinched it at Pikes Peak. Chassis award...Dallara won that all the way back in Music City(Nashville). Rookie award...a-ha., that fight's undecided still. With two road courses, and two long-ovals still on the calender, this fight's gonna' be a good one.

Here's the weekend schedule of events....
Friday Practice #1==12:30 to 2:30 PM EST 26 Aug.
Friday Practice #2==5:00 to 6:00 PM EST 26 Aug.
Saturday Practice #1==12:30 to 1:30 PM EST 27 Aug.
Qualifying Session(see note)==3:30 to 4:45 PM EST 27 Aug.
Final Practice==7:00 to 7:30 PM EST 27 Aug.
Argent Mortgage Indy GP==3:45 PM EST 28 Aug.

NOTE:For road and street course events, the qualfying procedure is as follows. After the third practice session, the qual. order is set, slowest-to-fastest, with each driver getting 1 flying lap at speed to determine the qualifying order. When the last driver makes his/her attempt, those listed P6-P1 will go back out for a 10-minute qual. shootout, which will determine rows 1-3 and the pole.

As always, I'll have a qual. and race summary, plus commentaries and observations to follow as needed.

[mlittle]

In an effort to improve A.J. Foyt Racing's efforts this year, team owner and 4-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt, Jr. has decided not to run current driver A.J. Foyt, IV in the #14 ABC Supply Dallara/Chevy, and instead, will run American LeMans Series veteran Jeff Bucknum in the car in a one-off ride at Infineon this weekend. In making the announcement, Foyt stated that "(Since) we didn't test with Anthony at Infineon in April, it wouldn't be fair to run him since everybody else tested there. It's a tricky course, especially running the long course(as opposed to NASCAR's short course). Jeff Bucknum called last week offering to help Anthony this week, but I decided it would make more sense to put Jeff in the car. (He's) familiar with the track, he's run there quite a bit and he's been an instructor there also. He also tested a Dreyer & Reinbold car back in April here, (and) I'm looking forward to having him in the car on Sunday."

Bucknum, whose late father, Ronnie Bucknum, was a fierce Indy-style competitor in his own right, said he was pleased to be driving for A.J. this weekend, considering the history both his father and Foyt, Jr. had racing against each other. For his part, A.J. Foyt, IV, who will be back in the car for Chicagoland on Sept. 11 for the Chicagoland Indy 300, said he had no problems with the team's decisions, saying that he would learn more by watching how Jeff and the team interact there and using it to improve his own racing.

[mlittle]

Here's a brief description of the long course at Infineon Raceway....

As you cross the start/finish line, there's an immediate left, sweeping uphill turn followed qucikly by a quick right-hander(turns 1-2). After a short, descending straight, the drivers will face another uphill left turn and, just past it, another right(turns 3-4). Then, the track gets interesting. After a short straight, the drivers will make a quick right-hander(turn 5) descending into the Carousel(turns 6-7) that acts sort of like a funnel, in that the drivers should pickup plenty of speed as they hit Infineon's drag strip(one of only two long straights on the course) towards the "Kink"(turn 8], a double-apex right turn. Then they'll hit "the Esses"(turns 9-11), several "switchback" turns(right-left-right) and then another set of longer turns, followed by Infineon's other long straight which leads to turn 12, a long hairpin. If the drivers can resist using the brakes too much, they can then use the momentum to carry them over the start/finish line and thus complete one flying lap at Infineon.

[Julian Mayo]

Sounds like a "drivers" track. BBs required

[mlittle]

Things to do while in San Francisco, round 2....

1}Visit Alcatraz(just make sure to leave julian there.... ),
2}Visit some friends of mine in the Mission District and reminisce about times past..., oh yeah,
3}Head over to Ghiradelli Square and watch some IndyCar drivers take to a mini-course set up there. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

All I know is that the lunchtime crowds that regularly visit the historic San Francisco square got a nice treat for their afternoon today as Rahal-Letterman Racing drivers Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick both drove their respective Argent/Pioneer Panoz/Honda cars around a specially-build course around the square. And what did they think of the purpose-built course?

Patrick:"This was a great time, and being on streets like this made me appreciate the street course we race at (in St. Petersburg). Our ride today was really bumpy, but it was really neat to see all of the fans surrounding the streets as we made the laps. There were a lot of people watching, and I hope they all come out to watch us this weekend."

Rice:"It was really bumpy, but it was cool. I like doing things like this, in front of new fans and media. It was cool having two cars driving around the streets of San Francisco, but I hope people come out to see us with the other cars at the track this weekend."

Afterwards, there was an autograph session, plus an additional trip around the track, this time with one of the IRL's Infiniti Pro Series cars, driven by IPS driver Travis Gregg.

As for the race itself....the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix is set for Sunday, Aug. 28th at Infineon Raceway, with the green flag set to fall on the IRL's first natural-terrain road course race around 3:45 PM EST(19:45 UTC). By the way, has anyone seen julian? Oh, I forgot, he's still wandering around Alcatraz.

[Julian Mayo]

I know the way out of Alcatraz ! Saw it on the Mythbusters.

[mlittle]

You know I saw that episode of Mythbusters too. Good show, but those guys are stone-cold crazy; wait...wouldn't that make them perfect denizen of the F1 idiots bar?

[Julian Mayo]

You know I saw that episode of Mythbusters too. Good show, but those guys are stone-cold crazy; wait...wouldn't that make them perfect denizen of the F1 idiots bar?

Yep, thats why its one of my favourites. But they do get things wrong, big time occasionally.

[mlittle]

How true. Did you see the one where they blew up a cement truck in order to test the myth that you can use a stick of dynamite to remove dried cement?

[Julian Mayo]

How true. Did you see the one where they blew up a cement truck in order to test the myth that you can use a stick of dynamite to remove dried cement?

Yeah, Iam chuckling at the memory.

[mlittle]

Yeah, I think they were supposed to use one stick of dynamite in that ole' cement truck, but knowing them....they just went ahead and used the entire box of dynamite.

[Julian Mayo]

They do like things that go bang

[mlittle]

In what had been a dismal season for Target/Ganassi Racing, it was surprising to see them 1-4-5 on the combined Friday charts. Even more surprising was that it was the team's rookie, Ryan Briscoe(#33 Target Panoz/Toyota) who was P1 on the chart after today's practices, with a practice time of 1:16.574 secs.(108.130 mph). As such, following Saturday's third session, Briscoe will have the option of inverting the qualfying order from slowest-fastest to fastest-slowest for Saturday qualfying. His two TGR stablemates did alright today as well. 2003 IRL series champion Scott Dixon sits 4th, while newcomer Giorgio Pantano sits 5th. As usual, all four of Andretti-Green's racers are in the top 10(Kanaan-P3, Franchitti-P6, Herta-P7, and Wheldon-P8]. Marlboro/Team Penske's two racers, Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish, Jr. sit P2 and P9 respectively.

There were a few surprises, however. First was the appearance of Alex Barron(#51 Red Bull Dallara/Toyota) in P10. Two teams conspicously absent from the top-10 in today's practice sessions....Panther Racing and Rahal-Letterman Racing. Panther's two drivers, Tomas Enge and Tomas Scheckter, posted the 13th and 14th-fastest times. Just ahead of them were two of the three RLR drivers, Vitor Meira and Buddy Rice, posted tthe 11th and 12th-place times, while Briscoe's chief opponent for the Bombardier Rookie-of-the-Year Award, Danica Patrick, posted a time that currently sits her in 19th.

Saturday's practice session is set for 12:30 PM EST, and qualfying is set for 3:30 PM, with each driver getting one flying lap to post his/her fastest lap. After all 21 cars have qualified the top 6(P6-P1) will go back out after a 10-min. break for a 10-minute qualifying shootout which will set the pole and rows 1-3.

[mlittle]

Up to now, Target/Ganassi Racing's Ryan Briscoe(#33 Target Panoz/Toyota) has had a somewhat unkempt year...other than the 43 laps led at St. Pete. back in April, he's barely managed to keep fellow rookie and Bombardier Rookie-of-the-Year points leader Danica Patrick(#16 Argent/Pioneer Panoz/Honda) from running away with the award. Well, with his pole at Infineon, he sent a clear message to her and to the other drivers today...You're in my territory now.

With a time of 1:16.491 secs.(108.248 mph), set on the 7th of 8 shootout laps during the 10-minute Firestone Shootout, he'll sit on the pole for Sunday's Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix. Indeed, while all six of the shootout competitors improved their times from the single-lap qualifying session earlier in the day, none could knock the fast Aussie off of P1. Here's the first three rows, determined by the shootout:

Row 1:1]Ryan Briscoe, #33 Target Panoz/Toyota
2]Helio Castroneves, #3 Marlboro Dallara/Toyota
Row 2:3]Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11 Dallara/Honda
4]Tomas Enge, #2 Rockstar Energy Drink Dallara/Chevy
Row 3:5]Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Marlboro Dallara/Toyota
6]Buddy Rice, #15 Argent/Pioneer Panoz/Honda

The remainder of the 21-car field was determined by the remaining order, with current points leader Dan Wheldon(#26 Jim Beam/Klein Tools Dallara/Honda) starting 7th, and his Andretti-Green teammate, Bryan Herta(#7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda) next to him in 8th. The fourth member of the AGR team, Dario Franchitti(#27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda) spun out going through turn 2 and failed to post a time...he'll start 21st.

Besides Patrick, who will start 16th on Sunday, some other notables will start in the back-half of the grid. Former ChampCar driver Patrick Carpentier will start 12th; former F1-driver Giorgio Pantano, 13th; Enge's Panther teammate, Tomas Scheckter, 14th, and sports-car veteran Jeff Bucknum will start 17th.

Observations to follow later in the evening....

[mlittle]

Maybe I can lose julian in wine country...well, it's worth a shot. Okay, now the Saturday notebook from Infineon.

1--Briscoe's the man....Thanks to the experience rookie Ryan Briscoe has from his time as a Toyota-F1 test driver, he matched every thrust and parry the other Firestone Shootout competitors could heave at him to secure his first IndyCar Series pole. With it, he set another record, for 2005 marks the first year that 2 rookies have won the pole during the year...rookie pts. leader Danica Patrick has 2 poles this year, Kansas and Kentucky. I'd say it's safe to assume that the rookie points fight has resumed in force this weekend. Stay tuned, this could get interesting....

2--It's a homecoming for some of them. For Fernandez Racing's Scott Sharp, it is a homecoming of sorts, as he once competed here several times in the Trans-Am Series, winning a round of the Trans-Am Series back in 1993. He's not the only one, as drivers Bryan Herta(Barber Dodge/ALMS) and, Tomas Enge(ALMS) have also visited Infineon; Enge came very close to winning for the Prodrive Ferrari team back in 2003.

3--Slip slidin' away.... With the sometimes dusty and dry conditions around Sonoma, it wasn't surprising that some of the drivers slid and spun their way around Infineon Raceway. Most notable of them was Dario Franchitti, who spun out in turn 2 during qualifying Saturday. Others who had problems so far this weekend include both of Panther Racing's duo, Tomas Scheckter and Tomas Enge, who spun during Friday's practice; TGR's Giorgio Pantano, in his first IRL race, had an auspicious start to the weekend....running out of fuel during session #1. When the green flag falls Sunday, don't be surprised if some of the drivers find the going a little rough.