News On F1 Forums - Talk Formula 1

With one half of the season now in the books, it's time to return to the track for the second half of the season, and the first stop is the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, on the Kansas side of Kansas City, and host to the IndyCar Series since 2001. The past two years have seen some exciting racing......

2004=Rahal-Letterman Racing teammates Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira finish 1-2 by 51-thousandths of a second; Rice would go on to finish 3rd in the series standings behind Andretti-Green Racing drivers Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon

2005=The weekend was dominated by both AGR and RLR.......qualifying saw then-rookie Danica Patrick secure the first of her three poles in 2005, while then-teammate Vitor meira finished 3rd behind AGR drivers Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon, which led to an interesting quote from Kanaan at the post-race press conference......

You guys wanted to see Danica win? Sorry....maybe next year!

Considering that, in the 5 previous visits(including last year) some interesting finishes have occurred, he could be eating those words, figuratively speaking.....

The key to winning here, besides getting good fuel mileage and having great pitstops during the race, is getting the car setup just right, balancing the outright speed needed for qualifying with the handling needed for the race itself. The heat is also a factor.....temperatures during the race generally average in the 80's(F) and it is the Midwest, so the humidity is up there as well. Here is the event schedule for the weekend........
(Note....all times listed are U.S. CDT, -1 hr. U.S EDT and -5 hrs. GMT)

Practice Session #1}8 am, 1 July 2006
Practice Session #2}10:15 am, 1 July 2006
Qualifying Session}12:45 pm, 1 July 2006
Final Practice Session}8:15 am, 2 July 2006
Kansas Lottery Indy 300}12:15 pm, 2 July 2006(broadcast on ABC Sports, with Spanish-language TV on ESPN Deportes; radio broadcast, as always, will be on the IMS Radio Network[domestic AM radio and webcast through indycar.com] and Ch. 145, XM Satellite Radio); as has been the case for the first half of the season, the race will also be broadcast worldwide via the United States Armed Forces Network.

For the first time in three years, Vitor Meira led the timing charts......too bad it was only the combined practice charts and not the race after lap 200. With a quick lap of 212.917 mph(25.700 sec.), the Brazilian who's gfinsihed on the podium in 2004(second) and 2005(third) hopes to begin building momentum for Panther Racing, which hasn't been as high in the points stdgs. going into the race at Kansas since 2002(Meira currently is 5th), when Sam Hornish, Jr. still drove for them. Meira had this to say after the second practice......

We are happy with the season so far, but the best is yet to come. Kansas Speedway is a track that I like very much and I've been so close here the past two years. Of course I want to win every race, but even when you are second and third in those photo finishes, the fact that you are in the photo means you had a good race. We discovered some things in the test we had here (on June 13) and that is going to help make us stronger this weekend.

After his ninth-place finish at the Richmond bullring, Target/Ganassi Racing's Dan Wheldon vowed not to shave unti he won a race......he's one step closer, as he captured the third pole of his IndyCar career, winning the Marlboro Pole Award with a mark of 213.536 mph(25.627 sec), beating his TGR teammate, Scott Dixon, and both Marlboro-Team penske drivers, Sam Hornish, Jr., and Helio Castroneves. While Wheldon's run at the front a lot this year(led 345 laps, including 148 at Indy and 171 at Texas), he only has the win at Homestead to show for it, and he's anxious to start reversing those fortunes........

Right now, I'm in a position where I can't give an inch. I need to maximize everything that I have to put myself in the position to win again. The IndyCar Series this year is fun to be part of; it's incredibly intense this year. (But) we can't afford for Marlboro-Team Penske (to) pull away from us any more. I need to be taking big points away from them.

Conversely, the attitude over in the Marlboro-Team Penske paddock is one of confidence......just ask the drivers.....

Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Marlboro-Team Penske D/H:

We were really happy with the test; we came out here and we didn't know we were going to run over 213. When we ran this morning in practice we were at 212.9 or getting close to that area. We came here to race tomorrow so we wont' anything back.

Helio Castroneves, #3 Marlboro-Team Penske D/H:

Tomorrow will be hot and the track will be slick, but it always improves as the race goes on. We feel comfortable with the race car and hopefully we'll be able to get our first victory at Kansas.

Speaking of the race tomorrow, here is the starting grid for Sunday's Kansas Lottery Indy 300...........

1}Dan Wheldon, #10 Target..........................................213.536 mph/25.627 sec
2}Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Marlboro-Team Penske................213.372 mph/25.645 sec

3}Scott Dixon, #9 Target...............................................212.533 mph/25.747 sec
4}Helio Castroneves, #3 Marlboro-Team Penske..............212.472 mph/25.754 sec

5}Kosuke Matsurra, #55 Panasonic/Autobacs...................212.404 mph/25.762 sec
6}Vitor Meira, #4 Network LIVE/EcoNova.........................212.146 mph/25.794 sec

7}Buddy Lazier, #5 RollCoater/ESCORT Radar Warning.....210.711 mph/25.969 sec
8}Tomas Scheckter, #2 Rock & Republic..........................210.409 mph/26.007 sec

9}Buddy Rice, #15 Argent/Pioneer..................................210.387 mph/26.009 sec
10}Scott Sharp, #8 Delphi/Patron Spirits..........................210.384 mph/26.010 sec

11}(R)Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Group............................209.884 mph/26.072 sec
12}Danica Patrick, #16 Argent/PEAK................................209.495 mph/26.120 sec

13}Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11.....................................209.368 mph/26.136 sec
14}Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club/Klein Tools............209.336 mph/26.140 sec

15}Bryan Herta, #7 XM Satellite Radio..............................209.023 mph/26.179 sec
16}Ed Carpenter, #20 Rock & Republic..............................208.629 mph/26.228 sec

17}(R)Jeff Simmons, #17 Ethanol......................................208.616 mph.26.230 sec
18}Felipe Giaffone, #14 ABC Supply Co.............................207.410 mph/26.383 sec

19}Eddie Cheever, Jr., #51 GEICO/Circle-K.......................207.021 mph/26.432 sec

With race-time a couple of hours away, here's a couple of pre-race observations from someone who finally worked up the courage to ride as a passenger in that monstrosity a/k/a T-K's plider.........hey, we landed in one piece!

1}What a surprise.......not! Once again, the pole position was captured by a car w/red-and-white livery, this time being a Ganassi car rather than one of Penske's. Indeed, rows 1 and 2 are an all Penske-Ganassi section, with everyone else seemingly relegated to the peanut gallery. Speaking of the peanut gallery.....

2}What happened to them? In 2004 and 2005, Andretti-Green Racing held a Ferrari-like dominance over the IndyCar Series.........my, my, how the mighty have fallen. Occupying rows 6, 7 and 8, the team looked, for the first time in a long time, a little lost. Hopefully, they won't look as lost come racetime.

3}They're getting better......after going with the Panoz chassis for the first five races this year, it's been adjustment city for Rahal-Letterman Racing as they've adapted to the Dallara chassis. While they definitely struggled at Texas and Richmond, their qualifying performance yesterday(Rice-9th, Patrick-12th, Simmons-17th) seems to indicate that they are starting to turn the corner on figuring out the secrets of the "grip-happy" Dallara.

4}Where was the Captain? One person who wasn't present at Kansas Speedway yesterday was Roger Penske, and while everyone wondered where he was, they needn't have worried......he was in Lime Rock, Ct. watching his American LeMans Series LMP-2 team compete in the New England Grand Prix. It was a mixed bag for the Captain; one of his two Porsche RS Spyders' won LMP-2 honors, while the other struggled with mechanical issues.

Well, let me find a nice place in the infield to crash for the day, get the laptop set up and all the wireless connections up and running, and enjoy today's race......good luck to all the competitors!

For Marlboro-Team Penske's Sam Hornish, Jr., it was a doubly-sweet 27th birthday.....he finally gets the Kansas monkey off his back, winning today's Kansas Lottery Indy 300, and snatches the points lead away from teammate Helio Castroneves. On a 95-deg.(F) day, with track temps around 128-130 deg.(F), it was a dogfight for most of the race.

When polesitter Dan Wheldon(#10 Target D/H) took the green flag, both he and Hornish pulled away early, neither giving an inch for the first 7 laps until Hornish made a high-side pass entering turn 1, completing it and taking the lead btwn. turns 3-4. He would slowly start to eke out a lead, eventually leading Wheldon and TGR teammate Scott Dixon(#9 Target D/H) by just over 2.3 seconds......until the first caution came out, for a spin by Hornish's teammate, who knocked the rear wing off of his car brushing the turn 4 outside wall. The ensuing caution period gave most all the teams a chance to put new slicks on and fill up fuel tanks, and then it was back out on track......except for Castroneves; to keep from falling a lap behind Dixon, the #3 pitcrew sends helio back out a lap without the rear wing, having him come back into the pits, where they bolt the new rear wing on, somehow keeping him on the lead lap. Others had bad luck of their own making; when the green fell, three drivers, Dario Franchitti(#27 Canadian Club/Klein Tools D/H), Danica Patrick(#16 Argent/PEAK D/H) and Buddy Rice(#15 Argent/Pioneer D/H) all had to serve drive-through penalties on lap 45(first green-flag lap follwing lap 44 restart). Franchitti's was for passing raceleader Dixon under yellow, while Patrick and Rice copped drive-throughs for running over airgun hoses on their respective stops.......all three fell one lap down, and any chance of winning for them flew away like waves of Kansas grain.

When the green fell on lap 44, Dixon led entering the backstretch, only to see Hornish retake the lead at the stripe on lap 45; Wheldon got past his teammate and took up the chase, staying within one second of Hornish. Then, citing "debris" in turn 3, race control throws the yellow flag on lap 89(why is beyond me....no one saw any debris whatsoever......), and teams once again took tires and fuel, and unlike the first round of stops.....everybody managed to get back ontrack without passing the leader under yellow OR running over airgun hoses.
Top 5 once all the stops were made.......Hornish, Wheldon, Dixon, Kanaan and Meira.

At the midway point, Hornish quickly retook the lead and, like before, slowly began to pull away from the field, only this time he couldn't shake Wheldon loose; the two stayed within .1-.2 secs. of each other....on eight of the next 50+ laps, the two were side-by-side those entire laps! By lap 148, the leaders begin to make their final stops of the day.....first in was Hornish, who relinquishes the lead Wheldon. Wheldon, in turn, relinquishes the lead to Kanaan, who likewise gives way to Dixon, and so on. By lap 157, everyone has made their final stops of the day, and it was Wheldon who was in the lead, holding a 1.2-sec. lead over Hornish. Then the caution comes out again on lap 167, as Scott Sharp(#8 Delphi D/H) crashes into trhe outside wall btwn. 3 and 4; his race is done, and the field is bunched up for the restart. It was a short restart(2 laps, from 174 to 176) before another caution comes out; this time, it was Rice who crashes into the turn 4 wall, ending an otherwise dismal day for the 2004 Indy 500 winner. When the green flag flew on lap 182, it was soon apparent that either Sam Hornish, Jr. or Dan Wheldon would win today; they pulled away from the pack and began an 18-lap duel which saw Hornish lead for a few laps, then Wheldon lead a few laps; both drivers drove side-by-side for several laps. Finally, Hornish pulled just a bit ahead, planted his car squarely on the bottom white line, challenging Wheldon to try an outside pass for the lead. Wheldon tried on the last 2 laps, but wasn't able to pull it off, as Hornish would win by .079 secs, finally erasing memories of his 2002 race, when a botched restart cost him the victory that year. Here is the top-10 from a sweltering, hot Kansas Speedway.......

1}#6 Sam Hornish, Jr.................................200 laps
2}#10 Dan Wheldon...................................-.0793 secs
3}#4 Vitor Meira........................................-5.389 secs
4}#9 Scott Dixon.......................................-5.519 secs
5}#11 Tony Kanaan...................................-5.776 secs
6}#3 Helio Castroneves.............................-7.043 secs
7}#2 Tomas Scheckter..............................-9.629 secs
8}#55 Kosuke Matsurra.............................-9.988 secs
9}(R)#26 Marco Andretti............................-1 lap
10}(R)#17 Jeff Simmons............................-1 lap

Post-race observations later this evening..................

With Kansas in the rearview mirrors, here's the post-race observations......

1}See you in April! Series and track officials confirmed over the weekend that, in 2007, Kansas' racedate will move from its' current late June/early July date to late April, making it the last race before "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing". The question concerning the date for Kansas centers around Motegi and whether the schedules can be managed....unless anything changes, the first third or so of the schedule looks like Homestead, St. Petersburg, Motegi, Kansas and then Indy.

2}Will he ever win? If there was a hard-luck award for Kansas, Panther Racing's Vitor Meira would've have won in a landslide; for the 10th time in his IRL career, Meira wound up on the podium but not on the top step; for the third straight year, he was on the podium at Kansas. It may be an understatement, but I suspect Meira's starting to tire of being a mere bridesmaid.....

3}More schedule news.......during the morning press conference, IRL President Brian Barnhart did give hints as to the 2007 schedule in addition to the item noted in #1. They were: A}the .8-mile Iowa Speedway will likely be on the 2007 calendar following an August acclimation test; 2}the season will run approximately from late March to early-mid Sept., and 3}that at least one new event will be on a street or road course, to be determined at a later date.